Glossary - Vocab Test

Question 1

Absorb

Answer 1

To take up and store energy, without it being reflected or transmitted.

Question 2

Absolute zero

Answer 2

-273 C or 0 K

Question 3

Acceleration

Answer 3

The rate of change of velocity

Question 4

Adsorbed dose

Answer 4

The amount of ionizing. radiation absorbed per kilogram of irradiated material

Question 5

Absorption line spectrum

Answer 5

A spectrum containing dark lins in the positions of the wavelengths that are absorbed by a gas as light passes through it. ]

Question 6

Acceleration due to gravity

Answer 6

The rate at which a falling object will accelerate in a gravitational field. Equivalent to the gravitational field strength. It is measured in ms-2 and its symbol is g.

Question 7

Accuracy

Answer 7

A measurement value is considered to be accurate is it is judged to be close to the true value of the quanitity being measured. Accuracy is a qualitative term; a measurement value or measurment result may be described. for example, as being “less accurate” or “more accurate” when compared with a true value.

Question 8

aether

Answer 8

An invisible, massless, rigid substance that was proposed as the medium in which light waves propagate. There is no experimental evidence for the existence of the aether.

Question 9

Aim

Answer 9

A statement describing what will be investigated in an experiment.

Question 10

Air resistance

Answer 10

A retarding force that acts in the opposite direction to the motion of an object as it passes through the air.

Question 11

Alternating current

Answer 11

An electric current that periodically reverses direction and with a magnitude that varies over time. Abbreviated to AC. Household power supplies ususally operate at 240V AC.

Question 12

Alternator

Answer 12

An electric generator that produces an alternating current.

Question 13

Altitude

Answer 13

The height above an objects’s surface (such as a planet or moon).

Question 14

Amplitude

Answer 14

The absolute zero of the maximum displacement from zero during one period of one oscillation.

Question 15

Annihilation

Answer 15

The complete conversion of matter into energy when matter meets its antimatter equivalent. This is not a chemical process, where matter in one form is converted to matter of another form, as occurs in burning.

Question 16

Anode

Answer 16

A positively charged plate in an electron gun. Electrons are accelerated towards the anode.

Question 17

Antinode

Answer 17

The region of maximum amplitude between two adjacent nodes in a standing wave or interface pattern.

Question 18

Armature

Answer 18

A revolving structure in an electric motor or generator that is wound with a coil or coils that carry current. It rotates within a magnetic field to induce an EMF.

Question 19

Artificial satellite

Answer 19

A body that is made by humans and placed in orbit around a planet or the moon; e.g Sputnik, the Hubble Space Telescope and NOAA-19.

Question 20

Banked track

Answer 20

A track inclined at an angle to the horizontal. This enables vehicles to corner at higher speeds than if the track were horizontal.

Question 21

Bias

Answer 21

A form of systematic error resulting from the researcher’s personal preferences or motivations.

Question 22

Breaking point

Answer 22

The point at which a material cannot be extended any further without it breaking.

Question 23

Brushes

Answer 23

Devices that transfer the current in the rotating coil to a stationary external circuit by pressing against the split ring commutator or against the slip rings.

Question 24

Cathode

Answer 24

The filament in a cathode ray tube which, when heated, produces electrons.

Question 25

Cathode ray tube

Answer 25

The vacuum tube in which a hot cathode emits a beam of electrons that travel towards a high-voltage anode. The beam can be focused or deflected by electrodes that generate an electric field.

Question 26

Centripetal acceleration

Answer 26

The acceleration directed towards the centre of the circle when an object moves with constant speed in a circular path.

Question 27

Classical force

Answer 27

The force that causes an object to travel in a circular path, e.g gravity, tension, normal force and friction.

Question 28

Classical physics

Answer 28

The physics of Galileo and Newton, in which the addition of velocities has no limit, and which treats length and time as fixed properties across all frames of reference. Accurately describes the macroscopic world but becomes inaccurates for things that are very small or moving very fast.

Question 29

Coherent

Answer 29

Describes waves that have the same frequency and waveform and are either in phase or have a constant phase difference.

Question 30

Commutator

Answer 30

The part of an electric motor that allows current to be reversed. This enables the coil to keep rotating due to a magnetic force.

Question 31

Compression

Answer 31

An area of increased pressure within a longitudinal wave.

Question 32

Conclusion

Answer 32

An evidence-based statement that is developed from an analysis of experimental results.

Question 33

Conserved

Answer 33

Not created or destroyed, but remaining constant.

Question 34

Constructive interference

Answer 34

The process by which two or more waves combine to reinforce each other. The amplitude of the resulting wave is equal to the sum of the amplitudes of the superimposed waves.

Question 35

Continuous variable

Answer 35

A variable that can have any numerical value within a given range.

Question 36

Controlled variable

Answer 36

A variable which is kept constant in order to reliably find the effect of changing the independent variable.

Question 37

Crest

Answer 37

The maximum or highest point in a cycle of a transverse wave.

Question 38

de Broglie wavelength