physics Flashcards
What happens when waves travel through a medium?
The particles of the medium oscillate and transfer energy between each other
What is the difference between transverse and longitudinal waves?
Transverse waves oscillations are perpendicular to the direction of energy transfer (e.g electromagnetic), longitudinal waves oscillations are parallel (e.g sound waves)
On the EM spectrum, what wave has the longest wavelength but lowest frequency?
Radio waves
What happens if a wave hits a boundary at an angle?
It changes direction and is refracted (refraction depends on how much the waves speed up or slow down)
How do you find the braking distance and the thinking distance?
B distance is the distance travelled once the brakes are applied whereas the T distance is the time between the driver seeing a hazard and applying the brakes
What happens to the momentum in a closed system?
The total momentum before an event is the same as after an event- conservation of momentum
When investigating IR with a leslie cube, what would you likely detect?
More infrared radiation detected from the black surface and the matt surface, whereas less IR detected on the white surface and the shiny surface
How can X-Rays and gamma rays cause gene mutation/ cell destruction and cancer
As they are very ionising-carry lots of energy
What is Newton’s third law?
When two objects interact, the forces they exert on each other are equal and opposite
How is acceleration and resultant force linked?
They are proportional- the larger the force acting on the object, the more the object will accelerate
What are 3 ways that energy can be transferred?
Electrically, by heating, mechanically
What is meant by a system?
An object or a group of objects
What does it mean if energy is transferred usefully?
It’s transferred into the store you want it to go into
What is the equation for power?
Power= work done/time
What is meant by a powerful machine?
One that transfer a lot of energy in a short space of yime
