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AS2 Flashcards

1
Q

What causes waves?

A

Waves are caused by a periodic disturbance which results in a vibration.

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2
Q

What do progressive waves do?

A

Progressive waves transport energy from one place to another by causing vibrations in the material or medium through which it moves.

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3
Q

How do particles vibrate in transverse waves?

A

In transverse waves, the vibrations of the particles in the medium are perpendicular to the direction in which the wave travels.

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4
Q

How do particles vibrate in longitudinal waves?

A

In a longitudinal wave, the vibrations of the particles in the medium are parallel to the direction in which the wave travels.

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5
Q

What is the period of a wave?

A

The period (T) of a wave is the time taken for one complete vibration.

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6
Q

What is frequency in terms of waves?

A

The frequency (f) is the number of complete waves that pass a point in a second.

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7
Q

What is amplitude in a wave?

A

The Amplitude (A) of a wave is the maximum displacement of a particle from its rest position.

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8
Q

What is wavelength?

A

The wavelength (λ) is the distance the wave travels in the periodic time, T.

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9
Q

What does it mean for waves to be in phase?

A

Two waves are said to be in phase if the particles in the waves are vibrating so that at the same instant they are at the same displacement (distance and direction) from their equilibrium positions.

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10
Q

What does it mean for waves to be out of phase?

A

Two waves are said to be out of phase if the particles in the waves are vibrating so that at the same instant they are at different displacements (distances and directions) from their equilibrium positions.

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11
Q

What is the phase difference between two waves?

A

The phase difference is the time interval or phase angle by which one wave leads or lags another.

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12
Q

What is an unpolarised wave?

A

An unpolarised wave is one which is vibrating in more than one plane.

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13
Q

What is a polarised wave?

A

A wave is said to be polarised if all the vibrations are confined to one plane.

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14
Q

What is refraction?

A

Refraction is the bending of a wave when it travels from one medium to another at an angle of incidence greater than 0.

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15
Q

What is refraction of light?

A

Refraction of light is when light is bent when it travels from one transparent medium into another with a different refractive index at an angle of incidence greater than 0°.

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16
Q

What does Snell’s Law state?

A

Snell’s Law states: For light travelling from one material to another, the ratio sin i/sin r is a constant.

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17
Q

What is the critical angle?

A

The critical angle is the angle of incidence which results in an angle of refraction of 90°.

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18
Q

What is an Endoscope?

A

The Endoscope is a flexible tube that uses total internal reflection down optical fibres to illuminate the inside of the body and transmit images back.

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19
Q

What is a real image?

A

A real image is one in which the rays of light which make it up pass through it. It can be formed on a screen.

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20
Q

What is a virtual image?

A

A virtual image is one in which the rays of light which make it up do not pass through it but appear to come from it. It cannot be formed on a screen.

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21
Q

What is the Optical Centre?

A

The Optical Centre is the exact centre of the lens.

22
Q

What is the Principal Axis?

A

The Principal Axis is an imaginary line passing through the optical centre at right angles to the plane of the lens.

23
Q

What happens when rays of light pass through a converging lens?

A

When rays of light originally parallel and close to the principal axis pass through a converging lens, they are refracted so that they pass through a point on the principal axis known as the principal focus.

24
Q

What is the focal length?

A

The focal length is the distance from the principal focus to the optical centre of the lens.

25
What is the definition of principal focus in relation to a diverging lens?
When rays of light originally parallel and close to the principal axis pass through a diverging lens, they spread out from a point on the principal axis known as the principal focus.
26
How is linear magnification (m) calculated?
Linear magnification m = height of image / height of object.
27
What is the formula for the power of a lens?
Power of a lens = 1/f (where f is in meters).
28
What is the far point?
The far point is the furthest point which can be seen clearly by the unaided eye.
29
What is the near point?
The near point is the nearest point which can be seen clearly by the unaided eye.
30
What is myopia?
A person who suffers from myopia (short sight) is unable to see distant objects clearly.
31
What is long sight?
A person who suffers from long sight is unable to see near objects clearly.
32
What does the Principle of Superposition state?
The Principle of Superposition states that the resultant displacement at a point at a given time is the algebraic (vector) sum of the displacements of each wave at that point at that time.
33
What happens when two waves meet in phase?
They produce a wave of greater amplitude, called Constructive Interference.
34
What occurs when two waves meet exactly out of phase?
They produce a wave of smaller amplitude (zero if the amplitudes of the waves are the same), called Destructive Interference.
35
What are coherent sources?
Coherent sources must produce waves of the same wavelength or frequency and be in phase or have a constant phase difference between them.
36
How are standing waves produced?
Standing waves are produced by the interference of two waves of the same type and having the same wavelength moving in opposite directions and meeting.
37
What is diffraction?
Diffraction is the spreading out of waves when they meet an obstacle or aperture (gap).
38
What is a diffraction grating?
A diffraction grating is a rectangular piece of glass treated on one side to make it opaque and then scored on the opaque side to produce parallel lines of equal width and equal separation.
39
What does monochromatic mean?
Monochromatic means a single wavelength.
40
What is photoelectric emission?
Photoelectric emission is the emission of electrons from the surface of a metal when electromagnetic radiation of sufficiently high frequency falls on it.
41
What is the work function?
The minimum quantity of energy needed to liberate electrons from the surface of a metal and to just allow it to escape to an infinite distance from the metal.
42
What is the threshold frequency?
The minimum frequency needed to liberate electrons from the surface of a metal and to just allow it to escape to an infinite distance from the metal.
43
What is the energy of an electron at infinite separation from the nucleus?
An electron at an infinite separation from the nucleus is considered to have zero energy. The energy of the electrons in the bound states (orbits) must therefore have negative energy since they have to receive energy to escape the atom.
44
What is the ground state of an electron?
The lowest energy level an electron can occupy and is the most stable.
45
What is a metastable state?
A state in which an electron stays much longer compared to a normal excited state.
46
What is population inversion?
When there are more electrons in the metastable (excited) state than in the ground state.
47
Stimulated emission
Stimulated emission is when an incident photon which has the same energy as the gap between the metastable and ground states stimulates all the electrons to relax down to the ground state at the same time with the same phase and in the same direction.
48
Wave-particle duality
the property of matter and electromagnetic radiation that is characterized by the fact that some properties can be explained best by wave theory and others by particle theory
49
The de Broglie wavelength
the wavelength associated with a mass that has momentum.
50
The Doppler Effect
the change in the wavelength and frequency when a source of waves is moving towards or away from an observer.
51
Red shift
is the increase of the observed wavelength of white light from distant galaxies which are moving away from us.
52
Blue Shift
is the decrease of the observed wavelength of white light from galaxies which are moving towards us

Physics (4 decks)

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