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Definitions Flashcards

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AP® Physics flashcards Physics 101 flashcards
1
Q

Displacement

A

Distance moved in a particular direction (Straight line)

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2
Q

Velocity

A

Rate of change of displacement with time m/s

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3
Q

Speed

A

Distance/Time m/s

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4
Q

Average velocity

A

Displacement/Time
u+v/2

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5
Q

Instaneous velocity

A

Speed at the moment in time

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6
Q

Constant velocity

A

Object doesn’t speed up or slow down or change direction

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7
Q

Acceleration

A

Change in velocity with respect to time

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8
Q

Scaler

A

Magnitude but no direction

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9
Q

Vector

A

Magnitude and direction

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10
Q

Momentum

A

How hard it is to stop an object that is moving
p=mv

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11
Q

Conservation of momentum

A

Momentum before = momentum after if no external forces acts on the bodies

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12
Q

Formula of conservation of momentum

A

m1u1+m2u2=m1v1+m2v2

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13
Q

Newton’s First Law

A

An object will remain at rest or travels at constant velocity unless an external resultant force acts on it

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14
Q

Newton’s Second Law

A

The rate of change of a body’s momentum will be proportional to the net force applied and will act in the direction of the force
F=ma

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15
Q

Newton’s Third Law

A

Every action has an opposite but equal reaction

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16
Q

Force

A

Anything that makes an object move or change velocity
F=MA

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17
Q

Friction

A

The force that opposes motion between two surfaces that are in contact

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18
Q

Mass

A

The amount of matter in an object

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19
Q

Terminal velocity

A

The constant velocity of a falling object when the force of air resistant is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction to the force of gravity

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20
Q

Newton’s Universal Law of Gravitation

A

Every mass in the universe attracts every other mass with a force along the line of their centres, that is proportional to the product of their mass and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them

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21
Q

Inverse square law

A

If the distance is doubled the force is four times smaller

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22
Q

Universal gravitation forumula

A

F=Gm1m2/d^2

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23
Q

Weight

A

A measure of the force of gravity on an object
W=mg

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24
Q

Density

A

Mass per unit volume (kg m^-3)

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25
Q

Pressure

A

Force per unit area
F=P/A
P = ρgh

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26
Q

Boyle’s Law

A

The volume of a fixed mass of a gas is inversely proportional to its pressure, as long as temperature is constant

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27
Q

Archimedes’ principle

A

Whenever an object is totally or partially submerged in a fluid, it experiences an upthrust that is equal to the weight of the fluid it displaces

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28
Q

Law of flotation

A

Whenever an object is floating, the weight of the fluid displaced will equal the object’s weight

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29
Q

Lever

A

A rigid bar that is free to rotate about a fixed fulcrum

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30
Q

Moment of a force

A

Magnitude of the force multiplied by the perpendicular distance from the axis to the force

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31
Q

Couple

A

A pair of equal parallel forces that turn in opposite directions

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32
Q

Work

A

The energy given to a body by a force moving it through a displacement in the same direction as the applied force
W=Fs

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33
Q

Energy

A

The ability to do work

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34
Q

Law of conservation of energy

A

Energy cannot be created or destroyed but is converted from one form to another

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35
Q

Potential energy

A

Energy due to position or properties and forces acting on it
mgh

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36
Q

Kinetic energy

A

Energy due to movement
1/2mv^2

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37
Q

Power

A

Work/Time

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38
Q

Efficiency

A

Useful energy/ Total energy

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39
Q

Heat

A

Amount of energy supplied to an object

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40
Q

Temperature

A

Measure of the hotness or coldness of an object

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41
Q

Thermometric property

A

Physical property that changes measurably and repeatedly with temperature change

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42
Q

Heat Capacity

A

Heat capacity of an object is the energy required to change its temperature by 1 kelvin
Q = CΔθ

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43
Q

Specific heat capacity

A

The energy require to change 1kg of the substance by 1 kelvin
Q = mcΔθ

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44
Q

Latent heat

A

The heat energy required to change an objects state without a change in temperature

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45
Q

Specific latent heat

A

The heat energy require to change the state of 1kg of the substance without a change in temperature
Q=ml

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46
Q

Conduction

A

Transfer of heat energy in a solid by passing on kinetic energy from molecule to molecule

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47
Q

Convection

A

Transfer of heat energy by the circulation of the heated parts of a liquid or gas

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48
Q

Radiation

A

The transfer of heat energy as electromagnetic waves without the need of a medium

49
Q

Solar constant

A

The amount of solar energy striking 1m^2 of the Earth’s atmosphere every second

50
Q

U-value

A

The amount of heat energy that can be transmitted across 1m^2 of its surface every second, as long as there is temperature difference of !K each side of the material

51
Q

Normal

A

Line perpendicular to a surface at the incident point

52
Q

Plane

A

Two dimensional surface

53
Q

Law of reflection

A

The incident ray, reflected ray and normal ray all lies in the same plane
The angle of incidence i equals the angle of reflection r

54
Q

Real image

A

An image cause by the actual intersection of light rays

55
Q

Virtual image

A

An image cause by the apparent intersection of light rays

56
Q

Parallax

A

The difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different line of sight

57
Q

Refraction

A

Bending of light at a boundary as it passes from one transparent medium to another

58
Q

Laws of refraction (Snell’s Law)

A

The incident ray, refracted ray and normal all lie in the same plane

The ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence i to the sine of angle refraction r is a constant This constant is called the refractive index

59
Q

Critical angle

A

The angle of incidence in the denser medium that results in an angle of refraction of 90 degrees in the rarer medium

60
Q

Total internal reflection

A

Occurs when light ray, travelling from a denser medium to a rare medium at an incident angle greater than the critical angle is completely reflected

61
Q

Power of lens

A

Its ability to converge or diverge light rays
P= 1/f

62
Q

Long sighted

A

See distant objects more clearly than close objects

63
Q

Short sighted

A

See close objects more clearly than distant objects

64
Q

Mechanical waves

A

Require a medium to travel through and physically disrupt that medium

65
Q

Electromagnetic waves

A

Don’t require a medium to travel through and cause electric and magnetic disruption

66
Q

Travelling waves

A

Carry energy through a medium without any overall movement of the medium

67
Q

Longitudinal wave

A

Direction of vibration is parallel to the direction in which the wave is travelling

68
Q

Transverse wave

A

The direction of vibration is perpendicular to the direction in which the wave is travelling

69
Q

Reflection (Wave)

A

The bouncing of a wave off an object

70
Q

Refraction (waves)

A

Bending of a wave as it enters a different medium and changes speed

71
Q

Diffraction

A

Spreading out of a wave as it moves through a gap or around an obstacle

72
Q

Interference waves

A

Combine to form a resultant amplitude made up of each wave’s individual amplitude

73
Q

Polarisation

A

A wave is confined to a particular plane

74
Q

Stationary waves

A

Waves of the same frequency and amplitude that constructively and destructively interfere to produce a wave pattern in a confined space

75
Q

Doppler effect

A

Apparent change in frequency due to the relative motion of source and observer

76
Q

Pitch

A

Frequency of a note

77
Q

Loudness

A

Amplitude of a note

78
Q

Quality

A

The relative strength and numbers of overtones present

79
Q

Overtones

A

Integer multiples of the fundamental frequency. The First overtone is 2f.

80
Q

Harmonics

A

Integer multiples of the fundamental frequency. The first harmonic is at f.

81
Q

Intensity of sound

A

The rate of sound energy incident on 1M^2 at a right angle to the direction of the motion of the sound
I=P/A

82
Q

Dispersion of light

A

The separating of light into its different colours

83
Q

Primary colours

A

The 3 colours that combine to make white light
Red, green and blue

84
Q

Secondary colours

A

Combining 2 primary colours in equal amount magenta, cyan and yellow

85
Q

Complementary colours

A

Primary and secondary colours that combine to give white light

86
Q

Hydrometer

A

Denser the liquid is, more of the hydrometer will float higher. A scale can be put on the side and the density of liquid can be measured

87
Q

Length of a column of liquid

A

Liquid expands when heated
If its placed in a thin tube, length of the column increases as the liquid expands and decreases as the liquid cools and contract

88
Q

Electrical resistance

A

The resistance of a conductor changes with temperature
When temperature increase the resistance of metal increases as well this is due to molecules vibrating more and collide more with the electrons trying to pass through

89
Q

Emf of a thermocouple

A

If 2 different metals are joined together to form a circuit and the two junctions are at different temperatures a small emf appears which can be measured by a very sensitive voltmeter.
Greater the temperature the greater the emf

90
Q

Colour

A

Colours of certain crystals can change with temperature

91
Q

Volume of gas at constant pressure

A

As a gas is heated it expands and if the pressure is kept constant the volume of gas will increase in proportion to the increase in temperature

92
Q

Pressure at a constant volume

A

If a fixed mass of a gas is to have the same volume when heated then pressure would increase. The higher the temperature the greater the pressure required to maintain the same temperature

93
Q

Tog value

A

Measure of the insulating ability of a piece of clothing

94
Q

Convex mirror

A

A ray which strikes the pole is reflected back at an equal angle
A ray strikes the mirror parallel to the principles axis is reflected as if it came from the focus

95
Q

Optical fibre

A

Very thin transparent rod which light can travel through by total internal reflection

96
Q

Concave mirror

A

Parallel to the principle axis is reflected through the focus
Ray which strikes the pole is reflected at the same angle

97
Q

Convex lenses

A

A ray which strikes the optic centre will pass straight through the lens
A ray travelling parallel to the principal axis passes through the focus on the other side

98
Q

Concave lenses

A

A ray which strikes the optic centre passes straight through
A ray which strikes the lens travelling parallel to the principle axis is refracted as if it came from the focus

99
Q

Constant wave phase

A

2 source are emitting waves that are a definite fixed amount out of step with each other

100
Q

Coherent sources

A

2 sources of periodic waves are in phase or there is a constant phases differences between them

101
Q

Period of a wave

A

Time taken for a particular point to undergo one complete oscillation

102
Q

Frequency of a wave

A

The number of oscillations passing a particular point per second

103
Q

Speed of a wave

A

Equal to the frequency multiply by the wavelength
c=f x landau

104
Q

Frequency limits of audibility

A

20Hz - 20000Hz

105
Q

Natural frequency

A

When object is free to vibrate it does so at certain frequency - one of these frequencies is more likely to occur than others

106
Q

Resonance

A

If frequency of a periodic force applied to a body is the same as or very near to its natural frequency that body will vibrate with a large amplitude

107
Q

Diffraction grating

A

Transparent material where the distance between the slits is very lose together so that it is close to the wavelength of light and a clear pattern will form

108
Q

Formula for mirrors

A

1/f = 1/u + 1/v
f = focal length
u =object length
v = image length

109
Q

Magnification formula

A

m = v/u
v - image height
u - object height

110
Q

Reflective index

A

n= sini / sinr
n = speed of light in air / speed of light in material
n = real depth / apparent depth

111
Q

Intensity

A

Power/ Area

112
Q

Use of concave mirror

A

Searchlight
Projectors
Dentists mirror

113
Q

Use of convex mirrors

A

In shops to detect shoplifters
Door mirror of cars
At concealed entrances to give view of oncoming traffic

114
Q

Uses of Optical fibre

A

Transmit telephone signals
Endoscope
Dentist’s drill

115
Q

Two lenses in contact

A

Overall power of the lenses are the sum of each of the individual lenses
P= P1+P2

116
Q

nodes

A

Points at rest

117
Q

Anti nodes

A

Points at maximum amplitude

118
Q

Threshold of hearing

A

Smallest sound available at 1KHz to the human ear to 10.12 W/m-2

Physics (6 decks)

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