Historical Figures and Contemporary Physics Flashcards
Galileo Galilei
bodies dropped from the same height will all fall with the same acceleration, g. Principle of inertia: the natural state of motion is uniform constant velocity
Isaac Newton
1st law of motion: the natural state of motion is constant velocity UNLESS acted upon by an unbalanced force. 2nd law of motion: sigmaF = ma 3rd law of motion: action-reaction pair. Law of gravity, Fg = Gm1m2/r^2
James Watt
developed the concept of power
Johann Kepler
3 laws of planetary motion
Charles-Augustin de Coulomb
Coulomb’s law: Fe = kq1q2/r^2
Georg Simon Ohm
ohm’s law: V = IR
Michael Faraday
electromagnetic fields: introduced the way to visualize electric and magnetic fields as lines extending through space. Electromagnetic induction: moving magnet through current (Etc…)
Heinrich lenz
lenz’s law: dictated the direction of an induced current in a closed loop of conducting material, based on conversation of energy
James Maxwell
electromagnetic waves: showed that light is an electromagnetic wave moving at the speed of light
Thomas Young
double-slit experiment. Proved that light is a wave phenomenon
Christian doppler
doppler effect: shift in wavelength and frequency when the source is moving toward/away from an observer
Lord Kelvin
abs. zero
James Joule
showed that heat and work are both methods of adding energy to a system
Albert Michaelson and Edward Morley
attempted to detect ether using an INTERFEROMETER (failure->relativity)
J.J. Thomson
discovered the electron. (plum-pudding model -> atom has overall positive charge with negatively charged electrons distributed randomly throughout the atom
Max Planck
founder of quantum theory: derived planck’s constant and said that light energy can be emitted only in multiples of specific quantities.
Albert Einstein
photoelectric effect: light acts like a particle (photon). E = hf. special relativity, mass-energy equivalence (E = mc^2)
Ernest Rutherford
gold foil experiment: fired alpha particles at a very thin piece of gold foil. showed that the atom is mostly empty space consisting of a dense positively charged nucleus surrounded by orbiting electrons
Niels Bohr
Planetary model of the atom, including specific energy levels. Shows why electron orbits do not decay and fall into the nucleus.
Microprocessor
a complex, single circuit consisting of many miniaturized components
Semiconductor
can be either conductor or insulator
Superconductor
has zero electrical resistance when cooled below a critical temperature
Transistor
used in integrated circuits of all modern electrical devices. can act as a switch.
