Overview: Science Flashcards
A spontaneous radioactive decay with the emission of alpha particles
Alpha decay
The energy a molecule needs before it can engage in a reaction
Activation energy
An ion of helium that contains two protons and two neutrons
Alpha particle
A negatively charged ion
Anion
A negatively charged electrode
Anode
The sum of he masses of the protons and neutrons in an atom
Atomic mass
The number of protons (atomic particles found in a nucleus of every atom that carry a positive charge equal in size to the negative charge of an electron)
Atomic number
The radius of an atom
Atomic radius
The number of atoms or molecule per mole of a substance
Avogadro’s number
A spontaneous radioactive decay with the emission of beta particles
Beta decay
A negative or positive particle with mass equal to the mass of the electron which is emitted during beta radioactive decay
Beta particle
A model previously used to describe the atom which has since been found to be inaccurate
Bohr model
British thermal unit; roughly the amount of energy that must be added to 1 pound of water to increase its temperature 1F
BTU
Roughly the amount of energy that must be added to 1 gram of water to increase its temperature by 1C
Calorie
Any material that speeds up a reaction without being used up or altered by the reaction
Catalyst
A reaction that is sped up by a catalyst
Catalyzed reaction
A positively charged electrode
Cathode
A positively charged ion
Cation
The direct transfer of energy from one particle to another
Conduction
Changes the temperature via the movement of fluids over a surface
Convection
States that two opposite charges (positive and negative) attract each other with a force proportional to the product of the magnitudes of the charges and inversely proportional to the square and the distance between the charges; two charges with the same polarity repel each other with the same force
Coulomb’s law
A process used to create amorphous silicon
Deposition
Substances that have relatively high resistance and are poor conductors of electric current
Dielectrics
A deviation from the straight propagation of light rays; the bending of light around objects whose size is close to that of the wavelength of light
Diffraction
A reflection from a rough surface
Diffuse reflection
Chemistry dealing with electric charge
Electrochemistry
Negatively charged subatomic particle
Electron
Refers to an elements tendency to pick up free electrons and become an anion (a negatively charged ion)
Electronegativity
A property of matter; the molecules in a chunk of matter, the electromagnetic waves in a field of radiation, and the cells living in an organism all have energy
Energy
Keeping track of all the energy inputs and outputs in a system
Energy bookkeeping
The number of ways a system can be arranged - effectively the disorder of a system
Entropy
When two bodies with different temperatures come into contact with another, the temperature of the two different objects tend to increase or decrease until the two bodies have the same temperature
Equilibrium
A law which states that changing a magnetic field with time creates an electric field
Faraday’s law of induction
The change in energy of a system is equal to the sum of the heat added to the system and the work done on that system. Essentially, it illustrates that energy is conserved
First Law of Thermodynamics
Generally described as a nuclear reaction between two atomic nuclei, which collide at extremely high speeds and form a new heavier type of atomic nucleus
Fusion
A spontaneous radioactive decay with the emission of gamma radiation which is a high energy electromagnetic wave
Gamma decay
A surface on which the acceleration is always constant
Gaussian Surface
An approximation that treats light as straight beams of rays
Geometrical optics
This principle states that if we know the exact position of an electron, we know nothing about its velocity, and if we know the velocity of an electron we know nothing about its position, you cannot have one with the other
Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
A catalyst that is not in the same phase as the reactants
Heterogenous catalyst
A catalyst that is in the same phase as the reactants
Homogenous catalysts
Units of power
Horsepower
One of the earliest machines for producing useful mechanical energy
Hydraulic turbine
An approximation of gas with molecules of zero size and no interactions between them
Ideal gas
Tells us how fast light propagates in a medium relative to the speed of light in a vacuum
Index of Refraction
The field of chemistry that deals with nonorganic matter (that is, matter that is not carbon-based) such as metals and crystals
Inorganic chemistry
A phenomenon that occurs when two coherent light waves are emitted by two closely spaced light sources; interference can be either contractive (the two waves are added) or destructive (the two waves are subtracted) interaction between the two waves, depending on the phase difference between the waves
Interference
The energy necessary to remove the first electron from an atom and make it a positively charged ion
Ionization Energy
X-Rays and gamma rays photons passing through the air interact over and over with atoms in the air through Compton scattering, the photoelectric effect, and the electron-positron pair production
Ionizing Radiation
Atoms with the same number of protons, but differing numbers of neutrons
Isotopes
The amount of energy that is used by a one watt light up in one second
Joule
Energy that is generated with the help of nuclear reaction operations under human control; for example, the energy generated by the explosion of atomic and hydrogen bombs
Manmade nuclear energy
The average distance a molecule of a gas travels without collision
Mean free path
Elements that have characteristics of both metals and no metals; they are good conductors under some conditions, but poor conductors under other conditions
Metalloids
The most abundant elements of the periodic table; metals are good conductors of heat and electricity, are almost all solids at room temperature, and tend to prefer metallic and ionic bonds (chemical bonds formed by ions of opposite charge) to covalent bonds (a chemical bond formed between atoms by the sharing of electrons)
Metals
An uncharged atomic particle that has a mass nearly equal to a proton; neutrons are present in all known atomic nuclei except for hydrogen
Neutron
The second most abundant elements of the periodic table; nonmetals tend to be poor conductors of heat and electricity; includes elements that are solids, liquids, and gases at room temperature; and are more likely to engage in covalent bonding
Nonmetals
Matter that is not carbon-based
Nonorganic matter
Refers to the energy released by controlled nuclear reactions
Nuclear energy
The splitting of a heavy nucleus to create smaller nucleus or lighter nuclei; the sum of the masses of nuclei fragments will be smaller than the original mass of the nucleus
Nuclear fission
The innermost part of the atom; it is made up of protons and neutrons
Nucleus
In the Bohr model of the atom, these are the paths of the electrons
Orbitals
Tends to focus on the nonmetals, such as carbon and oxygen, and at times some of the alkali and alkaline earth metals
Organic chemistry
The difference between the number of electrons associated with an atom in a compound and the number of electrons in an atom of the element; in ions, the oxidation state is the ionic charge; in a covalent compounds the oxidation state corresponds to the formal charge; elements are assumed to exist in the zero oxidation state
Oxidation State
A table listing all known elements
Periodic table
The patterns observed in the periodic table
Periodic trends
The release of electrons that occurs when a metal in a vacuum is exposed to light
Photoelectric effect
Solid state materials that absorb impinging photons (from sunlight or other light sources) to produce electric current
Photovoltaic or solar cells
A special type of electromagnetic wave in which both the electric field and the magnetic field are perpendicular to the direction of propagation
Plane electromagnetic wave
The plane of oscillation of an electric field
Polarization plane
Energy divided by the time required for the energy transfer
Power
A positively charged subatomic particle
Proton
The property of a nucleus to spontaneously emit radiation, such as alpha, beta, and gamma radiation, or to spontaneously disintegrate into lighter “daughter” nuclei during fission radioactive decay
Radioactivity
Heat can only be transferred from a hot object to a cooler object never in the other direction
Second law of thermodynamics
Substances that are poor conductors of electric current
Semiconductors
An early type of hydraulic turbine
Simple water wheel
A reflection from a smooth surface
Speculate reflection
The difference in the standard reduction potentials of the two solutions in a cell
Standard electrode potential
A turbine which operates on high pressure steam that is fed into nozzles, where it is accelerated, and then this high-speed flow impacts upon turbine blades attached to a rotor; the rotor of the steam turbine is connected to an electric power generator, which generates electricity
Steam Turbine
The measure of how fast atoms or molecules move within a body, be it solid, liquid, or gas
Temperature
The higher the temperature, the larger the amplitude of the vibration of atoms or molecules around their equilibrium position, and the larger the piece of bulk, such as metal, becomes
Thermal expansion
A branch of physics and an engineering science that connects heat, internal or thermal energy, and mechanical energy
Thermodynamics
A unit of power (2)
Watts
The theory that light behaves both as a particle and a wave
Wave particle duality
