physics Flashcards
what quantity is often used in describing harmonic motion?
frequency
if a cone is balanced on its apex, it illustrates what type of equilibrium?
unstable equilibrium
the ____ of a pivotal object is that point at which it can be struck without producing a reaction force on its pivot?
center of oscillation
“When the vector sum of the external forces acting on a system of particles equals to zero, the total linear momentum of the system remains constant”. This statement is known as:
Law of conservation of momentum
What is a glass bottle used to determine the specific gravity of liquids?
Polariscope
What refers to a series of parallel slits that produces a spectrum through the interference of light that is diffracted?
Diffraction grating
In three-dimensional space, the direction of a vector might be described in terms of
Right ascension and declination
What refers to the failure of one set of colour receptors in the eye to be simulated?
Retinal fatigue
What refers to property of sound waves which depends on the number of harmonics present and on their prominence?
Quality
“Every point on the wave front can be considered as a source of secondary wavelets that spread out in all directions with the wave speed of the medium. The wave front at any time is the envelope of these wavelets”. This is known as
Huygens’s principle
A spectrum consisting of a wide range of unseparated wavelength is called ______
Continuous spectrum
The instrument, which measures temperature by radiation, is called
Pyrometer
In optical system, what refers to its ability to produce separate images of nearby objects?
Resolving power
What refers to the defect in lenses which causes unequal refraction of the different colors?
Chromatic aberration
The scientist who systematically demonstrated the equivalence of mechanical energy and heat was
james prescott joule
The minimum temperature which can be measured with a mercury thermometer is _____
-39 degree C
Angular momentum is the product of _______
Moment of inertia and angular speed
The net electric charge in an isolated system remains constant”. This is known as
Principle of conservation of charge
The theory that the retina of the eye is provided with the three sets of receptors, each of which is sensitive to one of the primary colors is known as _________
Young-Helmholtz color vision theory
What refers to the property of some media to transmit light wave in a diffused matter to make objects behind them in distinguishable?
Translucent
What occurs when the resulting composite wave has an amplitude greater than that of either of the original waves?
Constructive interference
What is a probable explanation for observe phenomena which is supported by abundant data?
Theory
What is an electromagnetic radiation of very short wavelength emitted from the nucleus of a radioactive atom?
Gamma ray
The velocity of projection of a body which takes it beyond the earth’s gravitational attraction is called ______ of the body
escape velocity
In a damped harmonic oscillator, what reduces the amplitude of the vibrations?
friction
At any point along a streamline in an ideal fluid in steady flow, the sum of the pressure, the potential energy per unit volume and the kinetic energy per unit volume have the same value. This concept is known as
Bernoulli’s energy principle
The “f” number of the lens is the ratio of the:
Focal length of the lens to the effective aperture
What is a scaled drawing of the various forces, velocities or other quantities involved in the motion of the body?
Vector diagram
A chromatic scale is a diatonic scale with how many added half tones?
5
What instrument is used to measure humidity of air?
Hygrometer
If the forces on the free falling body balance one another, the body continues to fall at a constant velocity. What is this constant velocity called?
Terminal velocity
