Physics Additional Flashcards
The rate of change of an object’s velocity or speed
Acceleration
An interaction between two objects that are not in contact
Action at a distance
The force exerted on an object by the air when it moves through it.
Air resistance
The least penetrating type of ionising radiation
Alpha radiation
An electric current that reverses in direction
Alternating Current
A meter that measures current
Ammeter
The unit of electric current
Ampere (Amp)
The distance moved by an object divided by the time taken for this to happen
Average speed
The low-level radiation, mostly from natural sources, that everyone is exposed to all the time.
Background radiation
One of the types of ionising radiation that is more penetrating than alpha but not as penetrating as gamma. A high speed electron
Beta radiation
A process in which the products of one nuclear reaction cause further nuclear reactions to happen so that more and more reactions occur.
Chain reaction
A device for changing the direction of the electric current through the coil of a motor every half turn. It consists of a ring divided into two halves with two contacts touching the two halves.
Commutator
The idea that the total amount of energy in the universe is constant, and never increases or decreases. So if something loses energy, one or more other things must have gained the same amount of energy
Conservation of energy
Having a radioactive material inside the body, or having it on skin or clothes.
Contamination
In a nuclear reactor, these absorb neutrons and are raised and lowered to control the rate of fission reactions.
Control rod
In a nuclear reactor, the liquid or gas that circulates through the core and transfers heat to the boiler.
Coolant
A force in the opposite direction to somethings motion
Counter force
Taking a power station out of service at the end of its lifetime, dismantling it and disposing of the waste safely.
Decommissioning
An electric current that stays in the same direction
Direct Current
A graph that shows the distance of an object from its starting point at each moment during its journey
Displacement-time graph
The force pushing something forward
Driving force
A closed loop of conductors connected between positive and negative terminals of a battery or power supply
Electric circuit
A flow of charges around a circuit
Current
A region where an electric charge experiences a force.
Electric field
The name of the process in which potential different is generated in a wire when it is in a changing magnetic field.
Electromagnetic induction
A tiny negatively charged particle which is part of an atom. They have negligible mass and one negative charge
Electron
A push or pull experienced by an object when it interacts with another. This is needed to change the motion of an object.
Force
The force exerted on an object due to the interaction between it and another object it is sliding over.
Friction
A container for nuclear fuel, which enables fuel to be inserted into and removed from a nuclear reactor
Fuel rod
The most penetrating type of ionising radiation produced by the nucleus of an atom during radioactive decay.
Gamma radiation
A device that uses motion to generate electricity. It consists of a coil that rotates in a magnetic field
Generator
The energy stored when an object is raised to a higher point
Gravitational Potential Energy
The time taken for the amount of a radioactive substance to fall to half its original value
Half Life
A category of nuclear waste that is highly radioactive and hot. Produced in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons processing
High Level Waste
A way of connecting electric components that makes a branch or branches in the circuit so that charges can flow around more than one loop
In parallel
A way of connecting electric components so that they are all in a single loop.
In series
The speed of an object at a particular instant
Instantaneous speed
Two forces that arise from the same interaction. They are equal in size and opposite in direction.
Interaction pair
A category of nuclear waste that is generally short-lived but requires some shielding to protect living organisms for example contaminated materials that result from decommissioning a nuclear reactor.
Intermediate level waste
Radiation with photons with enough energy to remove electrons from atoms.
Ionising Radiation
Being exposed to radiation from an external source
Irradiation
Atoms of the same element that have different mass numbers because they have different numbers of neutrons in the nucleus
Isotope
The energy that something has because of its motion
Kinetic energy
An electric component whose resistance varies depending on the brightness of light falling on it.
Light Dependent Resistor
A category of nuclear waste that contains small amounts of short lived radioactivity, for example paper, rags, tools, clothing and filters from hospitals and industry
Low Level Waste
The region around a magnet, or a wire carrying an electric current, in which magnetic effects can be detected
Magnetic Field
A property of any moving object equal to mass multiplied by velocity
Momentum
A device that uses an electric current to produce continuous motion
Motor
An uncharged particle found in the nucleus of atoms. It has a relative mass of 1
Neutron
Radiation with photons that do not have enough energy to remove electrons from atoms
Non-ionising radiation
The process used in nuclear power stations to break apart atoms when they absorb neutrons
Nuclear Fission
The process in which two small nuclei combine to form a larger one releasing energy. This happens in stars
Nuclear Fusion
The tiny central part of an atom made up of protons and neutrons
Nucleus
The result that the current through a resistor is proportional to the voltage if the temperature is constant.
Ohm’s Law
Tiny packets of energy proportional to the frequency of the radiation
Photon
The difference in potential energy between two components in an electric circuit. Measured in Volts
Potential Difference
In an electric circuit, the rate at which work is done by the battery or power supply on the components. Equal to current x voltage
Power
Tiny particle in the nucleus of atoms with a positive charge and a relative mass of 1
Proton
A flow of energy from a source
Radiation
A measure, in millisieverts, of the possible harm done to your body, which takes into account both the amount and type of radiation your have been exposed to.
Radiation dose
Used to describe a material, atom or element that produces alpha, beta or gamma radiation
Radioactive
Estimating the age of an object eg rocks by measuring its radioactivity
Radioactive dating
Spontaneous change in an unstable element giving out alpha, beta or gamma radiation.
Radioactive decay
Using radiation to treat a patient
Radiotherapy
The force exerted by a hard surface on an object that presses on it.
Reaction of a surface
This indicates how easy or difficult it is for electric charge to flow through a component in a circuit.
Resistance
The sum of all the forces acting on an object when you take into account their direction
Resultant force
The process of making something free from live bacteria and other microorganisms. Gamma radiation is used for this.
Sterilisation
A fundamental force of nature that acts inside the nucleus of the atom
Strong Nuclear Force
An electric circuit component whose resistance changes with temperature.
Thermistor
An electrical device consisting of two coils of wire wound around an iron core. An alternating current in one coil causes a changing magnetic field that induces alternating current in the other. Used to step up and step down voltage.
Transformer
The nucleus in radioactive isotopes are this.
Unstable
The speed of an object in a given direction
Velocity
A way of summarising the motion of an object by showing its velocity at every instant of its journey
Velocity-time graph
This is marked on a battery or power supply and is a measure of the push it exerts on charges in a circuit.
Voltage
An instrument for measuring the potential difference between two points in an electric circuit.
Voltmeter
This is done whenever a force makes something move. It is equal to the amount of energy transferred.
Work
