Terms Flashcards
Centrifugal force
Not a real force, but the effect that tends to move an object away from the center of a circle it is rotating about (a consequence of inertia) - Like a centrifuge flinging stuff away from the center
Centripetal force
The force on a rotating or orbiting body in the direction of the centre of rotation - From Latin for “center seeking”
Coriolis force
A fictitious force apparently exerted on any moving body (including a parcel of air) due to the rotation of the earth, observed as a deflection of the body to clockwise in the N.Hemisphere, or to anticlockwise in the S Hemisphere
Mesopelagic Zone
Aka the Twilight Zone - Zone of the ocean from 200-1000m deep - The furthest depth that sunlight will reach - Beyond is Bathypelagic (or Midnight) Zone, where no sunlight reaches
Avogadro’s Constant
The number of constituent particles, usually atoms or molecules, that are contained in the amount of substance given by one mole - Approx. 6x10^23
Six classical simple machines
Lever Wheel y axle Pulley Inclined plane Wedge Screw
Planck Length
The smallest measurement of length with any meaning - The length at which classical ideas about gravity y space-time cease to be valid - Also called the “quantum of length” - Approx. 1x10^-35 meters
Define: voltage
Aka Electromotive Force - The difference in electrostatic potential between 2 points in space - The pressure from an electrical circuit’s power source that pushes charged electrons (current) through a conducting loop, enabling them to do work such as illuminating a light
Laws of Thermodynamics
- If two systems are in thermal equilibrium with a 3rd system, they are in thermal equilibrium with each other
- Conservation of energy - Energy can’t be created or destroyed in an isolated system
- Entropy (randomness) of an isolated system always increases y never decreases
- Entropy of a system approaches constant value as temperature approaches absolute zero
Planck constant
In physics, the quantum of action (symbol h) - Links the amount of energy a photon carries with the frequency of its electromagnetic wave - About 6.62606×10^-34 J·s (joule-seconds)
Supersymmetry (define)
In physics, a theory that attempts to unify the fundamental physical forces, y proposes a physical symmetry between bosons y fermions - Unproven, but would solve many physics problems if true - Abbreviated SUSY
Fermion (define)
A particle with totally antisymmetric composite quantum states, which means it must obey the Pauli exclusion principle and hence Fermi–Dirac statistics - They have half-integer spin - Among them are many elementary particles, incl. protons y electrons
Boson (define)
A particle with totally symmetric composite quantum states, which exempts them from the Pauli exclusion principle, and that hence obeys Bose–Einstein statistics - They have integer spin - Among them are many elementary particles, incl. photons y gluons, and some (gauge bosons) are known to carry the fundamental forces - Named after Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose
Pauli Exclusion Principle
A principle in quantum mechanics that states that no two identical fermions may occupy the same quantum state simultaneously - For example, it is impossible for two electrons of a poly-electron atom to have the same values of the four quantum numbers (spin, angular momentum, energy level, magnetic number)
Diffraction (define)
In physics, the breaking up of an electromagnetic wave as it passes a geometric structure (e.g. a slit), followed by reconstruction of the wave by interference
