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DEFINITIONS

DEFINE Unit 2 - Mechanics Displacement The distance travelled at a particular direction Velocity The rate of change of displacement with a given direction Speed The rate of change of distance Acceleration The rate of change of velocity with a given direction Linear momentum The product of mass and velocity Impulse The change of momentum Power The rate at which energy is transferred, the same as the rate at which work is done. Efficiency The ratio of useful energy to the total energy transferred

Unit 3 Thermal Physics Mole The basic SI unit for amount of substance. One mole of any substance is equal to the amount of that substance that contains the same number of atoms as 0.0012 kg of carbon-12. Molar mass The mass of one mole of substance Avogadro constant The number of atoms in 0.0012 kg for carbon-12 (6.02x1023) Specific heat capacity Amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kg of the substance by 1K Thermal capacity Amount of energy needed to raise an objects temperature by 1K or 1C Specific latent heat The amount of energy per 1kg absorbed or released during a change of phase Pressure The normal force to an area per unit area

Unit 4 - Waves Displacement The instantaneous distance of the moving object from its mean position in a specific direction Amplitude The maximum displacement from the mean position Frequency The number of oscillations completed per unit time Period The time taken for one complete oscillation Phase difference The measure of how in step different particles are. If moving together they are in phase. Simple harmonic motion The motion that takes place when the acceleration of object is always directed towards the equilibrium point, and is proportional to its displacement from a fixed point. Wavelength The distance between successive crests or wavefronts Wave speed The speed at which the energy in the wave is propagated Intensity The power per unit area that is received by the observer. The intensity of a wave is proportional to the square of its amplitude I (intensity) proportional to A2 (amplitude)

Unit 5 Electric currents Electric potential difference The electrical energy per unit charge Electronvolt The energy gained by an electron accelerated through a potential difference of 1 volt Electric current The rate of flow of electrical charge Resistance The ratio of the voltage across a conductor to the current following though it Electromotive force The total energy difference per unit charge around a circuit

Unit 6 Fields and forces Gravitational field strength The force felt per unit mass by a small test mass in the field Electric field strength The force felt per unit charge on a small positive test charge at that point Magnitude of magnetic field Direction of magnetic field

Unit 7 Atomic and nuclear physics Nuclide A particular type of atom or nucleus determined by its proton (atomic) number and its nucleon number / number of protons and number of neutrons Isotope An element that contain the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons Nucleon A proton or neutron Nucleon number A The number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus Proton number Z Number of protons in the nucleus Neutron number N Number of neutrons in the nucleus Radioactive half-life Half life is a random and spontaneous process. The half-life is the time it takes for the number of an undecayed nuclei fall by half Unified atomic mass unit One-twelfth mass of a C atom

Mass defect The difference between the mass of the component nucleons and the mass of the nucleus. Binding energy The work done required to separate a nucleus into its component nucleons Binding energy per nucleon - The division of the nuclear binding energy over the mass number.

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