EOS1 Physics definitions

• Amplitude: A wave’s maximum displacement from its equilibrium position
• During a state change, the potential energy of the system is changing but the kinetic energy is not.
• Antinode: A position of maximum displacement in a stationary wave
• Coherence: Waves are coherent if they have the same wavelength and frequency, as well as there being a fixed phase difference between them
• Electromagnetic Waves: Waves that consist of p erpendicular electric and magnetic oscillations
• Frequency: The number of waves that pass a point in a unit time period
• It is the inverse of the time period
• Interference: The name given to the superposition of waves that occurs when two waves meet
• If the waves are in phase they will constructively interfere, but if they are out of phase, they will destructively interfere
• Longitudinal Wave: A wave with oscillations that are parallel to the direction of energy propagation
• Sound waves are an example of a longitudinal wave
• Path Difference: A measure of how far ahead a wave is compared to another wave, usually expressed in terms of the wavelength
• Phase Difference: The difference in phase between two points on a wave
• It is usually expressed in radians
• Phase: A measure of how far through the wave’s cycle a given point on the wave is
• Stationary Wave: A wave that stores, but does not transfer, energy
• Transverse Wave: A wave with oscillations that are perpendicular to the direction of energy propagation
• Electromagnetic waves are examples of transverse waves
• Wavelength: The distance between two identical positions on two adjacent waves
• It is commonly measured from peak to peak or trough to trough
• Breaking Stress: The maximum stress that an object can withstand before failure occurs
• Brittle: A brittle object wi ll show very little strain before reaching its breaking stress
• Centre of Mass: The single point through which all the mass of an object can be said to act
• Conservation of Energy: Energy cannot be created or destroyed - it can only be transferred into d ifferent forms.
• Conservation of Momentum: The total momentum of a system before an event, must be equal to the total momentum of the system after the event, assuming no external forces act
• Couple: Two equal and opposite parallel forces that act on an ob ject through different lines of action
• It has the effect of causing a rotation without translation
• Density: The mass per unit volume of a material
• Efficiency: The ratio of useful output to total input for a given system
• Elastic Behavior: If a materia l deforms with elastic behavior, it will return to its original shape when the deforming forces are removed
• The object will not be permanently deformed
• Elastic Collision: A collision in which the total kinetic energy of the system before the collision is equal to the total kinetic energy of the system after the collision
• Elastic Limit: The force beyond which an object will no longer deform elastically, and instead deform plastically
• Beyond the elastic limit, when the deforming forces are removed, the object will not return to its original shape.
• Elastic Strain Energy: The energy stored in an object when it is stretched
• Resistance: A measure of how difficult it is for current to flow through a material.
• The object will be permanently deformed.
• Young Modulus: The ratio of stress to strain for a given material.
• The total resistance is equal to the sum of the resistances of the resistors.
• All electrons in an insulator are part of the individual atoms that make it up