Physics Word Review

Front 1

PROTON

Back 1

The proton is a subatomic particle, symbol p or p+, with a positive electric charge of +1e elementary charge and mass slightly less than that of a neutron

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NEUTRON

Back 2

he particles in an atom that have a neutral charge. They aren't positive like protons. They aren't negative like electrons. But don't start thinking that they aren't important.

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ELECTRON

Back 3

a stable subatomic particle with a charge of negative electricity, found in all atoms and acting as the primary carrier of electricity in solids.

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ISOTOPE

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Each atomic number identifies a specific element, but not the isotope; an atom of a given element may have a wide range in its number of neutrons. The number of nucleons (both protons and neutrons) in the nucleus is the atom's mass number, and each isotope of a given element has a different mass number.

Front 5

PHOTON

Back 5

a particle representing a quantum of light or other electromagnetic radiation. A photon carries energy proportional to the radiation frequency but has zero rest mass

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WAVELENGTH

Back 6

the distance between successive crests of a wave, especially points in a sound wave or electromagnetic wave

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FREQUENCY

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Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency, which emphasizes the contrast to spatial frequency and angular frequency

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ELECTROSTATIC FORCE

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If the two charges have the same sign, theelectrostatic force between them is repulsive; if they have different sign, the forcebetween them is attractive. An electric field is a vector field that associates to each point in space the Coulomb force experienced by a test charge

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ELECTROMAGNETIC FORCE

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A fundamental force in nature, the electromagnetic force acts between charged particles and is the combination of all electrical and magnetic forces. The electromagnetic force can be attractive or repulsive.

Front 10

GRAVITATIONAL FORCE

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Newton's law of gravity states that the gravitational force between two bodies is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them

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STRONG NUCLEAR FORCE

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a fundamental interaction of nature that acts between subatomic particles of matter. The strong force binds quarks together in clusters to make more-familiar subatomic particles, such as protons and neutrons. It also holds together the atomic nucleus and underlies interactions between all particles containing quarks.

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WEAK NUCLEAR FORCE

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a force between elementary particles that causes certain PROCESSES that take place with low probability, as radioactivebeta-decay and collisions between neutrinos and other particles.

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FREEBODY DIAGRAM

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A free body diagram is a graphic, dematerialized, symbolic representation of thebody (structure, element or segment of an element) in which all connecting "pieces" have been removed. A FBD is a convenient method to model the structure, structural element, or segment that is under scrutiny.

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ALPHA DECAY

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α-decay, is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits an alpha particle and thereby transforms or 'decays' into an atom with a mass number that is reduced by 4 and an atomic number that is reduced by 2.

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BETA DECAY

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is a type of radioactive decay in which a proton is transformed into a neutron, or vice versa, inside an atomic nucleus. This process allows the atom to move closer to the optimal ratio of protons and neutrons

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GAMMA DECAY

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is the release of energy in the form of gamma rays. In agamma decay, a high energy photon is emitted from the nucleus to attain a lower energy configuration. In the gamma decay of a nucleus, the emitted photon and recoiling nucleus each have a well-defined energy after the decay.

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FISSION

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nuclear fission is either a nuclear reaction or a radioactive decay process in which thenucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts (lighter nuclei). The fission process often produces free neutrons and photons (in the form of gamma rays), and releases a very large amount of energy even by the energetic standards of radioactive decay

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FUSION

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a thermonuclear reaction inwhich nuclei of light atoms JOIN to form nuclei of heavier atoms,as the combination of deuterium atoms to form helium atoms.

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CARBON DATING

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to estimate the age of (an object of plant or animal origin) byradiocarbon dating.