physics midterm
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Created by:
Puddingpop on December 14, 2011
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59 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 simple harmonic (oscillatory) motion | back-and-forth vibratory motion |
| sine curve | pictorial representation of a wave |
| amplitude | distance from midpoint to the crest or trough of a wave |
| frequency | number of vibrations an object makes in a unit of time (usually seconds) measured in Hz |
| frequency formula | frequency = 1/period period = 1/frequency |
| transverse wave | wave in which motion of the wave is at right angles to the medium (i.e. electromagnetic radio waves) |
| longitudinal wave | wave in which motion of the wave goes along the medium (i.e. sound waves) |
| interference | can amplify or neutralize a wave in phase = constructive out of phase = destructive |
| standing wave | a wave which has stationary parts; forms only if a multiple of half a wavelength fits exactly into the length of the vibrating medium |
| node | stationary part of a standing wave |
| antinode | position with the largest amplitude on a standing wave |
| Doppler effect | apparent change in frequency due to the motion of the source blue shift = increase in frequency red shift = decrease in frequency |
| infrasonic | sound waves below 20 Hz |
| ultrasonic | sound waves above 20,000 Hz |
| compression | an area of a longitudinal wave where the particles of the medium move close together, colliding to make a pulse of air |
| rarefaction | a part in a longitudinal wave where the particles are spread apart, creating a gust of rarefied air in the opposite direction as compression |
| sound transmission | solid, liquid, gas transmit sound gas = higher temperature, lighter mass of particles, higher speed solid, liquid = greater elasticity, higher speed (steel very elastic, putty inelastic) |
| oscilloscope | measures sound waves in decibels |
| decibel | dB; hearing damage begins at 85 |
| forced vibration | when an object is made to vibrate by a vibrating object nearby |
| natural frequency | frequency at which an object vibrates when disturbed |
| resonance | when a vibration forced on an object matches its natural frequency, increases amplitude |
| beat | periodic variation in loudness of a sound |
| photon | massless bundle of concentrated electromagnetic energy |
| speed of light formula | distance/time |
| electromagnetic wave | part-electric, part-magnetic wave |
| infrared | electromagnetic rays with frequencies lower than visible light |
| ultraviolet | electromagnetic rays with frequencies higher than visible light |
| transparent | material whose atoms absorb and reemit light |
| opaque | materials which turn light into random kinetic energy |
| shadow | where light rays cannot reach |
| scattering | when light is absorbed and reemitted in all directions |
| water | greenish-blue because it resonates with infrared and gradually filters out |
| excited state | state with greater energy than the atom's lowest energy state |
| spectroscope | analyzes light from glowing elements |
| frequency/energy relations | frequency of photon or its color directly proportional to energy transmission of electron |
| line spectrum | pattern of distinct lines of color, each line responding to a frequency of light |
| reflection | return of a wave into its original medium |
| law of reflection | angle of incidence = angle of reflection |
| virtual image | image appearing in a location it cannot reach |
| diffuse reflection | rough surface (greater than 1/8) scatters rays |
| reverberations | multiple reflections of sound waves |
| refraction | bending of a a wave crossing between two media speed increase = away from normal speed decrease = towards normal |
| wave front | line representing positions of different crests in a diagram |
| air | sound waves refract toward cool air |
| mirage | image caused by refraction of light in Earth's atmosphere |
| speed of light in air | speed of light in air .03% less than in a vacuum |
| dispersion | separation of light into colors in a prism |
| critical angle | angle of incidence that results in light being refracted at 90 degrees with respect to normal; emerging beam reduces to 0 |
| total internal reflection | complete reflection of light back into its original medium (critical angle) |
| lens | piece of transparent material that refracts light |
| farsightedness | converging lens |
| nearsightedness | diverging lens |
| astigmatism | eye more curved in one direction than other; cylindrical corrective lenses curved more in different parts |
| aberration | distortion in an image |
| yellow-green | brightest color of sunlight |
| complementary colors | two colors that combine to form white light |
| subtractive primary colors | magenta, yellow, and cyan |
| paints | when paints are mixed, the mixture absorbs all frequencies of each component |
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