WACE ATAR Physics flashcards
WACE ATAR Physics · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Independent variable
- The variable the experimenter deliberately changes between trials in order to observe its effect on the measured outcome.
- Systematic error
- A consistent bias in measurements caused by faulty calibration or flawed method; it shifts all readings the same way and is not reduced by averaging repeats.
- Linearising a graph
- Rearranging data so a plot yields a straight line, allowing the gradient or intercept to give a physical constant with clear units.
- Percentage uncertainty
- The absolute uncertainty expressed as a fraction of the measured value, multiplied by one hundred to give a percentage.
- Valid conclusion
- A judgement supported only when variables were controlled, uncertainties reported, and the data actually address the stated hypothesis.
- Peer review
- Independent expert scrutiny of methods and claims before publication; it filters weak work but does not guarantee that a result is correct.
- Falsifiability
- The property of a scientific claim that some conceivable observation could contradict it; unfalsifiable claims lie outside empirical testing.
- Scientific consensus
- Agreement among researchers arising from converging independent lines of evidence, not from a single decisive experiment or an authority's ruling.
- SI unit conventions
- Internationally agreed measurement standards, now defined via fixed physical constants, that allow results to be compared across countries and laboratories.
- Newton's second law
- The net force on an object equals its mass multiplied by its acceleration; force and acceleration are in the same direction.
- Conservation of momentum
- In a system with zero net external impulse, total momentum before an interaction equals total momentum after it, for all collision types.
- Work–energy theorem
- The net work done on an object equals the change in its kinetic energy, linking force over distance to speed change.
- Centripetal force
- The net inward force of magnitude mv squared over r required to keep an object in uniform circular motion; it changes direction, not speed.
- Hooke's law
- Within the elastic limit, the extension of a spring is proportional to the applied force, with the constant of proportionality being the spring constant.
- Electric field strength
- The force per unit positive charge at a point, measured in newtons per coulomb and directed along the field line.
- Projectile motion
- Motion under gravity alone with constant horizontal velocity and constant downward vertical acceleration, giving a parabolic path when drag is negligible.
- Snell's law
- The product of refractive index and sine of the angle to the normal is constant across a boundary between two media.
- Critical angle
- The angle of incidence above which total internal reflection occurs, given by the sine of the critical angle equalling the ratio of refractive indices.
- Coulomb's law
- The electrostatic force between two point charges is proportional to the product of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of their separation.
- Ohm's law
- For an ohmic conductor at constant temperature, the potential difference across it is proportional to the current through it.
- Photoelectric effect
- Light above a threshold frequency ejects electrons from a metal; maximum electron kinetic energy equals photon energy minus the work function.
- Impulse
- The product of force and the time it acts, equal to the change in momentum; extending contact time reduces the average force.
- Newton's third law
- For every force there is an equal and opposite force on a different body, so the pair never cancels on a single object.
- Archimedes' principle
- The buoyant force on a submerged or floating object equals the weight of the fluid it displaces.
- Specific heat capacity
- The energy needed to raise the temperature of one kilogram of a substance by one kelvin, used in the relation Q equals mc delta T.
- Terminal velocity
- The constant speed reached by a falling object when the upward drag force equals its weight, giving zero net force and zero acceleration.
- Average velocity
- Displacement divided by time taken; it differs from average speed whenever the direction of motion changes during the interval.
- Doppler effect
- The change in observed frequency of a wave caused by relative motion between source and observer; approach raises frequency, recession lowers it.
- Faraday's law
- The induced electromotive force in a circuit equals the negative rate of change of magnetic flux through it, with Lenz's law giving direction.
- Inverse-square law
- Intensity or field strength from a point source decreases in proportion to the square of the distance from that source.
- Photon energy
- The energy of a single photon equals Planck's constant multiplied by frequency, equivalently Planck's constant times light speed divided by wavelength.
- Transformer equation
- The ratio of secondary to primary voltage equals the ratio of turns; for ideal full power transfer, primary and secondary power are equal.