GNED 1103 Innovation Definitions

integers

the set consisting of the natural numbers, 0, and the negatives of the natural numbers

number line

a graph used to visualize the set of integers, as well as sets of other numbers

absolute value

the distance from 0 to a on the number line - can never be negative because it describes distance

additive inverses

have the same absolute value but lie on opposite sides of the zero on the number line

rational numbers

the set of all numbers which can be expressed in the form (a/b), where a and b are integers and b is not equal to 0

irrational numbers

the set of numbers whose decimal representations are neither terminating nor repeating

qualitative

descriptive, no numbers used, and may be interpreted differently by different people

quantitative

not descriptive, uses numbers, and every person interprets the observation in the exact same way

units

describe what is being measured or counted

standardized units

their meaning is agreed to and understood by everyone

descriptive inquiry

describing what is already there, no manipulation of variables; merely observing and describing

provides fundamental knowledge that can be built upon using the other types of scientific inquiry

comparative inquiry

seeks to describe a correlation between phenomena or variables

compares two variables to look for a relationship

inductive reasoning

specific observation to general theory

the general principle is true because all of the cases leading up are true

deductive reasoning

general principles to specific observation

a special case is true because the general principle is true

null hypothesis

a statement mentioning there is no statistical significance between two variables

a hypothesis we are trying to disprove

independent variable

the factor that you can change/manipulate/control in the experiment

dependent variable

the variable you measure, it depends on the independent variable

cofounding variable

the variable kept constant as to not interfere with your test

type 1 error

false positive - we believe falsehood; we reject the null hypothesis when it is true (yes but no)

e.g. we conclude that a drug is more effective than the placebo, when in reality it is not

type 2 error

false negative - we fail to believe a truth; we fail to believe the null hypothesis when it is false (no but yes)

e.g. we conclude that a drug has no effect, when in reality the drug is actually effective

conclusion

includes all the possible answers that can be driven, from data collected, to answer the experimental question

explanation

a statement that connects scientific conclusion to the hypothesis that has been stated at the beginning

selection bias

the researcher actively selects participants, consciously or subconsciously preferring certain individuals

participation bias

individuals, with vested interest in the outcome, volunteer to participate in the study

random sampling

every individual has an equal chance of being represented

systematic sampling

based on a particular pattern of selection

e.g. choosing every 10th person at the airport

convenience sampling

the sample is readily accessible to the researchers

e.g. asking costumers as they leave the store about their shopping experience

stratified sampling

used when differences between different groups are examined

different subgroups within a population are identified and then random sampling is done from each group

e.g. choosing 5 males and 5 females from this class

confirmation bias

tendency to look for hypothesis supporting evidences

negative and positive controls

reduces subjective observations

blind study

participants are unaware of the true premise

idea is to minimize placebo effect and participation bias and confirmation bias

double blind study

both researcher and participants are unaware of the true premise

minimizes placebo effect, participation bias and confirmation bias

placebo

an inactive substance or preparation used as a control in an experiment or test to determine the effectiveness of a medicinal drug

funding bias

tendency of a scientific study, research, or policy recommendation to support the financial or vested interests of the entity that funded the work

publication bias

researcher decides not to publish unflattering results

Randomized Control Trial (RCT)

the gold standard for medical science-based evidence

refractive index

dimensionless measure of the bending of a ray of light when passing from one medium into another

SIN of an angle

trigonometric function of an angle in the right triangles commonly used to model periodic function phenomena such as light waves

diffraction of light

the bending of a light wave around a barrier or through an opening

wave

a disturbance that carries energy from one place to another without moving matter along with it. Waves are made up of repeated vibrations or oscillations in a medium or a field, happening around fixed positions.

amplitude (A)

a disturbance between the tip of the crest and the wave’s central axis (rest position)

frequency (f)

the number of oscillations per second

wavelength

horizontal distance between two consecutive troughs or crests

dispersion of light

the spreading of white light into its full spectrum of wavelengths. occurs whenever there is a process that changes the direction of light in a manner that depends on wavelength

refraction

the bending of a wave, like light, sound, or water, as it passes from one transparent substance (medium) to another, like air to water or glass to air, because it changes speed

photons

the particles of light

atom

the smallest functional unit of matter that retains all of the chemical properties of an element

molecule

collections of atoms bound together in specific combinations by chemical bonds

neutrons

the neutral particles that is part of the nucleus

protons

the positively charged particle that is part of the nucleus

electrons

the negatively charged particles that orbits the nucleus - different levels of orbits exist

elements

defined by the number of protons - all atoms of a particular element will have the same number of protons

atomic number

number of protons in an atom that determines the identity of an element

ions

atoms that have gained a charge

cation

positively charged atom

anion

negatively charged atom

isotopes

elements with the same number of protons but different number of neutrons, with different mass number

ionic bond

holds ions in a compound, based on the trong attraction between positive and negative ions

covalent bond

a strong chemical link where two atoms share pairs of electrons

hydrogen bond

a strong attraction between a slightly positive hydrogen atom and a slightly negative lone pair on another atom

combustion reaction

reactions of hydrocarbon molecules with oxygen in the atmosphere to produce cardon dioxide, water and heat (energy)

amphiphilic

molecules are attracted to both polar and non-polar ennvironments

water is cohesive

water sticks to itself, membrane structures are formed and lubrication is provided

water is adhesive

water sticks to other surfaces; plasma sticks to the side of the vessels and fill them up completely

pupil

the small window at the front of our eyes through which light can enter

retina

the sensitive sheet of nerves at the back of our eyes — light gathers at the focal point

rods

for low-light (night) vision, seeing in grayscale, and detecting motion

cones

for bright light, color vision, and sharp detail, with three types sensitive to red, green, and blue light

lens

a piece of glass or other transparent material shaped in a way that parallel incident rays would either converge to a point or appear to be diverging from a point

convex lens

a lens that is thicker at the centre than at the edges, rays of light that pass through the lens are brough closer together - focal point after light passes through

concave lens

a lens that is thinner at the centre than the edges, rays of light that pass through the lens are spread out - focal point before light passes through

real image

light rays from one point on the object actually cross at the location of the image and can be projected onto a screen or the retina of an eye

e.g. movie projector image

virtual image

an image that is on the same side of the lens as the object and cannot be projected on a screen

e.g. reflection in a mirror

simple light microscope

uses a single lens to magnify an object and cannot reach high magnification

compound light microscopy

uses two sets of lenses, and objective lens and an eyepiece, to produce images

electron microscopes

use of electrons, which have very short wavelengths, as the source of illuminating radiation

Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM)

used to view thin specimens (tissues sections, molecules, etc.) through which electrons can pass generating a projection image

Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM)

depends on the emission of secondary electrons from the surface of a specimen

field number

the diameter of the area in the intermediate image plane that can be observed through the eyepiece (in mm)

Field of View (FOV)

the maximum area visible when looking through the microscope eyepiece

fluorescence

the emission of light; because some energy is lost as heat, the emitted light contains less energy and therefore is of longer wavelength than the absorbed excitation light

dichroic filter

thin film filter, very accurately filters colors, letting selected color pass while reflecting other colors

quantum dots

very stable when exposed to light, and their color depends on their size—larger dots (about 4 nm) glow red, while smaller dots (about 2 nm) glow green. They stay fluorescent for a long time and come in many colors, even those in the near‑infrared range.

negative staining

a dark, heavy metal stain colors the background instead of the specimen, so the bacteria, viruses, or proteins stay clear and appear as bright outlines against a dark background. This method shows the organism’s true shape and surface details without needing heat‑fixing

cryo-microscopy

allows scientists to see biological molecules at near‑atomic resolution by rapidly freezing them in a thin layer of glass‑like ice and then imaging them with an electron beam inside a transmission electron microscope

descriptive statistics

summarize and describe characteristics of a specific dataset

e.g. organize, summarize, simplify, presentation of data

inferential statistics

use sample data to make predictions, generalizations, or test hypotheses about a larger population

e.g. generalize from samples to populations, hypothesis testing, relationships among variables, drawing conclusions, comparing two or more groups

histogram

a graphical representation showing a visual impression of the distribution data

mean

when data is normally distributed and there are no outliers

median

the middle value in the list of numbers

mode

the data value that occurs most often in a data set

midrange

found by adding the lowest and highest data values and dividing by two

measures of dispersion

used to describe the spread of data items in a data set

e.g. two of the most common are range and standard deviation

range

the difference between the highest and the lowest data values in a data set

standard deviation

a statistical calculation used to measure variance (variation) in a data set, tells you how much each score deviates from the mean - large SD means more variation

normal distribution

bell shaped and symmetric about a vertical line through its center

mean, median and mode are all equal and located at the center

68-95-99.7 rule

approximately 68% of the data items fall within 1 SD of the mean, in both directions

approximately 95% of the data items fall within 2 SD of the mean

approximately 99.7% of the data items fall within 3 SD of the mean

z-score

describes how many standard deviations a data item in a normal distribution lies above or below the mean

margins of error

a statistic showing how much a survey or study's results might differ from the true population value

skewed distribution

a large number of data items pile up at one end or the other with a “tail“ at the other end