Science Chapters 6 and 7 Flashcards

Vocabulary definitions for sound waves, thermodynamics, and thermal energy properties based on the Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 notes.

Medium

The substance or material that carries a wave.

Amplitude

The maximum distance that particles of the wave's medium vibrate from their rest position.

Frequency

The number of waves that pass a given point per unit of time.

Interference

The reinforcement or cancellation that occurs when two or more waves meet.

Supersonic

Speeds faster than the speed of sound.

Subsonic

Speeds slower than the speed of sound.

Absorption

The process of dissipating the energy of sound waves in matter.

Acoustics

The study of sound.

Music

A series of organized sound waves with specific pitches that have been deliberately arranged.

Noise

Random sound with no intended pattern.

Octave

The difference in pitch between one note and another note that has twice the frequency of the first note.

Interval

The distance between two notes.

Transverse wave

A type of wave where the particles move perpendicular to the direction of the wave.

Longitudinal wave

A type of wave where the particles move parallel to the direction of wave travel.

Lambda

The Greek letter used to represent wavelength.

Hertz ($Hz$)

The SI unit of frequency.

Constructive and Depstructive

The two types of wave interference.

Pitch

The effect of frequency on the way the human ear perceives sound, described as highness or lowness.

Echo

Sound heard distinctly after being reflected from an object.

Beats

The pulses of sound heard when close frequencies interfere.

Wave crest

The high point of a transverse wave.

Troughs

The low point of a transverse wave.

Compression

The part of a longitudinal wave corresponding to the crest of a transverse wave.

Rarefaction

The part of a longitudinal wave corresponding to the trough of a transverse wave.

Law of reflection

The principle stating that the angle of incidence equals the angle of reflection.

Reflection

The change in course of a wave as a result of a collision with an object or boundary.

Refraction

The bending of the path of a wave speed.

Diffraction

The process that causes a wave to spread out when the opening is roughly equal to a wavelength.

Intensity

The strength of a sound wave.

Loudness

The effect of intensity on the way the human perceives sound.

Infrasonic

Sound pitches below the audible range.

Ultrasonic

Pitches above the audible range.

Audible sound

Sounds that are perceived easily by the human ear.

Thermal energy

An object's internal energy due to random motions.

Heat

The transfer of thermal energy from an object of higher temperature to an object of lower temperature.

Heat capacity

The amount of heat needed to change an object's temperature by a certain amount.

Calorimeter

A device designed to measure the heat involved in physical and chemical changes.

Thermostat

A device that automatically regulates temperature.

Thermodynamics

The branch of physics that deals with thermal energy, heat, and their relationships to other forms of energy and energy transfer.

Surroundings

The entire universe except the system.

Carnot engine

A theoretical device that would generate the maximum possible amount of work from a given amount of heat.

Melting

The changing of a solid into a liquid.

Melting point

The temperature at which melting occurs.

Freezing

The changing of a liquid into a solid.

Freezing point

The temperature at which freezing occurs.

Heat of fusion

The latent heat required to change a given mass of a solid into a liquid without changing its temperature.

Volatile

Liquids that evaporate rapidly.

Nonvolatile

Liquids that evaporate slowly.

Boiling

The state of evaporation occurring throughout a liquid, not just at the surface.

Heat of vaporization

The latent heat required to change a given amount of liquid already at its boiling point into a gas without raising its temperature.

Critical temperature

The temperature above which a substance cannot exist in the liquid state, behaving instead as a gas regardless of pressure.

Plasma

A special state of matter that exists when temperatures are too high for matter to exist in its ordinary states.

Thermal equilibrium

The state in which no thermal energy is transferred.

Joule ($J$)

The SI unit of heat.

System

The matter or portion of the universe being studied.

Entropy

A measure of the amount of disorder in a system.

Condensation

The process of a gas changing into a liquid.

Latent heat

The hidden heat absorbed or released during a state change.

Heat pump

A device transferring thermal energy from cooler to warmer locations.

Specific heat ($c$)

A property found using the equation $c = \frac{Q}{m\times\text{$\theta$T}}$ where $Q$ is heat gained and $\text{$\theta$T}$ is change in temperature.