Introduction to Physics and Scientific Enquiry

Vocabulary flashcards covering fundamental concepts in physics, scientific enquiry, branches of physics, and historical scientific pioneers.

Physics

The study of matter, energy, forces, space, and time, and the universal rules governing everything from subatomic particles to galaxies.

Physis

The ancient Greek word meaning nature, from which the word physics is derived.

Physical Body

Any distinct object or organism studied by physicists that possesses a specific boundary, shape, and volume.

Substance

The material or matter from which a physical body is constructed.

Scientific Enquiry

The structured path scientists follow to uncover truth about the physical world using verifiable evidence.

Hypothesis

A proposed explanation for a physical phenomenon that must always be testable through real physical measurements.

Scientific Observation

The scientific method of watching and recording natural events without interfering or altering them.

Scientific Experiment

The scientific method of testing a phenomenon under carefully controlled conditions by changing one factor at a time.

Mechanics

The branch of physics studying forces, gravity, energy, and motion in machines.

Optics

The branch of physics studying the behaviour of visible light, lenses, reflections, and lasers.

Electromagnetism

The branch of physics studying how electric charges, currents, and magnetic fields function.

Thermodynamics

The branch of physics studying the flow of heat and how thermal energy performs work.

Wilhelm Röntgen

The German physicist who discovered penetrating radiation in 1895 and named them X-rays.

X-Rays

Penetrating radiation discovered by Wilhelm Röntgen, who used 'X' to signify an unknown quantity.

Maria Skłodowska-Curie

Polish-born physicist and chemist who pioneered radioactivity research, discovered polonium and radium, and won Nobel Prizes in two distinct scientific fields.

Albert Einstein

Physicist who demonstrated light behaves as photons, formulated special relativity, and derived $E = mc^2$.

Photons

Packets of light energy demonstrated by Albert Einstein in 1905 through the photoelectric effect.

Julius Edgar Lilienfeld

Polish physicist who patented the concept of the field-effect transistor between 1925 and 1928.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee

British physicist and engineer at CERN who invented HTML, HTTP, and the World Wide Web in 1989.

Mieczysław Wolfke

Physicist who proposed early principles of holography and studied liquid helium.