Lecture Notes Review: Water, Heat Transfer, Light, Sound, Electricity, Magnetism

A set of practice flashcards covering key concepts from the provided lecture notes across water, heat transfer, light, sound, electricity, and magnetism.

What happens to water density when temperature drops from 4°C to 0°C?

Water expands; density decreases; ice is less dense than water and floats.

Why does solid water (ice) float on water?

Ice is less dense than liquid water.

What is heat expansion?

When heated, particles gain kinetic energy and move apart, increasing volume (thermal expansion).

Name the three methods of heat transfer.

Conduction, convection, and radiation.

What is convection?

Heat transfer by movement of fluids; hot air rises, cold air sinks.

What factors affect evaporation?

Surface area, wind speed, and surrounding temperature influence evaporation rate.

What is evaporation?

Energy is absorbed to overcome attractions, allowing particles to escape from the surface as a gas.

How does surface area affect evaporation?

Larger surface area allows more particles to escape, so evaporation is faster.

What is light?

A form of energy that can travel through vacuum and is part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

What is the speed of light?

Approximately 3 × 10^8 metres per second.

Name the major regions of the electromagnetic spectrum in order.

Radio, Microwave, Infrared, Visible light, Ultraviolet, X-rays, Gamma rays.

What is a luminous object?

An object that produces its own light.

What is a non-luminous object?

An object that does not produce light.

What is specular reflection?

Reflection from a smooth surface with reflected rays staying in the same direction.

What is diffuse reflection?

Reflection from a rough surface where reflected rays scatter in many directions.

What is the incidence angle?

The angle between the incident ray and the normal to the surface.

What is the law of reflection?

Angle of incidence equals angle of reflection.

What is rectilinear propagation?

Light travels in a straight line.

What is refraction?

Bending and slowing of light as it enters a different medium; toward the normal in denser media, away from the normal in less dense media.

What is the critical angle?

The angle of incidence at which the angle of refraction is 90°, leading to total internal reflection.

What is total internal reflection?

Light is completely reflected back inside a denser medium when the incidence exceeds the critical angle.

What is dispersion?

Separation of white light into component colors due to different wavelengths; red refracts least, violet most.

What are the primary colours of light?

Red, Green, Blue.

What are the secondary colours from mixing primaries?

Cyan (green+blue), Yellow (red+green), Magenta (red+blue).

What is sound?

Vibration of particles that travels as mechanical longitudinal waves through solids, liquids, and gases.

What is loudness?

Amplitude of a sound; measured in decibels (dB).

What is pitch?

Frequency of a sound; higher frequency means higher pitch.

What is echolocation?

Use of sound echoes by animals to locate objects.

What is sonar?

Sound navigation and ranging used by submarines and boats to detect objects underwater.

What is ultrasound?

High-frequency sound above 20,000 Hz used in medical imaging and other applications.

What is the function of the pinna?

Collects sound waves and channels them into the ear.

What is the function of the cochlea?

Transduces sound vibrations into neural signals via hair cells.

What is the function of the ossicles?

Three tiny bones (hammer, anvil, stirrup) that amplify and transfer vibrations to the inner ear.