GCSE Applied Science - Unit 2 Revision Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts from the GCSE Applied Science Unit 2 revision notes.

Electromagnetic Spectrum

The range of all types of electromagnetic radiation, including gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet, visible light, infra-red, microwaves, and radio waves, arranged according to frequency, wavelength, and energy.

Wave Speed

Calculated as frequency x wavelength. All parts of the electromagnetic spectrum travel at the same speed in a vacuum (3x10^8 m/s).

Big Bang Theory

The prevailing cosmological model for the universe. It states the universe started from one point where all the energy and matter was released approximately 13.5 thousand million years ago. Evidence includes red shift and CMBR.

Red Shift

The phenomenon where light from distant galaxies is shifted towards the red side of the spectrum (longer wavelengths), indicating that the universe is expanding.

Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR)

Microwave radiation that can be measured throughout the universe and is considered evidence that the universe started from a hot Big Bang that released a lot of energy.

Absorption Spectra

A spectrum of electromagnetic radiation transmitted through a substance, showing dark lines that represent wavelengths of light that have been absorbed by elements in the gases in the star's atmosphere. Used to identify elements present.

Solar System

Consists of a star (the Sun) and all the objects orbiting it, including planets, moons, dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets.

Sunspots

Dark spots that appear on the surface of the Sun because they are cooler than the surrounding areas. The number of sunspots varies over an 11-year cycle.

Solar Flares

Intense bursts of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots.

Biodiversity

A measure of the variety of different species and the numbers of each of those species in a particular area. It is important as it provides food, industrial materials, new medicines and enhances human well-being.

Adaptation

The process by which living things become suited to their environment. Adaptations may be morphological or behavioural.

Natural Selection

The process where individuals with advantageous traits are more likely to be reproductively successful, passing on their genes to future generations.

Food Chain

A series of organisms in which each organism feeds on the one before, showing the transfer of useful energy between organisms.

Carbon Cycle

The biogeochemical cycle by which carbon is exchanged among the biosphere, pedosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere of the Earth.

Greenhouse Effect

The process by which radiation from a planet's atmosphere warms the planet's surface to a temperature above what it would be without its atmosphere.

Nitrogen Cycle

The biogeochemical cycle by which nitrogen is converted into multiple chemical forms as it circulates among the atmosphere, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems.

Bioaccumulation

The accumulation of substances, such as pesticides or other organic chemicals in an organism. This occurs when an organism absorbs a toxic substance at a rate greater than that at which the substance is lost.

Eutrophication

Excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to runoff from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life and death of animal life from lack of oxygen.

Sustainability

Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Indicator Species

A species whose presence, absence, or relative abundance in a given area is indicative of certain environmental conditions or sets of conditions.

Mutation

Changes in DNA that may be harmless, beneficial or harmful and may be passed on from parents to offspring.

Genotype

Genetic constitution of an individual organism.

Phenotype

The set of observable characteristics of an individual resulting from the interaction of its genotype with the environment.

Homeostasis

The maintenance of a constant internal environment.

Diabetes

A condition where you are unable to control your own blood glucose levels. In Type I diabetes the body does not release insulin. In type II diabetes the body cells do not respond to the chemical signal from insulin.

Ionizing Radiation

Radiation with enough energy to knock electrons out of atoms or molecules, creating ions.

Radiotherapy

The treatment of disease, especially cancer, using X-rays or similar forms of radiation.

Half-life

The time taken for the number of radioactive nuclei (or mass/activity) to reduce to one half of its initial value.

Chemotherapy

The treatment of disease, especially cancer, by the use of chemical substances.

Medical Imaging

Techniques and processes used to create images of the human body (or parts and function thereof) for clinical purposes (medical procedures seeking to reveal, diagnose or examine disease) or medical science.

Ultrasound

Sound waves with high frequencies. Used to produce images of the inside of the body on a screen.

Pathogens

A bacterium, virus, or other microorganism that can cause disease.

Antibiotics

A medicine that inhibits the growth of or destroys bacteria.

MRSA

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus - A bacterium responsible for several difficult-to-treat infections in humans.

Antigens

A toxin or other foreign substance which induces an immune response in the body, especially the production of antibodies.

Vaccination

Treatment with a vaccine to produce immunity against a disease; inoculation.

Memory Cells

Long-lived lymphocyte capable of responding to a particular antigen on its recurrence long after the exposure that prompted its production.

Neurones

A specialized cell transmitting nerve impulses; a nerve cell.

Synovial Joint

A joint that allows movement.