Communication and Waves: Understanding Signals and Encoding

These flashcards cover key concepts related to communication technology, signals, waves, and fossils, providing definitions and explanations for each term.

Signal

Anything that can transmit information.

Encoding

Converting information from one form to another.

Electromagnetic Waves

Waves that can travel long distances and are used in communication devices.

Amplitude Modulation (AM)

A method of encoding signals where the amplitude of the wave is changed to carry information.

Frequency Modulation (FM)

A method of radio communication where the frequency of the wave is modified.

Analog Signal

A signal that changes continuously and can take any value within a range.

Digital Signal

A signal that consists of distinct values and is not continuous.

Noise

Any unwanted change to a signal.

Modulation

Changing a property of a wave to encode information.

Transitional Fossil

A fossil with body structures found in both ancestral species and their descendants.

Mass Extinction

When large numbers of species die in different areas in a short time.

Index Fossil

A fossil found only in certain layers for a short time span.

Fossil Record

All known fossils arranged from earliest to most recent.

Radiometric Dating

Determining the absolute age of an object by comparing radioactive and stable substances.

Geologic Timescale

A system of chronological dating that relates geological strata to time.

Uniformitarianism

The principle that present geologic processes also occurred in the past.