Introduction of Biophysics

Vocabulary flashcards covering core definitions, historical figures, measurement systems, and foundational concepts from the Introduction of Biophysics lecture.

Biophysics Paradigm

The foundational concept stating: "Biological system is not simply the sum of its molecular components but rather their functional integration".

Biological Membrane

A fluid structure composed of a phospholipid bilayer embedded with integral and peripheral membrane proteins, channel proteins, cholesterol, glycoproteins, and glycolipids.

Heraclitus (5th century B.C.)

Ancient Greek philosopher who offered the earliest mechanistic theories of life processes, stating that "Change is central to Universe" and "You can not step twice into the same river".

Epicurus (3rd century B.C)

Ancient philosopher associated with atomism who asserted that living organisms follow the same physical laws as non-living things.

Galen (2th century AD)

Physician and the most accomplished medical researcher of the Roman period whose theories dominated Western medicine for over a millennium.

Leonardo Da Vinci (16th century)

Pioneer of biomics who designed the ornithopter in the 1480s as a flying machine copying the flapping wings of birds and bats.

Ornithopter

A flying machine designed by Leonardo Da Vinci in the 1480s that copied the flapping mechanism of bird and bat wings.

Giovanni Alfonso Borelli (17th century)

Physician and scientist who related animals to machines, used mathematics to prove his theories, and authored De Motu Animalium.

De Motu Animalium

A text by Giovanni Alfonso Borelli providing a comprehensive biochemical description of limb mobility.

Luigi Galvani

Scientist who contributed to bio-electrochemistry by touching a frog nerve with a charged scalpel in 1771 to induce muscle contraction.

Galvani's Frog Experiment

An experiment performed in 1771 demonstrating electrical stimulation of frog nerves using a conductor and a charged scalpel.

Alessandro Volta

Scientist who created the first electric battery by substituting the frog leg in bio-electrochemical experiments with an electrolyte.

SI (Systeme International)

The standardized international system of measurement agreed upon in 1960, also known as mks (meter–kilogram–second).

CGS System

Also called the Gaussian system, a metric system of physical units defining fundamental quantities in centimeters, grams, and seconds.

US Customary System

A measurement system using everyday units like feet and miles, often using weight in pounds instead of mass for fundamental quantities.

Meter

The SI unit of length defined as the distance traveled by light in a vacuum during a time interval of $\frac{1}{299792458}\text{ s}$.

International Prototype Kilogram (IPK)

The standard physical prototype and its duplicates used to calibrate all other kilogram mass standards on Earth.

Second

The fundamental unit of time in SI, CGS, and US customary systems, defined as $9\,192\,631\,700$ times the oscillation frequency of radiation emitted by a cesium atom.

Cesium Fountain Atomic Clock

The primary frequency standard of the United States developed at the NIST laboratories in Boulder, Colorado.

Dimensional Analysis

The application of algebra to verify the consistency and mathematical correctness of a physical equation.

Scalar

A physical quantity that is completely described by magnitude alone, such as temperature or length.

Vector

A physical quantity that requires both magnitude and direction to be fully described, represented graphically by an arrow.