Science Review: Genetics, Chemical Reactions, Nuclear Physics, and Waves & Motion

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering genetics, evolutionary change, chemical reaction types, nuclear decay, kinematics, forces, and wave properties based on the lecture notes.

DNA

The genetic material that stores genetic information, organized into genes and chromosomes within the genome and structured as a double helix.

Mendel's Contribution

Foundational scientific work explaining the principles of heredity and how genotypes and phenotypes appear in plants and animals.

Chargaff's Rule

A biological rule that specifies the base pairing relationships essential to the structure of DNA.

Franklin's Contribution

The use of X-ray diffraction images that provided critical structural evidence leading to the discovery of the DNA double helix.

Watson and Crick

The scientists who developed the definitive double helix model of DNA by synthesizing existing ideas and experimental evidence.

Mutation

A change in genetic information that can produce beneficial, harmful, or minimal effects on an organism.

Monogenic Inheritance

The inheritance of traits determined by a single gene, which can be modeled using pedigrees and Punnett squares.

Natural Selection

An evolutionary process driven by variation amongst species, competition, natural death, inheritance of traits, and change in overall population over time.

Law of Conservation of Mass

The principle stating that atoms are rearranged during a chemical reaction, meaning total mass is conserved between reactants and products in closed systems.

Synthesis Reaction

A chemical reaction type where multiple reactants combine to form a single, more complex product.

Decomposition Reaction

A chemical reaction type where a single compound breaks down into two or more simpler substances.

Displacement Reaction

A chemical reaction type where an element or group replaces another element within a chemical compound.

Precipitation Reaction

A chemical reaction type characterized by the formation of an insoluble solid product from reacting solutions.

Neutralisation

A chemical reaction between an acid and a base that can be monitored using indicators and the pH scale.

Collision Theory

The model describing how chemical reactions occur and how rates of reaction are altered by factors including catalysts, temperature, concentration, and surface area.

Alpha and Beta Decay

Types of nuclear reactions shown through nuclear equations in which unstable nuclei release radiation to achieve stability.

Half-life

The duration of time required for half of the radioisotopes in an unstable sample to decay, determinable using decay graphs.

Average Velocity ($v_{av}$)

The rate of displacement over an elapsed time interval, calculated using the formula $v_{av} = \frac{\Delta s}{\Delta t}$.

Acceleration ($a$)

The rate of change in velocity over time, calculated using the formula $a = \frac{\Delta v}{\Delta t}$.

Newton's Second Law Formula ($F = ma$)

The mathematical relationship used to calculate net force via vector addition and predict accelerated motion based on mass and acceleration.

Mechanical Waves

Waves that require a physical medium to transfer energy without permanently displacing particles.

Electromagnetic Waves

Waves that transfer energy without requiring a medium, divided into several main types with varied practical uses.

Wave Equation

The formula used to calculate wavelength, wave speed, or frequency: $\lambda = \frac{v}{f}$.