AQA GCSE Paper 1 Revision and Shakespeare's Macbeth Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary revision cards containing key terms, mark-scheme definitions, exact equations, and analytical character quotes across Paper 1 Biology, Physics, Chemistry, and Macbeth.

Eukaryotic Cell

A cell that contains cytoplasm and a cell membrane, with its genetic material enclosed within a nucleus.

Prokaryotic Cell

A smaller cell lacking a nucleus whose genetic material is a single circular DNA loop free in the cytoplasm, often accompanied by small rings of DNA called plasmids.

Mitosis

The stage of the cell cycle where one set of replicated chromosomes is pulled to each end of the cell and the nucleus divides, producing two genetically identical diploid daughter cells.

Stem Cell

An undifferentiated cell of an organism that is capable of dividing to give rise to many more cells of the same type and differentiating into specialized cell types.

Osmosis

The net movement of water molecules from a dilute solution (high water concentration) to a more concentrated solution (low water concentration) across a partially permeable membrane.

Active Transport

The movement of substances from a dilute solution to a more concentrated solution (against a concentration gradient) requiring energy from respiration.

Bile

An alkaline substance made in the liver and stored in the gall bladder that neutralises stomach acid and emulsifies fats into small droplets to increase surface area for lipase action.

Pathogen

A microorganism that causes infectious disease, such as a virus, bacterium, protist, or fungus.

Monoclonal Antibodies

Specific antibodies produced from a single clone of hybridoma cells formed by fusing an antibody-producing lymphocyte with a tumour cell.

Photosynthesis Symbol Equation

The chemical process $6\text{CO}_2 + 6\text{H}_2\text{O} \rightarrow \text{C}_6\text{H}_{12}\text{O}_6 + 6\text{O}_2$ which transfers energy from the environment to chlorophyll by light in an endothermic reaction.

Metabolism

The sum of all chemical reactions taking place within a cell or the body.

Law of Conservation of Energy

The fundamental principle stating that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred between stores in a closed system where total energy remains constant.

Specific Heat Capacity

The amount of energy required to raise the temperature of $1\,kg$ of a substance by $1\,^\circ\text{C}$, calculated using $\Delta E = mc\Delta\theta$.

Power

The rate at which energy is transferred or the rate at which work is done, measured in watts ($W$) where $1\text{ W} = 1\text{ J/s}$ ($P = \frac{E}{t} = \frac{W}{t}$).

Ohmic Conductor

A electrical component for which current is directly proportional to potential difference at constant temperature ($V \propto I$), keeping its resistance constant.

Internal Energy

The total kinetic energy and potential energy stored by all the particles that make up a system.

Specific Latent Heat

The energy required to change the state of $1\,kg$ of a substance with no change in temperature, calculated using $E = mL$.

Alpha-Scattering Experiment

Rutherford's experiment where alpha particles fired at gold foil showed most passed straight through (empty space), some deflected (concentrated positive charge), and very few bounced back (tiny, dense positive nucleus).

Radioactive Half-Life

The time taken for the number of undecayed nuclei in a sample, or its activity and count rate, to fall to half of its initial value.

Nuclear Fission

The splitting of a large, unstable nucleus (such as uranium-235) into two smaller daughter nuclei after absorbing a slow neutron, releasing energy and $2$\text{--}$3$ additional neutrons.

Isotopes

Atoms of the same element that have the same number of protons (atomic number) but different numbers of neutrons (mass number).

Ionic Bonding

The strong electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions formed when a metal transfers electron(s) to a non-metal.

Covalent Bonding

A strong bond formed when non-metal atoms share one or more pairs of electrons to achieve full outer electron shells.

Metallic Bonding

The strong electrostatic attraction between a giant lattice of positive metal ions and a sea of delocalised electrons.

Avogadro Constant

The exact number of particles contained in one mole of any substance, equal to $6.02 \times 10^{23}\text{ mol}^{-1}$.

OIL RIG (Oxidation and Reduction)

The acronym defining electron transfer in chemical reactions: Oxidation Is Loss of electrons, Reduction Is Gain of electrons.

Exothermic Reaction

A chemical reaction that transfers energy to the surroundings, resulting in a temperature increase and a negative enthalpy change ($\Delta H$).

Vaulting Ambition

Macbeth's tragic flaw ("I have no spur but only vaulting ambition"), expressed via a horse-riding metaphor where unchecked desire overleaps itself and leads to disastrous moral collapse.

Divine Right of Kings

The Jacobean belief that monarchs were chosen directly by God; killing a king (regicide) was an unforgivable sin against heaven that caused widespread political and natural disorder.

Unsex Me Here

Lady Macbeth's plea in Act 1 Scene 5 to strip away traditional feminine virtues like compassion and softness, filling her with "direst cruelty" to enable regicide.

Banquo as a Foil

Banquo's dramatic function as a moral contrast to Macbeth; both hear the Witches' prophecies, but Banquo recognises them as "instruments of darkness" and resists temptation.

Equivocation

The Witches' technique of using statements with a "double sense" that are technically true but intentionally misleading to trick Macbeth into a false sense of security.

True Manhood (Macduff)

Macduff's redefinition of masculinity ("I must also feel it as a man") demonstrating that authentic manhood incorporates grief, emotional honesty, and protective duty rather than cruel ambition.