GEAS Review: Physics, Dynamics, Optics, Thermodynamics, & Electrostatics

Critical vocabulary and scientific laws extracted from the Physics, Dynamics, and Thermodynamics review midterm test.

Reluctance

The property of a material or magnetic circuit that opposes the passage of magnetic flux, calculated based on length, cross-sectional area, and permeability.

Permeability

A measure of the ability of a material to support the formation of a magnetic field within itself; for a specific material and length, it is expressed in units like $\mu Wb/At-m$.

Reluctivity

The reciprocal of permeability, indicating the resistance of a material to being magnetized.

Electric Flux Density

The amount of electric flux passing through a given area, measured in Coulombs per square meter ($C/m^2$).

Rotational Kinetic Energy

The kinetic energy of an object due to its rotation, such as a solid cylinder rotating with a mass of $400\,kg$ and radius of $1\,m$ at a specific speed.

Fourier’s Law of Heat Conduction

States that the rate of heat conduction in a direction is proportional to the temperature gradient in that direction.

Mach number

A dimensionless quantity used in connection with the speed of sound, often applied to aircraft or spacecraft.

Kinetic energy

The work needed to accelerate a body of a given mass from rest to its stated velocity.

Ferromagnetic materials

Materials that possess very high permeabilities and exhibit strong magnetic properties.

Isobars

A nuclear family consisting of atoms that have the same number of nucleons but different atomic numbers.

1st Law of Thermodynamics

The principle stating that energy is neither created nor destroyed, but is converted from one form to another; also referred to as the Law of Conservation of Energy.

Kelvin–Plank Statement

A formulation of the second law of thermodynamics stating that no heat engine can have a thermal efficiency of 100%.

Carnot principle

States that the thermal efficiencies of all reversible heat engines operating between the same two reservoirs are the same, and no heat engine is more efficient than a reversible one.

Heat of fusion

The amount of energy needed to change a given mass of ice to water at a constant temperature.

Spherical aberration

An effect in optics referring to the blurring of an image produced by a concave mirror due to the convergence of rays far from the mirror to different points on the principal axis.

Law of Conservation of Mass

The principle stating that the quantity of substance entering a system is equal to the substance leaving the system.

Absolute zero

The temperature ($0\,K$) at which molecular motion in a gas is considered to be at the minimum possible level.

Lenz’ law

States that an induced current will flow in a direction such that its own magnetic field opposes the change in the magnetic field that produced it.

Cork screw rule

States that if a normal right-hand thread screw is screwed along a conductor in the direction of conventional current flow, the direction of rotation indicates the direction of the magnetic field.

Hall effect

The generation of a small voltage by a conductor carrying current when placed in an external magnetic field.

Hysteresis loop

A loop traced on a graph that shows the relationship between magnetization and the alternating magnetic field applied to a material.

Hysteresis

The delayed reaction of the magnetization of a ferromagnetic material in response to changes in the magnetizing force.

Zeroth Law of Thermodynamics

States that if objects 1 and 2 are each in thermal equilibrium with object 3, then objects 1 and 2 are in thermal equilibrium with each other.

Heat of transformation

The energy per unit mass absorbed as heat during a substance's phase transformation.

Diverging lens

Also known as a concave lens, it is thinnest at the center and thickest at the edges, causing light rays to bend away from the principal axis.

Tangential acceleration

A measure of a velocity's change in magnitude over time.

Curvilinear Motion

A type of motion in which a change in both the path of motion and the direction can be observed.

Dynamics

A branch of physics that deals with accelerated bodies and relates the action of forces on bodies to their resulting motion.

Adiabatic process

A thermodynamic process that occurs without the addition or withdrawal of heat from the surroundings.

Perfectly Inelastic Collision

A collision where momentum is conserved but kinetic energy is not, and the involved objects stick together after impact.

Bohr model

An atomic model stating that electrons revolve around a positively charged nucleus in definite circular paths called orbits or shells.

Coulomb’s Law

States that the electrical force between two charged objects is directly proportional to the product of their charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.