Electromagnetism Physics Vocab

electricity

a fundamental form of energy, observable in positive or negative forms that can occur naturally or can be produced and is expressed in terms of movement or electric interaction

electric field

an electric force per unit charge that spreads radially outwards from positive charges towards negative charges; an electric force acting at a distance

electric potential energy

the energy needed to move a charge against an electric field

electric potential difference

the potential energy change across its terminals for every Coulomb of charge

capacitor

a device that can store electric charge, consisting of 2 conducting objects placed near each other but not touching

insulator

an object such as wood/rubber that doesn’t transfer or conduct energy between charged objects

electric current

a flow of electric charge

alternating current

a type of current that reverses direction many times per second, sometimes in a sinusoidal shape

direct current

a type of current that occurs when the current moves steadily in one direction

resistance

a variable, according to Ohm’s law, that is inversely proportional to the current; how easily electricity runs down a certain material due to collision between electrons and atoms

resistors

tools in electronic devices used to control the amount of current

electric circuit

a complete route that en electric current can flow around, controlled by circuit breakers

short circuit

a reaction that occurs when 2 wires have touched that should not have so the path of the current is shortened

series circuit

when 2+ resistors are connected end-to-end along a single path

parallel circuit

another type of resistors circuit where the current from source splits into different branches of paths

semiconductors

objects that are neither a full conductor nor insulator with few free electrons

conductors

objects that do transfer energy charged to neutral objects, such as most metals

Ampere

the unit used to measure electric current which replaces Coulombs per second

voltage

also called potential difference, measured in volts

Ohm

the unit used to measure resistance of energy through materials, written as Ω

Ohm’s law

a law that established that an electric current is proportional to the potential difference (voltage) applied to the 2 ends and inversely proportional to its resistance

Farad

a unit that measures capacitance (the ability to store electric charge) which replaces Coulombs per volt

electric charge

whether an object has an excess of deficit of electrons relative to its protons that causes it to become attracted or repulsed towards other objects

Coulomb

a science-specific unit that is used to measure the amount of charge that passes through the cross section of an electrical conductor which replaces Ampere per second

Coulomb’s law

a law that established that the force one small charged object exerts on a second one is proportional to the product of the magnitude of the charge on one, *Q1*, times the magnitude of the charge on the other, *Q2*, and is inversely proportional to the square of the distance, *r*, between them

volt

the unit used to measure electric fields which replaces Joules per Coulomb and Newtons per Coulomb

conventional current

moving in the direction positive charge would flow in a circuit

battery

a device 1st created by Alessandro Volta that produces a steady flow of electric charge (steady electric current)

electric power

the rate at which energy is transformed by an electric device

Kirchoff’s circuit laws

applications of the laws of conservation of charge and energy, including the junction rule (at any junction in an electrical circuit, the sum of the currents flowing into the node are equal to the sum of the currents flowing out) and the loop rule (the sum of all the electric potential differences around a loop is zero)