AQA Physics AS Glossary Exam Questions and
Answers 100% Pass
Antineutrino
The antiparticle of a neutrino.
Brittle fracture
When a stress applied to a brittle material causes tiny cracks at the material's surface to get bigger
until the material breaks completely.
Absolute refractive index
The ratio between the speed of light in a vacuum and the speed of light in a material.
Antineutron
The antiparticle of a neutron.
Antinode
A point of maximum amplitude on a stationary wave.
Absolute uncertainty
The uncertainty of a measurement given as a fixed quantity.
Antiparticle
A particle with the same rest mass and energy as its corresponding particle, but equal and opposite
charge.
Absorption (fibre optics)
Where some of the energy of a fibre-optic signal is absorbed by the material of the optical fibre.
Antiproton
The antiparticle of a proton
Calibration
Marking a scale on a measuring instrument or checking a scale by measuring a known value.
Categorical data
Data that can be sorted into categories.
Atom
A particle made up of protons and neutrons in a central nucleus, and electrons orbiting the nucleus.
Acceleration
The rate of change of velocity.
,Centre of mass
The point which you can consider all of an object's weight to act through.
Accurate result
An accurate result is really close to the true answer.
Atomic number
The number of protons in an atom of an element.
Alpha decay
A type of decay in which an unstable nucleus of an atom emits an alpha particle.
Average velocity
The change in displacement of an object divided by the time taken.
Circuit symbol
A pictorial representation of an electrical component.
Cloud chamber
A chamber filled with a vapour which is used to track the motion of charged particles.
Alpha particle
A particle made up of two protons and two neutrons.
Coherent
Sources (or waves) that have the same wavelength and frequency and a fixed phase difference
between them are coherent.
Ammeter
A component used to measure current the flowing through a circuit
Baryon
A type of hadron made up of three quarks. For example, protons and neutrons.
Amplitude
The maximum displacement of a wave, i.e. the distance from the undisturbed position to a crest or
trough.
Compressive force
A force which squashes something.
Baryon number
The number of baryons in a particle.
, Conservation of energy (principle of)
Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can be transferred from one form to another, but the total
amount of energy in a closed system will not change.
Beta-minus decay
A type of decay in which an unstable nucleus of an atom emits a beta-minus particle (an electron) and
an antineutrino.
Angle of incidence
The angle that incoming light makes with the normal of a boundary.
Angle of refraction
The angle that refracted light makes with the normal of a boundary.
Beta-plus decay
A type of decay in which an unstable nucleus of an atom emits a beta-plus particle (a positron) and a
neutrino.
Constructive interference
When two waves interfere to make a wave with a larger displacement.
Annihilation
The process by which a particle and its antiparticle meet and their mass gets converted to energy in
the form of a pair of gamma ray photons.
Continuous data
Data that can have any value on a scale.
Breaking stress
The lowest stress that's big enough to break a material.
Control variable
A variable that is kept constant in an experiment.
Anomalous result
A result that doesn't fit in with the pattern of the other results in a set of data.
Brittle
A brittle material doesn't deform plastically, but snaps when the stress on it reaches a certain point.
Cosmic ray showers
Lots of high-energy particles that are produced from cosmic rays interacting with molecules in the
atmosphere.
Answers 100% Pass
Antineutrino
The antiparticle of a neutrino.
Brittle fracture
When a stress applied to a brittle material causes tiny cracks at the material's surface to get bigger
until the material breaks completely.
Absolute refractive index
The ratio between the speed of light in a vacuum and the speed of light in a material.
Antineutron
The antiparticle of a neutron.
Antinode
A point of maximum amplitude on a stationary wave.
Absolute uncertainty
The uncertainty of a measurement given as a fixed quantity.
Antiparticle
A particle with the same rest mass and energy as its corresponding particle, but equal and opposite
charge.
Absorption (fibre optics)
Where some of the energy of a fibre-optic signal is absorbed by the material of the optical fibre.
Antiproton
The antiparticle of a proton
Calibration
Marking a scale on a measuring instrument or checking a scale by measuring a known value.
Categorical data
Data that can be sorted into categories.
Atom
A particle made up of protons and neutrons in a central nucleus, and electrons orbiting the nucleus.
Acceleration
The rate of change of velocity.
,Centre of mass
The point which you can consider all of an object's weight to act through.
Accurate result
An accurate result is really close to the true answer.
Atomic number
The number of protons in an atom of an element.
Alpha decay
A type of decay in which an unstable nucleus of an atom emits an alpha particle.
Average velocity
The change in displacement of an object divided by the time taken.
Circuit symbol
A pictorial representation of an electrical component.
Cloud chamber
A chamber filled with a vapour which is used to track the motion of charged particles.
Alpha particle
A particle made up of two protons and two neutrons.
Coherent
Sources (or waves) that have the same wavelength and frequency and a fixed phase difference
between them are coherent.
Ammeter
A component used to measure current the flowing through a circuit
Baryon
A type of hadron made up of three quarks. For example, protons and neutrons.
Amplitude
The maximum displacement of a wave, i.e. the distance from the undisturbed position to a crest or
trough.
Compressive force
A force which squashes something.
Baryon number
The number of baryons in a particle.
, Conservation of energy (principle of)
Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can be transferred from one form to another, but the total
amount of energy in a closed system will not change.
Beta-minus decay
A type of decay in which an unstable nucleus of an atom emits a beta-minus particle (an electron) and
an antineutrino.
Angle of incidence
The angle that incoming light makes with the normal of a boundary.
Angle of refraction
The angle that refracted light makes with the normal of a boundary.
Beta-plus decay
A type of decay in which an unstable nucleus of an atom emits a beta-plus particle (a positron) and a
neutrino.
Constructive interference
When two waves interfere to make a wave with a larger displacement.
Annihilation
The process by which a particle and its antiparticle meet and their mass gets converted to energy in
the form of a pair of gamma ray photons.
Continuous data
Data that can have any value on a scale.
Breaking stress
The lowest stress that's big enough to break a material.
Control variable
A variable that is kept constant in an experiment.
Anomalous result
A result that doesn't fit in with the pattern of the other results in a set of data.
Brittle
A brittle material doesn't deform plastically, but snaps when the stress on it reaches a certain point.
Cosmic ray showers
Lots of high-energy particles that are produced from cosmic rays interacting with molecules in the
atmosphere.
