Can You Spell These Physics Words?

Your hand has kinetic energy as it moves the cursor or mouse to select an answer. Kinetic energy is the energy of a moving body.

Terminal velocity is the term that describes when a falling object won't go any faster due to the pressure against the object (from air pressure and gravity).

Potential energy is defined as stored energy. The energy that a ball has when perched at a top of a steep hill as it is about to roll down is an example of potential energy. It turns into kinetic energy once it moves.

Radiation is the transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space. It can be energy in the form of radio waves, X-rays or other electromagnetic radiation.

A refrigerant is a material used to cool something to a temperature that is lower than the area around it. Fluorocarbons, ammonia and sulfur dioxide are common refrigerants.

A thermometer measures a response of a substance to heat. In physics there are several types of thermometers including liquid-in-glass thermometers, spring thermometers, digital thermometers and more.

When you check or make adjustments to an instrument of measurement so that it agrees with an applied standard, (within a specified accuracy) you are calibrating it.

The projectile motion is the curved path that an object follows when thrown or launched. It's the motion of the object moving under the influence of gravity.

Equilibrium is the condition of equal balance between opposing forces. A simple example is a teeter totter. When the weights (mass plus gravity) at both ends are equal, the board remains level.

Ready to surf the BIG waves? You'll want to have some constructive interference in the ocean. It's the type of interference where waves combine so that the resulting wave is bigger than the original waves.

Thermal energy is the internal energy of an object due to the kinetic energy of its molecules. The faster the molecules are moving, the higher the temperature or its thermal energy.

The frequency of a wave is the number of times per second that the wave cycles. Frequency is measured in Hertz, or cycles per second.

A pendulum has a mass connected to a rod or rope. This pendulum activity is called simple harmonic motion as it swings back and forth without friction.

Directly proportional describes a relationship between two things such that as one increases, the other increases at the same rate.

When molecules are heated, they move from one place to another, taking their heat with them and expanding outward. This creates convection currents of air due to the temperature variations.

Fluorescence is the ability to absorb light of short wavelength and emit light of a longer wavelength. For example, fluorescence causes a mineral to "glow" in the visible spectrum when exposed to ultraviolet light.

Acceleration is a measure of how fast velocity changes. The formula is the change of velocity divided by the change of time. This force has both a magnitude (a value) and a direction.

Light needs to be measured so that it can be placed into calculations and formulas to predict results. Luminous flux is the quantity of the energy of the light emitted per second in all directions.

This measure of rotation rate is also called angular speed, radial frequency and radian frequency. In SI units, angular frequency is measured in radians per second.

An oscillation is a periodic motion that repeats itself in a regular cycle. Examples include a sine wave, the swinging of a pendulum, or the up-and-down motion of a spring with a weight.

Sound waves moves through a medium by propagation. What is actually happening is the molecules collide with each other in the same direction as the sound is moving.

The white plastic on the copper wires is an example of an electrical insulator. It keeps you from being shocked if you handle live wires because an electrical charge won't pass through the insulator.

A solenoid is a coil of wire that acts like a magnet when a flow of electricity passes through it. When a current is run through a solenoid, it makes a magnet even stronger.

The higher the magnetic permeability. the better the material allows for magnetic flux to pass through it. Examples of substances with high permeability are copper and gold.

Remember the example? You stand at the train station as the train blows its whistle and chugs past. You notice the pitch of the whistle gets higher or lower depending on whether the train is approaching or receding.

Inertia is what resists a change in the speed or direction of a moving object until an outside force acts upon it.

To find the result of two concurrent forces, you can't just add the forces together. That's because you're dealing with vectors that have a magnitude and a direction, both of which need to be taken into account.

The picowatt is a unit of sound power, a unit that is one trillion times smaller than a watt. Sound intensity is usually expressed as the power of picowatts flowing through one square meter in the direction in which the sound propagates.

You can have several forces acting upon an object at the same time while it is in a state of equilibrium, as long as the magnitude and direction of the force cancel each other out.

This important equation forms the basis of quantum mechanics. It is the most accurate theory of how subatomic particles behave. It was developed by Erwin Schrödinger, who was awarded the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics.

A prism disperses white light by separating a wave of different frequencies into individual components or spectrum colors.

Modulus is a measure of the elasticity of a material under pressure. More specifically, it's the ability of a material to withstand changes in length when under lengthwise tension or compression.

Centripetal force is the force that keeps an object that is already moving in a circular path. It does this by pulling the object toward the center of a circle.

If you are making concrete, you want the mixture of an aggregate, cement, and water to retain each of the components' original properties. In other words, you want it to be a heterogeneous mixture.

Magnetism refers to what occurs from the force caused by magnets, which are objects that produce fields that attract or repel other objects.