AQA GCSE Combined Science: Synergy key terms

The spreading of energy into the surroundings, where it becomes less useful.

The proportion of a system’s total input energy that is transferred usefully: $\text{efficiency}=\frac{\text{useful output energy transfer}}{\text{total input energy transfer}}$.

An allowed energy that an electron can have within an atom.

A source of energy that people can use for purposes such as heating, generating electricity or transport.

A way in which a system holds energy, such as a chemical, kinetic or thermal energy store.

A protein that acts as a biological catalyst, speeding up a reaction without being used up.

The ability of an enzyme to bind a particular substrate because their shapes are complementary.

A situation in which the resultant force on an object is zero, so it does not accelerate.

The relative amounts of reactants and products in a reaction mixture at equilibrium.

The resistance of a single resistor that would draw the same current as a combination of resistors at the same potential difference.

An approximate answer found using simplified or rounded numbers.

An argument about whether an action is right, wrong or fair.

An issue concerning whether an action is morally right or wrong, rather than simply whether it is technically possible.

A cell with genetic material enclosed within a nucleus, such as a plant or animal cell.

Nutrient enrichment of water that can cause excessive algal growth and a fall in dissolved oxygen, harming aquatic organisms.

The change of liquid water into water vapour.

A change in the inherited characteristics of a population over successive generations.

A reactant left over because there is more of it than can react with the available amount of another reactant.

A specialised surface across which substances move between an organism and its surroundings.

A state in which an electron has gained energy and moved to a higher energy level.

The removal from the body of waste substances produced by its chemical reactions.

A reaction that transfers energy to the surroundings overall because forming product bonds releases more energy than breaking reactant bonds requires.

The increase in an object's length: stretched length minus original length. In spring equations, extension is measured in metres (m).

The permanent loss of a species when its last individual dies.

A diagram tracing the inheritance of a characteristic through generations of a family.

A raw material used to manufacture other substances.

The fusion of male and female gametes, bringing together genetic information from both parents.

A strip of land at the edge of a cultivated field that can provide habitat for wild plants and animals.