AQA GCSE Physics key terms

The distance a vehicle travels from when the brakes are applied until it comes to rest.

Stationary conducting contacts that press against slip rings or a commutator to connect a rotating part to an external circuit.

A single source of potential difference, shown by one long and one short parallel line.

The single point at which an object's weight may be considered to act.

A sequence of fission reactions in which neutrons released by one fission cause further nuclei to split.

The final momentum minus the initial momentum; for an object of constant mass, $\Delta p=m(v-u)=m\Delta v$.

The change in energy stored thermally when the temperature of a system changes, measured in joules (J).

A physical change in which a substance changes between the solid, liquid and gas states without becoming a different substance.

The quantity of electrical charge that passes a point or moves through a component, measured in coulombs (C).

A change that forms one or more new substances with different properties.

A drawing that uses standard symbols and lines to show how electrical components are connected.

A complete, unbroken conducting path through which electrical charge can flow.

A system across whose boundary no energy is transferred to or from the surroundings.

A loop or winding of conducting wire through which current flows.

An event in which objects strike one another and exert forces on each other.

A material that transmits some wavelengths of visible light and absorbs others.

One of two perpendicular forces that together have the same effect as a single force.

A reduction in the volume occupied by a gas as an external force pushes its boundary inwards.

A lens that spreads rays travelling parallel to its principal axis apart.

The change from a gas to a liquid.

The principle that energy cannot be created or destroyed; it can only be transferred between stores.

The principle that the total mass of a closed system remains constant during a change.

The principle that the total momentum of a closed system is the same before and after an interaction.

A condition in which the space occupied by the gas does not change.

A force between objects that are physically touching.

An unchanged comparison used to show what happens without the treatment being investigated.

A quantity kept constant so that any change in the results can be attributed to the independent variable.