OCR GCSE Physics B key terms

A boundary where a wave meets a different material.

A model that uses equations or numerical relationships to describe a system and calculate possible outcomes.

The sum of the values divided by the number of values; an estimate of a typical value.

An interval associated with a measurement within which the true value is reasonably expected to lie.

The interval between the smallest and largest values that an instrument can measure.

An energy transfer caused by a force acting through a distance.

A process that explains how one factor could produce an observed outcome.

The substance through which a mechanical wave travels, such as air, water or a rope.

The curved surface of a liquid in a measuring cylinder.

The three small bones in the middle ear—the malleus, incus and stapes—which transmit vibrations from the eardrum towards the inner ear.

Action taken to reduce the likelihood or severity of an unwanted effect.

A group of two or more atoms joined together.

The turning effect produced by a force about a point, measured in newton metres.

The product of an object's mass and velocity; it has a direction and is measured in kg m/s.

A change in momentum caused when a particle rebounds from a container wall.

The force produced when the magnetic field around a current-carrying conductor interacts with another magnetic field.

A device in which sound makes an attached coil move in a permanent magnetic field, producing a changing electrical signal.

The transfer of an electrical effect between separate circuits when a changing current in one circuit produces a changing magnetic field that induces a potential difference in the other.

The network that transfers electrical energy from power stations to consumers using transformers and transmission cables.

An object, such as a moon, that naturally orbits a planet.

A cloud of gas and dust in space from which stars and planetary systems can form.

A thermistor whose resistance decreases as its temperature increases.

The overall charge remaining when an object has unequal amounts of positive and negative charge.

The mains conductor that completes the appliance's normal circuit and is at approximately 0 V relative to earth.

An uncharged subatomic particle found in the nucleus.

An uncharged nucleon that may be emitted by an unstable nucleus.

Whenever two objects interact, each exerts an equal-magnitude, oppositely directed force on the other.

A point on a stationary wave that does not vibrate.