Key terms & definitions

The time between a driver noticing a need to stop and applying the brakes.

The time between a stimulus occurring and a person responding to it.

The time between a stimulus and the start of a response to it.

Wood formed with different properties and growth stresses to help support or redirect a leaning trunk or branch.

Glass that changes its optical properties, such as transparency, in response to a stimulus.

The tendency of a substance to undergo a chemical reaction.

How readily an element takes part in chemical reactions.

A list of elements arranged in order of reactivity, usually from most reactive to least reactive.

A list of elements arranged in order of reactivity, with the most reactive at the top. For metals, reactivity is related to the tendency to form positive ions.

The central region of a nuclear reactor containing the fuel and the components used to control the chain reaction.

An operation that retrieves data from a file so that a program can use it.

The ease with which a programmer can read and understand code.

Memory whose contents the computer can both retrieve and change during normal operation.

In Piaget’s theory, having reached the level of cognitive development needed to understand a particular concept.

A check used to decide whether an ingredient or dish has reached the required stage of cooking.

Describes memory that allows data to be both retrieved and changed or added.

A component that detects magnetisation to read data and changes magnetisation to write data.

How quickly data can be retrieved from or saved to a storage device.

Food intended to be eaten without further cooking, such as salad or cooked meat served cold.

The US policy under President Reagan of providing financial and military support to anti-communist fighters to roll back communism, rather than merely prevent its further spread.

Ronald Reagan’s economic approach, centred on tax cuts, reduced welfare spending and a greater role for private enterprise.

A substance added to a sample to produce a chemical reaction that can reveal whether another substance is present.

A chemical added to a sample to produce an observable reaction that helps identify a substance.

A chemical used to test for another substance, usually by producing an observable change.

A numeric data type that can represent numbers with a fractional part, such as 10.75. Programming languages may use names such as float or double.

A graph in which the variables represent measurable quantities from a situation, so the axes require labels and units.

Division that retains any fractional part of the result, rather than returning only an integer quotient.

An image formed where light rays actually meet; it can be projected onto a screen.

The interpretation that God’s promised rule is already active through Jesus, rather than being entirely a future expectation.

The understanding that God’s Kingdom is already active through Jesus and can be experienced in lives and communities shaped by God’s rule.