Key terms & definitions

The speed at which all electromagnetic waves travel through a vacuum, approximately $3.00 \times 10^8\ \text{m/s}$.

A graph showing how an object's speed changes with time. Its gradient gives the rate of change of speed.

A chemical agent that kills or disables sperm.

A chemical that kills or disables sperm.

A perfectly round solid whose surface is the same distance from its centre in every direction.

An area in which a powerful country exercises substantial influence over other countries’ affairs.

The area served or affected by a settlement, service or other geographical feature.

The island group in present-day Indonesia also known as the Moluccas, sought by European traders for valuable spices such as cloves.

The long central dividing barrier around which chariots raced in a Roman circus.

Nervous tissue running through the vertebral column that carries impulses between the brain and much of the body.

The bony column of vertebrae that supports the body and protects the spinal cord.

A nozzle containing small holes through which polymer is forced to form textile filaments.

A self-reinforcing process in which loss of jobs or population reduces demand for services, causing further closures and encouraging more people to leave.

Long, curved bands of clouds and thunderstorms that spiral around a tropical cyclone's centre.

A supernatural being; in The Tempest, Ariel can become invisible, change his appearance and perform magical tasks.

Relating to religious life and authority, rather than worldly government or possessions.

Growth in religious understanding and the qualities needed to live according to one’s faith.

Equal spiritual worth and importance before God, regardless of gender.

An ability understood by Christians to be given by the Holy Spirit to help build up the Christian community.

A person's need for a meaningful relationship with God and a life consistent with their religious beliefs.

The belief that Christ is present spiritually in the Eucharist without the bread and wine literally becoming his body and blood.

An understanding of life beyond death in which renewed life is spiritual rather than the restoration of a physical body.

An eternal realm beyond material existence, understood in some Hindu traditions as an abode of God and liberated souls.

Applying a coating of gum or resin dissolved in a volatile solvent, which hardens as the solvent evaporates.

A graph showing changes in breathing volume over time.

A narrow ridge of deposited sand or shingle extending from the coast into the sea, attached to land at one end.

Britain’s nineteenth-century policy of avoiding permanent European alliances while relying on its navy to protect its empire and trade.

A thin wooden stick used in gas tests, either burning with a flame or glowing without a flame.

A mechanical fastener with two legs that are spread after insertion through a hole, used to retain paper or board components and sometimes provide a pivot.

A rotating contact divided into two halves that reverses a coil's connection to the external circuit every half-turn.