{
 "source": "https://peabody.kids/flashcards/tp-ap-physics",
 "id": "tp-ap-physics",
 "title": "AP Physics Key Terms",
 "category": "test-prep",
 "subject": "AP Physics",
 "levels": [
  "9-12",
  "college"
 ],
 "description": "Mechanics, waves, electricity, magnetism, fluids, thermal and modern physics vocabulary.",
 "tags": [
  "ap",
  "physics"
 ],
 "frontLabel": "Term",
 "backLabel": "Meaning",
 "cards": [
  [
   "Scalar",
   "A quantity with magnitude only"
  ],
  [
   "Vector",
   "A quantity with magnitude and direction"
  ],
  [
   "Displacement",
   "Change in position, a vector"
  ],
  [
   "Velocity",
   "Rate of change of position, with direction"
  ],
  [
   "Acceleration",
   "Rate of change of velocity"
  ],
  [
   "Free fall",
   "Motion under gravity alone; about 9.8 m/s^2 near Earth"
  ],
  [
   "Projectile motion",
   "Horizontal and vertical motions analyzed independently"
  ],
  [
   "Newton's first law",
   "An object keeps its motion unless a net force acts"
  ],
  [
   "Newton's second law",
   "Net force equals mass times acceleration"
  ],
  [
   "Newton's third law",
   "Forces come in equal and opposite pairs on different objects"
  ],
  [
   "Inertia",
   "Resistance to change in motion; related to mass"
  ],
  [
   "Normal force",
   "Contact force perpendicular to a surface"
  ],
  [
   "Friction",
   "Force opposing relative motion between surfaces"
  ],
  [
   "Tension",
   "Pulling force transmitted by a rope or string"
  ],
  [
   "Weight",
   "Gravitational force on an object, mg"
  ],
  [
   "Free-body diagram",
   "A sketch showing all forces on one object"
  ],
  [
   "Centripetal acceleration",
   "Acceleration toward the center of a circle, v^2/r"
  ],
  [
   "Universal gravitation",
   "F = Gm1m2/r^2"
  ],
  [
   "Work",
   "Force times displacement in the force direction"
  ],
  [
   "Kinetic energy",
   "Energy of motion, 1/2 mv^2"
  ],
  [
   "Gravitational potential energy",
   "Energy of position in a field, mgh near Earth"
  ],
  [
   "Elastic potential energy",
   "Energy stored in a spring, 1/2 kx^2"
  ],
  [
   "Hooke's law",
   "Spring force is proportional to stretch: F = -kx"
  ],
  [
   "Work-energy theorem",
   "Net work equals change in kinetic energy"
  ],
  [
   "Conservation of energy",
   "Total energy of an isolated system stays constant"
  ],
  [
   "Power",
   "Rate of doing work"
  ],
  [
   "Momentum",
   "Mass times velocity"
  ],
  [
   "Impulse",
   "Force times time; equals change in momentum"
  ],
  [
   "Elastic collision",
   "Kinetic energy is conserved"
  ],
  [
   "Inelastic collision",
   "Kinetic energy is not conserved"
  ],
  [
   "Center of mass",
   "The average position of an object's mass"
  ],
  [
   "Torque",
   "A force's turning effect, rF sin theta"
  ],
  [
   "Rotational inertia",
   "Resistance to change in rotation"
  ],
  [
   "Angular momentum",
   "Rotational inertia times angular velocity"
  ],
  [
   "Equilibrium",
   "Net force and net torque are zero"
  ],
  [
   "Simple harmonic motion",
   "Oscillation with restoring force proportional to displacement"
  ],
  [
   "Period",
   "Time for one cycle"
  ],
  [
   "Frequency",
   "Cycles per second, measured in hertz"
  ],
  [
   "Amplitude",
   "Maximum displacement from equilibrium"
  ],
  [
   "Pendulum period",
   "About 2 pi sqrt(L/g) for small swings"
  ],
  [
   "Wavelength",
   "Distance between matching points on a wave"
  ],
  [
   "Wave speed",
   "v = f times wavelength"
  ],
  [
   "Transverse wave",
   "Vibration perpendicular to travel direction"
  ],
  [
   "Longitudinal wave",
   "Vibration parallel to travel direction"
  ],
  [
   "Superposition",
   "Waves add together where they overlap"
  ],
  [
   "Interference",
   "Combining waves to reinforce or cancel"
  ],
  [
   "Standing wave",
   "A pattern with fixed nodes and antinodes"
  ],
  [
   "Doppler effect",
   "Change in observed frequency due to relative motion"
  ],
  [
   "Diffraction",
   "Spreading of waves around obstacles or through openings"
  ],
  [
   "Refraction",
   "Bending of waves when speed changes between media"
  ],
  [
   "Snell's law",
   "n1 sin theta1 = n2 sin theta2"
  ],
  [
   "Total internal reflection",
   "Light fully reflects at a boundary beyond the critical angle"
  ],
  [
   "Converging lens",
   "A lens that brings parallel rays together"
  ],
  [
   "Electric charge",
   "A property causing electric force; positive or negative"
  ],
  [
   "Coulomb's law",
   "Electric force between charges varies as q1q2/r^2"
  ],
  [
   "Electric field",
   "Force per unit charge"
  ],
  [
   "Electric potential",
   "Potential energy per unit charge, in volts"
  ],
  [
   "Capacitor",
   "A device that stores charge and energy in an electric field"
  ],
  [
   "Current",
   "Rate of flow of charge, in amperes"
  ],
  [
   "Resistance",
   "Opposition to current, in ohms"
  ],
  [
   "Ohm's law",
   "V = IR"
  ],
  [
   "Electric power",
   "P = IV"
  ],
  [
   "Series circuit",
   "Components in one path; same current"
  ],
  [
   "Parallel circuit",
   "Components on separate branches; same voltage"
  ],
  [
   "Kirchhoff's junction rule",
   "Current in equals current out at a junction"
  ],
  [
   "Kirchhoff's loop rule",
   "Voltage changes around a closed loop sum to zero"
  ],
  [
   "Magnetic field",
   "A region where moving charges or magnets feel force"
  ],
  [
   "Magnetic force on a charge",
   "F = qvB sin theta"
  ],
  [
   "Faraday's law",
   "A changing magnetic flux induces an emf"
  ],
  [
   "Lenz's law",
   "Induced current opposes the change that caused it"
  ],
  [
   "Pressure",
   "Force per unit area"
  ],
  [
   "Density",
   "Mass per unit volume"
  ],
  [
   "Buoyant force",
   "Upward force equal to the weight of displaced fluid"
  ],
  [
   "Bernoulli's principle",
   "Faster fluid flow goes with lower pressure"
  ],
  [
   "Continuity equation",
   "A1v1 = A2v2 for incompressible flow"
  ],
  [
   "Temperature",
   "A measure of average kinetic energy of particles"
  ],
  [
   "Heat",
   "Energy transferred due to temperature difference"
  ],
  [
   "Zeroth law of thermodynamics",
   "Systems in thermal equilibrium with a third are in equilibrium with each other"
  ],
  [
   "First law of thermodynamics",
   "Change in internal energy = heat added minus work done by the system"
  ],
  [
   "Second law of thermodynamics",
   "Entropy of an isolated system never decreases"
  ],
  [
   "Heat engine",
   "Converts heat into work"
  ],
  [
   "Ideal gas law",
   "PV = nRT"
  ],
  [
   "Photoelectric effect",
   "Light ejecting electrons from a metal, showing its particle nature"
  ],
  [
   "Photon",
   "A packet of light energy, E = hf"
  ],
  [
   "Work function",
   "Minimum energy to free an electron from a metal"
  ],
  [
   "de Broglie wavelength",
   "Wavelength of a particle: h/p"
  ],
  [
   "Wave-particle duality",
   "Matter and light show both wave and particle behavior"
  ],
  [
   "Energy levels",
   "Atoms have only certain allowed energies"
  ],
  [
   "Emission spectrum",
   "Light at specific wavelengths from excited atoms"
  ],
  [
   "Mass-energy equivalence",
   "E = mc^2"
  ],
  [
   "Binding energy",
   "Energy holding a nucleus together"
  ],
  [
   "Half-life",
   "Time for half of a radioactive sample to decay"
  ],
  [
   "Fission",
   "Splitting of a heavy nucleus"
  ],
  [
   "Fusion",
   "Joining of light nuclei"
  ],
  [
   "Alpha decay",
   "Emission of a helium nucleus"
  ],
  [
   "Beta decay",
   "A neutron becomes a proton, emitting an electron and antineutrino"
  ]
 ]
}