physics

physics -
              the science of matter and energy and their interactions.


≡natural philosophy


↔phase space - (physics)
                                   an ideal space in which the coordinate dimensions represent the variables that are required to describe a system or substance; "a multidimensional phase space".


↔containment - (physics)
                                    a system designed to prevent the accidental release of radioactive material from a reactor.


↔hodoscope - (physics)
                                 scientific instrument that traces the path of a charged particle.


↔magnet - (physics)
                            a device that attracts iron and produces a magnetic field.


↔meniscus - (physics)

                                 the curved upper surface of a nonturbulent liquid in a vertical tube.


↔nuclear reactor, reactor - (physics)

                                                  any of several kinds of apparatus that maintain and control a nuclear reaction for the production of energy or artificial elements.


↔metastability -
                        the quality of a physical system that persists in its existing equilibrium when undisturbed (or only slightly disturbed) but able to pass to a more stable equilibrium when sufficiently disturbed.


↔isotropy, symmetry - (physics)
                                              the property of being isotropic; having the same value when measured in different directions.


↔wave-particle duality, duality - (physics)

                                                             the property of matter and electromagnetic radiation that is characterized by the fact that some properties can be explained best by wave theory and others by particle theory.


↔absorption factor, absorptivity - (physics)

                                                             the property of a body that determines the fraction of the incident radiation or sound flux absorbed or absorbable by the body.


↔reluctivity - (physics)              

                                the resistance of a material to the establishment of a magnetic field in it.


↔rest mass - (physics)
                               the mass of a body as measured when the body is at rest relative to an observer, an inherent property of the body.


↔relativistic mass - (physics)
                                        the mass of a body in motion relative to the observer: it is equal to the rest mass multiplied by a factor that is greater than 1 and that increases as the magnitude of the velocity increases.


↔gravitational mass - (physics)
                                             the mass of a body as measured by its gravitational attraction for other bodies.


↔inertial mass - (physics)

                                    the mass of a body as determined by the second law of motion from the acceleration of the body when it is subjected to a force that is not due to gravity.


↔mass energy - (physics)
                                    the mass of a body regarded relativistically as energy.


↔flux density, flux - (physics)
                                             the number of changes in energy flow across a given surface per unit area.


↔absorbance, optical density, photographic density, transmission density - (physics)
                 a measure of the extent to which a substance transmits light or other electromagnetic radiation.


↔quantum - (physics)

                              the smallest discrete quantity of some physical property that a system can possess (according to quantum theory).


↔attracter, attractor - (physics)
                                            a point in the ideal multidimensional phase space that is used to describe a system toward which the system tends to evolve regardless of the starting conditions of the system.


↔Bose-Einstein statistics - (physics)
                                                   statistical law obeyed by a system of particles whose wave function is not changed when two particles are interchanged (the Pauli exclusion principle does not apply).


↔Dalton's law of partial pressures, law of partial pressures, Dalton's law - (chemistry and physics)

                                  law stating that the pressure exerted by a mixture of gases equals the sum of the partial pressures of the gases in the mixture; the pressure of a gas in a mixture equals the pressure it would exert if it occupied the same volume alone at the same temperature.


↔Boltzmann distribution law, Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution law - (physics)
                                                                                                          a 
law expressing the distribution of energy among the molecules of a gas in thermal equilibrium.


↔Fermi-Dirac statistics - (physics)
                                                 law obeyed by a systems of particles whose wave function changes when two particles are interchanged (the Pauli exclusion principle applies).


↔Charles's law, Gay-Lussac's law, law of volumes - (physics)
                                                                                     the density of an ideal gas at constant pressure varies inversely with the temperature.



↔Hooke's law - (physics)
                                   the principle that (within the elastic limit) the stress applied to a solid is proportional to the strain produced.


↔Kirchhoff's laws - (physics)
                                       two laws governing electric networks in which steady currents flow: the sum of all the currents at a point is zero and the sum of the voltage gains and drops around any closed circuit is zero.


↔law of gravitation, Newton's law of gravitation - (physics)
                                                                                  the law that states any two bodies attract each other with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.


↔law of thermodynamics - (physics)
                                                    a law governing the relations between states of energy in a closed system.
   ↔mass-energy equivalence - (physics)
                                                      the principle that a measured quantity of mass is equivalent (according to relativity theory) to a measured quantity of energy.


↔Planck's law - (physics)
                                   the basis of quantum theory; the energy of electromagnetic waves is contained in indivisible quanta that have to be radiated or absorbed as a whole; the magnitude is proportional to frequency where the constant of proportionality is given by Planck's constant.


2. physics - the physical properties, phenomena, and laws of something; "he studied the physics of radiation"



≡physical science

↔natural science -
                           the sciences involved in the study of the physical world and its phenomena.


↔acoustics -
                    the study of the physical properties of sound