This page gathers the 3,177 dictionary entries belonging to the domain “Physics”, as labelled by Wiktionary. Each word leads to its full entry: definitions, etymology, pronunciation, examples. Page 15 of 32: from “intermolecular force” to “kinit”.
- intermolecular force noun any of the attractive or repulsive interactions that occur between atoms or molecules and become significant at separations of about 1…
- internal energy noun A property, characteristic of the state of a thermodynamic system, the change of which is equal to the heat absorbed minus the work done by…
- interpenetrative adj Mutually penetrative (overlapping each other in space)
- interphase adj Between phases
- interposer noun An electrical interface between one connection or socket and another, used to spread a connection to a wider pitch or to reroute it.
- interpretation noun An approximation that allows aspects of a mathematical theory to be discussed in ordinary language.
- interrupt noun An event that causes a computer or other device to temporarily cease what it was doing and attend to a condition.
- intershell adj Between shells.
- interstitial noun An interstitial discontinuity in a crystal.
- intervacuum adj Between regions of vacuum (or of very low pressure)
- intracule noun a mathematical function that gives the probability of observing two electrons in a given molecule with a given difference in position or…
- intrinsic semiconductor noun A pure, undoped semiconductor material in which the number of charge carriers (electrons and holes), is determined solely by the material's…
- inverse-square law noun Any physical law, such as that of gravitation, in which a quantity varies inversely with distance from a source as the square of that…
- inverter noun A power inverter.
- invertor noun A device that converts direct current into alternating current.
- iodine-125 noun The radioactive isotope of iodine, 12553I, having a half-life of 59 days; used as a radiation therapy.
- iodine-131 noun The radioactive isotope of iodine, 13153I, having a half-life of eight days; used as a medical tracer
- ion selective electrode noun An electrode whose potential is dependent on the concentration of a specific ion in the solution in which it is immersed.
- ion-selective membrane noun a membrane (e.g. of a chalcogenide glass) across which an electrical potential differs according to the concentration of a specific ion…
- ionization noun Any process that leads to the dissociation of a neutral atom or molecule into charged particles ions; the state of being ionized.
- ionizing radiation noun High-energy radiation that is capable of causing ionization in substances through which it passes; also includes high-energy particles.
- ionocaloric adj Pertaining to the thermal effects due to a change in ionic environmental conditions, such as due to the dissociation of ionic compounds…
- iris noun A constricted opening in the path inside a waveguide, used to form a resonator.
- iron-54 noun A minor stable isotope of iron, 5426Fe, having 26 protons and 28 neutrons; it amounts to about 6% of the element in nature
- iron-56 noun The major stable isotope of iron, 5626Fe, having 26 protons and 30 neutrons; it amounts to about 92% of the element in nature
- iron-57 noun A minor stable isotope of iron, 5726Fe, having 26 protons and 31 neutrons; it amounts to about 2% of the element in nature
- iron-58 noun A minor stable isotope of iron, 5826Fe, having 26 protons and 32 neutrons; it amounts to about 0.3% of the element in nature
- irradiance noun The radiant power received by unit area of surface.
- irrefrangible adj Incapable of being refracted.
- irreversible adj Incapable of being reversed to the original state without consumption of free energy and increase of entropy.
- isentrope noun An isentropic state or system
- isentropic flow noun An idealised fluid flow in which entropy remains constant throughout the flow, or along a particular streamline.
- isoabsorption noun A feature of the absorption spectra of a mixture of substances that are reacting with each other, in that at one frequency the absorption…
- isobar noun A set of points or conditions at constant pressure.
- isobaric adj (of a process) having a constant pressure throughout
- isochore noun A line drawn on a graph showing the variation of the pressure of a constant volume of gas as it varies with temperature.
- isochoric adj Of a thermodynamic process, during which the volume does not change.
- isochromatic adj Having the same colour or wavelength.
- isocrystalline adj Having the same crystalline structure
- isoelectric point noun the pH of a colloidal suspension or of an ampholyte at which the solute does not move in an electrophoretic field; symbol pI
- isoexcitation noun Used attributively to describe the wavelength at which the fluorescence of a dye is independent of pH
- isoflux noun The product obtained by multiplying the flux measurement by the isotopic signature.
- isograv noun Abbreviation of isogravity.
- isohydric adj Describing solutions that have the same pH and conductivity, these values remaining constant upon mixing of the solutions
- isolated system noun A system that does not interact with its surroundings. Depending on context this may mean that its total energy and/or momentum stay…
- isomass noun A condition of having the same mass.
- isometric adj Of a thermodynamic process, taking place at constant volume because of being confined by rigid boundaries.
- isomultiplet noun A hadron that differs from another by having one (or more) of its quarks replaced by the equivalent antiquark
- isopleth noun A line in a phase diagram indicating the same mole fraction.
- isopycnic adj Of points on a surface, or in a medium: having equal density.
- isospecific adj between the same species of subatomic particle
- isospin noun A quantum number or symmetry related to the strong interaction and hence to differences between atoms with the same number of nucleons.
- isosteric adj Having constant specific volume over time or space
- isothermal adj Of or pertaining to a process that takes place at constant temperature
- isothermic adj (Of a thermodynamic process) during which the temperature remains constant.
- isotope effect noun The effect that differing masses of different isotopes of the same element have on the physical and chemical properties of that element
- isotopic adj Of or pertaining to isotopes.
- isotopic signature noun A set of ratios of the abundances of different isotopes of specified elements in a sample, used as a diagnostic test of the sample's…
- isotropic adj Having properties that are identical in all directions; exhibiting isotropy
- J/psi particle noun A subatomic particle with an unusually long lifetime (7.2 × 10⁻²¹ s) and a large mass (approx. 3.097 GeV/c²); a bound state of a charm…
- jack noun A switch for a jack plug, a jackknife switch; (more generally) a socket used to connect a device to a circuit, network etc.
- jack in verb To insert an electronic coupling into a receptacle; to connect to something, whether involving a physical medium or not.
- Janus particle noun A spherical microscopic particle which has hemispheres with sharply differing properties, such as one hydrophilic hemisphere and one…
- jellybean part noun A commonly available electronic component that may be readily replaced with similar ones, often made by different manufacturers.
- jerk noun The rate of change in acceleration with respect to time.
- jet noun A narrow cone of hadrons and other particles produced by the hadronization of a quark or gluon.
- jet flow noun A high-momentum stream of fluid (liquid or gas) exiting a nozzle or opening into a surrounding medium; characterized by high velocity, a…
- jiffy noun The length of an alternating current power cycle (1/60 or 1/50 of a second).
- Johnson thermoelectric energy converter noun An electrochemical heat engine, with no moving parts, which can take a heat source and convert it to electric power, or take electric power…
- jolt noun The rate of change in acceleration with respect to time.
- Joule-Thomson effect noun The temperature change of a real gas or liquid (as differentiated from an ideal gas) when it is forced through a valve or porous plug while…
- jounce noun The fourth derivative of the position vector with respect to time; the time derivative of jerk.
- jump noun An abrupt increase in the height of the surface of a flowing liquid at the location where the flow transitions from supercritical to…
- jumper noun A removable connecting pin on an electronic circuit board.
- jumpered adj Fitted with a jumper.
- junction noun electrical junction: a point or area where multiple conductors or semiconductors make physical contact.
- junction box noun A box through which the main conductors of a system of electric distribution pass, and where connection is made with branch circuits or to…
- junction detector noun A device in which the detection of radiation takes place at the depletion junction of a reverse-biased semiconductor junction.
- junction diode noun A semiconductor rectifying device in which the barrier between the two regions of opposite conductivity (n-type and p-type) type produces…
- junction transistor noun A transistor in which the emitter and collector barriers are formed by p-n junctions between semiconductor regions of opposite conductivity…
- K-factor noun A measurement of how well a power transformer can handle harmonic distortion.
- kaleidophone noun A device, consisting of a reflective ball attached to a vibrating rod or plate, that produces optical figures that correspond to the mode…
- Kamiltonian noun A second Hamiltonian, denoted by K, resulting from the canonical transformation of a given Hamiltonian.
- kaon noun any of four unstable subatomic particles, mesons, they are a combination of a strange quark or antiquark and either an up or down quark or…
- Kapitza resistance noun A resistance to the flow of heat across the interface between liquid helium and a solid that produces a temperature discontinuity.
- Kaye effect noun A phenomenon where pouring a viscous mixture of an organic liquid onto a surface causes a jet of liquid to spout upward from the surface…
- kb symbol kilobar
- keepalive noun A short message sent by one device to another to check that the link between the two is operating, or to prevent this link from being…
- Kelvin bridge noun A specialized form of a Wheatstone bridge network designed to eliminate the effect of lead and contact resistance and thus permit accurate…
- kerma noun The sum of the initial kinetic energies of all the charged particles liberated by uncharged ionizing radiation (neutrons and photons) in a…
- Kerr cell noun A glass cell filled with a polar liquid such as nitrotoluene or nitrobenzene, frequently used to modulate light by taking advantage of the…
- Kerr effect noun Birefringence of a material induced by an electric field due to partial orientation of its molecules.
- keybounce noun Multiple recorded keystrokes from a single press of a key on a computer keyboard due to poor electrical contact.
- Killing horizon noun A geometrical construct used in general relativity and its generalizations to delineate spacetime boundaries without reference to the…
- kilogram-metre noun a unit of work, equal to that done by a force of one kilogram-force acting through a distance of one metre
- kilonova noun A radiation pattern typical of a kilonova.
- kine noun The unit velocity in the CGS system, equal to one centimeter per second.
- kinesis noun Any energy that creates/controls movement.
- kinetic energy noun The energy possessed by an object because of its motion, equal (nonrelativistically) to one half the mass of the body times the square of…
- kinit noun A unit of force equal to the force which, acting for one second, will give a pound a velocity of one foot per second.