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 17 of 32: from “luminance” to “memristance”.
- luminance noun The luminous flux emitted in a given direction divided by the product of the projected area of the source element perpendicular to the…
- luminophore noun That part of a molecule that is responsible for a given emission band when it undergoes luminescence.
- luminosity noun the ratio of luminous flux to radiant flux at the same wavelength; the luminosity factor
- luminosity function noun A standard measure of the response of the human eye to light of different wavelengths
- Luttinger liquid noun A theoretical model describing interacting electrons (or other fermions) in a one-dimensional conductor (e.g. quantum wires such as carbon…
- M-theory noun A generalized theory of eleven-dimensional supergravity that attempts to unify the five superstring theories
- Mach noun A ratio of the speed (of an object, etc.) to the speed of sound in the fluid or other medium through which the object travels. Usually used…
- Mach tuck noun A change in an aircraft's pitching tendency at transonic speeds, often manifesting as a strong tendency to pitch down into a dive.
- Mach wave noun A pressure wave travelling at the speed of sound, caused by a slight change of pressure added to a compressible flow.
- macrophase noun A relatively large-scale part of a solid phase that has a different morphology than that of its surroundings
- macrorealism noun The proposed state of large-scale reality in which quantum mechanical superpositions of macroscopically distinct states never occur
- macroscopic adj Having an appreciable mass.
- magic adj Describing the number of nucleons in a particularly stable isotopic nucleus; 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, 126, and 184.
- magicity noun The condition of a heavy isotope of having a magic number of protons and neutrons, and therefore of having particular stability
- magmatter noun A hypothetical form of matter, consisting of magnetic monopoles and expected to be vastly stronger and denser than normal matter.
- magnesium-24 noun The major stable isotope of magnesium, 2412Mg, having twelve protons and twelve neutrons; it amounts to about 79% of the element in nature
- magnesium-25 noun A minor stable isotope of magnesium, 2512Mg, having twelve protons and thirteen neutrons; it amounts to about 10% of the element in nature
- magnesium-26 noun A minor stable isotope of magnesium, 2612Mg, having twelve protons and fourteen neutrons; it amounts to about 11% of the element in nature
- magnetic bottle noun a magnetic field so shaped that it can confine a plasma: used in a proposed design for fusion reactors
- magnetic crochet noun A portion of a magnetograph recording showing electric currents in the Earth's ionosphere caused by a solar flare, identified by its…
- magnetic equator noun A line drawn on a map or chart connecting all points at which the magnetic dip (or magnetic inclination) is zero for a specified epoch.
- magnetic field noun A condition in the space around a magnet or electric current in which there is a detectable magnetic force and two magnetic poles are…
- magnetic lens noun a magnetic field with axial symmetry capable of converging a beam of charged particles of uniform velocity and of forming images of objects…
- magnetic mirror noun A magnetic confinement device used in fusion power to trap high-temperature plasma using magnetic fields.
- magnetic moment noun The torque exerted on a magnet within a magnetic field; a vector, being the product of the strength of the magnet and the distance between…
- magnetic monopole noun A hypothetical particle having an isolated north or south pole; the magnetic equivalent of an isolated electric charge.
- magnetic permeability noun a measure of the magnetisation of a material in a magnetic field; symbol μ. Materials with values less than 1 are diamagnetic those above…
- magnetic quantum number noun A quantum number of an atomic orbital, whose possible values are related to the azimuthal quantum number, that denotes the energy levels in…
- magnetic strip noun A strip of magnetic material on which data is stored for later retrieval and reading by an electronic device.
- magnetic thermometer noun a thermometer whose operation is based upon Curie's law; typically used to measure temperatures below 1 K
- magnetism noun The property of being magnetic.
- magnetizability noun A measure of the extent to which something is magnetizable; specifically the tensor quantity relating the induced magnetic moment to the…
- magnetize verb To make magnetic.
- magneto-optic effect noun The property changes (i.e. polarization, spectrum, phase, intensity) in an electromagnetic wave when it propagates through a medium that…
- magneto-optic Kerr effect noun A magneto-optic effect in which light is reflected from a magnetized surface and may change both polarization and reflected intensity.
- magnetoassociation noun The association of atoms into molecules (or other entities) under the influence of a magnetic field.
- magnetocaloric adj Describing a reversible change in temperature of a material as a result of a change in magnetic field.
- magnetocaloric effect noun the reversible change in temperature that accompanies the change of magnetization of a ferromagnetic or paramagnetic material
- magnetodielectric adj Describing materials that are both magnetic and dielectric
- magnetoelectrics noun The study of magnetoelectricity
- magnetohydrodynamics noun the study of the interaction of electrically conducting fluids with magnetic fields; as in the Earth's core
- magnetoionic adj Describing the affects of a magnetic field on ionic behaviour.
- magnetologic adj Describing a device that uses magnetism to perform the logical operations normally performed using electronics
- magnetomechanics noun The branch of physics dealing with the mutual interaction of the strain and magnetization of materials.
- magnetometer noun An instrument used to measure the intensity and direction of a magnetic field, especially at points on the Earth's surface; sometimes used…
- magnetomotive force noun The force associated with a magnetic field and that produces magnetic flux; it is the work required to carry a magnetic monopole of unit…
- magnetophoresis noun Motion induced by a magnetic field on a particle of magnetic or magnetizable material (such as a hemoglobin-bearing red blood cell) in a…
- magnetoresistance noun The change of electrical resistance produced in a conductor or semiconductor on application of a magnetic field.
- magnetosonic adj Describing a longitudinal wave of ions (and electrons) in a magnetized plasma that propagates perpendicular to the stationary magnetic…
- magnetosphere noun The comet-shaped region around Earth or another planet in which charged particles are trapped or deflected. Shaped by the solar wind and…
- magnetothermal adj Describing a heating effect of a magnetic field, or the effect of heat on the magnetic properties of a material
- magnetron noun A device in which electrons are made to resonate in a specially shaped chamber and thus produce microwave radiation; used in radar, and in…
- magnino noun An ultralight fermionic species proposed to have condensed into a ferromagnetic state in the early universe
- major appliance noun A nonportable or semiportable machine used for routine housekeeping tasks such as cooking, washing laundry, or food preservation.
- make noun The closing of an electrical circuit.
- make-before-break adj Of a switch or other electronic device, that creates a new electrical connection before an older one is broken.
- male-to-female adj That changes a male end (with pins, usually a plug) of a connection into a female one (usually a socket).
- Malter effect noun The establishment of a positive charge on the surface of a thin insulating layer due to the secondary emission of electrons following the…
- mapper noun A software or hardware component that performs a mapping.
- martensite noun Any crystal structure formed by a martensitic transition.
- martensitic adj Of or relating to a diffusionless transition of one crystal structure to another generated by coordinated atomic, ionic or molecular…
- maser noun a device for the coherent amplification or generation of electromagnetic radiation (especially of microwave frequency) by the use of…
- mass noun A measure of the inertia of a mass of matter, one of four fundamental properties of matter. SI unit of mass: kilogram.
- mass balance noun An application of conservation of mass to the analysis of physical systems, taking into account the material that enters and leaves a…
- mass defect noun the difference between the mass of an atom and the sum of the masses of its individual components in the free state; equivalent to the…
- mass distribution noun The spatial distribution of mass within a solid body.
- mass energy noun The energy present in an object because of its mass
- mass shift noun The portion of an isotope shift produced by the changing mass of a nucleus upon the addition of a neutron
- mass spectrometry noun An analytical technique that measures the mass / charge ratio of the ions formed when a molecule or atom is ionized, vaporized and…
- massic adj Relating to mass.
- massive adj Having any mass.
- massive compact halo object noun Any kind of astronomical body comprising normal baryonic matter that in sufficient numbers might explain the apparent presence of dark…
- materialization noun The conversion of energy into mass.
- matrix noun A grid-like arrangement of electronic components, especially one intended for information coding, decoding or storage.
- matrix isolation noun a technique for maintaining reactive molecules in an inert material at low temperature for spectroscopic study
- matrixing noun An electronic procedure to generate a signal from multiple signal inputs, for example quadraphonic encoding into two channels.
- matter noun Anything with mass and volume.
- maximon noun A hypothetical elementary particle of maximum mass in the mass spectrum of elementary particles having mass of 5 × 10²⁸ eV.
- Maxwell time noun Dynamic viscosity divided by shear modulus, a value that characterizes the relaxation of stress in a viscoelastic material after it has…
- Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution noun A particular probability distribution originally defined and used for describing particle speeds in idealized gases. Mathematically, it is…
- Maxwellisation noun The property of exhibiting a Maxwellian distribution (or Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution), especially as regards the speed of a particle.
- MC noun Initialism of moving coil, a type of phono cartridge.
- McIntire joint noun An electrical connection spliced together by means of a sleeve (double tube of copper for this purpose).
- McLeod gauge noun a device, rather like a manometer, used to measure low pressures close to that of a vacuum, by using an application of Boyle's law
- mean free path noun The average distance travelled between two similar events; especially by molecules in a gas or liquid, electrons or phonons in a crystal or…
- mechanics noun The branch of physics that deals with the action of forces on material objects with mass.
- mechanocaloric adj Describing the production of heat by mechanical means, but especially the heating of liquid helium as some of it (the coldest atoms)…
- medium scale integration noun An integration type for digital circuits that contain hundreds of transistors providing dozens of logic gates per chip.
- megafarad noun A unit of quantity of electric charge; the quantity of electricity flowing through a one megohm resistor when driven by an electromotive…
- megaverse noun A theoretical higher-order universe that contains multiple (possibly an infinite number of) pocket universes within it.
- Meissner effect noun The total expulsion of magnetic flux from the interior of a superconducting metal when it is cooled in a magnetic field below a critical…
- melting point noun The temperature at which the solid and liquid phases of a substance are in equilibrium; it is relatively insensitive to changes in pressure.
- membrane distillation noun a separation method in which a nonwetting, microporous membrane is used with a liquid feed phase on one side of the membrane and a…
- membrane separation noun any of several processes for separating the components of mixtures by using thin barriers between two miscible fluids; any transmembrane…
- memductance noun Electrical conductance that varies according to the history of electric current that has flowed through a device
- meminductance noun Electrical inductance that varies according to the history of electric charge that has flowed through a device
- memory bank noun A hardware-dependent logical unit of storage in an electronic.
- memory chip noun A RAM, ROM, PROM, EPROM or EEPROM microchip that can be plugged into a personal computer to provide temporary or permanent memory.
- memory effect noun The situation in which nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries gradually lose their maximum energy capacity if they are repeatedly recharged…
- memristance noun Electrical resistance that varies according to the history of electric charge that has flowed through a device