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 7 of 32: from “Coulomb energy” to “Dember effect”.
- Coulomb energy noun The energy associated with the electrostatic forces of a system of particles, especially with that of the electrons of a covalent bond.
- Coulomb explosion noun The effect of a molecule moving at high speed striking a solid; binding electrons being torn off, and the resulting charged constituents…
- coulombic adj relating to Coulomb's law and the force it involves
- coulometry noun A technique in analytical chemistry in which the amount of substance released during electrolysis, and the amount of electricity used, are…
- counterpropagating adj Describing two beams of light that are propagating in precisely opposite directions through the same medium.
- countrate noun The rate at which something is counted, measured as how many times it is observed in a unit of time.
- couple noun A turning effect created by forces that produce a non-zero external torque.
- coupling noun A connection between two electronic circuits such that a signal can pass between them.
- CPT symmetry noun the fundamental symmetry of physical laws under transformations that involve the simultaneous inversions of charge, parity and time
- crack noun An expanding circle of white water surrounding the site of a large explosion at shallow depth, marking the progress of the shock wave…
- crackle noun The fifth derivative of the position vector with respect to time (after velocity, acceleration, jerk, and jounce), i.e. the rate of change…
- crimp verb To fasten by bending metal so that it squeezes around the parts to be fastened.
- crith noun the weight of 1 litre of hydrogen at standard temperature and pressure. Equal to approximately 0.09 grams.
- critical adj Of the point (in temperature, reagent concentration etc.) where a nuclear or chemical reaction becomes self-sustaining.
- critical angle noun The angle of incidence beyond which light traveling through a medium experiences total internal reflection upon encountering a boundary…
- critical opalescence noun the milky turbidity observed in a fluid as it is slowly cooled to just above its critical point, at which point two clear phases (gas and…
- critical point noun The temperature and pressure at which the vapour density of the gas and liquid phases of a fluid are equal, at which point there is no…
- critical temperature noun The temperature at the critical point of a substance, i.e. the temperature above which the substance cannot be liquefied.
- criticality noun The point at which a nuclear chain reaction becomes self-sustaining.
- Crookes space noun The dark space within the negative-pole glow at the cathode of a vacuum tube, observed only when the pressure is low enough to give a…
- cross section noun A measure for the probability that a particular nuclear reaction will take place, typically denoted σ and having units of barns.
- cross-bonding noun A method to connect power cable by crossing the return conductors between phases to increase cable current rating and reduce electrical…
- crossatron noun A high-power pulsed modulator device, a cold cathode gas-filled tube that combines useful features of thyratrons, vacuum tubes, and power…
- crossbar switch noun A matrix of switches with multiple input and output lines that form a crossed pattern between which a connection may be established by…
- crosspeak noun A correlation between two peaks
- crosstalk noun Undesirable signals from a neighbouring transmission circuit; undesired coupling between circuits.
- crosswedge noun A wedge-shaped waveform that moves in the cross direction to the current.
- crown glass noun A variety of glass used in lenses and other optical components due to its low refractive index and dispersion. Originally crown glass was…
- CRT noun Initialism of cathode ray tube.
- crusher gauge noun An instrument for measuring the explosive force of gunpowder, etc., by its effect in compressing a piece of metal.
- cryodetector noun Any of several devices that detect something by measuring small differences in very low temperatures
- cryptoexotic adj Describing the state of certain systems of particles that have certain characteristics of exotic mesons or exotic baryons.
- cryptotomography noun A form of tomography that uses a series of randomly-oriented diffraction patterns to reconstruct a three-dimensional image
- crystal set noun An early radio receiver, having no electrical power supply except the radio waves themselves; it used a crystal of lead or cadmium sulphide…
- crystallize verb To make something form into crystals.
- cue noun A marker or signal that triggers something, such as the start of an audio recording.
- Curie temperature noun The temperature at which the magnetism of a substance changes, specifically when a ferromagnetic material becomes paramagnetic.
- current noun Ellipsis of electric current.
- current divider noun A simple electronic circuit which reduces an input current by a fixed factor using sources of impedance (such as resistors) connected in…
- cut out noun Any of several devices that halt the flow of a current, especially an electric current; a trip-switch or trip.
- cyber transport adj Synonym of networked (“computer networked”); pertaining to computer networks and computer networking
- cycle verb To turn power off and back on
- cycloconversion noun The modification of alternating current to a lower frequency without converting it to direct current.
- cycloconverter noun A device that modifies alternating current to a lower frequency without converting it to direct current
- cymatic adj Of or pertaining to cymatics.
- d noun Abbreviation of data.
- d'Alembert operator noun A differential operator which may be expressed as ∂_μ∂^μ=∑_(μ=0)³∂/∂x^μ∂/∂x_μ; it is the four-dimensional (Minkowski space) equivalent of…
- D-sub noun an electrical connector with two or more rows of pins or sockets surrounded by a D-shaped metal shield
- daisy chain verb To connect (several computer devices or peripherals, or other components) in sequence with each other, usually such that the output of one…
- dalton noun the atomic mass unit
- damped adj Possessing a nonzero damping ratio.
- damping ratio noun A dimensionless measure of the damping in second-order linear dynamic system, appearing as the term ζ in the generalised equation of motion…
- dark hydrogen noun A state of hydrogen that is poorly electrically conductive (much less conductive than metallic hydrogen).
- dark light noun A hypothetical force of nature that acts on dark matter to allow dark matter to interact with itself.
- dark matter noun Matter which has mass but which does not readily interact with normal matter except through gravitational effects.
- dark sector noun The unknown portion of the Universe outside standard physics, including dark matter and dark energy.
- dark star noun An extremely bright and massive hypothetical astrophysical object whose illumination is powered by annihilation of dark-matter particles…
- dark-zilla noun Theoretical extremely massive dark matter particle, orders of magnitude greater than 10¹⁰ GeV (gigaelectronvolts), thought to be generated…
- Darlington pair noun A pair of transistors with the emitter of one connected to the base of the other and the collectors connected together, acting as a…
- Darwin drift noun The phenomenon by which a fluid parcel is permanently displaced after the passage of a body through a fluid – the fluid being at rest far…
- data rate noun The speed at which data is sent over a data link or channel; generally expressed in bytes per second.
- datapad noun A tablet computer, a personal mobile device.
- daughter noun A nuclide left over from radioactive decay.
- daughter nuclide noun a nuclide (often one of several) that is the product of the radioactive decay of a specific parent nuclide
- Davydov soliton noun A quasiparticle representing an excitation that propagates along self-trapped amide I groups within the alpha helices of proteins.
- Dawes resolution limit noun A criterion for a telescope's resolving power, representing the minimum angular separation between two stars that a human observer can…
- dawn chorus noun Radio interference sometimes experienced at sunrise.
- DDR noun Initialism of double data rate.
- de Broglie wavelength noun the wavelength, λ=h/p, associated with a beam of particles of momentum p. (h being Planck's constant.) The same formula gives the momentum…
- dead-bug adj Relating to a form of electronic prototyping where integrated circuits are stuck upside down to the breadboard and soldered to directly.
- debounce verb To remove the small ripple of current that forms when a mechanical switch is pushed in an electrical circuit and makes a series of short…
- debug verb To remove a hidden electronic surveillance device from (somewhere).
- debunching noun The tendency of a beam of electrons (or other charged particles) to disperse because of mutual repulsion.
- debye noun The CGS unit of electric dipole moment, defined as 1 D = 10⁻¹⁸ statcoulomb-centimetre and computable from the SI unit coulomb-metre by…
- Debye length noun In plasmas and electrolytes, a measure of a charge carrier's net electrostatic effect in a solution and how far that effect persists.
- Debye sphere noun A volume whose radius is the Debye length, in which there is a sphere of influence, and outside of which charges are electrically screened.
- decade noun A set of ten electronic devices used to represent digits.
- decade box noun A piece of test equipment used during prototyping of circuits to vary the resistance, capacitance, or inductance by means of a knob or…
- decay verb To undergo bit rot, that is, gradual degradation.
- decay time noun The amount of time required for a collection of atoms of a specific radionuclide to decay to a fraction of the initial number, equivalent…
- decentre verb To place away from the centre; to make eccentric.
- deconfinement noun That state of a system of quarks and gluons that are free to move relatively independently
- decuplet noun A collection of spin-3/2 baryons described in the eightfold way.
- deexcite verb To decrease the energy of something
- default noun the original software programming settings as set by the factory
- deflagrate verb To burn with intense light and heat.
- defocus noun The distance by which the focal point is in front of (positive defocus) or beyond (negative defocus) the image or target surface.
- deform verb To alter the shape of (something) by applying a force or stress.
- deformation noun Physically so.
- deformation energy noun The energy that must be supplied to an initially spherical atomic nucleus to give it a sufficient deformation to undergo nuclear fission…
- degenerate adj Having the same quantum energy level.
- degenerate matter noun matter which has sufficiently high density that the dominant contribution to its pressure arises from the Pauli exclusion principle.
- degree noun A unit of measurement of temperature on any of several scales, such as Celsius or Fahrenheit.
- degree of freedom noun Any of the coordinates, a minimum number of which are needed to specify the motion of a mechanical system.
- delay line noun An electrical or optical component designed to delay the transmission of a signal by a specific amount of time.
- delithiation noun The removal of lithium from an electrode of a lithium-ion battery
- delta noun The symbol Δ; A change in a quantity, likely from "d" for "difference".
- delta ray noun An electron ejected by recoil when a rapidly moving alpha particle or other charged particle passes through matter.
- delta-v noun A vector change in velocity, especially a small change as a result of a corresponding change in some other parameter.
- Dember effect noun The effect that occurs when the electron current from a cathode subjected to both illumination and a simultaneous electron bombardment is…