Definitions - Physics

-Aces:old term for quark particles.
-Anti-matter: matter made up of the anti-particles(with reverse charges)of the particles that make up ordinary matter.
-Anti-quarks:the anti-particles of quarks.
-Asymptotic freedom:The way force between quarks grows stronger with distance.
-Atomic theory: that all matter is made up of particles called atoms.
-Atoms: the particles that make up ordinaru matter.
-Bosons: subatomic particles that obey the rules devised by the physicist Satyendra Bose.
-Compactification: the reduced size of several dimensions of space postulated by modern unified theories , compared to the size of the familiar three dimensions.
-Compounds: a combination of elements.
-Cosmic rays: Subatomic particles traveling through space at high speeds, which occasionally enter Earths atmosphere.
-Cosmic ray shower: cascade of subatomic particles that occurs when a cosmic ray collides with a particle of the Earths atmosphere and its energy is converted into new particles, which collide with other particles, creating still more particles, and so forth.
-Electric charge: a property of subatomic particles that governs the electromagnetic interaction between those new particles ; it can be either 'positive' or 'negative' .
-Electromagnetic interaction: the interaction that occurs between electrically charged particles. Like charges repel & opposites attract, as in magnetic poles.
-Electron microscope: a microscope that views objects by bouncing electrons off of them.
-Electron nutrino: a fundamental particle.
-Electrons: a fundamental particle and one of the building blocks of the atom.
-Electroweak theory: the nobel prize winning scientific theory that explained both the electromagnetic and weak interaction as aspects of a single interaction, called electroweak interaction.
-Elements: the fundamental materials that make up ordinary matter,the nature of the element determined by the number of protons in its atoms.
-Experimental scientists: those who gather data about the universe by performing experiments and recording the results; as opposed to theoretical scientists.
-Fermions: subatomic particles that obey the rules by the physicist Enrico Fermi.
-Gluons: particles that carry color interaction between quarks.
-Grand unified theories: (GUTs)theories that attempt to explain all four fundamental forces as aspects of a single force.
-Gravitational interaction: an interaction that occurs between all particles with mass, producing a mutual interaction between the particles.
-Graviton: the particle that carries the gravitational interaction between particles with mass.
-Hadrons: particles that are made up of combinations of three quarks ;the only particles that undergo the strong interaction.
-Interactions: the ways in which particles affect other particles; by attracting them, repelling them, or changing their quantum numbers; there are four fundamental interactions, gravitational, electromagnetic, weak and strong interactions.
-Inverse square principle: the way in which certain forces between particles fall off with distance.
-Leptons: a group of six fundamental particles consisting of the electron, electron nutrino, muon, muon nutrino, tau, and tau nutrino.
-Mass: a property of subatomic particles that determines the gravitational interaction between them.
-Mesons: particles originally theorized as the carrier of the strong force between hadrons.
-Metaphor: a symbolic of expressing a concept, such as the description of gravity as curved space(though this particular description is also scientifically useful).
-Microscope: a device for studying very small objects.
-Muon: a subatomic particle unexpectedly discovered in the 1940s, leading to the further discovery of dozens of hadrons(a proliferation of particles eventually explained by quark theory).
-Neutrons: subatomic particles that are one of the building blocks of the atom(and that are in turn made up of quarks).
-Nucleus: the central body of the atom, made up of protons and neutrons held together by the strong force.
-Occam's Razor: a scientific rule of thumb that suggests that the simplest theory that explains all known facts is usually the best.
-Particle accelerators: machines used to propel subatomic particles to high speeds and then collide them with other particles in order to examine the submicroscopic structure of those particles.
-Particle physics: the study of the fundamental particles that make up all matter and the interactions that occur between them.
-Photons: the particles that make up light.
-Physics: the study of the fundamental laws that govern the behavior of matter, space ,and time.
-Probability waves: waves made up of the changing probabilities of certain subatomic events occuring; according to the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics, everything in the universe is made up of such waves.
-Protons: subatomic particles that are one of the building blocks of the atom(and that are in turn made up of quarks).
-Quantum chromodynamics: (QCD) the body of theory that explains the 'color' interactions between quarks and the strong interactions between hadrons (which are two forms of the same interaction).
-Quantum electrodynamics:(QED) the body of theory that explains the electromagnetic interactions between electrically charged particles.
-Quantum numbers: the set of numbers the uniquely describe each kind of subatomic particle.
-Quantum theory: the body of theory that explains the fundamental particles and interactions that make up the universe as the interaction of probabilities.
-Quarks: the fundamental particles that make up the subatomic particles called hadrons(e.g. protons and neutrons).
-Relativity: the body of theory that explains the gravitational interaction.
-Renormalization: a method of removing infinities from theories such as QED and QCD by subtracting opposing infinities from one another.
-Shadow matter: a theoretical type of matter that interacts with normal matter only through the gravitational interaction( and thus is invisible to our eyes and telascopes, which operate through the electromagnetic interaction).
-Strong interaction: the interaction by which hadrons attract one another; actually a manifestation of the more fundamental color interaction between quarks.
-Superstring theory: a body of theory that proposes that all fundamental particles are actually a single fundamental particle refered to as the 'string'.Which can take on a number of properties and quantum numbers.
-Tau: a fundamental particle.
-Tau nutrino: a fundamental particle.
-Telescope: a device for magnifying images and drawing in large amounts of light from far away objects.
-Theoretical scientists: scientists who devise theories to explain the data gathered from experimental scientists.
-Theory of everything: a long sought scientific theory that would explain everything known about the universe in a single equation or set of equations.
-Unified field theories: theories that explain two or more of the four fundamental forces as aspects of underlying force.
-Weak interaction: a fundamental interaction that actually changes the quantum numbers of the interacting particles, converting them to different kinds of particles.
-W particles: one of the two types of particles that carry the weak interaction between particles.
-Z particles: another of the two types of particles that carry the weak interactions between particles.

Back to start of my web site

OR ,if you came from page 3, click here, or hit your back button