DICTIONARY

IN
PHYSICAL
SCIENCE
 A
 Atomic number (Z) of an element is the number of protons in the
nucleus.
 Alpha Process -Helium is converted to carbon in the core.

 Arthur Eddington - proposed that the stars get their energy

from the nuclear fusion of hydrogen nuclei

 Alpha ladder - is a set of nuclear reactions that convert helium

into heavier elements.
 Aristotle was called “Father of Science” from his teaching that a
theory was only invalid if derived logically from observations of
the real world.

 Atomos – a Greek word for invisible

 Atoms make up the universe as they are continuously moving in a
void that surrounds them, repelling each other when they collide or
combining into clusters.
 Atomism is a natural philosophy that the physical world is
composed of fundamental invisible. components known as
atoms.
  Alchemy is a philosophy practiced throughout Egypt and
Eurasia which aimed to purify and perfect materials through
transmutation.

 Antoine Lavoisier - a brilliant French chemist, who

formulated the law of conservation of mass using mercury
oxide.
 Arthur Wahl – one who bombarded uranium with deuterons
(particles composed of a proton and a neutron) in a cyclotron.

 Alpha decay is a reaction that emits helium-4 nucleus or alpha

particle.

 Alexander the Great are well known persons involved in

the field of alchemy.

 Abu Musa Jabir Ibn Hayyan proposed that two

philosophical elements, sulfur and mercury, must be added to
the four classical elements

 Anode rays were composed of positively charged particles

produced from gases.

 Azimuthal quantum number- shapes of the

orbital (s, p, d, f)
 B
 Big bang theory is a cosmological model that describes how the
universe started its expansion about 13.8 billion years ago and
continue expanding.

 Big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN), also known as primordial

nucleosynthesis, is the process of producing light elements during the
big bang expansion.

 Binding energy is the energy required to break down a nucleus into its
components.
 Beryllium-7, an unstable isotope of beryllium with four protons and
three neutrons, was produced from the nuclear fusion of helium-3 and
helium-4 accompanied by the emission of high energy photon.

 Brown dwarfs- protostars with significantly small masses compared to

the sun.

 Beta-plus decay - this reaction, which releases a positron or a positively

charged electron and a neutrino.

 Beta decay results in an increase in the number of protons of the

nucleus by one.
  Bohr’s model, an electron can only jump in a certain orbit
 Balmer equation or series, which describes the spectral lines of the
hydrogen atom at the visible wavelength.

 Binary compound is formed by two elements. For example, two atoms of

azote (nitrogen) may combine to form a binary compound.


C
 Cosmology, the body of science that studies the origin, evolution and
eventual fate of the universe.
 Carl Wilhelm Wirtz in 1910 where they discovered that most spiral
galaxies were moving away from Earth. This phenomenon is known as
redshift.
 Chondrites commonly fall to Earth and provides scientists and
astronomers’ insights on the origin, elemental composition and age of the
solar system as well as of the universe.

 Carbon-nitrogen-oxygen (CNO) cycle is the dominant source of
energy in stars more massive than about 1.3 times the mass of the sun.

 Cathode rays - rays of light traveled between the two electrodes

 Constructive interference (or constructive addition)
happens when two light waves are overlapping in phase,
resulting in a larger light wave.

 Cyclotron - it is a particle accelerator that uses alternating

electric field to accelerate particles that move in a spiral path
in the presence of a magnetic field.

 Chemical element, or simply an element, is made up of a

single atom.

D
 Deuterium (D), an isotope of hydrogen that has one proton
and one neutron, was first formed from the fusion of a proton
and a neutron, accompanied by the emission of high-energy
photon.
 Deuterium burning - deuteron fuses with another proton to
produce helium-3.

 Democritus of Abdera hypothesized that all matter is made

up of very small, indivisible particles.

 De Broglie's wavelength - he was also able to calculate the

wavelengths of other matter
 Dmitri Mendeleev formulated the periodic table

 Dale Corson discovered element with atomic number 85

E
 Edwin Hubble used the redshift of light to calculate the velocities of galaxies.

 Extinction in astronomy means the absorption and scattering of electromagnetic

radiation by gases and dust particles between an emitting astronomical object and
an observer.

 Electrons are the negatively charged particles in an atom.

 Ernest Rutherford a physicist who tested and challenged the inaccuracy of the
position of the positive charges.
 Eugen Goldstein discovered anode rays (also known as canal rays).
 Ernest Marsden proposed that the positively charged particles are concentrated
in a small, dense region of the atom.
 Energy levels, its values are any whole number from 1, 2, 3, 4, and onwards.

 Excitation, the electron in its original atomic orbit will move to

a higher atomic orbit in a process.
 Excited state - the higher atomic orbit
 Electromagnetic radiation is produced when there are
overlapping electric and magnetic fields, which can only
be achieved when light is consist of charged particles.

 Erwin Schrödinger, used de Broglie’s idea that electrons exhibit wavelike

behavior and theorized that the behavior of electrons within atoms could be
explained by treating them as waves.
 Empedocles was a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher who proposed that
everything is made up of fire, earth, air, and water.

 Element came from the Greek word stoicheion which means “smallest
division.”

 Ernest Lawrence, an American physicist synthesized element with atomic

number 43 using a linear particle accelerator.

 Emilio Segre discovered element with atomic number 85.

 Edwin McMillan proved that an element having an atomic number 93
could be created.

G
 George Gamow derived a quantum mechanical formula for the probability
of bringing two nuclei close enough such that the nuclear forces overcome
the Coulomb barrier.
 George Johnstone Stoney, he initially coined the term electron as the
fundamental charge of electricity.
 Geiger counter, he detected the radiation hit the paraffin, protons were
knocked loose.

 Ground state - the original atomic orbit of the electron.

 Gold foil experiment - the results of his experiment lead to the discovery of
the nucleus, a dense central core with a positive charge.
 H
 Henry Gwyn Jeffreys Moseley discovered that the periodic table of elements should be
arranged based on its atomic number.

 Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle states that it is impossible to know the position and
momentum of an electron in an atom at any one time.
 Hans Geiger, proposed that the positively charged particles are concentrated in a small,
dense region of the atom.

 Helium burning is a set of stellar nuclear reactions that uses helium to produce heavier
elements such as beryllium, oxygen, neon and iron.

 Hydrogen burning is a set of stellar processes that produce energy in the stars.

 Hans Bethe studied how energy is produced in stars through hydrogen burning.

 Helium-4, which has two neutrons and two protons, has a binding energy equivalent to 28
MeV.

 Helium-3, an isotope of helium with one neutron and two protons, was formed from the
fusion of two deuterium nuclei and a release of a neutron.

 Holmdel horn antenna, an antenna built to support NASA’s Project Echo.

 I
 Isaac Newton refined Copernicus model and introduced the law of universal gravitation
which extended the laws of classical physics in Earth to that of the universe.

 Inflation, a process that there is “nothing” around the singularity, but in this nothingness
is where the singularity expanded rapidly.

 Infrared radiation (IR), energy that is detected from different stages of star formation.

 Isotopes are atoms with the same atomic number but different mass numbers. They differ
in their number of neutrons.

 Interference - when two light waves overlap to one another, they undergo constructive or
destructive interference.

L
 Law of definite proportions- this law states that a chemical compound is formed by
elements in fixed mass ratios.
 Law of multiple proportions- It states that when two or more elements can form multiple
combinations, the ratio of the elements in those compounds can be expressed in small,
whole numbers.
 Low mass stars - a star of less than half the mass
of the sun will produce a white dwarf that is mainly
made up of helium and some unfused hydrogen.

 Lithium-7, an unstable nucleus with three protons and four neutrons, was
produced from the nuclear fusion of helium-4 and tritium.
 Law of universal gravitation which extended the laws of classical physics
in Earth to that of the universe.
 Leucippus who is known as physicist in ancient Greece, were the major
contributor of ideas in this theory and pioneered the study of the composition
of and changes in matter.

M
 Mass number (A) of an element is the total number of protons (Z) and
neutrons (N).
 Mythological cosmology explains the origin of the universe and life based
on religious beliefs of a specific tradition.
 Microwave background radiation (CMBR), which
spread out across space evenly. This radiation was
believed to be energy remains.
 Main sequence star - when the contraction stops, the
gravitational equilibrium is reached, and the protostar has
become a main sequence star.

 Massive star has enough mass such that temperature and

pressure increase to a point where carbon fusion can occur.
 Molecular clouds - all stars are born from clouds of gas and
dust.
 Mass -the primary factor that determines how stars evolve
 Neutrons - these are neutrally charged subatomic particles.
 Niels Bohr, a Danish scientist, shocked the scientific community by
that moment when he thought of a solution.
 Nucleosynthesis - it is the process by which new nuclei are formed
from pre-existing or seed nuclei.
 Neutron capture, a neutron is added to a seed nucleus.
 P
 Protons - these are positively-charged
subatomic particles.
 Plum pudding model - In this model, the atom
is represented as a uniform positively charged
sphere embedded with electrons.
 Principal quantum number - energy level
(higher means higher energy level)
 Photons - light traveled in packets.

 Photoelectric effect - light exhibits particle-like properties.

 Proton capture- it is also called p-process and it is the addition of a
proton in the nucleus.
 Proton-proton chain reaction is a chain reaction by which a star
 Q
 Quantum theory explains that both energy and matter have wave-like
and particle-like characteristics.

 Quantum mechanical model of the atom.

This model is the basis of our modern
understanding of the atom. In this model,
electrons in the quantum mechanical model
are in regions called orbitals, where electrons
can only most probably be found.

R
 Relaxation - The excited electron will eventually return to its ground state.
 Robert Wilson discovered a low, steady “hum” from their Holmdel horn
antenna (an antenna built to support NASA’s Project Echo)
 Recombination- electrons started to mingle with these nuclei in a primordial
chemical process.
 Ralph Alpher - he was able to calculate the proportions of neutrons and
protons present in the early universe when Big Bang started
 Red giant - if hydrogen atoms successfully fuse to form the helium core.
 Rapid neutron capture- it is also called r-process and it happens when there
is a large number of available neutrons.
 Robert Boyle, which is best known for his own gas law.

S
 Spontaneous fission, the nucleus breaks into pieces
with different atomic numbers and mass numbers.
 Sextenary are atoms that made of six.
 Septenary are atoms that made of seven.
 Subatomic particles such as protons, neutrons, and
electrons exist.
 Solid sphere model- In this model, the atom is
imagined as extremely small and indivisible.
 Square of the wave function represents the
probability at which the electrons can be found.

 Spin quantum number - electron spin (clockwise or

counterclockwise).
 Schrödinger equation- The Schrödinger equation uses de Broglie’s
hypothesis of the electron as a wave which describes the momentum
 Tritium (T), a radioactive isotope of
hydrogen with one proton and two
neutrons, was formed from the fusion
of two deuterium nuclei, accompanied
by a release of a proton.
 Triple-alpha process is a set of
nuclear fusion reactions that start with
three helium-4 nuclei (also called
alpha particles) that are converted to
carbon-12.
 Thomas Young showed that light exhibits wavelike properties such as
refraction, diffraction, and interference.
 Three metallic principles was comprised of mercury, sulfur, and salt.
 Transuranium elements - Elements with atomic numbers greater than 92 (the
atomic number of uranium.

V
 Vedic medication- Indians incorporated their findings on different substances
to their practices of religious healing.

W
 Wave functions - Electrons in an atom are described by solutions to the
Schrödinger equation
 Werner Karl Heisenberg, it is impossible to know the position and
momentum of an electron in an atom at any one time.
 Wave-particle duality of matter -According to his theory, subatomic particles,
like electrons, can also act as waves, rather than definite particles with
determinate positions.
 Wave-particle duality of light - This discovery is one of the stepping stone of
scientists in discovering the structure of the atom.

SUBMITTED BY :
CHRISTINE MAE D. HORNILLA