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Wave

Wave
In physics, a wave is a disturbance or oscillation that travels through space and matter, accompanied by a transfer of energy. Wave motion transfers energy from one point to another, often with no permanent displacement of the particles of the medium—that is, with little or no associated mass transport. They consist, instead, of oscillations or vibrations around almost fixed locations. There are two main types of waves. The second main type of wave, electromagnetic waves, do not require a medium. Further, the behavior of particles in quantum mechanics are described by waves, and researchers believe that gravitational waves also travel through space, although gravitational waves have never been directly detected. General features[edit] A single, all-encompassing definition for the term wave is not straightforward. Mathematical description of one-dimensional waves[edit] Wave equation[edit] Wavelength λ, can be measured between any two corresponding points on a waveform (waveform and where

Harmonic oscillator where k is a positive constant. If F is the only force acting on the system, the system is called a simple harmonic oscillator, and it undergoes simple harmonic motion: sinusoidal oscillations about the equilibrium point, with a constant amplitude and a constant frequency (which does not depend on the amplitude). If a frictional force (damping) proportional to the velocity is also present, the harmonic oscillator is described as a damped oscillator. Depending on the friction coefficient, the system can: Oscillate with a frequency smaller than in the non-damped case, and an amplitude decreasing with time (underdamped oscillator).Decay to the equilibrium position, without oscillations (overdamped oscillator). The boundary solution between an underdamped oscillator and an overdamped oscillator occurs at a particular value of the friction coefficient and is called "critically damped." If an external time dependent force is present, the harmonic oscillator is described as a driven oscillator.

Work (physics) In physics, a force is said to do work when it acts on a body, and there is a displacement of the point of application in the direction of the force. For example, when you lift a suitcase from the floor, the work done on the suitcase is the force it takes to lift it (its weight) times the height that it is lifted. The term work was introduced in 1826 by the French mathematician Gaspard-Gustave Coriolis[1][2] as "weight lifted through a height", which is based on the use of early steam engines to lift buckets of water out of flooded ore mines. The SI unit of work is the newton-metre or joule (J). The work done by a constant force of magnitude F on a point that moves a displacement (not distance) s in the direction of the force is the product, For example, if a force of 10 newtons (F = 10 N) acts along a point that travels 2 metres (s = 2 m), then it does the work W = (10 N)(2 m) = 20 N m = 20 J. Work is closely related to energy. where the symbol Another example is a book on a table. where

Power (physics) The integral of power over time defines the work performed. Because this integral depends on the trajectory of the point of application of the force and torque, this calculation of work is said to be path dependent. The same amount of work is done when carrying a load up a flight of stairs whether the person carrying it walks or runs, but more power is needed for running because the work is done in a shorter amount of time. The output power of an electric motor is the product of the torque that the motor generates and the angular velocity of its output shaft. The power involved in moving a vehicle is the product of the traction force of the wheels and the velocity of the vehicle. The rate at which a light bulb converts electrical energy into light and heat is measured in watts—the higher the wattage, the more power, or equivalently the more electrical energy is used per unit time.[1][2] Ansel Adams photograph of electrical wires of the Boulder Dam Power Units, 1941–1942 where of period .

Conservation law In physics, a conservation law states that a particular measurable property of an isolated physical system does not change as the system evolves. One particularly important physical result concerning laws of conservation is Noether's theorem, which states that there is a one-to-one correspondence between laws of conservation and differentiable symmetries of physical systems. For example, the conservation of energy follows from the time-invariance of physical systems, and the fact that physical systems behave the same regardless of how they are oriented in space gives rise to the conservation of angular momentum. Exact laws[edit] A partial listing of physical laws of conservation that are said to be exact laws, or more precisely have never been [proven to be] violated: Conservation of mass-energy Approximate laws[edit] There are also approximate conservation laws. See also[edit] References[edit] Victor J. External links[edit] Conservation Laws — an online textbook

Torque Torque, moment or moment of force (see the terminology below), is the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis,[1] fulcrum, or pivot. Just as a force is a push or a pull, a torque can be thought of as a twist to an object. Mathematically, torque is defined as the cross product of the lever-arm distance vector and the force vector, which tends to produce rotation. Loosely speaking, torque is a measure of the turning force on an object such as a bolt or a flywheel. The symbol for torque is typically τ, the Greek letter tau. The magnitude of torque depends on three quantities: the force applied, the length of the lever arm[2] connecting the axis to the point of force application, and the angle between the force vector and the lever arm. where τ is the torque vector and τ is the magnitude of the torque, r is the displacement vector (a vector from the point from which torque is measured to the point where force is applied), F is the force vector, × denotes the cross product, is ...

Angular momentum This gyroscope remains upright while spinning due to its angular momentum. In physics, angular momentum, moment of momentum, or rotational momentum[1][2] is a measure of the amount of rotation an object has, taking into account its mass, shape and speed.[3] It is a vector quantity that represents the product of a body's rotational inertia and rotational velocity about a particular axis. The angular momentum of a system of particles (e.g. a rigid body) is the sum of angular momenta of the individual particles. For a rigid body rotating around an axis of symmetry (e.g. the blades of a ceiling fan), the angular momentum can be expressed as the product of the body's moment of inertia, I, (i.e., a measure of an object's resistance to changes in its rotation velocity) and its angular velocity ω: In this way, angular momentum is sometimes described as the rotational analog of linear momentum. Angular momentum in classical mechanics[edit] Definition[edit] and we can see that where

Energy All of the many forms of energy are convertible to other kinds of energy, and obey the conservation of energy. Common energy forms include the kinetic energy of a moving object, the radiant energy carried by light, the potential energy stored by an object's position in a force field,(gravitational, electric or magnetic) elastic energy stored by stretching solid objects, chemical energy released when a fuel burns, and the thermal energy due to an object's temperature. According to mass–energy equivalence, any object that has mass when stationary,(called rest mass) also has an equivalent amount of energy whose form is called rest energy. Conversely, any additional energy above the rest energy will increase an object's mass. For example, if you had a sensitive enough scale, you could measure an increase in mass after heating an object. Living organisms require available energy to stay alive, such as the energy humans get from food. Forms Some examples of different kinds of energy: History

Force The original form of Newton's second law states that the net force acting upon an object is equal to the rate at which its momentum changes with time. If the mass of the object is constant, this law implies that the acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on the object, is in the direction of the net force, and is inversely proportional to the mass of the object. As a formula, this is expressed as: where the arrows imply a vector quantity possessing both magnitude and direction. Development of the concept With modern insights into quantum mechanics and technology that can accelerate particles close to the speed of light, particle physics has devised a Standard Model to describe forces between particles smaller than atoms. Pre-Newtonian concepts Aristotle famously described a force as anything that causes an object to undergo "unnatural motion" Aristotelian physics began facing criticism in Medieval science, first by John Philoponus in the 6th century. where

Momentum Like velocity, linear momentum is a vector quantity, possessing a direction as well as a magnitude by its own weight Linear momentum is also a conserved quantity, meaning that if a closed system is not affected by external forces, its total linear momentum cannot change. In classical mechanics, conservation of linear momentum is implied by Newton's laws; but it also holds in special relativity (with a modified formula) and, with appropriate definitions, a (generalized) linear momentum conservation law holds in electrodynamics, quantum mechanics, quantum field theory, and general relativity. Newtonian mechanics[edit] Momentum has a direction as well as magnitude. Quantities that have both a magnitude and a direction are known as vector quantities. Single particle[edit] The momentum of a particle is traditionally represented by the letter p. The units of momentum are the product of the units of mass and velocity. Many particles[edit] This is known as Euler's first law.[2][3] Conservation[edit]

Mass In physics, mass (from Greek μᾶζα "barley cake, lump [of dough]") is a property of a physical body which determines the body's resistance to being accelerated by a force and the strength of its mutual gravitational attraction with other bodies. The SI unit of mass is the kilogram (kg). As mass is difficult to measure directly, usually balances or scales are used to measure the weight of an object, and the weight is used to calculate the object's mass. For everyday objects and energies well-described by Newtonian physics, mass describes the amount of matter in an object. There are several distinct phenomena which can be used to measure mass. Inertial mass measures an object's resistance to changes in velocity m=F/a. The mass of an object determines its acceleration in the presence of an applied force. Units of mass[edit] The kilogram is one of the seven SI base units; one of three which is defined ad hoc, without reference to another base unit. Other units are accepted for use in SI:

Acceleration For example, an object such as a car that starts from standstill, then travels in a straight line at increasing speed, is accelerating in the direction of travel. If the car changes direction at constant speedometer reading, there is strictly speaking an acceleration although it is often not so described; passengers in the car will experience a force pushing them back into their seats in linear acceleration, and a sideways force on changing direction. If the speed of the car decreases, it is sometimes called deceleration; mathematically it is simply acceleration in the opposite direction to that of motion.[4] Definition and properties[edit] Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity. Mathematically, instantaneous acceleration—acceleration over an infinitesimal interval of time—is the rate of change of velocity over time: Average acceleration over a period of time is the change in velocity divided by the duration of the period Tangential and centripetal acceleration[edit] where = time.

Velocity If there is a change in speed, direction, or both, then the object has a changing velocity and is said to be undergoing an acceleration. Constant velocity vs acceleration[edit] To have a constant velocity, an object must have a constant speed in a constant direction. Constant direction constrains the object to motion in a straight path (the object's path does not curve). Thus, a constant velocity means motion in a straight line at a constant speed. For example, a car moving at a constant 20 kilometres per hour in a circular path has a constant speed, but does not have a constant velocity because its direction changes. Distinction between speed and velocity[edit] Speed describes only how fast an object is moving, whereas velocity gives both how fast and in what direction the object is moving.[1] If a car is said to travel at 60 km/h, its speed has been specified. Equation of motion[edit] The average velocity during a time interval is described by the formula: at time and is: , then: can be used.

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