Vocabulary+for+Engineering

__**This page will consist mainly of vocabulary terms relating to engineering, and possibly examples.**__

charges attract one another, while objects with like charges repel one another.) and are displayed on the Periodic Table of Elements. Gold, silver, iodine, oxygen and nickel are examples of elements.) often.) could you give a few examples of a probe? (posted by: Vanessa Elizabeth Hoffman the First) Like a space probe, camera dune buggys, or small aquatic machines used to endure pressure that msot things cannot endure. observation.) Kelvin scales.)
 * Accelerate**- to speed up
 * Accelerator**- a machine which accelerates charged particles to high energies
 * Antimatter**- matter that is exactly the opposite in every way from its matter counterpart: antiquark/quark; positron/electron
 * Assistive Technology**- Assistive technology devices are aids which substitute for or enhance the function of some physical ability that is impaired. This term will serve as the extra operators of the arm or the devices used to assist the arm in moving, such as pressure devices.
 * Atom**- the smallest unit of a chemical element, made up of a nucleus surrounded by electrons
 * Beam**- a ray of light; a group of particles traveling together along a well-defined path
 * BEAMS**- the acronym for **B**ecoming **E**nthusiastic **A**bout **M**ath and **S**cience
 * CEBAF**- former name of Jefferson Lab; stands for **C**ontinuous **E**lectron **B**eam **A**ccelerator **F**acility
 * Celsius**- a temperature scale on which water freezes at 0° and boils at 100°
 * Charge**- the amount of electricity carried by a body (A charge can be negative, like an electron, or positive, like a proton. Objects with opposite
 * Chemical Change**- a change in the chemical composition of a substance to produce a new material with new properties (An example of a chemical change is wood turning to ash and smoke when it burns.)
 * Chemical Properties**- characteristics of a substance that determine how it will react with other substances
 * Chemical Reaction**- a chemical change in which one or more substances are changed into one or more new substances
 * Circuit**- a closed path through which an electric current flows
 * Colloidal Suspension**- a material that has properties of more than one state of matter, such as Jell-o
 * Compound-** a substance composed of two or more elements, such as water (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), or table sugar (C12H22O11)
 * Computer** - a programmable machine that inputs, processes and outputs data
 * Compressibl**e- A material that takes up less volume as pressure increases. Basically the term will serve as a piston in the arm for power to tranfer.
 * Coordinate** - a set of numbers that determines the location of a point in space
 * Conductor** - a material (like a metal) through which electricity and heat flow easily
 * Continuous** - steady; uninterrupted
 * Cryogenics** - the science of very low temperatures, far below the freezing point of water
 * Data** - a group of measurements, facts or statistics
 * Dependent Variable** - the responding variable; the variable that may change as a result of a change in the independent variable
 * Electric Current** - movement of electricity, measured in charges per second (just as river current is measured in liters per second)
 * Electromagnet** - a wire coil around a metal core (usually iron) that acts like a magnet when an electric current flows through it
 * Electron** - a tiny particle with a negative charge which orbits an atom's nucleus
 * Element** - any substance that cannot be broken up into simpler substances by chemical means (Currently 115 elements have been observed
 * Energy** - the capacity to do work
 * Engineer** - a person who uses science and math to design, build or operate equipment, structures and systems (A person who receives a college degree in engineering might be an electrical, mechanical, industrial, chemical, environmental, biochemical or aeronautical engineer.)
 * Experiment** - a series of actions carried out to test a theory, demonstrate a fact or find out what happens
 * FEL** - stands for **F**ree **E**lectron **L**aser; a tunable laser made by wiggling a beam of electrons (Jefferson Lab's FEL is the most powerful in the world.)
 * Fahrenheit** - a temperature scale at which water freezes at 32° and boils at 212°
 * Force** - a push or pull (There are four basic forces: gravitational, electromagnetic, strong nuclear and weak nuclear.)
 * Gas** - a state of matter with no definite shape or volume, like air
 * Gluons** - particles that hold quarks together
 * Graph** - information represented in the form of a picture, diagram or drawing
 * Grid** - a pattern of horizontal and vertical lines forming squares of uniform size on a map or chart
 * Helium** - a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas (Helium becomes a liquid near absolute zero. Liquid helium is used to cool Jefferson Lab's accelerator components.)
 * Hydraulic**- A system using liquid pressure, this will be a term used to power the arm.
 * HTML** - an acronym for **H**yper**T**ext **M**arkup **L**anguage; the programming language or code used for the creation of internet web pages
 * Hypothesis** - an educated guess that can be tested or investigated
 * Independent Variable** - the manipulated variable; the variable that is changed on purpose in an experiment
 * Injector** - the first section of an accelerator, where electrons are torn away from atoms and accelerated to an energy sufficient for them to be injected into the cavities of the accelerator
 * Insulator** - a material through which electricity or heat does not flow easily (like many plastics, glasses and ceramics)
 * Interact** - act with each other
 * Internet** - a worldwide network of computers linked together for the purpose of exchanging information (also sometimes called the Information Superhighway or Cyberspace)
 * Ion** - an atom or molecule that has an electric charge because it has either gained or lost electrons
 * Jefferson Lab** - a nuclear physics research facility built to explore quarks in the nucleus of the atom, located in Newport News, Virginia
 * Kelvin** - a temperature scale that begins at absolute zero, where there is no molecular movement (Water freezes at 273 K and boils at 373 K.)
 * Laboratory** - a place equipped for scientific research, experiments or testing
 * Lepton** - one of the two basic building blocks of matter (An electron is a lepton.)
 * LINAC** - an abbreviation for **Lin**ear **Ac**celerator
 * Linear Accelerator** - a machine used in physics experiments that makes particles go faster in a straight line
 * Liquid** - a state of matter with definite volume but no definite shape, like water
 * Magnet** - a piece of iron or other material that attracts other pieces of iron or steel
 * Magnification** - the process of making something look bigger
 * Mass** - the measure of the amount of matter an object has in it; measured in grams or kilograms
 * Matter** - something that has mass which can exist in the form of a solid, liquid, gas or plasma
 * Mean** - the sum of the items in a set of data divided by the number of items in the set; the average (The mean of {1,1,1,2,4,6,6} is 3 since (1 + 1 + 1 + 2 + 4 + 6 + 6) ÷ 7 = 3.)
 * Median** - the middle number in a set of ordered data (The median of {1,1,1,2,4,6,6} is 2 since 2 is the middle number when all of the numbers are placed in order. If there are an even number of numbers, the median is the mean of the two middle numbers.)
 * Meson** - particle made of a quark and an antiquark that is thought to bind protons and neutrons together inside the nucleus of an atom
 * Microscope** - an optical instrument that uses a combination of lenses to produce magnified images of very small objects
 * Mixture** - a substance composed of two or more components, each of which retain its own properties (A salad is a mixture of vegetables.)
 * Mode** - the data item that occurs the most often in a set of data (The mode of {1,1,1,2,4,6,6} is 1 since 1 is the number that appears most
 * Molecule** - two or more elements that are chemically joined (Water is a molecule made from two atoms of Hydrogen and one atom of Oxygen.)
 * Negative** - having a minus charge (Negative charges are attracted to positive charges and are repelled by other negative charges.)
 * Neutral** - having no charge
 * Neutron** - a neutral particle made of three quarks found in the nucleus of an atom
 * Nitrogen** - a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas which makes up 78% of the air (Nitrogen is a gas at room temperature and becomes a liquid at about 77 K, -196°C or -321°F.)
 * Nuclear Physics** - the science of studying the nucleus of the atom
 * Nucleon** - a proton or a neutron
 * Nucleus** - the central part of an atom, which makes up 99.9% of the atom's mass
 * Observation** - the use of one's senses to learn something new
 * Orbit** - the path an object follows as it travels around another object
 * Particle** - a very small piece or part; an indivisible object
 * Physical Change** - a change that affects the size, shape or color of a substance but does not affect its composition
 * Physics** - the study of matter, energy and force
 * Plasma** - a very hot, gas-like state of matter
 * Pneumatic**- A system using air pressure, this also will be a term that will used to power the arm.
 * Pole** - the place on a magnet where the magnetic field is strongest
 * Positive** - having a plus charge (Positive charges are attracted to negative charges and are repelled by other positive charges.)
 * Probe** - an object or device used to investigate the unknown
 * Property** - any characteristic or attribute of an object or substance
 * Proton** - a positively charged particle found in the nucleus of an atom
 * Prototype** - an original type that serves as a model for later examples
 * Protractor**- A device used for measuring an angle. This item will be useful in measuring the degrees of arm movement and how effective the pressure system is working with the arm.
 * Quadrant** - one quarter of the coordinate plane (The x- and y-axes divide the coordinate plane into four quadrants.)
 * Qualitative** - observations that do not involve measurements and numbers ("My brother is shorter than my sister," is a qualitative observation.)
 * Quantitative** - observations that involve measurements and numbers ("My brother is 30cm shorter than my sister," is a quantitative
 * Quark** - one of the two basic building blocks of matter (Scientists have discovered six different kinds of quarks: Top, Bottom, Up, Down, Strange and Charm.)
 * Resistance** - a measurement of how much a material opposes the flow of electricity (Wood has high resistance so it is a poor conductor of electricity. Copper has low resistance, so it is a good conductor of electricity.)
 * Scatter** - to go in many directions
 * Science** - the study of the natural world
 * Scientific Method** - the 'tool' that scientists use to find the answer to questions (The Scientific Method allows scientists to solve complicated problems by taking a series of smaller steps:
 * identify the problem** - a scientific problem to be solved
 * research** - the process of collecting information and data about a topic being studied
 * hypothesis** - an idea about the solution to a problem, based on knowledge and research
 * experimentation** - the process of testing a hypothesis by collecting data under controlled, repeatable conditions
 * data analysis** - organizing and examining the collected data using narratives, charts, graphs or tables
 * conclusion** - a summary of the results of the experimentation and a statement of how the results relate to the hypothesis
 * Scientist** - a person who uses observation, experimentation and theory to learn about a subject (Biologists, physicists, chemists, geologists and astronomers are all scientists.)
 * Solid** - a state of matter with definite shape and volume, like ice
 * Speed** - a measurement of distance traveled over time (example: 100 kilometers per hour)
 * Spreadsheet** - a computer program used for organizing and analyzing data (Spreadsheets are arranged in rows and columns. A cell is a box in a spreadsheet where a row and column meet. The names of the row and column determine the name of the cell. For example, in the spreadsheet shown below, column C and row 2 meet at cell C2, the shaded box. The value in C2 is 1.23.)
 * Superconductivity** - the flow of electric current without any resistance in certain metals at temperatures near absolute zero (The superconductors used at Jefferson Lab are cavities made of niobium that are cooled to 2 K by liquid Helium.)
 * [|SURA]** - the acronym for **S**outheastern **U**niversities **R**esearch **A**ssociation (Jefferson Lab is managed by SURA.)
 * Teamwork** - joint action by a group to complete a given task
 * Technician** - a person who is an expert in doing certain technical jobs
 * Temperature** - a measure of heat energy in an object, body or environment (Temperature can be measured using Fahrenheit, Celsius or
 * Theory** - a general principle that explains or predicts facts or events
 * Velocity** - an object's speed and direction of motion
 * Voltage** - electrical force or pressure (measured in volts)
 * Weight** - a measure of the gravitational force pulling objects to the earth, moon or other celestial body (The more mass a planet has, the greater the gravitational pull of that planet will be. An object weighs more on the earth than it does on the moon because the earth has more mass than the moon.)