Dictionary tag: W

Workflow

A workflow is a series of tasks arranged in a specific order to achieve a goal effectively and efficiently.

  • By planning and organizing a workflow, you can ensure no important steps are missed and that the process runs smoothly.
    This can save time, reduce errors, and lead to consistent results.
  • A successful workflow requires careful assembly and organization of all resources beforehand so that they can be structured into a step-by-step procedure.
  • A typical colour management workflow might begin by ensuring that colours viewed through a camera viewfinder are captured and digitally recorded.
  • Image editing software such as Adobe CC might then be used to work through a decision-making process to ensure an image is fit for purpose.
  • A successful outcome is achieved when the final image accurately represents all decisions made during the editing process.

Weak Nuclear force

The weak nuclear force is one of the four fundamental forces in nature, alongside the electromagnetic force, the strong nuclear force, and gravity. The weak nuclear force played a key role in the creation of elements like hydrogen, helium, and lithium in the early universe. Today, it plays a critical role in the nuclear fusion reactions that power the Sun and other stars. The weak nuclear force is responsible for the decay of radioactive isotopes, as well as for other nuclear reactions such as beta decay and neutrino interactions.

  • When unstable radioactive isotopes decay, they emit radiation and transform into more stable elements.
  • In beta decay, a neutron in the nucleus of an atom decays into a proton, an electron, and an antineutrino. Neutrino interactions occur in nuclear reactors.
  • Neutrinos are very light particles that rarely interact with matter, but they can interact with the nuclei of atoms through the weak nuclear force.
  • The weak nuclear force is unique compared to other fundamental forces. It’s considered weak because its strength is significantly lower than other forces at the atomic level.
  • However, it has a longer range than the strong nuclear force, which acts over very short distances within the nucleus.

Wavefront

Electromagnetic waves that are parallel, share a common starting point, have the same frequency and phase, and move through the same medium, form an advancing wavefront at right angles to their direction of travel.

  • A wavefront is a conceptual tool used in to study waves, including electromagnetic waves like light. It refers to the locus of all points in phase with each other along the wave at a given instant. In other words, it represents the leading edge of a wave as it propagates through a medium.
    • Sources that emit light in all directions, known as point sources, generate spherical wavefronts.
    • Lasers, which produce a narrow beam of parallel rays, create waves with flat wavefronts.
    • An electromagnetic wave with a flat wavefront is known as a plane wave.
  • In addition to plane waves and spherical waves, there are also cylindrical waves produced when a point source is extended along a straight line.

Wave-particle duality

Wave-particle duality is a fundamental concept in quantum mechanics that describes the dual nature of particles, which can exhibit both wave-like and particle-like behaviour, depending on the situation.

  • For example, electromagnetic radiation (including light) is often described using wave properties, such as wavelength and frequency. However, when light interacts with matter, it behaves like discrete particles called photons.
  • A photon is the smallest quantum of electromagnetic radiation and represents a discrete packet of energy. When a photon is absorbed by matter, its energy becomes localized at specific points. This process is known as wave function collapse, which describes the transition of a quantum system from a superposition of possible states to a definite state when measured.
  • Wave-particle duality applies to all particles in quantum mechanics, not just light. Particles such as electrons also exhibit both wave-like and particle-like behaviour, depending on experimental conditions.

Wave function

In Quantum Mechanics, a wave function is a mathematical function that describes the quantum state of a physical system, such as a particle or a collection of particles.

  • A wave function provides information about the probabilities of the various possible states that a system might be in. It depends on the coordinates of the particles in the system (for example, position or momentum). It calculates the probability of finding the system in a particular state.
  • Wave functions determine the probability of various outcomes in quantum experiments.
  • In the context of quantum mechanics, a wave function encapsulates a wealth of information about a quantum system, including its possible states, probabilities, and how it evolves.

Wave

A wave is a disturbance that travels through a medium or space, transporting energy from one point to another. Waves can travel through a medium, like waves rippling across a lake, or through space, like the electromagnetic waves that carry sunlight to Earth.

  • Electromagnetic waves are generally invisible to the human eye, the exception is the visible spectrum, with wavelengths between approximately 400 and 700 nanometres.
  • Beyond this range, whether the wavelengths are longer (as in radio and microwaves) or shorter (as in ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays), our eyes cannot detect them.
  • Although we cannot see most electromagnetic waves, we can perceive some in other ways. For instance, infrared waves are felt as heat, and electric current (which produces electromagnetic waves) can cause a buzzing sensation in a wire or cause electrocution.

Work

In physics, work is defined as the transfer of energy that occurs when a force is applied to an object, causing it to move in the direction of the force. The amount of work done depends on the magnitude of the force, the distance the object moves, and the direction of the force relative to the movement.

  • Work is done when energy is transferred. For example, lifting a box transfers energy from your muscles to the box, giving it gravitational potential energy.
  • Work is measured in joules (J), where 1 joule is equivalent to 1 newton of force causing an object to move 1 meter.
  • Direction matters. If the force is in the same direction as the displacement, work is maximized (cos(0°) = 1). If the force is perpendicular, no work is done (cos(90°) = 0).
  • Examples related to work:
    • Pushing a car that rolls forward involves work because energy is transferred to the car, causing it to move.
    • Holding a heavy object stationary involves no work because, although force is applied, there’s no displacement.
  • The mathematical definition of work is:
    • Work=Force×Distance×cos⁡(θ)
    • Where:
      • Force is the applied force (in newtons, N).
      • Distance is the displacement of the object (in meters, m).
      • θ (theta) is the angle between the direction of the force and the direction of the displacement.

Wavelength

Wavelength is the distance from any point on a wave to the corresponding point on the next wave. This measurement is taken along the middle line of the wave.

  • While wavelength can be measured from any point on a wave, it is often simplest to measure from the peak of one wave to the peak of the next, or from the bottom of one trough to the bottom of the next, ensuring the measurement covers a whole wave cycle.
  • The wavelength of an electromagnetic wave is usually given in metres.
  • The wavelength of visible light is typically measured in nanometres, with 1,000,000,000 nanometres making up a metre.
  • Each type of electromagnetic radiation – such as radio waves, visible light, and gamma waves – corresponds to a specific range of wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum.

White light

White light is the term for visible light that contains all wavelengths of the visible spectrum at equal intensities.

  • The sun emits white light because sunlight contains all the wavelengths of the visible spectrum in roughly equal proportions.
  • Light travelling through a vacuum or a medium is termed white light if it includes all wavelengths of visible light.
  • Light travelling through a vacuum or air is not visible to our eyes unless it interacts with something.
  • The term white light can have two meanings:
    • It can refer to a combination of all wavelengths of visible light travelling through space, regardless of observation.
    • What a person sees when all colours of the visible spectrum hit a white or neutral-coloured surface.

Wave-cycle

A wave-cycle is the complete up-and-down motion of a wave, from one crest (peak) to the next crest, or from one trough (dip) to the next trough. Visualize a wave cycle as a series of points plotted along the path of a wave from one crest to the subsequent crest.

  • All electromagnetic waves have common characteristics like crests, troughs,, wavelength, frequency, amplitude, and propagation direction.
  • As a wave vibrates, a wave-cycle can be seen as a sequence of individual vibrations, measured from one peak to the next, one trough to the next, or from the start of one wave cycle to the start of the next.
  • A wave-cycle refers to the path from one point on a wave during a single oscillation to the same point on completion of that oscillation.
  • Wavelength meanwhile, is a measurement of the same phenomenon but in a straight line along the axis of the wave.

Wave diagram

A wave diagram is a graphic representation, using specific drawing rules and labels, that depicts variations in the characteristics of light waves. These characteristics include changes in wavelength, frequency, amplitude, speed of light and propagation direction.

  • A wave diagram provides a visual representation of how a wave behaves when interacting with various media or objects.
  • The purpose of a wave diagram is to illustrate optical phenomena, including reflection, refraction, dispersion, and diffraction.
  • Wave diagrams can be useful in both theoretical and practical applications, such as understanding the basics of the physics of light or when designing complex optical systems.