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Glossary
A glossary of science-related words.
Glossary terms A–Z definitions
- vascular
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Containing vessels that carry or circulate fluids, such as blood, or sap, through the body of an animal or plant.
- vascular plant
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A plant that has tissues for moving water and nutrients internally. Most plants are vascular; mosses and similar plants are not.
- vegetation
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Plant life.
- veins
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Blood vessels carrying blood towards the heart.
- velocity
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Speed in a particular direction.
- vent
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The area of a volcano where the magma is able to push through in an eruption. One volcano may contain several vents.
- ventral
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The lower surface (the belly) of an animal.
- vertebra
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One of the bones or segments making up the spinal column in animals with backbones.
- vertebrate
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An animal with a backbone, like mammals and birds.
- vestigial
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Pertaining to a part of an animal that is no longer used and, from an evolutionary perspective, is in the process of being lost. Vestigial structures are often small and imperfectly formed, and they usually serve little function or are no longer used by the organism.
- viral load
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The number of virus particles of a particular virus in a sample.
- virology
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The study of viruses.
- virus
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An extremely small infectious particle that is capable of taking over the cell to produce copies of itself.
- viscoelastic
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A substance that has both viscous and elastic properties. Viscous means having a relatively high resistance to flow and/or the sticky properties of an adhesive. Elastic means an object that easily resumes its original shape after being stretched or expanded.
- viscosity
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The measure of resistance of a fluid to flow. Thick slow-flowing liquids have a high viscosity, thin fast-flowing liquids have a low viscosity.
- visible light spectrum
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Electromagnetic waves in the range visible to the human eye. These waves have a wavelength from about 400 nanometres in the violet to about 770 nanometres in the red. Light behaves both as a particle and a wave. A particle of light is known as a photon.
- vitamin
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An organic compound required as a nutrient in tiny amounts by an organism.
- volatile
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Evaporating readily at normal temperatures and pressures and can be readily vaporised.
- volcanologist
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A scientist who studies volcanoes (alternative spelling is vulcanologist).
- volcanology
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The study of volcanoes (alternative spelling is vulcanology).
- voltage
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The potential difference (PD) between two points in a circuit. It measures the potential of the electrons to flow between two points. The higher the PD, the greater the electron flow. PD is sometimes thought of as electrical pressure.
- voluntary muscles
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Skeletal muscles that can be consciously controlled.
- Voyager 1
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A space probe launched in 1977 to explore the outer Solar System. In February 2009, it was over 16 billion kilometres from the Sun.
