IGCSE Physics formulae

1 1
𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 (𝐻𝑧) = 𝑓=
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑑 (𝑠) 𝑇

wave speed (m/s) = frequency (Hz) × wavelength (m) v=fλ

𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 (𝐽)

𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = × 100%
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 (𝐽)

𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 (𝑚) ∆𝑠

𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑚/𝑠) = 𝑣=
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 (𝑠) ∆𝑡

𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑚/𝑠) ∆𝑣

𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝑚/𝑠 2 ) = 𝑎=
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 (𝑠) ∆𝑡

Remember: If initial velocity = u and final velocity = v, then

𝑢+𝑣
𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦: ∆𝑣 = 𝑣 − 𝑢 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦: 𝑣 =
2

moment (Nm) = force (N) × perpendicular distance (m)

Principal of moments: Total clockwise moment = total anticlockwise moment

Weight (N) = mass (kg) × 10 W = m x 10

𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒(𝑁) = 𝑠𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡(𝑁/𝑚) × 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛(𝑚) F = k ∆x

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 (𝑔) 𝑚
𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 (𝑔/𝑐𝑚2 ) = 𝜌=
𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 (𝑐𝑚3 ) 𝑉

𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 (𝑁) 𝐹
𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 (𝑃𝑎) = 𝑃=
𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 (𝑚2 ) 𝐴

𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 (𝑃𝑎) = ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡(𝑚) × 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦(𝑘𝑔/𝑚3 ) × 𝑔 𝑃 =ℎ×𝜌×𝑔

𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑒 (𝐶) 𝑄
𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 (𝐴) = 𝐼=
𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 (𝑠) 𝑡

𝑝. 𝑑. 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 (𝑉) 𝑉

𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 (𝛺) = 𝑅=
𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 (𝐴) 𝐼

energy transformed (joule, J) = potential difference (volt, V) × charge (coulomb, C)

E = VQ
 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 (𝑊) = 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 (𝐴) × 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒(𝑉) P = IV

𝐸𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑑 (𝐽) = 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 (𝑉) × 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 (𝐴) × 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 (𝑠) E = VIt

𝑇𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝐾 = 𝑇𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑛 0𝐶 + 273

𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 (𝑃𝑎) 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 (𝑃𝑎) 𝑃1 𝑃2

= =
𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 (𝐾) 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 (𝐾) 𝑇1 𝑇2

𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 × 𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 = 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 × 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒

Force(N) = mass(kg) × acceleration(m/s2) Fres = ma

Momentum(kgm/s) = mass(kg) × velocity(m/s) p = mv

𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑚(𝑘𝑔𝑚/𝑠) ∆𝑝
𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒(𝑁) = 𝐹=
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑛(𝑠) 𝑡

work done(J) = force(N) × distance moved(m) w = Fd

gravitational potential energy(J) = mass(kg) × g(10) × height(m) Ep = mgh

kinetic energy(J) = ½ × mass(kg) × speed2 (m/s)2 Ek = ½mv2

𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑑 (𝐽) 𝑤

𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 (𝑊) = 𝑃=
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 (𝑠) 𝑡

sin 𝑖
𝑛(𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑥) =
sin 𝑟
1
sin 𝑐 (𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒) =
𝑛

𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 (𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑦) 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 (𝑉) 𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑠 𝑉1 𝑁1

= =
𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 (𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦)𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒(𝑉) 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛𝑠 𝑉2 𝑁2

𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 (𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑦) × 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒(𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑦)

= 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 (𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦) × 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒(𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦)