INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICS FORCES AND MOTION

No Word / Principle Definition / Meaning No Word / Principle Definition / Meaning

1 Physical quantities Quantities that can be measured 1 Distance The total length of the path travelled from one location to
2 Base quantities Physical quantities that cannot be defined in terms of other another
quantities 2 Displacement The length of the straight line connecting the two locations ,
3 Derived quantities Physical quantities derived from combination of base in a specified direction
quantities through multiplication or division or both 3 Speed 1. The distance travelled perunit time
multiplication and division Or
4 Prefixes Are used to simplify the description of physical quantities 2. The rate of change of distance
that are either very big or very small 4 Velocity 1. The speed in a specified direction
5 Scientific notation / For a numerical magnitude can be written as : Or
standard form A x 10n 2. The rate of change of displacement
Where 1 ≤ A < 10 and n is an integer 5 Acceleration The rate of change of velocity with time
6 Scalar quantities Physical quantities that have magnitude only 6 Deceleration / retardation The rate of change of velocity of the object has a negative
7 Vector quantities Physical quantities that have magnitude and direction value
8 Consistency The ability of the instrument to measure a quantity with little 7 Inertia The tendency of the object to remain at rest or , if moving , to
or no deviation among measurement continue its uniform motion in a straight line
9 Accuracy How close the measurement made is to the actual value 8 Newton’s First Law of States that if the net force acting on a body is zero ,
10 Sensitivity Ability to detect a small change in the quantity to be Motion (Law of inertia) (a) it will stay at rest if the body is at rest ,
measured (b) it will keep on moving at a constant speed in a
11 Systematic error Due to the error in calibration of instruments . Example : straight line if the body is moving
Zero error 9 Momentum Defined as the product of its mass and its velocity .
12 Random error Occurs due to mistakes made when making measurement Momentum = Mass X Velocity
either through incorrect positioning of the eye or the 10 Principle of conservation 1. When 2 or more bodies act on each other , their
instrument when making measurement . It may also occur of momentum total momentum remains constant , provided that
when there is a sudden change of environmental factors like there is no external force acting
temperature , air circulation or lighting . Example : Parallax Or
error 2. The total momentum in a closed system is a
13 Manipulated variable A physical quantity which values can be fixed by the constant
experimenter before carrying out the experiment Or
14 Responding variable A physical quantity that changes its value in response to the 3. A system consists of seceral objects acting on each
change in the manipulated variable other
15 Fixed variable A physical quantity that is set to remain constant throughout Or
the experiment 4. A closed system is a system where the sum of
16 Hypothesis A statement of an expected outcome that usually states the external forces (also known as resultant forces) is
relationship between two or more variables intended to be zero
given a direct experimental test . Or
5. When the momentum is constant , we say the
momentum is conserved
11 Newton’s Second Law of States that when a net external force acts on an object , the
Motion acceleration of the object is directly proportional to the net
force and has a magnitude that is inversely proportional to its
mass (F = ma)
12 Impulse Impulse , Ft = mv - mu
13 Impulsive force The rate of change of momentum
14 Gravitational field The gravitational field strength at a point in the gravitational
strength field is the gravitational force acting on a mass of 1kg placed
at that point
15 Weight The weight of an object is the force of gravity acting on the
object
16 Newton’s Third Law of States that for any action , there is a reaction which has the
Motion same magnitude but acts in the opposite direction

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17 Work The product of an applied force and displacement of an object HEAT
in the direction of the applied force
18 Energy The capacity of a system to enable it to do work No Word / Principle Definition / Meaning
19 Kinetic energy The energy of an object due to its motion 1 Thermal equilibrium Thermal equilibrium can be summarised as follows :
20 Gravitational potential The energy of an object due to its higher position in the (a) There is no net flow of heat between 2 objects that
energy gravitational field are in thermal equilibrium
21 Principle of Conservation States that energy cannot be created or destroyed but can be (b) 2 objects that are in thermal equilibrium have the
of Energy changed from one form to another same temperature
22 Power The rate at which work is done 2 Temperature The measure of the degree of hotness of an object
23 Efficiency The efficiency of a device is defined as the percentage of the 3 Heat capacity The amount of heat required to increase the temperature of the
input energy that is transformed into useful energy object by 10C
24 Elasticity A property of matter that enables an object to return to its 4 Specific heat capacity The amount of heat that must be supplied to increase the
original size and shape when the force that was acting on it is temperature by 10C for a mass of 1 kg of the substances
removed 5 Latent heat The heat absorbed or the heat released at constant temperature
25 Hooke’s Law States that the extension of a spring is directly proportional to during a change of phase
the applied force provided the elastic limit is not exceed 6 Latent heat of fusion The heat absorbed by a melting solid
26 Elastic Potential Energy Work is done when a force is used to extend or compress an 7 Latent heat of The heat absorbed during boiling
elastic material . The work done is stored in the material as vaporisation
elastic potential energy 8 Specific latent heat The amount of heat required to change the phase of 1 kg of
the substance at a constant temperature
9 Specific latent heat of The amount of heat required to change 1 kg of the substance
fusion from the solid to liquid phase without a change in temperature
10 Spesific latent heat of The amount of heat required to change 1 kg of the substance
FORCES AND PRESSURE vaporisation from the liquid to gaseous phase without a change in
temperature
No Word / Principle Definition / Meaning 11 The Kinetic Theory of For a gas in a closed container :
1 Pressure The magnitude of the force acting perpendicularly to a Gases (a) the number of molecules is constant
surface perunit area of the surface (b) the mass of the gas is constant
2 Atmospheric pressure Pressure exerted by the atmosphere on the surface of the (c) the behaviour of the gas depends on the 3
Earth as well as all objects on the Earth properties of the gas , those are volume ,
3 Pascal’s Principle States that pressure applied to an enclosed fluid is transmitted temperature and pressure
uniformly to every part of the liquid and to the walls of the 12 Boyle’s Law States that for a fixed mass of gas , the pressure of the gas is
container of the liquid inversely proportional to its volume when the temperature is
4 Buoyant force An upward force resulting from an object being wholly or kept constant
partially immersed in a fluid 13 Pressure Law States that for a fixed mass of gas , the pressure of the gas is
5 Archimedes’ Principle States that for a body wholly or partially immersed in a fluid directly proportional to its absolute temperature when its
, the upward buoyant force acting on the body is equal to the volume is kept constant
weight of the fluid it displaces 14 Charles’ Law States that for a fixed mass of gas , the volume of the gas is
6 Bernoulli’s Principle States that where the speed of a fluid is high , the pressure is directly proportional to its absolute temperature when its
low ; and where the speed is low , the pressure is high pressure is kept constant

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LIGHT the focal point , F after passing through the lens
13 Power of a len
No Word / Principle Definition / Meaning
1
(a) Power of lens with focal length in metre =
1 Law of reflection The law of reflection describes the behaviour of the incident and f
reflected rays :
(a) The incident ray , the reflected ray and the normal to the 100
surface all lie in the same plane (b) Power of lens with focal length in cm =
(b) The angle of incidence , I is equal to the angle of f
reflection , r 14 Magnification , m
2 Focal point of a The focal point of the principal focus , F of a concave mirror is the Size of image , h i
(a) m = =
concave mirror point on the principal axis where the reflected rays converge , or in
other words , meet and intersect
Size of object , h o
3 Refraction of light The bending of a light ray at the boundary as it travels from one Image distance , v
medium to another
4 Refractive index , n
sin i Object distance , u
n = sin i (vacuum or air) / sin r (medium) or n =
sin r Focal length of objective lens , f o
=
Or Focal length of eyepiece , f e
Speed of light in air or vacuum
n ratio of image distance to object distance
Speed of light in the medium
Or ration of height of image to height object
Real depth
n=
Apparent depth ratio of sine of angle of incidence to sine of angle of refraction
Or
ratio of speed of light in vacuum to speed of light in any medium
n=
1 ratioof real depth to apparent dept
sin c
5 Apparent depth The distance of the virtual image , I from the surface of the water
6 Real depth The distance of the real object , O from the surface of the water
7 Critical angle , c The angle of incidence in the denser medium when the angle of
refraction , r in the less dense medium is 90o
8 Total internal If the angle of incidence , I is increased further so that it is greater
reflection than the critical angle , c ( i > c ) , the light is no longer refracted but
is internally reflected . This condition is called total internal
reflection .
The 2 conditions for total internal reflection to occur are :
(a) The light ray must travel from a denser medium to a less
dense medium .
(b) The angle of incidence , I must be greater than the
critical angle , c of the medium
9 Focal point of a len The focal point , F is a common point on the principal axis where all
,F rays parallel to the axisw converge to it after passing through a
convex lens , or appear to diverge from it after passing through a
concave lens
10 Focal length of a len The distance between the focal point and the optical centre
,f
11 Convex lens Parallel light rays are refracted inwards and converge to a focal
point , F after passing through it
12 Concave lens Parallel light rays are refracted outwards and appear to diverge from

3
WAVES the sound wave
25 Pitch The pitch of a sound or a musical note is an indication of how high or low the
No Word / Definition / Meaning sound is . The pitch of a sound is determined by its frequency : a high pitch
Principle corresponds to a high frequency
1 Transverse A wave in which the particles of the medium oscillate in the direction 26 Electromagnetic Electromagntic waves are propagating waves in space with electric and
wave perpendicular to the direction in which the wave moves waves magnetic components . These components oscillate at right angles to each
2 Longitudinal A wave in which the particles of the medium oscillate in the direction other and to the direction of propagation
wave parallel to the direction in which the wave moves
3 Wavefront An imaginary line that joins all identical points on a wave
4 Amplitude , a The amplitude of an oscillation is the maximum displacement from the mean
position
5 Period , T The period of the oscillation is the time taken to complete one oscillation
6 Frequency , f The frequency of the oscillation is the number of complete oscillations made
in one second .
7 Wavelength , λ The wavelength is the horizontal distance between two successive equivalent
points on the wave
8 Wave speed , v V=fλ
9 Forced The external force supplies energy to the system
oscillation
10 Damping The decrease in the amplitude of an oscillating system is called damping . 27 Electromagnetic The range of frequencies and wavelengths over which electromagnetic waves
Damping in an oscillating system causes spectrum are propagated
(a) the amplitude , and
(b) the energy of the system
to decrease but the frequency , f does not change
11 Natural The frequency of a system which oscillates freely without the action of an
frequency external force
12 Resonance Resonance occurs when a system is made to oscillate at a frequency
equivalent to its natural frequency by an external force . The resonating
system oscillates at its maximum amplitude .
13 Reflection of Reflection of waves occurs when all or part of the waves return after they
waves encounter an obstacle (reflector)
14 Refraction of Refraction of waves occurs when there is a change of direction of the
waves propagation of waves travelling from a medium to another medium due to a
change of speed
15 Diffraction of Diffraction of waves is a phenomenon that refers to the spreading out of
waves waves when they move through a gap or round an obstacle
16 Principle of the States that at any instant , the wave displacement of the combined motion of
superposition any number of interacting waves at a point is the sum of the displacements of
all the component waves at that point
17 Interference Interference is the superposition of two waves originating from two coherent
sources . Sources which are coherent produce waves of the same frequency
(f) , amplitude (a) and in phase .
18 Constructive Occurs when the crests or troughs of both waves coincide to produce a wave
monochromatics light = light with one wavelength or one frequency
interference with crests and troughs of maximum amplitude
19 Destructive Occurs when the crest of one wave coincides with the trough of the other
interference wave , thus each other with the result that the resultant amplitude is zero
20 Antinode A point where constructive interference occurs
21 Node A point where destructive interference occurs
22 Compression A region of increased pressure
23 Rarefaction A region of decreased pressure
24 Loudness The loudness of a sound is considered to be high or otherwise depending on
the hearing ability of a person . Loudness is influenced by the amplitude of

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ELECTRICITY 8 Parallel circuits

No Word / Principle Definition / Meaning

1 Electric current The rate of charge flow
2 Electric field A region in which an electric charge experiences an electric force
3 Potential (a) The potential difference between two points in an electric
difference field is defined as the work done or the energy that would be
required to move one coulomb of charge from one point to
another
Or
(b) The potential difference or voltage , V across two points is
defined as the energy , E dissipated or transferred by a
coloumb of charge , Q that moves through the two points
4 Ohm’s Law States that the current passing through an ohmic conductor is directly
proportional to the potential difference between its ends , provided that
the temperature and other physical factors of the conductor are kept
constant
5 Resistance , R Resistance of a conductor is defined as the ratio of potential difference , 9 Electromotive The electromotive force (e.m.f) is the work done by a source in driving a
V across the conductors to the current , I flowing through it Force unit charge around a complete circuit
6 Superconductor Certain metals will become superconductor when their resistance 10 Internal The internal resistance of a source or a cell is the resistance against the
become zero at very low temperature , near absolute zero . The metals resistance moving charge due to the electrolyte in the source or the cell
superconduct only when below a certain critical temperature , Tc . 11 Electrical Defined as the energy carried by electrical charges which can be
7 Series circuits energy transformed to other forms of energy by the operation of an electrical
device or appliance
12 Power rating The power rating of an appliance denotes the rate at which it consumes
electrical energy
13 Efficiency of Defined as :
Electrical (a) Efficiency =
Appliances Useful energy output of appliance , E o
X
Useful energy input of appliance , E i
100%
(b) Efficiency =
Useful power output of appliance , Po
X
Useful power output of appliance , Pi
100%

ratio of energy output/ power output to energy input/ power input

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ELECTROMAGNETISM ELECTRONICS

No Word / Principle Definition / Meaning No Word / Principle Definition / Meaning

1 Electromagnet
2 Magnetic field
3 Magnetic force
4 Electromagnetic induction
5 Lenz’s Law
6 Faraday’s Law
7 Direct current
8 Alternative current
9 Transformer
10 Renewable energy resource
11 Non-renewable energy
resource
12 National Grid Network
Is a device in which magnetism is produced by an electric
current . It is a temporary magnet . It is made by winding a
coil of insulated wire round a soft iron core . When a
current is passed through the coil , the magnetic field
produced by the current magnetises the soft iron core . The
soft iron core loses all the magnetism when the current is
switched off .
A region in which a magnetic material experiences a force
as the result of the presence of a magnet or a current-
carrying conductor
The magnetic force on a current-carrying conductor in a
magnetic field is due to the combination of the magnetic
field due to the current in the conductor and the external
magnetic field to produce a resultant magnetic field
Electromagnetic induction is the setting up of an
electromotive force in a conductor due to a change in
magnetic flux caused by the relative motion of the
conductor and a magnetic field
States that the direction of the induced current is such that
the change producing it will be opposed
States that the magnitude of the induced e.m.f. is directly
proportional to the rate of change of magnetic flux or the
rate of cutting of the magnetic flux
A direct current is a current that flows in one direction only
in a circuit
An alternative current is a current which flows to and fro in
two opposite directions in a circuit . It changes its direction
periodically
A device which steps up or steps down alternative current
voltages . It works on the principle of electromagnetic
induction
An energy resource that is continually replaced and will not
run out
An energy resource that cannot be replaced once it has been
used
A network system of cables which connects all the power
stations and subtations in the country to the consumers in a
closed network to transmit electricity
1 Thermionic emission The process of emission of electrons from the surface of a
heated metal
2 Cathode rays Stream of electron which moves at high speed
3 Semiconductors A material which can conduct electricity better than
insulator , but not as well as conductor
4 Intrinsic semiconductor An intrinsic semiconductor is one in which the
concentration of charge carriers (electrons and holes) is a
characteristic of the material itself . In other words , it is a
pure semiconductor where any impurities in it do not
appreciably affect its electrical behaviour
5 Extrinsic semiconductor An extrinsic semiconductor is the type of the conduction
that predominates , depending on the number and valence of
the impurity presents . In other words , it is a semiconductor
that has been doped with impurities to modify the number
and type of free charge carries present
6 Doping A process of adding a certain amount of spesific impurities
called dopants to a semiconductor , to increase its
conductivity
7 Diode A device that allows current to flow in one direction only
but blocks it in the opposite direction . It is more like an
electronic check valve
8 Rectifier An electrical device that converts alternating current to
direct current
9 Rectification A process to convert an alternating current into a direct
current by using a diode
10 Half-wave rectification A process where only half of every cycle of an alternating
current is made to flow in one direction only
11 Full-wave rectification A process where both halves of every cycle of an
alternating current is made to flow in the same direction
12 Transistor An electronic device which has three terminals labelled as
base , collector and emitter
13 Logic gate A switching circuit that is applied in computers and other
electronic devices
14 Truth table Is used to record all the possible combinations of inputs and
the corresponding output decisions for a particular logic
circuit
15 Boolean algebra Used to describe the switching functions of logic gates

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RADIOACTIVITY

No Word / Principle Definition / Meaning

1 Proton number , The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom
Z
2 Nucleon number The total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom
, A (mass
number)
3 Nuclide notation

4 Isotopes Are atoms of an element which have the same proton number but
different nucleon numbers
5 Radioactivity Radioactivity is the spontaneous disintegration of an unstable nucleus
accompanied by the emission of an energetic particle or a photon
6 Alpha decay A radioactive decay that emits an alpha particle
7 Beta decay A radioactive decay that emits an beta particle
8 Gamma decay A radioactive decay that emits an gamma particle
9 Half-life The half-life of a radioactive sample is the time taken for the number of
undecayed nuclei in the sample to be reduced to half of its original
number
10 Radioisotopes Radioisotopes are unstable isotopes which decay and give out
radioactive emissions
11 Nuclear fission The splitting of a heavy nucleus into two lighter nuclei
12 Chain reaction A self-sustaining reaction in which the products of a reaction can initiate
another similar reaction
13 Nuclear fusion The combining of two lighter nuclei to form a heavier nucleus
14 Einstein’s The change of energy is linked to the change of mass by the equation :
Principle of E = mc2
Mass-Energy Where
Conservation m = mass change , in kg
C = speed of light , in ms-1
E = energy changed , in J

PHI/PHYSICS