General Science_Physics_Last mile

For

69 th
BPSC Prelims
To be held on 30.09.2023

Topic: Measuring device

 The Hydrophone was invented by Reginald Fessenden in 1914.

 The word hydrophone is the combination of hydro and phone where hydro
means water and phone means sound hence hydrophone is used for
measuring sound under the water.

Name of the Name of the

Functions/ Used for Functions/ Used for
Instrument Instrument
Measures sound under the Testing the refractive power
Hydrophone Optometer
water. of the eye.
Shows the changes in Visual examination of the
Hydroscope Otoscope
atmospheric humidity. eardrum.
Determines the boiling point Measures altitudes and angles
Hypsometer Quadrant
of the liquid. in navigation and astronomy.
Determines the speed of an
Measure the angular distance
Machmeter aircraft relative to the speed Sextant
between two objects.
of sound.
Measures the frequency of Measures the refractive index
Ondometer Refractometer
electromagnetic waves. of a substance.
Measures electrical
Ohmmeter Rain Gauge Measures rainfall.
resistance.
Measures distance travelled Recording intensity and origin
Odometer Seismograph
by a vehicle. of earthquake shocks.
Measures the scattering of
Nephelometer light by particles suspended Pyrheliometer Measuring solar radiation.
in a liquid.
Microscope Gives a magnified view of Photometer Compares luminous intensity

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 small objects. of two sources of light.
Phonograph Reproduces sound.

Topic: Archimedes principle

The principle of Archimedes states “When a body is immersed in a liquid, an upward
thrust, equal to the weight of the liquid displaced, acts on it.”

Thus, when a solid is fully immersed in a liquid, it loses weight which is equal to the
weight of the liquid it displaces.

Explanation:

 Rockets work on the principle of Newton's Third law of motion which states
that to every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
 Hydrometer, Ships, and Submarines work on the Archimedes Principle.
 Archimedes Principle is also known as the physical law of buoyancy.
 Archimedes Principle states that when a body is fully or partially immersed in a
fluid, it experiences an upward force which is equal to the force applied by it.

Topic : Gravity

o The acceleration due to gravity is the rate of increase of velocity of a body

falling freely towards the earth.
o It is represented by:
 The gravitational constant (G) is a universal constant. Its value is the same
everywhere in the universe, including on the Moon and the Earth.
 However, the gravitational acceleration (often denoted as g) differs on the Earth
and the Moon due to their different masses and radii.
 The force of gravity is indeed inversely proportional to the square of the distance
between two objects, according to Newton's law of universal gravitation.

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  The gravitational force between two objects is inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between them. So if the distance is halved, the force
becomes four times larger, not double.

Additional Information

 Gravitational Force:
o Mathematically, it is represented as:

o
o Where,
 F is the gravitational force
 G is gravitational constant
 M is the mass of the first particle
 m is the mass of the second particle
 r is the distance between them.
o This is called Newton’s universal law of gravitation.
o The value of G is 6.67 × 10-11 N m2/kg2.
o The value of g on the Moon is 1/6th of that on the earth.

Mistake Points

 "g" is the Gravitational acceleration but "G" is the Gravitational constant.

o g can vary from place to place; on Moon, it is 1.62 m/s², but on earth,
it is 9.807 m/s²
o But G remains constant.

Topic: Pendulum

 A swinging pendulum is an example of the conservation of energy.

 This is because a swinging simple pendulum is a body whose energy can either
be potential or kinetic or a mixture of potential and kinetic, but its total energy
at any instant time remains the same.
 The transformation of potential energy into kinetic energy, and of kinetic
energy into potential energy is given by a swinging simple pendulum.

Conservation of energy:

 Whenever energy changes from one form to another, the total amount of
energy remains constant.
 The total energy before and after transformation will be the same.

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  During the conversation of energy from one form to another, some energy may
be wasted.
 Still, the total energy remains the same.

Detailed analysis of kinetic and potential energy:

Energy Importance
 The kinetic energy of a moving body is measured by the amount of
work it can do before coming to rest.
 Kinetic energy = 1/2×mv2
o Where m = mass of the body, v = velocity of the body
 From the above formula, it is clear that:
o The kinetic energy of a body is directly proportional to
the mass of the body.
o The kinetic energy of a body is directly proportional to
the square of the velocity of the body.
 The following statements are depending on the above formula:
Kinetic o If the mass of a body is doubled, its kinetic energy also
energy gets doubled.
o If the mass of a body is halved, its kinetic energy also
gets halved.
o If the velocity of a body is doubled, its kinetic energy is four
times.
o If the velocity of a body gets halved, then its kinetic energy
becomes one-fourth.
 Since the kinetic energy of a body depends on its mass and
velocity, therefore, heavy bodies moving with high velocities have
more kinetic energy, than slow-moving bodies of small mass.

Potential  The energy of a body due to its position or change in shape is

energy known as potential energy.
 The energy of a body due to its position above the ground is called
gravitational potential energy.
 The energy of a body due to a change in its shape and size is called
elastic potential energy.
 The above-mentioned potential energy is generally referred to
as potential energy.
 The potential energy of a body in due to its higher position above the
earth and it is equal to the work done by the body, against gravity, in

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 moving the body to that in position.
 Work done = force × distance
 Potential energy = m × g × h
 where m = mass of the body, g = acceleration due to gravity, h =
height of the body above the ground.

Topic: Pressure

 The pressure is the force acting on a unit area.

 Pressure is defined as the force acting perpendicular to the plane of a surface, on
a unit area of the surface.
 When a force of ‘F’ Newton is applied perpendicularly to a surface area ‘A’, then
the pressure exerted on the surface by the force is equal to the ratio of F to A.
o P = F/A ( P- Pressure, F-Force, A- Area)
 S.I Unit: Pascal
 A pascal can be defined as a force of one newton applied over a surface area of a
one-meter square.

Additional Information

 Surface Tension is defined as the property of the surface of a liquid that allows it
to resist an external force, due to the cohesive nature of its molecules.
 Viscosity is the internal frictional force acting between parallel layers of a liquid.
 Torque is the capability of rotating objects around a fixed axis.

Topic: Sound

 Sound is a form of energy and is produced by vibrations.

 They are longitudinal and mechanical in nature.
 Sound waves can travel from one medium to another medium and when they
do so there will be a change in speed and wavelength but not in frequency.
 Sound waves with a frequency in the range of (0-20 Hz) are called infrasonic
waves.
 Sound waves with frequency range (20-20000 Hz) are called audible ranges.
 Sound waves with a frequency greater than 20000 Hz are called Ultrasonics.
 The speed of the sound waves is 332m/sec in the air.

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 The speed of the sound wave is minimum in gases and maximum in solids.
 The speed of sound waves increases in humid conditions.
 Speed of sound increases with the rise in temperature.
 Sound waves can undergo reflection, refraction, and diffraction.
 The velocity of sound in air is independent of pressure.
 This is because, for the ideal gas equation, it has been seen that the pressure and
density terms contribute equivalently to the speed of sound thereby cancelling
each other and leading to the persistence of only the effect of temperature.

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