CH – 1

Speed is the rate of change of position of an object over time in any direction.
Speed is the measure of how fast something is moving.
Equation: speed = distance/time (s/t)
Unit = m/s or km/h
Speed is a scalar quantity. Scalar quantity is a quantity that only has magnitude
(size) but no direction. Scalar quantity examples are:
-> speed
-> distance
-> time
-> mass
-> etc.…
Vector quantity is a quantity that has both magnitude (size) and direction. Vector
quantity examples are:
-> force
-> velocity
-> displacement
-> acceleration
-> momentum
->etc.…

Average speed measures the average rate of speed over the extent of a trip (time
taken of the trip). Average speed is the total distance divided by total time taken.
Equation: acceleration = total distance moved/total time taken (s/t)
‘v’ is used as the symbol for average speed. ‘d’ can be used as the symbol for
distance but here you’ll see they use ‘s’ for distance. And ‘t’ is used for time.

s Formulas:

v t average speed = distance/time (v = s/t)

distance = speed x time (s = v x t)

“
time = distance/speed (t = s/v)
Distance – Time Graphs

Stationery Constant Speed

Changing Speed Moving Backwards

The slope, or gradient, of a distance – time graph tells you the speed. If the line is
steep the object is moving fast. If it is not very steep then the object is moving more
slowly. If the line is flat, so the slope is zero. This tells you that the speed is zero and
the object isn’t moving, it is stationery.
Equation: slope = rise/run = x2 – x1/y2 – y1

Velocity is speed moving at a specific direction. Velocity is a vector quantity that

has both magnitude (size) and direction.
Equation: velocity = distance/time (s/t)
Equation: average velocity = displacement/time

Displacement is distance travelled in a particular direction. Displacement is also a

vector quantity.

Velocity – Time Graphs

Low acceleration high acceleration no acceleration negative acceleration

(shallow slope) (steep slope) (zero slope) (deceleration)

The slope of velocity – time graphs give you acceleration. the line is straight and the
gradient, or slope, is constant. If the acceleration was bigger then, the line would be
steeper. If the speed does not change, then the line is horizontal. The acceleration
is zero.
Area under the velocity – time graphs give the distance moved.

10s
5 10

Area = area of rectangle

= length x width
= 5m/s x 10s 5m/s
Area = area
= distance travelled of triangle
= ½ base x
10m/s

height
= distance

10 4
4s

Acceleration is the rate of change/increase of velocity with time. Since velocity is

measured in “m/s” and acceleration is the rate of increase of velocity, it is measured
in “m/s2”. Acceleration is a vector quantity.
Equation: acceleration = change in velocity/time or final velocity – initial velocity/time

(v – u/t)
Deceleration is the rate of change/decrease of velocity with time. Deceleration is
the negative acceleration. The same formula is used to calculate deceleration.

Formulas:
acceleration = final velocity – initial velocity/time
v-u
“ time = final velocity – initial velocity/acceleration
a t final velocity = initial velocity + acceleration x time
(final velocity) v2 = (initial velocity) u2 + (2 x
acceleration x distance) 2as
 CH – 2

Force is the push or pull acting on an object that can change the shape, speed and
direction of the object. Forces can slow things down or stop them moving. If an
object is already moving, forces can change the direction of it. Examples of forces
are:
-> Gravitational Force/Weight
-> Friction
-> Air Resistance/Drag
-> Thrust
-> Upthrust
-> etc.…
You can show the force acting on an object by drawing an arrow. The length of the
arrow shows the size of the force. The direction of the arrow shows the direction
of the force.
If the forces acting on an object are balanced. The object will stay still/be
stationery. If it’s moving, it will move with a constant speed.

If the lengths of the arrows are the same, it means that the forces are balanced.

If the forces acting on an object are unbalanced. The object will start moving if
stopped and if its moving will either speed up (accelerate) or slow down
(decelerate) or change direction.

If the lengths of the arrows are the different, it means that the forces are
unbalanced. If the forward force is more than the back force, the object will
accelerate. If the back force is more than the forward force, object will
decelerate.
If you know the size of each force acting on an object, you can work out the
resultant force. If the arrows are in the same direction, you add the forces. If they
are in opposite directions, you subtract forces. The direction of the force will the
direction of the longer arrow is headed.

Forces are balanced, resultant force = 0

10N 4N

Forces are unbalanced, resultant force = 6N to the left

7N 15N

Forces are unbalanced, resultant force = 8N to the right

Note: Forces are measured in newtons(N).

Normal reaction is a force acting perpendicular to two surfaces in contact with each
other. Here ‘normal’ means acting on at 90°/perpendicular to the surface. This force
pushes you upwards, if there is no normal reaction force, you will slowly sink into the
ground.
Note: if you draw an arrow to show normal reaction force, you should draw it
perpendicular to the object.
Explaining some forces: (this is discussed in ch3)
Gravity; Gravity is the force of attraction between two objects which pulls you
towards the center of the Earth. It is what makes things fall and what keeps

you from floating off into space. The force of the Earth’s gravity on an
object
is called its weight. Weight is a force so it is measured in newtons (N). The

force of gravity is different on every planet. The more massive the planet,
the larger the force of gravity. If you visit different planets your weight
would
change. On Earth the gravitational field strength is 10 newtons
per kilogram (N/kg).
Equation: weight(N) = mass(kg) × gravitational field strength (N/kg)

Friction; Friction is a force that slows down moving objects and finally stop. Friction
always act in the direction opposite to the direction in which the object is
moving, or trying to move. Without friction, objects would be sliding around.
And moving object will not stop and will continue to move. Without friction,
you won’t be able to things that you usually do in your daily life such as
-> sitting
-> walking
-> running
-> dancing
-> writing
-> and many other activities…

Air resistance; Air resistance is a force that acts in the opposite direction to an
object
moving through the air. Air resistance is also known as drag force.
As
an object moves, air resistance slows it down. The faster the object's

motion, the greater the air resistance exerted against it. Air
resistance
 is one of the main reasons for the deceleration of bodies in
motion.
Note: The more the area of an object in contact with air, the more
the
air resistance.

Springs are coiled (arrange something long and flexible in a coil, bend/curve/twist)
lengths of certain types of metals which can be stretched or compressed by applying
a force to them. Springs’ lengths are changed when a force acts on them and they
return to their original length when the force is removed. You can tell that the spring
behaves elastically which means it will go back to its original length if the force is
removed. The amount that the string stretches is called the extension. Objects that
do not go back to its original length after stretching, it is called plastic.

Hooke’s law; Hooke’s law is also known as ‘law of elasticity’. Hooke’s law state that
the extension of the spring is proportional to the force applied.
Proportional means if you double the force, the extension will also be
doubled. Hooke’s law only applies if you do not stretch the string too
far. If you keep loading more and more on, eventually the spring will
not
return to its original length when you remove the force. The spring
has
reached its elastic limit. The spring will not return to its original
length,
it stopped obeying Hooke’s law.

Elastic limit
Limit of proportionality
Note: Not all elastic materials obey Hooke’s law.

Elastic bands do not obey Hooke’s law, as the graph isn’t straight.

CH – 3

Mass is the measure of the amount of matter in a body. Mass is measured in

kilograms (kg). It’s easy to confuse weight and mass. Your weight is a force and
should be measured in newtons, but often scales measure your ‘weight’
in kilograms. Scientifically this is wrong.
Equation: volume x density
Push on an object of a certain mass, and it accelerates based on the amount of
force and mass. A small force with a large mass, results in a slow acceleration,
and a large force with a small mass gives a fast acceleration.

Force Force

small acceleration large acceleration

Even though, the size of force applied to it, is the same, the object with the smaller
mass has a larger acceleration. If the same force is applied to objects with different
mass, the smaller mass will experience a larger acceleration.

Force Force

smaller acceleration large acceleration

The mass is the same here. But different size of forces are applied to them. The
larger force produces larger acceleration and the smaller force produces smaller
acceleration.
Force is proportional to acceleration. This means if the force is doubled, the
acceleration will be doubled too. Acceleration is inversely proportional to mass.
This means if the mass is doubled, acceleration will be halved.

Things stated is the ‘newton’s second law’ also known as the ‘law of inertia’. It
also states that; F = ma
Formulas:
force = mass x acceleration (F = m x a)
F
h
acceleration = force/mass (a = F/m)
mass = force/acceleration (m = F/a)
m a

Note: if an examination question asks you to write the relationship between force,
mass and acceleration or write out the equation for calculating force, mass or
acceleration, always write F = ma. You may not get marks if you just draw the
triangle.

Thinking distance; When a driver suddenly sees an object blocking the way ahead,

it takes time for him or her to respond to the new situation

before
taking any action, such as braking. Thinking distance is the
distance a vehicle travels during the time it takes for the driver
to
 perceive (come to realize or understand) a hazard. Thinking
distance is also known as ‘ reaction time’ Thinking distance
depends on the driver’s conditions such as tiredness, under the

influence of alcohol or other drugs, distractions and poor

visibility.
Other factors like road conditions, weather conditions, speed of
Drag Drag the car and
weight of the car would affect
thinking distance too.

Braking distance;
Braking distance is the
distance a vehicle travels
before Weight Weight Weight stopping,
after the driver
has applied the brake. Braking distance is also
known as ‘ stopping distance’. The braking distance depends
on
tire’s conditions, road conditions, weather conditions, speed of
the
car and the weight of the car.

Objects falling through the air experience two significant forces, the weight
force/gravity and the opposing drag force/air resistance.
In the first picture, the object has just been released and has a starting velocity of
0 m/s. This means that there is no drag but only weight (drag force only acts on
moving objects). The object with accelerate rapidly (towards earth/downwards) as
there is no drag to slow down its speed.
In the second picture, drag is acting on the object now. The drag force acts upwards
against the movement. Drag force decreases the speed of the object. The drag
increases as the object falls and the speed decreases as it falls.
Note: The faster the object moves the bigger the drag force is.
The drag force increases as the object falls and in the third picture, the drag force is
now balance with the weight force. There is now no unbalanced force on the object
its acceleration will be zero. We can say that the object has reached its terminal
velocity.

The graph shown below shows how the velocity changes over time of a
skydiver/parachutist:

D
C
B
At point A, the parachutist jumped from the plane. There is no drag force acting on
her and her weight force is the only force acting on her. She will accelerate towards
earth, downwards. The speed decreases as it becomes closer to point B. It is
because drag force increases as the parachutist falls. The speed decreases as she
falls and at point C, she has reached the terminal velocity. The forces are balanced
and her speed is now constant with 0 acceleration. And on point D, the parachutist
opens its parachute. When she opens the parachute, there will be a sudden
increase in drag. Because the parachute has a larger area and it is in more contact
with air. More contact in air means more drag force. She’ll decelerates as she falls
till, she reaches the other terminal velocity, point E. She’ll slowly decelerates till
before she lands at point F.

CH – 4

Momentum is a measurement of mass in motion. Momentum is a measure of how

difficult it is to stop something that is moving.
Equation: momentum = mass x velocity (p = m x v)
Momentum is a vector quantity and is measured in kilogram meters per second (kg
m/s). Momentum is a vector quantity because it is the product of mass and velocity.
Velocity is a vector quantity which makes momentum vector quantity.
Increase in momentum equation: final momentum – initial momentum/time (mv –
mu/t)
As stated in chapter 3 (Newton’s second law), Newton identified a proportional
relationship between the rate of increase of momentum and the force applied, F =
ma. So we could say that:
Force = final momentum – initial momentum/time
F = mv – mu/t
If you look closer at this equation, you can figure out that –
F = mv – mu/t
= m (v-u)/t
Since v – u/t = a (acceleration)
F = ma

Formulas:
acceleration/increase in momentum = force x time (F x t)
mv - mu
“ force = final momentum – initial momentum/time (mv – mu/t)
F t time = increase in momentum/force (mv – mu/F)

Note: increase in momentum/rate of change of momentum is also known as

impulse.

Conversation of momentum:
Momentum before collision = momentum after collision

u Collides
 force on a = force on b

During the time the two balls are in contact/collided, each exerts a force on the other
(Newton’s third law) The forces act in opposite directions and act for the same
amount of time. This means that increase in momentum for each is the same size,
but opposite in direction.
The increase in momentum of ball B is exactly balanced by the decrease in
momentum of ball A, so the total momentum of the two balls is unchanged before
and after the collision – momentum is conserved.
= m 1 x u1 + m 2 x m2 = m 1 x v 1 + m 2 x v 2
= total momentum before collision = total momentum after collision
In any system, momentum is always conserved provided no external forces act on
the system. It will not be affected by ‘external forces’. This means that when balls
collide the momentum of the balls is conserved if no friction forces or any other
forces act on them. The presence of friction means that the balls will eventually slow
down and stop, thus ending up with no momentum.

Newton’s laws
Newton’s first law; Objects don’t move, slow down, speed up, change direction
unless force is applied to the objects.
Newton’s second law; The more the force is applied, the faster the object will
move/
accelerate. (F = ma)
Newton’s third law; For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If you
push something it pushes you back just as hard, but in the
opposite direction.

CH – 5

Lever is a simple machine that makes work easier. A lever works by reducing the
amount of force needed to move an object or lift a load. A lever does this by
increasing the distance through which the force acts. Levers are called ‘simple
machine’ it only consists they only have two parts. It consists a beam, a pivot or a
fulcrum.

Effort (force applied)

Load

Note: you’ll need larger force, if you apply it near the pivot. And you’ll need less
force, if you apply it far from the pivot.
Pivot/fulcrum
Type of levers:
First class levers; First class levers
have the pivot placed
between the load and the
effort.

Second class levers; Second class levers

have the load placed
between the pivot and
the effort.

Third class levers; Third class levers have

the effort place between
the pivot and load.

Forces can make objects move, but they can also make objects turn. Moment is the
 turning effect of a force. Moment act about a point in a clockwise or anticlockwise
direction. Moment is a vector quantity as it has both magnitude and direction.
Equation: moment = force x distance ( m = F x d )
Moment is measured in newton meters (Nm) because it is a product of force and
distance and force is measured in newtons and distance is measured in meters.

There is a point in an object through which all of the weight of the object seems to
act, called the center of mass or center of gravity. The center of mass is in the
center of the object. The center of mass of a regular shape, such as a cube or a ball,
is in the center of the shape because the mass is evenly distributed/shared
throughout the object. For an irregular shape such as a broom, the center of mass of
will not be in the center.
If an object is in a position that makes it difficult to topple over (overbalance and
fall), you can say that it is in a stable position.
It is harder to topple objects with a low center of mass than objects with a high
center of mass.

Low center of gravity Hight center of gravity

and broad base and narrow base

CH – 6
Electricity is the flow of electrical power or charge. There are two types of electrical
charge, positive and negative, commonly carried by protons and electrons.
Protons carry positive charges and electrons carry negative charges.
Most appliance in your home need electricity to run them. The electrical energy
usually enters your homes through an underground cable. The cable is connected to
an electricity meter which measures the amount of electrical energy used. In
homes, the cable is connected to a fuse box which contains fuses or circuit
breakers for various circuits. Circuit is a complete circular path that energy flows.

Safety devices:
Fuses and circuit breakers are safety devices which shut off electricity in a circuit if
the current in them becomes too large. Current is the rate of flow of electrical
charge.

Fuses; Many plugs contain a fuse. The fuse is usually in the form of a cylinder,
which
contains a thin piece of wire made from a metal that has low melting
point. If the current is too large in the circuit, the fuse wire becomes
very
hot and melts, the fuse blows, The circuit is now incomplete so there is

no current. This prevents you from getting a shock and reduces the
possibility of an electrical fire.
Note: the blown fuse must be replaced with a new one of the same
size
before the appliance can be used again.
There are several sizes of fuses. The most common ones are 3 A, 5 A
and 13 A. ( A means ampere ). The correct fuse for a circuit is the one
that allows the correct current but blows if the current is a little larger. If

the correct current is 2 A, then the fuse used to protect it, should be 3
A.

Circuit breaker; Circuit breaker is also a safety device. If a too large current flows in

a circuit a switch opens automatically, making the circuit

incomplete.
Once the fault in the circuit has been corrected, the switch is reset
by pressing a reset button. You don’t need to replace the switch or
circuit breaker, unlike fuses.
Most of wires that leave the fuse box are connected to ring main circuits that are
hidden in the walls or floors around each room. Each piece of electrical equipment is
connected to the circuits using plugs. Plugs are a small plastic or rubber device with
metal pins that connects the end of a wire on a piece of electrical equipment to a
supply of electricity.

Ring main circuits usually consist of three wires:

Live wire; Live wire is a wire which carries electric current. The live wire provides
the
path along which the electrical energy from the power station travels.
Neutral wire; Neutral wire carries the circuit back to the power station (original
power
source). The neutral wire completes the circuit.
Earth wire; Earth wire usually has no current in it. It is there to protect you if an
appliance develops a fault. (It protects you from getting an electric
shock). It provides a path for current to escape without passing through
the user. (It carries the current to the ground instead of the user).

Voltage is the pressure that pushes electricity. It pushes charged electrons (current)
through a conducting loop, enabling them to do work such as illuminating a light.
Higher voltages cause more electricity to flow to an electronic device. Voltage is
measured in volts (V). The main electricity supplied to most countries is between
220 V and 240 V.

To prevent you from getting electric shocks, most electrical wire (outer part of a plug)
is covered in a plastic coating called casing. Plastic is used for casing because it is
an insulator. Insulators are substances that are a bad conductor of heat or
electricity. The electricity cannot flow through the insulator, so you won’t get an
electric shock even if you touched the wire. Casing with an insulator is known as
double insulation. Appliance that has double insulation do not need an earth wire.
Many appliances have a metal casing. These appliances should be connected to
an earth wire so that if the live wire become damaged and comes into contact with
the casing, the earth wire will provide a low resistance path for the current to flow to
the earth. This current is likely to be large enough to blow the fuse and turn the
circuit off. Without the earth wire, you may get an electric shock if you touched the
casing of the faulty appliance.

A switch is a device that changes the flow of an electrical circuit (device for making,
breaking, or changing the connections in an electrical circuit). Switches in main
circuits should always be placed in the live wire so that if even when the switch is
open no electrical charge can reach an appliance. If it’s placed in the neutral wire,
electrical charge can still enter a faulty appliance which could possibly cause an
electric shock.

The wiring in a house is designed to let current pass through easily. As a result, the
wires do not become warm when appliances are being used. We say that the wires
have a low resistance. If the wire has low resistance, current can easily pass
through. Less power is converted to heat and lost to the surrounding environment
and more of the supplied power gets to its intended destination. In some appliances
such as kettles and toasters, we want wires/the heating elements to be
heated/become warm. The wires of heating elements are designed to have a high
resistance so that as the current passes through them energy is transferred and the
element heats up. If wires have high resistance, current cannot easily pass through.
Power is the rate of energy transferred. Energy is measured in joules (J) and
power is measured in watts (W). If a light bulb has 70W, it transfers 70 J of electrical
energy per second.
Watt = Joules per second
Equation: power = current x voltage ( p = I x V)

Formulas:
P power = current x voltage (P = I x V)
current = power/voltage (I = P/V)
h

I V voltage = power/current (V = P/I)

Note: if an examination question asks you, if a 70 W bulb is brighter or a 50 W is

brighter. The answer is 70 W bulb because 70 W bulb transfers 70 J per
second
and 50 W bulb only transfers 50 J per second.
Note: if an examination question asks you to find the correct fuse, calculate the
current
(I = P/V) and choose the size of fuse from 3 A, 5 A and 13 A. If the calculated
current is 4.8 A, the correct fuse would be 5 A, if the current is 8 A, the correct
fuse would be 13 A.

The power of an appliance tells you how much energy it is transferred per second.
This means that the total energy transferred by an appliance is equal to its power
multiplied by the length of time (in seconds) the appliance is being used.
Equation: total energy = power x time (E = P x t)