FORM 4 PHYSICS FORMULA

No Quantity De-inition Formula

1 Base quantity a physical quantity which cannot be
derived from another physical
quantity.
2 Scalar quantities physical quantities that have
magnitude only
3 vector quantities physical quantities that have both
magnitude and direction.
4 linear motion Motion in a straight line
5 Distance Length of route covered by an object

6 Displacement Shortest distance between the initial

position
and the -inal position in a speci-ic
direction
7 Speed rate of change of distance travelled 𝑑
𝑣=
𝑡
𝑠
8 Velocity rate of change of displacement 𝑣=
𝑡
𝑣−𝑢
9 Acceleration rate of change of velocity 𝑎=
𝑡
10 free fall An object falls in the gravitational -ield

11 Inertia the tendency of an object to remain at

rest or, if moving, to continue its
motion in a straight line at uniform
velocity.
12 Newton’s First Newton’s First Law states that an
Law of Motion object will
remain at rest or move at uniform
velocity
unless acted upon by an external force.

13 Momentum The product of mass and velocity 𝑝 = 𝑚𝑣

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14 Principle of states that the total momentum before

Conservation of collision is equal to the total
Momentum momentum after collision if no
external force is acting on it.
15 Newton’s Second states that the rate of change of 𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎
Law of Motion momentum is directly proportional to
the force and acts in the direction of
the applied force.

16 Impulsive force the rate of change of momentum in a 𝐹

𝑚𝑣 − 𝑚𝑢
collision or impact in a short period of =
𝑡
time.
17 Impulse a change of momentum. 𝐹𝑡
= 𝑚𝑣 − 𝑚𝑢

18 Newton’s Third states that for every action there is a

Law of reaction of equal magnitude, but in the
Motion opposite direction.
19 Gravitational -ield the force acting per unit mass caused 𝑊 = 𝑚𝑔
strength by gravitational pull.
20 Newton’s states that the 𝐺𝑀! 𝑚"
𝐹=
𝑟"
Universal Law of gravitational force between two bodies
Gravitation is directly proportional to
the product of the masses of both
bodies and inversely proportional
to the square of the distance between
the centres of the two bodies.

21 centripetal force a force acts on the body in a direction 𝑚𝑣 "

𝐹=
towards the centre of 𝑟

the circle.
22 Kepler’s First Law All planets move in elliptical orbits
with the Sun at one focus (Law of
Orbits)

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23 Kepler’s A line that connects a planet to the Sun

Second Law sweeps out equal areas in equal times
(Law of Areas).

24 Kepler’s Th e square of the orbital period of any 4𝜋 " 𝑟 #

𝑇" =
Third Law planet is directly proportional to the 𝐺𝑀

cube of the radius of its orbit (Law of

Periods).
25 Escape velocity the minimum velocity needed by an
object 2𝐺𝑀
𝑣= 5
on the surface of the Earth to overcome 𝑅
the gravitational force and escape to
outer space.
26 thermal Net heat transfer between the two
equilibrium objects becomes zero.
27 Heat capacity the quantity of heat needed to raise the
temperature of the object by 1°C.
28 Speci-ic heat the quantity of heat needed to raise 𝑄 = 𝑚𝑐𝜃
capacity the temperature of 1 kg mass of the
substance by 1°C.
29 latent heat Heat that is absorbed during melting
and boiling without change in
temperature
30 Speci-ic Latent the quantity of heat, Q that is absorbed 𝑄 = 𝑚𝑙
Heat or released during a change of phase of
1 kg of the substance without any
change in its temperature.
31 Speci-i c latent quantity of heat, Q that is absorbed
heat of fusion, during melting or the quantity of heat
released during freezing of 1 kg of the
substance
without any change in temperature.

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32 Speci-i c latent quantity of heat, Q that is absorbed

heat of during boiling or the quantity of heat
vaporisation released during condensation of 1 kg
of the substance without any change in
temperature.
33 Boyle’s Law states that pressure is inversely 1
𝑃=
𝑉
proportional to
volume for a -ixed mass of gas at
constant temperature.
34 Charles’ Law states that volume is directly 𝑉=𝑇
proportional
to absolute temperature for a -ixed
mass of gas at constant pressure.
35 Gay-Lussac’s Law states that pressure is directly 𝑃=𝑇
proportional
to absolute temperature of a -ixed
mass of gas at constant
volume.
36 Longitudinal wave Particles of the medium vibrate in the
direction parallel to the direction of
propagation of
the wave.
37 Transverse wave Particles of the medium vibrate in the
direction perpendicular
to the direction of propagation of the
wave.
38 Mechanical wave Requires a medium to transfer energy
from
one point to another
39 Electromagnetic Does not require a medium to transfer
wave energy
40 progressive wave wave pro-ile propagates with time
along the
direction of propagation of the wave.

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41 stationary wave. a wave

where the pro-i le of the wave does not
propagate with time.
42 Amplitude Maximum displacement of a particle
from its
equilibrium position
43 Period Th e time taken by a particle to make
one complete oscillation or by a source
to produce one complete cycle of wave
44 Frequency Number of complete oscillations made
by a particle or number of cycles of
wave produced by a source in one
second
45 Wavelength Distance between two consecutive
points in phase
46 Wave speed Distance travelled per second by a
wave pro-ile
47 natural frequency An oscillating system that is displaced
and then left to oscillate without the
action of external forces
48 External damping Oscillating system loses energy to
overcome friction or air resistance.
49 Internal damping Oscillating system loses energy
because of the stretching and
compression of the vibrating particles
in the system.
50 resonance When a periodic force is applied to an
oscillating system at its natural
frequency
51 Refraction of the change in direction of propagation
waves of waves caused by the change in the
velocity of waves when the waves
propagate from one medium to
another.
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52 Diffraction of the spreading of waves when the

waves waves propagate through a slit or side
of a barrier.
53 principle of states that when two waves overlap,
superposition the resultant displacement is the sum
of the individual displacements of the
two waves.

54 coherent source Two sources of waves are coherent

when the frequency of both waves is
the same and
the phase difference is constant.
55 Interference of the superposition of two or more
waves waves from a coherent source of
waves.
56 refraction of light the change in
velocity of light when travelling
through mediums of different optical
densities
57 Critical angle the angle of incidence in the medium of
high optical density when the angle of
refraction in the medium of lower
optical density is equals to 90°.

58 Object distance Distance between object and optical

centre of a lens
59 Image distance Distance between image and optical
centre of a lens
60 Focal length Distance between focal point, F and
optical centre, O of a lens

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