PMT

A-level Physics data and

formulae
For use in exams from the June 2017 Series onwards
DATA - FUNDAMENTAL CONSTANTS AND VALUES
Quantit Symbol Value Units
y speed of light in 𝑐 3.00  108 m s–1
4  10–7
vacuo permeability of
𝜇0 H m–1
free space permittivity 𝜀0 8.85  10–12 F m–1
of free space 𝑒 1.60  10–19 C
magnitude of the charge of ℎ 6.63  10–34 Js
electron the Planck constant 𝐺 6.67  10–11 N m2 kg–2
gravitational 𝑁A 6.02  1023 mol–1
constant the 𝑅 8.31 J K–1 mol–1
Avogadro constant 𝑘 1.38  10–23 J K–1
σ 5.67  10–8 W m–2 K–4
𝛼
molar gas constant
the Boltzmann 2.90  10–3 mK

constant the Stefan 𝑚e 9.11  10–31 kg

𝑒
1.76  1011 C kg–1
constant
the Wien constant 𝑚e
𝑚p 1.67(3)  10–27 kg
electron rest mass
(equivalent to 5.5 ×
10–4 u) 𝑒
9.58  107 C kg–1
𝑚p

𝑚n
magnitude of electron charge/mass
1.67(5)  10–27 kg

(equivalent to 1.00728 u) 𝑔
ratio proton rest mass
9.81 N kg–1

proton charge/mass ratio 𝑔 9.81 m s–2

u 1.661  10–27 kg
(equivalent to 1.00867
neutron rest mass

u)
gravitational field strength
acceleration due to gravity

(1u is equivalent to 931.5 MeV)

atomic mass unit

ALGEBRAIC EQUATION GEOMETRICAL EQUATIONS

=r𝜃
2
b  b  4ac arc length
quadratic equation x 
2a
circumference of circle = 2r
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ASTRONOMICAL DATA area of circle = r2

curved surface area
Body Mass/kg Mean radius/m of cylinder
= 2rh

Sun 1.99 × 1030 6.96 × 108 area of sphere = 4r2

Earth 5.97 × 1024 6.37 × 106 volume of sphere

4 3
= 3 r

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Particle Physics Waves

1
𝑐 = 𝑓 =
𝑇
Class Name Symbol Rest
𝑓𝜆
wave speed period
energy/MeV
𝛾 0 1
𝑇
photon photon

0 𝑓 = �
first

2𝑙
lepton neutrino ve harmonic

0 𝜇
𝜆
v
0.510999 𝜆𝐷
𝑤 = 𝑑 sin 𝜃 =
𝑠
electron fringe diffraction
e
105.659 𝑛
spacing grating

index of a substance s, 𝑛 =
 𝑐
muon refractive
mesons  meson   139.576 𝑐s

134.972
for two different substances of refractive indices n1 and n2,
law of refraction 𝑛1 sin 𝜃1 = 𝑛2 sin 𝜃2
0
493.821
critical angle sin 𝜃 = for 𝑛 > 𝑛
K meson K  𝑛2

K0 497.762
p 938.257
Mechanics
moment = 𝐹𝑑
baryons proton

n 939.551
moments
∆𝑠 ∆𝑣
neutron
𝑣 = 𝑎 =
∆𝑡 ∆𝑡
velocity and
Properties of quarks acceleration
𝑢+𝑣
𝑣 = 𝑢 + 𝑎𝑡 𝑠 =( ) 𝑡
antiquarks have opposite signs

2
equations of
motion
𝑎𝑡2
Baryo
𝑣2 = 𝑢 2 + 𝑠 = 𝑢𝑡 +
Type Charge Strangeness
n
numb
2𝑎𝑠 2
𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎
er

∆(𝑚𝑣)
force

𝐹
=
u +
2
e +
1 0
force
∆𝑡
3 3

𝐹 Δ𝑡 = Δ(𝑚𝑣)
1
d − e 1 0 impulse
𝑊 = 𝐹 𝑠 cos
3 + 3

𝜃
work, energy
1
1
− e and power
s 1 1
𝐸 k = 𝑚 𝑣2 Δ𝐸p =
3 + 3
2 𝑚𝑔Δℎ
∆𝑊
𝑃 = , 𝑃 =𝑣
Properties of Leptons
𝐹
∆𝑡
Lepton number
e , e ;  , 
− − 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡
𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 =
Particles: +1
Antiparticles: e+, e, +,  1 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟

Photons and energy levels Materials

𝜌 = 𝐹 = 𝑘
density
𝑚
Δ𝐿
Hooke’s law

𝑉
𝐹
𝐴
tensile stress =
𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒
𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 ∆
𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝐿
Young modulus =
𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛
𝐿
tensile strain =

𝐸 =
1
energy stored
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ℎ𝑐
𝐸 = ℎ𝑓 =
𝜆
photon

ℎ𝑓 = ϕ + 𝐸k
energy
photoelectricity
(max)

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AQA A-LEVEL PHYSICS DATA AND
FORMULAE

Electricity Gravitational fields

∆𝑄 𝑊 𝐺𝑚1𝑚
𝐼 = 𝑉 =
�
∆𝑡 𝑄 𝑅 = 𝐹 =
2
current and pd �
𝐼
force between two masses
𝑟2
𝑅𝐴 𝐹
𝜌= 𝑔 =
𝐿 𝑚
resistivity gravitational field strength

𝑅T = 𝑅1 + 𝑅2 + 𝑅3 + 𝐺𝑀
… 𝑔 =
resistors in series
magnitude of gravitational
𝑟2
+ + +
1 1
field strength in a radial field
1 1
Δ𝑊 =
⋯
=
𝑚Δ𝑉
resistors in parallel work done

𝑅T 𝑅1 𝑅2 𝑅3 𝐺𝑀
𝑉 =–
𝑟
𝑃 = 𝑉𝐼 = 𝐼 𝑅 𝑉
2
gravitational potential
= 2
Δ𝑉
𝑅 𝑔 =–
power

𝐸 Δ𝑟
𝜀 = 𝜀 = 𝐼(𝑅 +
𝑄
𝑟)
emf
Electric fields and capacitors
Circular force between two 1 𝑄1𝑄2
𝐹 =
motion
𝑣 4𝜋𝜀0 𝑟2
𝜔 =
𝑟
magnitude of point charges

𝐹 = 𝐸𝑄
𝑉
angular force on a charge

𝜔 = 2𝜋𝑓
speed
𝐸 =
field strength for a

𝑑
𝑎 = 𝑣 = 𝜔2𝑟
2
uniform field
𝑟 Δ𝑊 = 𝑄Δ𝑉
centripetal acceleration
work done
𝑚𝑣2 𝑟
𝑟 1 𝑄
𝐸
centripetal force
4𝜋 𝑟2
field strength for a
=
𝜀0
radial field
Simple harmonic motion

𝑉 =1 𝑄
𝑎 = − 𝜔2𝑥
electric potential

4𝜋𝜀0 𝑟
acceleration
𝑥 = 𝐴 cos (𝜔𝑡)
Δ
displacement
𝑣 = ± 𝜔 �(𝐴2 − 𝐸 =
field strength

𝑥2) 𝑉
speed

𝑣max = 𝜔𝐴 Δ
𝑟
maximum speed
𝑎max = 𝜔2𝐴 𝑄
𝐶 =
maximum acceleration
𝑚
𝑇 = 2𝜋 � 𝑉
capacitance

𝑘 𝐴𝜀 𝜀
for a mass-spring system

𝐶 = 𝑑
0 r
𝑙
for a simple pendulum 𝑇 = 2𝜋 capacitor energy 1 1 𝑄2
1
�

𝐸 = 𝑄𝑉 𝐶𝑉2 =
stored =2 2 2 𝐶

𝑡
𝑄 = 𝑄0(1
–
𝑅𝐶 )
capacitor charging
−e
Thermal
physics
𝑡
𝑄 = 𝑄0e
–
decay of charge 𝑅𝐶

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𝑄 = 𝑚𝑐Δ𝜃
energy to change time constant
temperature

𝑄 = 𝑚𝑙
energy to change
state
gas law 𝑝𝑉 = 𝑛𝑅𝑇
𝑝𝑉 = 𝑁𝑘𝑇
1
𝑝𝑉 = 𝑁𝑚 (𝑐rms)2
3
kinetic theory model
1 3 3𝑅𝑇
𝑚 (𝑐rms)2 = 𝑘𝑇 =
2 2 2𝑁A
kinetic energy of gas
molecule

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Magnetic fields
𝐹 = 𝐵𝐼𝑙
OPTIONS
force on a current
𝐹 = 𝐵𝑄𝑣
Astrophysics
1 astronomical unit = 1.50 × 1011 m
force on a moving charge
magnetic flux Ф = 𝐵𝐴
𝑁Ф = 𝐵𝐴𝑁 cos 1 light year = 9.46 × 1015 m
𝜃
magnetic flux linkage
1 parsec = 2.06 × 105 AU = 3.08 × 1016 m
ΔФ
𝜀 = 𝑁 = 3.26 ly
Δ𝑡
magnitude of induced emf
Hubble constant, 𝐻 = 65 km s–1 Mpc–1
𝑁Ф = 𝐵𝐴𝑁 cos
𝜃 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑡
𝑒𝑦𝑒
𝜀 = 𝐵𝐴𝑁𝜔 sin 𝑀 =
𝜔t 𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑜𝑏𝑜𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑎𝑡
emf induced in a rotating coil
𝑢𝑛𝑎𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑦𝑒
𝐼rms =𝐼0 𝑉
𝑓0
√2 𝑉rms =0 𝑀 =
𝑓e
alternating current telescope in normal
√2
adjustment
𝜆
𝑁s 𝜃 ≈
𝑉s
𝐷
transformer equations Rayleigh criterion

𝑑
=
𝑁p 𝑚 – 𝑀 = 5 log
𝑉p 10
𝐼s𝑉s
magnitude equation

= 𝜆max 𝑇 = 2.9 × 10−3

𝐼p 𝑉p mK
Wien’s law
efficiency
Stefan’s law 𝑃 = 𝜎𝐴𝑇4
Nuclear physics
𝑘 𝑅s ≈
𝐼
2GM
=
Schwarzschild radius
inverse square law for γ radiation
𝑥2 Δ𝑓 Δ𝜆 𝑣
2
c
Δ𝑁
=−𝜆𝑡– 𝜆 𝑁, 𝑁 = =– =
𝑁 e 𝑓 𝜆 𝑐
Doppler shift for v << c
𝑣
radioactive decay
o
Δ𝑡
𝑧= −
𝐴 = 𝜆𝑁 𝑐
red shift
activity
ln 2 Hubble’s law 𝑣 = 𝐻𝑑
½ =
𝑇 𝜆
half-life

𝑅 = 𝑅0
Medical physics
𝐴1/3
nuclear radius

energy-mass equation 𝐸 = 𝑚𝑐2

1
𝑃 =
𝑓
𝑣
lens equations

𝑚 =
𝑢
1 1 1
= +
𝑓 𝑢 𝑣
𝐼0 = 1.0 × 10−12 W m−2
𝐼
threshold of hearing

𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑙𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑙 = 10 log

𝐼0
intensity level

𝐼 = 𝐼0𝑒–𝜇𝑥
𝜇
absorption

=
𝜇 𝜌
m

ultrasound imaging 𝑍 = 𝑝𝑐

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𝐼r 2
=( )
𝑍2− 𝑍1
𝐼i 𝑍2+ 𝑍1
1 1
+
1
=
𝑇E 𝑇B 𝑇P
half-lives

4 Version
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AQA A-LEVEL PHYSICS DATA AND
FORMULAE

Engineering physics Turning points in physics

𝐼 = Σ𝑚𝑟2 𝑒𝑉
𝐹 =
1 𝑑
moment of inertia electrons in fields
𝐸𝑘 = 𝐼𝜔2
angular kinetic energy
2 𝐹 = 𝐵𝑒𝑣
𝑚𝑣
𝑟 =
𝜔2 = 𝜔1 + 𝛼 𝑡 𝐵𝑒
equations of angular

½ 𝑚𝑣2 = 𝑒𝑉
motion

𝜔22 = 𝜔12 + 2𝛼𝜃

𝑄𝑉
= 𝑚𝑔
𝛼𝑡2 𝑑
Millikan’s experiment

= 𝜔1𝑡 + 𝐹 = 6𝜋𝜂𝑟𝑣
𝜃 2
(𝜔1 + 𝜔2) 𝑡
𝜃 = 1
2 𝑐 =
�𝜇0𝜀0
Maxwell’s formula
𝑇 = 𝐼𝛼
ℎ ℎ
torque
𝑇 = 𝐹𝑟 𝜆 = =
𝑝 √2𝑚𝑒𝑉
𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑚 =
𝐼𝜔 𝑡0
angular momentum
𝑡 =
𝑣2
𝑇Δ𝑡 = Δ(𝐼𝜔) �1 −
special relativity

𝑐2
angular impulse
work done 𝑊 = 𝑇𝜃
𝑃 = 𝑇𝜔
𝑣2
power
𝑄 = Δ𝑈 + 𝑊 𝑙 = 𝑙 1 −
𝑐2
thermodynamics 0 �
𝑊 = 𝑝Δ𝑉 𝑚0𝑐2
𝑝𝑉 𝛾
= constant 𝐸 = 𝑚 𝑐2 =
�21 −
𝑣
adiabatic change
isothermal change 𝑝𝑉 = constant
𝑐2
𝑄H − 𝑄C
heat engines
𝑊
=
𝑄H 𝑄H
efficiency = Electronics
𝑇H −
𝑇C
maximum theoretical
efficiency =
𝑇H
work done per cycle = area of loop
input power = calorific value × fuel flow rate
indicated power = (𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑜𝑓 𝑝 − 𝑉 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑝)
× (𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑦𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟
𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑)
× (𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑦𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑠)
output or brake power 𝑃 = 𝑇𝜔
friction power = 𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 – 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑘𝑒
𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟
heat pumps and refrigerators

: 𝐶𝑂𝑃 = 𝑄C =
refrigerator 𝑄C

ref 𝑊 𝑄H− 𝑄C

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𝑓0 =
resonant frequency
2𝜋 √𝐿𝐶
𝑓0
𝑄 =
Q-factor
𝑓B

𝑉out = 𝐴OL(𝑉+ − 𝑉−)

operational amplifiers:

𝑉out 𝑅f
open loop

=−
𝑉in 𝑅in
inverting amplifier

𝑉out 𝑅f
=1+
𝑉in 𝑅l
non-inverting amplifier

𝑉1 𝑉2 𝑉3
𝑉out = −𝑅f ( + +
summing amplifier
+⋯) 𝑅 𝑅 𝑅
1 2 3
𝑅f
out = (𝑉+ − 𝑉−)
difference amplifier
𝑉 l 𝑅

Bandwidth requirement:
for AM 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ = 2𝑓M
for FM 𝑏𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ = 2(∆𝑓 + 𝑓M)

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6 Version
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AQA A-LEVEL PHYSICS DATA AND
FORMULAE

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