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Physics Definitions for 2016

Mechanics
Displacement: The distance from a fixed point along a particular direction
Velocity: The rate of change of displacement (m s-1)
Acceleration: The rate of change of velocity (m s-2)
Scalar quantity: A quantity that has no direction associated with it. e.g. mass
Vector quantity: A quantity that has direction and magnitude associated with
it e.g. velocity.

Force: something that can cause acceleration. (N) (vector)

Friction: a force that opposes the motion of one surface over another
Momentum: mass multiplied by velocity (momentum = mv) (kg m s -1) (vector)

Conservation of momentum: In any interaction within a closed system

Total momentum before is equal to the total momentum afterwards.
Newton’s Laws of Motion:
1. An object remains in a state of rest, or of uniform motion in a straight
line, unless an external force acts on it
2. The resultant force on an object is proportional to its rate of change of
momentum ( F is proportional to momentum/t)
3. If A exerts a force on B then B exerts an equal and opposite force on A
OR “action and reaction are equal and opposite”

Weight: The weight of a body is the force of gravity acting on it

Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation states:

Every two objects (masses m1, m2), which are distance d apart, attract
each other with a force given by
F = Gm1m2
d2
where G is the universal gravitational constant.

Density: The mass per unit volume of a substance. (g cm-3) (kg m-3)
Pressure: The force on unit area. p = F/A (Pascals, Pa = N m -2) (SCALAR)
Pressure in a fluid: p = gh ( = density x acc due to gravity x depth)

Archimedes Principle:
When a body is partially or wholly immersed in a fluid
the upthrust is equal in magnitude to the weight of the fluid displaced.
Law of floatation: The weight of a floating body is equal to the weight of the
fluid displaced.
Moment: The moment of a force about an axis is the product of the
force and the perpendicular distance between the axis and
the line of action of the force.

Moment = force x perpendicular distance (Nm) M= Fd

Couple: A couple is a system of forces which has a turning effect

only – the resultant of the forces is zero.
Equilibrium: A body is in equilibrium when its acceleration is zero.

Law of Equilibrium 1: When a body is in equilibrium,

the sum of the forces acting on it is zero
Law of Equilibrium 2: (principle of moments) When a body is in equilibrium,
the sum of the moments, about any axis, of the forces acting on it is zero

Energy: the ability to do work. (J)

Principle of conservation of energy: Energy can not be created nor destroyed
Work: product of the force and the distance moved
Work = force x distance moved, W = Fs
One Joule of work is done when a force of 1 Newton moves something a distance
of 1 metre
Power: Power is the work done per second OR the energy changed
per second P = W/t
Watt 1 Joule per second
Efficiency: Power out x 100
Power in

Angular Velocity: The change in angle per second  = (rad s-1).

t
Centripetal acceleration: The acceleration of a body moving in a circular path,
towards the centre of the circle ( because the velocity has a constantly
changing direction) a= 2r = v2/r
Centripetal Force: The force towards the centre that keeps a body moving in a
circular path (N). F = m2r = m v2/r

Simple Harmonic motion: The motion of a particle is simple harmonic if its

acceleration towards a particular point is proportional to its displacement from
that point. a = -2s
Hooke’s Law: The restoring force is directly proportional to the displacement
Force = constant x displacement, F = -ks
 Heat

Specific Heat Capacity: The specific heat capacity of a substance is the

amount of energy needed to change the temperature of 1kg
of the substance by 1 Kelvin. (J kg-1 K-1)
E = mc
Heat gained or lost = mass x shc x temperature change

Specific Latent heat:The heat needed to change the state of 1kg of a

substance, with no change in temperature J kg -1
Heat gained or lost = specific latent heat x mass E = ml

Thermometric property: A physical property that changes measurably with

changing temperature.

Conduction: The transfer of energy through a substance without the

movement of the particles of the substance.
Convection: The transfer of energy through a substance by the
movement of the particles.
Radiation: The movement of energy in straight lines from the surface
of a hot body, without the need for a medium to pass
through.

Solar constant: the amount of solar energy per second falling on 1 m 2 of area.
(W m-2)

U-value: the u-value of a building material is the amount of heat that

will escape per second through 1 m2 of the material for each
1 K temperature difference across it. ( W m-2 K-1)

Celsius temperature = Kelvin temperature – 273.15

Boyle’s Law states:

When a fixed mass of gas is kept at constant temperature
its volume is inversely proportional to its pressure.
P = constant x 1
Volume
PV = constant or P1V1 = P2V2
 Waves and Light and Sound

Stationary or Standing Wave: a wave with no net transfer of energy

They are formed by interference of two waves of equal frequencies and
amplitudes moving in opposite directions
Harmonics: frequencies which are whole-number multiples of a
fundamental frequency.

Resonance: The transfer of energy between two bodies with the same ( or
similar) natural frequency

Sound Intensity: sound energy per second crossing through each square metre
of area (W m-2)

Threshold of hearing: The smallest intensity that can be heard by a human ear
(approx. equal to 1 X 10-12 W m-2)

Threshold of pain: Intensities above 1W/m2 cause pain and may cause
permanent ear damage.

Sound Intensity Level: The change in sound intensity level is defined as 1 Bel or
10 dBels when the second sound intensity I2 is 10 times the
first sound intensity I1
dB(A) scale: like dB except it has been adapted to take account of how the
human ear responds differently to different frequencies

Doppler effect: The apparent change in frequency of a wave due to relative

motion between the source of a wave compared and the
observer.
Approaching f’ = fc moving away f’ = fc
c-v c+v
The Laws of Reflection:
1. The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection
2. The incident ray, the normal, and the reflected ray are all in the same
plane.

The Laws of Refraction:

1. (Snell’s Law) sin i = n, the refractive index , which is a constant
sin r
2. The incident ray, the normal, and the refracted ray are in the same plane.
Power of a lens : P = 1/focal length
Magnification m = image size /object size = v/u

Critical angle: The critical angle is the angle of incidence in the denser
medium for which the angle of refraction will be 90 0
n= 1
sin C
Total Internal reflection: This occurs when the angle of incidence in the
denser medium is bigger than the critical angle.

Transverse Wave: the vibrations are at right angles to the direction in which
the wave travels
Longitudinal Wave: the vibrations are parallel to the direction in which the
wave travels
Wavelength: The distance between two successive crests. (m)
Amplitude: The maximum displacement from the baseline. (m)
Frequency: The frequency of a wave is the number of complete cycles of
a wave passing a point per second. (Hz)
Period: The time taken for one complete cycle of a wave. (s)

Speed of wave = wavelength x frequency c = f

Reflection: The rebounding of a wave/light off a surface

Refraction: The bending of a wave as it passes from one medium to the
next n = c1/c2
Diffraction: The spreading out of a wave into the space behind an
obstacle or after going through an opening
n= dsin

Interference: when two or more waves meet and combine to form a

resultant wave

Coherent sources: Sources that are in phase and have the same frequency.
Polarisation: This is when vibrations of a wave are in one plane only: only
happens with TRANSVERSE waves.
Dispersion: The separating out of white light into its constituent colours.
Primary colours: Red, green, blue- together they combine to give white light.
Secondary colours: Yellow, cyan and magenta- these are produced when primary
colours are mixed in equal intensity.
Complementary colours: a primary colour and secondary colour combine to give
white light e.g. yellow and blue
 Electricity and Magnetism
Conductor: A substance that allows charge to flow through it.
Insulator: A substance that does not allow charge to flow through it.

Electric field: A region where a charged particle experiences a force.

Electric field strength: The force per unit charge E = F/q (N C-1)

Potential difference: Work done per unit charge

V = W/q (Volt = Joule per Coulomb)

Emf: the work done in bringing unit charge around a complete circuit. (V)

Capacitance: ratio of charge to potential difference C = Q/V

For parallel plate capacitor: C = A
d
Coulomb’s Law: F = q1q2
4d2
where F is the force between two charges q1 and q2
d is the distance between them
is the permittivity of the material between them ( a constant)

Electric Current: An electric current is a flow of charge. (A)

I = q/t ( 1 Amp = 1 Coulomb per second)

Resistance: The ratio of voltage to current R=V/I

Resistivity: USE THE FORMULA The resistivity of a conductor of length l

and of cross-sectional area A, with a resistance R is given by  RA
l
Ohm’s Law:The current flowing through a wire is proportional to the potential
difference across it
V  I, or V = IR where R is the resistance of the wire.

RCD: residual current device

MCB: miniature circuit breaker

Ampere: the current flowing in two parallel conductors 1m apart in a vacuum

that causes each to experience a force of 2 x 10-7 N per meter length.
Magnetic Flux density B: B = F/IL = force/(current x length)
( 1 Tesla = the flux density needed to give a force of 1N on a wire of length 1m
when a current of 1A flows through it)
Magnetic Flux  = BA where B is magnetic flux density, A is area of the loop

Electromagnetic induction: an emf is induced when there is a changing

magnetic flux

Faraday’s Law: E = -d/dt = change of flux/time

induced emf is directly proportional to the rate of change of magnetic flux.

Lenz’s Law:
The direction of the induced current opposes the change causing it.
Joule’s Law: P  I2
The heat produced per second ( = power) is proportional to the square of
the current.

Semiconductor: resistivity between that of a conductor and insulator.

Intrinsic vs extrinsic conduction: conduction in a pure vs impure semiconductor

Modern Physics:

Thermionic emission: The emission of electrons from the surface of a hot

metal.

Electron-Volt: The amount of energy gained by an electron being

accelerated a potential difference of 1 Volt. ( 1 eV = 1.6 x 10 -19 Joules)

Photoelectric emission: The emission of an electron from the surface of a

metal when light of a suitable frequency falls on it.

Photon: a packet of electromagnetic energy. (its energy is given by E = hf)

Work function: The minimum energy required by a photon to remove an

electron from the surface of a metal by photoelectric emission (J or eV)

Threshold frequency: The minimum frequency required for photoemission to

occur.
Einstein’s photoelectric law: hf = 1/2 mv2max
photon energy = work function + maximum kinetic energy of emitted electron
X-Rays: High frequency photons of electromagnetic radiation

Atomic number: number of protons in the nucleus of an atom of that element.

Mass number The total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of that
atom.
Isotope: Atoms that have the same atomic number but different mass
numbers.

Radioactivity: The decay of a nucleus of an atom with the emission of one

or more of the three types of radiation.
238
U92  234Th 90 + 4He2 ( alpha emission)

Activity: The number of nuclei of a radioactive substance that are decaying per
second.
A = -dN ( = number of particles given off per second)
dt

Becquerel: The unit of activity = one radioactive disintegration per second.

Eg potassium in your body A = 8000 Bq K-40 is a beta emitter  Ca-40

Law of radioactive decay: The number of disintegrations per second is directly

proportional to the number of nuclei present.
A = -N

Half life T1/2 : The half life of a radioactive isotope is the time taken for
half of the nuclei present to decay (= time for activity to become half of
what it was)

Decay constant  = ln2 = 0.693

T1/2 T1/2

Nuclear fission: The splitting of a large nucleus into two smaller nuclei with
the emission of large amounts of energy.
Chain reaction a self-sustaining reaction , where the release of one or more
neutrons causes further fission

Nuclear fusion: The joining together of two light nuclei to form a larger
nucleus with the emission of large amounts of energy.
Energy-mass equivalence: E = mc2
 Particle Physics

Lepton: A point particle that does not experience the strong force
( e.g. electron, neutrino)

Hadron: a particle made of quarks = baryons and mesons

Baryon: a particle composed of three quarks ( eg proton, neutron)

Meson: a particle composed of a quark and an anti-quark (eg pion)

Anti-matter: a particle with the same mass as a particle but opposite charge.

Pair Production: a particle and its antiparticle are created from a high-energy
(gamma-ray) photon ( hf = 2 mc2)

Pair annihilation: a particle and antiparticle are converted to two equal photons
of energy (travelling in opposite directions) ( 2hf = 2 mc2)

Four forces of nature: in order of decreasing strength

Range acts on?
Strong nuclear SHORT quarks ( NOT leptons)
Electromagnetic infinite(proportional to 1/d )
2
charged particles
Weak nuclear SHORT ALL
Gravitational infinite(proportional to 1/d )
2
ALL