Physics Formula, Glossary, Exam Papers
Download May/June 2017 Physics ATP Paper
Physical Quantity
Equations of motion at constant acceleration
Density
Weight
Force
Moment of a force about a point
Object in equilibrium with parallel forces acting on it
Work done
Kinetic energy
Potential energy
Efficiency
Power
Pressure
Liquid pressure
Boyle's Law
Specific heat capacity
Specific latent heat of vaporization or fusion
Wave equation
Refractive index
Critical angle
Amount of charge
Ohm's Law
Potential difference
emf
Electrical power
Electrical energy
Resistance
Transformer equations
Remarks
W = mg
F = ma
W = weight, N
m = mass, kg
g = gravitational acceleration, m/s2 or N/kg
F = force, N
m = mass, kg
a = acceleration, m/s2
W = Fd
K.E.= 1/2 mv2
W = work done, J
F = force, N
d = displacement, m
K = kinetic energy, J
m = mass, kg
v = velocity, m/s
Ep = potential energy, J
m = mass, kg
g = gravitational acceleration, N/kg or m/s2
h = gain/loss in height
P = power, W
W = work done or energy transferred, J
t = time, s
E = energy transferred/used, J
Q = thermal energy transferred, J
P.E. = mgh
n = refractive index
i = angle in air/vacuum
r = angle in medium
c = speed of light in vacuum, m/s
v = speed of light in medium, m/s
Q = It
V = IR
V = W/Q
Q = charge, C
t = time, s
V = potential difference, V
I = current, A
V = potential difference, V
W = work done between two points, J
Q = charge, C
P = IV = I2R
E = VIT
P = power, W
I = current, A
V = potential difference, V (voltage)
E = electrical energy, J
p = resistivity, ohm
l = length of wire, m
A = cross-sectional area of wire, m2
Glossary
Concept
Acceleration
Gravitational acceleration
Alternating current
Ampere (A)
Amplitude
Angle of incidence
Angle of reflection
Angle of refraction
Atmospheric pressure
Average speed
Boiling
Cathode ray oscilloscope
Celsius scale
Centre of gravity
Condensation
Conduction
Convection
Converging lens
Coulomb (C)
Crest
Critical angle
Density
Diverging lens
Echo
Electric current
Kelvin (K)
Kinetic energy
Kinetic theory of matter
Latent heat of fusion
Latent heat of vaporization
Law of charges
Laws of refraction
Law of reflection
Lenz's law
Liquid pressure
Longitudinal waves
Magnetic materials
Manometer
Mass
Melting
Moment of a force
Newton's Laws
Newton (N)
Normal
Ohm's law
Optical centre
Parallelogram law of vector addition
Parallel circuits
Period
Pascal
Pitch
Potential difference
Potential divider/ potentiometer
Potential energy
Power
Pressure
Principal axis
Principal focus
Principle of conservation of energy
Principle of moments
Radiation
Ray
Real image
Rectifier
Refraction
Refractive index
Resistance
Resistors in series
Resistors in parallel
Resultant force
Right-hand grip rule
Scalar quantities
Specific heat capacity
Specific latent heat of fusion
Specific latent heat of vaporization
Steam point
Thermal energy
Thermocouple
Temperature
Transformer
Transducer
Transverse wave
Definition
The rate of change of velocity. Value can be found from the gradient of a velocity-time graph.
unit = m/s2
The rate at which all objects fall towards earth if there were no air resistance, about 10m/s2 near earth's surface
An electric current that periodically reverses its direction in the circuit
The SI unit for electric current. A flow of 1 coulomb per second is 1 ampere
The maximum displacement of a point of a wave from rest position.
Height of a crest or depth of a trough measured from the undisturbed position.
For a sound wave, the greater the amplitude, the louder the sound.
The angle between an incident ray and the normal to a surface
The angle between a reflected ray and the normal to a surface
The angle between a refracted ray and the normal to a surface
The air pressure in the earth's atmosphere. Atmospheric pressure is about 105 Pa near sea level and decreases with height above ground.
The total distance traveled divided by the total time taken.
A process by which energy supplied changes a substance from liquid to gas without a change in its temperature.
An instrument that enables a variety of electrical signals to be examined visually. It is used for measuring direct current and alternating current voltages, short time intervals and frequency and for displaying waveforms
A temperature scale where the lower fixed point is the ice point and the upper fixed point is the steam point
The point at which the entire weight of an object appears to act
A process by which energy released changes a substance from gas to liquid.
The process by which thermal energy is transmitted through a medium from one particle to another.
The process by which thermal energy is transmitted from one place to another by the movement of the heated particles of gas or liquid.
A lens that can bring a parallel beam of light passing through it focus to a point. It is thicker in the middle than at the edges.
The SI unit of electric charge.
The highest points on a wave
The angle of incidence in the optically denser medium for which the angle of refraction in the less dense medium is 90o
Total internal reflection occurs when the angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle.
Mass per unit volume of a substance
Density = Mass / Volume
A lens that causes parallel beams of light to diverge. It is thicker at the edges than at the centre.
Reflected sound heard after an interval of silence.
The rate of flow of charge.
I = Q / t [ I = current, Q = charge, t = time ]
SI unit for temperature
K = oC + 273
The energy a body possess due to its motion.
All matter is made up of large numbers of tiny atoms or molecules which are in continuous motion.
The energy needed to change a substance from solid to liquid without a change in temperature
The energy needed to change a substance from liquid to gas without a change in temperature
(See image above)
Like charges repel and unlike charges attract
1. The incident ray, refracted ray, and normal all lie in the same plane at the point of incidence.
2. The ration sini/sinr is constant
[ i = angle of incidence, r = angle of refraction]
1. The incident ray, reflected ray, and normal all lie in the same place at the point of incidence
2. The angle of incidence = angle of reflection
States that the direction of the induced e.m.f. is in a direction that opposes the change producing it.
Pressure due to the weight of a column of liquid is given by pressure = hpg
[ h = height of column, p = density, g = gravitational field strength ]
Waves which travel in a direction parallel to the direction of vibration eg sound wave
Materials that are attracted by a magnet.
Iron is easier to magnetise but loses its magnetism easily - soft magnetic material
Steel is harder to magnetise but does not lose its magnetism easily - hard magnetic material.
Hard magnetic materials are used to make permanent magnets.
Soft magnetic materials are used to make temporary magnets.
A U-tube containing liquid (mercury or water) used to measure gas pressure
A measure of the amount of substance in an object.
W = mg [ W = weight, m = mass, g = gravitational acceleration ]
SI unit is kg
A process whereby energy supplied changes the state of a substance from solid to liquid without a change in temperature.
The turning effect of a force.
Moment = Force x Perpendicular distance from the line of action of the force to the pivot
SI unit is Nm
1. An object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will continue in motion at a constant speed in a straight line if no resultant force acts on it.
2. The resultant force acting on a body is equal to the product of the mass and acceleration of the body; the direction of the force is the same as that of the object's acceleration.
3. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
SI unit for force
A line that is perpendicular to a surface
Used in reflection and refraction
States that current through a metal conductor is directly proportional to the potential difference across it provided that temperature and physical condition of the conductor remain unchanged.
R = V / I
The point midway between the lens' surfaces on its principal axis. Light rays passing through the optical centre are not deviated.
If two vectors acting at a point are represented as the sides of a parallelogram drawn from that point, their resultant force is represented by the diagonal passing through that point of the parallelogram.
I = I1 + I2 + I3 + ...
V = V1 = V2 = V3
How much time it takes for one cycle (one complete wave) to pass and the units are always in terms of time. The faster a wave moves, its wave period becomes smaller.
It is also the time taken for the crests, or any point on the wave, to move a distance of one wavelength.
SI unit for pressure. 1 pascal = 1 N/m2
The pitch of a note depends on its frequency. Higher frequency --> higher pitch
The difference between the electrical potential (voltage) between 2 points. The potential difference across a component in a circuit is defined as the work done to drive a unit charge through the component.
V = W/Q [V = p.d., W = work done, Q = charge]
SI unit is volt (V)
A variable resistor used to vary voltage.
The energy stored in an object due to its position, state, or shape
The rate of doing work
Power = work done/time taken OR energy change/time taken
SI unit is watt (W)
1 W = 1 Joule/s
The force per unit area, measured in pascals or N/m2
P = F/A [P = pressure, F = force, A = area]
A line joining the optical centre of a lens and perpendicular to the plane of the axis
The point on the principal axis whereby incident rays parallel to the principal axis onto a lens are converged to (or diverged from)
States that energy cannot be created or destroyed but only changes from one form to another
When an object is not rotating or in equilibrium, the sum of anticlockwise moments about any point = sum of clockwise moments about the same point
The transfer of energy by electromagnetic waves.
Factors affecting rate of energy transfer:
1. Surface temperature
2. Color
3. texture
4. Surface area
- higher at higher temperatures
- higher when black colour and rough surface
- lower when white colour and smooth surface
a narrow beam of light
An image formed by a lens that can be captured on a screen
An arrangement consisting of one or more diodes for converting alternating current to direct current
The change in direction of a light wave or water wave as it crosses a boundary at an angle
Refraction occurs because the wave changes its speed in different media
n = c/v
The ratio of the speed of light in vacuum to the speed of light in the medium
can be calculated using sini/sinr
The greater the value of the refractive index, the greater is the bending of light towards the normal as it passes from air into the medium
The ratio of the potential difference across a conductor to the current flowing through it.
SI unit is ohm.
Factors affecting resistance:
1. length (directly proportional)
2. cross-sectional area (inversely proportional)
Effective resistance = R1 + R2 + R3 +...
Effective resistance =
When the forces acting on an object are unbalanced, a resultant force acts on the object and it accelerates or decelerates.
Physical quantities that have magnitude only
eg. mass, temperature, time, speed, distance
The amount of thermal energy required to raise the temperature of a unit mass of a material by 1 K or 1oC
The amount of energy required to change a unit mass of a substance from solid to liquid without a change in temperature
The amount of energy required to change a unit mass of a substance from liquid to gas without a change in temperature
The upper fixed point on the Celsius scale of temperature
The total kinetic energy of the atoms or molecules in a body
A thermometer consisting of two wires of different metals joined together at the ends to form two junctions. If the two junctions are at different temperatures an e.m.f. is produced.
The bigger the temperature difference, the larger the e.m.f. produced.
A measure of the degree of hotness of a body
A device used to change the voltage of an alternating current
Step-up transformer: has more turns in the secondary coil than in the primary coil --> this increases the voltage
step- down transformer: has fewer turns in the secondary coil than in the primary coil --> decreases the voltage.
For a transformer that is 100% efficient, output power = input power
A device that transforms energy from one form to another. Input transducers transform other energy into electrical energy eg solar cells, microphones, thermistor, LDR.
Output transducers transform electrical energy to other forms of energy eg loudspeakers, LED and electrical meters
Waves which travel in a direction perpendicular to the direction of the vibrations. eg rope waves, water waves