Definitions
Paper 1- Physics
A) Kinematics
Vectors
Vector A physical quantity that has both magnitude and
direction.
Scalar A physical quantity that has magnitude only
Resultant Vector The single vector which has the same effect as the original vectors acting
together.
Displacement, Velocity and Acceleration
Distance The length of path travelled.
Displacement A change in position.
Speed The rate of change of distance.
Velocity The rate of change of position or the rate of displacement or the rate of
change of displacement.
Acceleration The rate of change of velocity
B) Newton's Laws and Application of Newton's Laws
Different Kinds of Forces: weight, normal force, frictional force, applied force,
tension
Weight Fg The gravitational force the Earth exerts on any object on or near
its surface
Normal Force FN. The perpendicular force exerted by a surface on an object in
contact with it
Frictional Force Ff The force that opposes the motion of an object
Newton's First, Second and Third laws
Newton's first law An object continues in a state of rest or uniform (moving with
constant) velocity unless it is acted upon by a net or resultant force
Inertia The property of an object that causes it to resist a change in its state
of rest or uniform motion
Newton's second law When a net force, Fnet, is applied to an object of mass, m, it
accelerates in the direction of the net force. The acceleration, a, is
directly proportional to the net force and inversely proportional to the
mass.
Newton's third law When object A exerts a force on object B, object B simultaneously
exerts an oppositely directed force of
equal magnitude on object A
C) Momentum, Impulse, Work, Energy and Power
Linear Momentum (1D)
Linear momentum The product of the mass and velocity of
the object
Newton's Second Law expressed in terms of Momentum
Newton's second law in The net force acting on an object is equal to the rate of change
terms of momentum of momentum. (Note: there are two acceptable statements of
Newton's Second
Law)
Conservation of Momentum and Elastic and Inelastic Collisions
Isolated System A system that has no net external force acting on it.
Law of conservation of The total linear momentum of an isolated system remains
linear momentum constant (is conserved)
Elastic collision A collision in which both momentum and kinetic energy are
conserved
Inelastic collision A collision in which only momentum is conserved
Impulse
Impulse The product of the net force and the contact
time
Work, Energy and Power
Work done on an object by a The product of the displacement and the component of the
force force parallel to the displacement
Gravitational potential energy The energy an object possesses due to its position relative to
a reference point
Kinetic energy The energy an object has as a result of the object's motion
Mechanical energy The sum of gravitational potential and kinetic energy at a
point
The law of conservation of The total energy in a system cannot be created nor
energy destroyed, only transformed from one form to another
Principle of conservation of In the absence of air resistance or any external forces, the
mechanical energy mechanical energy of an object is constant
Work-energy theorem The work done by a net force on an object is equal to the
change in the kinetic energy of the object
Power The rate at which work is done or the rate at which energy is
transferred
Efficiency The ratio of output power to input power
D) Gravitational and Electric Fields
Gravitational Fields
Newton's Law of Every particle with mass in the universe attracts every other
Universal Gravitation particle with a force which is directly proportional to the product of
their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the
distance between their centres.
Weight (Fg) The gravitational force the Earth exerts on any object on or near its
surface.
Gravitational field The force acting per unit mass
Electrostatics
Coulomb's law Two-point charges exert forces on each other. The force is directly
proportional to the product of the charges and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance between the charges.
Electric field at a point The force per unit positive charge.
E) Electric circuits
Ohms Law
Potential difference The work done per unit positive charge.
Current The rate of flow of charge
Ohm's Law The current through a conductor is directly proportional to the
potential difference across the conductor at
constant temperature
Internal Resistance and Series and Parallel Networks
emf The total energy supplied per coulomb of charge by the cell
F) Electrodynamics
Electromagnetic Induction
Magnetic flux linkage The product of the number of turns on the coil and the flux
through the coil (NФ)
Faraday's law of The emf induced is directly proportional to the rate of change of
electromagnetic induction magnetic flux (flux linkage)
Lenz's law The induced current flows in a direction so as to set
up a magnetic field to oppose the change in magnetic flux
Alternating Current
Diode A component that only allows current to flow in one direction
G) Photons and Electrons
Photoelectric Effect
Photoelectric effect The process that occurs when light shines on a metal and
electrons are ejected.
Threshold (cut-off) The minimum frequency of incident radiation at which electrons
frequency (fo) will be emitted from a particular metal.
Work function (Wo) The minimum amount of energy needed to emit an electron
from the surface of a metal.
