PHYSICS DEFINITION FORM 4

CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICS

1. Physical quantities are quantities that are measurable. 2. Base quantity is a physical quantity that cannot be defined in other terms of physical quantity. (length, mass, time, electric current, temperature only) 3. Derived quantity is a physical quantity derived by combining base quantities. (area, volume, velocity, acceleration, momentum, density, force, pressure, frequency, work, power, electric charge) 4. Scalar quantity is a quantity that has magnitude only. (time, temperature, mass, volume, distance, density, power) 5. Vector quantity is a physical quantity that has both magnitude and directions. (force, velocity, displacement, acceleration, momentum) 6. Systematic errors are cumulative errors can be corrected, if the errors are known. (zero error, incorrect calibration of measuring instrument) 7. Zero error is error that arises when the measuring instrument does not start from exactly zero. 8. Random errors are errors that arise from unknown and unpredictable variations in condition, and will produce a different error every time. Random errors are caused by factors that are beyond the control of observers. (human limitations, lack of sensitivity, natural errors, wrong technique) 9. Parallax error is error in reading an instrument because the observers eyes and the pointer are not in a line perpendicular to the plane of scale. 10. Accuracy is the degree of a measuring instrument to record readings close to the actual value. 11. Consistency/Precision is the degree of the measuring instrument to measure a quantity with little or no deviation among measurements. 12. Sensitivity is the ability of a measuring instrument to detect small changes in the quantity that is being measured.

CHAPTER 2 FORCE AND MOTION

1.Speed is the rate of change of distance. 2. Distance is the total path length travelled from one location to another. 3. Velocity is the rate of change of displacement.

4. Displacement is the distance in a specific direction. 5. Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity. 6. Inertia (Newtons First Law of Motion) is the tendency of an object to maintain its state of stationary or uniform motion in a straight line unless it is acted upon by an external force. 7. Momentum of an object is defined as the product of mass and velocity. 8. Principle of conservation of momentum states that the total momentum in a system is constant is no external force acts on the system. 9. A collision is the total momentum of the objects before a collision equals that after the collision. 10. An explosion is the sum of the momentums remains at zero after an explosion. 11. Elastic collision is two objects collide and move apart after a collision which momentum, total energy and kinetic energy are conserved. 12. Inelastic collision is two objects combine and stop, or move together with common velocity after a collision which momentum and total energy are conserved except kinetic energy that do not conserved. 13. Force is a push or a pull that required to move an object from rest or to accelerate the object. 14. Forces in equilibrium is an object is said to be in a state of equilibrium when forces act upon an object and it remains stationary or moves at a constant velocity. 15. Newtons Second Law of Motion is the rate of change of momentum of a body is directly proportional to the resultant force acting on the body and is in the same direction. 16. Newtons Third Law of Motion states that for every force, there is a reaction force with the same magnitude but in the opposite direction. 17. Impulse is defined as the product of force and time interval during which the force acts. 18. Impulsive force is the rate of change of momentum during a collision or an explosion. 19. Free fall is the motion of an object acted upon by a gravitational force only without any obstacles. 20. Gravitational acceleration is the acceleration of an object due to the pull of gravitational force. 21. A gravitational field is the region in which and objects experiences a force due to gravitational attraction. 22. The gravitational field strength is defined as the ratio of the weight to the mass of the object or weight per unit mass. 23. Mass is the amount of matter in an object. 24. Weight is the force of gravity acting on an object.

25. Resultant force is a single force that represents the combined effect of two or more forces by taking account both the magnitude and the direction of forces. 26. Work done is defined as the product of force and distance in the direction of the force. 27. Energy is the capacity to do work. 28. Potential energy of an object is defined as the energy stored in the object because of its position or its state. 29. Elastic potential energy is the energy stored in a spring when it is extended or compressed 30. Gravitational potential energy - The energy of an object due to its higher position in the gravitational field. 31. Kinetic energy is the energy possessed by an object due to its motion. 32. Principle of conservation of energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can be transformed from one form to another but the total energy in a system is constant. 33. Power is the rate at which work is done. 34. Efficiency compares the useful energy output to the energy input. 34. Elasticity is a property of an object to its original shape and dimensions after an applied external force is removed. 36. Elastic limit is the maximum stretching force 37. Hookes law states that the extension of a spring is directly proportional to the stretching force acting on it provided the elastic limit is not exceeded.

CHAPTER 3 FORCES & PRESSURE

1. Pressure is the force acting perpendicularly on a unit area. 2. Buoyant force is an upward force acting on an object partially or fully immersed in a fluid 3. Atmospheric pressure is the pressure which results from the collision between the gas molecules of the atmosphere with the body. 4. Gas pressure is when gas molecules collide with the wall of the container. 5. Archimedes principle states that when an object is immersed fully or partially in a fluid, the weight of fluid displaced is equal to the buoyant force experienced by the object. 6. Bernoullis principle states that in a moving fluid, the points which have a higher velocity will experience a lower pressure whereas points with a lower velocity will experience a higher pressure. 7. Pascals principle states that when pressure is applied to an enclosed fluid, the pressure will be transferred uniformly throughout the liquid.

CHAPTER 4 HEAT
1. Heat is the form of energy that react with temperature. 2. Thermal equilibrium is a condition where two objects in thermal contact have no net transfer of heat energy between each other and have the same temperature. 3. Temperature is the degree of hotness of a substance. 4. Heat capacity is the amount of heat required to increase its temperature by 1OC. 5. Specific heat capacity is the amount of heat required to change 1kg mass of substance by 1OC. 6. Latent heat is the heat absorbed or released when a substance changes its state without a change in temperature is called the latent heat of the substance. 7. Specific latent heat of fusion is the amount of heat required to change 1 kg of substance from solid to liquid without any change in temperature. 8. Specific latent heat of vaporizations is heat energy required to change 1 kg of a substance from liquid state to gaseous state, without a change in temperature. 9. Specific latent heat of evaporation is the amount of heat required to change 1 kg of substance from solid to liquid without any change in temperature. 10. Boiling point is the temperature at which the substance changes from a liquid to a gaseous state, where the change occurs throughout the liquid. 11. Melting point is the temperature at which a substance changes its state from solid to liquid. 12. Boyles law states that for a fixed mass of gas at a fixed temperature, the pressure of gas is inversely proportional to its volume. 13. Charles law states that for a fixed mass of gas, the volume is directly proportional to the temperature of gas if the pressure is constant. 14. Pressure law states that for a fixed mass of gas, the pressure is directly proportional to the temperature of gas if the volume is constant.

CHAPTER 5 LIGHT
1. Incident ray is the ray of light directed onto the plane mirror. 2. Reflected ray is the ray reflected by the plane mirror. 3. Angle of incident, i is the angle between incident ray and the normal. 4. Angle of reflection, r is the angle between the reflected ray and the normal. 5. Laws of reflection states that:-

i) the angle of incidence, i, is equal to the angle of reflection, r (i = r) ii) the incident ray, normal and reflected ray will all lie in the same plane. 6. Virtual image is an image that can be seen by the observer but cannot be formed on the screen. 7. Real image is an image that can be displayed on a screen. 8. Lateral inversion is an image that a left-right reversal but still upright. 9.Centre of curvature,C is the geometric centre of sphere of which the concave or convex mirror is a part. 10.Pole of mirror,P is the centre point of the spherical mirror. 11. Principal axis is a line which passes through the centre of curvature and the pole of spherical mirror,P 12. Radius of curvature,r (=CP) is the distance between the pole and centre of curvature. 13. Focal length is the distance between the centre of the lens to its focal point. 14. Focal point is the common point on a principle axis at which beams of light parallel to the axis converge after passing through a convex lens or appear to diverge from it after passing through a concave lens. 15. Aperture of mirror is the portion of the surface of the mirror that reflects light. 16. Object distance, u is the distance of object from the pole of the mirror. 17. Image distance, v is the distance of image from the pole of the mirror. 18. Refraction of light is the bending of light ray at the boundary as it travels from one medium to another. 19. Laws of refraction states that:i) The incident ray and the refracted ray are on the opposite sides of the normal at the point of incidence, all three lie in the same plane ii) Obey snells law 20. Snells law states that the value of is a constant. is the

21. Refractive index is then a ray travels from the air to a transparent material the ratio of refractive index. 22. Apparent depth is the distance of image from the surface of the water.

22. Real depth is the distance of the real object from the surface or the medium. (or the boundary between the two mediums involved)

23. Total internal reflection is the total reflection of a beam of light at the boundary of two

mediums when an angle of incidence, i exceeds the critical angle, c. 24. Critical angle is the angle of incidence in the optically denser medium for the angle of refraction, r = 90O 25. Power of lens is a measure of its ability to converge or diverge an incident beam of light. 26. Dioptre, D ( ) is the unit of power of lens.

FORM 5
CHAPTER 1 WAVES
1. An oscillation or vibrating motion in which a point or body moves back and forth along a line about a fixed central point produces waves. 2. Wave is a process of transferring energy from one location to another which is produced by an oscillating or vibrating system. 3. Longitudinal waves is a wave in which the particles of the medium oscillates in the direction parallel to the direction in which the wave moves. 4. Transverse wave is a wave in which the particles of the medium oscillate in the direction perpendicular to the direction in which the wave moves. 5. Wavefront is an imaginary line that joins all identical points on a wave. 6. Amplitude of the oscillation is the maximum displacement from the mean position. 7. Period is the time taken to complete one oscillation. 8. Frequency is the number of complete oscillations made per second. 9. Wavelength is the distance between two successive equivalent points on a waves. 10. Damping in an oscillating system occurs when the system loses energy to the surrounding, usually in the form of heat energy. 11. Natural frequency is the frequency of a system which oscillates freely without external force. 12. Resonance occurs when a system is made to oscillate at a frequency to its natural frequency by an external force. The resonating system oscillates at its maximum amplitude. 13. Reflection of waves occurs when all or part of the waves are deflected after they encounter an obstacle or reflector. 14. Refraction of waves occurs when there is a change of direction of the propagation of waves travelling from a medium to another due to a change of speed.

15. Diffraction of waves is a phenomenon that refers the spreading out of waves when they move through a gap or round an obstacle. 16. Principle of superposition states that at any time, the combined wave form of two or more interfering waves is given by the sum of displacement of the individual wave at each point of the medium. 17. Interference of waves is the result of combination of two separate sets of waves with the same frequency. 18. Constructive interference occurs when the both crests or both troughs of both waves coincide to produce a wave with crests and troughs of maximum amplitude. 19. Destructive interference occurs when the crest of one wave coincides with the trough of the other wave, thus cancelling each other with the result that the resultant amplitude is zero. 20. Antinode is a point where constructive interference occurs. 21. Node is a point where destructive interference occur. 22. Coherent waves is waves having the same wavefront in where the frequency and wavelength is the same and maintain a constant phase difference. 23. Monochromatic light is the light with only one wavelength and colour. 24. Electromagnetic waves are propagating waves in space with electric and magnetic components that oscillate at right angles to each other. 25. Electromagnetic spectrum is the range of frequencies and wavelengths over which electromagnetic waves are propagated.

CHAPTER 2 ELECTRICITY
1. Charge, Q, is work done to move a unit of voltage in a circuit. 2. Current,I is rate of flow of charge. 3. Electric field is a region in which an electric charge experiences an electric force. 4. Electric current is the rate of charge flow in a circuit ( ).

5. Potential difference is the work done in moving one coulomb of charge from one point to another ( ). 6. Ohms law states that the electric current, I flowing through a conductor is directly proportional to the potential difference across the ends of conductor, if temperature and other physical conditions remain constant. 7. Resistance is the ratio of a potential difference to a current flowing through a conductor.

8. Superconductor is conductor in which its resistance will suddenly become zero when it is cooled below a certain temperature called the critical temperature. 9. Series circuit is a circuit where all the electrical components are connected one end after the other to a cell to form a single pathway for a current to flow. 10. Parallel circuit is a circuit where all the electrical components are connected side by side and their corresponding ends are joined together to a cell to form separate and parallel paths for a current to flow. 11. Effective resistance is a single resistor that replaces 2 or more resistors in series or parallel and yet has the same effect on the circuit by allowing the same amount of current to flow in the circuit. 12. Internal resistance is the resistance against the moving charge due to the electrolyte in the cell 13. Electromotive force (e.m.f) is the work done by a source in driving a unit charge around a complete circuit. 14. Electrical energy is the energy carried by electrical charges which can be transformed to other forms of energy by the operation of an electrical device or appliance. 15. Electrical power is the rate of electrical energy dissipated or transformed. 16. Power rating is rate at which it consumes electrical energy. 17. Efficiency is the percentage of the input energy that is transformed into useful energy.

CHAPTER 3 ELECTROMAGNETISM
1. Ferromagnetic is materials that attracted to the magnet. 2. Non-ferromagnetic is materials that do not attracted to magnet. 3. Magnetic field is a region in which a magnetic material experiences a force as the result of a magnet or a current-carrying conductor. 4. Right-hand grip rule is the rule to determine the direction of magnetic field or the north pole of the solenoid. 5. Magnetic force is a force produced as a result of the combination of the magnetic field due to a current and another magnetic field produced by a permanent magnet. 6.Electromagnet is a magnet made by winding a coil of insulated wire round a soft iron core, so that a magnetic field is produced when a current is passed through the coil. 7. Catapult field is two magnetic fields interact to produce a resultant field. 8.Fleming left-hand rule or motor rule is a rule to determine the relationship between the direction of current, magnetic field and the force acting on the conductor.

9. Direct current motor is used to convert electrical energy into kinetic energy. 10. Radial field is magnetic field with the field lines pointing towards or away from the centre of a circle. 11. Electromagnetic induction is the setting up of an electromotive force in a conductor due to a change in magnetic flux caused by the relative motion of the conductor and a magnetic field. 12. Induced Electromotive force (e.m.f) is produced between the ends of the moving conductor or solenoid. 13. Faradays Law is the magnitude of the induced e.m.f is directly proportional to the rate of change of magnetic flux or the rate of cutting of the magnetic flux. 14. Lenzs Law is the direction of the induced current is such that the change producing it will be opposed. 15. Fleming right-hand rule or dynamo rule is the rule to determine the direction of a current induced in a conductor that moving at right angles and cutting across magnetic flux. 16. Direct current is a current that flows steadily in one direction only in a circuit. 17. Alternating current is a current which flows to and fro in two opposite direction in a circuit and changes its direction periodically. 18. Transformer is a device which steps up or steps down alternating current voltage. 19. Step-up transformers is the number of turns in secondary coil is more than the primary coil and the secondary voltage is higher than the primary voltage. 20. Step-down transformers is the number of turns in primary coil is more than secondary coil the and the primary voltage is higher than the secondary voltage. 21. National Grid Network is a network system of cables which connects all the power stations and substations in the country to the consumers in a closed network to transmit electricity.

CHAPTER 4 ELECTRONIC
1. Thermionic emission is the emission of electrons from a hot metal surface. 2. Cathode rays is a beam of negatively charged electrons that move at high speed. 3. Cathode ray oscilloscope (CRO) is an instrument that converts electronic and electrical signals to a visual display. 4. Semiconductor is a material which can conduct electricity better than insulator but not as well as conductor. 5. Diode is a device that allows current to flow in one direction only.

6. Doping is the process of adding certain impurities called dopants to semiconductors to increase their conductivity. 7. Forward biased is a state when diode allows current to flow. 8. Reverse biased is a state when a diode does not allow current to flow. 9. Rectification is a process to convert an alternating current into a direct current by using diode or diodes. 10. Half-wave rectification is a process where only one half of every cycle of an alternating current is made to flow in one direction only. 11. Full-wave rectification is a process where both halves of every cycle of an alternating current is made to flow in the same direction. 12. Capacitor is a device used for storing charges and to smooth out output current in a rectifier circuit. 13. Transistor is an electronic device which has three terminals labeled as base collector and emitter combination of p-type and n-type semiconductors. 14. Emitter (E) supplies charge carries to C. 15. Collector (C) receives charge carries from E. 16. Base (B) controls the flows of charge carries from E to C or C to E. 17. Base/collector/emitter current is the current that flows through the base/collector/emitter terminal of a transistor. 18. Logic gate consists of many transistors which acts as fast electronic switches.

CHAPTER 5 RADIOACTIVITY
1. Atom is an atom consists of a nucleus which is made up of protons and neutrons, with electrons orbiting the nucleus. 2. Nucleus is a very small core of an atom which contains most of the mass and all the positive charge of the atom. 3. Proton number is the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom. 4. Nucleon number is the number of protons and neutrons in an atom. 5. Nuclide is any particular type of an atom of an element. 6. Radioisotopes is the unstable isotopes which decay and give out radioactive emissions.

7. Isotopes is the atoms of an element which have the same proton number but different nucleon numbers. 8. Radioactivity is the spontaneous and random disintegration of an unstable nucleus accompanied by the emission of energetic particles. 9. Alpha particle is the helium nucleus emitted by an unstable nucleus. 10. Beta particle is the high energy electron emitted by an unstable nucleus. 11. Gamma rays is a electromagnetic waves with high frequency with short wavelength . 12. Radioactivity decay is process where an unstable nucleus becomes a more stable nucleus by emitting radiations. 13. Alpha decay is a radioactive decay which emits an alpha particle. 14. Beta decay is a radioactive decay which emits a beta particle. 15. Gamma decay is a radioactive decay which emits a gamma ray photon. 16. Half-life is the time taken for the number of undecayed nuclei to be reduced to half of its original number. 18. Einsteins Principle of Mass-Energy Conservation is the change of energy is linked to the change of mass by the equation E = mc2. 19. Nuclear energy is an energy released by a nuclear reaction as a result of a mass defect. 20. Nuclear fission is the splitting of a heavy nucleus into two lighter nuclei. 21. Chain reaction is a self-sustaining reaction in which the products of a reaction can initiate another similar reaction. 22. Nuclear fusion is the combining of two lighter nuclei to form a heavier nucleus. 23. Nuclear reactor produces tremendous amount of energy through nuclear fission.