Definitions:

1) Physical quantities
a) The measurable quantity
b) Basic quantity
i) The fundamental quantity
c) Derived quantity
i) The quantity that is derived by combining the basic quantities

2) Dimension of a derived quantity

a) The relationship of the quantity to the basic quantities

3) Scalar quantity
a) The quantity which has magnitude only

4) Vector quantity
a) The quantity which has magnitude and direction

5) Error
a) The deviation of a measurement from the actual value due to the accuracy of
the measuring instrument used, fault in the measuring instrument or mistakes
made by the observer, wrong measuring technique etc.
b) Random errors
i) The errors where the reading of measurement deviate from the actual value
randomly
c) Systematic errors
i) The errors where the reading of measurement deviate from the actual value
systematically

6) Newton’s Law of Motion

a) 1st law:
i) An object at rest will remain at rest, or if it is moving, it will continue to
move with constant velocity, unless acted upon by a force.
b) 2nd law:
i) The rate of change of momentum of an object is directly proportional to
the external force that acts on it and is the same direction as the force.
rd
c) 3 law:
i) Every action has a reaction that is equal in magnitude but opposite in
direction.

7) The Principle of Conservation of Linear Momentum

a) The total linear momentum in a closed system is constant.

8) Work
a) Work done on an object is the product of the magnitude of displacement and
the magnitude of the component of the force in the direction of displacement.
b) W = F · d cos Ө , F = Force
d = displacement
 Ө = Angle between F and d
• Work-energy theorem: The net work done on an object is equal to the
change in the kinetic energy of the object. (W = ∆ K.E.)

9) Energy:
a) The quantity to enable a body to do work
b) Kinetic energy:
i) The energy of a body because of its motion
c) Potential energy:
i) The energy of a body because of its position or physical state

10) The Principle of Conservation of Energy

a) The total energy of a closed system is always constant.
Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It just can changes from one form to
another.

11) Power
a) The rate of doing work

12) Efficiency
a) The ratio of the useful work done to the energy input.

13) Angular velocity

a) The rate of change of angular displacement

14) Period of rotation

a) The time for one complete rotation

15) Centripetal force

a) The external force required to make a body follow a curved path.

16) Centripetal acceleration

a) The rate of change of tangential velocity.

17) Angular acceleration

a) The rate of change of angular velocity

18) Centre of mass

a) Centre of mass of a body is the point at which all the mass of the body is
concentrated.

19) Rigid body

a) A body where all the particles have fixed relative position between each other.

20) The moment of inertia

a) The moment of inertia of a rigid body about an axis of rotation is the sum of
the products of the masses of the particles and the square of their distances
from the axis of rotation.
21) Torque (Moment of force/rotational force)
a) The product of force with its perpendicular distance from the axis of rotation

22) Angular momentum

a) The product of linear momentum with its perpendicular distance from the axis
of rotation

23) The Principle of Conservation of Angular Momentum

a) The total angular momentum in a closed system of bodies about its axis of
rotation is always constant if there is no external torque acting on the system

24) Static friction

a) A force between two objects that are not moving relative to each other

25) Limiting friction

a) The maximum value of static friction, when motion is impending

26) Kinetic/dynamic friction

a) Kinetic (or dynamic) friction occurs when two objects are moving relative to
each other and rub together (like a sled on the ground).

27) Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation

a) The gravitational attractive force, F, between two point masses m1 and m2
separated by a distance of r is directly proportional to the product of masses
and inversely proportional to the square of distance between them.
The force acts along the line joining the points together

28) Kepler’s Law

a) The squares of the orbital periods of planets are directly proportional to the
cubes of the axes of the orbits

29) Geosynchronous satellite

a) Satellites in stationary orbit, always at the same place above the Earth’s
surface, having period of 24 hours in the same direction with the rotation of
the Earth

30) Gravitational field

a) A region where a gravitational force acts on a mass
b) An area where a mass will experience a gravitational force

31) Gravitational field strength

a) Gravitational field strength, E, at a particular point in a gravitational field is
the gravitational force per unit mass at that point

32) Gravitational potential

a) The gravitational potential, V, at a point in a gravitational field is the work
done/work required to bring a unit mass from infinity to that point
33) Gravitational potential energy
a) The gravitational potential energy of a mass at a point is the work done to
bring the mass from infinity to that point

34) Escape velocity from a planet

a) The minimum velocity that enables a mass on the planet’s surface to infinity
against the gravitational force/pull of the planet

35) Simple harmonic motion

a) A body is in simple harmonic motion if its acceleration is directly proportional
to its displacement from a fixed point and always directed towards it

36) Free oscillation

a) An oscillation with the amplitude remains constant, no energy is dissipated.

37) Damped oscillation

a) Oscillation with the amplitude decreasing with time due to energy dissipated
through the work done against friction/resistance of oscillation

38) Forced oscillation

a) The oscillation of a system produced by an external periodic force
b) Forced/driving frequency
i) The external periodic force

39) Resonance
a) Resonance occurs when the forced oscillation oscillates with maximum
oscillation
b) Resonance occurs when the frequency of the forced oscillation equals the
natural frequency of the vibrating system. The amplitude of the vibration is
maximum (largest) as compared after amplitudes not at resonance

40) Wave
a) A disturbance from equilibrium position which propagates

41) Transverse wave

a) Waves where vibration of particles are perpendicular to the direction of wave
propagation

42) Longitudinal wave

a) Waves where vibration of particles are parallel to the direction of wave
propagation

43) Displacement of a particle

a) Distance of particle from equilibrium position

44) Amplitude of a wave

 a) Maximum displacement from equilibrium position

45) Frequency of a wave

a) Number of oscillation per unit time

46) Period
a) Time for a complete oscillation

47) Wavelength
a) Distance between two consecutive peaks or trough
b) Distance between two consecutive points which are vibrating in phase

48) Velocity of a wave(phase velocity)

a) The distance moved by the wave profile per unit time

49) Wave front

a) Surface having particles in the same phase

50) Progressive wave

a) A wave whose profile moves in the direction of propagation of the wave, and
energy is transferred from one point to another point

51) Wave intensity

a) The intensity, I, of a wave is the rate at which the energy is transferred by the
wave per unit surface area perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the
wave

52) Inverse square law

a) Intensity of a wave at a distance r from the source is inversely proportional to
the square of distance from the source

53) Stationary wave

a) A wave whose profile do not move
No energy is transferred by the stationary wave

54) End correction

a) Distance between antinode from the end of pipe

55) Threshold of hearing

a) The lowest intensity that can be heard by human’s ears, 10-12 W m-2

56) Threshold of pain

a) The highest intensity that can be heard without pain to the ear 1 W m-2

57) Beats
a) The periodic change in the loudness of sound caused by the superposition of
two sound waves with a slight difference in frequency
 b) The phenomenon produced by the superposition of two waves of slight
differing frequencies causing the resultant sound intensity to increase and
decrease with a certain frequency called the beat frequency

58) Doppler’s effect

a) The change in the observed frequency due to the relative motion between
sound source and observer

59) Crystal lattice

a) The structure of atoms arranged in a crystal

60) Stress
a) The force per unit cross sectional area

61) Strain
a) The extension per unit original length

62) Proportionality limit

a) The maximum extension or force where Hooke’s law is still obeyed

63) Elastic limit

a) The maximum extension or force where the extension is still elastic

64) Young’s modulus

a) The ratio of the longitudinal stress to the strain

65) 6 assumption in the kinetic theory of gas

a) A gas is made up a lot of particles called the molecule
b) The molecule are in constant random and free motion
c) The molecules made elastic collisions with the wall of container and with each
other
d) The volume of the molecule is negligible compared with the volume of
container
e) The forces between the molecule can be neglected
f) The time of collision can also be neglected compared with the time between
consecutive collisions

66) The degree of freedom

a) The various independent modes/ways like translation, rotation and vibration,
whereby the molecule ca absorb energy

67) The Equipartition of Energy Principle

a) The kinetic energy of a molecule is divided equally with each degree of
freedom, the energy being ½ KT for each degree of freedom

68) Internal energy of a gas

a) The total kinetic energies of all the molecules in the gas
69) Heat
a) A form of energy in transit
The energy that flows due to temperature difference, from higher to lower
temperature

70) Heat capacity

a) The amount of heat required to increase the temperature of the body by one
degree Kelvin

71) Specific heat capacity

a) The amount of heat required to increase the temperature of one kilogram of
the body by one degree Kelvin

72) Molar heat capacity

a) The amount of heat required to increase the temperature of one mole of the
body by one degree Kelvin
b) Molar heat capacity at constant pressure
i) The amount of heat required to increase the temperature of one mole of the
body by one degree Kelvin at constant pressure
c) Molar heat capacity at constant volume
i) The amount of heat required to increase the temperature of one mole of the
body by one degree Kelvin at constant volume

73) First Law of Thermodynamics

a) The heat supplied is equal to the sum of the work done by the gas in expansion
and the increase in internal energy of the gas

74) Isobaric changes

a) The change in the state of gas at constant pressure
The pressure of the gas remains constant

75) Isothermal changes

a) The change in the state of gas at constant temperature
The internal energy of the gas remains constant

76) Adiabatic changes

a) The change in the state of gas where heat is not allowed to flow in or out from
the gas
The temperature of the gas will change

77) Heat conduction

a) A process where thermal energy flows from a region of higher temperature to
a region of lower temperature through a material medium

78) Electrical field

 a) The region where electrical force experienced by an electrical charge when it
is placed in that region

79) Coulomb’s Law

a) Electrical force F between 2 point charges is directly proportional to the
product of charges q1 q2 and inversely proportional to the square of distance
between them

80) Electric field intensity / electric field strength, E

a) Electric field strength at a particular point in an electric field is the electrical
force acting on a unit positive charge at that point
b) Between 2 parallel plates
i) The ratio of potential difference between the plates with the separation
distance of the plates

81) Gauss’s Law

a) For any closed surface (Gaussian surface), the total electric flux pass through
the closed surface, is equal to the ratio of the algebraic sum of the charges
enclosed by the closed surface with the permittivity of the dielectric

82) Electric potential, V

a) Electric potential at a point in an electric field is the work done per unit charge
to bring the positive charge from infinity to that point

83) Electrical potential energy, U

a) Electrical potential energy of a charge at a particular point in the electric field
is the work done to bring the charge from infinity to that point

84) Electric potential difference

a) Electric potential difference between 2 pints in the electrical field is the work
done per unit charge to bring a positive charge from 1 point to another
opposing the electric field

85) Capacitance
a) Of conductor
i) The ratio of the charges on the surface of the conductor with the potential
on the surface of conductor
b) Of parallel plate capacitor
i) The ratio of charges on either one plate with the potential difference
between the plates

86) Dielectric constant

a) The ratio of the capacitance of a parallel-plate capacitor with the insulator as
dielectric with the capacitance of the same capacitor with vacuum between the
plates
b) The ratio of the permittivity of dielectric with the permittivity of vacuum

87) Time constant, τ

 a) Time constant of a circuit used to discharge a capacitor is the time taken for
the charge on the capacitor to decrease to 1/e of its initial value

88) Electric current

a) The rate of flow of positive charge

89) Drift velocity

a) The drift velocity v of the free electrons when a potential difference is applied
is the mean velocity of the free electrons in a direction parallel to the direction
of the electric field

90) Current density, J

a) The ratio of current with the cross-sectional area of the conductor

91) Electric conductivity, σ

a) The ratio of current density with electrical intensity
b) The reciprocal (inverse) of electrical resistivity

92) Resistivity, ρ
a)

where

ρ is the resistivity (Ω-m);

R is the electrical resistance of the material (Ω);
is the length of the piece of material (m);
A is the cross-sectional area of the material (m²).
b)

where

E is the electric field (V/m);

J is the current density (A/m²).
c) The inverse of the conductivity σ (sigma), of the material

93) Electrical conductance

a) The reciprocal of electrical resistance

94) Ohm’s Law

a) The current through a conductor between two points is directly proportional to
the potential difference across the two points, and inversely proportional to the
resistance between them
95) Superconductivity
a) A phenomenon where the resistivity of a material becomes zero and resistance
as well

96) Electric power

a) Electric power of an electrical instrument is the rate which the instrument
changes electrical energy to different form of energy

97) Potential difference (between 2 points in the circuit)

a) Energy dissipated when 1 coulomb of charge flows between the 2 points
b) Ratio of power lost between 2 points and the current that flows between the 2
points

98) Electromotive force (of an electric source)

a) Electrical energy that is supplied by the source to each coulomb of charge that
flows through the source
b) Ratio of total power supplied by the source and the current that flows through
the source

99) Internal resistance

a)

or

where
RB is the internal resistance of the battery
VS is the e.m.f. of battery
V is the potential difference
RL is the resistance of resistor
I is the total current supplied by the battery

100) Potential divider circuit

a) An arrangement of resistors to produce a certain fraction of potential
difference from the applied potential difference

101) Kirchhoff Laws

a) Junction Law (1st law)
i) Algebraic sum of current flowing to a junction is zero
b) Closed Loop Law (2nd law)
i) Algebraic sum of the e.m.f.s in any closed loop is equivalent to the
algebraic sum of the product of current, I and resistance, R in that loop
• Basis of law is from Energy Conservation Principle

102) Potentiometer
 a) An arrangement to measure potential difference and e.m.f. with accurate

103) Magnetic field

a) Area where magnetic force experienced by a magnect when it is located in the
area

104) Magnetic force, F

a) F = qvB sin θ
q = quantity of positive charge
v = Speed / velocity of charge
B = Magnetic flux density
θ = Angle between the field and the velocity of the charge

105) Magnetic flux density, B

a) B = F / qv sin θ
F = Magnetic force on the charge
q = quantity of positive charge
v = Speed / velocity of charge
θ = Angle between the field and the velocity of the charge
b) The magnetic flux density is 1 Tesla if 1 Newton force acting on 1 unit
positive charge which is moving with unit velocity perpendicularly to the
direction of magnetic field

106) 1 electron volt

a) A unit of energy
b) The kinetic energy of a stationary electron after it is accelerated through a
potential difference of 1 volt in vacuum

107) Hall’s effect

a) The existence of the transverse voltage across the sides of a conductor that is
carrying a current in a magnetic field

108) Ampere
a) One ampere is the current in 2 wires which infinite long, parallel, negligible
cross-sectional area, straight and separated 1 m in vacuum that causes a force
of 2.0 x 10-7 N m-1 between them

109) Magnetic flux

a) Φ = AB cos θ
Φ = magnetic flux
A = cross-sectional area
θ = angle between B and the normal to A

110) Electromagnetic induction

a) An e.m.f. is induced when there is a change in the magnetic flux

111) Faraday’s Law (magnitude of the e.m.f. induced)

 a) The magnitude of the electromotive force (e.m.f.) induced is directly
proportional to the rate of change of flux linkage (magnetic flux)

112) Lenz’s Law (direction of the e.m.f. induced)

a) Electromotive force (e.m.f.) induced always act in the direction to oppose the
change of magnetic flux that produced it

113) Back-e.m.f.
a) The e.m.f. induced opposed the change of the current

114) Self-induction
a) The process where an e.m.f. is induced in a coil due to the change in current in
the same coil

115) Mutual induction

a) The process where an e.m.f. is induced in the secondary coil due to the change
in current in the primary coil

116) Alternating current

a) A current where its magnitude and direction changes periodically

117) Root mean square, r.m.s.

a) Value of r.m.s. for an a.c. is the steady direct current that produces the same
power with the mean power produce by the a.c. in the resistor

118) Diod
a) An electrical device that allowed the current to flow in 1 direction only when
it forward bias

119) Operational amplifier

a) A high gain amplifier

120) Feedback
a) The returning of part of the output to the input

121) Electromagnetic wave

a) A disturbance in electric and magnetic fields which propagates through space
with velocity of 3.0 x 108 m s-1 in the vacuum

122) Focal length

a) Of concave mirror
i) Distance of the focal point to the pole of the mirror. The focal point is a
point on the principal axis to which all rays parallel to the principal axis
will converge after reflection from the mirror
b) Of convex mirror
 i) Distance of the focal point to the pole of the mirror. The focal point is a
point on the principal axis from which all rays parallel to the principal axis
will diverge after reflection from the mirror

123) Huygens’s principle

a) Each point on a wave front is a secondary source that emits circular / spherical
wavelets with the same speed as the original wave. The new wave front is the
envelope of all these secondary wavelets

124) Optical path

a) The product of distance, l passed by light in a medium with refraction index of
the medium, n

125) Interference of light

a) The effect of super positioning of 2 coherent light waves

126) Diffraction
a) The dispersion of wave after it passes through a slit or obstacle

127) Diffraction at single-slit

a) The dispersion of light that caused by a narrow slit when the planar waves are
directed to the slit. The waves that pass through the slit are also planar waves

128) Diffraction grating

a) A rectangular glass slide with large number of parallel slits which are
disturbed evenly along the glass slide

129) Polarization
a) The process of restricting vibration of a transverse wave so that its vibration
only in one single plane

130) Polaroid
a) The crystal that allows the electrical field of light to pass through it vibrates in
1 particular plane only

131) Photon
a) Discrete packets that made up the energy in any electromagnetic radiation
b) The carrier of electromagnetic radiation of all wavelengths

132) Photoelectric effect

a) Emission of electrons from a cold metal surface when an electromagnetic ray
with high enough frequency hits the surface of the metal

133) Stopping potential

a) Minimum potential difference that should be applied so that the photoelectric
current becomes zero

134) Threshold frequency

 a) The minimum value of frequency for photoelectric effect to occur

135) Work function

a) The minimum work or the minimum energy required to remove or free an
electron from the metal against the attractive force of the positive ions

136) De Broglie’s relation

a) When an object of mass, m moves with velocity of v, it will exhibit wave
property with λ given as:
mv = h / λ

137) Ionization energy

a) The minimum energy required by an electron to escape the nucleus bond from
ground state

138) Line spectrum

a) A series of line produced when excited atom at higher energy level shifts to a
lower energy level

139) X-rays
a) Electromagnetic wave with short wavelength λ (10-9 m – 10-11 m)

140) Moseley’s law

a) f = [3cR(Z-1)2] / 4
i) f = the frequency associated with the Kα line
ii) R = Rydberg constant
iii) c = velocity of light
iv) Z = atomic number of the target element

141) Laser
a) The acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation

142) Stimulated emission

a) Emission of a photon from an excited atom when a photon of the same
frequency passes the atom

143) Light amplification

a) The chain reaction when a photon stimulates an emission from another atom
which in turn stimulates emissions from other atoms. The final product is a
large number of light photons, which are monochromatic, in phase and
coherent

144) Population inversion

a) The situation where there are more atoms in the excited state than in the
ground state
145) Nucleons
a) The particle in nucleus

146) Atomic number / proton number

a) Number of proton in a nucleus

147) Neutron number

a) Number of neuron in a nucleus

148) Mass number / nucleon number

a) Number of nucleon in a nucleus

149) Nuclide
a) A nucleus consisting of a certain number of protons and neutrons

150) Isotopes of an element

a) Atoms with the same number of protons but different number of neutrons in
the nucleus

151) Atomic unit mass, u

a) 1 u = 1/12 Х (mass of a 12C)

152) One mole of a substance

a) The amount of that substance that contains the same number of molecules as
there are atoms in 12 g of 12C

153) Avogadro number

a) The number of molecules in 1 mole of a substance
b) Avogadro’s constant
i) NA = 6.02 X 1023 mol-1

154) Nuclear binding energy

a) The minimum energy required to completely separate all the nucleons in the
nucleus

155) Mass defect

a) The difference of mass between the total mass of the nucleons and nucleus
b) (Δm) = (total mass of a nucleons) – (mass of nucleus)

156) Radioactivity
a) A natural process of emission of charged particles or electromagnetic photons
by a particular nucleus to become more stable

157) Spontaneous process

a) A process occurs by itself and not influenced / controlled by physical
conditions like temperature, pressure and chemical conditions

158) Random process

 a) Prediction of which and when a nucleus will decay cannot be made. The
probability of a nucleus to decay is same for every nucleus

159) Law of radioactive decay

a) Rate of decay (activity) is directly proportional to the number of active
nucleus left in the source

160) Decay constant of a radioactive nucleus

a) The probability that a nucleus will decay in 1 second

161) Half life

a) Time taken for the amount of nucleus to become half of its initial amount, no
matter where the time is started
b) Time taken for a sample of nuclide to decay and become half of its initial
number of active nucleus

162) Nuclear reaction

a) A reaction that involves an atom’s nucleus

163) Law of Conservations in Nuclear Reaction

a) Principle of Conservation of Nucleon Number
i) Total number of nucleons in a reaction remains constant
b) Principle of Conservation of charge
i) Total charge in a reaction remains constant
c) Principle of Conservation of Linear Momentum and Angular Momentum
d) Principle of Conservation of Mass-Energy

164) Nuclear fission

a) A process where a heavy nucleus break into 2 lighter nuclei and energy is
dissipated

165) Nuclear fusion

a) A process where light nuclei combine to form a heavier nucleus and energy is
dissipated

166) Thermonuclear reaction

a) A nuclear fusion reaction that occurs when the temperature of the small nuclei
is raised to about 108 K. Collisions between the nuclei produce fusion

167) Elementary/Fundamental particles

a) Very small subatomic particles with half-life around 10-6 sand to have no
substructure
b) Basic constituent particle of matter

168) Neutrino
a) A particle that is emitted in neutron decay
A particle with zero rest mass
Moves with the speed of light
 Does not react with matter / interacts weakly with matter
Has no electric charge

169) Gravitational force

a) Force on a body due to its mass

170) Electromagnetic force

a) Force on a charged particle in an electric field or a magnetic field, or both the
fields

171) Strong nuclear force

a) Force between nucleons in a nucleus

172) Weak force

a) Short-range force which causes a nucleus to decay by beta-emission