IGSCE Physics Scientific Definition & Terms

General Physics
A period: It is the time of one complete cycle.
Density It is the ratio of the mass to the volume of a substance.
Speed It is the distance traveled by an object per unit time. velocity.
Average speed It is the total distance traveled divided by the total time..
Velocity It is the speed in a particular direction.
Acceleration It is the rate of change of velocity.
Deceleration It is the rate of decrease of velocity.
Scalars the physical quantities that need only magnitude to be defined
Vectors The physical quantities that have both magnitude & direction
Mass It is the amount of matter in the object.
Weight It is the gravitational force acting on an object
Force It is any action that is exerted on a body to change its state of rest or motion (
change its velocity or to give it acceleration.
The resultant it is the force that has the same effect of 2 or more forces.”
force Or product of mass (m) and acceleration (a)
The terminal It is the constant velocity of a falling object when the weight is balanced by
velocity the force of air resistance i.e. The resultant force = 0
Momentum It is the product of mass (m) and velocity

The principle of In any closed or isolated system, the total momentum is constant.
conservation of
momentum
Impulse is the product of force and time of contact or the change in momentum
Moment of force It is the turning effect of the applied force or the product of the force & the
perpendicular distance from the pivot to force.

The principle of Whenever the object is balanced (in equilibrium), the sum of clockwise
moments moments equal the sum of anticlockwise moments.

Centre of mass It is the point at which the total mass (or weight) seems to be concentrated.
(or gravity)
Hooke’s law The extension of a spring is directly proportional to the load applied to it,
provided that the limit of proportionality is not exceeded”
Limit of It is the point until which the extension is directly proportional load or beyond
proportionality which extension & loads are no longer directly proportional.
The spring it is the degree of stiffness which is the ratio between the applied load to the
constant (K) extension produced.
Pressure It is force acting per unit area.

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 Elastic or strain It is the energy stored in an elastic material due to stretching and this energy
PE is released once the stretching forces are removed.
Gravitational Which is the energy stored in the object due to its
P.E
Kinetic energy It is the energy a body possessed by virtue of its motion.
Conservation - In any closed or isolated system, the total energy is constant.
law of energy - or energy cannot be created nor destroyed in any process but can be
transformed from one form to another”
Renewable which are those that can be replaced once used & won’t run out.
resources
Non-renewable which are those that can NOT be replaced once used & will run out.
resources
Work It is the product of the force & the distance moved in its direction.
Power the rate of work done or consuming energy Or “work done per unit time”
Efficiency is the ratio between the useful power or work output by the machine to the
input power or work
Thermal Physics
Boiling A process in which a substance changes its state from the liquid state to the
gaseous state
Evaporation A process in which a substance changes its state from the liquid state to the
gaseous state without boiling
Boiling point The temperature at which the liquid turns completely to gas
Melting point The temperature at which the solid turns completely to liquid
Boyle’s Law The pressure of a fixed amount of gas is inversely proportional to the volume
of the gas provided that the temperature is held constant”.
Specific heat It is the amount of heat energy required to change the temperature of 1 Kg of
capacity the matter by one degree.
Thermal It is the amount of heat energy required to change the temperature of the
capacity whole object by one degree.
Specific latent It is the amount of thermal energy required to change the state of 1 Kg of the
heat substance, without any change in the temperature.
Conduction It is the transfer of thermal energy from one place to another without any
flow of the material medium
Convection It is transfer of the thermal energy, in fluids is mainly through thermal
convection and the hot layers rises and the cooler sinks
Radiation It is the transfer of thermal energy from one place to another by means
of electromagnetic radiation, without the need of an intervening medium.
Waves
A wave It is a disturbance which carries energy from one region to another, without the
transfer of any material medium

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 Mechanical Those waves which need medium to travel through
waves
Electromagnetic Those waves which can travel in vacuum.
waves
Transverse Transverse wave is a wave in which direction of vibration is perpendicular to
waves: the direction of propagation of the wave. It is made of crests and troughs.
Longitudinal a wave in which the direction of vibration is parallel to the direction of travel
waves: of the wave. It consists of rarefactions and compressions.
Frequency It is the number of complete waves produced per unit time. unit (hertz Hz)
Period It is the time taken to produce one complete wave or cycle.
Amplitude It is the maximum displacement from the rest or central position (undisturbed
level), in either directions”.
Wavelength (λ) It is the distance between any successive points that are in phase e.g, 2 crest
or troughs in TW or 2 compressions or rarefactions in LW or 2 consecutive
wavefronts, unit (m)
Wavefront It is an imaginary line or surface that joined all adjacent points which have the
same phase of vibration on the wave
Wave reflection It is the bouncing of the waves when the hit a surface or a body.
Wave Refraction It is the bending of waves (change in the direction) when they pass the boundary
surface between 2 mediums where the speed of the waves is different
Ultrasounds Sound waves of frequencies greater than 20000 Hz
Echo Reflection of Sound waves
Monochromatic It is the light of 1 wavelength or 1 frequency or 1 colour e.g laser beam.
light
Polychromatic It is the light of many frequencies or mixture of colours e.g. white light from
light the Sun
Refractive index It is the ratio of the speed of light in vacuum (c) to the speed of light in that
medium (v).
Dispersion is the splitting of the white light into its component colours
Real images Images that can be received on a screen, as the rays do meet at a point always
upside down
virtual images Images that cannot be received on a screen, as the rays don’t meet at a point
(appear to meet at a point), always upright
Total internal It the complete (100%) reflection of light within at the boundary surface back
reflection into the optically denser medium (no refraction for light)
Critical angle, c, It is the angle of incidence in the optically denser medium at which the angle
of refraction is 90. (the refracted ray passes along the boundary)
TIR Conditions Light ray must travel from an optically denser medium to a less dense one.
- The angle of incidence must be greater than the critical angle.
principal focus The point on the principal axis where all incident parallel rays meet after
passing through the lens

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 Focal length, f is the distance between the optical centre and the principal focus.
principal axis Imaginary line joining the 2 focal points with the optical centre.
Electricity
Conductors Materials that allow the current to flow through them as have free charge
moving electrons & are used in making electric wires e.g metals
Electric field It is the space around the charge in which its forces/effects appear.
Direction of It is the direction of force on a free +ve charge if placed in the field.
electric field (if magnetic field use N-pole instead of +ve charges).
electric current It is the flow or movement of charges in the conductor.
electric current It is the rate of flow electric charges in the conductor.
intensity
Potential It is the work done in moving a unit charge between 2 points.
difference (V)
Electromotive It is the energy transferred by the power supply to drive a unit charge around
force (e.m.f) the circuit.
Resistance It is the opposition to the flow of current or the ratio bet, p.d & the current.
Ohm’s law the current flowing in a metallic conductor is directly proportional to the p.d
applied across its ends.
Electromagnetic It is the production of electric current or voltage in a conductor as whenever
induction there is a change in the magnetic field (cutting of the magnetic flux) around a
conductor, so e.m.f is induced.
Lenz’s Law current or e.m.f is induced in a direction so as to oppose the motion or change
causing it
Direct current It is the current of constant direction & magnitude (flows in one direction)
A.C It is the current of varying direction & magnitude
Nuclear Physics
Nuclear fission It is the splitting of a heavy nucleus e.g. Uranium-235 into 2 lighter nuclei and
can be obtained in nuclear power stations..
Nuclear fusion It is the joining of 2 light nuclei to form heavier nucleus,
Half-life time The time taken for half the nuclei initially present to decay.
Radioactivity It is the spontaneous& random decay of the nucleus of the atom of an element
during which it emits α- particles, β-particle or γ-rays
Background It is the randomly varying ionizing radiations due to the surrounding
count rate environment (always there).

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