PHYSICS

Vectors And Scalars

*Displacement is distance in a given direction
*A vector quantity is a physical quantity which has
magnitude and direction
*A scalar quantity has magnitude but no direction
*A vector quantity can be represented by an arrow in the
direction of the vector and of length in proportion to the
magnitude of the vector.
Forces Between Object
*Forces can change the shape of an object,or change its
motion or its state of rest
*The unit of force is the Newton
*A contact force is a force that acts on objects only when
the objects are in contact with each other
*When two objects intract,they always exert equal and
opposite forces on each other
Resultant Force
*The resultant force is a single force that has the same
effect as all the forces acting on an object
*If the resultant force on an object is:
}zero,the object stays at rest or at the same speed and
direction
}greater than zero,the speed or direction of the should
change.
*If two forces act on an object along the same line,the
resultant force is:
}their sum,if the forces act in the same direction
}their difference,if the forces act in opposite direction
*A free body force diagram of an object shows the forces
acting on it
Moments At Work
*The moment of a force is a measure of the turning effect
of the force on an object
*The moment of a force about a pivot is M=Fxd,where d
is the perpendicular distance from the line of action of the
force F to the pivot.
*To increase the moment of a force,increase F or increase
d.
*Levers can used to exert a force that is greater than the
effort
Levers And Gears
*A lever used as a force multiplier exerts a greater force
than the force appli ed to the lever by the effort
*The pivot of a force multiplier is nearer to the line of
action of the force it exerts than to the applied to it.
*Gears are used to change the moment of a turning
effect.
*To increase the moment of a turning effect,a small gear
wheel needs to drive a larger gear wheel
*Low gear gives low speed and a high turning effect
*High gear gives high speed and a low turning effect
Center Of Mass
*The of mass of an object is the point where its mass can
be thought as being concentrated
*The center of mass of a uniform ruler is at its midpoint
*When an object is freely suspended,it comes to rest with
its center of mass directly underneath the point of
suspension.
*The center of mass of a symmetrical object is along the
axis of symmetry
Moment And Equilibrium
*If an object at rest doesn’t turn,the sum of the
anticlockwise moments about any point=the sum of the
clockwise moments about that point
*All the forces acting on an object that don’t pass through
a fixed point can turn an object about that point
*The direction of the force and the position of the fixed
determines whether the moment acts clockwise or
anticlockwise
*To calculate the force needed to stop an object turning
we use the equation (PRINCIPLE OF MOMENTS)
W1d1=W2d2.We need to know all the forces that don’t
act through the pivot and their perpendicular distance
from the line of action to the pivot
The Parallelogram Of Forces
*The parallelogram of forces is a scale diagram of two
force vectors
*The parallelogram of forces is used to find the resultant
of two forces that do not act along athe same line .

*The resultant is the diagonal of the parallelogram that

starts at the origin of the two forces.
The Resolution Of Forces
*Resolving a force means finding perpendicular
components that have a resultant force that is equal to
the force.
*To resolve a force in two perpendicular directions,draw a
rectangle with adjacent sides along the two directions so
that the diagonal represents the force vector.
* For an object in equilibrium, the resultant force is zero.
*An object at rest is in equilibrium because the resultant
force on it is zero.
MOTION
Speed And Distance-Time Graphs
*The speed of an object is:v=s/t
*The distance-time graph for any object that is :
}stationary,is a horizontal line
}moving at constant speed,is a straight line that slopes
upwars.
*The gradient of a distance-time graph for an object
represents the object's speed.
*The speed equation V=s/t can be rearranged to give;
S=VxT T=S/V
Velocity And Acceleration
*Velocity is speed in a given a direction.
*A vector is physical quantity that has a direction as well
as a magnitude.A scalar is a physical quantity that has a
magnitude only and does not have a direction.
*The acceleration of an object is a=v1-v2/t
*Deceleration is the change of velocity per second when
an object slows down.
More About Velocity-Time Graphs
*A motion sensor linked to a computer can be used to
measure velocity changes.
*The gradient of the line on a velocity-time graph
represents acceleration.
*If a velocity-time graph is a horizontal line,the
acceleration is zero.
*A positive gradient on a velocity-time graph represents
positive acceleration,a negative gradient represent
deceleration.
*The area under the line on a velocity-time graph
represents distance travelled.
Analysing Motion Graphs
*The speed of an object moving at constant speed is
given by the gradient of the line on its distance-time
graph.
*The acceleration of an object is given by the gradient of
the line on its velocity-time graph.
*The distance travelled by an object is given by the area
under the line on its velocity-time graph.
*The speed ,at any instant in time,of an object moving at
changing speed is given by the gradient of the tangent to
the line on its distance-time graph.
FORCE AND MOTION
Force And Acceleration
*The greater the resultant force on an object,the greater
the object's acceleration.
*The greater the mass of an object,the smaller its
acceleration for a given force.
*The resultant force acting on an object is F=mxa
*The inertia of an object is its tendency to stay at rest or
in uniform motion.
Weight And Terminal Velocity
*The weight of an object is the force acting on the object
due to gravity.Its mass is the quantity of matter in the
object.
*An object acted on only by gravity accelerates at about
10m/s2.
*The terminal velocity of an object is the velocity it
eventually reaches when its falling.The weight of the
object is then equal to the frictional force on the object.
*When an object is moving at terminal velocity,the
resultant force on it is zero.
Forces And Breaking
*Friction and air resistance oppose the driving force of a
vehicle.
}Thinking Distance=The distance travelled by the vehicle
in the time it takes the driver to react.
}Braking Distance= The distance travelled by the vehicle
during the time the braking force acts.
*The stopping distance of a vehicle depends on the
thinking distance +braking distance.
*F=MxA.
Momentum
*The momentum of a moving object is P=MxV
*The unit of momentum is kg m/s.
*A closed system is a system in which the total
momentum before an event is the same as the total
momentum after the event.This is called conservation of
momentum.
Using Conservation Of Momentum
*Momentum is defined as mass x velocity,and has both
size and direction.
*When two objects push each other apart,they move with
different speeds if they have unequal masses,and with
equal and opposite momentum,so their total momentum
is zero.
*Use the equation [mass A x velocity A]=-[mass B x
velocity B]when two objects,A and B,recoil from each
other.
Impact Forces
*When vehicles collide,the force of the impact depends
on mass,change of velocity,and the length of the impact
time.
*The longer the impact time, the more the impact force is
reduced.
*When two vehicles collide:
}they exert equal and opposite forces on each other.
}their total momentum is unchanged.
*Impact force=change of momentum /impact time,so the
shorter the impact time,the greater the impact force.
Forces And Electricity
*An object is called elastic if it returns to its original
shape after removing the force deforming it.
*The extension is the difference between the length of
the object and its original length.
*The extension of a spring is directly proportional to the
force applied to it,as long as the limit of proportionality is
not exceeded.This relationship is linear.
*Beyond the limit of proportionality,the extension of a
spring is no longer proportional to the applied force.This
relationship is non-linear.
HOOKE'S LAW
F=kxe
FORCE AND PRESSURE
Pressure And Surfaces
*Pressure is the force normal to a surface/area of the
surface.
*Pressure p=F/A
*The unit of pressure is the pascal (Pa),which is equal to
1N/m2.
*The force F or area A can be calculated by rearranging
the pressure equation p=F/A to give F=pA or A=F/p.
Pressure In A Liquid At Rest
*The pressure in a liquid increases with increasing liquid
depth.
*A liquid flows until the pressure along the same
horizontal level is constant.
*The greater the density of a liquid,the greater the
pressure in the liquid.
*The pressure "p" due to the column of height "h" of
liquid of density "p"is given by the equation p=hxpxg.
Atmospheric Pressure
*Air molecules collide with surfaces and create pressure
on them.
*Atmospheric pressure decreases with higher altitude
because there is less air above a given altitude than
there is at a lower altitude.
*The density of the atmosphere decreases with
increasing altitude.
*The force on a flat object due to a pressure
difference=the pressure difference x the area of the flat
surface.
Upthrust And Flotation
*The upthrust on an object in a fluid;
}is an upward force on the object due to the fluid.
}is caused by the pressure of the fluid.
*The pressure at a point in a fluid depends on the density
of the fluid and the depth of the fluid at that point.
*An object sinks if its weight is greater than the upthrust
on it when it is fully immersed.
WAVE PROPERTIES
The Nature Of Waves
*Waves can be used to transfer energy and information.
*Transverse waves oscillate perpendicular to the direction
of energy transfer of the waves.Ripples on the surface of
water are transverse waves.So are all electromagnetic
waves.
*Longitudinal waves oscillate parallel to the direction of
energy transfer of the waves.Sound waves in air are
longitudinal waves.
*Mechanical waves need a medium (a substance)to travel
through.They can be transverse or longitudinal waves.
The Properties Of Waves
*For any wave,its amplitude is the maximum
displacement of a point on the wave from its undisturbed
position,such as the height of the wave crest(or the depth
of the wave trough)from the position at rest.
*For any wave,its frequency is the number of waves
passing a point per second.
*The period of a wave=1/frequency
*For any wave,its wavelength is the distance from a point
on the wave to the equivalent point on the next
wave(e.g.,from one wave trough to the next wave trough.
*The speed of a wave is v=frequency x wavelength.
Reflection And Refraction
*Plane waves in a ripple tank are reflected from a straight
barrier at the same angle to the barrier as the incident
waves because their speed and wavelength do not
change on reflection.
*Plane waves crossing a boundary between two different
materials are refracted unless they cross the boundary at
normal incidence.
*Refraction occurs at a boundary between two different
materials because the speed and the wavelength of the
waves change at the boundary.
*At a boundary between two different materials,waves
can be transmited or absorbed.
More About Waves
*Sound waves are vibrations that travel through a
medium(a substance).
*Sound waves cannot travel through a vaccum(e.g.,in
outer space).
*To investigate waves, use:
}a ripple tank for water waves
}a stretched string for waves in a solid
}a signal generator and a loudspeaker for sound waves.
Sound Waves
*The pitch of a note increases if the frequency of the
sound waves increases.
*The loudness of a note increases if the amplitude of the
sound waves increases.
*Sound waves cause the ear drum to vibrate, and the
vibrations send signals to the brain.
*The conversion of sound waves to vibrations of solids
only works over a limited frequency range,so human
hearing is limited.