IGCSE PHYSICS IMPORTANT EQUATIONS

Formula / Important Details Unit

Density 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠
𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑘𝑔,
Ratio of mass to 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝒎𝟑 ,
volume for a 𝑚 𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝒌𝒈/𝒎𝟑
substance 𝜌= (or 𝑔/𝑐𝑚3 )
𝑉

Speed
Distance travelled by 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒
𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 =
an object per unit 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑚,
time 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑠,
(same as velocity) 𝑑 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒎/𝒔
𝑣=
Speed – scalar 𝑡
Velocity – vector

Acceleration 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦

𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 = 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑚/𝑠,
the rate of change of 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑠,
an object’s velocity 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒏
𝑣−𝑢
𝑎= 𝒎/𝒔𝟐
𝑡

Distance-time graph a) At rest

b) Constant speed

c) Increasing speed (acceleration)

Gradient of the
graph = speed

d) Decreasing speed (deceleration)

e) Returning to original place at constant speed

1
PREPARED BY MS SHAKTHI
IGCSE PHYSICS IMPORTANT EQUATIONS

Speed-time graph a) At rest

b) Constant speed

c) Accelerating (increasing speed)

d) Increasing acceleration

Gradient of the graph

= acceleration

e) Decreasing acceleration

Area under the graph

= distance

f) Deceleration (decreasing speed)

g) Increasing deceleration

h) Decreasing deceleration

2
PREPARED BY MS SHAKTHI
IGCSE PHYSICS IMPORTANT EQUATIONS

Forces Balanced forces : Total force = 0 N

Unbalanced forces : Total forces ≠ 0 N

Gravitational field 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑘𝑔

strength 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑖𝑛
𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ = 𝑁𝑒𝑤𝑡𝑜𝑛 (𝑁)
Gravitational force 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠
exerted per unit 𝑜𝑟 𝑘𝑔 𝑚/𝑠 2
mass at a point. 𝑊 𝒈 = 𝟗. 𝟖 𝑵/𝒌𝒈
𝑔=
𝑚

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑘𝑔
Weight 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑥 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑙𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑡ℎ 𝑔 = 9.8 𝑚/𝑠 2
Force acting under 𝑾𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒊𝒏
gravitational field 𝑊= 𝑚 × 𝑔 𝑵𝒆𝒘𝒕𝒐𝒏 (𝑵)
strength 𝑜𝑟 𝑘𝑔 𝑚/𝑠 2

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑘𝑔
Force 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 × 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑚/𝑠 2
𝐹= 𝑚 × 𝑎 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏
𝑵𝒆𝒘𝒕𝒐𝒏 (𝑵)
𝑜𝑟 𝑘𝑔 𝑚/𝑠 2
Terminal velocity
Constant velocity 𝐴𝑖𝑟 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 = 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑛 𝑜𝑏𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡

Circular motion 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑓 ∶

Centripetal force 1. 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 - greater
2. 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 - greater
3. 𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑠 - smaller

𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑘𝑔
Momentum 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑚 = 𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑠 × 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑚/𝑠
Quantity of motion 𝑝= 𝑚 × 𝑣 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒎 𝒊𝒏
of moving object 𝒌𝒈 𝒎/𝒔

Impulse 𝐼𝑚𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑠𝑒 = 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑚

Changes in = 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 × 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒖𝒍𝒔𝒆 (𝒔𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒔
momentum 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒎) 𝒊𝒏
𝐼 = 𝑚𝑣 − 𝑚𝑢 = 𝑚(𝑣 − 𝑢) 𝒌𝒈 𝒎/𝒔
𝐼=𝐹 × 𝑡 (𝑜𝑟 𝑁𝑠)

3
PREPARED BY MS SHAKTHI
IGCSE PHYSICS IMPORTANT EQUATIONS

Resultant force 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑚

𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 = 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏
(In terms of 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒
momentum) 𝑵𝒆𝒘𝒕𝒐𝒏 (𝑵)
𝑚𝑣 − 𝑚𝑢 ∆𝑝
𝐹= =
𝑡 𝑡

Principle of Total momentum before collision = total momentum after collision

conservation of (Total momentum is constant and does not change through collision, if no
momentum external force acting on it.)
𝑝𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 = 𝑝𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟

Moment of a force / 𝑀𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡

𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑁
turning force = 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 × 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑝𝑖𝑣𝑜𝑡
𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑚
𝑴𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏
𝑀=𝐹 × 𝑑
𝑵𝒎
Principle of When object in equilibrium,
moments Total moment on clockwise = total moment on anticlockwise

𝑀𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒 = 𝑀𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑤𝑖𝑠𝑒

Hooke’s Law 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 = 𝑠𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡 × 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛

Extension of a spring
is directly 𝐹=𝑘 × 𝑥 𝑠𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡, 𝑘
proportional to the 𝑖𝑛 𝑁/𝑚
load, provided not 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑥 𝑖𝑛 𝑚
exceed the limit of 𝑭𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏
proportionality. 𝑵𝒆𝒘𝒕𝒐𝒏 (𝑵)
Gradient = k

Pressure, P
Force per unit area 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒
𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 = 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑁
acting on a surface 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎 𝑖𝑛 𝑚2
𝐹 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏
𝑃= 𝑷𝒂𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒍 (𝑷𝒂)
𝐴 𝑜𝑟 𝑁/𝑚2

Liquid Pressure,P
𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑖𝑛 𝑘𝑔/𝑚3
𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 = 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 × 𝑎𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑑𝑢𝑒 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝑔 = 9.8 𝑚/𝑠 2
× 𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ
𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑡ℎ 𝑖𝑛 𝑚
𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒏
𝑝 = 𝜌𝑔ℎ
𝑷𝒂𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒍 (𝑷𝒂)
Efficiency
𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡
𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = × 100%
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡
𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 %
𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = × 100%
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡

4
PREPARED BY MS SHAKTHI