Chapter 1 Introduction To

Physics
No.

Terms

Definition

1. Physical
quantities

Quantities that can be measured

2. Base
quantities

4. Scalar
quantities

Physical quantities that cannot be

defined in terms of other
quantities
Physical quantity obtained from
the combination of base quantities
through multiplication or division
or both.
Physical quantities that have both
magnitude and direction

5. Vector
quantities

Physical quantities that have

magnitude only

3. Derived
quantities

6. Consistency The ability (of a measuring

instrument) to measure a quantity
with little or no deviation among
the measurements
7. Accuracy
The closeness of a measurement
Farah Dinah Hassan, SMK Tasek Utara 2, JB 2012

to the actual value

8. Sensitivity

The ability (of a measuring

instrument) to detect a small
change in the quantity to be
measured

9. Systematic
error

Errors in the calibration of

instruments or the non-zero
reading when the actual reading
should be zero
Errors due to the mistakes made
by the observer when taking

10. Random
error
11. Parallax
error
12. Zero erroe

Error due to the incorrect

positioning of the eye when
reading a measurement
The non-zero reading when the
actual reading should be zero that
is the pointer of the instrument
does not return to the zero
position when it is not being used

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Chapter 2 Force And Motion

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No.
Terms
1. Distance

Definition
The total path length travelled
from one location to the other
2. Displacement The distance between two
locations measured along the
shortest path connecting them in
a specified direction
3. Speed
Rate of change of distance OR
Distance travelled per unit time
4. Velocity
Rate of change of displacement
5. Acceleration Rate of change of velocity
6. Average
velocity
7. Average
speed
8. Inertia

9. Momentum

displacement over total time

The rate of movement.
The tendency of the object to
remain at rest or if moving to
comtinue its motion
Product of mass and velocity

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10. Principle of
conservation
of
momentum
11. Force

12. Impulse
13. Impulsive
force
14. Free falling

15. Weight
16. Mass
17. Resultant
force

In a closed system, the total

momentum before collision is
equal to the total momentum
after collision provided there is
no external force
Push or pull upon an object
resulting from the
object's interaction with another
object.
Change in momentum
The rate of change of
momentum.
The motion in which the object
falls due to gravitational force
only
The gravitational force acting on
the object
The quantity of matter in an
object
A single force that represents the
combined effect of two or more
forces with magnitude and

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18. Equilibrium
force

19. Work done

20. Energy
21. Kinetic
energy
22. Gravitational
potential
energy
23. Principle of
Conservation
of energy

24. Power

direction
Situation in which forces acting
on an object produces no net
force. The object is satationary
or moves with a constant
velocity in a straight line.
The product of the applied force
and the displacement in the
direction of the applied force
The ability to do work
The energy of an object due to
its motion
The energy of an object due to
its higher position in the
gravitational field
Energy cannot be created or
destroyed. Energy can be
transformed from one form to
another.The total energy in a
closed system is constant .
The rate at which work is done

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25. Efficiency
No. Terms
26. Elasticity

27. Spring
constant
28. Elastic
potential
energy

OR the amount of work done per

second
The percentage of the energy
Definition
input
that is transformed into
useful energy
The ability of an object to return
to its original size / length /
shape when the force that is
acting on it is removed.
Force per unit extension
The energy stored in an object
when it is stretched or
compressed

29. Gravitational The region around the earth

field
which an object experiences a
force towards the centre of earth.

Chapter 3 Force And Pressure

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1. Density

Mass per unit volume

2. Pressure

Magnitude of force acting

perpendicularly to a surface per
unit area of the surface

3. Pressure in
liquid
4. Atmosphere The pressure due to the weight of
Pressure
the air acting per unit area on the
earths surface
5. Gas
the pressure exerted by a gas.
Pressure
6. Buoyant
The upward force exerted by a
Force
fluid when an object is wholly or
partially immersed in the fluid
7. Lift Force The upward force produced when
fluid rises over a particle.

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Chapter 4 Heat

No.
Terms
Definition
1. Temperature The measure of the degree of
hotness of an object.
2. Heat
the forms of energy.
3. Thermal
equilibrium

The situation in which two

objects which are in thermal
contact have the same rate of heat
transfer and the same temperature
The NET heat flow between the
two objects is zero.
4. Specific heat The amount of heat that must be
capacity
supplied to an object of mass 1
kg to increase its temperature by
1C
5. Melting point The temperature at which a given
solid will melt.
6. Lower fixed The temperature at which pure
point
ice melts under the standard
atmospheric pressure.
7. Solidifies
Make or become hard or solid.

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8. Boiling point The temperature at which a liquid

boils and turns to vapor.
9. Condensation The process of becoming denser,
in particular.
10. Upper fixed The temperature of steam from
point
pure water that is boiling under
standard atmospheric pressure.
11. Latent heat The heat absorbed or released at
constant temperature during a
change of phase.
12. Specific
The amount of heat required to
latent heat of change 1 kg of a substance from
fusion
solid to liquid without any
change in temperature
13. Specific
The amount of heat required to
latent heat of change 1 kg of a substance from
vaporisation liquid to gas without any change
in temperature
14. Absolute
The lowest temperature in theory
zero
in which the pressure and the
kinetic energy of gas molecules
are zero

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No.

Terms

Definition

Chapter 5 Light

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1. Angle of
incidence i
2. Angle of
reflection r
3. Centre of
curvature C
4. Radius of
curvature

The angle between the reflected

ray and the normal.
The angle between the refracted
ray and the normal.
The centre of the sphere that
forms the curved mirror
the radius of the circle of
curvature; the absolute value of
the reciprocal of the curvature of
a curve at a given point.
5. Focal length The distance between the center
of a lens or curved mirror and its
focus.
6. Principal axis a line that passes through the
center of curvature of a lens so
that light is neither reflected nor
refracted
7. Focal point A common point on the
principal axis where all the rays
parallel to the axis converge to it
after passing through a convex
lens or appear to diverge from it
after passing through a concave

Farah Dinah Hassan, SMK Tasek Utara 2, JB 2012

8.

9.
10.

11.

12.

lens.
Refractive
The value of the constant (sin i /
index
sin r) for a light ray passing
through a vacuum into a given
medium
Real depth
The distance of the real object
from the surface of a medium
Critical angle The angle of incidence in the
denser medium when the angle
of refraction in the less dense
medium is 90
Total internal The condition in which the light
reflection
ray from a denser medium to a
less dense medium is reflected
back into the denser medium
when the angle of incidence is
greater than the critical angle.
Focal point A common point on the
of a lens F
principal axis where all the rays
parallel to the axis converge to it
after passing through a convex
lens or appear to diverge from it
after passing through a concave

Farah Dinah Hassan, SMK Tasek Utara 2, JB 2012

lens.
13. Apparent
The distance of the virtual image
depth
from the surface of the medium
14. Power of lens The reciprocal of the focal
length
15. Object
distance
16. Real image

The distance between the object

and the mirror
The image that can be formed /
displayed on a screen
17. Virtual image The image that cannot be formed
on a screen
The ratio of the image size to the
18. Linear
magnification object size OR the ratio of the
image distance to object distance

Farah Dinah Hassan, SMK Tasek Utara 2, JB 2012

Chapter 6 Waves

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N Terms
Definition
o.
1. Longitudinal A wave in which the particles of
wave
the medium oscillate in the
direction parallel to the direction
in which the wave moves
2. Transverse A wave in which the particles of
wave
the medium oscillate in the
direction perpendicular to the
direction in which the wave
moves
3. wavefront
An imaginary line that joins all
identical points on a wave
4. Wave length The horizontal distance between
two successive equivalent points
on a wave
5. Amplitude The maximum displacement from
the mean position of a wave
6. Frequency The number of complete
oscillations made in 1 second
7. Damping

Energy loss from an oscillating

system to the surrounding in the

Farah Dinah Hassan, SMK Tasek Utara 2, JB 2012

8. Period

form of heat energy

The time taken to complete one
oscillation

9. Wave speed The speed at which the wave form

of a progressive wave travels
10 Angle of
The angle between the reflected
. incidence
ray and the normal.
11 Angle of
The angle between the refracted
. reflector
ray and the normal.
12 Refraction The phenomena in which there is
. of wave
a change of direction of
propagation due to a change of
speed when water waves travel
one area to another of different
depths.
13 Diffraction The phenomena that refers to the
. of wave
spreading out of waves when they
move through a gap or round an
obstacle
14 Principle of Waves which consist of a joint
. superpositio electric and magnetic fields which

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n
15
.
16
.

Interference
of waves
Constructive
interference

17 Destructive
. interference
18 Electromagn
. etic
spectrum
19 Infrasound
.

20 ultrasound
.

oscillate perpendicular to each

other
The phenomena in which two sets
of coherent waves meet / combine
the interference of two or more
waves of equal frequency and
phase,
the interference of two waves of e
qual frequency and
opposite phase.
The range of wavelengths or
frequencies over which
electromagnetic radiation extends.
A wave phenomenon sharing the
physical nature of sound but with
a range of frequencies below that
of human hearing.
Sound or other vibrations having
an ultrasonic frequency,
particularly as used in medical
imaging.

Farah Dinah Hassan, SMK Tasek Utara 2, JB 2012

Chapter 7
Electricity

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No. Terms
Definition
1. Electric field A region in which an electric
charge experiences an electric
force
The rate of charge flow in a
2. Electric
current
circuit
The work done or the energy that
3. Potential
difference
would be required to move 1 C of
charge from one point to another
in a circuit
The enrgy carried by electrical
4. Electrical
energy
charges which can be transformed
to other forms of energy by the
operation of an electrical device
or appliance.
The rate of electrical energy
5. Electrical
power
dissipated or transferred
The percentage of the input
6. Efficiency
energy that is transformed into
useful energy.
All the components are connected
7. Series
circuit
one after another in a single path
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8. Parallel
circuit

All the components are connected

with their corresponding ends
joined together at common points
to form separate and parallel
paths

9. Resistance

The ratio of potential difference

across a conductor to the electric
current flowing through the
conductor
The resistance against the moving
10. Internal
resistance, r charge due to the electrolyte in
the cell / battery

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Chapter 8
Electromagnetism

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No. Terms
1. Magnetic field

Definition
A region round a current
carrying conductor in which a
magnetic force acts
2. Electromagnet A temporary magnet made by
winding a coil of insulated
wire round a soft iron core
3. Catapult field
The resultant magnetic field
due to the combination of the
magnetic field due to the
current in the conductor and
the external magnetic field
4. Electromagnetic The setting up of an
induction
electromotive force in a
conductor due to a change in
the magnetix flux caused by
the relative motion of the
conductor and a magnetic
field. The induced emf will
cause induced current to flow
5. Induced
To produce an electric current
or a magnetic charge

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6.
Alternating
current

A current which flows to and

fro in two opposite directions
in a circuit and it changes its
direction periodically

7. Direct current

A current that flows in one

direction only in a circuit and
the magnitude of the current
maybe constant or changes
with time
A transformer where the
number of turns in the
secondary coil is greater than
the number of turns in the
primary coil, the voltage
across the secondary coil is
greater than the voltage across
the primary coil
A transformer where the
number of turns in the
secondary coil is less than the

8. Step-up
transformer

9. Step-down
transformer

Farah Dinah Hassan, SMK Tasek Utara 2, JB 2012

number of turns in the primary

coil, the voltage across the
secondary coil is less than the
voltage across the primary coil
10. Renewable
An energy resource that is
energy
continually replaced and will
not run out.
11. Non-renewable An energy resource cannot be
energy
replaced once it has been used.
12. Eddy current
The current induced in the soft
iron core due to the changing
magnetic field produced by
the alternating current in the
coils
13. National Grid
Network

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

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No. Terms

Definition

Chapter 9
Electronics

Farah Dinah Hassan, SMK Tasek Utara 2, JB 2012

1. Thermionic
emission

The process of emission of

electrons from the surface of a
heated metal

2. Cathode ray

The stream of electrons which

moves from cathode to anode at
high speed across a vacuum

3. Doping

A process of adding a certain

amount of specific impurities
called
dopants
to
a
semiconductor to increase its
conductivity

4. n-type
Semiconductor obtained when
semiconductor pentavalent atoms which are
doped
into
the
intrinsic
semiconductor contribute extra
electrons.
Free
electrons
become the majority charge
carrier and the holes become the
minority carrier
5. p-type
Semiconductor obtained when

Farah Dinah Hassan, SMK Tasek Utara 2, JB 2012

semiconductor trivalent atoms which are doped

into the intrinsic semiconductor
contribute extra holes. Free
electrons become the minority
charge carrier and the holes
become the majority charge
carrier
6. semiconductor An electronic device made from
diode
a p-n junction that allows
current to flow in one direction
only but blocks it in the
opposite direction
7. Forward bias The connection in which the ptype (anode) of the diode is
connected to the positive
terminal of a battery and the ntype (cathode) is connected to
the negative terminal of the
battery
8. Reverse bias The connection in which the ptype (anode) of the diode is
connected to the negative
terminal of a battery and the n-

Farah Dinah Hassan, SMK Tasek Utara 2, JB 2012

type (cathode) is connected to

N Terms
Definition
the positive terminal of the
o
battery
. 9. Logic gates
A switching circuit made up of
The number
of protons
in the nucleus
1 Proton
a combination
of transistor
. number,Z of an atom
switches which has one or more
inputs but only one output
10. Half-wave
A process where only half of
rectification
every cycle of an alternating
current is made to flow in one
direction only.
11. Full-wave
A process where both halves of
rectification
every cycle of an alternating
current is made to flow in the
same direction
Chapter 10 Radioactivity

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2 Nucleon
. number,
A

The total number of protons and

neutrons in the nucleus of an atom

3 Isotopes
.

Atoms of an element which have the

same proton number but different
nucleon number
4 Radioacti The spontaneous disintegration of an
unstable nucleus accompanied by the
. vity
emission of an energetic particle or a
photon ( or radioactive emission)
Helium nucleus emitted by an unstable
5 Alpha
. particle nucleus.
High energy electron emitted by an
6 Beta
. particle unstable nucleus.
7 Gamma Electromagnetic waves with very high
frequency and short wavelength
. rays
8 Radioacti Spontaneous disintegration of a
. ve decay radionuclide accompanied by the
emission of ionizing radiation in the
form of alpha or beta particles or
gamma rays.

Farah Dinah Hassan, SMK Tasek Utara 2, JB 2012

9 Half-life
.

The time taken for the number of

undecayed nuclei in the sample to be
reduced to half of its original number.
1 Radioisot Unstable isotopes which decay and
give out radioactive emissions.
0 opes
.
1 Nuclear Energy released by a nuclear reaction
as a result of a mass defect.
1 energy
.
a unit that is suitable for the mass of
1 Atomic
2 mass unit atoms and the mass of subatomic
particles.
.
he amount by which the mass of a
1 Mass
particular nucleus is less than the total
3 defect
mass of its constituent particles
.
1 Nuclear The splitting of a heavy nucleus into
two lighter nuclei.
4 fission
.
The self-sustaining fission reaction
1 Chain
5 reaction spread by neutrons that occurs in
nuclear reactors and bombs.
.

Farah Dinah Hassan, SMK Tasek Utara 2, JB 2012

Physics Pocket Notes

By
Farah Dinah Hassan
5 Hibiscus

Farah Dinah Hassan, SMK Tasek Utara 2, JB 2012