Base quantities: a set of quantities that can be combined to form all the
other quantities. They cannot be simplified.
Derived units: units obtained by combining base units. Distance: length of path along which an object has travelled. Displacement: shortest distance between initial and final position. Speed: distance travelled per unit time. Velocity: speed in a specific direction. Acceleration: rate of change of velocity. Newtons first law: if no external resultant force acts upon a body, it will remain stationary or continue to travel in a straight line with constant velocity. Newtons second law: rate of change of momentum is directly proportional to the resultant force acting on the body in the direction of that force. Newtons third law: to every action there is an equal opposite reaction. Inertia: inability of object to change its position or direction by itself. Mass: property of object due to which it resists change in motion Weight: gravitys force acting on an object. Momentum: it is the product of mass and velocity. (quantity of motion of an object) Impulse: change of momentum. Newton: the force that cause an object of mass 1 kg to accelerate at 1 m/s^2. Law of conservation of momentum: if no resultant external forces act upon a system of interacting bodies, then the total momentum is constant in magnitude and direction. Gravitational force: forces between two masses. Electrical force: force between two charges. 1
Frictional force: force that opposes the motion.
Viscous drag: internal friction between layers of the fluid. Upthrust: an upward force exerted by the fluid on the object that is immersed in it. Moment/torque: the product of force applied and its perpendicular distance from the point of rotation. Centre of gravity: a point on an object in which the entire weight of the object is considered to act. Couple: a pair of forces that are equal in magnitude, opposite in direction, and having different line of action. Work done: product of force applied and distance moved along the direction of force. Joule: 1 N force moves an object through a distance of 1 m along the direction of forces. Energy: ability to do work. Kinetic energy: energy due to the motion of an object. Potential energy: energy stored in an object. Internal energy: sum of PE and KE of all particles of a substance. Power: rate at which work is done/ rate of transfer of energy. Efficiency: the ratio of output power to input power. Density: mass per unit volume. Pressure: normal force acting per unit area. Brownian motion: the erratic random movement of tiny suspended particles in a fluid. Crystalline solids: material that has atoms arranged in a regular pattern. Its unit cell is repeated throughout the material and has a longrange order. 2
Amorphous solids: material that has no regular pattern (short-range
order). Polymers: materials that have long-chain molecules. Its shorter units are called monomers. Elastic deformation: when a material is returned to its original shape and size on removal of deforming forces. No bonds are broken. Hookes law: it is obeyed when the extension of the material is proportional to the resultant deform force. Plastic deformation: when a material will not return to its original shape and size on removal of deforming forces. Bonds between atoms are broken and reform between different atoms. Strain energy: it is the work done in stretching a sample and is given by the area under the force-extension graph. Stress: the ratio of the force applied to a sample to the original crosssectional area of the sample. Strain: ratio of the extension to the original length of the sample. Youngs modulus: it is the ratio of stress to strain. Progressive wave: a wave that transmits energy without transferring any of the medium that they travel through. Transverse wave: particles of the medium vibrate perpendicular to the direction of energy transfer. Longitudinal wave: particles of the medium vibrate parallel to the direction of energy transfer. Displacement: distance travelled by a particle from mean position. Amplitude: the maximum displacement of particles in wave medium from equilibrium. Wavelength: distance travelled by 1 complete wave along the direction of wave motion. Period: time for one complete wave to pass a point. Frequency: number of waves passing a point each second. 3
Intensity: power per unit area of the wave, proportional to amplitude
squared. Phase: a measure of the fraction of a complete wave cycle completed from a chosen start point. Path difference: a measure of the fraction of a complete wavelength completed from a chosen start point. Superposition: when two or more waves of the same type, travelling in the same medium meet at a point, then the resultant displacement at that point is equal to vector sum of individual displacements of the waves at that point. Constructive interference: when waves completely add together. Destructive interference: when the waves completely cancel each other out. Diffraction: the bending of a wave. Diffraction grating: piece of transparent material containing number of parallel, equally sized and spaced slits. Stationary waves: theyre produced when two progressive waves travelling in opposite directions of the same frequency, speed, wavelength, and similar amplitude. Node: zero amplitude point. Antinode: maximum amplitude point. Electric field: space around a charge in which other charged particles can experience an electric force. Electric field strength: it is defined as force per unit positive charge. Uniform field: when the field strength is the same at every point. Its created between charged parallel plates. Current: rate of flow of charged particles. Coulomb: the amount of charge passes a point when a current of 1A flows for 1 s.
Potential difference: the energy transferred when 1 c of charge move
between two points. (electrical energy to other forms) Electromotive force: the energy transferred by a source in driving unit charge round a complete circuit. (chemical energy to electrical) Volt: 1 J of energy is transferred per coulomb. Resistance: the ratio of P.D to the current between 2 points. Resistivity: resistance of a conductor of length 1 m and cross sectional area of 1 m^2. Ohms law: at a constant temperature, P.D across a conductor is directly proportional to current through the conductor. Internal resistance: the resistance within a source of E.M.F. Kirchhoffs first law: the sum of current flowing towards a junction equals the sum of current flowing away from the junction. Kirchhoffs second law: in a closed path of a circuit, sum of the E.M.F in the path equal the sum of the P.D in the path. Potentiometers: a device used to compare E.M.Fs of two cells. It is more accurate than a voltmeter. Isotopes: element having same atomic number but different mass number due to different number of neutrons. Radioactive decay: the process of emission of nuclear radiations from the unstable nucleus. Spontaneous decay: decay that is independent of external factors like pressure and temperature. Random decay: cannot predict which particular nucleus will decay next but probability of decay per unit time of a nucleus is constant.