DEFINATION IN STPM 2013

1. Newton’s second law (repeated in 2015)

2. Explain the mechanisms of heat conduction (4 marks) (Repeated 2014 & 2016)
3. Work
4. Newton’s law of universal gravitation
5. gravitational field strength
6. Isothermal process

DEFINATION IN STPM 2014

1. condition for equilibrium of rigid body (repeated 2016)
2. thermal conductivity

DEFINATION IN STPM 2015

1. describe degree of freedom
2. Newton’s third laws of motion
3. define the coefficient of static friction
4. the molar heat capacity at constant volume
5. Describe the change in the thermodynamics quantities of an adiabatic compression

DEFINATION IN STPM 2016

1. Acceleration

DEFINATION IN STPM 2017

1. What is the basic principle used in the first law of thermodynamic

2. define a centre of mass

3. state two assumptions of kinetic theory for an ideal gas
4. Internal energy of an ideal gas

DEFINATION IN STPM 2018

1. state the differences between an ideal gas and a real gas in terms of molecules
2. Impulse
DEFINATION IN STPM 2013
1. Newton’s second law (repeated in 2015)
most candidates missed out on the keywords rate of
change and directly proportional for the Newton’s
second law. Some candidates also stated the
conservation of linear momentum as the Newton’s
second law.

2. Explain the mechanisms of heat conduction (4 marks)

(Repeated 2014 & 2016)
most candidates did not explain the mechanisms of heat
conduction, but just stated the two types of heat
conduction or just gave the definition of conduction.
Some candidates also just stated that heat flows from
hot to cold regions. Other candidates used
inappropriate terms like particle vibrations instead of
atoms or molecules.

In part (a), most candidates were not able to fully

explain the mechanism for heat conduction in metals.
However, some candidates were able to identify the
free electrons and atom/ions as the agent for heat
transport but they failed to explain how heat is being
transferred. There was also other misconception like the
electrons are freed when the metal is heated.

In a non-metal the mechanism of heat conduction

is through lattice vibrations. The atoms are
closely packed with strong bonds in a lattice.
When one end of the solid is heated, its atoms
vibrate more vigorously. These atoms then collide
with their neighbouring atoms. The vibrations of
atoms will set up waves which are propagated
across the solid. Hence kinetic energy (heat
energy) is transferred throughout the solid.

In metals, heat conduction occurs through both

lattice vibrations as describe above as well as
through electronic conduction.

Metals consist of ions arranged in a lattice with

many free electrons moving freely. When one end
of the metal is heated, the free electrons at the
hot end gain kinetic energy and diffuse from the
hot end to the other parts of the metal. Kinetic
energy is transferred to the ions in the lattice
when these free electrons collide with the ions.
 In metals heat transfer by electronic conduction is
much more effective compared to lattice
vibrations

3. Work
most candidates were unable to define completely or
accurately “work”. They just defined “work” as the
product of force and distance instead of displacement in
the direction of the force. Very few candidates were
able to give the definition of “work” as the dot product
in vector form. Most candidates also gave the formula of
work as W= Fs without defining the symbols used.
Nevertheless, most candidates were able to get the
mark for the relationship between work and energy as
they understood that work can be changed to energy or
energy is used to do work.

4. Newton’s law of universal gravitation

most candidates were not able to completely state the
Newton’s law of universal gravitation. Most of them
missed out the keyword attraction. They also mistakenly
used radius or length instead of distance. Candidates
who answered using the formula forgot to explain the
symbols used.
5. gravitational field strength / potential
most candidates missed out the keyword at that point
or per unit mass in defining the definition of
gravitational field strength. In addition, candidates were
able to define gravitational potential. Some candidates
only stated that the potential as the work done to bring
an object instead of a unit mass from infinity to that
point.

6. Isothermal process
most candidates failed to obtain marks because they
missed out the keyword “change of state of ” of the gas
DEFINATION IN STPM 2014
1. condition for equilibrium of rigid bodyn (repeated 2016)
most of the candidates were able to state the condition
for the equilibrium. However, some candidates missed
out the word forces when they stated that “resultant
moment is zero”.

In part (a), most candidates were able to state the

conditions for equilibrium of a rigid body, which are
resultant force is equal to zero and resultant moment at
any point is equal to zero

2. thermal conductivity
In part (b) (i), the thermal conductivity was badly
defined by the candidates. They merely said it as the
ability to conduct heat. While other candidates, instead
of defining, gave the relationship as directly
proportional to the rate of heat flow and inversely
proportional to the area. Some of them missed out the
keywords “rate of heat flow” and “cross sectional area”.
DEFINATION IN STPM 2015
1. describe degree of freedom
most candidates were able to describe degree of
freedom in a gas as an independent mode of motion
for a molecule to acquire energy. However, some
candidates missed out the word ‘independent’ in their
answers

2. Newton’s third laws of motion

most candidates were able to state the meaning of
Newton’s second law and third laws of motion correctly
3. define the coefficient of static friction
very few candidates were able to define the coefficient
of static friction correctly. Most candidates defined the
coefficient of static friction as the ratio of friction to the
normal reaction which was wrong. The correct answer
should be the ratio of limiting friction or maximum
friction to the normal reaction
The coefficient of static friction is defined
as the ratio of limiting static friction to
normal reaction. The coefficient of kinetic
friction is defined as the ratio of kinetic
friction to the normal reaction

4. the molar heat capacity at constant volume

most candidates were able to define the molar heat
capacity at constant volume correctly

5. Describe the change in the thermodynamics quantities

of an adiabatic compression according to the 1st law of
thermodynamics (repeated in STPM 2016 & 2018)
In part (b), most candidates were able to describe the
change in the quantities Q, W and internal energy dU
correctly in an adiabatic compression. Some candidates
confused about the sign of work done and change in
internal energy. Most candidates stopped at the
expression dU = –W and did not continue in explaining
that the work done is negative and there is an increase
in the internal energy of the system

most candidates understood the concept of adiabatic

process. They were able to write the equation for the
first law of thermodynamic and state Q = 0 in an
adiabatic change. However, most candidates stopped at
the statement dU = –W without explaining the meaning
of the symbols used in the equation.

In part (a), most candidates poorly explained the

mechanism of heat conduction through a metal by
diffusion of free electrons. Some candidates were using
the term electron only and not the free electrons. Also,
some candidates were able to identify that free
electrons and atoms/ions as the agent for heat transfer
but failed to explain how heat was transferred. Common
misunderstanding observed in candidates’ answers was
to state that free electrons collided with the
neighbouring electrons to transfer heat from the hot
end to the cold end.

An adiabatic change is a change in the state

of a gas that occurs where no heat enters or
leaves the system. − From the first law of
 thermodynamics. 𝑄 = ∆𝑈 +𝑊 Since, Q = 0,
∆𝑈 = −𝑊 During an adiabatic expansion, W
= positive, ∆𝑈 = negative The decrease in
internal energy implies part of that energy is
used to do external work. The temperature
of the gas molecules decreases.

DEFINATION IN STPM 2016

.
1. Acceleration
In part (a)(i), most candidates were able to define
acceleration as a rate of change of velocity or to use the
formula by defining the symbol

DEFINATION IN STPM 2017

1. What is the basic principle used in the first law of
thermodynamic
most caDdidates did not answer the question corectly.
The candidates explained the principle of the first law of
thermodynamic instead of stating the basic principle
used in the first law of thermodynamic. The correct
answer was the conservation of energy

2. define a centre of mass

3. state two assumptions of kinetic theory for an ideal gas
In part (a), most candidates were able to sate the
assumptions of the kinelic theory for an ideal gas.
However, there were some candidates who could not
distinguish between the volume ofthe gas with the
volume of gas molccules
(a) at high temperatures and
(b) at low pressure

4. Internal energy of an ideal gas

most candidates were able to define that intemal energy
of an ideal gas was the total kinetic energy of the gas
molecules. Some candidates misinterprcted that the
internal energy was the total of kinetic and potential
energy
DEFINATION IN STPM 2018
1. state the differences between an ideal gas and a real gas
in terms of molecules
In part (a), most candidates were able to state the
differences between an ideal gas and a real gas in terms
of molecules. Some candidates were confused between
the volume of the gas and the volume of the gas
molecules. They stated that, the volume of ideal gas was
negligible but the volume of real gas was significant. It
should be, in the ideal gas the volume of the molecules
is negligible while in the real gas, the volume of the
molecules is not negligible.

2. Impulse
In part (a)(i), most candidates were able to define
impulse as the change in momentum. However, there
were some candidates who wrote the definition as the
rate of change of momentum, which was wrong. There
were also candidates who defined the impulse by
writing the formula and stated the meaning of the
symbols used; Ft = mv – mu or Ft = Δp or Ft = pf – pi
which was accepted