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Form 4 Physics > F4 List of Definitions 2021 > Flashcards

F4 List of Definitions 2021 Flashcards

1
Q

Physical quantity

A

A quantity that can be measured

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2
Q

Base quantity

A

A physical quantity that cannot be derived from another physical quantity

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3
Q

Derived quantity

A

A quantity which can be obtained by combination of base quantities by
mean of multiplication, division or both

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4
Q

Scalar quantity

A

Physical quantities that have magnitude only

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5
Q

Vector quantity

A

Physical quantities that have both magnitude and direction

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6
Q

Linear motion

A

Motion in a straight line

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7
Q

Speed, v

A

Rate of change of distance

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8
Q

Velocity, v

A

Rate of change of displacement

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9
Q

Acceleration, a

A

Rate of change of velocity

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10
Q

Free fall motion

A

A situation where an object falls down due to gravitational force only

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11
Q

Inertia

A

Tendency of an object to remain at rest or to continue its uniform motion in a straight line at uniform velocity

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12
Q

Newton’s first law of
motion

A

An object will remain at rest or move at uniform velocity unless acted upon by an external foce

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13
Q

Momentum, p

A

A product of mass multiplies by velocity

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14
Q

Force, F

A

The action of pushing or pulling to change the size and direction of motion
of an object

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15
Q

Newton’s second law of
motion

A

Rate of change of momentum is directly proportional to the force and
acts in the direction of the applied force

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16
Q

Impulsive Force, F

A

Rate of change of momentum in a collison or impact in a short period of
time

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16
Q

Impulse, J

A

Change of momentum

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17
Q

Newton’s third law of
motion

A

For every action there is a reaction of equal magnitude but in the opposite
direction

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18
Q

Weight, W

A

A gravitational force acting on an object

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19
Q

Newton’s universal law
of gravitation

A

The gravitational foce between two bodies is directly proportional to the
product of the masses of both bodies and inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between the centres of the two bodies

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20
Q

Centripetal force

A

A force acts on the body in a direction towards the centre of the circle

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21
Q

Kepler’s first law

A

All planets move in elliptical orbits with the Sun at one focus (Law of
Orbits)

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22
Q

Kepler’s second law

A

A line that connects a planet to the Sun sweeps out the equal areas in
equal times (Law of Areas)

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23
Q

Kepler’s third law

A

The square of the orbital period of any planet is directly proportional to
the cube of the radius of its orbit (Law of Periods)

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24
Orbital radius
Average value of the distance between the planet and the Sun
25
Escape velocity, v
Minimum velocity needed by an object on the surface of the Earth to overcome the gravitational force and escape to outer space
26
Temperature, T
Measure of the degree of hotness of an object
27
Heat, Q
The amount of thermal energy that can be transferred from one object to another
28
Thermal equilibrium
A condition where net heat transfer between two objects becomes zero
29
Heat capacity, C
Quantity of heat needed to raise temperature of the object by 1°C
30
Specific heat capacity, c
Quantity of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1kg mass of the substance by 1°C
31
Latent heat
Heat that is absorbed during melting and boiling without change in temperature
32
Specific latent heat, l
The quantity of heat that is absorbed or released during a change of phase of 1kg of the substance without any change in its temperature
33
Specific latent heat of fusion, lf
The quantity of heat that is absorbed during melting or the quantity of heat released during freezing of 1kg of the substance without any change in temperature (solid-liquid | liquid-solid)
34
Specific latent heat of vaporisation, lv
The quantity of heat that is absorbed during boiling or the quantity of heat released during condensation of 1kg of the substance without any change in temperature (liquid-gas | gas-liquid)
35
Boyle’s law
Pressure is inversely proportional to volume for a fixed mass of gas at constant temperature
36
Charles’ law
Volume is directly proportional to absolute temperature for a fixed mass of gas at constant pressure
37
Gay-Lussac’s law
Pressure is directly proportional to absolute temperature of a fixed mass of gas at constant volume
38
Oscillation, vibration
Repetitive motions about an equilibrium position in a closed path
39
Amplitude, A
Maximum displacement from its equilibrium position
40
Transverse wave
A wave which the vibration of particles in the medium is perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the wave
41
Longitudinal wave
A wave which the vibration of particles in the medium is parallel to the direction of the wave
42
Period, T
The time taken by a particle to make one complete oscillation or by a source to produce one complete cycle of wave
43
Frequency, f
Number of complete oscillations made by a particle or number of cycles of wave produced by a source in one second
44
Wavelength, λ
Distance between two consecutive points in phase
45
Wave speed, v
Distance travelled per second by a wave profile
46
External damping
Oscillating system loses energy to overcome friction or air resistance
47
Internal damping
Oscillating system loses energy because of the stretching and compression of the vibrating particles in the system
48
Damping
Reduction in amplitude in an oscillating system due to loss of energy
49
Resonance
When a periodic force is applied to an oscillating system at its natural frequency
50
Wavefront
Lines joining all the points of the same phase
51
Refraction of waves
The change in direction of propagation of waves caused by the change in the velocity of waves when the waves propagate from one medium to another
52
Diffraction of waves
The spreading of waves when the waves pass through a gap or round a barrier
53
Interference of waves
The superposition of two or more waves from a coherent source of waves
54
Constructive Interference
Occurs when two crests or troughs are in superposition to produce maximum amplitude
55
Destructive Interference
Occurs when a crest and a trough are in superposition to produce zero combined amplitude
56
Electromagnetic spectrum
Seven types of electromagnetic waves that forms a continuos spectrum
57
Electromagnetic wave
Produced when electric and magnetic field vibrate at right angle to each other
58
Refraction of light
A phenomenon when light changes direction when it travels from one medium to another medium of different densities
59
Refractive index, n
The ratio of speed of light in vacuum to the speed of light in medium
60
Snell’s Law
When light travels from one mediu to another medium, the incident ray, the refracted ray and the normal meet at one point and are in the same plane
61
Total internal reflection
When light travels from a medium with high optical density to a medium of low optical density
62
Critical angle, c
Incident anglewhen refracted angle equal to 90°
63
Formation of rainbow
Caused by refraction, dispersion and total internal reflection when light passes through water droplets in air
64
Optical centre, O
Points at the centre of the lens
65
Principle axis
Straight line through the optical centre of a lens and the centre of curvature of both surfaces of the lens
66
Axis of lens
Straight line through the optical centre and perpendicular to the principal axis
67
Focal point, F
Point located at the principle axis of a lens
68
Object distance, u
Distance between object and optical centre of a lens
69
Image distance, v
Distance between image and optical centre of a lens
70
Focal length, f
Distance between focal point, F and optical centre, O of a lens
71
Linear magnification, m
Ratio of image height to object height = ratio of image distance to object distance
72
Principal axis
Straight line passing through the centre of curvature, C and pole of the spherical mirror, P
73
Centre or curvature, C
Centre of sphere which produces a concave or convex mirror
74
Radius of curvature of mirror, r
Distance between the pole of spherical mirror,P and the centre of curvature, C
75
Focal point, F
A point on the principal axis of the spherical mirror
76
Object distance, u
Distance between object and the pole of spherical mirror, P
77
Image distance, v
Distance between image and the pole of spherical mirror, P
78
Focal length, f
Distance between focal point, F and the pole of spherical mirror, P

Form 4 Physics (17 decks)

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