Physics-A2 All Required Definitions

.Motion in a circle And gravitational Fields

Quantity Definition

Angular Displacement, θ It is the change in angle, measured in

radians, of an object as it rotates around a
circle

Angular Speed, ω It is the change in angular displacement per

unit time

Gravitational Field Strength, g Gravitational Field Strength at a point is

defined as the gravitational force per unit
mass at that point

Newton's Law Of Gravitation Newton's Law Of Gravitation states that any

two point masses attract each other with a
force that is directly proportional to the
product of their masses and is inversely
proportional to the square of their
separation
F ∝ m1m2 and F ∝ 1/r2
Therefore F ∝ m1m2/r2

Gravitational Potential The gravitational potential at a point is the

work done per unit mass in bringing that
unit mass from infinity to that point

Centripetal Acceleration Acceleration perpendicular to velocity

A radian The angle subtended at the centre of the

circle by an arc equal in length to the radius
of the circle

Centripetal Force The resultant force required to keep a body

in uniform circular motion, It's Always
directed towards the centre of the body's
rotation

Line of gravitational Force Direction of force on a small test mass

Thermal Physics
Quantity Definition

Internal Energy Internal Energy of a system is the sum of

the random distribution of the kinetic
energies and potential energies of its atoms
in random motion

Specific Heat capacity Specific heat capacity of a material is the energy

required to raise the temperature of a unit mass

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 Physics-A2 All Required Definitions
of a material by unit temperature/kelvin

Specific Latent Heat Of Fusion It is the energy required to change the unit
mass of a solid to a liquid without any
change in the temperature

Specific Latent Heat Of Vaporisation It is the energy required to change the unit
mass of a liquid to a gas without any
change in the temperature

Ideal Gases
Quantity Definition

A mole The mole measures the amount of matter

by the number of particles in an object

Ideal Gas An ideal gas is one which obeys the

equation state pV ∝ T at all volumes V,
pressures p , and thermodynamic
temperatures T

Oscillations
Quantity Definition

Period, T The period of an oscillation is the time taken

for one complete oscillation or vibration

Frequency, f The number of oscillations or vibrations per

unit time

Angular frequency, ω Number of rotations per unit time

Displacement, s The distance from the equilibrium position

at an instance

Amplitude, A The maximum displacement from the

equilibrium position

Simple Harmonic Motion The motion of a particle about a fixed point,

such that the acceleration, a is proportional
to the displacement, x from the fixed point,
and is in the opposite direction

Damping Total energy of a system decreases due to

a resistive force

Forced Frequency The frequency at which an object is made

to vibrate

Natural Frequency of Vibration Where a object vibrates where free to do so

Resonance The maximum amplitude and maximum

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 Physics-A2 All Required Definitions
vibration of a oscillating object where the
driving frequency is the same as the natural
frequency

Electric Fields
Quantity Definition

Electric Field Strength Electric field strength at a point is defined

as the force per unit charge on a positive
charge at that point

Electric Potential Electric potential at a point is defined as the

work done per unit charge in moving a
positive charge from infinity to that point

Capacitance
Quantity Definition

Capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor Capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor is

the charge stored on one plate per unit
potential difference between the plates

Magnetic Fields
Quantity Definition

Motor Effect When a current carrying conductor lies in a

magnetic field, there is a force on the
conductor. This is known as the motor effect

Magnetic Field A region where moving charge experiences

a force

Magnetic Flux Density The force acting per unit current per unit
length acting on a current carrying
conductor, placed perpendicular to the
magnetic field

Current Current is the flow of positive charge

NOTE: if a positive charge has a velocity, v,
than the current is in the same direction as
the velocity
If a negative charge has a velocity, v, then
the current is in the opposite direction to the
velocity, since current is flow of “positive
charge”

1 Tesla, ( the unit of flux density) A straight conductor carrying a current of

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 Physics-A2 All Required Definitions
1A, normal to the magnetic field of flux
density of 1T, with the force per unit length
of the conductor of 1 Nm-1

Electromagnetic Induction
Quantity Definition

Magnetic Flux The magnetic flux is defined as the the

product of the magnetic flux density the
cross-sectional area perpendicular to the
magnetic flux density

Magnetic flux linkage Magnetic flux linkage is defined as the

product of the magnetic flux and number of
turns

Electromagnetic Induction The process in which em EMF is induced in

a closed circuit due to changes in magnetic
flux

Faraday’s Law The magnitude of the induced EMF is

directly proportional to the rate of change of
magnetic flux linkage

Lenz’s Law The induced EMF acts in such a direction to

produce effects that oppose the changes
that are causing it

Quantum Physics
Quantity Definition

Photoelectric Effect The photoelectric effect is a phenomena in

which electrons are emitted from the
surface of a material upon absorption of
electromagnetic radiation

Work Function The work function is the minimum energy

required to release a photoelectron from the
surface of a material

Threshold frequency The minimum frequency of incident

electromagnetic radiation required to
release photoelectrons from the surface of
a material

The de broglie wavelength The wavelength associated with a moving

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 Physics-A2 All Required Definitions
particle

Threshold wavelength The longest wavelength that will emit

photoelectrons form the surface of a
material

Photons Quantum of light, and packets of discrete

energy

Nuclear Physics
Quantity Definition

Mass defect The difference between the mass of a

nucleus and the sum of the individual
masses of its protons and neutrons

Binding Energy Energy required to separate nucleons in a

nucleus to infinity

Binding energy per nucleon The binding energy of a nucleus divided by

the number of nucleons in the nucleus

Nuclear fusion The fusing together of two smaller nuclei to

form a larger nucleus

Nuclear fission The dividing of a large nucleus into two

smaller nuclei

Radioactive decay The spontaneous and random emission of a

particle or radiation from a unstable nucleus

Spontaneous process Not affected by external factors

Random process Not predicted

Decay constant The probability that an individual nucleus

will decay per unit time

Half life The amount of time taken for the initial

number of nuclei to halve

Medical Physics
Quantity Definition

The piezoelectric effect The piezoelectric effect is defined as the

ability of particular materials to generate a
potential difference by transferring
mechanical energy into electrical energy

Ultrasound A high frequency sound above the range of

human hearing

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 Physics-A2 All Required Definitions
The acoustic impedance The product of the speed of ultrasound in
the medium and the density of the medium

Intensity Reflection The ratio of the intensity of the reflected

wave relative to the intensity of the incident
transmitted wave

Attenuation The reduction in energy due to the

absorption of a ultrasound wave as it travels
through a material

Contrast The difference in degree of darkening of

structures

Sharpness How well defined the edges of structure are

Tracer A natural substance whose atoms have

been replaced by radioactive atoms, of a
radioactive isotope of the same element

Annihilation When a particle meets its antiparticle, they

are both destroyed and their mass is
converted to energy

Astronomy & cosmology

Quantity Definition

Luminosity The total power emitted by a star

Radiant flux intensity The power or luminosity passing through a

unit area of a surface

Standard Candle Standard Candle is a class of stellar objects

that have known luminosities

Wien's displacement law States that the peak intensity wavelength is

indirectly proportional to the thermodynamic
temperature λmax ∝ 1/T

Black body Is a theoretical object that absorbs 100% of

incident power, and therefore is said to be
the best radiator of energy

Stefan-boltzman law States that the radian flux intensity of a

body is directly proportional to the fourth
power of the thermodynamic temperature of
the body

Red shift The fractional increase in wavelength, or

the decrease in frequency, due to the
observer and source receding from each

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 Physics-A2 All Required Definitions
other

Hubble's law States that the recession speed of galaxies

moving away from the earth is directly
proportional to the distance from the galaxy
to the earth