Distance is the total length travelled by a moving object irrespective of the direction of motion

The displacement of an object from a reference point O is the linear distance and direction of
the object from O

The speed of an object is defined as the rate of change of distance travelled by an object with
respect to time

The velocity of an object is its rate of change of displacement with respect to time

The acceleration of an object is its rate of change of velocity with respect to time

A free falling object is any object moving only under the influence of gravity

The centre of gravity of an object is the point at which the weight of the object appears to act

Friction is the force that resists relative motion between two sliding surfaces or the tendency for
relative motion between two stationary surfaces

Newton's first law

A body stays at rest or continues to move at a constant speed in a straight line unless acted
upon by a net external force

The linear momentum of a body is the product of its mass and its velocity

Newton's second law

The rate of change of linear momentum of a body is directly proportional to the resultant force
acting on it and its direction is in the same direction as its resultant force

One newton is defined as the amount of force that gives an acceleration of 1ms-2 to a body with
a mass of 1 kilogram

The impulse of a force is the product of the average force and the time interval over which it is
applied.

If body A exerts a force on body B, then body B will exert an equal and opposite force on body A

The total linear momentum of a system is conserved if no net external force acts on the system

The net upward force exerted by a fluid on a body fully or partially submerged in the fluid

The moment of a force about a point is the product of the force and the perpendicular distance
of the line of action of the force to the point
Principle of moments states that for a body to be in rotational equilibrium, sum of clockwise
moments is equal to the sum of anticlockwise moments about that same pivot

A couple is a pair of force which are equal in magnitude but opposite in direction, whose lines of
action do not coincide

Work done by the force on the body is defined as the product of the magnitude of the force F
and the displacement s in the direction of the force

Principle of conservation of energy states that energy can be converted from one form to
another but cannot be created or destroyed

Period is the time it takes for an object in circular motion to make one complete revulotion

Frequency is the number of revolutions or cycles made per unit time

Newtons law of universal gravitation states that every particle attracts every other particle with a
force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the
square of the distance between them

The gravitational field is a region of space where a mass will experience a gravitational force

Gravitational field strength at a point is the gravitational force per unit mass acting on a small
mass placed at that point

Gravitational potential energy at a point in a gravitational field is the work done per unit mass, by
an external force, in bringing a small test mass from infinity to that point, without any change in
kinetic energy

Definition of SHM
SHM is a periodic motion in which the acceleration of the body is directly proportional to the
displacement from its equilibrium point and is always in the opposite direction to the
displacement

Resonance is a phenomenon in which an oscillatory system responds with maximum amplitude

to an external periodic driving force, when the frequency of the driving force equals the natural
frequency of the driven system

A transverse wave is a wave in which the points of disturbance oscillate about their equilibrium
positions perpendicular to the direction of wave travel

A longitudinal wave is a wave in which the points of disturbance oscillate about their equilibrium
position in a direction parallel to the direction of wave travel.

Amplitude of a wave is the magnitude of the maximum displacement of a point on the wave

Wavelength of a wave is the distance between two adjacent points which are oscillating in
phase

Period is the time taken for a point on the wave to complete one oscillation cycle

Frequency is the number of oscillations per unit time made by a point on a wave

Wave speed is the distance that the wave profile appears to be moving per unit time

Intensity of a wave is the rate at which energy is transported by the wave, per unit area, across
a surface area perpendicular to the direction of propagation

Polarisation is a phenomenon whereby vibrations in a transverse wave are restricted to only one
direction in the plane normal to the direction of energy transfer

The principle of superposition states that when two or more waves of the same kind overlap, the
resultant displacement at any point at any instant is given by the vector sum of the individual
displacements that each individual wave would cause at that point at that instant.

Interference is the superposing or overlapping of two or more waves to give a resultant wave
whose displacement is given by the Principle of Superposition, which states that displacement
of the resultant wave at any point is the vector sum of the displacements of the individual waves
at that point.

Diffraction is the spreading of waves, after passing through small apertures or openings, into
their "geometrical" shadows; or the spreading of waves round an obstacle.

Conditions for Permanent and Observable Interference Pattern

1. The sources must be coherent; i.e. they must maintain a constant phase
difference with respect to each other.
2. The two wave sources must also emit waves of roughly the same amplitude.
3. For transverse waves, they must be unpolarised, or share a common direction of
polarisation.
4. They must be of the same kind
5. The waves must overlap

Two waves are said to be coherent if they have a constant phase difference between them.
The principle of conservation of charges states that charges cannot be created or destroyed.
Hence, for any closed system, the sum of electric charges must be constant.

The electric field strength E at a point is the electric force per unit positive change acing in a
small test mass placed at that point

The magnitude of the electrical force acting between two point charges is proportional to the
product of the magnitude of the charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance
between them

The first law of thermodynamics states that the increase in internal energy of a system is the
sum of the heat supplied to the system and the work done on the system.

The zeroth law of thermodynamics states that if body A and B are separately in thermal
equilibrium (where there is no heat transfer when they are in thermal contact) with body C, body
A and body B are in thermal equilibrium.

The internal energy of a system is the sum of microscopic random kinetic energies and the
microscopic potential energies of the molecules of the system.

The electric potential at a point in an electric field is the work done per unit positive charge, by
an external force, in bringing a small test charge from infinity to that point, without any change in
kinetic energy

The electric potential energy of a charge at a point in an electric field is defined as the work
done by an external agent in moving the charge from infinity to that point, without any change in
the kinetic energy

The electromotive force of a source is defined as the energy converted per unit electric change
to electrical energy in driving charge round a complete circuit

The potential difference between two points in a circuit is defined as the energy converted per
unit electric charge from Electrical energy to other forms of energy when charge moved
between the two points

The resistance of a device is the ratio of the potential difference V across the device to the
current following through it

Ohm's law states that a steady current following through a metallic conductor is proportional to
the potential difference across it, provided the temperature and other physical conditions are
constant

The magnetic flux density is defined as the force per unit length per unit current acting on a
Long straight current-carrying conductor placed perpendicular to a magnetic field
The magnetic flux through a plane surface is the product of the magnetic flux density normal to
the surface and the area of the surface,

The magnetic flux density of a magnetic field is said to be 1 Tesla, if the force per unit length per
unit current which acts on a Long straight current carrying conductor placed perpendicular to the
magnetic field is 1 Newton per metre per ampere

The magnetic flux linkage is defined as the product of the number of turns of the coil and the
magnetic flux through each turn

Lenz's law states that the polarity of the induced emf is such that it tends to produce a current
that creates a magnetic field so as to oppose the change in magnetic flux

The specific heat capacity of a substance is the energy per unit mass required to raise the
temperature of that substance by one unit of temperature

The heat capacity of an object is the amount of heat that is required to raise the temperature of
the object by one unit of temperature

The specific latent heat of fusion is defined as the energy per unit pass required to change a
substance from solid to liquid without a change in temperature

The specific latent heat of vaporisation is defined as the energy per unit mass required to
change a substance from liquid to gas without a change in temperature

The root mean square value of an alternating current is that equivalent constant direct current
that will dissipate the same average power in a given resistive load