Definitions (Measurement - Oscillations)

Measurement
Random errors are errors of measurements in which the measured quantities differ from
the mean value with different magnitudes and directions.
Systematic errors are errors of measurements in which the measured quantities are
displaced from the true value by fixed magnitude and in the same direction.
Accuracy is a measure of how close the results of an experiment agree with the true value.
Precision is a measure of how close the results of an experiment agree with each other.
Kinematics
Speed is the rate of change of distance travelled with respect to time.
Velocity is the rate of change of its displacement with respect to time.
Acceleration of an object is the rate of change of its velocity with respect to time.
Forces And Dynamics

Normal contact force is a force perpendicular to the surface experienced by a body when it
is in physical contact with something else.
Hookes Law states that within the limit of proportionality, the extension produced in a
material is directly proportional to the load applied.
Principle of moments states that, when an object is in equilibrium, the sum of anticlockwise
moments about any point equals the sum of clockwise moments about the same point.
Moment of a force is the product of the force and the perpendicular distance between the
axis of rotation and the line of action of the force.
Couple is a pair of forces, equal in magnitude but opposite in direction, whose lines of
motion do not coincide.
Centre of gravity is the point on an object through which the entire weight of the object
seems to act upon.
Stability of an object refers to its ability to return to its original position after it has been
displaced from that position.
Pressure is force acting per unit area.
Upthrust/buoyancy force is an upward force on a body produced by the surrounding fluid
(i.e., a liquid or a gas) in which it is fully or partially immersed, due to the pressure difference
of the fluid between the top and bottom of the object.
Archimedes Principle states that the upthrust experienced by an object partially or entirely
immersed in a fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object.
Newtons first law of motion states that a body will continue in its state of rest or uniform
motion in a straight line unless an external resultant force acts on it.
Newtons second law states that the rate of change of momentum of a body is proportional
to the resultant force acting on it and the change takes place in the direction of the force.
Newtons third law states that: If body A exerts a force on body B, then body B exerts a
force of equal magnitude but in the opposite direction on body A.
Principal of conservation of momentum states that the total momentum of a system of

objects remains constant provided no resultant external force acts on the system.
Work, Energy And Power

Work is the mechanical transfer of energy to a system or from a system by an external force
on it.
Heat is the non-mechanical transfer of energy from the environment to the system or from
the system to the environment due to temperature difference between the two.
Principle of conservation of energy states that energy cannot be created nor destroyed in
any process.
Gravitational Potential Energy is defined as the amount of work done in order to raise the
body to the height h from a reference level.
Power is defined as the rate of work done or energy converted with respect to time.
Circular Motion
Angular displacement, is the angle subtended at centre of a circle by an arc of equal
length to the radius.
Angular velocity, is the rate of change of angular displacement with respect to time.
Period T of an object in circular motion is the time taken for the object to make one complete
revolution.
Frequency f of an object in circular motion is the number of complete revolutions made by
the object per unit time.
Thermal Physics
Internal energy is a function of state and the total microscopic kinetic and potential energies
of the particles composing the system.
Specific latent heat of fusion, Lf , is defined as the amount of heat required per unit mass
to change a substance from the solid phase to the liquid phase without any change in
temperature
Specific latent heat of vaporization, Lv, is defined as the amount of heat required per unit
mass to change a substance from the liquid phase to the vapor phase without any change in
temperature.
First law of thermodynamics state that internal energy is a function of state and the
increase in internal energy is equal to the sum of the heat supplied to system and work done
on system.
Waves
Displacement is the distance moved by the particle from its equilibrium position.
The amplitude of a wave is the maximum displacement of the particle from its equilibrium
position.
The wavelength is the distance between 2 successive points on a wave which are in phase
with one another.
The period is the time taken for a particle on the wave to complete one oscillation.
The frequency of a wave is the number of complete oscillations that pass through a given
point in 1 second. (Units: Hertz (Hz) or s-1)
A compression is a region where particles are close to one another. (High pressure)
A rarefaction is a region where the particles are further apart. (Low pressure)
Phase Difference () between two particles or two waves tells us how much a particle (or
wave) is in front or behind another particle (or wave).
Intensity of a wave is the rate of transfer of energy per unit area perpendicular to the
direction of travel of the wave.
Oscillations
Periodic motion is the regular, repetitive motion of a body which continually retraces its
path at regular intervals.
Period T of a periodic motion is the time to make one complete cycle.
Frequency f of a periodic motion is the number of cycles per unit time.
Angular frequency of a periodic motion is the rate of change of angular displacement with
respect to time.
Displacement of an object is the distance of the oscillating particle from its equilibrium
position at any instant.
Amplitude of a periodic motion is the magnitude of the maximum displacement of the
oscillating particle from the equilibrium position.
Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM) is defined as the oscillatory motion of a particle whose
acceleration a is always directed towards a fixed point and is directly proportional to its
displacement x from that fixed point but in the opposite direction to the displacement.
Damping is the process whereby energy is taken from the oscillating system.
Natural frequency of the system is the frequency at which it will vibrate freely.

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Measurement

Forces And Dynamics

Principal of conservation of momentum states that the total momentum of a system of

Work, Energy And Power

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