LIST OF PHYSICS TERMS

CHAPTER ONE (INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICS )

ITEM MEANING / DEFINITION

Physical quantity A quantity that can be measured

Base quantity A physical quantity that cannot be defined in terms of other

physical quantities

Derived quantity A physical quantity that is derived by combining base

quantities. This can be done by multiplication or division or
both.

Precision / Consistency A measurement is more consistent when there is a smaller

deviation among the readings.

Accuracy The accuracy of a measurement is how close the

measurement is to the actual value of the quantity being
measured.
A measurement is more accurate when the reading is closer
to the actual value

Sensitivity The ability of an instrument to detect small changes in the

physical quantity that is measured

Error The difference between the reading obtained and the actual
value

Systematic error A systematic error is an experimental error that will produce

readings which are either always higher or always lower
than the actual value that is being measured.

Random error A random error is caused by uncertainties in a measurement

that will produce readings that could be higher or lower than
the actual value that is being measured.

Parallax error Is a random error which occurs when the eye of the observer
is not directly above the scale of the instrument, causing the
line of sight to be not perpendicular to the scale

Zero error Is a systematic error where the instrument does not show
zero reading when it is not taking a measurement.

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CHAPTER TWO (FORCES AND MOTION)

ITEM MEANING / DEFINITION

Linear motion Motion along a straight line

Scalar quantity A physical quantity which has only magnitude

Vector quantity A physical quantity which has both magnitude and direction

Velocity The rate of change of displacement

Speed The rate of change of distance

Acceleration The rate of change of velocity

Distance The total length of the path travelled

Displacement Displacement is the shortest distance from one point to

another point along a specific direction

Inertia The tendency of an object to resist change to its state of rest

or motion.

Newton’s First law An object will remain at rest or motion with uniform
velocity along a straight line unless it is acted upon by an
external force.

Newton’s Second law The net force on an object is proportional to the rate of
change in momentum.

Newton’s Third law To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction

Momentum The product of mass and velocity of an object

Principle of conservation of The total momentum of a system is constant if no external

momentum forces act on the system.
.
Force A push or a pull that can change the size, shape or velocity
of an object.

Impulse Change of momentum.

Impulsive force A large force that acts for a short period of time during a
collision or explosion

Weight The force of gravity which is exerted on it by earth.

Mass The amount of matter in the object.

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 ITEM MEANING / DEFINITION

Free fall Free fall occurs when an object falling under the force of
gravity only without being affected by any other external
forces.

Work The product of force and the displacement along the

direction of the force.

Energy The capacity to do work.

Gravitational field The region in which an object experiences a force due to

gravitational attraction.

Potential energy The energy of an object because of its position.

Elastic potential energy The energy of an object when it is stretched or compressed

Kinetic energy The energy of an object due to its motion

The principle of conservation Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can be

of energy transformed from one form to another, but the total energy
in a closed system is constant.

Power The rate at which work is done or energy is transferred.

Elasticity The property of an object that enables it to return to its

original shape and dimensions (size) after an applied
external force is removed.

Hooke’s law The extension of a spring is directly proportional to the

stretching force provided the elastic limit is not exceeded.

Elastic limit The elastic limit of a spring is the maximum stretching force
which can be applied to the spring before it ceases to be
elastic.

Force constant (spring The force constant of a spring is the force per unit
constant) extension.

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CHAPTER THREE (FORCES AND PRESSURE)

ITEM MEANING / DEFINITION

Pressure The force acting perpendicularly on unit area of a surface.

Atmospheric Pressure The pressure which is caused by the weight of the thick
layer of air (atmosphere) above the earth’s surface.

Archimedes’ principle An object that is completely or partially immersed in a

fluid is acted on by a buoyant force which is equal to the
weight of the displaced fluid.

Bernoulli’s principle In a steady flow of a fluid, the pressure of the fluid

decreases when the velocity of the fluid increases.

Pascal's principle The pressure applied on the surface of an enclosed liquid

is transmitted uniformly throughout the liquid

Law of flotation The weight of an object floating on the surface of a liquid

is equal to the weight of the liquid displaced by the object.

CHAPTER FOUR (HEAT)

ITEM MEANING / DEFINITION

Temperature The degree of hotness of an object

Heat Energy transferred from hot object to a colder object.

Thermal equilibrium Two objects are in thermal equilibrium when the net rate
of heat transfer between them is zero.

Heat capacity The heat capacity of an object is the quantity of heat

energy required to increase its temperature by 1oC.

Specific heat capacity The quantity of heat energy required to increase the
temperature of 1 kg of the substance by 1 oC or 1 K.

Latent heat The heat absorbed or the heat released at constant

temperature during a change of phase.

Specific latent heat The amount of heat energy required to change the phase
of 1 kg of the substance at a constant temperature.

Specific latent heat of fusion The quantity of heat energy required to change 1 kg of the

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 ITEM MEANING / DEFINITION
substance from solid to liquid without a change in
temperature.
Specific latent heat of The quantity of heat energy required to change 1 kg of the
vaporisation substance from liqiud to gas without a change in
temperature.

Boiling A process where a liquid changes to vapour at a constant

temperature known as the boiling point.

Boyle’s law The pressure of a fixed mass of gas is inversely

proportional to its volume provided the temperature of the
gas is kept constant.

Charles’ Law The volume of a fixed mass of gas is directly proportional

to its absolute temperature provided the pressure of the
gas is kept constant.

Pressure law The pressure of a fixed mass of gas is directly

proportional to its absolute temperature provided the
volume of the gas is kept constant.

CHAPTER FIVE (LIGHT)

ITEM MEANING / DEFINITION

Reflection of light Reflection of light occurs when a light ray is incident on a
mirror and changes its direction of propagation

Laws of reflection 1 The incident ray, reflected ray and the normal at the
point of incidence all lie in the same plane.
2 The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of
reflection.

Refraction of light The change of direction of propagation light when it

crosses the boundary between two materials of different
optical densities.

Laws of refraction 1 The incident ray, refracted ray and the normal at the
point of incidence all lie in the same plane.
2 Snell's law: The ratio (sin i) / (sin r) is a constant.

Apparent depth The distance of the image formed by refraction from the
surface of the water.

Real depth The distance of the object from the surface of the water.

Total internal reflection Total internal reflection occurs when light travelling in a

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 ITEM MEANING / DEFINITION
denser medium towards a less dense medium is totally
reflected when the angle of incidence exceeds the critical
angle
Critical angle The angle of incidence in the optically denser medium for
which the angle of refraction in the less dense medium is
90o

Convex lens Converges parallel light rays to a point

Concave lens Diverges parallel light rays from a point.

Focal length The distance between the principal focus, F and the
optical centre, O of a lens.

CHAPTER SIX (WAVES)

ITEM MEANING / DEFINITION

Wave motion Wave motion carries energy from one place to another
place in a medium without the transfer of the particles
along the medium.
Wavefront A wavefront is a line or plane where the vibrations of
every point on it are in phase
Transverse wave A wave in which the vibration of particles in the medium
is at perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the
wave.
Longitudinal wave A wave in which the vibration of particles in the medium
is parallel to the direction of propagation of the wave.
Amplitude The maximum displacement from its equilibrium position.

Period The time taken to make one complete oscillation

Frequency, f The number of complete oscillations made by a vibrating

system in one second
One complete oscillation A complete oscillation may be referred as the movement
of a vibrating system from one extreme position to the
other and back to the same position.
Wavelength, λ The wavelength is the distance between successive points
of the same phase in a wave.
Damping Damping occurs when an oscillating system loses energy
due to frictional forces.

Forced oscillation Forced oscillation occurs when a system oscillates under

the influence of an external driving force.
Natural frequency The frequency of a system when it oscillates freely.

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 ITEM MEANING / DEFINITION
Resonance Resonance occurs when a system oscillates at the
maximum amplitude when the driving frequency is equal
to the natural frequency of the system.
Reflection of waves Reflection of waves is the change in direction of
propagation when a wave strikes an obstacle.
Incident waves The waves moving towards an obstacle.

Reflected wave The wave which has undergone a change in direction of

propagation after reflection.
Angle of incidence The angle between the direction of propagation of the
incident wave and the normal
Angle of reflection The angle between the direction of propagation of
reflected wave and the normal.
Law of Reflection The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection

Refraction of waves Refraction is the change of direction of propagation when

the speed of a wave changes as it moves from one
medium to another
Diffraction of wave Diffraction of waves is the spreading of waves as they
pass through an aperture or around the edge of an obstacle
Principle of superposition The sum of the displacements of all the component waves
at the point.
Coherent waves Waves of the same frequency and are in phase.

Interference Superposition of two coherent waves constructively or

destructively
Constructive interference Occurs when two waves that are in phase superimpose
to produce a wave with crests and troughs of maximum
amplitude.
Destructive interference Occurs when two waves that are out of phase superimpose
to produce zero resultant amplitude
Antinode A point where constructive interference occurs.

Node A point where destructive interference occurs.

Sound wave Sounds are longitudinal waves produced by vibrations

such as the vibrations of the diaphragm of a loudspeaker,
guitar string and tuning fork.
Loudness The intensity of a sound as heard by an observer (depends
on the amplitude of the sound)
Pitch The pitch of the sound is an indication of the sharpness of
a sound (depends on the frequency of the sound)
SONAR Sound Navigation and Ranging (SONAR) is a system
used to detect underwater objects or to determine the
depth of the water by means of an echo.
Electromagnetic waves Electromagnetic waves are propagating waves in space
with electric and magnetic components.

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CHAPTER SEVEN (ELECTRICITY)

ITEM MEANING / DEFINITION

Current Current is the rate of flow of electric charge

Ampere, A SI unit of current

Coulomb, C A unit of charge
Electric field An electric field is a region where an electric force acts on
a particle with an electric charge.
Potential Difference Potential difference is defined as the work done to move a
unit of charge from one point to another in an electric
field.
Ohm’s Law The electric current flowing through a conductor is
directly proportional to the potential difference across the
ends of the conductor, if the temperature and other
physical dimensions remain constant.
Ohmic Conductor Material which obey Ohm’s Law

Non Ohmic Conductor Material which do not obey Ohm’s Law

Resistance Resistance is defined as (potential difference)/(current)

Effective Resistance The effective resistance is the combined resistance in the

Electromotive Force (e.m.f)
Internal Resistance
Electrical Energy
Power
circuit.
The total energy supplied by a cell when one unit of
charge flows through the cell.
The resistance within a cell due to its electrolyte or
electrodes
Energy supplied by a source of electricity (cell / battery)
when current flows in a closed circuit.
Power is the rate of transfer of electrical energy

Power Rating The power rating of an appliance denotes the rate at which
it consumes electrical energy at a certain voltage

CHAPTER EIGHT (ELECTROMAGNETISM)

ITEM MEANING / DEFINITION

Electromagnet An electromagnet is a device in which magnetism is
produced by an electric current. It is a temperory magnet.
It acts as a magnet when the current is flow and ceases to
be a magnet when the current is switched off.

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 ITEM MEANING / DEFINITION
Magnetic field A magnetic field is a region in which a magnetic materials
experiences a force.
Catapult field The resultant field produced when a straight wire carries a
current in a uniform magnetic field.
Direct current motor A direct current motor is used to convert electrical energy
into rotational kinetic energy.
Electromagnetic induction The production of an electromotive force in a conductor
due to a changing magnetic flux.
Induced e.m.f. An emf produced in a conductor when there is a changing
magnetic flux or cutting of magnetic flux by the conductor
Induced current Induced current is produced in a circuit when there is a
changing magnetic flux or cutting of magnetic flux by a
conductor
Faraday's law The magnitude of the induced e.m.f is directly
proportional to the rate at which a conductor cuts through
the magnetic flux.
Lenz's law Lenz's Law state that an induced electric current always
flows in such a direction as to oppose the change in
magnetic flux.
Direct current Current which flows in one direction.

Alternating current
Transformer
Step-up transformer
Current which flows back and forth in two opposite
directions
A device which steps up or steps down the voltage of an
alternating current.
A transformer that steps up voltage

Step-down transformer A transformer that steps down voltage

Ideal transformer
Transmission of electricity
National Grid Network
A transformer where the output power is equal to the input
power and the efficiency is 100%
The transmission of electricity from the power station to
consumers (industries and residential areas) by electric
cables
The national grid is a network of electrical cables
connecting electrical power stations to consumers of
electricity.

CHAPTER NINE (ELECTRONICS)

ITEM MEANING / DEFINITION

Thermionic emission A process of emitting electrons from a hot metal surface.

Cathode ray A beam of fast moving, high energy electrons

Semiconductor Materials whose resistance is between those of good

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 conductors and good insulators.
Doping The process of adding a small amount of impurities into
the semiconductors.
n-type semiconductor Semiconductor where the majority charge carriers are free
electrons
p-type semiconductor Semiconductor where the majority charge carriers are
holes
Semiconductor diode A p-n junction device which conducts current in one
direction only
Forward-biased A diode is forward biased when the p-end is connected to
the positive terminal of the battery and the n-end is
connected to the negative terminal of the battery.
Reverse-biased A diode is reverse biased when the p-end is connected to
the negative terminal of the battery and the n-end is
connected to the positive terminal of the battery.
Rectification To convert alternating current into direct current using
diodes
Half-wave rectification The process of rectification using a diode which allows
current flow in half of a cycle.
Full-wave rectification The process of rectification using four diodes to allow
current to flow in a complete cycle and in the same
direction.
Smoothing Capacitor A capacitor that is used to smoothen the output voltage of
a rectification process
n-p-n transistor A transistor which consists of a layer of p-type
semiconductor sandwiched between two layers of n-type
semiconductors.
p-n-p transistor A transistor which consists of a layer of n-type
semiconductor sandwiched between two layers of p-type
semiconductors.
Logic gate A logic gate is an electronic switch with one or more
inputs and only one output.
Truth table A truth table shows the results of every possible output
given every possible input.
AND gate A logic gate where the output is 1 only when both inputs
are 1
NOT gate A logic gate that inverts the input

Or gate A logic gate where the Output is 1 except when both

inputs are 0

CHAPTER TEN (RADIOACTIVITY)

ITEM MEANING / DEFINITION

Nucleus The small core of the atoms which contains the protons
and neutrons

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 ITEM MEANING / DEFINITION
Nucleon Protons and neutrons

Proton number, Z The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom

Nucleon number, A The total number of protons and neutrons in an atom.

Nuclide A nuclide is one type of nucleus with a particular proton

number and a particular nucleon number.
Isotope Atoms of an element which have the same proton number
but different nucleon numbers
Radioisotope Isotopes with unstable nuclei

Radioactivity Radioactivity is the spontaneous disintegration of unstable

nucleus into a more stable nucleus with the random
emission of radiation.
Radioactive decay Radioactive decay is a process where an unstable nucleus
becomes a more stable nucleus by emitting radiation
Alpha decay A radioactive decay where an alpha particle is emitted

Beta decay A radioactive decay where a beta particle is emitted

Gamma decay A radioactive decay where gamma rays are emitted

Half life The time taken for mass or activity of a radioactive

substance to become half its original value
Atomic mass unit (a.m.u) The atomic mass unit (a.m.u) is used to measure the
masses of atomic particles.
Nuclear fission A process involving the splitting of a heavy nucleus into
two lighter nuclei and several neutrons at the same time
Chain reaction A chain reaction is a self-sustaining reaction in which the
neutrons produced in a reaction can initiate another
similar reaction.
Nuclear fusion Nuclear fusion is the combining of two lighter nuclei to
form a heavier nucleus
Nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor produces tremendous amount of energy
through nuclear fission.

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