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PHYSICS
GCE Advanced Subsidiary Level and
GCE Advanced Level 9702
Aims
1/5. to provide, through well-designed studies, of experimental and
practical science, to
1.1 become confident citizens in a technological world and able to take
or develop an informed interest in matters of scientific import;
1.2 recognise the usefulness, and limitations, of scientific method and
to appreciate its applicability in other disciplines and in
everyday life;
1.3 be suitably prepared for studies beyond A Level in Physics, in
Engineering or in Physics-dependent vocational courses
.
2/5. to develop abilities and skills that
2.1 are relevant to the study and practice of science;
2.2 are useful in everyday life;
2.3 encourage efficient and safe practice;
2.4 encourage effective communication.

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Aims.
3/5. to develop attitudes relevant to science such as
3.1 concern for accuracy and precision;
3.2 objectivity;
3.3 integrity;
3.4 the skills of enquiry;
3.5 initiative;
3.6 inventiveness.

4/5. to stimulate interest in, and care for, the environment in relation to the
environmental impact of Physics and its applications.

5/5. promote an awareness
5.1 that the study and practice of Physics are co-operative and cumulative
activities, and are subject to social, economic, technological, ethical and
cultural influences and limitations;
5.2 that the implications of Physics may be both beneficial and detrimental to
the individual, the community and the environment;
5.3 of the importance of the use of IT for communication, as an aid to
experiments and as a tool for the interpretation of experimental and theoretical
results.
6. stimulate students and create a sustained interest in Physics so that the study
of the subject is enjoyable and satisfying

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STRUCTURE OF THE PHYSICS SYLLABUS -the subject content of the syllabus is
divided into Section Part AS (14 topics) A2 (20 topics)


I General Physics
1. Physical Quantities and Units AS/A2
2. Measurement Techniques AS/A2
II Newtonian Mechanics
3. Kinematics AS
4. Dynamics AS
5. Forces AS
6. Work, Energy, Power AS
7. Motion in a Circle /A2
8. Gravitational Field /A2
III Matter
9. Phases of Matter AS
10. Deformation of Solids AS
11. Ideal Gases /A2
12. Temperature /A2
13. Thermal Properties of Materials /A2
IV Oscillations and Waves
14. Oscillations /A2
15. Waves AS
16. Superposition AS
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V Electricity and Magnetism
17. Electric Fields AS/A2
18. Capacitance /A2
19. Current of Electricity AS
20. D.C. Circuits AS
21. Magnetic Fields /A2
22. Electromagnetism /A2
23. Electromagnetic Induction /A2
24. Alternating Currents /A2
VI Modern Physics
25. Charged Particles /A2
26. Quantum Physics /A2
27. Nuclear Physics AS/A2
VII Gathering and Communicating Information
28. Direct Sensing /A2
29. Remote Sensing /A2
30. Communicating Information /A2

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1. Physical Quantities and Units

1. Content
1.1 Physical quantities
1.2 SI Units
1.3 The Avogadro constant
1.4 Scalars and vectors
Learning Outcomes
(a) show an understanding that all physical quantities consist of a numerical magnitude and a
unit.
(b) recall the following base quantities and their units: mass (kg), length (m), time (s),
current (A), temperature (K), amount of substance (mol).
(c) express derived units as products or quotients of the base units and use the named units
listed in this syllabus as appropriate.
(d) use base units to check the homogeneity of physical equations.
(e) show an understanding of and use the conventions for labelling graph axes and table
columns each.
(k) add and subtract coplanar vectors.
(l) represent a vector as two perpendicular components.
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.
(f) use the following prefixes and their symbols to indicate decimal sub-
multiples or multiples of both base and derived units: pico (p), nano (n),
micro (), milli (m), centi (c), deci (d), kilo (k), mega (M), giga (G), tera
(T).
(g) make reasonable estimates of physical quantities included within the
syllabus.
(h) show an understanding of the significance of the Avogadro constant
as the number of atoms in 0.012 kg of Carbon-12.
(i) use molar quantities where one mole of any substance is the amount
containing a number of particles equal to the Avogadro constant.
(j) distinguish scalar and vector quantities and give examples
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Physical Quantities & Units
Physics is the study of how the universe/world behaves and how the laws of
nature operate
Physics is a mathematical science. The underlying concepts and principles
have a mathematical basis.

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Physical Quantities
Physics involves the study of physical quantities and its measurement
Accurate measurement is very important in science particularly physics,
known as the scientific method
Scientific method: observe, measure, collect data & analyse to discover a
pattern to make it a theory, and then law otherwise repeat or reject
A physical quantity is a quantity that can be measured e.g. length, mass or
time of fall
Physical quantities have a numerical value and unit but not always
Some quantities have no units e.g. pi, ratios, radian, strain
A physical quantity can be divided into base quantities and derived
quantities

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Base Quantities
Base quantities are the quantities that are conventionally accepted as
functionally independent of one another.
It is a quantity that cannot be defined in terms of other physical quantities
nor is it derived from other units, i.e. it is independent of other units.
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Common language of measurement units
Same as spoken languages, different systems of measurement evolved
throughout the world
Examples: foot, furlongs, cubit, gantang, pounds, carats, grains, kati etc
Foot is the length of King Henry VIIs foot
Although units of measurement can be converted between systems it is
cumbersome and far better to have just one system
Hence the System International (SI) system was born in 1960
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7 base quantities
The Systme International (SI) is based on 7 fundamental or base quantities
and its units are given below:
Quantity Name of unit Unit symbol
Length metre m
Mass kilogram kg
Time second s
Electric current Ampere A
Temperature Kelvin K
Amount of substance mole mol
Luminous intensity candela cd (not in syllabus)
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Beware !
A distance of thirty metres should be written as 30 m and not 30 ms or 30
m s
The letter s is never included in a unit for the plural
If a space is left between 2 letters, the letters denote different units
So, 30 m s would mean thirty metre seconds and 30 ms would mean 30
milliseconds
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Derived quantities and derived units
A derived quantity is a physics quantity that consists of some combination of base
units
It is a quantity which is derived from the base quantities and is a combination of base
units through multiplying and/or dividing them, but never added or subtracted
All derived units are expressible as products or quotients of the base units
e.g N kg m s
-2
and J kg m
2
s
-2
.
SI derived units are units of measurement defined in the International System of
Units (SI).
They are derived from the seven base units and can be expressed in base-unit
equivalents
Most derived units have a special name
The names of all SI units are written in lowercase. The unit symbols of units named
after persons are always spelled with an initial capital letter (e.g., hertz, Hz; but
meter, m).
The exception is degrees Celsius, which refers to degrees on the Celsius temperature
scale.



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Derived quantity & equations
A derived quantity has a defining equation which defines the quantity in
terms of other quantities.
It enables us to express a derived unit in terms of base-unit equivalent.
Example: F = ma ; Newton = kg m s
-2


P = F/A ; Pascal = kg m s
-2
/m
2
= kg m
-1
s
-2

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Some derived units
Derived quantity Base equivalent units _______ Symbol
area square meter m
volume cubic meter m
speed, velocity meter per second m/s or m s
-1
acceleration meter per second squared m/s/s or m s
-2
density kilogram per cubic meter kg m
-3
amount concentration mole per cubic meter mol m
-3
force kg m s
-2
Newton
work/energy kg m
2
s
-2
Joule
power kg m
2
s
-3
Watt
pressure kg m
-1
s
-2
Pascal
frequency s
-1
Hertz
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Avogadros Constant
The Avogadro constant, N
A
, is the number of atoms in 0.012 kg of
Carbon-12 or the number of particles in one mole of any substance.
The substance may be in a solid, liquid or gaseous state, and its basic
fundamental unit may either be atomic, molecular or ionic in form.
N
A
equals to 6.02 x 10 per mole.
A molar quantity is the amount per mole unit (6.02 x 10 particles) e.g
molar volume of a gas at s.t.p. is 22.4 dm.
E.g the number of atoms in 6 g of Carbon-12 is 6/12 x 6.02 x 10 or 3.01
x 10.
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Magnitude/size
Magnitudes of physical quantities range from very very large to very very small.
E.g. mass of sun is 10
30
kg and mass of electron is 10
-31
kg.
Hence, prefixes are used to describe these magnitudes.

Common prefixes


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Order of magnitude in metres
Earth to universe 1.4 x 10
26

Earth to Sun 1.5 x 10
11
Length of car 4
Diameter of hair 5 x 10
-4
Diameter of an atom 3 x 10
-10
Diameter of a nucleus 6 x 10
-15
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Scientific notation
Large and small values are usually expressed in scientific notation i.e. as a
simple number multiplied by a power of ten
A value expressed in the A x 10^ form where 1 s A < 10 is called the
standard form scientific notation.
There is far less chance of making a mistake with the number of zeroes
E.g 154 000 000 would be written as 1.54 x 10
8
0.00034 would be written as 3.4 x 10
-4

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Conversions
Since there are so many base units and derived units, and orders of
magnitudes, conversions from one unit to another is inevitable
Let us try some conversions;

a) 30 mm
2
= ? m
2

b) 865 km h
-1
= ? m s
-1
c) 300 g cm
-3
= ? kg m
-3


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a) 30 mm
2
= ? m
2

( ) ( )
2
3
2
m 10 mm 1

=
2 6 2
m 10 mm 1

=
2 5 2 6 2
m 10 3.0 or m 10 30 mm 30

=
22

b) 865 km h
-1
= ? m s
-1

1 1
s m 240 h km 865

=
23

c) 300 g cm
-3
= ? kg m
-3
-3 5 3
m kg 10 3.0 cm g 300 =

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Conventions for symbols & units
Symbols & units when printed on paper, appear in different styles
At A/AS level and beyond, there is a special convention for labeling
columns of data in tables and graph axes
The symbol is written first, separated by a forward slash from the unit
Then the data is presented in a column, or along an axis, as pure numbers
as it is then algebraically correct
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Equations
For any equation to make sense, each term involved in the equation must have the
same base units
Look at this equation: 3 kg + 6 kg = 9 m
The numbers are correct but the units make it nonsense
A term in an equation is a group of numbers and symbols, and each of the terms is
added to, or subtracted from other terms
In any equation where each term has the same base units, the equation is said to be
homogeneous or balanced
An equation is homogeneous if quantities on BOTH sides of the equation have the
same unit.
e.g. s = ut + at
2

LHS : unit of s = m
RHS : unit of ut = m s
-1
x s = m
unit of at
2
= m s
-2
x s
2
= m
Unit on LHS = unit on RHS, hence equation is homogeneous
A homogeneous equation may not be physically correct but a physically correct
equation is definitely homogeneous
e.g. a) s = 2ut + at
2
is homogeneous but not physically correct
(correct equation is s = ut + at),
b) F = ma is homogeneous and physically correct (try it!)


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Dimension analysis
The dimensions of a physical quantity shows the relation between that
quantity to the base quantities
e.g the dimensions of area are Length x Length hence area is the
product of Length.
Dimension analysis is defined as a technique or method in which the
dimensions of physical quantities can be expressed in terms of a
combination of basic quantities.
Dimensions are physical quantities which can be treated as algebraic
quantities.
e.g. dimension of length is L, mass is M, time is T etc
Dimensional analysis is used
to determine the unit of the physical quantity.
to determine whether a physical equation is correct or not
dimensionally by using the principle of homogeneity.
but not if a formula is valid or not


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a) To confirm if equation is homogeneous

E.g: The period of oscillation of a simple pendulum is dependent on the
length l and acceleration of free fall, g.
Is the equation;
T = 2t (l/g) or T = 2t (g/l) ?

Take the first equation T = 2t (l/g)
LHS : unit of T = s
RHS : unit of 2t (l/g) = [ m/(m s
-2
) ]

= s
Equation is homogeneous since unit on LHS = RHS
(try the 2
nd
formula!)
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b) To find units of constant

E.g: Newtons Universal Law of gravitation, says that the gravitational
force between two objects is given by the formula
F = GMm/r
2
where F - force,
G - Universal Gravitational constant,
M, m - masses of objects,
r - distance apart.
Find the units of G.

Solution
To find units of G : Rearrange the equation.
G = Fr
2
/Mm
therefore unit of G = N m
2
kg
-2
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Determining the dimension and unit
Determine the dimension and the S.I. unit for the following quantities:

a. Velocity
b. Acceleration
c. Linear momentum
d. Density
e. Force
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Example solution for velocity




..... dimension

Hence the S.I. unit of velocity is m s
-1
.
| |
| |
| | interval time
nt displaceme in change
Velocity =
| |
| |
| | t
s
v
A
A
= | |
1
LT
T
L

= = v
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Exercises
Determine whether the following expressions are dimensionally correct

a. where s, u, a and t represent the displacement, initial
velocity, acceleration and the time of an object respectively.

b. where s, u, v and g represent the displacement, initial
velocity, final velocity and the gravitational acceleration respectively.

c. where T, l and g represent the period of simple
pendulum , length of the simple pendulum and the gravitational
acceleration respectively.
2
2
1
at ut s + =
gs 2 u v =
g
l
2 T=
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Using homogeneity to find units of unknown
quantities type questions
When an equation is homogeneous, then the balancing of base units
provides a means of finding the units of an unknown quantity e.g.

1. Use base units to show that the following equation,
work done =gain in kinetic energy +gain in
gravitational energy, is homogeneous
2. The thermal energy Q needed to melt a solid of mass m
without any change in temperature is given by the
equation,
Q = mL where L is a constant.
Find the base units of L.
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Scalars & Vectors
All physical units have a magnitude and a unit
For some quantities, magnitude and units alone do not give us enough
information to fully describe the quantity
e.g we can calculate speed, if time and distance are given, but we cannot
find out how far a car is from its starting point unless we know the
direction of travel
In this case, the speed and direction must be specified
Hence, a quantity that can be fully described by giving its magnitude, is
known as a scalar quantity whereas,
A vector quantity has magnitude and direction


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Examples of scalar & vector quantities
Quantity Classification
mass scalar
speed scalar
temperature scalar
kinetic energy scalar
volume scalar
density scalar
length scalar
pressure scalar
weight vector
velocity vector
acceleration vector
force vector
moment vector

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Vector representation
One way to represent a vector is by an arrow and the length of the vector
drawn to scale, as the magnitude


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Addition of vectors
The addition of scalars with the same unit is not a problem as normal rules
of addition are applied
e.g. a beaker of volume 250 cm and a bucket of volume 9.0 litres have a
total volume of 9250 cm
In adding vectors we have to take into consideration magnitude as well as
direction
If vectors are in the same direction
i.e. if angle between the forces is 0 just add them e.g. 2 weights of 30 N &
20 N have a combined weight of 50 N since in the same direction i.e.
downwards due to gravity
If vectors are in opposite directions
i.e. angle between the forces is 180 we subtract them e.g. 2 vectors, one 30
N South and the other 20 N North, the resultant is 10 N South
For the above examples for all other angles between the direction of forces,
the combined effect or resultant is some value between 10 N and 50 N
which can be found by means of a vector triangle, scale diagram or
trigonometry




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Exercise
A ship is traveling due North with a speed of 12 km/h relative to the water.
There is a current in the water flowing at 4 km/h in an Easterly direction
relative to the shore. Determine the velocity of the ship relative to the shore
by :
scale drawing
calculation
(ans: 12.6 km/h 18 East of North)

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Exercise
A swimmer who can swim in still water at a speed of 4 km h
-1
, is
swimming in a river. The river flows at a speed of 3 km h
-1
Calculate the
speed of the swimmer relative to the river bank when she swims:
downstream
upstream
(ans: 7 km/h, 1 km/h)

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Coplanar vectors
When 3 or more vectors need to be added, the same principles apply,
provided the vectors are all on the same plane i.e. coplanar
To subtract 2 vectors, reverse the direction i.e. change the sign of the
vector to be subtracted, and add

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Resolution of vectors
Since 2 vectors can be added together to give a resultant, it follows that a
single vector can be resolved into 2 vectors or components
This method applies to all types of vector quantities
Consider a force of magnitude F acting at an angle of below the
horizontal.
so, F horizontal = F cos
and, F vertical = F sin F


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Exercise
An aircraft is travelling 35 East of North at a speed of 310 km h
-1
.
Calculate the speed of the aircraft in
(a) the Northerly direction
(b) the Easterly direction

(ans: 250 km/h, 180 km/h)