Definitions

Scalar quantities are quantities with magnitude only.

Vector quantities are quantities with both magnitude and direction.
Parallax Error The error caused in in the apparent position of the object
due to the viewing angle that is other than the angle that is
perpendicular to the object.
Zero Error Error in measuring instrument scale [not calibrated]
Distance The length of path travelled. It does not depend on
direction.
Displacement The shortest distance travelled from starting position to
ending position.
Speed The distance moved per unit time.
Velocity Change in displacement per unit time
average speed and average velocity for the whole journey
instantaneous speed The distance moved per time at specific time
Initial speed The distance moved per time at time = 0
Acceleration is the change in velocity with time.
Positive acceleration Change in velocity is in the same direction as the velocity.
• Speed is increasing.
Negative acceleration: change in velocity is in the opposite direction to the velocity
[deceleration] • Speed is decreasing.
free fall is any motion of a body where gravity is the only force
acting upon it
terminal velocity The velocity of falling object when its weight equal to
upward air resistance
Force it is either a push or pull that one object exerts on the other
object
Newton’s First Law It states that every object will continue in its state of rest or
(Balanced Forces) uniform motion in a straight line unless a resultant force acts
[Law of inertia] on it

Inertia the reluctance of the object to change its state of rest or

motion [depend on object mass]
Newton’s Second Law It states that when a resultant force acts on an object of a
(Unbalanced Forces) constant mass, the object will accelerate in the direction of
the resultant force.

1 IGCSE - Physics | Mr. Adham Zewin

Friction is a force which always opposes the motion between two
surfaces in contact.
Newton’s Third Law It states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite
reaction, and they act on mutually opposite bodies.
Mass The amount of substance in a body
Weight The amount of gravitational force acting on a body.
It is also known as gravitational force or gravity.
Density is its mass per unit volume.
The moment of force Is the product of the force and the perpendicular distance
(or torque or turning from the pivot to the line of action of the force.
effect of force)
Principle of moment states that when a body is in equilibrium, the sum of
clockwise moments about a pivot is equal to the sum of
anticlockwise moments about the same pivot
The centre of gravity is the point through which its whole weight appears to act
(C.G) for any orientation of the object.
The centre of mass of is the point which its entire mass seems to act.
an object
Work product of the force and the distance moved by the object
in the direction of the force.
Principle of It states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed in
Conservation of any process. It can only be converted from one form to
Energy another but the total amount remains constant.
One watt is defined as the rate of work done or energy conversion of
one joule per second
Pressure is the force per unit area.
Brownian motion is the constant random motion of tiny particles suspended
in a fluid (i.e. smoke particles in air or pollen grains in water).
Conduction is the transfer of thermal energy without any flow of the
material medium
Convection is the transfer of thermal energy by means of currents in
fluids (liquids or gases) only.
A convection current is the movement of fluid caused by the change in density in
various parts of the fluid.
Radiation is the continual emission of infra-red (IR) waves from the
surface of all bodies, transmitted without the medium.

2 IGCSE - Physics | Mr. Adham Zewin

Temperature how hot or cold an object is (degree of hotness)
Heat the amount of thermal energy that is being transferred from
a hotter to a colder object (Quantity of hotness)
Fixed point is the standard degree of hotness or coldness such as a
melting or boiling point of a substance.

Ice point is the temperature of pure melting ice at one atmospheric

pressure and has a value of 0⁰C.

Steam point is the temperature of steam from pure water boiling at one
atmospheric pressure and has a value of 100⁰C.
Kinetic energy of Energy due to motion of molecules
molecules
Potential energy of Energy due to the stretching and compression of the
molecules intermolecular forces as the molecules vibrate.
Heat capacity, C Amount of heat required to increase the temperature of the
object by 1 K or 1oC.
Specific heat capacity, Amount of heat required to increase the temperature of
c 1 kg (unit mass) of the substance by 1 K or 1oC.
Latent heat is the energy absorbed or released when there is a change
in state.

Latent heat of fusion, The amount of heat needed to change the substance from
Lf solid to liquid, or vice versa, without a change in
temperature.
Specific latent heat of The amount of heat needed to change 1kg of the substance
fusion, l f from solid to liquid, or vice versa, without a change in
temperature.
Latent heat of The amount of heat needed to change the substance from
vaporisation, L v liquid to gas, or vice versa, without a change in
temperature.
Specific latent heat of The amount of heat needed to change 1kg of the substance
vaporisation, l v from liquid to gas, or vice versa, without a change in
temperature.
Boiling Occurs at a fixed temperature
Evaporation Occurs at any (range) temperature

3 IGCSE - Physics | Mr. Adham Zewin

A wave is a phenomenon in which energy is transferred from one
point to another without the transfer of any material
medium through vibrations
Transverse Waves Waves which travel in a direction perpendicular to the
direction of the vibration.
Longitudinal Waves Waves which travel in a direction parallel to the direction of
the vibration.
Rest position the undisturbed position of particles or fields when they are
not vibrating.
Displacement the distance that a certain point in the medium has moved
from its rest position.
Peak –or Crest The highest point above the rest position.
Trough the lowest point below the rest position.
Amplitude (A) the maximum displacement of a point of a wave from its rest
position.
Wavelength (λ) distance covered by a full cycle of the wave.
Usually measured from peak to peak, or trough to trough.
Time period the time taken for a full cycle of the wave.
Usually measured from peak to peak, or trough to trough.
Frequency (f) the number of waves passing a point each second.
Wavefront Line connecting points with the same phase
Usually joining all the crests or troughs in a wave
Wave Speed, v distance traveled by a wave per unit time v = f λ
Luminous objects objects that give off light.
Non-luminous objects: objects do not give off light
Reflection of light is the change in direction of light rays that strike the
boundary between different mediums
angle of incidence Angle between the normal and the incident ray.
angle of reflection The angle between the reflected ray and the normal
First Law of reflection The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal to the
surface all lie in the same plane.
Second Law of The angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. i.e
reflection i = r.

4 IGCSE - Physics | Mr. Adham Zewin

Virtual image is an image that cannot be captured on a screen;
Virtual image is always upright whereas real image is
inverted.
Real image is an image that can be captured on a screen.
Refraction is the bending of light rays when it passes from one optical
medium to another.
First Law The incident ray, the normal and the refracted ray all lie in
the same plane.
Second Law For two particular mediums, the ratio of the sine of the
angle of incidence to the sine of the angle of refraction is a
constant.
Refractive Index • the ratio of the speed of light in vacuum or air (c) to
the speed of light in medium
• the ratio of the sine of the angle of incidence
(vacuum) to the sine of the angle of refraction is a
constant
Total Internal It is the reflection of the light rays in the optically higher
Reflection dense medium when they incident with an angle exceeds
the critical angle of the optically higher dense medium.
Critical angle It is the angle of incidence in the dense medium that
corresponds to an angle of refraction in the less dense
medium equals to 90°
Optical Fibres are very fine, optically pure glass fibre through which light
undergoes total internal reflection to transmit data from one
end to the other
Converging lens or Lens that is thicker in the middle than at the edges will make
Convex lens parallel light rays converge to a point.
Diverging lens or Lens that is thinner in the middle than at the edges will
Concave lens make parallel light rays diverge.
Principal axis is the line passing symmetrically through the optical centre
of the lens.
Optical centre, C is the midway point between the lens’ surfaces on its
principal axis. Rays passing through the optical centre are
not deviated.
Focal length, f is the distance between the optical centre C and the focus
point F.
Focal plane is the plane which passes through the focal point and is
perpendicular to the principal axis.
Linear magnification is the ratio of image height to the object height

5 IGCSE - Physics | Mr. Adham Zewin

Properties of a. Propagate in materialistic media and non- materialistic
electromagnetic media (space).
waves
b. Propagate in the space at constant velocity, which is
3 x108 m/s.
c. Consist of vibrating electric and magnetic fields at a
certain frequency, in phase with each other,
perpendicular to each other and perpendicular to the
direction of wave propagation.
d. Transverse waves only.
EM Spectrum consists of seven components: Gamma Rays, X-rays,
Ultraviolet (UV), Visible Light, Infra-red (IR), Microwaves and
Radio Waves.
Sound is a form of energy propagated from one point to another
as a longitudinal wave and consists of a series of
compressions (C) and rarefactions (R) in the medium.
Rarefaction is a region in which air particles are pulled from each other
and the air is at a pressure lower than surrounding air
pressure.
compression is a region in which air particles are pushed towards each
other and the air is at a pressure higher than surrounding
air pressure;
Pitch is related to the frequency of a sound wave.
The higher the frequency, the higher the pitch.

Loudness is related to the amplitude of a sound wave.

The larger the amplitude, the louder the sound.
Magnetic induction is a process where a magnetic material becomes an induced
magnet when it is brought near to or in contact with a
magnet.
Magnetic domain is a group of atomic magnets pointing in the same direction
Right Hand Grip Rule is used to determine the pole of a permanent magnet
produced using electrical method.
Thumb represents the North pole of a magnet;
Curling fingers represents the direction of current flow
Right Hand Grip Rule. However, now the thumb is the direction of current and
curling fingers represents the direction of magnetic field.
An electric field is a region where an electric charge experiences an electric
force.

6 IGCSE - Physics | Mr. Adham Zewin

Insulators Materials where electrons remain on the surface of it and do
not move about freely within the material.
Conductors Materials that allow electrons to move freely within the
material.
An electric current is a flow of charge, and in a wire this will be a flow of
electrons.
Electromotive Force Work done by the source to drive a unit charge round a
(e.m.f) complete circuit.
Potential Difference Work done to drive a unit charge through a component or
(p.d) across two points.
The volt Is the potential difference between two points when a work
of 1 Joule is done to transfer quantity of electricity of 1
Coulomb between these two points.
Resistance of a component is the ratio of the potential difference V
across it to the current I passing through it.
A potential divider is a simple circuit with resistors arranged in series to obtain a
fraction of the main voltage provided by a voltage supply
A diode is a device that allows current to flow in one direction only
Almost all diodes are made of silicon.
A rectifier changes AC into DC. The process is called rectification and it
uses diodes
A thermistor is a device that has a resistance changes with temperature.
When temperature increases, the resistance of thermistor
decreases
LDR is a device that has a resistance changes with light intensity
(amount of light) shining on it.
When light intensity increases, its resistance decreases.

A fuse is safety device to prevent excessive current flow and hence

protect wires and electrical appliance from overheating and
damaged
Faraday's Law of states that the magnitude of the induced e.m.f. in a circuit is
Induction directly proportional to the rate of change of magnetic field
lines cutting it.
Lenz's law states that the direction of the induced e.m.f. (and hence
induced current in a closed circuit) is always such that its
magnetic effect opposes the change producing it.

7 IGCSE - Physics | Mr. Adham Zewin

Fleming’s Right Hand states that the direction of induced current (indicated by
Rule Middle Finger) is perpendicular to both the direction of
magnetic field from North pole to South pole (indicated by
Index Finger) and the direction of movement or motion
(indicated by Thumb).
Fleming’s Left Hand states that the direction of force (indicated by Thumb) is
Rule perpendicular to both the direction of magnetic field from
North pole to South pole (indicated by Index Finger) and
the direction of current (indicated by Middle Finger).
A transformer is a device that can change the potential difference or
voltage of an alternating current:
• a step-up transformer increases the voltage
• a step-down transformer reduces the voltage

The atomic number is the number of protons it contains.

The mass number is the total number of protons and neutrons it contains
Nucleons number
Isotopes are forms of an element that have the same number of
protons but different numbers of neutrons

Nuclear fission is the splitting of a large atomic nucleus into smaller nuclei.
Nuclear fusion is when two small, light nuclei join together to make one
heavy nucleus.

8 IGCSE - Physics | Mr. Adham Zewin