FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICS

Contents Page No.

1. VECTOR 1
2. LAWS OF MOTION 5
3. UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION 7
4. RAY OPTICS 15
5. ELASTICITY 18
6. ELECTRICITY & MAGNETISM 21
7. MODERN PHYSICS 27
8. APPENDIX –(a) Units & Dimensions I – IV
(b) Fundamental Physical V
constants
 VECTOR

Scalar Quantities
The quantities which have magnitude only, but no direction. For example : mass, length, time,
speed, temperature etc.

Vector Quantities
The quantities which have magnitude as well as direction and obey vector laws of addition,
multiplication etc. For examples : Displacement, velocity, acceleration, force , momentum etc.

Types of vectors
Vector can be divided into two types
1. Polar Vectors : These are those vectors which have a starting point or a point of
application as a displacement, force etc.
2. Axial Vectors : These are those vectors which represent rotational effect and act along
the axis of rotation in accordance with right hand screw rule as angular velocity, torque,
angular momentum etc.

Some special types of vector

(i) Equal Vectors Two vectors of equal magnitude, in same direction are called
equal vectors.

A B

(ii) Negative Vectors Two vectors of equal magnitude but in opposite directions are
called negative vectors.

A B

(iii) Zero Vector or Null Vector A vector whose magnitude is zero is known as a
zero or null vector. Its direction is not defined. It is denoted by 0. Velocity of a
stationary object, acceleration of an object moving with uniform velocity and
resultant of two equal and opposite vectors are the examples of null vector.
(iv) Unit Vector A vector having unit magnitude is called a unit vector. A unit vector
in the direction of vector A is given by  = ⃗A / ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
|A| . A unit vector is unitless and
dimensionless vector and represents direction only.
(v) Orthogonal Unit Vectors The unit vectors along the direction of orthogonal axis,
i.e., X – axis, Y – axis and Z – axis are called orthogonal unit vectors. They are
represented by
̂ Z
𝒌

𝒋̂
Y
X 𝒊̂

(vi) Co-initial Vectors Vectors having a common initial point, are called co-initial
vectors.
𝐴 ⃗B

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 (vii) Collinear Vectors Vectors having equal or unequal magnitudes but acting along
the same parallel lines are called collinear vectors.
𝐴
⃗B

(viii) Coplanar Vectors Vectors acting in the same plane are called coplanar vectors.
(ix) Localised Vector A vector whose initial point is fixed, is called a localised
vector.
(x) Non-localised or Free Vector A vector whose initial point is not fixed is called a
nonlocalised or a free vector.
(xi) Position Vector A vector representing the straight line distance and the direction
of any point or object with respect to the origin, is called position vector.

Addition of Vectors
(i) Only vectors of same nature can be added.
(ii) The addition of two vectors ⃗A and ⃗B is resultant ⃗R given by

where Θ is the angle between vector ⃗A and vector ⃗B, and β is the angle which ⃗R makes with the
direction of ⃗A.
(iii) Vector addition is commutative: ⃗A + ⃗B = ⃗B+A
⃗
(iv) Vector addition is associative: ⃗A + (B ⃗ ) = (A
⃗ +C ⃗ +B ⃗
⃗ )+C
(v) R⃗ is maximum if Θ = 0 and minimum if Θ = 1800

Subtraction of two vectors

(i) Only vectors of same nature can be subtracted.
(ii) Subtraction of B ⃗ = vector addition of A
⃗ from A ⃗ and (-B
⃗ ). The resultant R
⃗ may be given by:

⃗ and B
where Θ is the angle between A ⃗ and β is the angle which R ⃗.
⃗ makes with the direction of A

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Triangle Law of Vectors

If two vectors P and Q acting at a point are inclined at an angle θ, then their resultant
R = (P2 + Q2 + 2PQ cos θ)1/2

If the resultant vector R subtends an angle ∅ with vector P, then

tan β = B sin θ / (A + B cos θ)

Parallelogram law of Vector addition

If two vectors acting simultaneously at a point can be represented both in magnitude and
direction by the adjacent sides of a parallelogram drawn from a point, then the resultant vector is
represented both in magnitude and direction by the diagonal of the parallelogram passing
through that point.

So, we have R = P + Q
Magnitude of resultant:

Direction of resultant: Let ø be the angle made by resultant R with P. Then,

Rotation of a Vector
(i) If a vector is rotated through an angle θ, which is not an integral multiple of 2 π,
the vector changes.
(ii) If the frame of reference is rotated or translated, the given vector does not change.
The components of the vector may, however, change

Resolution of a Vector
Vx = Horizontal component of .
Vy = Vertical component of .

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Consider right angled triangle DOAB

Consider right angled triangle DOAB

Dot Product
The dot product (also called the inner product or scalar product of two vectors is defined as:
A.B = |A| |B| cos θ
Where |A| and |B| represents the magnitudes of vectors A and B and θ is the angle between
vectors A and B.

Cross Product

a × b = |a| |b| sin(θ) n

• |a| is the magnitude (length) of vector a
• |b| is the magnitude (length) of vector b

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 • θ is the angle between a and b
• n is the unit vector at right angles to both a and b

LAWS OF MOTION

Inertia
(1) Inherent property of all the bodies by virtue of which they cannot change their state of rest or
uniform motion along a straight line by their own is called inertia.
(2) Inertia is not a physical quantity, it is only a property of the body which depends on mass of
the body.
(3) Inertia has no units and no dimensions.
(4) Two bodies of equal mass, one in motion and another is at rest, possess same inertia because
it is a factor of mass only and does not depend upon the velocity.

Linear Momentum
(1) Linear momentum of a body is the quantity of motion contained in the body.
(2) It is measured in terms of the force required to stop the body in unit time.
(3) It is measured as the product of the mass of the body and its velocity i.e., Momentum = mass
× velocity. If a body of mass m is moving with velocity v then its linear momentum p is given by
p=mv
(4) It is a vector quantity and it’s direction is the same as the direction of velocity of the body.
(5) Units: kg-m/sec [S.I.], g-cm/sec [C.G.S.]
(6) Dimension: [MLT-1]
(7) If two objects of different masses have same momentum, the lighter body
possesses greater velocity. V  (1/m)
(8) For a given body vp
(9) For different bodies at same velocities mp

Newton's laws of motion are of fundamental importance in classical physics.

(a) First Law (Law of Inertia)
Everybody continues in its state of rest or of uniform motion in a straight line unless it is
compelled by some external force to change that state.
(b) Second Law (Law of Force)
The rate of change of momentum of a body is directly proportional to the impressed force and
takes place in the direction of the force.
So, F= dp/dt
This results force acting a body F is equal to the mass of the body m times acceleration of the
body a.
So, F = ma

(c) Third Law

To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. FAB = - FBA
Frame of Reference
(1) A frame in which an observer is situated and makes his observations is known as his ‘Frame
of reference’.

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(2) The reference frame is associated with a co-ordinate system and a clock to measure the
position and time of events happening in space. We can describe all the physical quantities like
position, velocity, acceleration etc. of an object in this coordinate system.
(3) Frame of reference are of two types :
(i) Inertial frame of reference (ii) Non-inertial frame of reference.
(i) Inertial frame of reference :
(a) A frame of reference which is at rest or which is moving with a uniform velocity along a
straight line is called an inertial frame of reference.
(b) In inertial frame of reference Newton’s laws of motion holds good.
(c) Inertial frame of reference are also called unaccelerated frame of reference or Newtonian or
Galilean frame of reference.
(d) Ideally no inertial frame exist in universe. For practical purpose a frame of reference may be
considered as inertial if it’s acceleration is negligible with respect to the acceleration of the
object to be observed.
(e) To measure the acceleration of a falling apple, earth can be considered as an inertial frame.
(f) To observe the motion of planets, earth can not be considered as an inertial frame but for this
purpose the sun may be assumed to be an inertial frame.
Example : The lift at rest, lift moving (up or down) with constant velocity, car moving with
constant velocity on a straight road.

(ii) Non inertial frame of reference :

(a) Accelerated frame of references are called non-inertial frame of reference.
(b) Newton’s laws of motion are not applicable in non-inertial frame of reference.
Example : Car moving in uniform circular motion, lift which is moving upward or downward
with some acceleration, plane which is taking off.

Impulse
(1) When a large force works on a body for very small time interval, it is called impulsive force.
An impulsive force does not remain constant, but changes first from zero to maximum and then
from maximum to zero. In such case we measure the total effect of force.
(2) Impulse of a force is a measure of total effect of force.
t2
(3) 𝐈 = ∫t1 𝐅. dt
(4) Impulse is a vector quantity and its direction is same as that of force.
(5) Dimension : [ MLT-1]
(6) Units : Newton-second (S.I.) and dyne-second (C.G.S.)
(7) Force-time graph : Impulse is equal to the area under F-t curve.

Law of Conservation of Linear Momentum

If no external force acts on a system (called isolated) of constant mass, the total momentum of
the system remains constant with time.
Let us consider two bodies of masses m1 and m2 moving in straight line in the same direction
with initial velocities u1 and u2. They collide for a short time ∆t. After collision, they move with
velocities v1 and v2.
From 2nd law of motion,
Force applied by A on B = Rate of change of momentum of B
FAB = (m2v2-m2u2)/∆t

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Similarly,
Force applied by B on A = Rate of change of momentum of A
FBA = (m1v1-m1u1)/∆t
From Newton’s 3rd law of motion,
FAB = -FBA
Or, (m2v2-m2u2)/∆t = -(m1v1-m1u1)/∆t
Or, m2v2-m2u2 = -m1v1+m1u1
Or, m1u1 + m2u2 = m1v1 + m2v2
This means the total momentum before collision is equal to total momentum after collision. This
proves the principle of conservation of linear momentum.

UNIFORM CIRCULAR MOTION

Uniform circular motion

Uniform circular motion defines the motion of an object traveling at a constant speed around a
fixed center point or axis. The object travels around a curved path and maintains a constant radial
distance from the center point at any given time. Realistically speaking, a perfect circle does not
exist, but it is useful to study the case of a perfect circle in order to understand how an object
might move around an ellipse and to approximate the motion of an object that is almost circular
in nature. Some examples of this type of motion are the orbit of a planet, a car going around a
circular track or a conical pendulum.

Revolution and Rotation

Revolution is a type of circular motion where the object moves around a fixed center
point called the axis of revolution given that the axis is some distance away from the object, such
as how the earth revolves around the sun.

Rotation is another type of circular motion where an object moves around a point called
the axis of rotation which passes through the object, such as how the earth rotates around an axis.
Rotation can be viewed as the revolution of all of the particles that make up the object.

Radius and Position

Radius is the constant distance that the object remains away from the center point as it
revolves around it. However, if thought of as a vector with the center point of the circle being the
initial point and the point lying on the circumference of the circle being the terminal point, any
two radii vectors are not the same. Two vectors which are two radii with the same magnitude are
in different directions as seen below.

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 Position describes the location of the object on the circle and is given by the radius
vector

Angular Displacement, Velocity and Acceleration

Angular Displacement (Θ)is an angle between any two points on the circle relative to the
axis of revolution and is given in units of radians. Θ is given as a function of time t: Θ(t) = ωt
Angular Velocity (𝜔) is the change in angular displacement over the change in time and
is in units of rad/sec.
𝑑𝜃
𝜔=
𝑑𝑡
Angular Acceleration (𝛼) is the change in angular velocity over the change in time and is
in units of rad/sec2.
𝑑𝜔
𝛼=
𝑑𝑡

An object that revolves in a clockwise direction can be thought of in a two dimensional space as
revolving to the right. Traditionally clockwise motion is thought to be in the negative direction.

An object that revolves in a counterclockwise direction can be thought of in a two dimensional

space as revolving to the left. Counterclockwise motion is thought to be in the positive direction.
𝜔
⃗ is a vector perpendicular to the plane of orbit and parallel to the axis of revolution.

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The angular displacement of the particles of a rotating object is irrespective of the radius. A
particle that is 10m out from the axis of rotation will have the same angular velocity as an object
that is 100m from the axis of rotation. This is easily observed by looking out at the stars at night.
Constellations are formed of stars that are all different distances from the Earth but yet we see
them all move at the same speed.

Displacement and Distance

Displacement (d) is the change in position of the object relative to some starting point and the
term distance is reserved for the measure of the path traveled along the perimeter of the circle. A
fraction of the perimeter is called an arc, and has a length l measured in meters. Arc length is
given by l=r𝜃, where r is the radius of the curvature.

Displacement is given as a vector.

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If the object makes exactly one revolution then the displacement is zero, and the distance
traveled is the circumference of the circle C=2𝜋𝑟.

Period and Frequency

Period (T) is the amount of time t in seconds that it takes for the object to make one
revolution. Given that 2𝜋 is the angular displacement of one revolution and 𝜔 is the angular
velocity, the formula for T is as follows:
2𝜋
𝑇=
𝜔
Frequency (f) is the number of revolutions per second in units of Hertz (Hz). It is the
inverse of the period:
2𝜋
𝑓=
𝑇

Tangential velocity

A tangent is a line which touches exactly one point on the circle. The significance of the
tangent is that at this point the circle and the line share the same slope, or rate of change.
Although we cannot find the slope of a curve, we can find the slope of the tangent, or the
instantaneous rate of change.
Instantaneous or tangential velocity (v) is the velocity of the revolving object at a given
point along its path of motion. The magnitude of the velocity, or the speed, remains constant, but
in order for the object to travel in a circle, the direction of the velocity must change.
The tangential speed of the object is the product of its angular counterpart and the
magnitude of the radius:
|𝑣| = 𝜔𝑟
The direction of the tangential velocity is orthogonal to the radius vector for that given
point.
Vectors can be used to find the velocity but the direction can also be given by the right
hand rule:
𝑣=𝜔 ⃗ ×𝑟

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Centripetal Acceleration and Force

Centripetal acceleration is the change in the tangential velocity and is orthogonal to the
tangential velocity and the angular velocity. It can be found using the cross product

Centripetal force is the force which pulls the object towards the center and keeps the
object moving in a circle despite the direction of its velocity. Centripetal force is in the direction
opposite of the radius. Centripetal force is often caused by other forces such as gravity, tension,
or electromagnetism:

where m is the mass of the revolving object. Mass (m) is the quantity which is solely dependent
on the inertia of an object, or its ability to resist changes in its state of motion.

Moment of Inertia

Moment of inertia (I) is the product of the mass and the square of the radius.
I = mr2
Angular Momentum
Angular momentum (L) is the product of moment of inertia and angular velocity.
L = I𝜔
Torque
Torque is a measure of how much a force acting on an object causes that object to rotate.
Torque is defined as:

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 𝜏 = r x F = r F sin𝜃
In rotational kinematics, torque takes the place of force in linear kinematics. There is a
direct equivalent to Newton’s 2ⁿᵈ law of motion (F=ma).
𝜏 = 𝐼𝛼
Here, 𝛼 is the angular acceleration. I is the rotational inertia, a property of a rotating
system which depends on the mass distribution of the system. The larger I, the harder it is for an
object to acquire angular acceleration.

Kinetic Energy
Kinetic energy is the amount of energy that an object has due to its current state of
motion. Kinetic energy is generally given by the following formula:

When considering rotational movement, however, we know the equivalent of the mass to be the
moment of inertia I, and the velocity to be the angular velocity 𝜔,

Parallel Axis Theorem Formula

The moment of inertia of a body about any axis is equal to the sum of its moment of inertia about
a parallel axis through its centre of gravity and the product of the mass of the body and the
square of the distance between the two axes.

IP = moment of inertia for rotation around a parallel axis (kg.m2)

Icm = moment of inertia for rotation around an axis through the center of mass (kg.m2)
M = total mass of the object (kg)
d = distance between the two rotation axes (m)

Perpendicular axes theorem

The moment of inertia of a plane laminar body about an axis perpendicular to the plane is equal
to the sum of the moments of inertia about two mutually perpendicular axes in the plane of the
lamina such that the three mutually perpendicular axes have a common point of intersection.

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 r2 = x2+y2
The moment of inertia of the particle P about the axis OZ = m r2. The moment of inertia of the
whole lamina about the axis OZ is
I Z = Σmr2
The moment of inertia of the whole lamina about the axis OX is
Ix =Σ my 2
Similarly, I y= Σ mx 2
Hence, I = Σ mr2 = Σ m(x2+y2)
I = Σmx2+ Σ my2 = Ix+ Iy
Iz = Ix+ Iy
which proves the perpendicular axes theorem.

Conservation of Angular Momentum

According to the second law of motion net force acting on a body is equal to its rate of change
of linear momentum i.e.

Taking vector product of 𝑟 on both side if above expression

But 𝑟×𝐹 is the torque acting on the body

Angular momentum is defined as:

= x

Differentiating both sides with respect to "t"

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Which is the required equation.
This expression states that the torque acting on a particle is the time rate of change of its angular
momentum. If the net external torque on the particle is zero, then,

OR

Integrating both sides

Thus the angular momentum of a particle is conserved if and only if the net external torque
acting on a particle is zero.

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 Ray Optics

Characteristics of Light
• Light waves are electromagnetic waves, whose nature is transverse. The speed of light in
vacuum is 3 x 108 m/s but it is different in different media.
• It shows the rectilinear property.

Reflection of Light
The rebouncing back of light rays into the same medium on striking a highly polished surface
such as a mirror, is called reflection of light.

Laws of Reflection There are two laws of reflection.

(i) The incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal at the point of incidence all three lie in
the same plane.
(ii) The angle of incidence (i) is always equal to the angle of reflection (r).

Refraction of Light
The deviation of light rays from its path when it travels from one transparent medium to another
transparent medium, is called refraction of light.
Cause of Refraction: The speed of light is different in different media.
Laws of Refraction
(i) The incident ray, the refracted ray and the normal at the point of incidence, all three lies
in the same plane.
(ii) The ratio of sine of angle of incidence to the sine of angle of refraction is constant for a
pair of given two media ie: Snell’s law.
Snell’s Law, µ =sin ip/sin r
Total internal reflection
When a ray of light AO passes from an optically denser medium to a rarer medium, at the
interface XY, it is partly reflected back into the same medium along OB and partly refracted into
the rarer medium along OC as shown in figure.

Critical Angle
The angle of incidence in a denser medium for which the angle of refraction in rarer medium
becomes 90°. is called critical angle (C).
Critical angle for diamond = 24°
Critical angle for glass = 42°
Critical angle for water = 48°

Refractive index of denser medium μ = 1/sin C

If i is increased further, refraction is not possible and the incident ray is totally reflected into the

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same medium itself. This is called total internal reflection.

Refraction through Prism

Prism is uniform transparent medium bounded between two refracting surfaces, inclined at an
angle.
The angle subtended between the direction of incident light ray and emergent light ray from a
prism is called angle of deviation (δ). δ = i + e – A

A totally reflecting prism is that which has one of its angle equal to 90 degree and each of the
remaining two angles equal to 45 degree here the phenomenon of total internal reflection is
used.

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Optical Fibres are also based on the phenomenon of total internal reflection. Optical fibres
consist of several thousands of very long fine quality fibres of glass or quartz. The diameter of
each fibre is of the order of 10-4 cm with refractive index of material being of the order of 1.5.
Each fibre consists of a core and cladding. The refractive index of the material of the core is
higher than that of the cladding. Optical fibres are used in transmission and reception of
electrical signals by converting them first into light signals

Dispersion
• The splitting of white light into its constituent colours is called dispersion and the bands
of colours is called spectrum.
• The spectrum in which there is overlapping of colours is called impure spectrum.
• The spectrum in which there is no overlapping of colours is called pure spectrum.
Conditions to get pure spectrum
• The incident beam should pass through narrow slit and should be made parallel using
convergent lens.
• The prism should be in minimum deviation position.

Spectrometer- A spectrometer is an instrument used for the study of spectra produced

by the prism or grating for the determination of refractive indices, wavelengths of
spectral lines and dispersive powers. The essential parts of the spectrometer are a
collimator, a prism table, and a telescope.

Scattering of Light
• White light consists of waves of all colors. If light beam should pass through a medium
containing small particles, an effect called scattering can occur. Some light waves will
bounce off the small particles and change direction while others will not be affected.
• The amount of scattering depends on the relative sizes of the particles and the wavelength
of the light being scattered.
• If the particles are large compared with the wavelength of light, then they will act like
tiny mirrors, reflecting all wavelengths of light equally.
• The color of the scattered light will be the same as that of the original beam. If the
scattering particles are small compared with the wavelength of light, then the amount of
scattering will depend on the wavelength of the light.
• Shorter wavelengths (blue light) are scattered more than longer wavelengths (red light).
The amount of scattering also increases as the number of particles increases.
• Using Rayleigh scattering we can explain a) the blue color of the sky; b) the reddish
appearance of the sun at sunset and sunrise.

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 Elasticity

Elasticity is the property of materials to return to their original shape and size after the forces
deforming them have been removed.

Strain refers ratio of change in some spatial dimension (length, angle, or volume) to its original
dimension and Stress is the internal restoring force developed per unit area which tries to oppose
the change. It is measured by the external force applied per unit surface area.
Strain has no unit, S.I unit of Stress is Newton/m2 and C.G.S unit is dyne/cm2.

Hooke’s law of elasticity: Hooke’s law states that if the strain is small, then stress is
proportional to strain. In this case ratio of stress to strain is a constant and this constant is called
the modulus of elasticity.

Stress-Strain relationship

.
Elastic limit
The point where the stress on a body becomes so great that the atoms of the body
are pulled permanently away from their equilibrium position in the lattice
structure. When the stress exceeds the elastic limit, the material will not return to
its original size or shape when the stress is removed. Hooke’s law is no longer valid above the
elastic limit.

Longitudinal stress and strain:

For wires, rods, and bars, there is a longitudinal stress F/A that produces a change in length per
unit length. In such cases:

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Young’s Modulus:
For materials whose length is much greater than the width or thickness, we are concerned with
the longitudinal modulus of elasticity, or Young’s Modulus (Y)

Shearing stress and strain:

Shearing stress alters only the shape of the body, leaving the volume unchanged. For example,
consider equal and opposite shearing forces F acting on the cube below:

The shearing force F produces a shearing angle φ.The angle φ is the strain and the stress is given
by F/A as before.

Rigidity modulus:
The rigidity modulus η is defined as the ratio of the shearing stress F/A to the shearing strain φ.

Volume stress and Volume strain

Sometimes an applied stress F/A results in a change of volume . Then the stress and strain are
known as volume stress and volume strain.

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Bulk modulus:
Bulk modulus is the ratio of volume stress to volume strain.

S.I unit of all above moduli of elasticity is Newton/m2 and in C.G.S unit it is dyne/cm2 . The
moduli of elasticity is the property of materials, it does not change with the change in dimension
of the material.

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 Electricity and Magnetism

Coulomb’s Law:
The force between two charges separated by distance in free space is
a. directly proportional to the magnitude of each charge, i.e. F∞ q1 q2
b. inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them i.e. F∞1/r2
c. directed along the line joining the charges.

In mathematical form, if q1 and q2 be two like charges and r is the distance between
them then the force exerted on q1 due to the charge q2 is

𝜖0 is called the permittivity of free space . The value of 𝜖0 in SI units is 𝜖0 =8.854 × 10–12 C2
N–1m–2

Coulomb’s law in the vector notation.

Let the position vectors of charges q1 and q2 be r1 and r2 respectively. We denote force on
q1 due to q2 by F12 and force on q2 due to q1 byF21 . The two point charges q1 and q2
have been numbered 1 and 2 for convenience and the vector leading from 1 to 2 is denoted by
r21:

Then, Coulomb’s force law between two point charges q1 and q2 located at r1 and r2 is
then expressed as

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Electric field intensity:
The electric field intensity at a point in the electric field is the force on a unit test charge placed
at the point concerned. If we have n number of charges say q1, q2,……………………,qn at
distances r1, r2,……………………,rn respectively from a test charge Q then net force

Now the electric field intensity at that point is

Electric potential
Electric potential at a point in an Electric field (for instance, let's take it as uniform) is the
amount of work done in moving a unit positive charge from infinity to that point against electric
forces. (attraction or repulsion).
Electric potential at P due to a point charge is given by

Electric Current
The rate at which charges pass through a cross-sectional area of the conductor is called electric
current. The movement of the charge is called conduction. If Q is the amount of charge
transported in time t,

S.I unit of current is ampere.1A=1c/s.

When the current does not vary with time we refer to it as steady current.

Ohm’s Law:
• Ohm's law is the relation between the potential difference applied to the ends of
the conductor and current flowing through the conductor. This law was expressed
by George Simon Ohm in 1826
• Statement of Ohm's Law
'if the physical state of thef conductor (temperature and mechanical strain
p etc) remains
unchanged ,then current flowing through a conductor is always directly to the potential
difference across the two ends of the conductor. Mathematically,
V α I or V=IR
where constant of proportionality R is called the electric resistance or simply resistance of the
conductor.
Resistance depends on the following parameters :

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 1
R ∞ l ;R ∞
A
ρl
R=
A
Ρ is the constant depending on the material of the wire. It is called resistivity of the material. S.I
unit of resistivity is ohm-m.

Electric dipole:
Two point charges of equal charge but opposite polarity in close proximity is called an electric
dipole.
The electric dipole moment for a pair of opposite charges of magnitude q is defined as the
magnitude of the charge times the distance between them and the defined direction is toward the
positive charge.

Dielectrics
Dielectric is an insulating material or a very poor conductor of electric current. When dielectrics
are placed in an electric field practically no current flows in them because, unlike metals, they
have no loosely bound, or free, electrons that may drift through the material.

Instead, electric polarization occurs. The positive charges within the dielectric are displaced
minutely in the direction of the electric field, and the negative charges are displaced in the
direction opposite to the electric field. This slight separation of charge is called polarization, and
this reduces the electric field within the dielectric.
Eg; Glass. rubber, mica,Teflon etc.

Capacitor
The capacitor is a component which has the ability or “capacity” to store energy in the form of
an electrical charge producing a potential difference (Static Voltage) across its plates, much like
a small rechargeable battery.

In its basic form, a capacitor consists of two or more parallel conductive (metal) plates which are
not connected or touching each other, but are electrically separated either by air or by some form
of a good insulating material such as waxed paper, mica, ceramic, plastic or some form of a
liquid gel as used in electrolytic capacitors. The insulating layer between a capacitors plates is
commonly called the Dielectric.

When a DC voltage is placed across a capacitor, the positive (+ve) charge quickly accumulates
on one plate while a corresponding and opposite negative (-ve) charge accumulates on the other
plate.

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Then the plates remain charge neutral and a potential difference due to this charge is established
between the two plates. The amount of potential difference present across the capacitor depends
upon how much charge was deposited onto the plates by the work being done by the source
voltage.

The Capacitance of a Capacitor

Capacitance is the electrical property of a capacitor and is the measure of a capacitor’s ability to
store an electrical charge onto its two plates with the unit of capacitance being the Farad
(abbreviated to F) named after the British physicist Michael Faraday. If Q is the charge stored in
a capacitor and V is the voltage applied then capacitance is given by C=Q/V.

A capacitor has the capacitance of One Farad when a charge of One Coulomb is stored on the
plates by a voltage of One volt. Note that capacitance, C is always positive in value and has no
negative units.

Standard Units of Capacitance

• Microfarad (μF) 1μF = 1/1,000,000 = 0.000001 = 10-6 F
• Nanofarad (nF) 1nF = 1/1,000,000,000 = 0.000000001 = 10-9 F
• Picofarad (pF) 1pF = 1/1,000,000,000,000 = 0.000000000001 = 10-12 F

Wheatstone Bridge principle

The Wheatstone Bridge consists of a dc voltage source, four resistors and a detector. The
detector is a type of ammeter called a galvanometer.

The galvanometer is used to detect the condition 𝑖𝑔 =0

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When the circuit satisfies the condition 𝑖𝑔 =0 we say that “the bridge is balanced”. The balanced
condition of the bridge is given by

Biot Savart’s Law

A small current carrying conductor of length dl (length element ) carrying current I is an
elementary source of magnetic field .According to Biot Savart’s law the magnitude of the
magnetic field dB at a distance r from a current element dl carrying current I is found to be
proportional to I , to the length dl and inversely proportional to the square of the distance |r|.

The direction of the magnetic field is perpendicular to the line element dl as well as radius r.

Mathematically, dB is written as

Here (μ0/4π) is the proportionality constant and μ0=4π×10-7 Weber/amp.

Ampere’s Circuital Law

" The line integral of resultant magnetic field along a closed plane curve is equal to
the total current crossing the area bounded by the closed curve provided the electric field inside
the loop remains constant". Thus

where μ0 is the permeability of free space and Ienc is the net current enclosed by the loop.

Faraday’s Law of Electromagnetic Induction

According to Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction the e.m.f induced in a closed loop is
equal to the rate of change of magnetic flux associated with the law. Thus we can write,

where is the electromotive force and 𝜙𝐵 is the magnetic flux in Weber.

The negative sign indicates that the direction of the electromotive force is opposite to the change
of magnetic flux. This is called Lenz’s law.

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Lorentz force
The Lorentz force is the force on a point charge due to electromagnetic fields. If a particle of
charge q moves with velocity v in the presence of electric field E and magnetic field B then it
will experience a force,

Force on a current element placed in magnetic field

When a straight stationary wire is placed in a magnetic field, each of the moving charges, which
comprise the current, experiences the Lorentz force, and together they can create a macroscopic
force on the wire given by

where dℓ is a vector whose magnitude is the length of wire, and whose direction is along the
wire, aligned with the direction of 𝐼. The direction of the force is perpendicular to the plane
containing 𝐼𝑑𝑙 and B and is given by Fleming’s right hand rule.

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PHOTOELECTRIC EFFECT AND DUAL NATURE OF MATTER AND RADIATIONS

Photon:
A packet or bundle of energy is called a photon.
Energy of a photon is E = hν = hc λ where h is the Planck’s constant, ν is the frequency of the
radiation or photon, c is the speed of light (e.m. wave) and λ is the wavelength.

Properties of photons:
i) A photon travels at a speed of light c in vacuum. (i.e. 3 x 10-8 m/s)
ii) It has zero rest mass. i.e. the photon can not exist at rest.
𝐸 ℎ
iii) The kinetic mass of a photon is, m = 𝑐 2 = 𝑐𝜆
𝐸 ℎ
iv) The momentum of a photon is, p = 𝑐 = 𝜆
v) Photons travel in a straight line.
vi) Energy of a photon depends upon frequency of the photon; so the energy of the photon
does not change when photon travels from one medium to another.
vii) Wavelength of the photon changes in different media; so, velocity of a photon is
different in different media.
viii) Photons are electrically neutral.
ix) Photons may show diffraction under given conditions.
x) Photons are not deviated by magnetic and electric fields.

Photoelectric Effect:
The phenomenon of emission of electrons from mainly metal surfaces exposed to light energy
(X – rays, γ – rays, UV rays, Visible light and even Infra Red rays) of suitable frequency is
known as photoelectric effect. The electrons emitted by this effect are called photoelectrons. The
current constituted by photoelectrons is known as photoelectric current.

Note: Non metals also show photoelectric effect. Liquids and gases also show this effect but to
limited extent.

1) Effect of Intensity of Incident Light on Photoelectric Current: For a fixed frequency, the
photoelectric current increases linearly with increase in intensity of incident light.

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2) Effect of Potential on Photoelectric Current: For a fixed frequency and intensity of incident
light, the photoelectric current increases with increase in +ve potential applied to the anode.
When all the photoelectrons reach the plate A, current becomes maximum and is known as
saturation current.

When the potential is decreased, the current decreases but does not become zero at zero
potential.
This shows that even in the absence of accelerating potential, a few photoelectrons manage
to reach the plate on their own due to their K.E.
When –ve potential is applied, photoelectric current becomes zero at a particular value of –
ve potential called stopping potential or cut-off potential.
Intensity of incident light does not affect the stopping potential.

3) Effect of Frequency of Incident Light on Photoelectric Current: For a fixed intensity of

incident light, the photoelectric current does not depend on the frequency of the incident
light. Because, the photoelectric current simply depends on the number of photoelectrons
emitted and in turn on the number of photons incident and not on the energy of photons.

4) Effect of Frequency of Incident Light on Stopping Potential: For a fixed intensity of incident
light, the photoelectric current increases and is saturated with increase in +ve potential
applied to the anode.

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 However, the saturation current is same for different frequencies of the incident lights.
When potential is decreased and taken below zero, photoelectric current decreases to zero
but at different stopping potentials for different frequencies.
Higher the frequency, higher the stopping potential. i.e. V S α ν

5) Threshold Frequency: The graph between stopping potential and frequency does not pass
through the origin. It shows that there is a minimum value of frequency called threshold
frequency below which photoelectric emission is not possible however high the intensity of
incident light may be. It depends on the nature of the metal emitting photoelectrons.

Laws of Photoelectric Emission:

i) For a given substance, there is a minimum value of frequency of incident light called
threshold frequency below which no photoelectric emission is possible, howsoever, the
intensity of incident light may be.
ii) The number of photoelectrons emitted per second (i.e. photoelectric current) is directly
proportional to the intensity of incident light provided the frequency is above the
threshold frequency.
iii) The maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons is directly proportional to the
frequency provided the frequency is above the threshold frequency.
iv) The maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons is independent of the intensity of the
incident light.
v) The process of photoelectric emission is instantaneous. i.e. as soon as the photon of
suitable frequency falls on the substance, it emits photoelectrons.
vi) The photoelectric emission is one-to-one. i.e. for every photon of suitable frequency one
electron is emitted.

Einstein’s Photoelectric Equation:

When a photon of energy h ν falls on a metal surface, the energy of the photon is absorbed by
the electron and is used in two ways:

i) A part of energy is used to overcome the surface barrier and come out of the metal
surface. This part of the energy is called ‘work function’ ( Ф = h ν0).

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ii) The remaining part of the energy is used in giving a velocity ‘v’ to the emitted
photoelectron. This is equal to the maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons ( ½ mv
max ) where ‘m’ is mass of the photoelectron.
2

Verification of Laws of Photoelectric Emission based on Einstein’s Photoelectric Equation:

i) If ν < ν0, then ½ mv max 2 is negative, which is not possible. Therefore, for
photoelectric emission to take place ν > ν0 .
ii) Since one photon emits one electron, so the number photoelectrons emitted per
second is directly proportional to the intensity of incident light.
iii) It is clear that ½ mv max 2 α ν as h and ν0 are constant. This shows that K.E. of the
photoelectrons is directly proportional to the frequency of the incident light.
iv) Photoelectric emission is due to collision between a photon and an electron. As such
there can not be any significant time lag between the incidence of photon and
emission of photoelectron. i.e. the process is instantaneous. It is found that delay is
only 10-8 seconds.

Dual Nature of Radiation and Matter:

Wave theory of electromagnetic radiations explained the phenomenon of interference,
diffraction and polarization.
On the other hand, quantum theory of e.m. radiations successfully explained the photoelectric
effect, Compton effect, black body radiations, X- ray spectra, etc.
Thus, radiations have dual nature. i.e. wave and particle nature.
Louis de Broglie suggested that the particles like electrons, protons, neutrons, etc have also
dual nature. i.e. they also can have particle as well as wave nature.
Note: In no experiment, matter exists both as a particle and as a wave simultaneously. It is
either the one or the other aspect. i.e. The two aspects are complementary to each other.

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His suggestion was based on:
i) The nature loves symmetry.
ii) The universe is made of particles and radiations and both entities must be
symmetrical.

de Broglie wave:
According to de Broglie, a moving material particle can be associated with a wave. i.e. a
wave can guide the motion of the particle.
The waves associated with the moving material particles are known as de Broglie waves or
matter waves.

Expression for de Broglie wave: λ According to quantum theory, the energy of the photon is

According to Einstein’s theory, the energy of the photon is

If instead of a photon, we have a material particle of mass m moving with velocity v, then
the equation becomes

which is the expression for de Broglie wavelength.

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Conclusion:
i) de Broglie wavelength is inversely proportional to the velocity of the particle. If the
particle moves faster, then the wavelength will be smaller and vice versa.
ii) If the particle is at rest, then the de Broglie wavelength is infinite. Such a wave can
not be visualized.
iii) de Broglie wavelength is inversely proportional to the mass of the particle. The
wavelength associated with a heavier particle is smaller than that with a lighter
particle.
iv) de Broglie wavelength is independent of the charge of the particle. Matter waves,
like electromagnetic waves, can travel in vacuum and hence they are not mechanical
waves. Matter waves are not electromagnetic waves because they are not produced
by accelerated charges.

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 Fundamental Physical Constants
Name Symbol Value
Speed of light c
Planck constant h
Planck hbar

Gravitation constant G
Boltzmann constant k
Molar gas constant R
Avogadro's number NA 6.0221 x 1023 mol-1
Charge of electron e
Permeability of vacuum

Permittivity of vacuum

Coulomb constant

Mass of electron

Mass of proton

Mass of neutron

Atomic mass unit u

Atomic mass unit u

Avogadro's number

Stefan-Boltzmann constant

Rydberg constant

Bohr radius

Standard atmosphere atm

Wien displacement constant b