SS2 FIRST TERM NOTES ON

PHYSICS
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
FIRST TERM

WEEK 1 Topic: CONCEPT OF POSITION, DISTANCE AND

DISPLACEMENT IN RELATION TO X – Y PLANE.
Week 2 Topic: SCALAR AND VECTOR QUANTITIES

WEEK 3 Topic: DERIVATION OF EQUATION OF LINEAR MOTION

WEEK 4 Topic: PROJECTILE AND ITS APPLICATION

WEEK 5 Topic: NEWTON’S LAWS OF MOTION

WEEK 6 Topic: EQUILIBRIUM OF FORCES

WEEK 7 Topic: EQUILIBRIUM OF FORCE

WEEK 8 Topic: Simple Harmonic Motion (SHM)

WEEK 9 Topic: MACHINES – TYPES AND EXAMPLES

 WEEK 1
Topic: CONCEPT OF POSITION, DISTANCE AND
DISPLACEMENT IN RELATION TO X – Y PLANE.

The position of a point in space is determined by its distance and direction from
other points. The statement of position is accomplished by the means of a frame
of reference or a point of reference, which we shall call the origin.
In order to locate the position of a point in a plane (such as a blackboard, the wall
of a room, or a drawing paper), it is customary to draw two lines intersecting at an
origin O and perpendicular to each other.
More on Position: The position of a point is the distance between two
perpendicular lines. The lines are called x – axis and y – axis and their intersection
is called the origin. The axis –x is called the x – co-ordinate or the abscissa and the
y – co-ordinate is called the ordinate. The abscissa is written next to the ordinate
e.g. A (x, y), B (10, 3), C (2, 4) etc.
Distance is one of those innate concepts that does not seem to require explanation.
Nevertheless, a preliminary definition might be that distance is a measure of the
interval between two locations. (This is not the final definition.) The distance is the
answer to the question, “How far is it from this to that or between this and that?”
How far is it Possible answer Standard answer
Earth to sun 1 astronomical unit 1.496 × 1011m

New York to Tokyo 6740 miles 1.084 × 107 m

Heel to toe on my foot 11 inches 0.28 m

You get the idea. The odd thing is that sometimes we state distances as
times. In casual conversation, it’s often all right to state distances this way, but in
most of physics this is unacceptable, except in Cosmology, where distances are
sometimes expressed in terms of light-years. (This is the distance light travels in
one year.
SECOND TERM NOTES ON
PHYSICS
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECOND TERM

WEEK 1 Topic: HEAT ENERGY AND ITS MEASUREMENTS

Week 2 Topic: Heat Capacity

WEEK 3 Topic: SPECIFIC HEAT CAPACITY

WEEK 4 Topic: EVAPORATION, BOILING AND MELTING POINTS AND

WEEK 5 Topic: VAPOUR PRESSURE

WEEK 6 Topic: LATENT HEAT – FUSION, VAPORIZATIONS AND

VERIFICATION

Week 7 Topic: GAS LAWS

Week 8 Topic: PRODUCTION AND PROPAGATION OF WAVES

WEEK 9 Topic: PROPERTIES OF WAVES

WEEK 10 Topic: LIGHT WAVES

 WEEK 1
Topic: HEAT ENERGY AND ITS MEASUREMENTS

Temperature
Temperature is defined as the degree of hotness or coldness of a body. It is the
property of an object which determines which way heat energy will flow when it
is placed in contact with another object. Heat always flows from a body at higher
temperature to a body at lower temperature. Heat is a form of energy – thermal
energy. When a body absorbs heat without changing its state, its temperature
rises. Heat depends on the mass of a body and its temperature.
Heat is a measure of the total energy of a body. It is a form of energy due to a
temperature difference. Temperature is the degree of hotness or coldness of the
body and it is related to the energy of movement. It is a measure of the average
kinetic energy of the molecules in a body. Unit of Heat is the Joule, unit of
Temperature is degree Celcius (0C) or Kelvin (K).

Methods of Measuring Temperature

Our sense of touch can give us a general impression of the degree of hotness or
coldness of a body. This is however not a reliable method of estimating or
measuring a temperature, because the response of the human sense of touch to a
temperature change tends to be influenced by its previous experience. Thus
warm mater will feel cool if a hand initially dipped in hot water is transferred to it.
Hence in order to gauge accurately the exact degree of hotness, an instrument
called the thermometer is used. Thermometers are much more reliable
instruments for measuring temperatures.
Thermometers use any physical property of a substance which varies in a known
way with temperature, and is easily measurable as a means of gauging
temperature. The substance of whose physical property is so used is known as a
thermometric substance.
THIRD TERM NOTES ON ON
PHYSICS
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
THIRD TERM
WEEK 1 Topic: REFRACTION OF LIGHT

Week 2 Topic: LENSES

WEEK 3 Topic: OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS

Week 4 Topic: Optical Instruments

WEEK 5 Topic: DISPERSION OF WHITE LIGHT

WEEK 6 Topic: Dispersion of White Light: Colours and

Paints

WEEK 7 Topic: SOUND WAVES

WEEK 8 Topic: SOUND WAVES

WEEK 9 Subtractive Color Mixing

WEEK 10 Topic: RESONANCE

 WEEK 1
Topic: REFRACTION OF LIGHT

INTRODUCTION
When a ray travels from one transparent medium to another of different density,
its direction is abruptly changed at the surface separating the two media. This is
known as the refraction of the light ray. Thus a light ray appears to bend as it
crosses the boundary of two different media. Refraction is due to the difference
in the speed of light in the different media.
Refraction is the bending of a light ray as it crosses the boundary between two
media of different densities, thus causes a change in direction.
The phenomenon of refraction is responsible for the following common
observations: (i) The bottom of a clear river or pond appears shallower than it
really is. (ii) A rod or spoon appears bent or broken when it is partially immersed
in water or any liquid. (iii) Letters in prints seem to be nearer when we place a
thick block of glass over them.

Laws of Refraction
Two laws are associated with refraction. The first law of refraction states that, the
incidence, and the refracted ray all lie in the same plane.
The second law states that, the ratio of sine of the angle of incidence to the sine
of the angle of refraction is constant for all rays passing from one medium to
another.
The two lays of refraction were postulated by a physicsist called Snell. Snell’s first
law of refraction is given as, Sin l/Sin r = n, a constant, for a given pair of media.
The law of refraction, which is generally known as Snell’s law, governs the
behaviour of light-rays as they propagate across a sharp interface between two
transparent dielectric media.