AS Level Physics: Terms & Definitions:-

Mechanics:-

Displacement: Distance moved in a particular direction.

Speed: The distance travelled per unit time.

Velocity: The distance travelled in a particular direction/ the displacement per unit time.

Acceleration: The rate of change of velocity.

Acceleration Of Free Fall: The acceleration on an object when the only force acting on it is the
gravitational pull of the Earth.

Free Fall: The downward motion of an object under the influence of force of gravity with a
constant acceleration (g = 9.81 ms-2).

Newton’s First Law Of Motion: An object will maintain uniform velocity or remain stationary
unless an external force acts upon it.

Newton’s Second Law Of Motion: The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the
resultant force acting on it in the same direction. (F = m x a)

Newton’s Third Law Of Motion: Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. (If one body
exerts a force on another, it will experience a force by the other body, which is equal in
magnitude & opposite in direction.)

Mass: It is a measure of inertia of a body or It is a body’s reluctance to undergo linear

acceleration.

Weight: It is the gravitational force exerted on an object’s mass.

Momentum: It is the product of a body’s mass & velocity, with its direction always being the
same as the body’s direction of velocity.

Force: It is defined as the rate of change of momentum of a body, or the product of a body’s
mass & its acceleration.

Principle Of Conservation Of Momentum: The total momentum of a system remains constant

before & after a collision, provided that no external force acts upon the system.

Elastic Collisions: A collision in which both the total momentum & the total Kinetic Energy of a
system is conserved.

Inelastic Collisions: A collision in which the total momentum of a system is conserved, but the
total Kinetic Energy is not conserved.

Upthrust: It is the resultant force on a submerged object due to the upward pressure of the fluid
applied on it. It is also known as Buoyancy Force.

Centre Of Gravity: The point on an object at which the entire weight of the body seemingly acts.
It is the point at which the Earth actually applies the pull of gravity.

Moment: It is the turning effect of a force. It is the product of the force & the perpendicular
distance between the axis of rotation/pivot & the line of action of the force.

Torque Of A Couple: The turning effect caused by two equal & opposite forces when their line of
actions are different.

Torque of a Couple = Magnitude of any one force x Linear Distance between the forces

The Principle Of Moments: The sum of clockwise moments taken about any point is equal to the
sum of anti-clockwise moments taken about the same point when a system is in equilibrium.

Energy: It is the stored ability to do work.

Kinetic Energy: The energy possessed by an object by virtue of its motion.

Potential Energy: It is the energy possessed by an object by virtue of its position.

Gravitational Potential Energy: The energy possessed by an object due to the height raised above
the ground/against the force of gravity.

Elastic Potential Energy: The energy possessed by an elastic object by virtue of its compression or
expansion, due to elastic restoring force. (k x X)

Internal Energy: It is the total of the microscopic Kinetic & Potential energies of particles of a
material.

Impulse: It is the product of a force & the time during which the force is applied.

Work: It is the product of a force & the distance moved in the direction of the force.

Power: It is the rate at which work is done. It is work done per unit time.
Power: It is the product of force & velocity.

Efficiency: It is the fraction of the useful power output obtained from the total power input.

Matter:-

Density: It is the amount of mass per unit volume of a substance.

Brownian Motion: The haphazard or random movement of tiny suspended particles (such as
smoke, pollen etc.) in a fluid is known as Brownian Motion.

It gives direct evidence for perpetual molecular movement. This experiment demonstrates the
random haphazard movement of smoke particles in water as they collide with invisible particles
of the medium itself.

Crystalline Solids: They have closely packed structures in a regular arrangement. Elastic strain is
usually less than about 1%. Individual molecules move a small distance from their equilibrium
position on application of a force & the return to their original equilibrium position once the
force is removed. E.g. Diamond

Polymeric Solids: Solids with very long chains of molecules. The molecular chains are tangled up,
& occasionally have cross-links between the chains. Hence, when a force is applied, then the
strands can be pulled out to lie more parallel to one another. Some reorganization of the cross-
links does take place, & therefore there can be permanent distortion as well. E.g. Rubber

Amorphous Solids: These differ from crystalline solids because they lack the crystalline
arrangement of molecules. Any pattern or regularity that does occur in structure takes place over
very short distances, of the order of a few molecular diameters. E.g. Glass & soot

Pressure: It is the perpendicular/normal force applied per unit area.

The Kinetic Theory Of Gases:

· Any gas consists of a very large number of molecules.

· The molecules are in rapid, random motion.
· Collisions between gas molecules are elastic.
· Collisions between molecules & the walls of the container are elastic.
· There are no intermolecular forces of attraction.
· Intermolecular forces of repulsion only act during collisions between the molecules. The
duration of collisions as compared to the time interval between collisions is negligible.
· The volume that the molecules themselves take up is negligible in comparison to the volume of
the container itself.
Melting: The process by which a solid changes into its liquid state at a constant specific
temperature, known as melting point.

Boiling: The process by which a liquid changes into its gaseous state at a constant specific
temperature, known as boiling point.

Evaporation: The process by which molecules on the surface of a liquid with sufficient Kinetic
Energy break from the attractive intermolecular forces of the liquid & escape as gas particles. This
process occurs below the boiling point of a liquid.

Stress: It is the force per unit area of cross-section required to stretch a material. It is sometimes
called Tensile Stress, as forces can be applied in different ways to objects. E.g. Under
compression, a compressive stress is applied. All stresses have the same formula & unit as
pressure.

Strain: As a result of applying a tensile stress to an object, a tensile strain is set up within the
object. Stress is the cause & strain is the effect. It is defined as the extension per unit length. It is
a ratio of two lengths, & therefore does not have a unit. Temperature also effects strain.

Young’s Modulus: It is the ratio of stress to linear strain. It is also known as the modulus of
elasticity.

Elastic Deformation: When a material is elastic, it returns to its original shape on removal of the
distorting force. Elastic Deformation is temporary distortion. Most materials are elastic for low
stresses.

Plastic Deformation: It is when a small increase in stress causes a large increase in the strain on an
object. A material that receives deformation in this way is said to be ductile, meaning it has a
large plastic region. Within the plastic region, it is more difficult to measure the strain at a
particular value of stress.

Necking: In wires, when a sufficiently large force is applied, localized narrowing occurs at weak
points, & the wire eventually breaks at one of these points.

Creep: Plastic distortion is time-dependant. For an applied stress, the initial strain will have a
particular value, but if the strain is measured later, it is often found to have increased.

Area under a Force-Extension Graph: The area under such a graph is the work done in stretching
a material. For the straight-line portion of the graph, it is a measure of the elastic potential
energy stored by the material, provided that the graph for decreasing loads is the same as that
for increasing loads. It is also known as strain energy.

Ductile Materials: Materials which undergo plastic deformation after a considerable elastic
deformation. Ductile materials are used for wiring etc. E.g. copper

Brittle Materials: Materials which do not undergo plastic deformation. They undergo elastic
deformation to a ce