WELCOME TO GRADE 9

IGCSE PHYSICS
 CHAPTER 1

MOTION, FORCES
AND ENERGY
Learning objectives
1.1 Physical properties and measurement techniques

• Physical quantities are Physical

quantities that can be Quantity
measured.

• The value of the Base Derived

measurement consists of a
Quantity Quantity
numerical magnitude and
a units.
Base Quantities

• Base quantities are physical quantities

that cannot be defined in term of other
quantities.

• SI  International System of Units

• The five important base quantities:

Base Quantity Symbol SI Unit Symbol of SI

unit
Length l Metre m
Mass m Kilogram kg
Time t Second s
Temperature T Kelvin K

Current I Ampere A
• Derived quantities are physical quantities derived from
combination of base quantities through multiplication or
division or both multiplication and division. E.g. area,
density and acceleration.
Prefixes are used to simplify the description of physical quantities that are either
very big or very small.
Prefixes are used to simplify the description of physical quantities that are either
very big or very small.
Measurement of length
• Common apparatus used for measuring length is a ruler or
measuring tape.

• Measuring small length, we use vernier calliper or

micrometer screw gauge.

• Method of averaging is also used to find a small length (e.g.

finding the thickness of a page of a book)
 Use of ruler
 Can be a metre rule (100 cm) or a half metre rule (50 cm);
 Smallest division can be 1 mm.
 To avoid parallax error, line of sight should be perpendicular to the reading of the
scale

Correct Wrong
 A girl uses a rule to measure the length of a metal rod. Because the end
of the rule is damaged, she places one end of the rod at the 1 cm mark
as shown. How long is the metal rod?

A 43 mm
 B 46 mm
C 53 mm
D 56 mm
 The diagram shows a thick-walled tube. The thickness of the
wall is 3mm.

What is the internal diameter d of the tube?

A. 2.8cm
B. 3.1cm
C. 3.4cm
D. 7.4cm

Measuring time

• Time can be measured using the units hour (h), minute (min) and
second (s).
Analogue stopwatch Digital timer

Analogue stopwatch measures time More accurate as it can measure

in intervals of 0.1 seconds. time in intervals of 0.01 seconds.
Using a pendulum to measure time
• Period T is the time taken for one complete oscillation.
• A complete to and fro motion from R to S and back to R is
one complete oscillation.

https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/pendulum-lab
Using a pendulum to measure time

How can we measure

the time taken for one
complete swing of the
pendulum (= Period)?
One complete swing Measure the time for
=
25 swings and divide
ABACA
the result by 25

Eg. Time for 25

B C swings = 46 seconds.
A
Time for 1 swing =
46/25 = 1.84 seconds
 A stopwatch is used to time an athlete running 100 m. The timekeeper
forgets to reset the watch to zero before using it to time another athlete
running 100m.
How long does the second athlete take to run 100m?

A) 11.2s
B) 11.4s
C) 12.4s
D) 23.8s

Scalar quantity
• Scalar quantity has magnitude (size) only

• Example of scalar quantities: distance, speed, time, mass,

energy and temperature
Vector quantity
• Vector quantity has magnitude and direction.

• Example of vector quantity force, weight, velocity,

acceleration, momentum, electric field strength and
gravitational field strength
Representing Vectors
An arrowed straight line Displacement 50m EAST
is used.

The arrow indicates the

direction and the length Displacement 25m at
45o North of East
of the line is proportional
to the magnitude.
Adding Vector Quantities
• Adding vector quantities is different from adding scalar quantities as while adding them
we also need to keep in mind their directions.
• The vector obtained by adding two or more vectors is known as a resultant vector.
• The resultant of vectors acting in the same straight line (colinear vectors) is found by
addition or subtraction. See the example below.
Addition of vectors
4N 4N
6N 6N
object object
resultant = 10N
object

The original vectors are called COMPONENT vectors.

The final overall vector is called the RESULTANT vector.

4N 6N 6N 4N
object object

resultant = 2N
object
Resultant force
A number of forces acting on a
body may be replaced by a
single force which has the same 3N
effect on the body as the 2N
original forces all acting
together.

This overall force is called

resultant force.
5N
In the example opposite, 5N is
the resultant force of the 3N
and 2N forces.
Vector addition
• The physical effect of the exertion of a 30 N force and a 40 N
force at right angles will be identical to the exertion of a
single 50 N force in the direction of the hypotenuse of the
triangle formed by the 30 N and 40 N forces
Adding non-parallel vectors
• Figure shows two non- parallel forces f1=4 N and f2 = 3 N,
acting on a block at right angle to each other.
• Fig. 1.26 shows how we can obtain the resultant force R
graphically by drawing a parallelogram. The resultant force R
is the diagonal of the parallelogram.
• By measuring the angle θ and the length of the diagonal, we
obtain the resultant force R =5 N at an angle θ =37degrees to
the horizontal.
• We can also obtain the resultant force R by calculation using
Pythagoras theorem.
Question
• A shopkeeper pushes a box with 6N due east and 8N due
south. Calculate the magnitude of the force and its direction
from the horizontal.
Question
• A shopkeeper pushes a box with 6N due east and 8N due
south. Calculate the magnitude of the force and its direction
from the horizontal.

• Answer: 10 N, angle: 530 – 550 from the horizontal