IGCSE Physics Revision Notes

These flashcards cover key vocabulary terms and concepts in IGCSE Physics, focusing on motion, forces, energy, and measurement techniques.

Scalar quantity

A quantity that has only magnitude and no direction, such as mass or distance.

Vector quantity

A quantity that has both magnitude and direction, such as velocity or force.

Measurement techniques

Methods used to determine the magnitude of physical quantities, including rulers, tape measures, and measuring cylinders.

Density

Mass per unit volume of a substance, commonly expressed in kg/m³ or g/cm³.

Newton's First Law

An object will remain at rest or in uniform motion unless acted upon by an external force.

Newton's Second Law

The acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass, expressed as F = ma.

Hooke's Law

The force exerted by a spring is directly proportional to the amount it is stretched, within its elastic limit.

Freefall

The motion of a body when gravity is the only force acting upon it.

Kinetic Energy

The energy of an object due to its motion, calculated as KE = rac{1}{2}mv^2, where m is mass and v is velocity.

Gravitational Potential Energy

The energy an object possesses due to its height above the ground, calculated as PE = mgh, where m is mass, g is acceleration due to gravity, and h is height.

Efficiency

The ratio of useful work output to total energy input, usually expressed as a percentage.

Pressure

The force applied per unit area, calculated as P = rac{F}{A}, where F is force and A is area.

Resultant force

The overall effect of all the forces acting on an object, found by vector addition.

Moment

The measure of the tendency of a force to rotate an object about an axis, calculated as Moment = Force × Distance from pivot.

Centre of Gravity

The point in a body where the weight is evenly distributed and balanced.

Momentum

The product of mass and velocity of an object, calculated as p = mv, where p is momentum.

Impulse

The change in momentum caused by a force applied over a period of time, calculated as Impulse = Force × Time.

Acceleration

The rate of change of velocity of an object with respect to time, usually measured in m/s².

Displacement

The vector quantity that represents the shortest distance from the initial to the final position of an object, including direction.

Distance-Time Graph

A graphical representation of an object's motion, showing distance on the vertical axis and time on the horizontal axis.

Speed-Time Graph

A graphical representation displaying how speed changes over time, with speed on the vertical axis and time on the horizontal axis.

Trundle wheel

A measuring device used to measure large distances, often used in surveying.