Important Equations in Physics for IGCSE course

General physics:

1 For constant motion: V = d/t ‘v’ is the velocity in m/s, ‘s’ is

the distance or displacement in
meters and ‘t’ is the time in sec

2 For acceleration ‘a’ a = v-u/t u is the initial velocity, v is the

final velocity and t is the time

3 Graph: in velocity-time graph the Area of a rectangular shaped graph = base × height
area under the graph is the total
distance covered Area of triangular shaped graph = ½ × base × height

4 Weight is the force of gravity and W=m×g w is the weight in newton (N), m is
mass is the amount of matter the mass in kg and g is
acceleration due to gravity = 9.8
m/s2

5 Density ‘ρ’in kg/m3 Ρ= m / v m is the mass and V is the volume

6 Force F in Newtons (N) F=mXa m is the mass and a is acceleration

7 Terminal Velocity: falling with air Weight of an object (downwards) = air resistance (upwards).
resistance

Implies no net force, therefore no acceleration, constant velocity.

8 Hooke’s Law F is the force, x is the extension in

F=K* X meters and k is the spring
constant

9 Moment of a force in N.m M=FxD D is the perpendicular distance

from the pivot and F is the force.
(also turning effect)

10 Law of moment or equilibrium TOTAL CLOCKWISE MOMENT =TOTAL ANTICLOCKWISE MOMENT

=> F1 × d1 = F2 × d2

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 11 Conditions of Equilibrium Net force on x-axis=zero, net force on y-axis= zero, net
moment=zero
12 Work done W joules(J) W=Fxd F is the force and d is the distance
covered by an object same
direction.

13 Momentum Kg. m/s P=mxv m is the mass of an object, v is

velocity of an object.
14 Impulse (I) is the change in I=Fxt F is the force and t is the time taken
momentum (N.S) in contact.
Or I = m ( v – u ) m is the mass of an object, v is final
velocity of an object, u is initial
velocity of an object.
15 Conservation of momentum Total momentum before collision = Total momentum after collision
m1 u1 + m2 u2 = m1 v1 + m2 v2
16 Kinetic Energy Ek in joules (J) K.E = m v2 m is the mass(kg) and v is the
velocity (m/s).

17 Potential Energy G.P.E in joules (J) G.P.E= m × g × Δℎ m is mass (kg) and g is gravity
and Δh is the height from the
ground

18 Law of conservation of energy Energy lost = energy gained

m × g × Δ ℎ = m v2
19 Power in watts (W) Power is the rate of doing work
P=E/t or rate of transferring the
energy from one form to
another.
P=W/t

20 Efficiency: eff= (useful energy(work) output)/(total energy(work)input)×100%

21 Pressure p in pascal (Pa) P=F/A F is the force in newton (N) and

A is the area in m2

22 Pressure due to liquid P = ρX g X h ρis the density in kg/m3, h is

the height or depth of liquid in
meters and g is the gravity.

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Thermal physics
1 Boyle’s law: Pressure and volume PV=constant p1 and p2 are the two
are inversely proportional pressures in Pa
P1 V1 = P2 V2 and V1 and V2 are the
two volumes in m3.

2 Pressure Law: temperature in kelvin = temperature in celsius + 273.

Pressure of gas is directly
proportional to the absolute
temperature

Thermal Capacity: amount of heat Thermal capacity= E / Δθ E is the total energy and Δθ
3 require to raise the temperature of is the change in temperature
o
a substance of any mass by 1 C
The unit of thermal capacity
o
is J/ C.

4 Specific Heat Capacity: c is the specific heat capacity

Amount of heat energy required to o
c = ∆E / (m× Δθ) in J/(kg C),
raise the temperature of 1 kg mass E is the heat energy supplied
o
by 1 C. in joules (J),
= (P x t) / (m x Δθ) m is the mass in kg and Δθ
is the change in temperature.
5 Thermal or heat transfer In solid = conduction
In liquid and gas = convection and also convection current
(hot matter goes up and cold matter comes down)
In vacuum = radiation.

6 Emitters and Radiators Dull black surface = good emitter, good radiator, bad
reflector
Bright shiny surface = poor emitter, poor radiator, good
reflector

7 Melting point Change solid into liquid, energy weaken the molecular bond,
no change in temperature, molecules move around each
other
8 Boiling point Change liquid into gas, energy break molecular bond and
molecules escape the liquid, average kinetic energy
increase, no change in temperature, molecule are free to
move
9 Evaporation Change liquid to gas at any temperature, temperature of
liquid decreases, happens only at the surface

10 Factors effect on the rate of 1- Increase temperature.

evaporation 2- Increase surface area.
3- Reduce humidity.
4- Increase wind.

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Waves:
1 Wave motion Transfer of energy from one place to another
2 Frequency Number of cycle or waves in one second, unit hertz (Hz)
3 Wavelength λ Length of one complete waves, unit, meters (m)
4 Amplitude a Maximum displacement of medium from its mean position,
meters.
5 wavefront A line on which the disturbance of all the particles are at same
point from the central position eg a crest of a wave is a wavefront

6 Wave equation v=fX λ v is the speed of wave in m/s, f is

the frequency in
(hertz) Hz, λ is the wavelength in
meters.

7 Movement of particles Longitudinal waves=> back and forth parallel to the direction of
of the medium the waves
Transverse waves=> perpendicular to the direction of the waves

8 Law of reflection Angle of incidence i = angel of reflection

9 Refraction From lighter to denser medium → light bend towards the normal
From denser to lighter medium → light bend away from the normal

V1 is the speed of light in medium

(1)and V2 is the speed of light in
Refractive index n medium (2).
(Refractive index i is the angle of incident and r is
10 has not units) the angle of refraction.
=

C is the critical angle.

=

11 Critical angle When light goes from denser to lighter medium, the incident angle
at which the reflected angle is 90o, is called critical angle.

12 Total internal reflection When light goes from denser to lighter medium, the refracted ray
(TIR) bend inside the same medium called (TIR) eg optical fibre

13 Diffraction Bending of waves around the edges of a hard surface

14 Dispersion Separation of different waves according to colours or frequency for

example by using prism

15 Image from a plane mirror Virtual, upright, same size and laterally inverted and same distance
from the mirror inside

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16 Image from a convex lens When virtual, enlarge, upright
before focal length
17 When after focal length real, small, upside down

18 Image from a concave lens Virtual, upright, small

19 Electromagnetic Spectrum travel in vacuum, oscillating electric and magnetic fields

v = 3 x 108 m/s
20 Sound wave Are longitudinal waves
particles of the medium come close to each other → compression
particles of the medium move away → rarefaction
21 v is the speed of sound waves,
Echo v = 2d / t d is the distance in meters
between source and the
reflection surface and t is the
time for echo.

22 Properties of sound Pitch is similar to the frequency of the wave

waves Loudness is similar to the amplitude of the wave

23 Speed of sound waves Air : 330-340 m/s

Water: 1400 m/s
Concrete : 5000 m/s

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Electricity:
1 Ferrous Materials Attracted by magnet and can be magnetized
iron, steel, nickel and cobalt (iron temporary and steel permanent)
2 Non-ferrous materials Not attracted by magnet and cannot be magnetized
copper, silver, aluminum, wood, glass

3 Electric field The space or region around a charge where a unit charge experience
force
Direction is outward from positive charge and inward into negative
charge
4 Current (I): Rate of flow I is the current in amperes (A),
I
of charges in conductor Q is the charge in coulombs (C)
t is the time in seconds (s)
5 Ohms law Voltage across the V is the voltage in volts (V),
resistor is directly proportional to I is the current in amperes (A) and
current R is resistance in ohms ( Ω)

6 Voltage (potential q is the charge in coulombs (C),

difference) Energy per unit charge V is the voltage in volts (V)
Energy is in joules (J)
7 Circuit In series circuit the current stays the same and voltage divides
8 parallel circuit the voltage stays the same and current divides
9 Resistance in series = R1 + R2

10 Resistance in parallel resistors

SO R=
11 Potential divider or
potentiometer

12 Power P is the power in watts (W)

13 energy E = VIt The unit of energy is joules (J)

14 Diode current pass only in one direction, rectifier

15 Light dependent resistor LED depend upon light, brightness increases the resistance decrease
resistor
16 Thermistor Resistor depend upon temperature, temperature increase resistance decrease
17 Transformer Vp and Vs are the voltages; np and ns
are the no of turns
in primary and secondary coils
18 Transformer Ip and Is the currents in primary and
secondary coil
19 a.c. generator Produce current, use Fleming’s right hand rule
20 d.c. motor Consume current, use Fleming’s left hand rule

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ATOMIC PHYSICS:
Double positive charge
Helium nucleus
1 Alpha particles Stopped by paper
α-particles Highest ionization potential

2 Beta-particles Single negative charge

β-particles Fast moving electrons
Stopped by aluminum
Less ionization potential

3 Gamma-particles No charge
γ-rays Electromagnetic radiation
Only stopped by thick a sheet of lead
Least ionization potential
4 Half-life Time in which the activity or mass of substance becomes half

5 Atomic symbol A is the total no of

protons and neutrons
Z is the total no of protons
6 Isotopes Same number of protons but different number of
neutrons

Space:
1 Orbital speed T: The time taken for an
object to complete one orbit.
And r is the average radius
of orbit.
2 Accretion: The process of dust and gas being pulled together by gravity.
3 Light year Distance is often expressed in terms of how long it takes
light to travel = 9.5∗1015 m.
4 Hubble constant HO It is defined
as the ratio of speed of the galaxy Current estimate of Ho
is moving away from the Earth to Ho= =2.2∗10−18 S-1
its distance from the Earth.

5 Age of universe t = 𝑑/ = 1/Ho 4.5∗1017 sec or 14 billion

years

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