O level Physics Definitions/laws/principles
1. Speed - distance travelled per unit time.
2. Velocity - rate of change of displacement.
3. Average Speed - total distance / total time
4. Acceleration โ rate of change of velocity.
5. Uniform acceleration โ change in velocity is constant for a given
interval of time.
6. Deceleration โ negative acceleration
7. Acceleration of freefall โ the acceleration when only weight is acting
on an object.
8. Terminal velocity โ the final constant speed attained by a body when
resultant force becomes 0.
9. Mass โ amount of matter in a substance
10. Weight โ the force of gravitational field on mass, so it is the product of
mass and gravitational field strength, w=mg
11. Volume โ amount of space occupied.
12. Density โ mass per unit volume
13. Force โ rate of change of momentum
14. Hookeโs Law โ extension is directly proportional to force/load, f=kx.
15. Spring constant (force constant) โ amount of force needed to extend a
body by unit length.
16. Limit of proportionality โ the amount of load beyond which extension
and force are no longer proportional (Hookeโs law not obeyed).
17. Elastic limit - itโs the maximum amount of load beyond which the
material deforms permanently.
18. Scalar โ a quantity that only has magnitude (size).
19. Vector โ a quantity that has both magnitude and direction.
20. Resultant โ the combined affect of two or more vectors when theyโre
added together
21. Moment โ a turning effect of a force, product of force and
perpendicular distance between the force and the pivot.
