PHYSICS FORMULA SHEET

Prefixes & Power of Tens

1 cm = 0.01 m
1 cm = 1 x 10-2 m

1 cm2 = 1 cm x 1 cm
= 0.01 m x 0.01 m
= 0.0001 m2
1 cm = 1 x 10-4 m2
2

1 cm3 = 1 cm x 1 cm x 1 cm
= 0.01 m x 0.01 m x 0.01 m
= 0.000001 m3
1 cm = 1 x 10-6 m3
3

Motion

v – average speed (m/s)

𝑣= or 𝑑 = 𝑣𝑡 d – distance (m)
t – time taken (s)

d – distance (m)
v – final velocity (m/s) ∴ use this equation to find distance
1
𝑑 = (𝑢 + 𝑣)𝑡 u – initial velocity (m/s) when object is moving with
2
t – time taken (s) uniform acceleration.

a – acceleration (m/s2)
𝑣 −𝑢 v – final velocity (m/s)
𝑎= u – initial velocity (m/s)
𝑡
t – time taken (s)

Mass, Weight, Density

W – weight (N)
𝑊 = 𝑚𝑔 m – mass (kg)
g – gravitational field strength (N/kg) / acceleration of free-fall (m/s 2)

𝑚 ρ – density (kg/m3) or (g/cm3) ∴ 1000 kg/m3 = 1g/cm3

ρ= m – mass (kg or g)
𝑉
V – volume (m3 or cm3)

Effect of Forces

Hooke’s Law F – force or weight of load (N)

𝐹 = 𝑘𝑥 k – spring constant (N/m or N/cm)
x – extension (m or cm) ∴ x = final length – initial length

Newton’s 2nd Law of motion F – resultant force (N)

𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎 m – mass (kg)
a – acceleration (m/s2)
Turning Effect of Forces (Moment)

F – force or weight of load (N)

𝑀𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 = 𝐹𝑑 d – distance from pivot to the force (m or cm)
Moment – (Nm or Ncm)
∴direction: clockwise or anticlockwise

Principle of Moment Two conditions for equilibrium:

1. Resultant moment must be zero
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐴𝐶𝑊 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 = 𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑊 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 2. Resultant force must be zero

Momentum

p – momentum (kgm/s or Ns)

𝑝 = 𝑚𝑣 m – mass (kg)
v – velocity (m/s)
∴ vector quantity

∆p – change in momentum (kgm/s or Ns)

m – mass (kg)
∆𝑝 = 𝑚𝑣 − 𝑚𝑢 v – final velocity (m/s)
u – initial velocity (m/s)
∴ if u & v are not in the same direction, one of them must
be assigned ‘negative’!

𝐼𝑚𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑠𝑒 = 𝐹𝑡 Impulse – change in momentum that happen quickly (kgm/s or Ns)

BUT when define impulse, use product of force and time
F – impulsive force (N)
t – time taken (s)

𝐹𝑡 = 𝑚𝑣 − 𝑚𝑢 F – impulsive force (N)

m – mass (kg)
or v – final velocity (m/s)
𝑚𝑣 − 𝑚𝑢
u – initial velocity (m/s)
𝐹= t – time taken (s)
𝑡

Symbol used represent the same quantities as above.

Conservation of Momentum
𝑚 𝑢 +𝑚 𝑢 =𝑚 𝑣 +𝑚 𝑣 objects separated after collision

𝑚 𝑢 + 𝑚 𝑢 = (𝑚 + 𝑚 )𝑣 objects stick together after collision

∴ if u & v are not in the same direction, one of them must

be assigned ‘negative’!
Energy, Work, Power, Efficiency

KE – kinetic energy (J) ∴ J stands for Joules.

1 m – mass (kg)
𝐾𝐸 = 𝑚𝑣 v – speed (m/s)
2
GPE – gravitational potential energy (J)
𝐺𝑃𝐸 = 𝑚𝑔ℎ m – mass (kg)
g – field strength (N/kg) / acceleration of free-fall (m/s2)
h – height (m)

Conservation of Energy If there is no air resistance (or any other external forces),
1 1 1. An object thrown upwards will experience:
𝑚𝑔ℎ = 𝑚𝑣 − 𝑚𝑢
2 2 gain in GPE = loss in KE
If u = 0, then equation can be simplified to: 2. An object release from a given height will experience:
1 loss in GPE = gain in KE
𝑚𝑔ℎ = 𝑚𝑣
2

W – work done (J) ∴ work is analogous to energy

𝑊 = 𝐹𝑑 F – force (N)
d – distance moved in the direction of the force (m)

P – power (W) ∴ W stands for Watts.

𝑃= or 𝑃 = W – work done (J) ∴ 1 J/s = 1 W
E – energy transferred (J)
t – time taken (s)

𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦

𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = 𝑥100%
𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑦

or

𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟

𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 = 𝑥100%
𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟

Pressure

P – pressure (Pa or N/m2) ∴ 1 N/m2 = 1 Pa (Pascals)

𝐹 F – force / weight (N)
𝑃= A – area (m2)
𝐴

Liquid P – pressure (Pa or N/m2)

h – depth below the water (m)
𝑃 = ℎ𝜌𝑔 ρ – density (kg/m3)
g – field strength (N/kg) or acceleration of free-fall (m/s2)
Pressure changes for Gas

Boyle’s Law P – pressure (Pa or N/m2)

V – volume (m3 or cm3)
𝑃𝑉 =𝑃 𝑉
∴ mass of gas and temperature must be constant.

Lussac’s Law / Pressure Law P – pressure (Pa or N/m2)

T – absolute temperature scale (K)
𝑃 𝑃 ∴ mass of gas and volume must be constant.
=
𝑇 𝑇

Temperature Scale Conversion

T – absolute temperature scale (Kelvin, K)

T = θ + 273 θ – Celsius scale (°C)

Specific Heat Capacity

E – general symbol for energy (J)

Q = mc∆θ or E = mc∆θ Q – symbol for thermal energy (J)
m – mass (kg)
c – specific heat capacity (J/kg °C) or (J/kg K)
∆θ – change in temperature (°C or K)

Reflection, Refraction of Light

Law of reflection i – angle of incidence (°)

i=r r – angle of reflection (°)

𝑐 η – refractive index (no unit)

𝜂= c – speed of light in vaccum (3 x 108 m/s)
𝑣
v – speed of light in medium (m/s)

η – refractive index (no unit)

𝜆
𝜂= 𝜆 – wavelength of light in vacuum (m)
𝜆 𝜆 – wavelength of light in medium (m)

sin 𝑖 η – refractive index (no unit)

𝜂= i – angle of incidence (°)
sin 𝑟 r – angle of reflection (°)
∴also known as Snell’s Law.

1 η – refractive index (no unit)

𝜂= c – critical angle (°)
sin 𝑐

Wave Speed Equation

v – speed of the waves (m/s)

𝑣 = 𝑓𝜆 ∴ 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓 = f – frequency of the waves (Hz)
λ – wavelength of the waves (m)
T – period of the waves (s)
Charge

Q – amount of charge (C) ∴ C stands for Coulombs

𝑄 = 𝑁𝑒 N – number of electrons (no unit)
e – charge of a single electron (1.6 x 10-19 C)

Current, emf, pd, resistance, electrical power, electrical energy

𝑄
𝐼= I – current (A) ∴ A stands for Amperes
𝑡 Q – amount of charge (C) ∴ 1 C/s = 1 A
t – time taken (s)

e.m.f. – electromotive force (V) ∴ V stands for Volts

𝑊 𝑊
𝑒𝑚𝑓 = 𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑑 = p.d. – potential difference (V) ∴ 1 J/C = 1 V
𝑄 𝑄 W – work done (J)
Q – charge (C)

R – resistance (Ω)
𝑉
𝑅= V – potential difference (V)
𝐼 I – current (A)

R – resistance (Ω)
𝑅 𝐿 𝐴
= L – length of the wire (m or cm)
𝑅 𝐿 𝐴 A – cross-sectional area of the wire (m2 or cm2)

𝑅 𝐿 𝑑 R – resistance (Ω)
= L – length of the wire (m or cm)
𝑅 𝐿 𝑑
d – diameter of the wire (m2 or cm2)

P – power (W)
𝑃 = 𝑉𝐼 𝑜𝑟 𝑃 = 𝐼 𝑅 𝑜𝑟 𝑃 = V – potential difference (V)
I – current (A)
R – resistance (Ω)
E – energy (J)
𝐸 = 𝑉𝐼𝑡 V – potential difference (V)
I – current (A)
t – time taken (s)
E – energy (kilowatt-hour or kWh)
𝐸 (𝑖𝑛 𝑘𝑊ℎ) = 𝑃(𝑖𝑛 𝑘𝑊) 𝑡(𝑖𝑛 ℎ) P – power (kW)
t – time taken (h)

Resistance in Series & Parallel Circuits

Series circuit
Total resistance is larger than individual resistance
𝑅 =𝑅 +𝑅

Parallel circuit

1 1 1 1 1 Total resistance is smaller than individual resistance

= + 𝑜𝑟 𝑅 = +
𝑅 𝑅 𝑅 𝑅 𝑅
Potential Divider Circuit (a series circuit that have at least 2 components)

𝑅 V – potential difference (V)

𝑉 = 𝑉
𝑅 +𝑅 R – resistance (Ω)

𝑅 𝑉 V – potential difference (V)

= R – resistance (Ω)
𝑅 𝑉

Transformers

Transformer Equation
V – potential difference (V) ∴ p – primary coils
𝑉 𝑁 N – number of turns of the coils ∴ s – secondary coils
=
𝑉 𝑁

𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 = 𝑃𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 V – potential difference (V)

I – current (A)
𝑉 𝐼 = 𝑉𝐼
Only applicable if the transformer is 100 % efficient.
(i.e. no power is lost in its coils or core)

Space Physics

Average Orbital Speed v = average orbital speed (m/s)

2πr r = average orbital radius (m)
v=
T T = orbital period (s)

One light-year (1 ly) is equal to (3 x 108) x 365 x 24 x 60 x 60 = 9.46 x 1015 m

9.46 x 1015 m (or 9.5 x 1015 m)

Hubble’s Law Equation H0 = Hubble constant

v v = speed of movement away from the Earth
H = d = distance from the Earth
0 d
H0 = 2.2 × 10−18 per second

Age of the Universe

1 T0 = 4.5 × 1017 seconds OR 14 billion years old
T =
0 H
0
Vector quan es: Scalar quan es:
1. displacement 1. distance
2. velocity 2. speed
3. accelera on 3. me
4. momentum 4. mass
5. moment 5. density
6. impulse 6. energy (all types of energy – kine c, poten al, etc)
7. force (all type of forces – weight, fric on, etc) 7. work
8. gravita onal field strength 8. power
9. electric field strength 9. pressure
10. magne c field strength 10. temperature
11. charge
12. current
13. voltage (emf, pd)
14. resistance