Yusef Mohammed UMP

Physics
End of Year Exam Revision

Topic 1: Forces and Motion

Speed and velocity
Speed and velocity are both measured in m/s (or km/h or mph). They both say how
fast your going:
Speed is how fast youre going with no regard to the direction (e.g. 30mph or
20m/s).
Velocity however must also have the direction specified (e.g. 30mph north or
20m/s, 060).

Speed, distance and time are given the formula:

Distance moved (d) = Average speed (s) Time taken (t)
Average speed (s) = Distance moved (d) / Time taken (t)

Distance-time graphs
1) Gradient = speed.
2) Flat sections are where its stopped.
3) The steeper the graph, the faster its going.
4) Downhill sections mean its going back towards its starting point.
5) Curves represent acceleration or deceleration.
6) A steepening curve means its speeding up (increasing gradient).
7) A levelling off curve means its slowing down (decreasing gradient).

Calculating speed from a D-T graph:

Speed = gradient = vertical / horizontal

Acceleration
Acceleration is not the same as velocity or speed:
- Acceleration is how quickly the velocity is changing.
- The change in velocity can be a change in speed or a changing in direction or
both.

Acceleration is given the formula:

Change in velocity (v u) = Acceleration (a) Time taken (t)

Physics
End of Year Exam Revision
Yusef Mohammed UMP

Acceleration (a) = Change in velocity (v u) / Time taken (t)

Velocity-time graphs
1) Gradient = acceleration.
2) Flat sections represent steady speed.
3) The steeper the graph, the greater the acceleration or deceleration.
4) Uphill sections are acceleration.
5) Downhill sections are deceleration.
6) The area under any section of the graph (or all of it) is equal to the distance
travelled in that time interval.
7) A curve means changing acceleration.

Calculating acceleration, speed and distance form a V-T graph:

1) Acceleration = gradient = vertical / horizontal
2) The speed at any point is found by reading the value off the velocity axis.
3) The distance travelled in any time interval is equal to the area under the
graph.

Forces
The 3 main forces are:
1) Push
2) Pull
3) Turn or twist
These can make the forces change direction, change speed and change shape.

Types of forces:
1) Gravity or weight always acting straight downwards.
2) Reaction force from a surface, usually acting straight upwards.
3) Electrostatic force between two uncharged objects. The direction depends on
the type of charge.
4) Thrust or push or pull due to an engine or rocket speeding something up.
5) Drag or air resistance or fiction which is slowing the thing down,
6) Lift due to an aeroplane wing.
7) Tension in a rope or cable.

Vectors and scalars

When there are multiple forces acting on an object, its often useful to know the
resultant force acting on the object. To do this you need to know the size of all the
different forces acting on the object and their direction.

Physics
End of Year Exam Revision
Yusef Mohammed UMP

Force is a vector quantity vector quantities have a size and a direction.

Lots of physical quantities are vector quantities:
- Force
- Velocity
- Displacement (measured across all the points)
- Acceleration
- Momentum

Some physical quantities only have size and no direction. These are called scalar
quantities:
- Mass
- Temperature
- Time
- Length
- Distance (measured between two points)

Vectors Magnitude, direction of a quantity

Scalar Magnitude

Resultant force
You can find the resultant force or forces acting along the same line by adding them
end to end.
e.g. 50N driving force from engines, 15N friction from air.
= +50N + -15N
= +35N

Laws of motion
Newtons second law of motion:
Force (F) = Mass (m) Acceleration (a)
Acceleration (a) = Force (F) / Mass (m)

Newtons third law of motion:

Every action has equal and opposite reaction.

Mass, weight and gravity

Weight (W) = Mass (m) Gravitational field strength (Gravity) (g)

Friction
If an object has no force propelling it along, it will always slow down and stop
because of friction (unless it is in space where theres no friction). Friction is a force
that opposes motion.
To travel at a steady speed, things always need a driving force to counteract the
friction.
Friction occurs in three main ways:
1) Friction between solid surfaces which are gripping (static friction).
2) Friction between solid surfaces which are sliding past each other.

Physics
End of Year Exam Revision
Yusef Mohammed UMP

You can reduce both these types of friction by putting a lubricant like oil or grease
between the surfaces. Friction between solids can often cause wear of the two
surfaces in contact.
3) Resistance or drag from fluids (liquids or gases, e.g. air)
The most important factor by far in reducing drag in fluids is keeping the shape of
the object streamlined, like sports cars or boat hulls. Lorries and caravans have
deflectors on them to make them more streamlined and reduce drag. Roof boxes
on cars spoil their streamlined shape and so slow them down. For a given thrust, the
higher the drag, the lower the top speed of the car.
The opposite extreme to a sports car is a parachute which is about as high drag as
you can get which is the whole idea.
In a fluid, friction always increases as the speed increases.

Topic 2: Static Electricity

Atoms
Atomic particles
Particle Where is it? Relative mass (amu*) Electric charge
Proton Nucleus 1 +1
Neutron Nucleus 1 0
Electron Orbiting Nucleus 1/1836 -1
*amu atomic mass units

The relative mass is measured in atomic mass units because there is no scale that
can measure an atom, as it is too light.

The atomic number of an atom tells you how many protons are in the atom.
All atoms have the same number of electrons as protons, except ions.
The mass number of an atom tells you how many protons and neutrons there are
together in an atom.
To find the number of neutrons in an atom there is, we subtract the atomic number
from the mass number.

Electrostatics
Materials that are electrical conductors conduct charge easily a current can flow
through them. They are usually metals, e.g. copper and silver.
Electrical insulators dont conduct charge very well a current cant flow through
them. Examples include plastic and rubber.

When two insulating materials are rubbed together, electrons will be transferred
from one material to the other.

Physics
End of Year Exam Revision
Yusef Mohammed UMP

This leaves a positive electrostatic charge on one and a negative electrostatic charge
on the other.
Which way the electrons are transferred depends on the two materials involved.
Electrically charged objects attract small object placed near them.
The classic examples are polythene and acetate rods being rubbed with a cloth
duster.
With the polythene rod, electrons move from the duster to the rod. The rod
becomes negatively charged and the duster is left with an equal positive charge.

With the acetate rod, electrons move from the rod to the duster. The duster
becomes negatively charged and the rod is left with an equal positive charge.
Both positive and negative electrostatic charges are only ever produced by the
movement of electrons.
The positive charges do not move.
A positive static charge is always caused by electrons moving elsewhere.

A charged conductor can be discharged safely by connecting it to earth with a metal

strap. The electrons flow down the strap to the ground if the charge is negative and
flow up the strap from the ground if the charge is positive. This process is called
earthing or grounding.

The rate of flow of electrical charge is called electric current.

The greater the charge on an isolated object, the greater the voltage between it and
the earth. If the voltage gets big enough theres a spark, which jumps across the gap.

Attraction by induction can be demonstrated with a balloon. When a balloon is

rubbed with another insulating material, such as someones hair, the balloon will
build a charge. If it builds a negative charge, then electrons are moving from the
persons hair to the balloon. When the balloon is put near a wall, it will separate the
charges in the wall, attracting the positive charges and repelling the negative
charges, causing the balloon to stick on the wall. This how a charged object can pick
up small uncharged objects.

Physics
End of Year Exam Revision
Yusef Mohammed UMP

1) Two things with opposite electric charges are attracted to each other
(opposite charges attract).
2) Two things with the same electric charges will repel each other (like charges
repel).
3) These forces get weaker the further apart the two things are.

Experiments
Gold-leaf electroscope:
1) You can see whether a material is charged by using a gold-leaf electroscope.
2) A gold-leaf electroscope has a metal disc connected to a metal rod, at the
bottom of which is attached two thin pieces of gold leaf.
3) When a rod with a known charge is brought near to the disc of the
electroscope, electrons will either be attracted to, or repelled from, the
metal disc depending on the charge of the rod.
4) This induces a charge in the metal disc, which in turn induced a charge in the
gold leaves.
5) Both gold leaves will have the same charge, so they will repel each other,
causing them to rise.
6) When the rod is taken away, the gold leaves will discharge and fall again.

Suspending a charged rod:

1) Another way of testing whether a rod of material is charged is to suspend a
rod with a known charge on a thread and see if there is a repulsion or
attraction when the rod youre testing is brought close to it.
2) If there is an attraction, then the test rod has the opposite charge to the
suspended rod.
3) If there is a repulsion, then the test rod has the same charge as the
suspended rod.

Physics
End of Year Exam Revision
Yusef Mohammed UMP

Everyday shocks
Dust particles are really tiny and lightweight and are easily attracted to anything
thats charged. Unfortunately, many objects around the house are made of
insulating materials (e.g. glass, wood, plastic) that get easily charged and attract the
dust particles this makes cleaning a nightmare.

When synthetic clothes are dragged over each other (like a tumble dryer) or over
your head, electrons get scraped off, leaving static charges on both parts, and that
leads to the inevitable attraction (they stick together) and little sparks or shocks as
the charges rearrange themselves.

Static builds up on your hair, giving each strand the same charge so they repel each
other.

Uses of static electricity

Inkjet printer:
1) Tiny droplets of ink are forced out of a fine nozzle, making them electrically
charged.
2) The droplets are deflected as they pass between two metal plates. A voltage
is applied to the plates one is negative and the other is positive.
3) The droplets are attracted to the plate of the opposite charge and repelled
from the plate with the same charge.
4) The size and direction of the voltage across each plate changes so each
droplet is deflected to hit a different place on the paper.
5) Loads of tiny dots make up a printout.

Photocopier:
1) The image of the document is projected onto a positively charged copying
plate.
2) Where light falls onto the plate, the electrical charge leaks away.
3) Negatively charged black toner particles are attracted to the remaining
positive areas.
4) Paper is placed over the copying plate: toner is transferred to the paper and
heated to make it stick.

Physics
End of Year Exam Revision
Yusef Mohammed UMP

5) The photocopy is taken off the copying plate and turned over to reveal the
text.

Electrostatic smoke precipitator:

1) The dirty smoke enters from the bottom
where it meets a negatively charged metal grid of wires.
2) The smoke particles pick up a negative charge and they are attracted to the
earthed metal plates.
3) A mechanical hammer that sits on top of the metal plates knock the metal
plates in order to remove the smoke particles which fall down.
4) The metal plates are earthed for safety reasons as the build up in charge

could lead to a big spark or explosion.

5) Clean smoke without dirty smoke particles come out of the chimney.

Spray-painting:
1) The paint nozzle is charged, which charges all the individual paint droplets,
and the object to be painted is given the opposite charge to the gun.
2) The paint droplets are attracted to the car as opposite charges attract.
3) Since each paint droplet has the same charge, they repel each other, so the
car receives a fine spray and even coat.
4) Spray paint sticks to all parts of the car, even areas that are difficult (there
are no paint shadows) to paint and hardly any paint is wasted.
5) This type of spray-painting is commonly found with bikes and cars.

Dangers of static electricity

Lightning:

Physics
End of Year Exam Revision
Yusef Mohammed UMP

Rain drops and ice bump together inside storm clouds, knocking off electrons and
leaving the top of the cloud positively charged and the bottom of the cloud
negatively charged. This creates a huge voltage and a big spark as the electrons at
the bottom of the cloud strike down to the earth to be earthed.

Refuelling an aircraft:
When the aircraft is in flight, friction with the air causes the aircraft to be charged.
Fuel is extremely flammable and could easily cause an explosion. To prevent this
from occurring by connecting the aircraft to the earth using an earthing wire. This
conducts the flow of charge to earth, preventing any build up of charge.

Unloading lorries:
Lorries containing inflammable gases, liquids and powders, when unloaded, could
produce a big spark or explosion because of the build of charge due to friction when
driving. To prevent this, lorries are connected to the earth using an earthing wire
before being unloaded.

Fuel tankers:
As fuel flows out of a filler pipe, static can build up. This can easily lead to a spark
and in dusty or fumy places, an explosion. The solution is to make the nozzles out of
metal so the charge is conducted away, instead of building up. Its also a good idea
to have earthing straps between the fuel tank and the fuel pipe.

Topic 3: Electricity
Current and charge
Current is rate of flow of charge round the circuit. Current is will only flow through a
component if there is a voltage across that component.
The electrons flow in the opposite direction to that of the current (current runs from
positive to negative)
Charges move because of the forces exerted by potential difference between the
two terminals of a voltage supply, which is also called voltage.
Electric current is measured in units called amperes or amps (A), measured using an
ammeter.
Ammeters are always in series in a circuit current does not change throughout the
circuit.

Current is the flow of electrical charge (in amperes, A) around a circuit

In solid metallic conductors (e.g. copper wire), charge is carried by negatively
charged electrons.
When current (I) flows past a point in a circuit for a length of time (t) then the charge
(Q) that has passed is given by this formula:
Charge (Q) = Current (I) Time (t)
Current (I) = Charge (Q) / Time (t)
More charge passes around a circuit when a bigger current flows.
Current is measured in amperes (A), charge is measured in coulombs (C) and time is
measured in seconds (s)

Physics
End of Year Exam Revision
Yusef Mohammed UMP

Voltage and potential difference

Voltage or potential difference is the driving force that pushes the current round.
Voltage is measured in volts (V).
The voltage of a power supply is an electromotive force (emf).
The potential difference (or voltage) is the work done (energy transferred, measured
in joules, J) per coulomb of charge that passes between two points in an electrical
circuit. In other words, voltage is the energy transferred per unit charge passed. Its
given the formula:
Energy transferred (E) = Voltage (V) Charge (Q)
Voltage (V) = Energy transferred (E) / Charge (Q)
The voltage across an electrical component is the amount of energy transferred by
that electrical component (e.g. light and heat energy by a bulb) per unit of charge.
The volt is a joule per coulomb (one volt is one joule per coulomb).

Resistance
Resistance is anything in a circuit which slows the flow down. If you add more
components to the circuit (one after the other) there will be a higher overall
resistance.
It is measured in units called ohms ().
As the electrons flow through the conductor, they bump into the conductor atoms,
making it difficult for current to flow. This causes resistance.
There are four factors that affect resistance:
1) Length of wire As length of wire increases, resistance increases.
2) Thickness of wire As thickness of wire increases, resistance decreases.
3) Material of wire Good conductors cause resistance to decrease, bad
conductors cause resistance to increase. E.g. copper is a good conductor it
has lots of free electrons. Tungsten is a bad conductor meaning it has a
higher resistance.
4) Temperature As temperature increases, resistance increases. This is
because high temperature excites atoms, which bump into electrons,
preventing the flow of charge.

Ohms law states that for a fixed temperature, the current flowing through a resistor
is directly proportional to voltage or potential difference across the resistor. Its
given the formula:
Voltage (V) = Current (I) Resistance (R)
Resistance (R) = Voltage (V) / Current (I)
V-I graphs show how current varies as you change the voltage. The gradient of each
V-I graph is 1/R.

Physics
End of Year Exam Revision
Yusef Mohammed UMP

Metal filament lamp: As the temperature of the metal filament increases, the
resistance increases, hence the curve.

Different resistors: The current through a resistor (at constant temperature) is

directly proportional to voltage. Different resistors have different resistances, hence
the different slopes.

Wire: The current through a wire (at constant temperature) is proportional to

voltage.

Diode: Current will only flow through a diode in one direction, as shown. The diode
has very high resistance in the opposite direction.

Resistance increases with temperature:

1) When an electrical charge flows through a resistor, some of the electrical
energy is transferred to heat energy and the resistor gets hot.

Physics
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Yusef Mohammed UMP

2) This heat energy causes the ions in the conductor to vibrate more. With the
ions jiggling around its more difficult for the charge-carrying electrons to get
through the resistor the current cant flow as easily and the resistance
increases.
3) For most resistors theres a limit to the amount of current that can flow.
More current means an increase in temperature, which means an increase in
resistance, which means the current decreases again.
4) This is why the graph for the metal filament lamp levels off at high currents.

Circuits
The voltage is trying to push the current round the circuit, and the resistance is
opposing it the relative sizes of the voltage and resistance decide how big the
current will be:
If you increase the voltage then more current will flow.
If you increase the resistance then less current will flow (or more voltage will be
needed to keep the same current flowing).

This is the circuit you use to find the resistance of a component.

To find the resistance, we need to know the current through and voltage across the
component.

The ammeter:
1) Measures the current (in amps) flowing through the component.
2) Must be placed in series anywhere in the main circuit.
The voltmeter:
1) Measures the voltage (in volts) across the component.
2) Must be placed in parallel around the component under test.

Important points:
1) This very basic circuit is used for testing component, and for getting V-I
graphs for them.
2) The component, the ammeter and the variable resistor are all in series, which
means they can be put in any order in the main circuit. The voltmeter, on the
other hand, can only be placed un parallel around the component under test.

Physics
End of Year Exam Revision
Yusef Mohammed UMP

3) As you vary the variable resistor it alters the current flowing through the
circuit.
4) This allows you to take several pairs of readings from the ammeter and
voltmeter.
5) You can plot these values for current and voltage on a V-I graph.

Circuit devices
Name Symbol
Cell

Battery

Switch open

Switch closed

Filament lamp

Fuse

LED

Fixed resistor

Variable resistor

Ammeter

Voltmeter

Diode

LDR

Thermistor

Diodes: Diodes are used to regulate the potential difference in circuits. They let
current flow freely in one direction, but not in the other (theres very high resistance
in the reverse direction). These are useful in various electronic circuits.

Light-emitting diodes: A light-emitting diode (LED) emits light when a current flows
through it in a forward direction. They have lots of practical applications. They are
used for the numbers on digital clocks, in traffic lights and in remote controls. Unlike
a light bulb, they dont have a filament that can burn out.
LEDs, like lamps, indicate the presence of current in a circuit. They are often used in
appliances to show that they are switched on.

Physics
End of Year Exam Revision
Yusef Mohammed UMP

Light dependent resistor:

1) A light-dependent resistor (LDR) is a special type of resistor that changes its
resistance depending on how much light falls on it.
2) In bright light, the resistance falls and in darkness, the resistance is highest.
3) This makes it a useful device for various electronic circuits, e.g. burglar
detectors.

Thermistor:
1) A thermistor is a temperature-dependent resistor.
2) In hot conditions, the resistance drops and in cool conditions, the resistance
goes up.
3) Thermistors make useful temperature detectors, e.g. care engine
temperature sensors.

Series and parallel circuits

In series circuits, the different components are connected in a line, end to end,
between the positive and negative of the power supply.
You cant control which components current flows through it either flows through
all the components, or none of them.
When drawing a circuit diagram, all the components will be one after the other
along the wire.
If you remove or disconnect one component, the circuit is broken and they all stop.
This isnt very practical, and few things are connected using series circuits, e.g. fairy
lights.

In series circuits the same current flows through all parts of the current, i.e.:
A1 = A 2 = A 3
The size of the current is determined by the total voltage of the cell(s) and the total
resistance of the circuit, i.e. I = V/R
The total resistance of the circuit depends on the number of components and the
type of components used.
More components = more resistance.

Physics
End of Year Exam Revision
Yusef Mohammed UMP

Voltage is shared in series circuits.

The voltage across all the components will equal the voltage across the battery.
V = V1 + V 2

In parallel circuits, each component is separately connected to the positive and

negative of the supply.
If you remove or disconnect one of them, it will hardly affect the others.
In a circuit diagram, each component is on its own loop in the circuit. To add a
component in parallel, just add another loop to the diagram.
This is how most things are connected so that youre able to switch everything on
and off separately. For example, household electrics, each light switch in a house is
part of a loop of a parallel circuit it just turns one light (or set of lights) on and off.

Current is shared in parallel circuits.

The current through all the components will equal the current through the battery.
A = A1 + A2

Voltage is the same everywhere in parallel circuits.

Each component receives the full voltage from the battery.
V1 = V2 = V3

Ammeters are always connected in series even in a parallel circuit.

Voltmeters are always connected in parallel with a component even in a series
circuit.

Topic 4: Energy Transfer

Conservation of energy
Types of energy:
1 Electrical energy Whenever a current flows.
2 Light energy From the sun, light bulbs, etc.
3 Sound energy From loudspeakers or anything noisy.
4 Kinetic energy Anything thats moving.
5 Nuclear energy Released only from nuclear reactions.

Physics
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Yusef Mohammed UMP

6 Thermal/Heat energy Flows from hot objects to colder ones.

7 Gravitational potential energy Processed by anything which can fall.
8 Elastic potential energy Processed by springs, elastic, rubber bands, etc.
9 Chemical energy Processed by foods, fuels, batteries, etc.

Gradational potential energy, elastic potential energy and chemical energy are all
forms of stored energy.

The principle of the conservation of energy:

Energy can never be created nor destroyed its only ever transferred from one
form to another.

Another important principle is:

Energy is only useful when it can be transferred from one form to another.

Efficiency
Useful devices are only useful because they can convert energy from one form to
another.
In doing so, some of the useful input energy is always lost or wasted, often as heat.
The less energy that is wasted, the more efficient the device is said to be.
The energy flow diagram is pretty much the same for all devices.

A machine is a device which turns one type of energy into another.

The efficiency of any device is defined as:
Efficiency = Useful Energy output / Total Energy input
You can give efficiency as a decimal or percentage, i.e. 0.75 or 75%.

Energy transfers
No device is 100% efficient and the wasted energy is always dissipated as heat.
Ultimately, all energy ends up as heat energy. If you use an electric drill, it gives out
various types of energy, but they all quickly end up as heat.

Useful energy is concentrated energy. The entire energy output by a machine, both
useful and wasted, eventually ends up as heat.
This heat is transferred to cooler surroundings, which then become warmer. As the
heat is transferred to cooler surroundings, the energy becomes less concentrated
it dissipates.
According to the Principle of Conservation of Energy, the total amount of energy
stays the same. So the energy is still there, but it cant be easily used or collected
back in again.

Flow diagrams
Input Useful outputs ( Wastes)
1) Projector
Electrical ( Heat) Light + Kinetic ( Heat) ( Sound)
2) Steam energy
Chemical ( Light) Heat Kinetic ( Heat) ( Sound) Electrical Light

Physics
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3) Hydro-electric
GPE Kinetic ( Heat) ( Sound) Electrical Light ( Heat)
4) Acid battery
Chemical Electrical Light ( Heat)
5) Motor
Electrical Kinetic ( Heat) ( Sound) Electrical Light ( Heat)
6) Torch
Chemical Electrical Light ( Heat)
7) Rain-stick
GPE Kinetic ( Heat) Light
8) Toy car
EPE Kinetic ( Heat) ( Sound)
9) Pendulum
GPE Kinetic ( Heat) ( Sound)
10) Dynamo
Chemical Kinetic ( Heat) ( Sound) Electrical Light ( Heat)
11) Flywheel
Electrical Kinetic ( Heat) ( Sound) Electrical Light ( Heat)
12) Pulley
GPE Kinetic ( Heat) ( Sound) Electrical Light ( Heat)
13)
Chemical Kinetic ( Heat) ( Sound) EPE Kinetic ( Heat) ( Sound)
Electrical Light ( Heat)

Electrical devices convert electrical energy into sound, light, heat, etc.
1) Microphone/amplifier/speaker
Sound Electrical Sound
2) TV
Electrical Light + Sound

Batteries convert chemical energy to electrical to run electric devices.

1) Toy car batteries
Chemical Electrical Kinetic + Heat + Sound + Light
2) Battery charger
Electrical Chemical

Gravitational and elastic potential energy always get converted into kinetic energy
first.
1) Crane
Chemical Kinetic GPE
2) Falling object
GPE Kinetic
3) Archer/bow
Chemical EPE
4) Bow/arrow
EPE Kinetic

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Yusef Mohammed UMP

Electricity generation always involves converting other forms of energy into

electrical energy.

Sankey diagrams
The idea of Sankey (energy transformation) diagrams is to make it easy to see at a
glance how much of the input energy is being usefully employed compared with how
much is being wasted.
The thicker the arrow, the more energy it represents.
For example, this is a sketch of a Sankey diagram for a TV:

It doesnt show the actual amounts, but you can see that most of the energy is being
wasted, and that its mostly wasted heat.

This is an example of a detailed Sankey diagram:

Physics
End of Year Exam Revision