Physics revision

Michaelmas Term 2005

Contents

Units Measuring Static forces Stretching Levers Waves Describing waves Reflection of waves Refraction of waves Wave diffraction Wave interference Ray optics

Units
Each measured quantity has a standard internationally agreed unit. These are called SI Units. Length metre m Time second s Current Ampere A Force Newton N Mass kilogram kg Frequency Hertz Hz The kilogram is unusual as it includes a prefix. Prefixes are usually needed to scale the unit up or down depending on the size of the measure. Giga G x10003 x1,000,000,000 Mega M x10002 x1,000,000 Kilo k x1000 x1,000 Centi c 100 x0.01 Milli m 1000 x0.001 Micro u 10002 x0.000,001 Nano n 10003 x0.000,000,001

Measuring

Check the units being used Check the minimum scale reading Take the reading eliminating parallax Repeat the reading a number of times Present the final reading to an appropriate number of significant figures

Static forces
A force is a push or pull A force can be contact or non-contact Forces are measured in Newton's (N) Forces are vectors they have direction Forces on an object can be balanced or unbalanced If forces are balanced there will be no resultant change If the forces on an object are unbalanced they will have one of these effects: Change the shape of the object Change the speed of the object Change the direction of movement of the object Note that Weight and mass are different Mass is measured in kg Weight is measured in Newton's (N) Weight = mass x gravity Gravity is roughly 10 N/kg Weight (N) = 10 x mass (kg) If the resultant of all forces on an object is zero, it will not change velocity

Stretching
Hookes Law states that for a spring, the extension is proportional to the force up to the elastic limit. Beyond the elastic limit Graph is no longer straight Spring stretches more easily Spring will not recover when unloaded The Gradient Is called the spring constant The bigger the gradient the harder it is to stretch the spring

Levers

The turning effect of a force about a pivot is called its moment. Moment is given by force x perpendicular distance from the pivot. A moment can be clockwise or anticlockwise around the pivot. For balance, the clockwise moment = the anticlockwise moment

Waves
When a wave travels through a medium, the parts of the medium oscillate from side to side. It is energy that actually travels through the medium this is the wave Two types of waves longitudinal and transverse Transverse Waves The source and the parts of the medium oscillate at right angles to the direction of the wave. Examples: Surface waves on water Side to side waves on a spring or string Longitudinal Waves The source and medium oscillate backwards and forwards along the same direction as the wave Examples: compression wave in a spring Sound waves

Describing waves

Amplitude: the height of the wave. A measure of the energy carried. Time period: the time needed to make one wave or for one wave to pass a particular point Wavelength: the distance between two wave peaks, or the length of a wave. Frequency: The number of waves created per second, or the number which pass a particular point per second. Frequency = 1/period Velocity or speed: The speed with which a point on the wave travels through the medium. Velocity = wave length x frequency Speed = Total Distance Travelled Time Taken A light-year is the distance travelled by light in one year.

Reflection of waves

Waves can be reflected off a surface The reflections depend on whether the reflective surface is flat or curved For a plane surface the angle of reflection equals the angle of incidence From a plane surface, the reflected wave appears to come from a point equidistant behind the surface

Refraction of waves

When a wave meets a boundary between two different media it either speeds up or slows down. Waves travel slower in water than air, in glass than air, in shallow water than deep water When it changes speed, the wave changes direction When light hits the fast-slow boundary it is refracted towards the normal Remember - Freaky Science Teachers = Fast Slow Towards

Wave diffraction

Any wave spreads out after it goes through an opening. This is called Diffraction The smaller the opening, the more the spread The longer the wavelength, the more the spread

Wave interference

If there are two openings, the two spreading waves affect each other sometimes cancelling out, sometimes doubling up. This is called Interference.

Ray optics
Light travels in straight lines Objects are visible because they reflect light Eclipses are caused by shadows A small source of light causes a sharp shadow, called the umbra. A large source of light causes a blurred shadow with two parts, the umbra and the penumbra. Reflection Angle of Reflection = Angle of Incidence Images are Virtual, Laterally Inverted, Upright Directly behind the object Same distance behind the mirror as the object is in front Refraction A light ray entering a glass block is bent towards the normal (FST) The amount of refraction depends on the material and the angle of incidence Because of refraction the light from the fish is bent and makes the fish appear closer to the surface than it really is Total Internal Reflection Total Internal Reflection is used in Fibre Optics to send computer data or phone calls down a glass tube only 0.01mm in diameter A periscope can be built using two mirrors both at an angle of 45 degrees. Using right angled prisms and total internal reflection avoids multiple reflections and so gives a clearer image