Mechanics

The magnitude of velocity is speed but the magnitude of average velocity is not average speed. Uniform motion is motion with a constant velocity. If the velocities of P and Q are measured from the same frame of reference, the velocity of P with respect to Q is given by: Motion with constant acceleration is described by:

According to Hookes law, the restoring force in a spring is given by: Newtons first law states that an object continues to remain in a state of rest or uniform motion unless acted upon by an external force. Newtons second law states that the net force on a body is proportional to the bodys acceleration and is in the same direction as the acceleration. Newtons third law states that every action produces an equal and opposite reaction. From the second law: The opposing force exerted on a body falling through a fluid is proportional to its velocity and increases until it becomes equal to the weight. Then, the net force becomes zero and the object falls with terminal velocity given by: Applications: p. 82, 83 Momentum is defined as:

Impulse is the total momentum change of a body:

The total momentum of a system is conserved (this is derived from Newtons second and third Laws): The work done by a force is given by:

From the third equation of motion we can derive the work-kinetic energy relation: Energy in a system is conserved: Power is defined as:

Momentum is conserved in all collisions, but kinetic energy is conserved only in elastic collisions. The maximum possible kinetic energy is lost in totally inelastic collisions (i.e. when the bodies stick together). Uniform circular motion is described by:

The centripetal acceleration (ac) is directed towards the centre. If the speed changes, there must also be a component directed tangentially (at). The magnitude of the gravitational force between two point masses is: The magnitude of the gravitational field strength at a point due to the field of a single mass is defined by: Gravitational potential energy as a result of the attraction between two bodies is given by: Gravitational potential at a point due to the field of a single mass is defined by:

The total energy of a mass m moving near a large mass M is: If E>0, the mass escapes; if E=0, the mass just escapes (the critical case); if E<0, the mass is trapped. By solving E=0, we get:

The gravitational field is the derivative of the gravitational potential with respect to the radius: As a result, field lines are perpendicular to equipotential surfaces. Projectile motion is described by:

As a result of air resistance, the path is no longer parabolic, the maximum height and range are decreased and the angle at which the projectile hits the ground is steeper.

Waves
Simple harmonic motion (SHM) is described by:

This gives: Oscillations taking place in the presence of resistive forces are damped oscillations. If the resistance is insufficient to prevent the oscillations, there is under-damping. The heavier the damping, the faster the oscillations die out and the larger their period. In the case of critical damping, the resistance is just sufficient to return the body to its equilibrium state. In the case of over-damping, the resistance is greater than the critical value and the oscillations are much slower. Forced oscillations occur due to a periodic external force. If the frequency of the force is equal to the natural frequency, the amplitude is maximumthe system is in resonance. A wave is a disturbance that carries energy. The direction of propagation of the wave is the direction of energy transfer. If this is the same as the direction of disturbance, the wave is longitudinal. If the directions are perpendicular, the wave is longitudinal. The speed of a wave pulse on a string is given by: where =m/l.

The speed is also given by:

The principle of superimposition states that the displacement of a point at which two waves meet is the algebraic sum of their individual displacements. The laws of reflection states that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection, and that the incident ray, the reflected ray and the normal lie in the same plane, the plane of incidence. For refraction:

The condition for constructive interference is: The condition for destructive interference is: ( Dopplers effect: p. 245, 246 For light, the shift is given by: )

For a string with two fixed ends, the harmonics are given by: For a string with one fixed end, the harmonics are given by: For a string with two open ends, the harmonics are given by: In a pipe, a closed end is equal to the fixed end of a string and a free string end gives an open end. Diffraction is appreciable only if the wavelength is of the same of greater order of magnitude as the opening. In the diffraction pattern of a single slit, we get minima when: which is approximately: for a square slit and

for a circular slit. If the slit width in the Young two-slit experiment is not negligible, we get missing maxima when:

The Raleigh criterion for deciding whether two objects can be resolved is that the central maxima of one source should be at the first minimum of the other. The phase difference is: This means that to resolve an object of size s, the wavelength should be of the same order as s or smaller. Light is a transverse wave with an electric and a magnetic field at right angles, with both at right angles to the plane of propagation. Maluss law states the effect of a polariser: Unpolarised light has its intensity cut by half when passed through a polariser. Light is partially polarised when reflected, with the plane of polarisation parallel to the plane of reflection. The light is completely polarised when the angle of incidence is equal to Brewsters angle. This occurs when the refracted and reflected rays are at right angles:

Optically active substances rotate the plane of polarisation. Applications: p. 266, 267

Astrophysics
In most stars, the majority of nuclear fission takes place through the protonproton cycle:

Nuclear fusion provides outward radiation pressure, which is sufficient to balance the gravitational force. Luminosity is the amount of energy radiated by a star per second. The apparent brightness is given by: Apparent brightness is measured using a charge-coupled device (CCD). The Stefan-Boltzmann law: The area under the relative-intensity per unit area v. wavelength graph is given by (in the graph the wavelength increases towards the origin): The wavelength with the maximum relative intensity is the peak wavelength. The Wien displacement law: The absorption bands present in the stellar spectrum of a star depend on its temperature: if the temperature is high, some lines will be missing as some atoms would have already been ionised. Stars moving towards us show a Doppler blue shift and stars moving away show a red shift. If stars rotate, part of the star shows a blue shift and part shows a red shift.

The Hertzsprung-Russel diagram plots the luminosity or absolute magnitude (increasing towards the origin) against the temperature (increasing towards the origin) or spectral class. Main sequence stars produce energy through fission of hydrogen to counterbalance the tendency to collapse. Red giants are large, cool stars with a reddish appearance and luminosity greater than main sequence stars with the same temperature. White dwarfs form when a collapsing star stabilises as a result of electron degeneracy pressure. Cephids are periodic stars whose period is linearly related to their peak luminosity. The luminosity increases steeply and falls slowly.