PHYSICS

This is a branch of science concerned with the study of matter in relation to energy. In
physics we study matter and energy and how they affect each other.

Matter is anything that has weight and occupies space. Matter exists in three states namely;
solids, liquids and gases.

Energy is the ability to do work. Energy is of different forms like light energy, heat energy,
sound energy, electrical energy, magnetic energy among others.

The Scope of Physics

Physics may be grouped under the topics such as; Mechanics and properties of matter, light,
electricity, magnetism, atomic physics, waves, etc.

MECHANICS AND PROPERTIES OF MATTER

MEASUREMENTS
Physics involves measurement of three fundamental quantities namely;
1. Length
2. Mass
3. Time

Note: All measurements in physics are expressed to particular system of units known
as International system of units (S.I Units). The three fundamental (basic) units are
the metre (m), kilogram (kg) and second (s).

Basic quantity S.I unit Symbol of S.I Unit

Length

Mass

Time

LENGTH

This is the distance between two fixed points. Its S.I unit is metre (m).

Other units include kilometre (km), centimetre (cm), millimetre (mm), micrometre
( nanometre (nm), inches, yards, miles etc.

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Conversion of length

km Hm Dm m dm cm mm
1 0 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0
1 0 0
1 0

Examples

1. Convert the following to metres

(a) 200cm
(b) 1000km
(c) 2000mm

INSTRUMENTS USED TO MEASURE LENGTH

 Metre rule
 Tape measure
 Vernier calipers
 Micrometre screw gauge

1. METRE RULE

It measures length up to 100cm.

Length measurement made with a metre rule should be correctly read as shown
below:

The eye should be right above the mark on the scale, and the reading should be to one
decimal place i.e. 7.6cm.

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2. TAPE MEASURE
This is used to measure large length e.g. length of a football pitch, length of a
building, etc
3. VERNIER CALIPER

These are used to measure distance in solid objects where an ordinary metre rule
cannot be applied. E.g. the width of a metre rule, diameter of a test tube, diameter of a
cup, etc.

4. MICROMETER SCREW GAUGE

This is used to measure very small distance such as diameter of pieces of wire, bicycle
spoke, pins, thickness of a piece of paper, diameter of a human hair.

A micrometer screw gauge measures length in mm to two decimal places.

TIME

This is the interval between two successive events. The S.I unit of time is seconds.
Other units include minutes, hours, days, weeks, years. In the laboratory, time is
measured using stop clocks, and stop watches.

1 minute = 60 seconds

1 hour = 60 minutes

1 day = 24 hours

1 week = 7 days

1 year = 365 days

Examples

1. Convert the following to seconds

(a) 20 minutes (Ans. 1200s)
(b) 2 hours (Ans. 7200s)
(c) 3 years (Ans. 94608000s)

Exercise

1(a) Convert
(i) 2 days to seconds (Ans. 172800 s)
(ii) 72 hours to seconds (Ans. 259200 s)
(iii) 20 minutes to hours (Ans. hours)
(iv) 4 days to seconds (Ans. 345600 s)

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FINDING AREA

Area is the amount of surface occupied by an object. S.I unit of area is metres squared
(m2). Other units of area are mm2, cm2, dm2, km2, Hm2, etc.

CONVERSION OF UNITS OF AREA

1m = 100cm

1m2 = 100cm 100cm

= 10,000cm2

Convert the following as required.

(a) 20.7m2 to cm2

(b) 30cm2 to mm2
(c) 10000mm2 to m2
(d)
1. Cuboid

Taking H = Height, L = Length, W = Width

Surface area = 2(L x W) + 2(L x h) + 2(W x h)
= 2Lw + 2Lh + 2Wh
= 2(LW + Lh + Wh)

2. Cube

Surface area = 2(s x s) + 2(s x s) + 2(s x s)

= 2s2 + 2s2 + 2s2
= 6s2

3. Cylinder:
(a) Open cylinder
Surface area = + 2 r h = r(r + 2h)
Where r is the radius of the cylinder and h the height of the cylinder

(b) Closed cylinder

Surface area = +2 h = 2 r (r + h)

S.I Unit for Area is square metre (m2)

Other units are mm2, cm2, dm2, Dm2, Hm2, km2
Note: 1m2 = 100cm 100cm

= 10,000cm2

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 1m2 = 1,000,000mm

Exercise

1. Find the volume of water in a cylinder of water radius 7cm if its height is 10cm.

VOLUME

This is the space occupied by an object. S.I unit is metre cubed (m3)

Other units are mm3, cm3, dm3, litre, millilitres.

Note: 1litre = 1000cm3

1m3 = 100cm x 100cm x 100cm

= 1,000,000cm3

VOLUME OF REGULAR SHAPED OBJECTS

1. Cuboid
V=L W H
2. Cube
V=S S S
= S3
3. Cylinder
V=2 h
4. Sphere or circular object
V=
5. Cone
V=

Exercise

VOLUME OF IRREGULAR SHAPED OBJECTS

The volume of irregularly shaped objects is found by using the displacement

method.

Method I: Determining volume of irregular object using the measuring cylinder

Procedure:
 Pour a liquid (e.g. water) into the measuring cylinder and record the
volume on its scale, say V1.

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  Tie the irregular object on a piece of thread and gently lower it into the
liquid so that it is completely submerged.
 Read and record the new volume, say V2
 The volume, V of the irregular object is equal to V2 - V1.
i.e. V = V2 – V1.

Example
A S.1 student of BHS obtained the following results in an experiment to
determine the volume of a stone.
Initial reading = 80cm3, final reading = 82cm3. What is the volume of the
stone?

Method II: Determining volume of irregular object using the Eureka can

Procedure:
 Place a displacement can on a bench so that the spout comes over the edge.
 Fill the can to the spout with liquid, say water.
 Tie the irregular object on a piece of thread.
 Place a measuring cylinder under the spout and gently lower the object
into the can.
 The volume of the liquid displaced is equal to the volume of the irregular
object.

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Note: To measure volume of liquids, the most convenient instrument is a measuring
cylinder. For a correct reading:

 The cylinder must be placed on a flat surface so that it is upright.

 The eye must be at a horizontal level with the bottom of the meniscus (for
liquids, like water, whose meniscus curves inwards i.e. concave meniscus).
 The eye must be at a horizontal level with the top of the meniscus (for liquids,
like mercury, whose meniscus curves outwards i.e. convex meniscus).

Examples

1. Convert the following

(a) 1km to m
(b) 1000m to km
(c) 20mm to cm
(d) 100mm to m
(e) 0.8m to cm

2. Use the Cuboid below to answer questions that follow.

10cm

8cm 5cm

(a) Find the volume in cm3 (Ans. 400cm3)

(b) Find the volume in m3 (Ans. 0.0004m3)

3. A Cuboid has dimensions 2cm by 10cm. Find its width in metre if it occupies a
volume of 80cm3. (Ans. 0.04m)

Mass
Mass is the quantity of matter a body contains. SI unit is the kilogram (kg).
Other units are milligrams (mg), grams (g), tones (t), micrograms (mg).
Note: 1 tonne = 1000kg
1 kg = 1000g
1 g = 1000mg
1Mg = 1,000,000g

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Mass of the body is measured using the following instruments:
 Bean balance
 Lever – arm-balance
 Top-pan-balance

Example:
1. Convert: 400g to kg

1000g =1kg
400g = = 0.4kg

Exercise: convert
(i) 0.84kg to g
(ii) 5000kg to tonnes
(iii) 0.84 tonnes to g

TIME
This is the interval between events or is the duration between events.
SI unit is seconds (s)
Other units are:
 Minutes - Hours - weeks - years
 Micro seconds - Days - months - decades.
 Century - millennium

Time is measured using the following instruments.

 Watches - stop clocks.
 Clocks - stop watches.

NB.
 1 Minute = 60 seconds
 1 hour = 60 minutes = 360 seconds
 1 day = 24 hours
 1 week = 7 days
 1year = twelve (12 months)

Example
1(a) Convert
(i) 2 days to seconds

= 2 x 24 60 x 60

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= 172800 seconds

(ii) 72 hours to seconds

1 hours = 3600seconds
72 hours = (72 x3600) seconds
= 259200 seconds

(iii) 20 minutes to hours

60 minutes = 1 hour
1 minute = hours
20 minutes = hours
= hours

(iv) 4 days to seconds

4 x 24 x 60 x 60 seconds
= 345600 seconds

Exercise

SCIENTIFIC NOTATION AND SIGNIFICANT FIGURES

A number is in scientific form (scientific notation), when it is written as a number
between 1 and 9 which is multiplied by a power of 10.

Scientific notation is used for writing down very large and very small measurements.

Example:
1. Consider the following
4000 = 4 10 10 10 = 4 103
400 = 4 10 10 =4 102
40 = 4 10 =4 101
4=4 1 =4 100
0.4 = = =4 10-1
0.04 = = =4 10-2
0.004 = = =4 10-3
2. Write these in standard form
(i) 40000
(ii) 78900
(iii) 209.1
(iv) 0.0004
(v) 0.0407
(vi) 598,000,000m
(vii) 0.00000087m
(viii) 60220m

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Questions:
Convert the following to scientific form.
(a) 0.048

(b)

(c) 1000

(d) 8.72

(e)

SIGNIFICANT FIGURES
All figures from 0-9 are significant figures except 0 (zero) at the beginning.
Eg
a) 3 0 0 8
4th sf
3rd sf
nd
2 sf
st
1 sf

b) 0 2 3

2nd sf
1st sf

c) 2.30 cm
3rd sf
2nd sf
1st sf

Questions
Write the following to the stated significant figures
a) 28.8 to 3 s.f b) to 2 s.f c) 4.027 x10-2 to 3 s.f

DENSITY
Density is the mass per unit volume of substance.
I.e. Density =

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The symbol for density ρ called Rho.
SI unit for density is kilogram per cubic metre (kgm-3)
Other units for density:
gcm-3 e.g. density of iron metal is 0.8gcm-3. This means that 8gm of iron have a
volume of 1cm3.
Example:
Find the density of a substance of;
(i) Mass 9kg and volume 3m3.

(ii) Mass 100g and volume 10cm3

Solution:
(i) Density =

=
= 3kgm-3
(ii) Density =

=
= 10gcm-3

Converting density from gcm-3 to kgm-3

The density of the substance in gcm-3 is multiplied by 1000 in order to convert to
[Link] to convert from kgm-3 to gcm-3, divide by 1000.

Example:
1. The density to water is 1.0gcm-3. Find its density in kgm-3.
Density = 1.0gm-3
= 1.0 x 1000kgm-3
= 1000kgm-3.

2. A piece of steel has a volume of 12cm3 and a mass 96g. Find its density.
(a) In gcm-3

Density = = = 8gcm-3

(b) 8gcm-3 to kgm-3

= 8 x 1000
= 8000kgm3

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2. The oil level in a burette is 25cm3.50 drops of oil fall from a burette. If the volume
of one drop is [Link] is the final oil level in the burette.

Volume of one water drop = 0.1cm3

Volume of 50 water drops = 0.1 x 50cm3 = 5cm3
Final level = 25cm3+5cm3= 30cm3

Question
1. A measuring cylinder has water level of [Link] will be the new water level if
1.6g of a metallic block of density 0.8gcm-3 is added.

EXPERIMENT TO DETERMINE DENSITY OF A REGULAR OBJECT

 Find the mass of the object using a beam balance.
 Obtain the dimensions length, width and height using a ruler, Vernier calipers
etc of the object.
 Calculate the volume of the object.
 Finally the density of the object is calculated from
Density =

DETERMINING DENSITY OF AN IRREGULAR SHAPED OBJECTS e.g. a

stone
 Measure the mass of the object using a beam balance.
 Find its volume using one of the displacement methods.
 The density is then obtained from
Density =

Density of liquids
 Measure the volume of the liquid using a measuring cylinder.
 Pour the liquid into a beaker of known mass M1,
 Find the mass M2 of the beaker containing the liquid using a beam balance.
 Calculate the density of the liquid from:
Density =

Density =

Examples
1. A Perspex box has a10cm square base containing water to a height of 10 cm .a
piece of rock of mass 600g is lowered into the water and the level rises to 12 cm.

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a) What is the volume of water displaced by the rock?
V=Lxwxh
= 10 x10 x (12-10) = 200 cm3
b) What is the volume of the rock?

Volume of rock = volume of water displaced

= 200cm3
Alternatively,

Volume of water before adding the rock V1 = L x W x H

= (10 x 10 x 10) cm3
= 1000cm3
Volume of water after adding the rock V2 = L x W x H
= (10 x 10 x 12) cm3
= 1200cm3
Volume of water displaced =V2 – V1
= (1200 – 1000) cm3
= 200cm3

c) Calculate the density of the rock

Density =
=
= 3gcm-3
2. A Perspex box having 6cm square base contains water to a height of 10cm.
a. Find the volume of water in the box.

Volume of water in the box = L x w x h

= 6cm x 6cm x 10cm

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 = 360cm3

b. A stone of mass 120g is lowered into the box and the level of water rises to 13cm.
(i) Find the new volume of water?

=Lxwxh
= 6cm x 6cm x 13cm
= 468cm3
(ii) Find the volume of the stone?

Volume of the stone = Volume of displaced water

= V2 – V1
= 468 – 360cm3
= 108 cm3
(iii) Calculate the density of the stone.
Density = = = gcm-3

3. A steel C.P.U of dimensions 100cm x 40cm x 20cm, has a mass of 560g

Find its density (i) in gcm-3

(ii) in kgm-3

Solution:

Volume = L x W x H
= (100 x 40 x 20) cm3
= 80,000cm3
(i) In gcm-3
Density =
= = 0.007gcm-3

(ii) In kgm-3

Density = 0.007 x 1000

= 7kgm-3

RELATIVE DENSITY
This the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of water i.e

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Relative density =
Example:
The density of aluminium is 2.7gcm-3 and density of water is 1.0gcm3.
Find the relative density of aluminium.
Solution:
Relative density =

=
Relative density of Aluminium = 2.7

Note:
(i) Relative density has no units.
(ii) It is numerically equal to the density of a substance expressed in gcm-3.
(iii) Relative density measurements are in effect a density measurement.

Since relative density =

And density of a substance =

While density of Water =

Relative density = ÷
If volume of water = Volume of substance
Then; Relative density = x

Finally, Relative density =

The relative density can be defined as the ratio of mass of a substance to the mass of
an equal volume of water.

Question;
1. A density bottle was used to measure the density of mercury. The following
measurements were taken:
Mass of empty bottle = 20g
Mass of bottle full of mercury = 360g
Mass of bottle full of water = 45g
Calculate;
Relative density of mercury
Density of mercury
Solution
Relative density =
=
= 13.6

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Relative density =

13.6 =
Density of mercury = 13.6 x 1
= 13.6 x 1000
= 13.6gcm-3
= 136000kgm-3

2. Density bottle has a mass of 70g when empty, 90g when full of water and 94g
when full of liquid.
Find the relative density of the liquid and its water.
Relative density =

=
= 1 gcm-3
Relative density =

= = 1.2

APPLICATIONS OF DENSITY
Density has its application in floating and sinking.
Note:
 If the relative density of a substance is greater than one then that substance is
denser than water i.e. the substance sinks in water.
 If the relative density of a substance is less than one then the substance is less
dense than water i.e. the substance floats on water.

Question:

Study the table below and answer the questions that follow

substance Relative density

X 10
Y 2.4
Z 0.6
1. Arrange the substances x, y, z and water in order of
(i) Increasing density
(ii) Decreasing density
2. Which of the substance will sink in water?
3. Which of the substances will float on water?

STATES OF MATTER

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Many substances on earth exist naturally like soil, trees, air, etc. Man also
manufactures many things like plastics, metals, etc. The scientific name given to all
these things is Matter.
Matter is anything that occupies space and has weight. Matter exists in three states
namely:
1. Solids
2. Liquids
3. Gasses

Matter is made up of tiny particles. These are either molecules or atoms

KINETIC THEORY OF MATTER

This theory explains the structure and behaviour of matter.

Outlines of the theory:

(i) Matter is made up of small particles called molecules or atoms.

(ii) The particles (mo
(iii)\lecules or atoms) are in continuous motion or vibration and thus posses kinetic
energy.
(iv) When an object is heated, its molecules vibrate faster and its average kinetic
energy is increased.
(v) Molecules of a substance are not stack together but there is space between any two
of them.
(vi) The molecules attract one another.

Kinetic theory used to explain the states of matter

(a) Solids
 The molecules are closer to one another therefore the forces of attraction
are very great.
 The molecules vibrate about their mean position.
 The molecules are arranged in a regular pattern called lattice.
 Due to string forces of attraction, solids have definite shape and volume.

(b) Liquids
 The molecules are slightly further apart than in solids i.e. the forces of
attraction are weaker.
 The molecules move about randomly colliding with each other.
 The forces keep the molecules together so that liquids have a fixed volume
but not a fixed shape.
(c) Gasses

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 The molecules are far apart and there is almost no force of attraction.
 The molecules move about freely.
 Gasses occupy the available space and take the shape of the container

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