SPM Physics Key Notes
SPM Physics Key Notes
1. Explain the differences between accuracy and consistency A supertanker at a state of motions and have a maximum
of a measuring instrument by using suitable examples. velocity.
A supertanker has a larger mass.
Accuracy is the ability of the instrument to give readings A larger mass have a lot/larger inertia.
close to the actual value. When the engine stop, the supertanker will continue it
The value determined is accurate if it is near to the actual state of motions.
value So it take a longer distance/time to stop due to its has a
The consistency of a measuring instrument is the ability of larger inertia.
instrument to record consistent readings for each
measurement with little deviation among readings. 6. Explain why a softball player moves his hand backwards
The measurement is consistent if the values determined while catching a fast moving ball. Other situation: bend our
are close to each other. knee after jump?
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o
the angle of inclination is 17.5 .(the frictional force is
120N)
Explain the changes in energy that occur from the Boy slide down when component of weight parallel to
moment the plasticine ball is released until reaches the the slope is higher than frictional force
position in Diagram (b) Resultant force acting to produced acceleration
Boy remain stationary when component of weight
Before released, the plasticine has Gravitational parallel to the slope is equal to frictional force
Potential energy . Resultant force is equal to zero make the boy in force
When falling , Gravitational Potential energy changes equilibrium
to Kinetic energy
When the plasticine hits the surface of wood , the 14. Explain why the boat moves away from the jetty as a boy
Kinetic energy changes to Heat energy / / Sound jumps out of the boat onto the river bank.
energy
The energy / work done is use to changes the shape When the boy jumps onto the river bank, his
of sponge momentum is forward.
Using the Principle of conservation of momentum
9. Explain how the forces between the molecules caused the the total momentum before and after jumping is
elasticity when the spring is compressed and stretched. equal
The boat moves backward to balance the forward
There are two types of force; attraction and repulsive momentum
force between the particles of the solid.
When the solid is stretched, the molecules displaced 15. Explain why the need of steel structure and the separate
away from each other compartments to build in lorry carrying heavy load.
Attractive forces are acting to oppose the stretching
When the solid is compressed, the molecules displaced The inertia of lorry and load is very big when it is
closer to each other moving
Repulsive forces are acting to oppose the compression The separate compartments make the load divided
into smaller mass, thus reducing the inertia of each
unit.
10. Using the principle of conservation of momentum, explain The momentum of lorry and load is very big when it is
the working principle of the rocket. moving and produce a bigger impulsive force.
The steel structure will prevent the loads from
Fuel burns in the combustion chamber smashing into the driver’s compartment during
Hot gases expelled at high speed backwards emergency braking.
A large backwards momentum is produced
The rocket gains forwards momentum of equal 16. Explain why the hovercraft moves with constant velocity in
magnitude terms of the force acting on it
11. Using a catapult(lastik), explain how to enable a stone to The forward force = friction // forward thrust = drag
travel a longer a longer distance The resultant force is zero
The hovercraft is in force in equilibrium
Use a thicker rubber – to increase the elastic potential
energy 17. Why we feel easier to pull the wheel barrow compared to
Stretch the rubber longer – to increase the elastic push the wheel barrow?
potential energy
Use a stone with smaller mass – to increase the The object on the wheel barrow has a weight
acceleration of stone When we push the wheel barrow there is force acting
Use a strong material for the handle of the catapult – on the ground in the same direction as the weight.
do not break easily So the total force acting on the ground are the weight
and the force produced when we push the wheel
12. Bowling ball and tennis ball are drop from the higher barrow.
placed. Which ball arrived first? When we pull the wheel barrow the force produced is
in opposite direction with the weight.
Although the gravitational force is greater on the So the total force acting on the floor are a weight less
heavier body (its weight), the force also acts on a the force produced when we pull the wheel barrow
greater mass.
A greater mass means a greater inertia. CHAPTER 3
Therefore the ratio of gravitational force to mass is
the same for every object in free fall. 18. Explain why the dam is thicker at the bottom?
The results are all bodies accelerate equally during
free fall. Pressure increase with depth
So, Bowling ball and tennis ball arrived at the same So, pressure at the bottom is higher than the surface
time. Thicker wall is build at the bottom due to high
pressure.
13. Why the boy with mass 40kg slides down the flume when
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the angle of inclination is 30 and remains stationary when
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19. Explain why a soccer player usually wears shoes with 25. The toothpaste flows out of it’s tube while squeezing at the
spikes? bottom end
Spikes have small area at their ends Explain how the toothpaste flows out and name a physics
Pressure exerted on the ground is high principle related to it.
Spikes sink in the ground
Skidding is prevented Force is applied to the toothpaste (tube)
Will produced a pressure
20. Diagram 2 shows two pairs of shoes used by a lady. Explain why The toothpaste carry the pressure
shoes in Diagram 2.2 is more suitable to used for jogging and apply the pressure of the equal magnitude to the
along the beach compared to the shoes in Diagram 2.1 whole tube
21. Explain how the medicine flows from the IV bottle into the The boat floats, so Weight of the boat = Weight of
patient’s vein the water displaced = Buoyant force
Pressure increased with the depth. As the weigh of the boat is the same so the weight
Pressure in IV bottle is greater than the patient’s vein of water displaced in the river and the sea water
due to the position of patient’s vein is lower than the also the same
IV bottle. Density of sea water is higher than river water
Medicine flowing from IV bottle because height Volume of water displaced in the sea is less than in the
produced difference in pressure// Medicine flow from river,
higher pressure to lower pressure. Level of the boat is higher in the sea than in the river
This situation also caused by gravitational pull or
weight of liquid. 27. Explain how a submarine is able to submerge into deep sea
The concept involve is Pressure In Liquids water?
22. Explain how to drink the water by using the drinking straw? Valve release air from ballast tank.
When we suck through the straw, the air inside the Sea water flooded ballast tank
straw is removed. The weight of water displaced is smaller.
Produced a partial vacuum area in the straw Buoyant force < Weight of the submarine
Difference in pressure occurs
Patm is higher than the Pressure inside the straw 28. Terangkan bagaimana anda boleh menentukan ketumpatan
Force is exerted to pushed in the water into the straw bagi penyumbat gabus.
23. Explain why the wooden block move upwards and then timbang jisim gabus
float on the water surface when it release from the above ikat gabus dengan pemberat dan masukan dalam
of the water surface. silinder penyukat
perubahan isipadu air bersamaan dengan isipadu
Buoyant force increase when the volume of water gabus
displace increase. ketumpatan gabus = jisim perisipadu
Buoyant force higher than weight of block.
Boyant force pushed the wooden block upward. 29. Explain why a balloon filled with helium gas rises up in the air.
The wooden block then float because the buoyant
force is equal to the weight of the wooden block The balloon acted by two forces: Upthrust and the
The concept involve is archimedes principle weight of the balloon
The density of helium gas is less than the density of
24. Exlplain how the brake system operates when the car needs surrounding air
to slow down. Upthrust equals to the weight of the air displaced by
the balloon
When the brake is pressed ,a force is applied to the Upthrust is higher than the weight of the balloon
piston and pressure is exerted.
Pressure is transmitted uniformly throughout the
brake fluid.
Force is exerted on the piston of the brake pads
Brake pads will press against the brake discs.
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30. Diagram shows a copper block and a bowl shape copper 35. The roof of a house being lifted by strong winds. Explain
sheet of same mass. why.
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40. According to the principle of thermal equilibrium and the 45. We cannot use a cooling system of a refrigerator to cool
working principle of a thermometer, explain how a doctor the hot room. Explain why?
can check his patient temperature during medical
treatment. Cooling system of a refrigerator is smaller
Thermometer is placed in the mouth of patient, Less cool air from refrigerator flow out compare to
Heat is transferred from patient’s body to the the hot air flow in
thermometer. Position of refrigerator is on the floor
Thermal equilibrium between the thermometer and The cool air does not flow upward
patient’s body is reached when the net rate of heat
transfer is zero. 46. Why we put the fishes in the ice cube rather than cold
The thermometer and the patient’s body are at the water?
same temperature. The thermometer Ice melts need heat known as latent heat of fusion
Reading shows the temperature of the patient’s body. Heat is absorb from the fish.
Fish will release it heat until the temperature equal to 0
41. Explain the changes which occur in the liquid naphthalene Cold water not experience a change of phase
when it is cooled until it changes from the liquid to the So just the process of thermal equilibrium happen when
solid state. they in thermal contact.
The lower temperature not to be 0 degree.
As liquid naphthalene cools, it loses energy to
surroundings 47. Cuaca yang paling sejuk dialami pada penghujung musim
Its temperature begins to fall until it reaches freezing sejuk, iaitu apabila salji mulai melebur. Jelaskan kenapa?
0
point 80 C
At its freezing point, naphthalene begins to solidify. salji perlukan haba untuk melebur
Although it is losing its energy to surroundings, its haba tersebut adalah haba pendam tentu iaitu untuk
temperature remains constant because the average menukarkan fasa pepejal kepada cecair
kinetic energy remains constant lebih banyak haba diserap dari persekitaran
42. Why the ice cube stick to the wet finger. Not to dry Finger? 48. Using kinetic theory of gasses, explain how the pressure
increase when the temperature increase in the pressure
Ice cube melt will absorb the heat cooker.
The heat is known as latent heat of fusion
When our finger wet it has a small amount of heat Molecules moving freely in random motion
and it will absorb by the ice cube. When temperature increase, kinetic energy//velocity
The heat release from water causes it to be frozen. increase
So the ice cube and finger will stick together due to Molecules strike the walls of pressure cooker more
the frozen of water frequently
Furthermore finger have a rough surface and it helps The rate of change of momentum increase
the ice stick to our finger Force exerted on the walls increase, pressure (P =
F/A) increase
43. Apabila beberapa titik ether terkena tangan seorang
pelajar, tangannya merasa sejuk. Terangkan bagaimana 49. In the morning feel hot at the sea .Explain why this
ini berlaku. phenomenon happens?
takat didih eter adalah rendah During the day,the land and the sea receive the same
suhu tangan lebih tinggi dari suhu eter amount of heat from the sun
menyebabkan haba mengalir dari tangan ke eter Water has a higher specific capacity than the land
eter meruap//membawa haba pendam pengewapan The land is heated to a higher temperature than the
menyebabkan suhu tangan turun dan terasa sejuk sea
The density of the air above the sea is higher than the
44. Your body sweats when you are feeling hot.How does density of the air above the land
sweating helps to cool down your body? The air above the land flows up and the air above the
sea flows towards the land
When we do the activity using the movement of our
body a sweat will poduce.
Acctually water evaporates from the skin when we
sweat.
In the process of evaporation the change of phase of
matter from liquid to steam occur.
The heat is needed to change this phase is call the
latent heat of vapourisation.
So we feel cool when evaporation occur due to the
release of heat in our body.
Factor influence the process: air velocity, temperature
and humidity.
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50. Using kinetic theory of gasses, explain the changes in 54. While driving a car on a hot day, you may see a mirage on
volume, pressure and temperature of the ping pong ball the road. Explain how mirage occurred.
after boiled water is poured onto it.
The layers of air nearer the road warmer.
The density of air decrease nearer to the road
surface.
The light travel from denser to less dense area.
The light refract away from the normal
When the angle of incidence exceed the critical angle,
total internal reflection occurs
When the boiled water is poured onto the ping 55. Diagram shows a ray of light directed perpendicularly at a
pong ball, side of the semi circular glass block. The ray passes
The temperature of the air/gas will increase/ the through the glass block to a point O before leaving the
kinetic energy increase glass block. The angle of incidence in the glass block is 30°
The rate of collision between molecules and wall
of the ball will increase so the pressure will
increase,
the ball will expand, so the volume will increase
when the volume increased, area of collision
increased, so lastly the pressure will remain the same
51. Explain why the air pressure in the tyre increases when Explain how total internal reflection occurs in diagram
more air is pumped into it and after the car has completed above?
a long journey
Increase the angle of incidence,i then angle of
The number of molecules per unit volume increases refraction,r will also increase
The number of collisions per unit time increases Keep on increasing the angle of incidence until angle
/ rate of collisions increases of refraction is 90°
The temperature of the air molecules increases, the The angle of incidence is called critical angle
kinetic energy of the air molecules increases Increase the angle of incidence more than the critical
The force exerted on the tyre increases angle, the ray will be reflected.
CHAPTER 5
52. Diagram 7 shows the “superior mirage “ which occurs over 56. Diagram 6 shows Ali standing at the side of a pond. Ali can
cold water surface and snow. see the image of the fish and the image of the dragon-fly
in the water as shown by the ray diagram.
Diagram 6
Cool water
Using physics concepts, explain why the observer can only By using physics phenomenon explain how Ali can see the
see the image of the ship. image of the fish and the image of the dragon-fly..
The air close to the surface is much colder than the For the fish, the light is refracted / change direction
air above it. at B.
Light travels from denser to less dense medium the light is refracted away from normal, towards
Light rays refracted away from normal line and bent the observer’s eyes
downward toward the surface For the dragon-fly, the light is reflected by water
thus tricking our eyes into thinking an object is surface at A.
located higher in appearance than it actually is Reflected angle = incidence angle, reflected towards
the observer will see the image of the ship due to the observer’s eyes
light travels in a straight
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57. Explain why the diamond is sparkling when the ray of light TINGKATAN 5
pass through
CHAPTER 6
Diamond mempunyai indeks biasan yang tinggi
Sudut kritikalnya sangat kecil 62. At the start, the pendulum oscillates with maximum
Permukaan diamond dipotong supaya sudut tuju amplitude. The amplitude of the oscillation decreases with
cahaya lebih besar berbanding sudut kritikalnya time and finally stops. What courses the pendulum to
Cahaya yang melalui diamond akan mengalami stop?
fenomena pantulan dalam penuh beberapa kali
menyebabkan banyak alur cahaya bersilang-silang di When the pendulum oscillates, it has energy
dalam diamond tersebut. This energy is used to overcome air resistance
Jumlah alur cahaya yang banyak yang tidak dapat and energy also lost from the system in form of heat
keluar menyebabkan diamond dilihat lebih As time passes, more energy of the pendulum is being
bercahaya. used to overcome air resistance.
This courses the energy of the pendulum to decrease
58. Explain why a piece of paper burns when placed under a As a result, the amplitude becomes smaller
convex lens aimed towards hot sun rays. The pendulum is said to experience damping
60. It is known that the sky is red during sunset and the 64. Diagram 10 shows the pattern of sea waves when
formation of rainbow on the sky always appeared after approaching the beach.
raining. Explain these phenomena.
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65. During high tide (air pasang), a boat which parks behind a 71. How can when the opera singer sing can make the glass
retaining wall rocking up and down more vigorously. break.
Explain the statement.
The singer sing with a certain frequency and produce
When depth increase, sound energy
Velocity will increase, The energy is transferred to the glass
Wavelength increase and Resonance occures when the forced frequency made
Higher degree of diffraction happen by the singer is the same as the natural frequency of
the glass
66. Explain why water wave is calmer at the bay then at the The glass will vibrate with maximum amplitude
cape Increase in energy transferred may cause the glass to
waves move from deeper to shallow area break
the speed decreases // the wave refracted towards
normal line
the depth at cape decreases abruptly resulting
waves focused at cape
the depth at bay decreases slowly resulting waves
spread out
the energy of waves is smaller at bay resulting
calmer region compared to at cape
Wave length depends on depth of water The ship at A will move up and down
Increasing/decreasing of depth will cause the wave Because constructive inteference happens at point A
to refract The ship will remain calm at location B
Refraction will increase/decrease the length of Because destructive inteference happens at point B
wavelength
The nodal/antinodal line will be affected
CHAPTER 7
68. The sound wave from the train(etc) can be heard loudly
and clearly at night. Why? 73. Explain the advantages of parallel circuit in a house wiring
system.
Air near the ground colder tha above air A parallel circuit can run several devices using the
Air layer the ground more denser full voltage of the supply.
Sound travel slower in cold air/wavelength decrease If one device fails, the others will continue running
in cold air normally
Sound bend toward the observer/sound bend away to A failure of one component does not lead to the
normal failure of the other components.
More components may be added in parallel without
69. Explain how the sound wave is used to determine the the need for more voltage.
depth of an ocean. Each electrical appliance in the circuit has it own
switch
Use ultrasound, ultrasound is transmitted to the Less effective resistance of the circuit
sea bed
a receiver will then detect the reflected pulses 74. The graph shows of potential difference, V, against
the time taken by the pulse to travel to the current, I, for a filament lamp.
seabed and return to the receiver being What happens to the resistance of the filament when the
recorded, t current increases? Explain your answer.
the depth of the sea can be calculated using the
formula, d = vt/2
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75. Explain why a three pin plug is more suitable compared 80. Sebuah bateri yang terdiri daripada dua buah sel kering
with a two pin plug. berlabel 1.5 V disambungkan kepada sebuah mentol 2.5V
0.3 A. Didapati bahawa mentol itu menyala dengan
Two pin plug has no earth wire while three pin plug kecerahan normal apabila suis dihidupkan. Terangkan
has earth wire mengapa mentol itu menyala dengan kecerahan normal
Using 2 pin plug, if there is leakage of current it will walaupun d.g.e bateri lebih besar daripada voltan metol
also flow through the metal body while using 3 pin itu.
plug if there is leakage of current it will flow to the
ground bateri mempunyai rintangan dalam
The person who touches the metal body will sebahagian daripada d.g.e bateri hilang di dalam
experiences electric shock while using 3 pin plug, the bateri/sebahagian digunakan untuk mengatasi
current will be earthed rintangan dalam
Using 2 pin is not safe to the consumer while using 3 voltan//beza keupayaan yang dibekalkan kepada
pin plug is more safer to the consumer mentol hampir sama dengan voltan kerja mentol
76. Explain why it is more dangerous to touch the live wire of CHAPTER 8
mains supply, rather than the neutral wire.
81. The acceleration of a magnet that drops vertically into a
Our bodies are at earth potential (0V) solenoid is much smaller than the gravitational
If we touch the live wire, there will be a large acceleration. Explain the statement.
potential difference between live wire and our body
A large current will flow through it, probably fatal Magnetic flux change in the solenoid
(menyebabkan kematian) Induced current generates in the solenoid
The neutral wire stays at earth potential (0V), roughly Direction of induced current always flows in the
at the same potential as our body. direction to generate magnetic pole to oppose the
If we touch the neutral wire, there is no potential pole of the falling magnet.
difference across us and so no current flows Therefore, acceleration is lower
77. What happen to the candle flame when it place between 2 82. Explain how the electromagnet crane can be used to
metal plate supply with Extra High Tension (EHT). lift scrap metal.
The lighted candle / the heat from the candle causes Current flow through the solenoid, magnetic field is
the air molecules to be ionized. produced
The positive charges would be attracted to the Soft iron core will be magnetized
negative plate and/or the negative charges would be The scrap metal attracted to the iron core
attracted to the positive plate No current flow soft iron demagnetized or metal
The flame of the candle would be dispersed scrap fall down
(flattened) into two parts // suitable diagram
Positive charges are heavier than negative charges 83. Most of our electric energy comes from hydroelectric
More of the flame is attracted to the negative plate power stations and thermal power station. These power
station are connected by cables to transmit electricity to
78. Pembakar roti T bertanda 240 V, 650 W dan pembakar users in industries, offices, schools and houses. This
roti U bertanda 240 V, 840 W. Tentukan pembakar roti system is called the national grid network.
yang manakah mempunyai elemen pemanas dengan Explain briefly the importance of the national grid
rintangan yang lebih kecil. network system in distributing electric energy to the
users.
pembakar roti U
kedua-dua pembakar roti mempunyai voltan kerja The electrical supply is continuous, although there is
yang sama faulty in one of the power station
kuasa elemen pemanas = V2/R //kuasa elemen The electrical energy from other station is directed to
pemanas berkadar songsang dengan rintangan the affected areas
pembakar roti dengan kuasa yang lebih tinggi The electrical energy from other area is directed to
mempunyai elemen pemanas dengan rintangan yang the areas that need more energy
lebih kecil The overall cost of production of electricity can be
reduced
79. Explain why the bulb connected to two dry cells lights up
brighter than one bulb connected to one dry cell. 84. Diagram shows the pattern of magnetic field formed
when current flows in a coil.
The two dry cells are connected in parallel
The effective e.m.f. remains the same
The effective internal resistance of the two cells is
smaller
A larger current will flow through the bulb to make it
brighter
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Explain why the magnetic field strength is greater at the When an ac current flows in the primay coil, an
center compared to the edge. altenating magnetic field to be set up inside the iron
core
The direction of the magnetic field on the left coil is The altenating magnetic field lines in the primary coil
anti clockwise cut the secondary coil, an e.m.f is induced in it as to
The direction of the magnetic field on the right coil is oppose the change of the magnetic flux which cousing
clockwise it
The induced e.m.f will produce an induced current at
the secondary coil
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92. 96. Nuclear fission produces a chain reaction.
Describe how the chain reaction occurs in a nuclear
fission of an atom of Uranium- 235.
Anode of diode (p- type) connected to positive 97. Runut alfa yang diperhatikan di dalam kebuk awan
terminal of battery/ foward bias resapan adalah lurus dan tebal. Jelaskan bagaimanakah
Electron from n-type drift to p-n junction towards runut alfa terbentuk dan mengapakah runut itu tebal dan
positive terminal lurus.
Holes from p-type drift across p-n junction towards
negative terminal Zarah α mengionkan molekul-molekul udara
Movement of electrons and holes produced Wap lampau tepu memeluwap pada ion-ion yang
current, thus the bulb lights up terbentuk
Runut tebal disebabkan kuasa pengionan zarah alfa
93. Explain how the green shadow produced in the CRO adalah tinggi//zarah alfa menghasilkan banyak ion.
screen? Runut lurus kerana zarah alfa mempunyai jisim yang
lebih tinggi
6V heater supply produced electron on it surface
When 3 kV power supply are connected Cathode 98. Explain how radioisotopes can be used to detect the
rays/electron acceleratel in a straight line. location of the leakage
Cathode rays carry kinetic energy and
converts to light energy when they hit the screen . Radioisotope is injected into the pipe
The water in the pipe flow with the radioisotope
G-M tube as detector is used to find the leakage
across the pipe
Reading on detector increases when near a leakage
94. Explain why the bulb light up at night 100. Explain about to date an archeological specimen by carbon
At night resistance LDR increases
dating method
VBE increases (higher than 0.7 V for Si)
Ib increases and switch on transistor
Living plants take up the carbon-14 in the carbon dioxide
Ic, increases and lights up bulb
they use for photosynthesis, as do animals when they eat
the plants for food.
While the plant or animal is alive, the proportion of
CHAPTER 10
cabon-14 to ordinary carbon-12 in their tissues stays
constant,
95. Radioisotope Strontium-90 is used to measure the
but once they die, the carobn-14 begins to decay
thickness of paper in a paper industry Explain how
Carbon-14 has a half-life 5 700 years
Strontium-90 is used to measure the thickness piece of
paper? To date an archeological specimen , a small sample of
carbon is extracted from it
Put the radioactive source opposite the detector
Detector is connected to the thickness indicator
Detector detect the reading of the changes in counts
Thickness is measured with the thickness indicator
If the reading of the detector is less than the specified
value, the thickness of the paper
is too tick/ vice versa
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