List of Physical Constants - Revision history

Conrad: Remove the Rows section (anchor names are documented on Template:Rt)

2026-10-25T21:52:18Z

Remove the Rows section (anchor names are documented on Template:Rt)

Conrad: Row anchors as zero-height blocks above the image, so a row link shows the whole table

2026-10-25T21:41:12Z

Row anchors as zero-height blocks above the image, so a row link shows the whole table

Conrad: Show the official table image instead of a wikitext copy; row anchors now land on the image

2026-10-25T21:39:54Z

Show the official table image instead of a wikitext copy; row anchors now land on the image

Conrad: Make the Regents Exam Questions table scroll sideways on narrow screens instead of widening the page

2026-10-25T21:31:26Z

Make the Regents Exam Questions table scroll sideways on narrow screens instead of widening the page

Conrad: Physics reference tables (2025 Edition): new reference table page

2026-10-25T20:25:56Z

Physics reference tables (2025 Edition): new reference table page

New page

{{Physreftable
|name=List of Physical Constants
|next=Prefixes for Powers of 10
|desc=List of Physical Constants from the NYS Physics Reference Tables (2025 Edition): g, G, the speed of light, the speed of sound, the electronvolt, the electrostatic constant, the elementary charge and Planck's constant, with their values and units.
}}
The '''List of Physical Constants''' from the ''Reference Tables for Physical Science: Physics'' (2025 Edition) gives the nine constants used on the exam. It goes with every standard that involves a calculation: ''g'' with [[HS-PS2-1]], [[HS-PS3-1]] and [[HS-PS3-2]]; ''G'' and ''k'' with [[HS-PS2-4]]; ''k'' and ''e'' with [[HS-PS3-5]]; ''c'', ''h'' and the electronvolt with [[HS-PS4-1]], [[HS-PS4-3]] and [[HS-PS4-4]].

{| class="wikitable"
! Name !! Symbol !! Magnitude
|- id="gravity"
| Acceleration due to gravity near Earth's surface || style="text-align:center;" | ''g'' || 9.8 m/s2
|- id="gravity-field"
| Gravitational field strength near Earth's surface || style="text-align:center;" | ''g'' || 9.8 N/kg
|- id="gravitational-constant"
| Universal gravitational constant || style="text-align:center;" | ''G'' || 6.67 × 10−11 N·m2/kg2
|- id="speed-of-light"
| Speed of light in a vacuum || style="text-align:center;" | ''c'' || 3.00 × 108 m/s
|- id="speed-of-sound"
| Speed of sound in air at STP || style="text-align:center;" | || 3.31 × 102 m/s
|- id="electronvolt"
| 1 electronvolt (eV) || style="text-align:center;" | || 1.60 × 10−19 J
|- id="electrostatic-constant"
| Electrostatic constant || style="text-align:center;" | ''k'' || 9.0 × 109 N·m2/C2
|- id="elementary-charge"
| 1 elementary charge || style="text-align:center;" | ''e'' || 1.60 × 10−19 C
|- id="planck"
| Planck's constant || style="text-align:center;" | ''h'' || 6.63 × 10−34 J·s
|}

== What the constants list shows ==
The acceleration due to gravity near Earth's surface is listed twice, as an acceleration (9.8 m/s2) and as a gravitational field strength (9.8 N/kg); the two are the same number in different units, and both are called ''g''. ''G'' is the universal gravitational constant in [[Motion and Forces#gravitation|''F''g = ''Gm''1''m''2/''r''2]], ''k'' the electrostatic constant in [[Electricity#coulomb|''F''e = ''kq''1''q''2/''r''2]], ''e'' the charge of a proton or (with a minus sign) an electron, ''c'' the speed of light and of every other electromagnetic wave in a vacuum, and ''h'' Planck's constant in [[Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation#photon-energy|''E''photon = ''hf'']]. The electronvolt entry converts an energy in eV to joules, and the speed of sound in air (3.31 × 102 m/s = 331 m/s) is for sound questions that use [[Waves and Electromagnetic Radiation#wave-speed|''v'' = ''f''λ]].

The list is shorter than the one in the 2006 edition of the Physical Setting/Physics Reference Tables, which also gave the masses and radii of Earth and the Moon, the Earth–Moon and Earth–Sun distances, the rest masses of the electron, proton and neutron, the universal mass unit and the number of elementary charges in a coulomb. When a question needs one of those values, it is supplied in the question cluster.

== Rows ==
Each row of the table has an anchor, so a link or an <code><nowiki>{{Rt}}</nowiki></code> chip ([[Template:Rt]]) can point at one equation or constant:
* <code>gravity</code> – ''g'' = 9.8 m/s2
* <code>gravitational-constant</code> – ''G''
* <code>speed-of-light</code> – ''c'' = 3.00 × 108 m/s
* <code>speed-of-sound</code> – speed of sound
* <code>electronvolt</code> – 1 eV
* <code>electrostatic-constant</code> – ''k''
* <code>elementary-charge</code> – ''e''
* <code>planck</code> – ''h''

== Regents Exam Questions ==
Released Regents questions that cannot be answered without this table, listed by exam. Each link opens the question with its answer key; the standard is the one the question assesses.

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%; text-align:center"
! style="padding: 0.5em 1.5em;" | Exam
! style="padding: 0.5em 1.5em;" | Cluster
! style="padding: 0.5em 1.5em;" | Question
! style="padding: 0.5em 1.5em;" | Standard
! style="padding: 0.5em 1.5em;" | Row
|-
| style="background-color:white;" | [[June 2026 Physics Exam|June 2026 Physics Regents]]
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Pendulum Motion|Pendulum Motion]]
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Pendulum Motion#q4|Question 4]]
| style="background-color:white;" | [[HS-PS2-1]]
| style="background-color:white;" | ''g'' = 9.8 m/s2
|-
| rowspan="2" style="background-color:white;" | [[Physics Sample Question Clusters|Physics sample clusters]] (spring 2025)
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Sampler Bungee Jumping|Bungee Jumping]]
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Sampler Bungee Jumping#q1|Question 1]]
| style="background-color:white;" | [[HS-PS3-1]]
| style="background-color:white;" | ''g'' = 9.8 m/s2
|-
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Sampler World Record Jumps|World Record Jumps]]
| style="background-color:white;" | [[Questions:Sampler World Record Jumps#q3|Question 3]]
| style="background-color:white;" | [[HS-PS2-1]]
| style="background-color:white;" | ''g'' = 9.8 m/s2
|}

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 The '''List of Physical Constants''' from the ''Reference Tables for Physical Science: Physics'' (2025 Edition) gives the nine constants used on the exam. It goes with every standard that involves a calculation: ''g'' with [[HS-PS2-1]], [[HS-PS3-1]] and [[HS-PS3-2]]; ''G'' and ''k'' with [[HS-PS2-4]]; ''k'' and ''e'' with [[HS-PS3-5]]; ''c'', ''h'' and the electronvolt with [[HS-PS4-1]], [[HS-PS4-3]] and [[HS-PS4-4]].
-<span id="gravity"></span><span id="gravity-field"></span><span id="gravitational-constant"></span><span id="speed-of-light"></span><span id="speed-of-sound"></span><span id="electronvolt"></span><span id="electrostatic-constant"></span><span id="elementary-charge"></span><span id="planck"></span>[[File:List of Physical Constants.png|760px|class=img-fluid|alt=List of Physical Constants from the Physics Reference Tables (2025 Edition)]]
+<div id="gravity"></div><div id="gravity-field"></div><div id="gravitational-constant"></div><div id="speed-of-light"></div><div id="speed-of-sound"></div><div id="electronvolt"></div><div id="electrostatic-constant"></div><div id="elementary-charge"></div><div id="planck"></div>
 == What the constants list shows ==

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:52, 25 October 2026
Line 13:		Line 13:

	The list is shorter than the one in the 2006 edition of the Physical Setting/Physics Reference Tables, which also gave the masses and radii of Earth and the Moon, the Earth–Moon and Earth–Sun distances, the rest masses of the electron, proton and neutron, the universal mass unit and the number of elementary charges in a coulomb. When a question needs one of those values, it is supplied in the question cluster.		The list is shorter than the one in the 2006 edition of the Physical Setting/Physics Reference Tables, which also gave the masses and radii of Earth and the Moon, the Earth–Moon and Earth–Sun distances, the rest masses of the electron, proton and neutron, the universal mass unit and the number of elementary charges in a coulomb. When a question needs one of those values, it is supplied in the question cluster.
−
−	~~== Rows ==~~
−	~~A link or an <code><nowiki>{{Rt}}</nowiki></code> chip ([[Template:Rt]]) can point at one equation or constant with these anchors; each one lands on the table above:~~
−	* <code>gravity</code> – ''g'' = 9.8 m/s<sup>2</sup>
−	* <code>gravitational-constant</code> – ''G''
−	* <code>speed-of-light</code> – ''c'' = 3.00 × 10<sup>8</sup> m/s
−	* <code>speed-of-sound</code> – speed of sound
−	* <code>electronvolt</code> – 1 eV
−	* <code>electrostatic-constant</code> – ''k''
−	* <code>elementary-charge</code> – ''e''
−	* <code>planck</code> – ''h''

	== Regents Exam Questions ==		== Regents Exam Questions ==

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 The '''List of Physical Constants''' from the ''Reference Tables for Physical Science: Physics'' (2025 Edition) gives the nine constants used on the exam. It goes with every standard that involves a calculation: ''g'' with [[HS-PS2-1]], [[HS-PS3-1]] and [[HS-PS3-2]]; ''G'' and ''k'' with [[HS-PS2-4]]; ''k'' and ''e'' with [[HS-PS3-5]]; ''c'', ''h'' and the electronvolt with [[HS-PS4-1]], [[HS-PS4-3]] and [[HS-PS4-4]].
-{| class="wikitable"
+<span id="gravity"></span><span id="gravity-field"></span><span id="gravitational-constant"></span><span id="speed-of-light"></span><span id="speed-of-sound"></span><span id="electronvolt"></span><span id="electrostatic-constant"></span><span id="elementary-charge"></span><span id="planck"></span>[[File:List of Physical Constants.png|760px|class=img-fluid|alt=List of Physical Constants from the Physics Reference Tables (2025 Edition)]]
 == What the constants list shows ==
@@ Line 34: / Line 14: @@
 == Rows ==
-Each row of the table has an anchor, so a link or an <code><nowiki>{{Rt}}</nowiki></code> chip ([[Template:Rt]]) can point at one equation or constant:
+A link or an <code><nowiki>{{Rt}}</nowiki></code> chip ([[Template:Rt]]) can point at one equation or constant with these anchors; each one lands on the table above:
 * <code>gravity</code> – ''g'' = 9.8 m/s<sup>2</sup>
 * <code>gravitational-constant</code> – ''G''

@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
 Released Regents questions that cannot be answered without this table, listed by exam. Each link opens the question with its answer key; the standard is the one the question assesses.
 {| class="wikitable" style="width:100%; text-align:center"
 ! style="padding: 0.5em 1.5em;" | Exam
@@ Line 71: / Line 72: @@
 | style="background-color:white;" | ''g'' = 9.8 m/s<sup>2</sup>
 |}