Content of School Physics Courses

• CFE Overview: Sciences

Planet Earth

• Energy Sources and Sustainability
• Space

Forces, electricity and waves

• Forces
• Electricity
• Vibrations and waves

Topical Science

• SQA National 3 Physics Home Page
• SQA National 3 Physics course and unit support notes

Electricity and Energy

• Energy Sources
• Electricity
• Energy Transfer

Waves and Radiation

• Wave properties
• Colour
• Optical instruments
• Electromagnetic radiation
• Sound

Dynamics and Space

• Forces
• Solar System

• SQA National 4 Physics Home Page
• SQA National 4 Physics course and unit support notes

Electricity and Energy

• Generation of electricity
• Electrical power
• Electromagnetism
• Practical electrical and electronic circuits
• Gas laws and the kinetic model

Waves and Radiation

• Wave characteristics
• Sound
• Electromagnetic Spectrum
• Nuclear radiation

Dynamics and Space

• Speed and acceleration
• Relationship between forces, motion and energy
• Satellites
• Cosmology

• SQA National 5 Physics Home Page
• SQA National 5 Physics course specification

Dynamics

• vectors and scalars
• velocity–time graphs
• acceleration
• Newton’s laws
• energy
• projectile motion

Space

• space exploration
• cosmology

Electricity

• electrical charge carriers
• potential difference (voltage)
• Ohm’s law
• practical electrical and electronic circuits
• electrical power

Properties of matter

• specific heat capacity
• specific latent heat
• gas laws and the kinetic model

Waves

• wave parameters and behaviours
• electromagnetic spectrum;
• refraction of light

Radiation

• Nuclear radiation

National 5 Physics Past Papers

• SQA Higher Physics Home Page
• SQA Higher Physics course specification

Our dynamic Universe

• motion — equations and graphs
• forces, energy and power
• collisions, explosions, and impulse
• gravitation
• special relativity
• the expanding Universe

Particles and waves

• forces on charged particles
• the Standard Model
• nuclear reactions
• inverse square law
• wave-particle duality
• interference
• spectra
• refraction of light

Electricity

• monitoring and measuring AC
• current, potential difference, power, and resistance
• electrical sources and internal resistance
• capacitors
• semiconductors and p-n junctions

Higher Physics Past Papers

• SQA Advanced Higher Physics Home Page
• SQA Advanced Higher Physics course specification

Rotational motion and astrophysics

• kinematic relationships
• angular motion
• rotational dynamics
• gravitation
• general relativity
• stellar physics

Quanta and waves

• introduction to quantum theory
• particles from space
• simple harmonic motion
• waves
• interference
• polarisation

Electromagnetism

• fields
• circuits
• electromagnetic radiation

Advanced Higher Physics Past Papers

• SQA Advanced Higher Mathematics of Mechanics Home Page
• SQA Advanced Higher Mathematics of Mechanics course specification

Forces, energy and momentum

• Applying impulse, change in momentum and conservation of momentum
• Determining and applying work done by a constant or variable force
• Using the concepts of kinetic and potential energy; applying the work–energy principle; and applying the principle of the conservation of energy
• Determining the turning effect of force
• Using moments to find the centre of mass of a body
• Using Newton’s First and Third laws of motion to understand equilibrium
• Using the concepts of static friction and limiting friction on bodies in equilibrium

Straight line, periodic and parabolic motion

• Applying graphs,calculus and equations of motion in one dimension to problems involving displacement,velocity and acceleration
• Applying displacement, velocity and acceleration vectors to resultant and relative motion
• Applying Newton’s Second Law of motion, including situations involving dynamic friction
• Establishing and applying equations of motion to projectiles in horizontal and vertical directions moving with parabolic motion
• Applying equations to motion in horizontal and vertical circles with uniform angular velocity, including gravitational motion
• Applying the concept of simple harmonic motion (SHM), including problems involving Hooke’s Law

Mathematical techniques for mechanics

• Decomposing a rational function into a sum of partial fractions (denominator of degree at most three)
• Differentiating,exponential, natural logarithmic, and trigonometric functions
• Differentiating functions using the chain rule, and functions given in the form of a product and in the form of a quotient
• Finding the derivative where relationships are defined implicitly or parametrically
• Integrating expressions using standard results
• Integrating using a substitution
• Integrating by parts
• Applying integration to a range of physical situations
• Solving a first-order linear differential equation with variables separable
• Solving a first-order linear differential equation using an integrating factor
• Solving a second order homogeneous differential equation

Advanced Higher MechanicsAdvanced Higher Mechanics Past Papers

School Physics Courses - England

Energy

Calculation of fuel uses and costs in the domestic context

• comparing energy values of different foods (from labels) (kJ)
• comparing power ratings of appliances in watts (W, kW)
• comparing amounts of energy transferred (J, kJ, kW hour)
• domestic fuel bills, fuel use and costs
• fuels and energy resources

Energy changes and transfers

• simple machines give bigger force but at the expense of smaller movement (and vice versa): product of force and displacement unchanged
• heating and thermal equilibrium: temperature difference between 2 objects leading to energy transfer from the hotter to the cooler one, through contact (conduction) or radiation; such transfers tending to reduce the temperature difference; use of insulators
• other processes that involve energy transfer: changing motion, dropping an object, completing an electrical circuit, stretching a spring, metabolism of food, burning fuels

Changes in systems

• energy as a quantity that can be quantified and calculated; the total energy has the same value before and after a change
• comparing the starting with the final conditions of a system and describing increases and decreases in the amounts of energy associated with movements, temperatures, changes in positions in a field, in elastic distortions and in chemical compositions
• using physical processes and mechanisms, rather than energy, to explain the intermediate steps that bring about such changes

Motion and forces

Describing motion

• speed and the quantitative relationship between average speed, distance and time (speed = distance ÷ time)
• the representation of a journey on a distance-time graph
• relative motion: trains and cars passing one another

Forces

• forces as pushes or pulls, arising from the interaction between 2 objects
• using force arrows in diagrams, adding forces in 1 dimension, balanced and unbalanced forces
• moment as the turning effect of a force
• forces: associated with deforming objects; stretching and squashing – springs; with rubbing and friction between surfaces, with pushing things out of the way; resistance to motion of air and water
• forces measured in newtons, measurements of stretch or compression as force is changed
• force-extension linear relation; Hooke’s Law as a special case
• work done and energy changes on deformation
• non-contact forces: gravity forces acting at a distance on Earth and in space, forces between magnets, and forces due to static electricity

Pressure in fluids

• atmospheric pressure, decreases with increase of height as weight of air above decreases with height
• pressure in liquids, increasing with depth; upthrust effects, floating and sinking
• pressure measured by ratio of force over area – acting normal to any surface

Balanced forces

• opposing forces and equilibrium: weight held by stretched spring or supported on a compressed surface

Forces and motion

• forces being needed to cause objects to stop or start moving, or to change their speed or direction of motion (qualitative only)
• change depending on direction of force and its size

Waves

Observed waves

• waves on water as undulations which travel through water with transverse motion; these waves can be reflected, and add or cancel – superposition

Sound waves

• frequencies of sound waves, measured in hertz (Hz); echoes, reflection and absorption of sound
• sound needs a medium to travel, the speed of sound in air, in water, in solids
• sound produced by vibrations of objects, in loudspeakers, detected by their effects on microphone diaphragm and the ear drum; sound waves are longitudinal
• the auditory range of humans and animals

Energy and waves

• pressure waves transferring energy; use for cleaning and physiotherapy by ultrasound; waves transferring information for conversion to electrical signals by microphone

Light waves

• the similarities and differences between light waves and waves in matter
• light waves travelling through a vacuum; speed of light
• the transmission of light through materials: absorption, diffuse scattering and specular reflection at a surface
• use of ray model to explain imaging in mirrors, the pinhole camera, the refraction of light and action of convex lens in focusing (qualitative); the human eye
• light transferring energy from source to absorber, leading to chemical and electrical effects; photosensitive material in the retina and in cameras
• colours and the different frequencies of light, white light and prisms (qualitative only); differential colour effects in absorption and diffuse reflection

Electricity and electromagnetism

Current electricity

• electric current, measured in amperes, in circuits, series and parallel circuits, currents add where branches meet and current as flow of charge
• potential difference, measured in volts, battery and bulb ratings; resistance, measured in ohms, as the ratio of potential difference (p.d.) to current
• differences in resistance between conducting and insulating components (quantitative)

Static electricity

• separation of positive or negative charges when objects are rubbed together: transfer of electrons, forces between charged objects
• the idea of electric field, forces acting across the space between objects not in contact

Magnetism

• magnetic poles, attraction and repulsion
• magnetic fields by plotting with compass, representation by field lines
• Earth’s magnetism, compass and navigation
• the magnetic effect of a current, electromagnets, DC motors (principles only)

Matter

Physical changes

• conservation of material and of mass, and reversibility, in melting, freezing, evaporation, sublimation, condensation, dissolving
• similarities and differences, including density differences, between solids, liquids and gases
• Brownian motion in gases
• diffusion in liquids and gases driven by differences in concentration
• the difference between chemical and physical changes

Particle model

• the differences in arrangements, in motion and in closeness of particles explaining changes of state, shape and density; the anomaly of ice-water transition
• atoms and molecules as particles

Energy in matter

• changes with temperature in motion and spacing of particles
• internal energy stored in materials

Space physics

• gravity force, weight = mass x gravitational field strength (g), on Earth g=10 N/kg, different on other planets and stars; gravity forces between Earth and Moon, and between Earth and sun (qualitative only)
• our sun as a star, other stars in our galaxy, other galaxies
• the seasons and the Earth’s tilt, day length at different times of year, in different hemispheres
• the light year as a unit of astronomical distance

• National curriculum in England: science programmes of study

Energy

Calculation of fuel uses and costs in the domestic context

• energy changes in a system involving heating, doing work using forces, or doing work using an electric current: calculating the stored energies and energy changes involved
• conservation of energy in a closed system, dissipation
• calculating energy efficiency for any energy transfers
• renewable and non-renewable energy sources used on Earth, changes in how these are used

Forces

• forces and fields: electrostatic, magnetic, gravity
• forces as vectors
• calculating work done as force x distance; elastic and inelastic stretching
• pressure in fluids acts in all directions: variation in Earth’s atmosphere with height, with depth for liquids, up-thrust force (qualitative)

Forces and motion

• speed of sound, estimating speeds and accelerations in everyday contexts
• interpreting quantitatively graphs of distance, time, and speed
• acceleration caused by forces; Newton’s First Law
• weight and gravitational field strength
• decelerations and braking distances involved on roads, safety

Wave motion

• amplitude, wavelength, frequency, relating velocity to frequency and wavelength
• transverse and longitudinal waves
• electromagnetic waves, velocity in vacuum; waves transferring energy; wavelengths and frequencies from radio to gamma-rays
• velocities differing between media: absorption, reflection, refraction effects
• production and detection, by electrical circuits, or by changes in atoms and nuclei
• uses in the radio, microwave, infra-red, visible, ultra-violet, X-ray and gamma-ray regions, hazardous effects on bodily tissues

Electricity

• measuring resistance using p.d. and current measurements
• exploring current, resistance and voltage relationships for different circuit elements; including their graphical representations
• quantity of charge flowing as the product of current and time
• drawing circuit diagrams; exploring equivalent resistance for resistors in series
• the domestic a.c. supply; live, neutral and earth mains wires, safety measures
• power transfer related to p.d. and current, or current and resistance

Magnetism and electromagnetism

• exploring the magnetic fields of permanent and induced magnets, and the Earth’s magnetic field, using a compass
• magnetic effects of currents, how solenoids enhance the effect
• how transformers are used in the national grid and the reasons for their use

The structure of matter

• relating models of arrangements and motions of the molecules in solid, liquid and gas phases to their densities
• melting, evaporation, and sublimation as reversible changes
• calculating energy changes involved on heating, using specific heat capacity; and those involved in changes of state, using specific latent heat
• links between pressure and temperature of a gas at constant volume, related to the motion of its particles (qualitative)

Atomic structure

• the nuclear model and its development in the light of changing evidence
• masses and sizes of nuclei, atoms and small molecules
• differences in numbers of protons, and neutrons related to masses and identities of nuclei, isotope characteristics and equations to represent changes
• ionisation; absorption or emission of radiation related to changes in electron orbits
• radioactive nuclei: emission of alpha or beta particles, neutrons, or gamma-rays, related to changes in the nuclear mass and/or charge
• radioactive materials, half-life, irradiation, contamination and their associated hazardous effects, waste disposal
• nuclear fission, nuclear fusion and our sun’s energy

Space physics

• the main features of the solar system.

• GCSE Subject Level Conditions and Requirements for Single Science (Biology, Chemistry,Physics)
• AQA GCSE Physics
• OCR GCSE Gateway Science Suite - Physics A (9-1) - J249
• OCR GCSE Twenty First Century Science Suite - Physics B (9-1) - J259
• Pearson GCSE Physics

• A Level and AS GCE Subject Level Conditions and Requirements for Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics)
• AQA AS and A-level Physics
• OCR AS and A Level Physics A - H156, H556
• OCR AS and A Level Physics B (Advancing Physics) - H157, H55
• Pearson A level Physics
• WJEC Edugas AS/A Level Physics