Physics

Assessment methods 

100% written Assessment. No coursework or practical assessed component. 

Length of exams: 3 x 2 hour papers

Paper 1: Units 1 to 6.1
Paper 2: Units 6.2 to 8
Paper 3: Practical Skills and data Analysis plus Option Topic

Breakdown of units

1. Measurements and their Errors: Content in this section is a continuing study for a student of physics. A working knowledge of the specified fundamental (base) units of measurement is vital. Likewise, practical work in the subject needs to be underpinned by an awareness of the nature of measurement errors and of their numerical treatment.

2. Particles and Radiation: This section introduces students both to the fundamental properties of matter, and to electromagnetic radiation and quantum phenomena. Through a study of these topics, students become aware of the way ideas develop and evolve in physics. They will appreciate the importance of international collaboration in the development of new experiments and theories in this area of fundamental research.

3. Waves: GCSE studies of wave phenomena are extended through a development of knowledge of the characteristics, properties, and applications of travelling waves and stationary waves. Topics treated include refraction, diffraction, superposition and interference.

4. Mechanics and Materials: Vectors and their treatment are introduced followed by development of the student’s knowledge and understanding of forces, energy and momentum. The section continues with a study of materials considered in terms of their bulk properties and tensile strength.

5. Electricity: This section builds on and develops earlier study of these phenomena from GCSE. It provides opportunities for the development of practical skills at an early stage in the course and lays the groundwork for later study of the many electrical applications that are important to society.

6. Further Mechanics and Thermal Physics: The earlier study of mechanics is further advanced through a consideration of circular motion and simple harmonic motion (the harmonic oscillator). A further section allows the thermal properties of materials, the properties and nature of ideal gases, and the molecular kinetic theory to be studied in depth.

7. Fields and their Consequences: The concept of field is one of the great unifying ideas in physics. The ideas of gravitation, electrostatics and magnetic field theory are developed within the topic to emphasise this unification. Many ideas from mechanics and electricity from earlier in the course support this and are further developed. Practical applications considered include: planetary and satellite orbits, capacitance and capacitors, their charge and discharge through resistors, and electromagnetic induction. These topics have considerable impact on modern society.

8. Nuclear Physics: This section builds on the work of Particles and radiation to link the properties of the nucleus to the production of nuclear power through the characteristics of the nucleus, the properties of unstable nuclei, and the link between energy and mass. Students should become aware of the physics that underpins nuclear energy production and also of the impact that it can have on society.

Option Topic: Turning Points in Physics: This option is intended to enable key concepts and developments in physics to be studied in greater depth than in the core content. Students will be able to appreciate, from historical and conceptual viewpoints, the significance of major paradigm shifts for the subject in the perspectives of experimentation and understanding.

Aims

GCSE study in physics provides the foundations for understanding the material world. Scientific understanding is changing our lives and is vital to the world’s future prosperity, and all students should be taught essential aspects of the knowledge, methods, processes and uses of science. They should be helped to appreciate how the complex and diverse phenomena of the natural world can be described in terms of a small number of key ideas relating to the sciences which are both inter-linked, and are of universal application. These key ideas include:

• the use of models, as in the particle model of matter or the wave models of light and of sound
• the concept of cause and effect in explaining such links as those between force and acceleration, or between changes in atomic nuclei and radioactive emissions
• the phenomena of ‘action at a distance’ and the related concept of the field as the key to analysing electrical, magnetic and gravitational effects
• that differences, for example between pressures or temperatures or electrical potentials, are the drivers of change
• that proportionality, for example between weight and mass of an object or between force and extension in a spring, is an important aspect of many models in science

• that physical laws and models are expressed in mathematical form.

  Assessment

  Two exams to be taken at the end of the course Assessment will be focused on AQA’s three criteria:
  AO1) Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of: scientific ideas, scientific techniques and procedures
  AO2) Apply knowledge and understanding of: scientific ideas, scientific techniques and procedures
  AO3) Analyse information and ideas to: interpret and evaluate; make judgements and draw conclusions; develop and improve experimental procedures.

Introductory video - Physics in life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJJWqSRA4dg

Read

What can I do with a degree in Physics?

Advice from the Top Universities website

https://www.topuniversities.com/student-info/careers-advice/what-can-you-do-physics-degree

Another perspective from Prospects website

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/careers-advice/what-can-i-do-with-my-degree/physics

What needs solving in Physics? Where are we up to and where are we going?

https://www.nbcnews.com/mach/science/7-biggest-unanswered-questions-physics-ncna789666

Finding things tricky? You are not alone…

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-most-difficult-concept-to-grasp-in-physics

Listen

Cutting edge yet accessible Physics? Have a listen http://titaniumphysicists.brachiolopemedia.com/

For those interested in Astrophysicshttp://www.pmsutter.com/shows/askaspaceman

But where is Professor Brian Cox? Oh yes, of course…https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00snr0w/episodes/downloads

Watch

Need to brush up on the basics but haven’t much time?

Try here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGvD8d3gDHUXLkGHQShzTVsr0TZB7It2y

And finally… Don’t try this at home…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4a0FbQdH3dY