Waves & Particles

PH1.1 BASIC PHYSICS

Content

• Units and dimensions
• Scalar and vector quantities
• Force
• Free body diagrams
• Movements and stability
• Equilibrium

AMPLIFICATION OF CONTENT Candidates should be able to:

1.1 (a) recall and use SI units,

1.1 (b) check equations for homogeneity using units,

1.1 (c) contrast scalar and vector quantities and give examples of each – displacement, velocity, acceleration, force, speed, time, density, pressure etc.,

PH1.2 KINEMATICS

Content

• Rectilinear motion.

AMPLIFICATION OF CONTENT Candidates should be able to:

1.2 (a) define displacement, mean and instantaneous values of speed, velocity and acceleration,

1.2 (b) use graphical methods to represent displacement, speed, velocity and acceleration,

1.2 (c) understand and use the properties of displacement-time graphs, velocity-time graphs, acceleration-time graphs, and interpret speed and displacement-time graphs for non-uniform acceleration,

PH1.3 ENERGY CONCEPTS

Content

• Work, Power and Energy.

AMPLIFICATION OF CONTENT Candidates should be able to:

1.3 (a) recall the definition of work as the product of a force and distance moved in the direction of the force when the force is constant; calculation of work done, for constant forces, when force is not along the line of motion ( W.D. = Fxcosθ )

1.3 (b) understand that the work done by a varying force is the area under the Force-distance graph,

1.3 (c) recall and use Hooke's law F = kx, and apply this to (b) above to show that elastic potential energy is 1/2 Fx or 1/2 kx^2,

PH1.4 CONDUCTION OF ELECTRICITY

Content

• Electric charge.
• Electric current.
• Nature of charge carriers in conductors.

AMPLIFICATION OF CONTENT Candidates should be able to:

1.4 (a) understand how attraction and repulsion between rubbed insulators can be explained in terms of charges on the surfaces of these insulators, and that just two sorts of charge are involved;

1.4 (b) understand that the name positive charge was arbitrarily given to the sort of charge on an amber rod rubbed with fur, and negative to that on a glass rod rubbed with silk;

1.4 (c) recall that electrons can be shown to have a negative charge, and protons, a positive;

PH1.5 RESISTANCE

CONTENT

• Relationship between current and potential difference.
• Resistance
• Resistivity.
• Variation of resistance with temperature for metals.
• Superconductivity
• Heating effect of an electric current.

AMPLIFICATION OF CONTENT Candidates should be able to:

1.5 (a) define potential difference and recall that its unit is the volt (V) where V = JC-1.

1.5 (b) sketch I – V graphs for a semiconductor diode, the filament of a lamp, and a metal wire at constant temperature;

1.5 (c) state Ohm's Law;

1.5 (d) define resistance;

1.5 (p) recall and use P = IV = I^2R = V^2/R.

PH1.6 D.C. CIRCUITS

CONTENT

• Series and parallel circuits.
• Combination of resistors.
• The internal resistance of sources.
• The potential divider.

AMPLIFICATION OF CONTENT Candidates should be able to:

1.6 (a) understand and recall that the current from a source is equal to the sum of the currents in the separate branches of a parallel circuit, and that this is a consequence of conservation of charge;

1.6 (b) understand and recall that the p.d.s across components in a series circuit is equal to the p.d. across the supply, and that this is a consequence of conservation of energy;