Physics – Advanced Subsidiary GCE and Advanced GCE
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Course Synopsis:
Physics at AS and A level builds on the knowledge, understanding and process skills that students have developed in GCSE Science. The new A level courses, starting in September 2008, aim to develop the students' knowledge and understanding of physics concepts alongside an awareness of the many ways in which physics is used to solve problems and design products in the real world. At present we intend to offer the Edexcel concept-led course. The basic physics content of all available A level courses is broadly similar.
A' Level students at work
A level physics is suitable for
students who:
- have an
interest in, or enjoy physics;
- want to find
out about how things in the physical world work;
- enjoy
applying your mind to solving problems
- enjoy
carrying out investigations by the application of imaginative,
logical thinking;
- Want to use
physics to support other qualifications or progress onto further
studies or enjoyment.
|
Year 12 ~ AS
Level (Edexcel) |
Year 13 ~ A2
Level (Edexcel) |
|
Unit 1 ~ 'Physics to Go'
(Mechanics & materials)
Rectilinear
motion, forces, energy and power.
Flow of liquids, viscosity, Stoke’s law, properties of
materials, Hooke’s law, Young’s modulus and elastic strain
energy. |
Unit 4 ~ 'Physics on the Move'
(Further mechanics, fields, particle
physics)
Momentum and
circular motion. Coulomb’s law, capacitors, magnetic flux
density and the laws of electromagnetic induction.
Atomic structure, particle accelerators, and the standard
quark-lepton model. |
|
Unit 2 ~ 'Physics at
Work'
(Waves, electricity & light)
Properties of
different types of waves, including standing (stationary) waves.
Current and resistance, Ohm’s law and non-ohmic materials,
potential dividers, emf and internal resistance of cells,
thermistors. The
wave/particle nature of light. |
Unit 5 ~ 'Physics from Creation to Collapse'
(Thermal energy, nuclear decay,
oscillations, and astrophysics & cosmology.)
Specific heat
capacity, internal energy and the ideal gas equation.
Radioactive decay. Simple harmonic motion and damping.
|
|
Unit 3 ~ 'Exploring Physics'
This unit tests
the students' practical skills and their understanding of the
way that experimental work is used in real life applications.
Students will take a formal examination in which they
write about experimental work and interpret and analyse
experimental data provided for them.
|
Unit 6 ~ 'Experimental Physics'
This unit tests
the students' practical skills and their understanding of the
way that experimental work is used in real life applications.
Students will take a formal examination in which they
write about experimental work and interpret and analyse
experimental data provided for them. |