England · WJEC EduqasQ&A
PhysicsQ&A by dot point
A short Q&A bank for every England Physics syllabus dot point. Each question and answer is drawn directly from our worked dot-point page, so you can scan key concepts before opening the long-form answer.
Component 2 Electricity and the Universe
- Capacitance: the definition of capacitance, energy stored on a capacitor, capacitors in series and parallel, and the exponential charge and discharge through a resistor with time constant RC.3Q&A pairs
- Conduction of electricity: electric current as the rate of flow of charge, the equation I = nAvq for charge carriers, drift velocity, and the distinction between conductors, semiconductors and insulators.3Q&A pairs
- DC circuits: Kirchhoff's two laws, resistors in series and parallel, electromotive force and internal resistance, the potential divider, and electrical power and energy.3Q&A pairs
- Resistance: Ohm's law and resistance, the I-V characteristics of an ohmic conductor, a filament lamp and a diode, resistivity and its temperature dependence, and the behaviour of thermistors.3Q&A pairs
- Solids under stress: Hooke's law and the force constant, stress, strain and the Young modulus, elastic strain energy, and the contrast between ductile, brittle and polymeric behaviour.3Q&A pairs
Component 3 Light, Nuclei and Options
- Electromagnetic induction: magnetic flux and flux linkage, Faraday's law of induction, Lenz's law and energy conservation, and the operation of a simple generator and transformer.3Q&A pairs
- Electrostatic and gravitational fields: Newton's law of gravitation and Coulomb's law, gravitational and electric field strength, the inverse-square law, and gravitational and electric potential.3Q&A pairs
- Magnetic fields: magnetic flux density, the force on a current-carrying conductor F = BIL, the force on a moving charge F = Bqv, and the circular motion of charged particles in a field.3Q&A pairs
- Orbits and the wider universe: circular orbits under gravity, Kepler's third law, the energy of an orbiting body, geostationary satellites, and escape velocity.3Q&A pairs
- Orbits and the wider universe: the Doppler effect and redshift, Hubble's law, the age of the universe, and the evidence for the Big Bang including the cosmic microwave background.3Q&A pairs
- Using radiation to investigate stars: black-body radiation, Wien's displacement law, Stefan's law and stellar luminosity, the inverse-square law for flux, and stellar spectra.3Q&A pairs
Component 1 Newtonian Physics
- Basic physics: SI base and derived units, homogeneity of equations, scalars and vectors, resolving and adding vectors, and the treatment of measurement uncertainty.3Q&A pairs
- Circular motion: angular velocity and the period, the centripetal acceleration, the centripetal force, and applications such as banked tracks, vertical circles and the conical pendulum.3Q&A pairs
- Dynamics: Newton's three laws of motion, free-body diagrams, weight and the normal force, resolving forces on inclined planes, moments and the conditions for equilibrium, and terminal velocity.4Q&A pairs
- Energy concepts: work done by a force, the conservation of energy, kinetic and gravitational potential energy, power as the rate of energy transfer, the relation P = Fv, and efficiency.3Q&A pairs
- Kinematics: displacement, velocity and acceleration, interpreting motion graphs by gradient and area, the equations of motion for uniform acceleration, projectiles and free fall under gravity.5Q&A pairs
- Momentum: linear momentum and its conservation, Newton's second law as rate of change of momentum, impulse and the force-time graph, and elastic versus inelastic collisions.3Q&A pairs
Component 3 Light, Nuclei and Options
- Medical physics option: the production and attenuation of X-rays, ultrasound imaging and acoustic impedance, PET scanning and positron annihilation, and radiation dose and its biological effect.3Q&A pairs
- Nuclear decay: alpha, beta and gamma radiation and their properties, the random nature of decay, activity and the decay constant, the exponential decay law, and half-life.3Q&A pairs
- Nuclear energy: mass-energy equivalence, the mass defect and binding energy, binding energy per nucleon, and the energy released in nuclear fission and fusion.3Q&A pairs
- Particles and nuclear structure: the nuclear model of the atom, the classification of particles into hadrons and leptons, the quark model of protons and neutrons, and conservation laws in particle interactions.3Q&A pairs
- The options: an overview of the four Component 3 options (alternating currents, medical physics, the physics of sports, energy and the environment) and the core physics each one extends.3Q&A pairs
Component 1 Newtonian Physics
- Kinetic theory: the assumptions of the kinetic model, the derivation of pV = (1/3)Nm<c^2>, and the link between absolute temperature and the mean kinetic energy of a molecule.3Q&A pairs
- Vibrations: free and forced oscillations, light, heavy and critical damping, the resonance condition, and the effect of damping on the resonance curve.3Q&A pairs
- Kinetic theory: the gas laws, the absolute temperature scale, the equation of state pV = nRT (and pV = NkT), and the conditions under which a real gas behaves ideally.3Q&A pairs
- Thermal physics: internal energy and the kinetic model, temperature and thermal equilibrium, specific heat capacity, and specific latent heat for changes of state.3Q&A pairs
- Vibrations: the defining condition for simple harmonic motion, displacement, velocity and acceleration in SHM, the period of mass-spring and pendulum systems, and the interchange of kinetic and potential energy.3Q&A pairs
Component 3 Light, Nuclei and Options
- Lasers: discrete energy levels and photon emission, spontaneous and stimulated emission, population inversion and the metastable state, and the properties of laser light.3Q&A pairs
- Photons: the photon as a quantum of electromagnetic energy E = hf, the photoelectric effect and Einstein's equation, the work function and threshold frequency, and the electronvolt.3Q&A pairs
- Refraction of light: the refractive index and Snell's law, the change of speed and wavelength, total internal reflection and the critical angle, and optical fibres.3Q&A pairs
- The nature of waves: transverse and longitudinal progressive waves, the wave quantities and the wave equation, the relationship between phase and path difference, and polarisation.3Q&A pairs
- Wave-particle duality: the dual nature of light, the de Broglie wavelength of moving particles, electron diffraction as evidence, and the conditions under which wave or particle behaviour dominates.3Q&A pairs
- Wave properties: the principle of superposition, two-source interference and the Young double-slit experiment, the diffraction grating, and stationary waves with nodes and antinodes.3Q&A pairs