England · WJEC EduqasSyllabus
Physics syllabus, dot point by dot point
Every dot point in the England Physicssyllabus, with a focused answer for each one. Click any dot point for a worked explainer, past exam questions, and links to related dot points. Written by Claude Opus 4.8, Anthropic's latest AI.
Component 2 Electricity and the Universe
Module overview →- How does a capacitor store charge and energy, and how do charge and current decay when it discharges?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.13 min answer →
- What is an electric current at the level of charge carriers, and how does the drift of electrons carry it through a conductor?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.12 min answer →
- How do Kirchhoff's laws, internal resistance and the potential divider let us analyse any DC circuit?DC circuits: Kirchhoff's two laws, resistors in series and parallel, electromotive force and internal resistance, the potential divider, and electrical power and energy.13 min answer →
- What determines a component's resistance, and how do resistivity and temperature affect it?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.12 min answer →
- How do solids deform under load, and what do stress, strain and the Young modulus tell us about a material?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.12 min answer →
Component 3 Light, Nuclei and Options
Module overview →- How does a changing magnetic flux induce an electromotive force, and what do Faraday's and Lenz's laws tell us?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.13 min answer →
- How do the inverse-square laws for gravity and electrostatics compare, and how do field strength and potential describe them?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.13 min answer →
- What force does a magnetic field exert on currents and moving charges, and how is flux density defined?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.12 min answer →
- How does gravity govern the orbits of planets and satellites, and what is special about a geostationary orbit?Orbits and the wider universe: circular orbits under gravity, Kepler's third law, the energy of an orbiting body, geostationary satellites, and escape velocity.13 min answer →
- What evidence shows the universe is expanding, and how does Hubble's law lead to the Big Bang?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.12 min answer →
- How do we work out the temperature, size and composition of a star from the radiation it emits?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.13 min answer →
Component 1 Newtonian Physics
Module overview →- How do physicists describe quantities precisely using units, scalars and vectors, and how do they handle measurement uncertainty?Basic physics: SI base and derived units, homogeneity of equations, scalars and vectors, resolving and adding vectors, and the treatment of measurement uncertainty.12 min answer →
- What keeps an object moving in a circle, and how do we relate its speed, period and the centripetal force?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.12 min answer →
- How do Newton's three laws connect force, mass and motion, and how do we analyse forces in equilibrium?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.13 min answer →
- How do we account for energy as it is transferred and conserved, and how is power related to force and velocity?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.12 min answer →
- How do we describe and predict motion using graphs, the equations of constant acceleration and the idea of free fall?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.13 min answer →
- Why is momentum conserved in collisions and explosions, and how does impulse explain the forces involved?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.12 min answer →
Component 3 Light, Nuclei and Options
Module overview →- How do X-rays, ultrasound and PET scanning use physics to image the body, and how is radiation dose measured?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.13 min answer →
- How do unstable nuclei decay, and how do we describe the random process mathematically?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.13 min answer →
- Where does nuclear energy come from, and why do both fission and fusion release it?Nuclear energy: mass-energy equivalence, the mass defect and binding energy, binding energy per nucleon, and the energy released in nuclear fission and fusion.13 min answer →
- What are the fundamental building blocks of matter, and how are they classified into quarks and leptons?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.13 min answer →
- What are the four Component 3 options, and what physics does each apply?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.12 min answer →
Component 1 Newtonian Physics
Module overview →- How does the random motion of molecules produce the pressure of a gas, and how is temperature linked to molecular kinetic energy?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.12 min answer →
- How do damping and a driving force change an oscillation, and why does resonance produce such large amplitudes?Vibrations: free and forced oscillations, light, heavy and critical damping, the resonance condition, and the effect of damping on the resonance curve.12 min answer →
- How are the pressure, volume, temperature and amount of a gas related, and what is an ideal gas?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.12 min answer →
- How do we quantify internal energy, temperature, heat capacity and the energy needed for changes of state?Thermal physics: internal energy and the kinetic model, temperature and thermal equilibrium, specific heat capacity, and specific latent heat for changes of state.12 min answer →
- What defines simple harmonic motion, and how do displacement, velocity, acceleration and energy vary through a cycle?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.13 min answer →
Component 3 Light, Nuclei and Options
Module overview →- How does a laser produce an intense, coherent beam through stimulated emission and population inversion?Lasers: discrete energy levels and photon emission, spontaneous and stimulated emission, population inversion and the metastable state, and the properties of laser light.12 min answer →
- What is a photon, and how does the photoelectric effect show that light is quantised?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.13 min answer →
- Why does light bend when it changes medium, and when is it totally internally reflected?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.12 min answer →
- What are the defining features of a wave, and how do we describe and represent progressive waves?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.12 min answer →
- How can light and matter behave as both waves and particles, and what is the de Broglie wavelength?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.12 min answer →
- How do superposition, interference, diffraction and stationary waves arise, and what do they reveal about light?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.13 min answer →