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4 Electrons, waves and photons

7 dot points across 7 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

What is electric current, and how is it related to the drift of charge carriers?

Charge and current: electric charge and the elementary charge, current as the rate of flow of charge, conservation of charge at junctions, and the mean drift velocity equation.
A focused answer to the OCR H556 content on charge and current, covering electric charge and the elementary charge, current as the rate of flow of charge, the conservation of charge at junctions, and the mean drift velocity equation that links current to carrier number density.
11 min answer →

How do Kirchhoff's laws, internal resistance and potential dividers determine currents and voltages in a circuit?

Electrical circuits: Kirchhoff's two laws, series and parallel combinations of resistors, electromotive force and internal resistance, and the potential divider including sensor circuits.
A focused answer to the OCR H556 content on electrical circuits, covering Kirchhoff's two laws, series and parallel resistor combinations, electromotive force and internal resistance with terminal potential difference, and the potential divider used in sensor circuits.
12 min answer →

How do potential difference, resistance and resistivity determine energy transfer in a component?

Energy, power and resistance: potential difference and electromotive force, resistance and Ohm's law, the I-V characteristics of conductors, lamps, diodes and thermistors, resistivity, and electrical power and energy.
A focused answer to the OCR H556 content on energy, power and resistance, covering potential difference and electromotive force, resistance and Ohm's law, the I-V characteristics of metallic conductors, filament lamps, diodes and thermistors, resistivity and its temperature dependence, and electrical power and energy.
12 min answer →

How does the photoelectric effect show that light is quantised, and how can particles behave as waves?

Quantum physics: the photon model and the photon energy equation, the photoelectric effect and Einstein's photoelectric equation, work function and threshold frequency, and wave-particle duality with the de Broglie wavelength.
A focused answer to the OCR H556 quantum physics content, covering the photon model and the energy of a photon, the photoelectric effect and Einstein's photoelectric equation, work function and threshold frequency, the electronvolt, and wave-particle duality with the de Broglie equation and electron diffraction.
12 min answer →

How does light bend between materials, and when is it totally internally reflected?

Refraction and the electromagnetic spectrum: refractive index and Snell's law, total internal reflection and the critical angle, optical fibres, and the regions and properties of the electromagnetic spectrum.
A focused answer to the OCR H556 content on refraction and the electromagnetic spectrum, covering refractive index and Snell's law, total internal reflection and the critical angle, optical fibres and their use, and the regions, ordering and shared properties of the electromagnetic spectrum.
11 min answer →

How do waves combine, and what does interference reveal about the wave nature of light?

Superposition and interference: the principle of superposition, stationary waves on strings and in pipes, coherence and path difference, the two-source (Young's) double-slit experiment, and the diffraction grating equation.
A focused answer to the OCR H556 content on superposition and interference, covering the principle of superposition, stationary waves and harmonics on strings and in pipes, coherence and path difference, the two-source double-slit experiment with the fringe equation, and the diffraction grating equation.
12 min answer →

What quantities describe a progressive wave, and how are they related?

Wave properties: progressive waves, transverse and longitudinal waves, displacement, amplitude, wavelength, period, frequency and phase, the wave equation, intensity, and polarisation.
A focused answer to the OCR H556 content on wave properties, covering progressive waves, transverse and longitudinal waves, the quantities displacement, amplitude, wavelength, period, frequency and phase difference, the wave equation, intensity and its relation to amplitude, and polarisation.
12 min answer →