England · AQAQ&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.
4.4 Atomic structure
- Half-life: the meaning of half-life, calculating activity after a number of half-lives, and the difference between contamination and irradiation.2Q&A pairs
- Isotopes and ions: atomic number and mass number, how isotopes differ, how ions form, and the standard nuclear notation.2Q&A pairs
- Nuclear fission and fusion: the process of fission and the chain reaction, the process of fusion, and how each releases energy (separate physics only).2Q&A pairs
- Radioactive decay and nuclear radiation: the nature of alpha, beta and gamma radiation and neutron emission, their penetrating and ionising powers, and decay equations.2Q&A pairs
- The structure of the atom: the sizes and charges of protons, neutrons and electrons, the nuclear model, and how the model developed from the plum pudding model.2Q&A pairs
4.2 Electricity
- Current, potential difference and resistance: the meaning of each quantity, the charge equation, Ohm's law and the I-V characteristics of resistors, lamps and diodes.2Q&A pairs
- Domestic electricity and mains: direct and alternating current, the UK mains supply, the three-core cable and the role of the live, neutral and earth wires.2Q&A pairs
- Electrical power and the national grid: the power and energy equations, charge and energy transfer, and why step-up and step-down transformers make transmission efficient.2Q&A pairs
- Series and parallel circuits: the rules for current, potential difference and resistance in each arrangement, and how to combine resistors.2Q&A pairs
- Static electricity: charging by friction, the forces between charges, sparking, and the idea of an electric field around a charged object (separate physics only).2Q&A pairs
4.1 Energy
- Energy resources: the main renewable and non-renewable resources, their uses for transport, heating and electricity, and the environmental and reliability trade-offs.2Q&A pairs
- Energy stores and systems: describing how energy is transferred between stores when a system changes, and the principle of conservation of energy.2Q&A pairs
- Kinetic, gravitational potential and elastic potential energy: calculating each store and using conservation of energy to link them.2Q&A pairs
- Power and efficiency: power as the rate of energy transfer, the power equations, useful versus wasted energy, the efficiency equation and ways to reduce unwanted transfers.2Q&A pairs
- Specific heat capacity: the energy needed to raise the temperature of a substance, the equation linking change in thermal energy to mass, specific heat capacity and temperature change, and the required practical.2Q&A pairs
4.5 Forces
- Acceleration and Newton's laws: the acceleration equation, the uniform acceleration equation, velocity-time graphs, and Newton's three laws of motion.2Q&A pairs
- Distance, time and velocity: distance and displacement, speed and velocity, the speed equation, and interpreting distance-time graphs.2Q&A pairs
- Momentum: the momentum equation, conservation of momentum in collisions and explosions, and the link between force and rate of change of momentum (higher and separate).2Q&A pairs
- Scalars, vectors and forces: the difference between scalar and vector quantities, contact and non-contact forces, weight and the resultant of several forces.2Q&A pairs
- Stopping distances: thinking distance and braking distance, the factors that affect each, and the link between braking, work done and road safety.2Q&A pairs
- Work done and elasticity: work done by a force, the link to energy, Hooke's law, the spring constant and elastic potential energy, and the required practical.2Q&A pairs
4.7 Magnetism and electromagnetism
- Electromagnetism: the magnetic field around a current-carrying wire, the field of a solenoid, and how electromagnets are made and used.2Q&A pairs
- Induced potential and transformers: electromagnetic induction, the generator effect, how transformers change voltage, and the transformer equations (separate physics).2Q&A pairs
- Magnets and magnetic fields: permanent and induced magnets, attraction and repulsion between poles, magnetic field patterns, and the Earth's magnetic field.2Q&A pairs
- The motor effect: the force on a current-carrying conductor in a magnetic field, the force equation, Fleming's left-hand rule, and the electric motor.2Q&A pairs
4.3 Particle model of matter
- Density of materials: the density equation, how the particle model explains the densities of solids, liquids and gases, and the required practical to measure density.2Q&A pairs
- Internal energy and changes of state: internal energy as the total kinetic and potential energy of particles, how heating changes it, and why changes of state are physical changes.2Q&A pairs
- Particle motion in gases: how the random motion of particles causes gas pressure, the link between temperature and average kinetic energy, and the effect of changing volume on pressure.2Q&A pairs
- Specific latent heat: the energy needed to change the state of a substance, the latent heat equation, and the difference between latent heat of fusion and vaporisation.2Q&A pairs
4.8 Space physics
- Red-shift and the Big Bang: how red-shift shows the universe is expanding, the evidence for the Big Bang theory, and dark matter and dark energy (separate physics).2Q&A pairs
- The life cycle of stars: how a star forms, the main sequence and the balance of forces, and the different fates of stars depending on their mass (separate physics).2Q&A pairs
- The solar system and orbits: the structure of the solar system, the role of gravity, and why orbital speed and radius are linked for circular orbits.2Q&A pairs
4.6 Waves
- The electromagnetic spectrum: the order of the seven groups, their shared properties, their uses and the dangers of the more energetic waves.2Q&A pairs
- Lenses and visible light: how convex and concave lenses refract light, ray diagrams and magnification, and how colour depends on reflection, transmission and absorption (separate physics).2Q&A pairs
- Properties of waves: amplitude, wavelength, frequency and period, the wave speed equation, and the required practical for measuring wave speed.2Q&A pairs
- Reflection and refraction: how waves are reflected, transmitted or absorbed at a boundary, the law of reflection, and why refraction occurs (separate physics).2Q&A pairs
- Sound and uses of waves: how sound travels through solids and is heard, the range of human hearing, ultrasound, and the use of waves in detection and imaging (separate physics).2Q&A pairs
- Transverse and longitudinal waves: how each type oscillates relative to the direction of energy transfer, and examples of each.2Q&A pairs