England · OCRSyllabus
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.
P3 Electricity
Module overview →- What are current, potential difference and resistance, and how are they linked?Electric current as the rate of flow of charge, the charge equation, potential difference as energy transferred per unit charge, resistance and the equation linking potential difference, current and resistance.9 min answer →
- How do we calculate the power and energy transferred by an electrical device?Electrical power and the two power equations, the energy transferred by a charge and by a device over time, and how to calculate the energy used and its cost using kilowatt-hours.9 min answer →
- How do the I-V graphs of a resistor, a filament lamp and a diode differ, and what do thermistors and LDRs do?The I-V characteristics of an ohmic resistor, a filament lamp and a diode, ohmic and non-ohmic behaviour, and how the resistance of a thermistor and an LDR varies with temperature and light.9 min answer →
- How do current and potential difference behave in series and parallel circuits?Circuit symbols and how to build circuits, the rules for current and potential difference in series and parallel circuits, and how total resistance changes when components are added in series or in parallel.9 min answer →
- How do objects become charged by friction, and what are the uses and hazards of static electricity?Charging insulators by friction through the transfer of electrons, attraction and repulsion between charges, electric fields around charges, and the uses and hazards of static electricity.8 min answer →
P7 Energy and P8 Global challenges
Module overview →- What is efficiency, and how do renewable and non-renewable energy resources compare?Efficiency as the fraction of energy usefully transferred, the efficiency equation, ways of reducing wasted energy, and the comparison of renewable and non-renewable energy resources with their trade-offs.9 min answer →
- How is energy stored and transferred, and what does conservation of energy mean?Energy stores (kinetic, gravitational, elastic, thermal, chemical, nuclear, magnetic, electrostatic), the four energy transfer pathways, the law of conservation of energy, and how energy is dissipated to the surroundings.9 min answer →
- How does the national grid transmit electricity efficiently, and what is mains electricity?The national grid and the role of step-up and step-down transformers, why transmission is at high voltage and low current, the transformer turns and power relationships, and the nature of mains electricity as an alternating supply.9 min answer →
- How did the Solar System and stars form, and what is the evidence for the Big Bang?The structure of the Solar System, the life cycle of stars, red-shift of light from distant galaxies, and how red-shift provides evidence for an expanding universe and the Big Bang theory.9 min answer →
- What affects a car's stopping distance, and how do safety features reduce injury?Stopping distance as thinking distance plus braking distance, the factors that affect each, the energy and force involved in braking, and how safety features reduce the force on occupants by increasing the collision time.9 min answer →
- How do we calculate work done, kinetic energy, gravitational potential energy and power?Work done as energy transferred by a force, the work done equation, the kinetic energy and gravitational potential energy equations, and power as the rate of doing work or transferring energy.9 min answer →
P2 Forces
Module overview →- How do springs stretch under a force, what is Hooke's law, and how is energy stored in a stretched spring?Elastic and inelastic deformation, Hooke's law and the force on a spring, the limit of proportionality, the energy stored in a stretched spring, and the force-extension practical.9 min answer →
- What is the turning effect of a force, and how do moments, levers and gears work?The moment of a force as a turning effect, the principle of moments for a balanced object, levers and gears as force multipliers, and applications such as spanners and seesaws.8 min answer →
- What is momentum, why is it conserved in collisions, and how does it explain road-safety features?Momentum as mass times velocity, the conservation of momentum in collisions and explosions, force as the rate of change of momentum, and how safety features increase collision time to reduce force.9 min answer →
- How do we describe motion with speed, velocity and acceleration, and read distance-time and velocity-time graphs?Scalar and vector quantities, distance, displacement, speed, velocity and acceleration, distance-time and velocity-time graphs, the meaning of gradient and area under a graph, and the SUVAT equation for uniform acceleration.9 min answer →
- What are Newton's three laws, and how do resultant force, mass and weight determine how an object moves?Newton's three laws of motion, resultant force, the difference between mass and weight, the equations for weight and resultant force, friction and drag, and terminal velocity.9 min answer →
P4 Magnetism and magnetic fields
Module overview →- How does a current make a magnetic field, and how does the motor effect turn a coil?The magnetic field around a current-carrying wire and a solenoid, electromagnets and what affects their strength, the motor effect, Fleming's left-hand rule, and the electric motor.9 min answer →
- How does a changing magnetic field induce a voltage, and how do generators and transformers use this?Electromagnetic induction and the generator effect, the factors that affect the induced potential difference, how a generator produces a.c., and how step-up and step-down transformers change the voltage.9 min answer →
- What is the difference between permanent and induced magnets, and how do we represent magnetic fields?Permanent and induced magnets, magnetic materials, attraction and repulsion between poles, the magnetic field around a bar magnet and the Earth, and how a compass shows field direction.8 min answer →
P1 Matter
Module overview →- How does the particle model explain melting, boiling and the other changes of state, and why are they physical changes?Changes of state (melting, freezing, boiling, evaporating, condensing and sublimation) explained by the particle model, heating and cooling curves, conservation of mass, and the difference between physical and chemical changes.8 min answer →
- What is internal energy, and how do we calculate the energy needed to heat a substance or change its state?Internal energy as the total kinetic and potential energy of the particles, specific heat capacity and the equation linking energy, mass and temperature change, and specific latent heat for changes of state.9 min answer →
- How does the particle model explain solids, liquids and gases, and how do we calculate density?The particle model of the three states of matter, the arrangement and motion of particles in solids, liquids and gases, and density as mass per unit volume, including measuring the density of regular and irregular objects.9 min answer →
- What causes gas pressure, how does it depend on temperature and volume, and how does pressure change with depth in a liquid?Gas pressure as the result of particle collisions, the effect of temperature and volume on gas pressure, pressure in liquids increasing with depth, the pressure due to a column of liquid, and pressure on a surface.9 min answer →
P6 Radioactivity
Module overview →- How is the atom structured, what are isotopes, and how did the nuclear model develop?The structure of the atom in terms of protons, neutrons and electrons, atomic number and mass number, isotopes, the size and charge of the nucleus, and how the nuclear model replaced the plum pudding model.9 min answer →
- How do we write balanced nuclear equations for alpha, beta and gamma decay?The nature and properties of alpha, beta and gamma radiation, their ionising and penetrating power, and writing balanced nuclear equations for alpha decay, beta-minus decay and gamma emission, conserving mass number and atomic number.9 min answer →
- What is the difference between nuclear fission and nuclear fusion?Nuclear fission as the splitting of a large unstable nucleus, the chain reaction in a reactor and its control, nuclear fusion as the joining of two light nuclei, and why fusion needs extremely high temperatures and pressures.9 min answer →
- Why is radioactive decay random, and how do we calculate half-life?Radioactive decay as a random process, activity and count rate, the meaning of half-life, and calculating half-life or the time for a given decay from a graph or table of count rate.9 min answer →
- How is radiation used safely, and what are its hazards?The uses of radioactive sources (medical tracers, treating cancer, sterilisation, smoke alarms and thickness control), the difference between irradiation and contamination, the hazards of ionising radiation, and how exposure is reduced.9 min answer →
P5 Waves in matter
Module overview →- How do waves reflect and refract, and how do lenses form images?The reflection of waves and the law of reflection, the refraction of waves at a boundary and why it happens, total internal reflection, and how converging and diverging lenses form images.9 min answer →
- How does sound travel and how do we hear it, and what are the uses of ultrasound?Sound as a longitudinal wave, how sound travels through a medium and is heard, the human hearing range, ultrasound and its uses in imaging and measuring distance, and echoes.8 min answer →
- What is the electromagnetic spectrum, and what are the uses and hazards of each type of wave?The electromagnetic spectrum from radio to gamma, its order by wavelength, frequency and energy, the common properties of all electromagnetic waves, and the uses and hazards of each part.9 min answer →
- What are transverse and longitudinal waves, and how do we use the wave equation?Transverse and longitudinal waves, the wave quantities (amplitude, wavelength, frequency and period), the wave speed equation, the relationship between frequency and period, and the waves practical.9 min answer →