Scotland Β· SQASyllabus
Physics syllabus, dot point by dot point
Every dot point in the Scotland 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.
Area 3: Electricity
Module overview β- How does a capacitor store charge and energy, and how does it charge and discharge?Capacitance and the charge stored, the energy stored in a capacitor, and the charging and discharging of a capacitor through a resistor.11 min answer β
- How are current, voltage, power and resistance related in series and parallel circuits?Ohm's law, electrical power relationships, resistors in series and parallel, and the potential divider rule.11 min answer β
- Why does the terminal voltage of a source fall when it supplies a larger current?Electromotive force, internal resistance, terminal potential difference and lost volts, and finding emf and internal resistance from experimental data.11 min answer β
- How do we measure an alternating current and relate its peak and root-mean-square values?Alternating current and voltage, measuring frequency and peak values from an oscilloscope, and the relationship between peak and root-mean-square values.11 min answer β
- How does doping create p-type and n-type semiconductors, and how does a p-n junction work in a diode or LED?Conductors, insulators and semiconductors, n-type and p-type doping, the p-n junction diode, and the operation of LEDs and photodiodes.11 min answer β
Area 1: Our Dynamic Universe
Module overview β- How is momentum conserved in collisions and explosions, and how is impulse linked to force and time?Conservation of momentum in one dimension, elastic and inelastic collisions, explosions, and the link between impulse, force and the change in momentum.11 min answer β
- How do we describe and predict the motion of an object moving with constant acceleration?Vectors and scalars, the equations of motion for constant acceleration, and the interpretation of velocity-time and acceleration-time graphs for motion in a straight line.11 min answer β
- How do Newton's laws and the work-energy ideas explain the motion of objects?Newton's laws of motion, free-body diagrams and resolving forces, balanced and unbalanced forces, motion on a slope, tension, and work done, kinetic and potential energy and power.12 min answer β
- How do we describe projectile motion and the gravitational force between masses?Projectile motion resolved into independent horizontal and vertical components, Newton's law of universal gravitation, and the gravitational field around a mass.12 min answer β
- Why do time and length change for an observer when objects move at speeds close to the speed of light?The postulates of special relativity, time dilation and length contraction for an observer in relative motion, and the constancy of the speed of light.11 min answer β
- What is the evidence that the universe is expanding and began with the Big Bang?The Doppler effect for sound and light, redshift of distant galaxies, Hubble's law and the age of the universe, and the evidence supporting the Big Bang.11 min answer β
Area 2: Particles and Waves
Module overview β- How do electric and magnetic fields exert forces on charged particles, and how are particles accelerated?The work done accelerating a charge through a potential difference, the force on a charge moving in a magnetic field, and the operation of particle accelerators.11 min answer β
- How do coherent waves interfere, and how does a diffraction grating split light into its colours?Coherence and path difference, constructive and destructive interference, and the diffraction grating equation relating wavelength, slit spacing and the angle to a maximum.11 min answer β
- How do fission and fusion release energy, and how is the energy found from the mass difference?Nuclear fission and fusion, the conservation of mass-energy, and the calculation of the energy released using the mass difference and .11 min answer β
- How does light refract and totally internally reflect, and what produces line spectra?Refraction and the refractive index, critical angle and total internal reflection, and the emission and absorption line spectra produced by electron energy-level transitions.12 min answer β
- How does the standard model classify the fundamental particles and the forces between them?The standard model of fermions (quarks and leptons) and force-mediating bosons, the classification of hadrons into baryons and mesons, and antimatter.11 min answer β
- How does the photoelectric effect show that light behaves as particles?The photon model of light, the photoelectric effect, the work function and threshold frequency, and the photoelectric equation for the kinetic energy of emitted electrons.11 min answer β