OCR  Syllabus

Year 1 (AS)

Home   AS   A-Level

Practical Skills    Foundations of Physics     Forces and Motion     Electrons, Waves, and Photons

Module 1: Development of practical skills in physics

1.1 Practical skills assessed in a written examination

1.1.1 Planning

1.1.2 Implementing

(a) Experimental design, including to solve problems set in a practical context.

Skills 2

(a) How to use a wide range of practical apparatus and techniques correctly.

(b) Identification of variables that must be controlled, where appropriate

Skills 4

(b) Appropriate units for measurements.

Induction 1

(c) Evaluation that an experimental method is
appropriate to meet the expected outcomes.

Skills 4

(c) Presenting observations and data in an appropriate format

Induction 7

1.1.3 Analysis

1.1.4 Evaluation

(a) Processing, analysing and interpreting qualitative and quantitative experimental results.

Skills 3

(a) How to evaluate results and draw conclusions.

Induction 7

(b) Use of appropriate mathematical skills for analysis of quantitative data.

Induction 3

(b) The identification of anomalies in experimental measurements.

Induction 5

(c) Appropriate use of significant figures.

Induction 2

(c) The limitations in experimental procedures.

Induction 4

(d) Plotting and interpreting suitable graphs from experimental results, including:
(i) selection and labelling of axes with appropriate scales, quantities and units;
(ii) measurement of gradients and intercepts.

Induction 5

Induction 6

(d) Precision and accuracy of measurements and data, including margins of error, percentage errors and uncertainties in apparatus

Induction 4

(e) The refining of experimental design by suggestion of improvements to the procedures and apparatus.

Skills 6

1.2 Practical skills assessed in the practical endorsement

1.2.1 Practical skills

1.2.2 Use of apparatus and techniques

(a) Apply investigative approaches and methods to practical work

Skills 2

(a) Use of appropriate analogue apparatus to record a range of measurements (to include length/distance, temperature, pressure, force, angles and volume) and to interpolate between scale markings.

(b) safely and correctly use a range of practical
equipment and materials

Induction 7

(b) use of appropriate digital instruments, including electrical multimeters, to obtain a range of measurements (to include time, current, voltage, resistance and mass).

(c) Follow written instructions.

(c) Use of methods to increase accuracy of measurements, such as timing over multiple oscillations, or use of fiducial marker, set square or plumb line.

(d) Make and record observations/measurements.

Induction 5

(d) Use of a stopwatch or light gates for timing.

(e) Keep appropriate records of experimental activities.

Induction 7

(e) Use of callipers and micrometers for small distances, using digital or vernier scales.

(f) Present information and data in a scientific way.

Induction 7

(f) Correctly constructing circuits from circuit diagrams using DC power supplies, cells, and a range of circuit components, including those where polarity is important.

(g) Use appropriate software and tools to process data, carry out research and report findings.

Induction 9

(g) Designing, constructing and checking circuits using DC power supplies, cells, and a range of circuit components.

(h) Use online and offline research skills including websites, textbooks and other printed scientific sources of information.

Induction 9

(h) Use of a signal generator and oscilloscope, including volts/division and time-base.

(i) Correctly cite sources of information.

Induction 7

(i) Generating and measuring waves, using microphone and loudspeaker, or ripple tank, or vibration transducer, or microwave/radio wave source

(j) Use a wide range of experimental and practical instruments, equipment and techniques appropriate to the knowledge and understanding included in the specification.

Induction 7

(j) Use of a laser or light source to investigate characteristics of light, including interference and diffraction

Note that the links for 1.2.2 are examples to illustrate the theory.  You may well do the practicals in different ways. 

(k) Use of ICT such as computer modelling, or data logger with a variety of sensors to collect data, or use of software to process data

(l) Use of ionising radiation, including detectors.

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Module 2 - Foundations of physics

2.1 Physical quantities and units

2.1.1 Physical quantities

2.1.2 S.I. units

(a) Physical quantities have a numerical value and a unit.

(a) Système International (S.I.) base quantities and their units – mass (kg), length (m), time (s), current (A), temperature (K), amount of substance (mol).

(b) Making estimates of physical quantities listed in
this specification.

(b) Derived units of S.I. base units.

(c) Units listed in this specification.

(d) Checking the homogeneity of physical equations
using S.I. base units.

(e) Prefixes and their symbols to indicate decimal submultiples or multiples of units – pico (p), nano (n), micro (μ), milli (m), centi (c), deci (d), kilo (k),

mega (M), giga (G), tera (T).

(f) The conventions used for labelling graph axes and
table columns.

2.2 Making measurements and analysing data

2.3 Nature of quantities

2.2.1 Measurements and uncertainties

2.3.1 Scalars and vectors

(a) Systematic errors (including zero errors) and random errors in measurements.

(a) Scalar and vector quantities.

(b) Precision and accuracy.

(b) Vector addition and subtraction.

(c) Absolute and percentage uncertainties when data are combined by addition, subtraction,multiplication, division and raising to powers.

(c) Vector triangle to determine the resultant of any
two coplanar vectors.

(d) Graphical treatment of errors and uncertainties; line of best fit; worst line; absolute and percentage uncertainties; percentage difference.

(d) resolving a vector into two perpendicular
components; F_x = F cos q ; F_y = F sin q.

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Module 3: Forces and motion

3.1 Motion

3.1.1 Kinematics

3.1.2 Linear motion

(a) Displacement, instantaneous speed, average speed, velocity and acceleration.

(a) (i) The equations of motion for constant acceleration in a straight line, including motion of bodies falling in a uniform gravitational field without air resistance:

      (ii) Techniques and procedures used to investigate the motion and collisions of objects.

(b) Graphical representations of displacement, speed, velocity and acceleration.

(b) (i) Acceleration g of free fall.
      (ii) Techniques and procedures used to determine the acceleration of free fall using trapdoor and electromagnet arrangement or light gates and timer.

(c) Displacement–time graphs; velocity is gradient.

(c) reaction time and thinking distance; braking
distance and stopping distance for a vehicle.

(d) Velocity–time graphs; acceleration is gradient;
displacement is area under graph.

3.1.3 Projectile motion

(a) Independence of the vertical and horizontal motion of a projectile.

(b) Two-dimensional motion of a projectile with constant velocity in one direction and constant acceleration in a perpendicular direction.

3.2 Forces in action

3.2.1 Dynamics

3.2.2 Motion with non-uniform acceleration

(a) Net force = mass × acceleration; F = ma

(a) Drag as the frictional force experienced by an
object travelling through a fluid.

(b) The newton as the unit of force.

(b) Factors affecting drag for an object travelling through air.

(c) Weight of an object; W = mg

(c) Motion of objects falling in a uniform gravitational field in the presence of drag.

(d) The terms tension, normal contact force, upthrust and friction.

(d) (i) Terminal velocity.
     (ii) techniques and procedures used to determine terminal velocity in fluids.

(e) Free-body diagrams.

(f) One- and two-dimensional motion under constant force.

3.2.3 Equilibrium

3.2.4 Density and pressure

(a) Moment of force.

(a) Density:

(b) Couple; torque of a couple.

(b) Pressure:

for solids, liquids and gases

(c) The principle of moments.

(c)

 upthrust on an object in a fluid; Archimedes’ principle.

(d) Centre of mass; centre of gravity; experimental
determination of centre of gravity.

(e) Equilibrium of an object under the action of forces and torques.

(f) Condition for equilibrium of three coplanar
forces; triangle of forces.

3.3 Work, energy and power

3.3.1 Work and conservation of energy

3.3.2 Kinetic and potential energies

(a) Work done by a force; the unit joule.

(a) Kinetic energy of an object:

(b)

for work done by a force.

(b) Gravitational potential energy of an object in a
uniform gravitational field:

(c) The principle of conservation of energy.

(c) The exchange between gravitational potential
energy and kinetic energy.

(d) Energy in different forms; transfer and conservation.

(e) Transfer of energy is equal to work done.

3.3.3 Power

(a) Power; the unit watt:

(b) P = Fv

(c) efficiency of a mechanical system:

3.4 Materials

3.4.1 Springs

3.4.2 Mechanical properties of matter

(a) tensile and compressive deformation; extension
and compression

(a) Force–extension (or compression) graph; work done is area under graph.

(b) Hooke’s law

(b) Elastic potential energy:

(c) force constant k of a spring or wire; F = kx

(c) Stress, strain and ultimate tensile strength.

(d) (i) force–extension (or compression) graphs for springs and wires

     (ii) techniques and procedures used to investigate force–extension characteristics for arrangements which may include springs, rubber bands, polythene strips.

(d) (i) Young modulus = tensile strain ÷ tensile stress:

     (ii) techniques and procedures used to determine the Young modulus for a metal

(e) Stress–strain graphs for typical ductile, brittle and polymeric materials

(f) Elastic and plastic deformations of materials.

3.5 Newton’s laws of motion and momentum

3.5.1 Newton’s laws of motion

3.5.2 Collisions

(a) Newton’s three laws of motion.

(a) The principle of conservation of momentum.

(b) Linear momentum; p = mv; vector nature of momentum

(b) Collisions and interaction of bodies in one dimension and in two dimensions.

(c) Net force = rate of change of momentum:

(c) Perfectly elastic collision and inelastic collision.

(d) impulse of a force; impulse = FDt

(e) Impulse is equal to the area under a force–time graph.

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Module 4: Electrons, waves and photons

4.1 Charge and current

4.1.1 Charge

4.1.2 Mean drift velocity

(a) Electric current as rate of flow of charge:

(a) Mean drift velocity of charge carriers.

(b) The coulomb as the unit of charge.

(b) I = Anev, where n is the number density of charge carriers

(c) The elementary charge e equals 1.6 × 10^–19 C.

(c) Distinction between conductors, semiconductors and insulators in terms of n.

(d) Net charge on a particle or an object is quantised and a multiple of e.

(e) Current as the movement of electrons in metals and movement of ions in electrolytes.

(f) Conventional current and electron flow.

(g) Kirchhoff’s first law; conservation of charge.

4.2 Energy, power and resistance

4.2.1 Circuit symbols

4.2.2 E.m.f. and p.d

(a) Circuit symbols.

(a) potential difference (p.d.); the unit volt.

(b) Circuit diagrams using these symbols.

(b) electromotive force (e.m.f.) of a source such as a cell or a power supply.

(c) distinction between e.m.f. and p.d. in terms of energy transfer.

(d) energy transfer; W = VQ; W = EQ.

(e) energy transfer:

for electrons and other charged particles.

4.2.3 Resistance

4.2.4 Resistivity

(a) Resistance:

the unit ohm.

(a) (i) Resistivity of a material; the equation:

    (ii) techniques and procedures used to determine the resistivity of a metal.

(b) Ohm’s law.

(b) The variation of resistivity of metals and semiconductors with temperature

(c) (i) I–V characteristics of resistor, filament lamp, thermistor, diode and light-emitting diode (LED)

    (ii) techniques and procedures used to investigate the electrical characteristics for a range of ohmic and non-ohmic components.

(c) Negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistor; variation of resistance with temperature.

(d) Light-dependent resistor (LDR); variation of resistance with light intensity.

4.2.5 Power

(a) The equations:

(b) Energy transfer; W = VI t

(c) The kilowatt-hour (kW h) as a unit of energy;
calculating the cost of energy.

4.3 Electrical circuits

4.3.1 Series and parallel circuits

4.3.2 Internal resistance

(a) Kirchhoff’s second law; the conservation of
energy.

(a) Source of e.m.f.; internal resistance.

(b) Kirchhoff’s first and second laws applied to
electrical circuits

(b) Terminal p.d.; 'lost volts'.

(c) Total resistance of two or more resistors in
series:

(c) (i) the equations

(ii) techniques and procedures used to determine the internal resistance of a chemical cell or other source of e.m.f.

(d) Total resistance of two or more resistors in
parallel:

(e) Analysis of circuits with components, including
both series and parallel.

(f) Analysis of circuits with more than one source of
e.m.f.

4.3.3 Potential dividers

(a) Potential divider circuit with components.

(b) Potential divider circuits with variable components e.g. LDR and thermistor.

(c) (i) potential divider equations e.g.

(ii) techniques and procedures used to investigate potential divider circuits which may include a sensor such as a thermistor or an LDR.

4.4 Waves

4.4.1 Wave motion

4.4.2 Electromagnetic waves

(a) Progressive waves; longitudinal and transverse waves

(a) Electromagnetic spectrum; properties of electromagnetic waves.

(b) (i) displacement, amplitude, wavelength, period, phase difference, frequency and speed of a wave.

     (ii) techniques and procedures used to use an
oscilloscope to determine frequency.

Electricity 10

(b) Orders of magnitude of wavelengths of the principal radiations from radio waves to gamma rays.

(c) The equation:

(c) Plane polarised waves; polarisation of electromagnetic waves.

(d) The wave equation: c = fl

(d) (i) refraction of light; refractive index:

n sin q = constant at a boundary where q is the angle to the normal.

(ii) techniques and procedures used to investigate refraction and total internal reflection of light using ray boxes, including transparent rectangular and semi-circular blocks

(e) Graphical representations of transverse and longitudinal waves

(e) critical angle:

total internal reflection for light.

(f) (i) reflection, refraction, polarisation and
diffraction of all waves. Diffraction effects become significant when the wavelength is comparable to the gap width.

    (ii) techniques and procedures used to demonstrate wave effects using a ripple tank
   (iii) techniques and procedures used to observe polarising effects using microwaves and light

(g) intensity of a progressive wave:

intensity ∝ (amplitude)².

4.4.3 Superposition

4.4.4 Stationary waves

(a) (i) The principle of superposition of waves
    (ii) Techniques and procedures used for superposition experiments using sound, light and microwaves

(a) Stationary (standing) waves using microwaves, stretched strings and air columns.

(b) Graphical methods to illustrate the principle of superposition.

(b) Graphical representations of a stationary wave.

(c) Interference, coherence, path difference and
phase difference.

(c) Similarities and the differences between stationary and progressive waves

(d) Constructive interference and destructive interference in terms of path difference and phase difference

(d) Nodes and antinodes.

(e) Two-source interference with sound and microwaves.

(e) (i) Stationary wave patterns for a stretched string and air columns in closed and open tubes;

    (ii) techniques and procedures used to determine the speed of sound in air by formation of stationary waves in a resonance tube.

(f) Young double-slit experiment using visible light.

(f) The idea that the separation between adjacent
nodes (or antinodes) is equal to l/2, where l is
the wavelength of the progressive wave.

(g) (i)

for all waves where a << D
 

     (ii) techniques and procedures used to determine the wavelength of light using (1) a double-slit, and (2) a diffraction grating.

(g) Fundamental mode of vibration (1st harmonic); harmonics.

Waves 4

Waves 5

(Pipes)

4.5 Quantum physics

4.5.1 Photons

4.5.2 The photoelectric effect

(a) The particulate nature (photon model) of electromagnetic radiation.

Particles 3

(a) (i) photoelectric effect, including a simple experiment to demonstrate this effect.

(ii) demonstration of the photoelectric effect using, e.g. gold-leaf electroscope and zinc plate

(b) Photon as a quantum of energy of electromagnetic radiation.

(b) The one-to-one interaction between a photon and a
surface electron.

(c) Energy of a photon:

E = hf

(c) Einstein’s photoelectric equation:

(d) The electronvolt (eV) as a unit of energy.

(d) Work function; threshold frequency.

(e) (i) using LEDs and the equation: 

to estimate the value of Planck constant h.

    (ii) Determine the Planck constant using different coloured LEDs

(e) The idea that the maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons is independent of the intensity of the incident radiation.

(f) The idea that rate of emission of photoelectrons
above the threshold frequency is directly proportional to the intensity of the incident radiation.

4.5.3 Wave–particle duality

(a) Electron diffraction, including experimental
evidence of this effect.

Quantum 6

(b) Diffraction of electrons travelling through a thin slice of polycrystalline graphite by the atoms of graphite and the spacing between the atoms.

Quantum 6

(c) The de Broglie equation:

Quantum 6

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