GCSE Science Required Practical Methods

Contents

Biology Physics
RP1- Microscopes- Page 2 RP1- Specific Heat Capacity- Page 15

RP2- Culturing Microorganism- Page 2 RP2- Thermal Insulators- Page 15

RP3- Osmosis- Page 2 RP3- Resistance- Page 16

RP4- Food Tests- Page 3 RP4- Current/P.D Characteristics- Page 17

RP5- Effect of pH on Amylase- Page 4 RP5- Density- Page 17

RP6- Photosynthesis- Page 4 RP6- Stretching a Spring- Page 18

RP7- Reaction Time- Page 5 RP7- Acceleration- Page 18

RP8- Plant Responses- Page 5 RP8 (1)- Ripple Tank- Page 19

RP9- Sampling Organisms- Page 6 RP8 (2)-Waves in a Solid- Page 19

RP10- Rate of Decay- Page 7 RP9- Reflection and Refraction- Page 20

RP10- Infrared- Page 20

Chemistry
RP1- Making Soluble Salts- Page 8

RP2- Titrations- Page 8

RP3- Electrolysis- Page 9

RP4- Temperature Changes- Page 10

RP5- Rate of Reaction- Page 11

RP6- Chromatography- Page 12

RP7- Identifying Ions- Page 13

RP8- Water- Page 14

1
Biology- Paper 1
RP1- Microscopes

1. Place a slide onto the microscope stage, use the clips to hold the stage in place.
2. Select the lowest power objective lens, this usually 4x.
3. Position the objective lens so it almost touches the microscope slide, slowly turn the coarse
focussing dial to do this.
4. When the objective lends almost touches the slide, stop turning the dial.
5. Look down through the eyepiece, and slowly turn the coarse focussing dial.
6. This increases the distance between the objective lens and the slide and do this until the
cells come into focus.
7. Use the fine focussing dial to bring the cells into a clear focus.
8. Multiply the magnification of the eyepiece lens by the magnification of the objective lens to
calculate the total magnification.
9. At this stage, use a pencil to make a clear, labelled drawing of some of the cells, remember to
include a magnification scale

RP2- Culturing Microorganisms

1. Clean your area with disinfectant. This kills microorganisms that could contaminate the
culture of bacteria.
2. Sterilise an inoculating loop by passing it through a Bunsen burner flame.
3. Open a sterile agar gel plate near a Bunsen burner flame. The flame kills bacteria in the air.
4. Now use the loop to spread the chosen bacteria evenly over the plate.
5. Place sterile filter paper discs containing antibiotic onto the plate.
6. Incubate the plate at 25oC.
7. After 48 hours, see where the bacteria have not grown.
8. Calculate the area of the zone of inhibition by doing πr2

RP3- Effects of Osmosis on Plant Tissue

1. Peel the potato skin, this is because the skin can affect osmosis.
2. Use a cork borer to produce three cylinders of potato. Using a cork borer makes all the
cylinders the same diameter.
3. Use a scalpel to trim the cylinders to the same length (around 3cm).
4. Measure the length of each cylinder using a ruler and the mass of each cylinder using a
balance.
5. Place each cylinder into a test tube. Add 10cm3 of a 0.5 molar sugar solution to the first test
tube.
6. Add 10cm3 of 0.25 molar sugar solution to the second test tube and 10cm3 of distilled water
to the third test tube.
7. Leave the potato cylinders overnight to allow osmosis to take place.
8. Remove the potato cylinders and gently roll them on a paper towel to remove any surface
moisture.
9. Measure the length and the mass of the cylinders again.
Change∈value
10. Use %change= X 100to calculate the percentage change.
original value
11. Plot a graph to show the results.

2
RP4- Food Tests

1. Take the food sample and grind this with distilled water using a pestle and mortar. You want
to make a paste.
2. Transfer the paste to a beaker and add more distilled water. Stir so the chemicals in the food
dissolve in the water.
3. Filter the solution to remove suspended food particles.

Testing for Starch

1. Place 2cm3 of food solution into a test tube.

2. Add a few drops of Iodine solution, which is an orange colour.
3. If starch is present, then the Iodine solution will turn blue-black.
4. If no starch is present, then the Iodine solution will stay orange.

Testing for Sugars

1. Place 2cm3 of food solution into a test tube.

2. Add 10 drops of Benedict’s solution, which is a blue colour.
3. Place the test tube containing our solution into a beaker, and half-fill the beaker with hot
water from a kettle.
4. Leave the solution for 5 minutes.
5. If sugars are present, the Benedict’s solution will change colour.
6. The Colour of the Benedict’s solution gives us an approximate idea of the amount of
sugar present, but not the exact amount.
7. A green colour tells us that there is a small amount of sugar, a yellow colour tells us that
there is more sugar present, and a brick-red colour tells us that there is a lot of sugar
present.

Testing for Proteins

1. Place 2cm3 of food solution into a test tube.

2. Add 2cm3 of Biuret solution, which is a blue colour.
3. If protein is present, then the Biuret solution will change from blue to a purple or lilac
colour.

Testing for Lipids

1. Grind the solution in distilled water using a pestle and mortar.

2. However, unlike the other tests, do not filter the solution when testing for lipids.
3. This is because lipids molecules can stick to filter paper.
4. Place 2cm3 of food solution into a test tube.
5. Add a few drops of distilled water, and a few drops of ethanol.
6. Gently shake the solution.
7. If lipids are present, then a white cloudy emulsion forms.

3
RP5- Effect of pH on Amylase

1. Place one drop of iodine solution into each well of a spotting tile.
2. Take three test tubes; In the first, add 2cm3 of starch solution, and in the second, add 2cm3 of
amylase solution.
3. In the third test tube, add 2cm3 of pH 5 buffer solution.
4. Place all three test tubes in a water bath at 30oC. Leave for 10 minutes to allow the solutions
to reach the correct temperature.
5. Combine the three solutions into one test tube and mix with a stirring rod. Return the test
tube to the water bath and start a stopwatch.
6. After 30 seconds, use the stirring rod to transfer one drop of solution to a well in the spotting
tile which contains Iodine.
7. The Iodine should turn blue-black if starch is present.
8. Take a sample every thirty seconds and continue until the iodine remains orange.
9. When the iodine remains orange, it tells us starch is no longer present, and the reaction has
completed.
10. Repeat the whole experiment several times using different buffer solutions, e.g. pH 6,7 & 8.

RP6- Effect of Light Intensity on Photosynthesis

1. Start by taking a boiling tube and placing it 10cm away from an LED light source. An LED light
source is used as these do not release very much heat.
2. Fill the boiling tube with Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate solution. This releases Carbon Dioxide,
which is needed for photosynthesis.
3. Put a piece of Pond Weed into the boiling tube with the cut end at the top.
4. Leave this for five minutes to acclimatise to the conditions in the boiling tube.
5. We should see bubbles of gas being produced from the cut end of the pond weed. This is
oxygen, which is released during Photosynthesis.
6. Start a stopwatch and count the number of bubbles produced in One minute.
7. Repeat this two more times and calculate the mean number of bubbles produced in One
minute.
8. Do the whole experiment again from the start at intervals of 10cm; 20cm, 30cm, etc…
9. Bubbles are not always the same size. A large bubble would count the same as a small
bubble.
10. Place the pond weed under a funnel and catch the bubbles in a measuring cylinder.
11. Then, use the measuring cylinder to measure the volume of oxygen gas produced.
12. Plot your results onto a suitable graph.

4
Biology- Paper 2
RP7- Reaction Time

1. This requires 2 people: Person 1 and Person 2. Person 2 will measure the reaction time of
Person 1.
2. Person 1 sits on a stool with a good upright posture.
3. Person 1 places the forearm of their dominant arm across a table, with their hand
overhanging the edge.
4. Person 2 holds a ruler vertically.
5. The 0cm mark should be between Person 1’s thumb and first finger.
6. Person 2 then tells Person 1 to prepare to catch the ruler.
7. Person 2 drops the ruler at a random time.
8. Person 1 has to catch the ruler with their thumb and first finger as quickly as possible when it
drops.
9. Person 2 now records the measurement on the ruler that is level with the top of Person 1’s
thumb; Person 1 has a short rest.
10. Repeat the test several times and calculate a mean.
11. Calculate Person 1’s reaction times, using a conversion table.
12. Repeat the whole experiment to calculate the reaction time of Person 2.
13. Then, change an independent variable by having each person having their reaction times
tested after drinking a caffeinated drink, e.g. a can of Cola.

RP8- Plant Responses

1. Place cotton wool in three petri dishes and then soak them with equal volumes of water.
2. Place ten mustard seeds in each dish.
3. Leave the dishes in a warm place and allow the seeds to germinate.
4. Water the seeds every day with the same volume of water.
5. After a few days, the seeds will germinate. Make sure each dish has the same number of
seedlings.
6. Use a ruler to measure the height of each seedling. Hold the stems to make sure they are
straight.
7. Place the three dishes in different conditions: One in full sunlight (a windowsill), one in
partial sunlight (the back of a lab), and the last dish in darkness (a cupboard)
8. Measure the height of each seedling every day for at least 5 consecutive days; record the
results in a suitable table.
9. Once the experiment has finished, calculate a mean seedling height for each day.

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RP9- Sampling Organisms

1. Students work in groups of three: Students 1, 2 & 3

2. Place 2 large tape measures at right angles, these should ne 20m in length.
3. Get two bags; In each, add the numbers 1-20.
4. Student 1 removes a number from their bag, e.g. 8. This tells the students to move to the
8m point on one of the tape measures.
5. Students 2 removes a number from their bag, e.g. 12, and moves to that point on the
other tape measure.
6. Students 3 places a quadrat on the ground, and the 8m by 12m point.
7. Record the number of daises in the first quadrat.
8. Return the numbers to the bags and repeat the whole process nine more times for total
of ten samples.
9. Use the following equation:
total area
Total Population Area= X number of organisms of that speiciescounted ∈sample
area sampled
to estimate the total population of daises in the whole field.

Effect of Light Intensity on the distribution of species

1. Use a transect line to see how the number of daises changes from the tree outwards.
2. Place a tape measure at the tree.
3. Use a quadrat to measure the number of daises at the start of the transect; Record the
light intensity at that point using a light meter.
4. Move the quadrat 1m down the tape measure, and repeat the measurements.
5. Continue doing this all the way down the tape measure.
6. You should see a greater number of daises as you move further from the tree, as under
the tree there is a low light intensity.
7. However, the tree absorbs minerals and water from the soil, so it may not be the only
abiotic factor affecting the population spread.

6
RP10- Rate of Decay

1. Start by labelling a test tube “Lipase”.

2. Use a pipette to place 5cm3 of Lipase solution into the test tube.
3. Label another test tube “Milk”, and add 5 drops of the indicator Cresol red.
4. Add 5cm3 of milk and 7cm3 of Sodium Carbonate solution to the milk and test tube; at this
point, the solution should turn purple.
5. This is because Sodium Carbonate solution is alkaline, and Cresol red is purple in alkaline
conditions.
6. Place a thermometer into the test tube containing the milk.
7. Place both the test tubes into a beaker of water at the first chosen temperature, 20oC,
around room temperature.
8. Wait until the temperature of the solutions is the same as the water in the beaker.
9. Use a pipette to transfer 1cm3 of lipase solution to the test tube containing milk and stir the
solution. At the same time, start a timer.
10. At this point, lipase should start to break down fat molecules in the milk.
11. This releases fatty acids and causes the solution to become acidic.
12. In acidic conditions, Cresol red changes to yellow. Once the solution turns yellow, stop
timing, and record the results.
13. Repeat the experiment at a range of different temperatures.
14. Plot a graph to show your results, with temperature on the x axis and the time for reaction to
turn yellow on the y.

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Chemistry- Paper 1
RP1- Making Soluble Salts

1. Start with a fixed volume of dilute sulphuric acid. This is our limiting reactant.
2. Gently heat the acid until almost boiling.
3. Use a spatula to add small amounts of copper oxide to the acid.
4. Stir the solution with a glass rod.
5. The Copper Oxide will react and seem to disappear.
6. Continue adding Copper Oxide if the solution continues to be clear blue.
7. Stop adding Copper Oxide if some powder remains after stirring.
8. At this point, the reaction has stopped, all of the acid has reacted.
9. Use a conical flask and filter paper to filter the unreacted Copper Oxide.
10. Place the solution in an evaporating basin: Heat gently over a beaker of boiling water.
11. Heat until around half of the solution remains.
12. Leave the solution for 24 hours in a cool place for crystals to form.
13. Scrape the crystals onto a paper towel and gently pat them dry.

RP2- Carrying out a Titration

1. Use a pipette to transfer 25cm3 of sodium hydroxide solution into a conical flask.
2. Add 5 drops of phenolphthalein indicator to the alkali in the conical flask.
3. Place the conical flask on a white tile so we can see a colour change more clearly.
4. Fill a burette with sulfuric acid.
5. Add acid to the alkali until the solution is neutral. We need to add just enough acid for this to
happen.
6. Once you see a colour change change, add the acid drop by drop until the solution is neutral.
It is important to swirl the solution to make sure the acid and alkali mix.
7. Read the volume of acid added from the burette.
8. This first titration is your rough titration.
9. Repeat the whole process at least 2 more times, making sure you get answers within 0.1cm3
10. Calculate the mean volume of acid used in the titration.

8
RP3- Electrolysis

Electrolysis of Copper (II) Chloride

1. Pour approximately 50cm3 of copper (II) chloride solution into a beaker.

2. Place a plastic petri dish over the beaker; the petri dish should have 2 holes.
3. Insert a carbon graphite rod into each hole, these are your electrodes.
4. Make sure the two electrodes do not touch each other as that would cause a short circuit.
5. Attach crocodile leads to the rods, and then connect the rods to the terminals of a low
voltage power supply.
6. Select 4 volts on the power supply and switch it on.
7. At the cathode, you should see that it is being coated with copper.
8. If the metal is less reactive than hydrogen, then the metal is discharged at the cathode.
9. At the anode, you should notice bubbles of gas, and maybe a smell of chlorine in the air.
10. Whenever you carry out electrolysis on an aqueous solution containing a halide ion, then the
halogen is discharged at the cathode. This means chlorine gas is produced at the anode.
11. This bleaches damp blue litmus paper, proving that it is chlorine gas.

Electrolysis of Sodium Chloride

1. Pour approximately 50cm3 of sodium chloride solution into a beaker.

2. Place a plastic petri dish over the beaker; the petri dish should have 2 holes.
3. Insert a carbon graphite rod into each hole, these are your electrodes.
4. Make sure the two electrodes do not touch each other as that would cause a short circuit.
5. Attach crocodile leads to the rods, and then connect the rods to the terminals of a low
voltage power supply.
6. Select 4 volts on the power supply and switch it on.
7. At the anode, you should see bubbles of gas being produced.
8. This gas bleaches damp blue litmus paper, which proves the gas is chlorine.
9. You should also see gas bubbles at the cathode, which is Hydrogen.
10. Because sodium is more reactive than hydrogen, hydrogen gas is discharged at the cathode.

9
RP4- Temperature Changes

1. Measure 30cm3 of dilute hydrochloric acid into a measuring cylinder.

2. Transfer the acid into a polystyrene cup.
3. Stand the polystyrene cup inside a beaker.
4. Use a thermometer to measure the temperature of the acid, record this in a table.
5. Measure 5cm3 of sodium hydroxide solution into a measuring cylinder, transfer this to the
polystyrene cup.
6. Fit the plastic cup with a lid, place the thermometer through the hole in the lid; the bulb of
the thermometer must be in the solution
7. Use the thermometer to gently stir the solution.
8. Because this is an exothermic reaction, energy is released so the temperature will increase.
9. Look carefully at the temperature rise on the thermometer; When the reading on the
thermometer stops changing, record the highest temperature reached.
10. Rinse out and dry the polystyrene cup.
11. Repeat the experiment several times, each time increasing the volume of sodium hydroxide
solution by 5cm3: 10cm3, 15cm3, etc.
12. Repeat the whole experiment one to two more times so you have two sets of results, use
these to calculate a mean value for the maximum temperature reached for each volume of
sodium hydroxide solution.
13. Plot a graph of your results, with the volume of sodium hydroxide solution on the x axis, and
the maximum temperature reached on the y.

10
Chemistry- Paper 2
RP5- Rate of Reaction

The Effect of Concentration on Reaction Rate

1. Using a measuring cylinder, add 10cm3 of sodium thiosulfate solution into a conical flask.
2. Place the conical flask onto a printed black cross.
3. Add 10cm3 of hydrochloric acid into the conical flask.
4. Swirl the solution and start a stopwatch.
5. Look down through the top of the flask, after a certain time the solution will turn cloudy.
6. Stop the clock when you can no longer see the cross, record the time taken for the cross to
disappear
7. Carry out the experiment again using low concentrations of sodium thiosulfate solution.
8. Repeat the whole experiment and calculate mean values for each concentration of sodium
thiosulfate solution.

Volume of Gas produced by a Reaction.

1. Using a measuring cylinder, add 50cm3 of hydrochloric acid into a conical flask.
2. Attach the conical flask to a bung and delivery tube.
3. Place the delivery tube into a container filled with water.
4. Place an upturned measuring cylinder also filled with water over the end of the delivery
tube.
5. Add a 3cm strip of magnesium to the hydrochloric acid and start a stopwatch.
6. This reaction produces hydrogen gas which is trapped in the measuring cylinder.
7. Every 10 seconds, measure the volume of hydrogen gas in the measuring cylinder; Continue
until no more hydrogen is given off
8. Repeat the experiment using different concentrations of hydrochloric acid.
9. Repeat the whole experiment and calculate mean values for each concentration of
hydrochloric acid.

11
RP6- Chromatography

1. Use a ruler to draw a horizontal pencil line on the chromatography paper. The line should be
around 2cm from the bottom of the paper.
2. Mark 5 equal spots at equal spaces across the line.
3. Use a capillary tube to put a small spot of each of the known food colours and the unknown
colour onto the pencil line.
4. Pour water into a beaker to a depth of 1cm3.
5. Attach the paper to a glass rod using tape and lower the paper into the beaker. The bottom
of the paper should dip into the water.
6. Make sure the pencil line with the ink spots is above the surface of the water, and that the
paper doesn’t touch the side walls of the beaker
7. Place a lid over the beaker to reduce evaporation of the solvent.
8. At this stage, the water will move up the paper and the colours will be carried up.
9. Remove the paper when the water has travelled ¾ of the way up.
10. Use a pencil to mark the point where the water reached; Hang the paper up to dry.
11. The unknown colour should separate into different spots, telling you how many colours a
part of it.
12. Measure the distance from the pencil line to the centre of each spot.
13. Measure the distance moved by the water from the pencil line.
Distance moved by chemical
14. Use Rf = to calculate the Rf value. The Rf value should not be
Distance moved by solvent
greater than 1.

12
RP7- Identifying Ions

Identifying Cations

1. Place a small amount of your chemical onto a wite mounted in a handle.

2. Place the end of this into a blue Bunsen burner flame.
3. The colour of the flame can be used to work out the metal ion present.
 Lithium produces a Crimson Flame test.
 Sodium produces a Yellow Flame test.
 Potassium produces a Lilac Flame test.
 Calcium produces an Orange-Red Flame test.
 Copper produces a Green Flame test.

Identifying Anions

Testing for the Carbonate Ion

1. Add dilute acid to your sample; any acid will work

2. The acid will react with the carbonate to make carbon dioxide gas. You should see
effervescence (fizzing).
3. Bubble the gas through limewater. If the limewater goes cloudy, then this proves that you
have carbon dioxide. That means that you started with the carbonate ion.

Testing for Halide Ions

1. Add dilute acid to your sample; any acid will work

2. Add dilute silver nitrate solution to your sample.
3. Halide ions produce a precipitate of the silver halide. Each halide makes a different coloured
precipitate.
 Chloride Ions produce a White precipitate of silver chloride.
 Bromide Ions produce a Cream precipitate of silver bromide.
 Iodide Ions produce a Yellow precipitate of silver iodide.

Testing for Sulphate Ions

1. Add dilute hydrochloric acid to your sample

2. Add Barium Chloride solution
3. If Sulphate ions are present, you will see a white precipitate.

13
RP8- Water

Analyse a Sample of Water for Purity

1. Check the pH of the water. You can do this by placing a small amount of water onto a piece
of universal indicator paper. Pure water should have a pH of 7.
2. If the pH of the water is not 7, then the water sample contains dissolved acid or alkali and is
therefore not pure.
3. If the pH is 7, it doesn’t mean the water is pure.
4. Use a balance to weigh an empty evaporating basin. Record the mass
5. Fill the evaporating basin with your water sample and place it on a tripod and gauze.
6. Use a Bunsen burner to gently heat the water until it has all evaporated.
7. Allow the evaporating basin to cool and then weigh it again.
8. If the water sample contained any dissolved solids, then the mass of the empty evaporating
basin will have increased.
9. The dissolved solids will have formed crystals on the surface of the evaporating basin. If your
water sample contained any dissolved solids, then it definitely isn’t pure water.
10. If the mass of the evaporating basin didn’t increase, then the water did not contain any
dissolved solids and could be pure.

Water Purification by Distillation

1. Add your water sample into a conical flask.

2. Place the conical flask onto a tripod and gauze
3. Place an empty test tube into a beaker containing ice and water and place a delivery tube
going from the conical flask into the tube.
4. Gently heat the water using a Bunsen burner, let the water boil gently.
5. At this point, the water will evaporate and form water vapour.
6. The vapour should now travel along the delivery tube.
7. When the water vapour enters the cold test tube, it condenses back into a liquid water.
8. This is distilled water; it contains no dissolved solids and has a pH of 7.
9. This means distilled water is pure water.

14
Physics- Paper 1
RP1- Specific Heat Capacity

1. Place a beaker on a balance and press zero.

2. Add oil to the beaker and record the mass of the oil.
3. Place a thermometer and an immersion heater into the oil.
4. Read the starting temperature of the oil.
5. Wrap the beaker in insulating foam to reduce thermal energy transfer to the surroundings.
6. Connect a joulemeter to the immersion heater.
7. Time for 30 minutes.
8. Read the number of joules of energy that passed into the immersion heater.
9. Read the final temperature of the oil.
10. Use (Change in thermal energy=mass x specific heat capacity x temperature change) to
calculate the specific heat capacity.

RP2- Thermal Insulators

Effectiveness of different materials as Thermal Insulators

1. Place a small beaker inside a large beaker.

2. Use a kettle to boil some water.
3. Transfer 80cm3 of the hot water to the small beaker.
4. Use a piece of cardboard as lid for the large beaker; The lid must have a hole for a
thermometer.
5. Place a thermometer through the hole of the cardboard lid; The bulb of the thermometer
must be in the hot water.
6. Record the starting temperature of the water and start a stopwatch.
7. Record the temperature of the water every 3 minutes for 15 minutes.
8. Repeat the experiment using the same volume of hot water.
9. However, this time use an insulating material (e.g. bubble wrap) to fill the gap between the
two beakers.
10. Test a range of different insulating materials, e.g. cotton wool and polystyrene balls; Use the
same mass of each material.
11. Record all of your results in a suitable table.
12. Plot cooling curves for the different insulators, with time on the x axis and temperature on
the y.

How the Thickness of a material affects the Thermal Insulation

1. Pour 80cm3 of hot water boiled in a kettle into a beaker.

2. Place a thermometer into the beaker of water; The bulb of the thermometer must be in the
hot water.
3. Record the starting temperature and start a stopwatch.
4. Record the temperature of the water every 3 minutes for 15 minutes.
5. Repeat the experiment but this time, wrap two layers of newspaper around the beaker.

15
 6. Repeat the experiment two more times using four layers and then six layers of bubble wrap.
7. Record all of your results in a suitable table.
8. Plot cooling curves for the different insulators, with time on the x axis and temperature on
the y.

RP3- Resistance

1. Set up the circuit as shown in the diagram.

2. Attach a length of wire to a metre ruler using tape.
3. Connect the ruler to the rest of the circuit using two Crocodile Clips, with one laced at 0cm
and the other at 10cm.
4. Turn on the circuit and record the readings on the Ammeter and Voltmeter onto a suitable
table.
5. Remember to turn off the circuit each time you record your data, as if left on for too long,
the wire on the ruler will heat up affecting your results.
6. Repeat this two more times to calculate the mean average for the Potential Difference and
Current.
7. Repeat steps 2-6, only changing the distance between the Crocodile Clips on the ruler at
10cm intervals: 20cm, 30cm, etc…
8. Plot your results onto a suitable graph. If carried out correctly, Current and Potential
Difference should be directly proportional.

16
RP4- Current/PD Characteristics

1. Set up the circuit as shown in the diagram.

2. Use the voltmeter to read the potential difference across the component (e.g. a resistor).
3. Use the ammeter to read the current through the resistor.
4. Record the values in a suitable table.
5. Adjust the variable resistor and record the new readings on the voltmeter and ammeter.
6. Repeat this several times to get a range of readings.
7. Switch the direction of the battery, which means the direction of the potential difference has
now reversed.
8. Both the voltmeter and ammeter should have negative values.
9. Continue taking several readings of potential difference and current.
10. Plot a graph of the current against the potential difference.
11. Repeat the whole experiment, only changing the component around the voltmeter for a
filament lamp, and then a diode.
12. When using a diode, you must add and extra resistor, because diodes are very easily
damaged by a high current.
13. The extra resistor will keep the current relatively low and protect the diode.
14. Because the current is so low, swap the ammeter for a milliammeter to get that small
reading.

RP5- Density

Density of Regular Objects

1. Determine the mass of a regular object (e.g. a cube) using a balance.

2. Use a ruler to measure the length of the side and calculate the volume.
mass
3. Use Density= to calculate the density of the regular object.
volume
Density of Irregular objects

1. Determine the mass of an irregular object (e.g. a vase) using a balance.

2. Fill a Eureka can with water.

17
 3. Place the object into the water. This will cause the water to be displaced and flow out of the
can through the spout.
4. Measure the volume of the water displaced using a measuring cylinder. This volume is the
same as the volume of the object.
mass
5. Use Density= to calculate the density of the regular object.
volume

Physics- Paper 2
RP6- Stretching a spring

1. Set up a clamp stand, with two bosses and two clamps attached to it.
2. Place a heavy object on the clamp stand to stop it falling over.
3. Attach a metre ruler to one clamp and a spring to the other.
4. The top of the spring must be at the zero point of the metre ruler.
5. It is really important that the metre ruler is vertical otherwise the readings will be inaccurate.
6. The bottom of the spring should have a pointer attached, it must be horizontal with the ruler,
or the readings will be inaccurate.
7. Read the position of this pointer on the metre ruler; this is the unstretched length of the
spring.
8. Hang a 1N weight on the spring.
9. Read the new position of the pointer on the metre ruler.
10. Continue adding 1N weights to the spring and reading the position of the pointer.
11. Calculate the extension of the spring by subtracting the length of the unstretched spring
from each reading.
12. Plot a graph to show your results, with weight on the x axis, and extension on the y.
13. Use Force= spring constant x extension to calculate the spring constant.

RP7- Acceleration

How varying the Force affects the Acceleration of an Object

1. Attach a toy car to a string looped around a pulley.

2. The other end of a spring should be attached to a 100g mass.
3. On the desk, draw chalk lines at equal intervals e.g. every 10cm.
4. Hold the toy car the starting point; when you are ready, let go of the car.
5. Because there is a resultant force acting through the string, the car will accelerate along the
bench.
6. Record the time that the car passes each distance marker.
7. If the car is moving rapidly, it will be difficult to record and accurate time. This can be fixed by
recording the experiment on a phone, playing the video back and record the times
accurately.
8. Repeat the experiment several times, each time decrease the mass on the end of the string.
E.g. 80g, 60g, etc…
9. Each time you take mass from the end of the string, add it to the toy car to keep the overall
mass of the object the same.

How varying the Force affects the Acceleration of an Object

1. Attach a toy car to a string looped around a pulley.

2. The other end of a spring should be attached to a 100g mass.

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 3. On the desk, draw chalk lines at equal intervals e.g. every 10cm.
4. Now, attach a mass to the toy car e.g. 100g
5. Record the car as it accelerates along the bench.
6. Repeat the experiment, increasing the mass attached to the car. E.g. 200g, 300g, etc…

RP8 (1)- Ripple Tank

1. Set up the equipment as shown in the diagram.

2. Activate the power supply and the lamp.
3. When light shines through the ripple tank, it produces an image of the waves on the paper.
4. Record the waves using a phone, which allows you to play back the recording at different
speeds or freeze the image completely.
5. To measure the wavelength, place a ruler on the paper: Freeze the image of the waves.
6. Measure the distance between one wave and ten further waves; To find the frequency, place
a timer next to the paper and count the number of waves; Divide this answer by ten to get
the length of one waves passing a point in 1 second.
7. To find the frequency, count the number of waves passing a point in 10 seconds, and divide
this by ten; This gives you a more accurate answer.
8. Use Wave speed= frequency x wavelength to calculate the wave speed.

RP8 (2)- Waves in a Solid

1. Set up the equipment as shown in the diagram.

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 2. Turn the vibration frequency generator on and the string should start to vibrate.
3. When set at a certain frequency, you should get a standing wave.
4. Measure the length of this standing wave using a ruler; Measure from the wooden bridge to
the vibration generator.
5. Use Wave speed = Frequency x wavelength to calculate the wave speed.

RP9- Reflection and Refraction

1. Set up a ray box, with a lens and a slit; ray boxes do get hot, so switch it off when not in use.
2. Take a piece of A3 paper and draw a straight line down the centre using a ruler.
3. Use a protractor to draw lines at right angles; this is the normal.
4. Place a glass block against the first line so that the normal is near the centre of the block.
5. Draw around the glass block.
6. Turn off all the lights in the room.
7. Use the ray box to direct a ray of light so it hits the block at the normal; this is the incident
ray.
8. The angle between the incident ray and the normal is the angle of incidence.
9. Adjust the ray box to change the angle of incidence.
10. At a certain angle, you should see a ray reflect from the surface of the block.
11. You may also see another ray leaving the block from the opposite side. This is the
transmitted ray.
12. Mark the path of the incident ray, the reflected ray and the transmitted ray using crosses.
13. Turn on the room lights and switch the ray box off; remove the glass block
14. Draw in both the incident and reflected rays.
15. Draw in the transmitted ray so it meets the position of the block.
16. Draw a line to show the path of the transmitted ray through the glass block.
17. Use a protractor to measure these angles.
18. The angle of refraction is the angle between the normal and the path of the transmitted ray
through the glass block.
19. Repeat the whole experiment, instead using a block made from a different material e.g.
Perspex.

RP10- Infrared

1. Use a Leslie’s cube to see how much infrared is emitted from different surfaces.
2. Use a shiny metallic surface, a whit surface, a shiny black surface, and a matt black surface.
3. Fill the Leslie’s cube with hot water.
4. Point an infrared detector at each of the four surfaces and record the amount of infrared
emitted.
5. Make sure the distance between the Leslie’s cube and the infrared detector is the same, to
make the measurements repeatable.
6. If you don’t have an infrared detector, use a thermometer with the bulb painted black.
7. To measure the absorbance of infrared emitted by different surfaces, set up an infrared
heater with two metal plates on either side.
8. One plate should be painted with shiny metallic plate, whilst the other should be painted
with matt black paint.
9. One each side of the plates, use vaseline to attach a drawing pin
10. Switch on the heater, and time using a stopwatch.
11. Record the time it takes for the vaseline to melt and the drawing pins to fall off.

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