1.

Forces and Motion

Speed and velocity
Speed and velocity are measured in m/s
● Speed is just how fast you’re going with no regard to the direction
● Velocity must also have the direction specified

This means you can have objects travelling at a constant speed with a changing velocity.
This happens when the object is changing direction whilst staying at the same speed

Acceleration:
Acceleration is how quickly velocity is changing
The unit of acceleration is m/s2
➔ There are 2 formulas:

Distance-Time graphs:
Distance-time graphs tell you how far something has travelled
The different parts of a distance-time graph describe the motion of an object:

Calculating speed from a distance-time graph:

➔ Work out the gradient → rise / run

Velocity-Time graphs:
Velocity-time graphs show you have the velocity of an object changes over time. They can
have a positive or negative gradient

Finding the acceleration, speed or distance from a v-t graph:

● Acceleration (gradient) = rise / run
● Speed = read value in velocity axis
● Distance (area under graph) → e.g (shaded area) - 50 x 20 = 1000m

Mass, Weight and Gravity:

Gravity is the force of attraction between all masses
Mass and weight are not the same:
● Mass is the amount of “stuff” in an object
● Weight is caused by the pull of gravity
● Weight is a force measured in Newtons (N)
● Mass is not a force and is measured in kilograms (kg)

Formula relation mass, weight and gravity:

Forces:
A force is a push or a pull which arises from the interaction of two objects
Forces are measured in Newtons (N)
DIfferent types of forces:
➔ Gravitational: the force between any two objects with mass
➔ Electrostatic: the force between any two objects with charge
➔ Friction: The force that slows things down when two things rub against each other
➔ Weight: The force that pulls us down to the earth
➔ Thrust: The force that speeds things up
➔ Air resistance: The force that slows down things that move through the air
➔ Magnetic: The force that lets magnets push or pull each other
➔ Tension: The force on a rope being pulled
➔ Electric: The force that lets two charged objects push or pull each other
➔ Upthrust: The force that makes things float

Force = Mass x Acceleration

Effects of forces:
Forces can affect bodies in a variety of ways:
● Changes in speed: forces can cause bodies to speed up or slow down
● Changes in direction: forces can cause bodies to change their direction of travel
● Changes in shape: forces can cause bodies to stretch, compress, or deform

Friction:
Friction slows down and stops moving objects
Friction is a force opposes motion
To travel at a steady speed, things need a driving force to counteract the friction
Fiction occurs in 3 main ways:
● Friction between solid surfaces which are gripping → this is known as static friction
● Friction between solid surfaces which are sliding past each other → known as sliding
friction
➔ You can reduce these types of friction by putting a lubricant like oil between
surfaces
● Resistance or ‘drag’ from fluids (liquids or gases)

Investigating Motion:
You can investigate the motion of a toy car on a ramp:

The Three Laws of Motion:

First law → Balanced forces mean no change in velocity
● When a vehicle is moving at a constant velocity, the forces on it must be balanced
● To keep going at a steady speed, there must be 0 resultant force

Second law → A resultant force means acceleration

 ● If there is a resultant force, then the object will accelerate in that direction
● The overall unbalanced force if often called the resultant force

Force = Resultant force

Combining Forces:
Vectors:
● Vectors have size and direction
● Vector quantities: force, velocity, acceleration, momentum

Scalars:
● Scalars only have size
● Scalar quantities: mass, temperature, time, length

Terminal Velocity:
● When an object first starts to fall, it has much more force accelerating it than
resistance slowing it down
● As its velocity increases, the resistance builds up
● This resistance force gradually reduces the acceleration until eventually the
resistance force is equal to the acceleration force
● The object won’t be able to accelerate more → has reached its terminal velocity

Stopping distances:
● Stopping distance is the total distance that you travel between seeing a hazard and
stopping
● Thinking distance is the distance the car travels in the time between the driver
noticing the hazard and applying the brakes
Affected by:
➔ How fast you are going
➔ Your reaction time

● Braking distance is the distance the car travels during the deceleration whilst the
brakes are being applied
Affected by:
➔ How fast you are going
➔ The mass of the vehicle
➔ How good the brakes are
 ➔ How good the grip is (road condition, weather, tyres)

Hooke’s Law:
Hooke’s law says that extension is proportional to force
You can investigate Hooke’s law with a spring:

Hooke’s law stops working when the force is great enough:

● There’s a limit to the force you can apply for Hooke’s law to stay true
● The first part of the graph shows Hooke’s law being obeyed
● When the force becomes great enough, the graph starts to curve
● The point marked E on the graph is called the elastic limit. If you increase the force
past the elastic limit, the material will be permanently stretched. When all the force is
removed, the material will be longer than at the start
*If a material returns to its original shape once the forces are removed, it displays elastic
behaviour*
 2. Electricity
Circuits:
Current:
● Current is the rate of flow charge round the circuit
● Electrons usually carry the charge - they’re negatively charged particles.
● Current will only flow through a component if there is a voltage across that
component.
● Current is measured in amps A

Voltage:
● Voltage is the energy transferred per unit of charge passed
● Voltage is what drives the current round the circuit. Kind of like ‘’electrical pressure’.
● Voltage is measured in volts v

Resistance:
● Resistance is anything in the circuit which slows the flow down
● If you add more components to the circuit there will be a higher overall resistance
● Resistance is measured in ohms Ω

*IF YOU INCREASE THE VOLTAGE - THEN MORE CURRENT WILL FLOW*
*IF YOU INCREASE RESISTANCE - THEN LESS CURRENT WILL FLOW*

Important points of a circuit:

● The circuit is used for testing components
● The component, the ammeter and the variable resistor are all in series which means
that they can be put in any order in the main circuit.
● The voltmeter, on the other hand, can only be placed in parallel around the
components under test, as shown
● As you alter the resistance of the variable resistor the current flowing through the
component changes.
● You can take several pairs of readings from the ammeter and voltmeter to see how
the voltage changes as the current changes
Resistance and V = I x R:

I-V graphs:
● I-V graphs show how changing voltage affects current

Metal filament lamp:

As the temperature of the metal filament increases, the resistance

increases

Wire:

The current through a wire (at a constant temperature) is

proportional to voltage

Different resistors:

The current through a resistor (at a constant temperature) is

proportional to voltage. Different resistors have different resistances

Diode:

Current will only flow through a diode in one direction

LEDs, LDRs and Thermistors:
LEDs (light emitting diode):
● LEDs emit lights when a current flows through them in the forward direction.
● LEDs are used for the numbers on digital clocks, in traffic lights, etc
● They don’t have a filament so they cannot run out
➔ LEDs indicate the presence of current in a circuit. They are often used in appliances
to show that they are switched on

LDRs (light-dependent resistor):

● Special type of resistor that changes its resistance depending on how much light falls
on it
● In bright light, the resistance falls and in darkness, the resistance is higher

Thermistors:
● A thermistor is a temperature-dependent resistor
● In hot conditions, the resistance drops and in cool conditions, the resistance goes up

Series Circuits:
● If you remove or disconnect one component, the
circuit is broken and they all stop working
● The current is the same everywhere in the circuit
● Different components can have different voltages
across them
● The total resistance of the circuit depends on the
number of components

Parallel Circuits:
● If you remove or disconnect one component, the circuit will
keep working as the other ones are not affected
● Current is shared between branches / components
● Voltage is the same everywhere in the circuit
● Current in a branch depends on the resistance of the branch
● The total resistance of the circuit decreases if you add another
resistor
Current at a junction in a circuit:

● Although the current splits up in a parallel circuit, it does not necessarily do so

equally:
○ The current will only split exactly in half if the components along each parallel
branch have the same resistance
● To understand why current behave in this way, think about the electrons:
➔ The total number of electrons going around a circuit must remain the same
➔ When the electrons reach a junction, however, some of them will go one way
and the rest will fo the other

Electric current in solid metallic conductors:

● In a metal current is caused by a flow of electrons

● Electrons are negatively charged

● This means that the electrons flow from negative to positive
● The current goes from positive to negative
Charge, Voltage and Energy Change:
Charge:
Charge through a circuit depends on current and time
● In solid metal conductors, charge is carried by negatively charged electrons
● More charge passes around a circuit when a bigger current flows

● When charge goes through a change in voltage, then energy is transferred

● The bigger the change in voltage, the more energy is transferred for a given amount
of charge passing through the circuit

Voltage: Energy transferred per unit of charge passed

Energy transferred:

Electrical safety:
● There are three wires in a plug - live, neutral and earth
● Only the live and neutral wires are usually needed, but if something goes wrong, the
earth wire stops you from getting hurt
● Electricity normally flows in through the live wire and the neutral wire
● The earth wire and fuse are just for safety and work together

Safety:
● Metal case that must be attached to the earth wire to reduce electric shock
● An earthed conductor can never become live
● If the appliance has a plastic casing and no metal parts showing, then it is double
insulated
● The plastic is an insulator, so it stops a current flowing - which means you can’t get a
shock
● Anything with double insulation doesn’t need an earth wire

Earthing and fuses prevent fires and shocks:

● If a fault develops in which the live wire somehow touches the metal case, then
because the case is earthed, a big current flows through the live wire, through the
case and the earth wire
● This surge in current melts the fuse, which cuts off the live supply.
● This isolates the whole appliance, making it impossible to get an eclectic shock from
the case. It also prevents the risk of fire caused by the heating effect of a large
current.
Electrical safety and Resistors:
Advantages of circuit breakers over fuses:
● (protect the circuit from damage if too much current flows)
● When circuit breakers detect a surge in current in a circuit, they break the circuit by
opening a switch
● It can be easily reset by flicking a switch on the device - (more convenient than fuses
which have to be replaced)

Resistors & electric current:

● When there is an electric current in a resistor, there is an energy transfer which heats
the resistor
● This happens because the electrons collide with the ions in the lattice that make up
the resistor as they flow through it. This gives ions energy, which causes them to
vibrate and heat up
● This heating effect increases the resistor’s resistance
● This heating effect can cause components in the circuit to melt

Energy and Power in Circuits:

● Electrical power is the rate at which an appliance transfers energy
● An appliance with a high power rating transfers a lot of energy in a short time
● This energy comes from the current flowing through it. This means that an appliance
with a high power rating will draw a large current from the supply
● Power is measured in watts(w)

Electrical appliances transfer energy electrically:

● The energy transferred by an appliance depends on the power of the appliance and
how long it is on for
 3. Waves
Waves:
● Wavelength (λ) is the distance from one peak to the next
● Frequency (f) is how many complete waves there are per second
(passing a certain point) measured in hertz (Hz)
● Amplitude: height of the wave from rest to crest
● Speed (v for velocity): how fast the wave goes
● Period (T): time it takes (in s) for one complete wave to pass a point

Transverse waves:
● Transverse waves travel in a perpendicular direction to the
movement of energy in the wave

Longitudinal waves:
● Longitudinal waves travel in a parallel direction to
the movement of energy in the wave
● Sound waves are longitudinal

Wave Behaviour:
● Two or more waves moving together have wavefronts
● Wavefronts are imaginary planes that cut across all the
waves, connecting the points in adjacent waves which are
vibrating together
● The distance between each wavefront is equal to one
wavelength
★ Waves transfer energy and information without transferring
matter

Doppler effect:
➔ When frequency increases, wavelength decreases and speed remains constant
Uses of Electromagnetic Waves:

● Radio waves: used for broadcasting and communications

● Microwaves: used for satellite communication and cooking
● Infrared radiation: for heating, to monitor temperature and night vision equipment
● Visible light: useful for photography and optical fibres
● Ultraviolet: used in fluorescent lamps
● X-Rays: let us see inside things (broken bones)
● Gamma radiation: cure cancer (sterilising medical equipment), sterilising food

Dangers of Electromagnetic waves:

● Microwaves: internal heating of body tissues
● Infrared: skin burns
● Ultraviolet: damage to surface cells and blindness
● Gamma rays: cancer, mutation
★ Measures: distance, shielding, reduce time of exposure to radiation
➔ Higher frequency EM radiation usually more dangerous

Reflection of Waves:
Reflection of light is what allows us to see most objects - light
bounces off them into our eyes
● The law of reflection applies to every reflected ray:
Angle of incidence = Angle of reflection
● The normal is an imaginary line that is perpendicular
to the surface at the point of incidence
● The angle of incidence is the angle between the
incoming wave and the normal
● The angle of reflection is the angle between the
reflected wave and the normal

Refraction of Waves:
★ Light waves are transverse waves and can be
reflected and refracted
Refraction occurs when a wave slows down or speeds up at a boundary between two
materials
● When light enters a glass block, it slows down, causing it to change direction
● When it leaves the block it speeds up again, changing direction once more
 ➔ As the light enters the block it bends towards the normal line
➔ When it leaves the block it bends away from the normal line

➔ From less dense to more dense (air to glass), light bends towards the normal
➔ From more dense to less dense (glass to air), light bends away from the normal

Investigating refraction: (same as investigating refractive index)

Method:
1. Place the glass block on a sheet of paper, and carefully draw around the rectangular
perspex block using a pencil
2. Switch on the ray box and direct a beam of light at the side face of the block
3. Mark on the paper:
● A point on the ray close to the ray box
● The point where the ray enters the block
● The point where the ray exits the block
● A point on the exit light ray which is a distance of about 5 cm away from the
block
4. Draw a dashed line normal (at right angles) to the outline of the block where the
points are
5. Remove the block and join the points marked with three straight lines
6. Replace the block within its outline and repeat the above process for a ray striking
the block at a different angle
7. Repeat the procedure for each shape of perspex block (prism and semi-circular
Refractive Index and Snell’s Law:

● n= refractive index
● i= angle of incidence
● r= angle of refraction

The refractive index is a number which is related to the speed of light in the material

Total internal reflection:

Sometimes, when light is moving from a denser medium towards a less dense one, instead
of being refracted, all of the light is reflected
● This is called total internal reflection

Total internal reflection occurs when:

● The angle of incidence is greater than the critical angle and the incident material is
denser than the second material

Therefore, the two conditions for total internal reflection are:

● The angle of incidence > the critical angle
● The incident material is denser than the second material

Total internal reflection is utilised in:

● Optical fibres
● Prisms
Optical fibres:
● Total internal reflection is used to reflect light along optical fibres, so they can be
used for:
○ Communications
○ Endoscopes
○ Decorative lamps
● Light travelling down an optical fibre is totally internally reflected each time it hits the
edge of the fibre
● Optical fibres are also used in medicine in order to see within the human body

Prisms:
● Prisms are used in a variety of optical instruments, including:
○ Periscopes
○ Binoculars
○ Telescopes
○ Cameras
● They are also used in safety reflectors for bicycles and cars,
as well as posts marking the side or edge of roads
● A periscope is a device that can be used to see over tall
objects
○ It consists of two right-angled prisms

Critical angles:
● As the angle of incidence is increased, the angle of refraction also increases until it
gets closer to 90°
● When the angle of refraction is exactly 90° the light is refracted along the boundary
○ At this point, the angle of incidence is known as the critical angle c

Sound Waves:
● Sound waves are vibrations of air molecules
● When a sound wave comes into contact with a solid those vibrations can be
transferred to the solid
● Sound waves are longitudinal waves
● The reflection of a sound wave is called an echo

Hence, it consists of:

● Compressions - regions of higher density
● Rarefactions - regions of lower density
 4. Energy resources and Energy transfer
Conservation of Energy:
Energy is transferred between stores:
● Kinetic: anything moving has energy in its kinetic energy store
● Thermal: any object - the hotter it is the more thermal energy that it stores
● Chemical: anything that releases energy in a chemical reaction
● Gravitational potential: anything in a gravitational field
● Elastic potential: anything stretched, like springs and rubber bands
● Electrostatic: e.g. two charges that attract or repel each other
● Magnetic: e.g. to magnets that attract or repel each other
● Nuclear: atomic nuclei releases energy from his store in nuclear reactions

Main ways in which energy can be transferred to stores:

● Mechanically: an object moving due to a force acting on it
● Electrically: a charge moving through a potential difference
● By heating: energy transferred from a hotter object to a colder object
● By radiation: energy transferred by electromagnetic waves

Principle of conservation of energy:

Energy can be stored, transferred between stores, or dissipated - but it can never be created
or destroyed

Wasted Energy:
Energy is only useful when it is transferred from one store to a useful
store
Wasted energy is normally by heating, light or sound
Total energy input = Useful energy output + Wasted energy

Energy Efficiency:

Energy Transfers:
Need to know how to explain how energy is transferred
● Eg, a ball rolling up a slope. Energy is transferred mechanically from the kinetic
energy store of the ball to its gravitational potential energy store. Some energy is
transferred mechanically to the thermal energy stores of the ball and the slope, and
then by heating to the thermal energy stores the surrounding
Sankey diagrams:
The thickness of the arrow represents the amount of energy → the ticker the arrow, the more
energy

Conduction, Convection and Radiation:

Conduction: (Occurs mainly in solids)
In a solid, the particles are held tightly together. So when one particle vibrates, it collides with
other particles nearby and the vibrations quickly pass from particle to particle

Thermal conduction is the process where vibrating particles transfer energy from their kinetic
energy store to the kinetic energy store of neighbouring particles

Convection: (Liquids and gases only)

Gases and liquids are usually free to move about, and that allows them to transfer energy by
convection
Convection occurs when the more energetic particles move from a hotter region to a cooler
region - and transfer energy as they do
CONVECTION CURRENTS are all about CHANGES IN DENSITY

Radiation: (Solids, liquids and gases)

Any object can both absorb and emit thermal radiation
Thermal radiation can also be called infrared radiation
● All objects are continually emitting and absorbing infrared radiation
● An object that is hotter than its surroundings emits more radiation than it absorbs. An
object that is cooler than its surrounding absorbs more radiation than it emits

Colour Absorbing Emitting

Black Good absorber Good emitter

Dull/Dark Reasonable absorber Reasonable emitter

White Poor absorber Poor emitter

Shiny Very poor absorber Very poor emitter

Practical: investigating thermal energy transfer:
Experiment 1 - investigating conduction:
Method:

1. Attach ball bearings to the ends of each metal strip at an equal distance from the
centre, using a small amount of wax
2. The strips should then be turned upside down and the centre heated gently using a
bunsen burner so that each of the strips is heated at the central point where they
meet
3. When the heat is conducted along to the ball bearing, the wax will melt and the ball
bearing will drop
4. Time how long this takes for each of the strips and record in a table
★ The first ball bearing to fall will be from the rod that is the best thermal conductor

Experiment 2 - investigating convection:

1. Fill the beaker with cold water (not too full) and place it on top of a tripod and
heatproof mat
2. Pick up the crystal using forceps and drop it into the centre of the beaker – do this
carefully to ensure the crystal does not dissolve prematurely
3. Heat the beaker using the Bunsen burner and record observations
★ It should be observed that the convection current is faster in hot water
Experiment 3 - investigating radiation:

1. Set up the four identical flasks painted in different colours; black, grey, white and
silver
2. Fill the flasks with hot water, ensuring the measurements start from the same initial
temperature
3. Note the starting temperature, then measure the temperatures at regular intervals
e.g. every 30 seconds for 10 minutes
★ All objects emit infrared radiation, but the hotter an object is, the more infrared waves
are emitted

The intensity (and wavelength) of the emitted radiation depends on:

● The temperature of the body (hotter objects emit more thermal radiation)
● The surface area of the body (a larger surface area allows more radiation to be
emitted)
● The colour of the surface

Energy Transfers by Heating:

You can reduce the rate of energy transfer:
● To reduce energy transfers away from a system by conduction, use materials with
low thermal conductivity
● To reduce convection, you need to stop the fluid moving, and prevent convection
currents from forming
● Insulation uses both techniques - works by trapping pockets of air → air can’t move,
so energy conducts very slowly
● To reduce energy transfers by thermal radiation, the object should be designed with a
surface that is a poor emitter (white & shiny)
Work:
Work done is just energy transferred
● When a force moves an object through a distance, work is done on the object and
energy is transferred (work done = energy transferred)

Power:
Power is the rate of doing work
● Power is the rate at which energy is transferred (measures in watts (W))

Kinetic and Potential Energy Stores:

Kinetic energy stores:
● Movement means energy in an object’s kinetic energy store
● Energy is transferred to this store when an object speeds up and is transferred away
when an object slows down

Potential energy stores:

● Raising object store energy in gravitational potential energy stores (GPE)
● The higher the object is lifted, the more energy is transferred to this store

Falling objects:
● When something falls, energy from its gravitational potential energy store is
transferred to its kinetic energy store
● Energy lost from the GPE store = Energy gained in the KE store
 5. Solids, Liquids and Gases
Density:
Density tells you how much mass is packed into a given volume of space
● It relates to the mass of a substance to how much space it takes up
(volume)
● Unit → g/cm3 or kg/cm3
● Density doesn’t vary with size or shape

Finding density of an object experiment:

1) To measure the density of a substance, use a balance to measure its mass
2) If its a box shape, start by measuring its length , width and height, then multiply the
length, width and height to calculate the volume
3) And calculate the mass / the volume to achieve the density of the object

Pressure:
● Pressure is a measure of the force being applied to the surface of something
● Pressure is force per unit area
● Measured in pascals (Pa)
● In gases and liquids the pressure an any point is equal

Pressure difference:
● Pressure difference in liquids and gases depends on density

Temperature and Particle Theory:

● If you increase the temperature of something, you give its particles more energy -
they move about more quickly as they vibrate more. If you cool something, energy
decreases
● The coldest that anything can get is -273cº - this temperature is known as absolute
zero as the particles have as little energy in their kinetic stores as possible
● Absolute 0 is the start of the Kelvin scale of temperature
● To convert from degrees celsius to kelvins just add 273

Energy in particles’ kinetic stores is proportional to temperature:

● Very small particles which are moving constantly in completely random directions
● The particles constantly collide with and bounce off each other and the container
walls
● If you increase the temperature, you double the average energy in the kinetic energy
stores of the particles
● As you heat up the gas the kinetic energy store increases
The temperature of the gas is proportional to the average energy in the kinetic energy stores
of its particles
Particle Theory and Pressure in Gases:
● Particle theory says colliding gas particles create pressure
● As gas particles move about, they randomly bang into each other and whatever gets
in the way
● Gas particles are very light. When they collide with something that exert a force on it
and their momentum and direction change. In a sealed container, gas particles
smash against the container’s walls creating outward pressure
● This pressure depends of how fast the particles are growing and how often the ht the
walls

Increasing the temperature increases the pressure:

● If you heat the particles move faster so they have more energy
● This increases in energy meaning that the particles will hit the container harder and
more frequently causing pressure to increase
● Temperature and pressure are proportional

Increasing the volume decreases the pressure:

● If you put the same fixed amount of gas in a bigger container, the pressure will
decrease, because there will be fewer collisions between the gas particles and the
container’s walls

For a fixed mass of gas at a constant temperature:

You can also write it as:

In a sealed container (constant volume):

You can also write it as:

 6. Magnetism and Electromagnetism
1. Magnetism
The law of magnetism:
● Magnets have two poles: a north and a south
● Two magnets are held close together - there will be a force between the magnets
● Like poles of magnets repel and opposite poles attract
★ Magnetic materials (that aren’t magnets) are attracted to either pole

● Non-magnetic materials are materials that are not attracted to magnets and cannot
be magnetised, such as glass or plastic
● Magnetic materials are materials that are attracted to magnets and can be
magnetised, such as iron, steel, cobalt or nickel. They will always be attracted to
magnets, regardless of which pole they are held close to
● A magnet can only repel another magnet

Magnetically soft & hard materials:

Magnetically soft materials have the following characteristics:
● Easy to magnetise
● Easily lose their magnetism (they are only temporarily magnetised)

Magnetically hard materials have the following characteristics: (such as steel)

● Hard to magnetise
● Do not easily lose their magnetism
➔ Permanent magnets are therefore made out of magnetically hard materials, as we
don’t want them to lose their magnetism
➔ Electromagnets are made out of magnetically soft materials, as we want them to
easily gain and lose their magnetism

Magnetic field lines:

● In the area around a magnet there is a magnetic field
● Magnetic field lines are a useful way of helping us to picture that field,
its strength and its direction

● Magnetic field lines represent the magnetic force on a north pole at a given point
○ The direction of a magnetic field line shows the direction of the force
○ How close together the magnetic field lines are shows the magnitude of the
force

Magnetic field lines obey some rules:

● They always go from north to south (indicated by an arrow midway along the line)
● They never touch or cross other field lines
 Magnetic induction:
● When a magnetic material is placed in a magnetic field, the material can temporarily
become magnetised
○ One end of the material will become a north pole
○ The other end will become a south pole
● The process is known as magnetic induction and results in a force being exerted on
the material
● When the material is removed from the magnetic field, it will start to lose its
magnetism
★ This depends on whether the material is magnetically hard or soft

Practical- investigating magnetic fields:

Method:
1. Place the magnet on top of a piece of paper. Draw a dot at one end of the magnet
(near its corner)
2. Place a plotting compass next to the dot, so that one end of the needle of the
compass points away from the dot. Use a pencil to draw a new dot at the other side
of the compass needle
3. Move the compass so that it points away from the new dot, and repeat the process
above
4. Keep repeating the previous process until there is a chain of dots going from one end
of the magnet to the other. Then remove the compass, and link the dots using a
smooth curve – this will be the magnetic field line
5. Repeat the whole process several times to create several other magnetic field lines

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5

Creating a uniform field:

● A uniform magnetic field is one that has the same same strength
and direction at all points
● A uniform magnetic field can be created by taking the opposite
poles of two magnets and holding them close together
● A uniform magnetic field is created in the gap between the two
poles
2. Electromagnetism
The field around a wire:
● When a current passes through a wire, a magnetic field is created
around the wire

The magnetic field around an electromagnet is just

the same as the one around a bar magnet. It can,
however, be reversed by turning the battery
around

● Unlike bar magnets, which are permanent

magnets, the magnetism of electromagnets can be
turned on and off just by closing or opening the
switch

The force on a wire:

● When a current passes through a wire in a magnetic
field, a force is exerted on the wire

The force is exerted because:

● The current creates a magnetic field around the wire
● The field interacts with the external magnetic field,
● exerting a force
● in accordance with the left-hand rule

Motors:
● The simple d.c motor consists of a coil in a uniform
magnetic field

When a current passes through a coil:

● The current creates a magnetic field around the coil
● which interacts with the field of the magnets
● This exerts a force on the coil o in accordance with
the left-hand rule
● This pushes one side of the coil up and the other side down, causing it to spin

The commutator:
● Reverses the direction of the current in the coil every half turn
● This reverses the direction of the forces, which keeps the coil spinning
Loudspeakers:
Loudspeakers also work using the motor effect

● An alternating current passes through the coil of the

loudspeaker.
● This creates a changing magnetic field around the coil,
● which interacts with the field from the permanent magnet
● This in turn exerts a force on the coil
● in accordance with the left-hand rule (see below).
● This makes the coil and the speaker cone oscillate,
● which makes the air oscillate, creating sound waves.

The left-hand rule:

● The direction of the force on a current-carrying wire can be worked out by using the
left.hand rule

● Start by pointing your First Finger in the

direction of the (magnetic) F
● Now rotate your hand around the first finger
so the seCond finger points in the direction of the
Current
● The THumb will now be pointing in the
direction of the THrust (the force)

Factors affecting the force:

The force acting on a current-carrying wire in a magnetic field can be increased by:
● Increasing the current in the wire
● Increasing the strength of the magnetic field

The force supplied by a motor can be increased by:

● Increasing the current in the coil
● Increasing the strength of the magnetic field
● Adding more turns to the coil

The direction of the motor may be reversed by:

● Reversing the direction of the current
● Reversing the direction of the magnetic field

Electromagnetic induction:
● Electromagnetic induction is the opposite of the motor
effect:
➔ Instead of using electricity to create motion, motion
is being used to create electricity
➔ When a conductor (such as a wire) is moved through a magnetic field, the
wire cuts through the field lines, inducing a voltage into the wire
The voltage can be increased by:
● Moving the wire faster
● Increasing the strength of the magnetic field

Generators:
● A generator looks very similar to a motor, but instead of connecting it to a power
supply, the coil is sun by some mechanical process that then produces electricity

● As the coil rotates, it cuts through the field lines

● This induces a voltage between the end of the coil

The size of the voltage could be increased by:

● Turning the coil faster
● Increasing the strength of the magnetic field
● Adding more turns to the coil

Dynamos:
● Instead of turning a coil inside a magnetic field, a magnet is
rotated inside a coil

● The magnet inside the dynamo creates a magnetic field that

passes through the coil
● When the rotor is turned, the magnet rotates and the field lines
cut through the sides of the coil
● This induces a voltage in the coil (which can then create a current

The voltage can be increased by:

● Spinning the magnet faster
● Using a stronger magnet
● Adding more turns to the coil
 7. Radioactivity and Particles
Atoms and Isotopes:
● At the centre of every atom is a nucleus

● The number of protons in the nucleus is called the atomic number

● Atoms are neutral, so number of protons = number of electrons
● The total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus is called the mass number

Isotopes:
● Isotopes are atoms with the same number of protons, but different number of
neutrons
● Stable isotopes → don’t decay
● Unstable isotopes → decay

Radioactivity:
● The nuclei of unstable isotopes break down at random
● Each nucleus just decays quite spontaneously in its own good time. It’s completely
unaffected by physical conditions like temperature
● When the nucleus does decay it spits out one or more types of radiation - alpha, beta
and gamma or neutrons
● In the process, the nucleus often changes into a new element

Background radiation is everywhere all the time:

● Substances here on earth - some radioactivity comes from air, food, etc
● Radiation from space
● Living things
● Radiation due to human activity

Ionisation:
● Nuclear radiation causes ionisation by bashing into atoms and knocking electrons off
them
● Atoms (with no overall charge) are turned into ions (which are charged)
● The further the radiation can penetrate before hitting an atom and getting stopped,
the less damage it will do along the way so less ionising it is
● Ionising radiation can be detected using either a Geiger-Müller detector or
photographic film
Alpha, Beta and Gamma radiation:
Alpha particles:
● Alpha particles are made up of 2 protons and 2 neutrons
● They are big, heavy and slow moving
● They are low penetrating and highly ionising
● Because they are electrically charged (positively), alpha particles are deflected by
electric and magnetic fields

Beta particles:
● A beta particle is an electron which has been emitted from the nucleus
● When a beta particle is emitted, the number of protons increases by 1
● They move quite fast and they are quite small
● They are moderately penetrating and ionising
● Because they are charged (negatively), beta particles are deflected by
electric and magnetic fields

Gamma rays:
● They have no mass - they are just energy
● They are highly penetrating and low ionising
● Gamma rays have no charge, so they are not deflected by electric or magnetic fields
● Gamma emissions always happens after alpha or beta decay

Radioactivity and Nuclear Equations:

Balancing nuclear equations:

Penetrating power:
You can identify the type of radiation by its penetrating power
● Alpha particles are blocked by paper, skin, or a few cm of air
● Beta particles are blocked by thin metal
● Gamma rays are blocked by thick lead or very thick concrete
Investigating Radioactivity:
You can investigate the penetration of radiation
1) You can detect ionising radiation with a
Geiger-Müller detector
2) Set up the equipment as shown on the rights,
so that when nothing is placed between the
source and detector, the counter records a
high count rate
3) Remove the source to measure the
background count over a time period. Divide
your count by the time period to get a
background rate
4) Replace the source and measure the count rate (minus the background count rate)
with no material present. Then insert different materials between the source and
detector. Record the count rate for each material

Radioactive sources can be dangerous:

● Radioactive sources should be kept in a lead-lined box when not in use
● They should only be picked up using long-handled tongs or forceps
● Take care not to point them at anyone, and keep a safe distance from them

Half-Life:
Half-life is the time taken for half of the isotopes of a sample to decay
● The radioactivity of a sample always decreases over time
● Each time a decay happens and an alpha or beta particle or gamma ray is given out,
it means one more radioactive nucleus has disappeared
● As the unstable nuclei all disappear, the activity (the number of decays in a given
time) will decrease. So the older a sample becomes, the less radiation it will emit

Measuring the Half-Life using a graph:

Uses of Nuclear Radiation:
Medical tracers use beta or gamma radiation:
● A source which emits beta or gamma radiation is injected into the patient
● The radiation penetrates the body tissues and can be detected externally
● As the source moves around the body, the radiographer uses a detector to see the
progress
● Doctors use this method to check whether the organs of the body are working as
they should

Sterilising food:
● Food can be irradiated with a high dose of gamma rays to kill all microbes
● Medical equipment can be sterilised using gamma rays

Radiation is also used to treat cancer:

● Radiotherapy kills the cancer cells and stops them dividing - involves a high dose of
gamma radiation

Radiation is used in industry for tracers and thickness gauges:

Risks from Nuclear Radiation:

Dangers of ionising radiations:
● Radiation can cause mutations in living organisms
● Radiation can damage cells and tissues
● Problems arising from the disposal of radioactive waste
Irradiation
Exposure to radiation is called irradiation
● Objects near a radioactive source are irradiated by it. This simply means they're
exposed to it
● Irradiating something does not make it radioactive
● Keeping sources in lead-lined boxes, standing behind barriers or being in a different
room and using remote-controlled arms are all ways of reducing the risk of irradiation

Contamination
Contamination is radioactive particles getting onto objects
● If unwanted radioactive atoms get onto or into an object, the object is said to be
contaminated. E.g. if you touch a radioactive source without wearing gloves, your
hands would be contaminated
● These contaminating atoms might then decay, releasing radiation which could cause
you harm
● Contamination is especially dangerous because radioactive particles could get inside
your body
● Gloves and tongs should be used when handling sources, to avoid particles getting
stuck to your skin or under your nails. Some industrial workers wear protective suits
and masks to stop them breathing in particles

Nuclear Fission:
Fission is the process in which large nuclei are split into two smaller nuclei, releasing energy
in the process
Process of nuclear fission:
● A neutron hits the nucleus (uranium-235)
● When this happens, the nucleus breaks into two daughter nuclei and two or three
neutrons
● These fission products carry away the energy released in the form of kinetic energy

Chain reactions:
As each fission process releases 2 or 3 neutrons, these neutrons can go on to create further
fissions - called chain reaction
Nuclear reactors:
Control rods:
● Left unchecked a chain reaction can result in the number of reactions occurring
increasing over time, with the risk that a reactor might become too hot and melt
● Control rods are made of materials that absorb neutrons
● By lowering them into the reactor you can absorb some of the neutrons, decreasing
the number of fissions occurring

Moderators:
● A moderator slows down the absorption of neutrons by uranium-235

Shielding:
● The process of nuclear fission releases radiation
● If left unshielded the radiation given off by the reactions would be extremely
hazardous to anyone nearby
● The shielding absorbs the radiation, preventing it from leaving the reactor

Nuclear fusion:
Fusion is the process of taking smaller nuclei and bringing them together to form a bigger
nucleus
★ Fusion is the energy source for stars

Fusion only happens at high temperatures and pressures:

● This is because the positively charged nuclei have to get very close to fuse, so they
need to be moving very fast to overcome the strong force due to electrostatic
repulsion
● Fusion reactors are really hard and expensive to build
 8. Astrophysics
The Universe:
Our whole solar system is just part of a huge galaxy
Milky way galaxy:
● The universe is a large collection of billions of galaxies
● A galaxy is a large collection of stars
● Our sun is just one of many billions of stars which form the milky way galaxy
● The force which keeps the stars together in galaxy is gravity
● The universe is mostly empty space and is really, really big

Gravitational field strength:

● Gravity is a force that acts between all objects with mass - any object with mass will
create a gravitational field
● An object’s gravitational field strength depends on:
○ The mass of the object (more mass → stronger gravity)
○ Your distance from the object (gravity gets weaker with distance)
● The value of the gravitational field strength on a planet or
moon differs

Orbital motion:
Gravitational force:
● Causes moons to orbit planets
● Causes the planets to orbit the sun
● Causes artificial satellites to orbit the earth
● Causes comets to orbit the sun
Orbits:
Comets Moons Planets

Highly elliptical - speed up Slightly elliptical with near Slightly elliptical with near
as they approach the sun constant orbital speed constant orbital speed
Orbital speed:
The colour of the stars:
● Stars come in a wide range of sizes and colours, from yellow stars to red dwarfs,
from blue giants to red supergiants
● The primary way of classifying stars from here on Earth is by their colour

Colour and temperature:

● Warm objects emit infrared. Extremely hot objects emit visible light as well.
The colour they emit depends on how hot they are
● By measuring the colour of a star, astronomers can figure out the star’s
surface temperature

Solar mass stars:

● All stars form from a giant cloud of hydrogen gas, called a nebula
● The force of gravity within a nebula pulls the gas together until it forms a hot ball of
gas, known as a protostar
● Once the protostar gets hot enough, nuclear reactions strat within its core and it
becomes a main sequence star
● Eventually the sun will reach a stage when it starts to run out of hydrogen gas in its
core. Once this happens, the nuclear reactions in the core will starts to die down
● When this happens the core will start to shrink and heat up, starting a new series of
reactions around the core. These will cause the outer part of the sun to swell up and
it will become a red giant
● Once this second stage of reactions have finished, the core will collapse completely,
becoming a white dwarf (the hot remnants of a star) whilst the outer parts will be
ejected, forming a spherical cloud of gas around the white dwarf- a planetary nebula

Larger stars:
● Stars that are larger than the sun have much smaller lifespans

● When the nuclear fuel in the core of a large star starts to run out, the star will swell up
once again, but this time it will form a much larger star - a red supergiant
● Once the reactions inside the red supergiant finally finish, the core of the star will
collapse suddenly causing a gigantic explosion - a supernova
● At the centre of this explosion a dense body, called a neutron star will form
● The outer remnants of the star will be cast off into space, forming a nebula
● In the case of the biggest stars, the neutron star that forms at the centre will continue
to collapse under the force of gravity until it forms a black hole
EQUATION LIST:
https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/International%20GCSE/Physics/2017/tea
ching-and-learning-materials/w77419-international-gcse-physics-4ph1-exam-aid-1p2p.pdf