Physics

Course summary

Physics is a creative subject – The concepts are man-made. This is just as creative as composing music or writing a novel. Physics gives you a new appreciation of the world around you. Viewing a rainbow, you can marvel at the interactions between photons and electrons occurring when light from the sun strikes water droplets in the sky. Physics is intellectually challenging, and it is rewarding when you succeed at something that is difficult. UNITS OF STUDY Unit 1: Physics on the Go – Rectilinear motion; forces; energy and power; fluid flow and viscosity; properties of materials and Young’s modulus. Unit 2: Physics at Work – Waves; refraction; polarisation; diffraction; standing waves; Doppler effect; current electricity; photons; wave-particle duality. Unit 3: Physics on the Move – Momentum; circular motion; electric and magnetic fields; capacitors and discharge; particle physics; Standard Model; de Broglie. Unit 4: Physics from Creation to Collapse – Thermal energy; specific heat; ideal gas equation; Boltzmann constant; nuclear decay; oscillations; SHM; astrophysics; gravitational fields; cosmology; fusion.