GCSE Physics topics

Power

Power as how quickly energy is transferred or work is done, with the watt as one joule per second.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.1.1.4 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Energy stores & transfers — “You can’t rate a transfer you can’t trace.” · Work = force × distance — “Power is work done per second — work comes first.”

Specific heat capacity

A first look at why some materials take ages to heat up: every material has its own price, in joules, for each degree of warming.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.1.1.3 · AQA 8464 6.3.2.2 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Temperature is not energy — “Specific heat capacity puts a number on the gap between temperature and energy.” · The kilowatt-hour

Energy stores and systems

Describing how the energy stored in a set of objects is shared out differently after something happens — a thrown ball, a braking car, a kettle boiling — and showing the before and after amounts on one scale.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.1.1.1 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Energy stores & transfers — “GCSE keeps the same store-to-store story and starts putting numbers on it.” · Energy is always conserved — “Showing where the energy ends up only works if the total is known to stay the same.”

Kinetic energy

Calculating the energy an object has because it is moving, from its mass and its speed.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.1.1.2 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Speed = distance ÷ time — “Kinetic energy is worked out from speed, so speed has to be a number first.” · Substituting negatives & squares (MATH) · Energy stores and systems — “The calculation fills in one store in the before-and-after picture.” · Rearranging multi-step formulae (MATH)

Gravitational potential energy

Calculating the energy an object gains when it is lifted, from its mass, the strength of gravity and the height.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.1.1.2 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Calculating weight (W = m × g) — “The equation is weight multiplied by height, so weight from mass comes first.” · Work = force × distance · Energy stores and systems — “The calculation fills in one store in the before-and-after picture.”

Reducing unwanted energy transfers

Cutting waste with lubrication and insulation, and how the thickness and thermal conductivity of walls set how fast a building cools.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.1.2.1 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Conduction: heat through solids — “Insulation only makes sense once conduction through solids is understood.” · Dissipation: energy spreading out — “Cutting waste starts from knowing where the energy spreads out to.” · Friction and drag

Efficiency

Efficiency as the useful share of the energy (or power) put in, written as a decimal or a percentage.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.1.2.2 · Foundation and Higher, with some Higher-only content

Builds on: Sankey diagrams — “A Sankey diagram already shows the useful and wasted shares that efficiency turns into one number.” · Fractions ↔ decimals ↔ % (MATH) · Power — “One of the two efficiency equations is written in terms of power.”

Energy resources: renewable, reliable, and what they are used for

The main energy resources (fossil fuels, nuclear, bio-fuel, wind, hydro, geothermal, tides, Sun, waves), which are renewable, which are reliable, and their use for transport, electricity and heating.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.1.3 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Renewable and non-renewable resources — “The renewable/non-renewable sort is the starting point; GCSE adds reliability and use.”

Energy resources: environmental impact and trends

The environmental cost of each resource, reading patterns in how energy use is changing, and why science can identify a problem without being able to fix it alone.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.1.3 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Renewable and non-renewable resources — “Weighing one advantage against one drawback grows into a full comparison.” · Energy: fossil and renewable (GEOG) · Fossil fuels are finite (CHEM) · Energy resources: renewable, reliable, and what they are used for — “You compare the resources only once you know what they are.”

Circuit symbols and diagrams

Drawing and reading circuit diagrams with the standard set of symbols.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.2.1.1 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Circuit symbols and diagrams — “The same shorthand, with more components to recognise.”

Charge and current

Current as the rate at which electric charge flows, measured in coulombs passing each second, and the same everywhere in a single loop.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.2.1.2 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Current around a series loop — “Current as a flow of charge is the idea this equation puts a number on.” · Static electricity: charging by rubbing

Current–potential difference graphs: resistor, lamp and diode

Telling fixed-resistance (ohmic) components from changing ones by the shape of their graphs, and the circuit used to take the readings.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.2.1.4 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Calculating resistance (R = V ÷ I) — “A characteristic graph is resistance read from many pairs of readings instead of one.” · Direct proportion graphs (MATH) — “A fixed resistor is recognised by a straight line through the origin.” · Current & simple circuits

Thermistors and light-dependent resistors

Components whose resistance falls as they get warmer or brighter, and their use in thermostats and automatic lights.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.2.1.4 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Resistance: what opposes current — “A sensor is a component whose resistance changes, so resistance must already mean something.” · Current–potential difference graphs: resistor, lamp and diode

Resistance in series and parallel, and series-circuit calculations

Adding resistances in series, knowing that parallel resistors give less resistance than the smallest one, and calculating currents, voltages and resistances in series circuits.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.2.2 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Series vs parallel circuits — “The rules for resistance sit on top of the two circuit layouts.” · Calculating resistance (R = V ÷ I) — “A circuit calculation chains V = I × R across several components.”

Direct and alternating potential difference

The difference between a supply that pushes one way (a battery) and one that keeps reversing (the mains: 50 Hz, about 230 V in the UK).

Written against: AQA 8464 6.2.3.1 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Voltage: the electrical push — “Alternating potential difference is the same push, now reversing direction.” · Pitch and frequency

Mains electricity: three-core cable and safety

The live, neutral and earth wires — colour, job and voltage — and why a live wire is dangerous even with the switch off.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.2.3.2 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Voltage: the electrical push — “Each wire is described by its potential difference to earth.” · Series vs parallel circuits · Direct and alternating potential difference — “The live wire carries the alternating supply described there.”

Electrical power

How a device's power depends on the current through it and the potential difference across it.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.2.4.1 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Power ratings on appliances — “The watts on the label are what these equations calculate.” · Calculating resistance (R = V ÷ I) — “The second power equation comes from combining the first with V = I × R.” · Power — “Power was defined as energy per second in the Energy topic.” · Rearranging multi-step formulae (MATH)

Energy transferred by appliances

How much energy an appliance moves depends on its power and how long it is on; work is done whenever charge flows.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.2.4.2 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: The kilowatt-hour — “The kilowatt-hour is energy = power × time in household units.” · Charge and current — “The second equation uses charge flow.” · Electrical power — “The first equation uses electrical power.”

The National Grid

The cables and transformers that carry electricity from power stations to homes, and why raising the voltage for the journey wastes less energy. *Higher tier only (was 6.2.4.3b, Transformer power equation):* Using the fact that an ideal transformer passes on all its power to find a missing voltage or current.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.2.4.3 · Foundation and Higher, with some Higher-only content

Builds on: Dissipation: energy spreading out — “The Grid's high voltage exists to cut the energy dissipated in the cables.” · Voltage: the electrical push · Electrical power — “Power = current² × resistance explains why a smaller current wastes less.”

Internal energy

The total energy of all the particles in something — their movement plus their positions — and how heating raises it by warming the substance or changing its state.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.3.2.1 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Temperature is not energy — “Internal energy is the "how much" that temperature alone does not tell you.” · The particle model of matter — “It is the energy of the moving particles the model describes.”

Specific latent heat

The energy needed to melt or boil one kilogram of a substance without changing its temperature, for melting (fusion) and boiling (vaporisation).

Written against: AQA 8464 6.3.2.3 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Melting and freezing — “Latent heat is the energy that melting takes in while the temperature stands still.” · Evaporating, boiling and condensing · Internal energy — “The energy goes into internal energy without raising the temperature.” · Specific heat capacity

Heating and cooling curves

Reading a temperature–time graph that includes a change of state, where the flat sections mark melting or boiling.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.3.2.3 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Melting and freezing — “The flat parts of the curve sit at the melting and boiling points.” · Real-life graphs (MATH) · Specific latent heat — “The flat sections are where latent heat is being supplied.”

Particle motion in gases

Gas particles move randomly; temperature reflects their average kinetic energy; warming a gas in a fixed space raises its pressure.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.3.3.1 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Gas pressure: particles hitting walls — “Year 9 explains gas pressure by particles hitting the walls; GCSE adds what temperature does to it.” · The particle model of matter

Radioactive decay, activity and count-rate

Unstable nuclei give out radiation at random; activity is how many decay each second (in becquerels); count-rate is what a detector records.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.4.2.1 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Inside the atom (CHEM) — “Decay is something the nucleus does, so the nucleus has to be familiar.” · Mass number and isotopes (CHEM) — “Unstable nuclei are particular isotopes.”

Alpha, beta, gamma and neutron radiation

What each kind of radiation is, and how they differ in how far they travel in air, what stops them and how strongly they ionise — used to choose the right source for a job.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.4.2.1 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Thermal radiation · Radioactive decay, activity and count-rate — “These are the radiations given out in decay.” · Inside the atom (CHEM) — “Each is described using protons, neutrons and electrons.”

Nuclear equations

Writing balanced equations for a single alpha or beta decay by making the mass numbers and atomic numbers add up; gamma emission changes neither.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.4.2.2 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Chemical reactions & equations (CHEM) · Mass number and isotopes (CHEM) — “The equations balance mass numbers and atomic numbers.” · Alpha, beta, gamma and neutron radiation — “Each equation shows an alpha or a beta particle leaving.”

Half-life

The time for half the unstable nuclei in a sample to decay (or for the count-rate to halve), how that follows from decay being random, and reading it from data.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.4.2.3 · Foundation and Higher, with some Higher-only content

Builds on: Probability of single events (MATH) · Ratio notation (MATH) · Radioactive decay, activity and count-rate — “Half-life describes how activity and count-rate fall.”

Contamination and irradiation

The difference between getting radioactive material on or in something and merely exposing it to radiation, the hazards of each, precautions, and why findings are peer reviewed.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.4.2.4 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Alpha, beta, gamma and neutron radiation — “The hazard depends on which type of radiation is given out.”

Newton’s laws (qualitative)

Why things keep moving, speed up, or push back.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.4.2.1 · Foundation and Higher, with some Higher-only content

Builds on: Contact and non-contact forces · Friction and drag · Forces & balance — “The laws formalise your balanced-forces intuition.”

Rearranging F = ma

Use and rearrange F = ma to find any one of the three.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.4.2.2 · Foundation and Higher, with some Higher-only content

Builds on: Solving two-step linear equations (MATH) — “F = ma is a two-step equation wearing a lab coat — rearranging it IS maths.” · Acceleration: speeding up, slowing down — “F = ma only means something once acceleration is a quantity you can point to.” · Newton’s laws (qualitative) — “Rearranging only helps once the law itself makes sense.”

The language of motion

Speed, velocity and acceleration name three different ideas, even though everyday speech blurs them. Physics asks for the right word on purpose.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.4.1.3 · Foundation and Higher, with some Higher-only content

Builds on: Speed = distance ÷ time · Acceleration: speeding up, slowing down — “The words only sharpen once the ideas they separate exist.”

Terminal velocity

A first look at why falling things stop speeding up: drag grows with speed until it balances weight, and the fall settles at a steady top speed.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.4.1.5 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Friction and drag — “Terminal velocity is drag catching up with weight.” · Calculating weight (W = m × g) · Newton’s laws (qualitative) — “It's Newton's first law arriving mid-fall.”

The wave equation

A first look at wave speed = frequency × wavelength: one tidy GCSE equation linking how often a wave repeats to how long each ripple is.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.6.1.2 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Pitch and frequency — “The equation multiplies frequency — pitch's number — by wavelength.” · Echoes and the speed of sound

How an electric motor spins

A first look at the motor: put a current-carrying coil in a magnetic field and it feels a turning force. Everything from fans to trains rides on that trick.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.7.2.3 · Higher only

Builds on: Magnets: poles push and pull · Making an electromagnet stronger · Electromagnets — “A motor is an electromagnet arranged to chase itself.”

Elastic potential energy

Calculating the energy stored in a stretched or squashed spring from its spring constant and its extension.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.1.1.2 · AQA 8464 6.5.3 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Stretching springs — “The energy stored depends on how far the spring has stretched, which is the pattern Hooke's law describes.” · Stretching, squashing and Hooke's law — “The spring constant in this equation is defined in the Forces topic.”

Scalars and vectors

Quantities with size only (scalars) and quantities with size and direction (vectors), drawn as arrows.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.1.1 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Drawing force diagrams — “A force arrow is already a vector: length for size, direction for direction.” · The language of motion — “Speed against velocity is the first scalar–vector pair pupils meet.”

Free body diagrams and resolving forces

Showing every force on one object, splitting a force into two parts at right angles, and using scale drawings to find a resultant with its direction.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.1.4 · Higher only

Builds on: Drawing force diagrams — “A free body diagram is a force diagram for one object on its own.” · Resultant force — “Finding a resultant at an angle extends finding one along a line.” · Simple scale drawings (MATH) · Scalars and vectors — “Resolving a force treats it as a vector.”

Stretching, squashing and Hooke's law

Elastic and inelastic deformation, why changing a shape takes more than one force, and extension being proportional to force up to a limit — with the spring constant as the link.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.3 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Stretching springs — “The straight-line pattern from Year 7 now gets its constant.” · Direct proportion y = kx (MATH) — “F = k × e is direct proportion with k as the constant.” · Measuring forces in newtons

Distance and displacement

Distance is how far something has moved; displacement is how far it has ended up from the start, in a stated direction.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.4.1.1 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: The language of motion · Scalars and vectors — “Distance is the scalar and displacement the vector.”

Typical speeds

Everyday speeds to know by heart — walking, running, cycling, common forms of transport and sound in air — and why speed is rarely constant.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.4.1.2 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Speed = distance ÷ time — “A typical speed means nothing until speed itself is understood.” · Echoes and the speed of sound

Distance–time graphs

Drawing a distance–time graph from measurements and finding speed from its gradient.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.4.1.4 · Foundation and Higher, with some Higher-only content

Builds on: Speed = distance ÷ time — “Reading the fastest part of a journey becomes measuring exactly how fast.” · Gradient as a rate (MATH) — “Speed from a distance–time graph is a gradient read as a rate.” · Real-life graphs (MATH) · Gradient of a curve (MATH)

Calculating acceleration

Acceleration as change in velocity divided by the time taken, slowing down as deceleration, and estimating everyday accelerations.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.4.1.5 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Acceleration: speeding up, slowing down — “The equation puts a number on "how quickly the speed changes".” · The language of motion

Velocity–time graphs

Drawing a velocity–time graph and reading acceleration from how steep it is. *Higher tier only (was 6.5.4.1.5c, Velocity–time graphs: distance from the area):* Finding the distance travelled from the area under a velocity–time graph, by calculation or by counting squares.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.4.1.5 · Foundation and Higher, with some Higher-only content

Builds on: Gradient as a rate (MATH) — “Acceleration from the graph is again a gradient read as a rate.” · Perimeter & area (MATH) — “The area under the line is made of rectangles and triangles.” · Area of a trapezium (MATH) · Calculating acceleration — “The gradient is the acceleration that equation defines.” · Distance–time graphs · Area under a graph (MATH)

Uniform acceleration and falling

Linking start speed, end speed, acceleration and distance for steady acceleration, and knowing that things fall freely near the Earth at about 9.8 m/s².

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.4.1.5 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Rearranging multi-step formulae (MATH) · Calculating acceleration — “The equation only applies when the acceleration is steady.”

Newton's Third Law

When two objects interact they push or pull on each other with equal and opposite forces.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.4.2.3 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Newton’s laws (qualitative) — “The law was met in words; GCSE asks pupils to apply it.” · Forces & balance — “Third-law pairs must be told apart from the balanced forces on one object.”

Stopping distance

Stopping distance is thinking distance plus braking distance, and it grows with speed.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.4.3.1 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Speed = distance ÷ time — “Thinking distance is speed multiplied by reaction time.”

Reaction time

Typical human reaction times, what slows them (tiredness, drugs, alcohol, distraction), how to measure them and what that does to thinking distance.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.4.3.2 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Reflexes & the nervous system (BIOL) · Recreational drugs (BIOL) · Stopping distance — “Reaction time sets the thinking part of the stopping distance.” · The reflex arc and reaction time (BIOL)

Braking distance: road, weather and vehicle condition

How wet or icy roads and worn brakes or tyres lengthen braking distance, and estimating emergency stopping distances across typical speeds.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.4.3.3 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Friction and drag — “Braking depends on friction between tyre and road.” · Estimating before calculating (MATH) · Stopping distance — “Braking distance is the second part of the stopping distance.”

Braking and energy

Brakes do work that turns the car's kinetic energy into heating of the brakes; faster cars need bigger braking forces; large decelerations risk overheating and loss of control.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.4.3.4 · Foundation and Higher, with some Higher-only content

Builds on: Work = force × distance — “Brakes stop a car by doing work against its motion.” · Rearranging F = ma · Kinetic energy — “The energy the brakes must remove is the car's kinetic energy.” · Calculating acceleration

Momentum

Momentum as mass multiplied by velocity — a property every moving object has.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.5.1 · Higher only

Builds on: The language of motion — “Momentum uses velocity, so direction matters.” · Scalars and vectors — “Momentum is a vector.”

Conservation of momentum

In a closed system the total momentum before a collision or other event equals the total after it.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.5.5.2 · Higher only

Builds on: Energy is always conserved · Momentum — “You conserve a quantity once it is defined.” · Newton's Third Law

Transverse and longitudinal waves

Waves that shake across their direction of travel (water ripples) and along it (sound), and the evidence that the wave travels while the water or air stays put.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.6.1.1 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Sound needs a medium — “Sound as particles nudging their neighbours is the longitudinal wave in everyday words.” · Light & sound basics — “The evidence asked for is that waves carry energy without carrying the stuff.”

Amplitude, wavelength, frequency and period

The four measurements that describe a wave, read from a diagram, with period as one divided by frequency.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.6.1.2 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Pitch and frequency — “Frequency was first met as the number behind pitch.” · Loudness and amplitude — “Amplitude was first met as the size behind loudness.”

Measuring the speed of waves

Methods for measuring the speed of sound in air and of ripples on water.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.6.1.2 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Echoes and the speed of sound — “Timing an echo is the simplest version of the method.” · The wave equation — “The ripple-tank method finds speed from frequency and wavelength.”

The electromagnetic spectrum

One family of transverse waves, all travelling at the same speed in a vacuum, in order from radio to gamma; our eyes detect only the visible part.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.6.2.1 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Splitting white light — “The visible spectrum is the middle slice of the full one.” · Thermal radiation — “Infrared was met as thermal radiation crossing empty space.” · Transverse and longitudinal waves — “Electromagnetic waves are transverse.” · The wave equation

How materials treat different wavelengths, and why waves refract

Materials absorb, transmit, refract or reflect electromagnetic waves differently depending on wavelength; refraction explained by the change of speed, using wave-front diagrams.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.6.2.2 · Higher only

Builds on: Refraction: light changes direction — “The Year 8 explanation — light changes speed — now gets its wave-front picture.” · Seeing colour: filters and surfaces · The electromagnetic spectrum — “The rule is about the whole spectrum, not just light.”

Where electromagnetic waves come from, and their hazards

Changes in atoms and nuclei produce or absorb these waves (gamma rays come from the nucleus); ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays damage body tissue, with dose as the measure of risk. *Higher tier only (was 6.6.2.3a, Radio waves and electrical circuits):* Radio waves are made by oscillations in circuits, and when absorbed they set up an alternating current of the same frequency.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.6.2.3 · Foundation and Higher, with some Higher-only content

Builds on: The electromagnetic spectrum — “The hazards belong to the short-wavelength end of the spectrum.” · Alpha, beta, gamma and neutron radiation — “Gamma rays and ionising power were met in the radioactivity topic.” · Electronic structure (CHEM) · Direct and alternating potential difference — “What they induce is an alternating current.”

Uses of electromagnetic waves

One or two practical uses for each part of the spectrum, from radio and television to medical imaging.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.6.2.4 · Foundation and Higher, with some Higher-only content

Builds on: The electromagnetic spectrum — “Each use belongs to a named part of the spectrum.”

Magnetic poles, permanent and induced magnets

Like poles repel and unlike attract; a permanent magnet makes its own field, while an induced magnet is only magnetic while it sits in another field and is always attracted.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.7.1.1 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Magnets: poles push and pull — “Induced magnets are explained by the same pole rules.”

The magnetic field of a current: wires and solenoids

A current makes a magnetic field around a wire; coiling the wire into a solenoid and adding an iron core makes it stronger; drawing both field patterns with their direction.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.7.2.1 · Foundation and Higher

Builds on: Electromagnets — “An electromagnet is the solenoid this section draws the field of.” · Plotting magnetic field lines — “The field of a wire or a coil is drawn with the same field-line rules as a bar magnet.” · Making an electromagnet stronger

The motor effect and Fleming's left-hand rule

A current-carrying wire in a magnetic field feels a force; the left-hand rule gives its direction, and the force depends on field strength, current and length.

Written against: AQA 8464 6.7.2.2 · Higher only

Builds on: Plotting magnetic field lines — “The rule needs the direction of the field.” · Current around a series loop · The magnetic field of a current: wires and solenoids — “The force arises because the wire's own field meets the magnet's.”