REQUIRED PRACTICALS
Variables
Independant Variable - The variable that gets changed
Dependant Variable - The variable that is measured
Control Variable - The variables that are kept the same throughout the experiment
Specific Heat Capacity Practical
Step 1.
Equipment Setup
1. Place an empty beaker on a balance
2. Tare the balance to zero
3. Pour oil into the beaker
4. Record the mass of the oil from the balance
Safety Concerns
Step 2. Futher Setup
1. Using a thermometer, record the initial temperature of the oil
2. Place an immersion heater into the oil
Safety Concerns
Step 3.
Even more setup
Wrap the beaker in insulating foam
Safety Concerns
Step 4.
Measurements
1. Connect the immersion heater to a joulemeter
2. Connect the immersion heater to a powerpack
3. Turn on the powerpack
4. Leave for 30 minutes
5. Record the final temperature from the thermometer
6. Record the energy transfer from the joulemeter
7. Calculate the specific heat capacity using the shc equation
Safety Concerns
Thermal Insulators Practical
Step 1.
Equipment Setup
1. Place a small beaker inside a large beaker
2. Add boiling water to the small beaker
3. Place a cardboard lid over the large beaker, ensure that the lid has a hole in it
4. Put a thermometer in the hole of the lid
5. Record the initial temperature, and then rerecord the temperature every 3 minutes for 15 minutes
Safety Concerns
Step 2. Testing Insulators
1. Repeat the experiment using the same volume of boiling water, this time place an insulating material in the large beaker
2. Repeat the experiment many times, using different insulating materials of the same mass
Safety Concerns
Resistance Practical
Step 1.
Equipment Setup
1. Set up a circuit as shown
Safety Concerns
Step 2. Measuring Resistance
1. Tape a wire to a meter ruler
2. Connect the meter ruler to the circuit with crocodile wires
3. Record the distance between the two crocodile clips
4. Turn on the circuit
5. Record the voltage across the wire by using the voltmeter
6. Record the current in the circuit by using the ameter
7. Calculate the resistance using the equation: R=V/I
Safety Concerns
Step 3.
Different Resistances
1.Turn off the circuit
2. Move the crocodile clips further apart
3. Record the distance between the two crocodile clips
4. Turn on the circuit
5. Record the voltage, current, and calculate the resistance
Safety Concerns
Density Practical
Step 1.
Equipment Setup
1. Weigh and record the mass of the irregular object using a balance
2. Place a Eureka can with the spout over a measuring cylinder
3. Fill the beaker with water
4. Allow any excess water to drain out of the spout, into the measuring cylinder
5. Empty the measuring cylinder, then put it back under the spout of the eureka can
Safety Concerns
Step 2.
Measuring Volume
1. Place an irregular object into the Eureka can
2. Allow the displaced water to drain into the measurinf cylinder, the volume of water displaced will be equal to the volume of the object in the water
3. Measure and record the amount of water accumulated in the measuring cylinder
4. Use the equation: Desity= Mass/Volume
Safety Concerns
Paper 2 Required Practicals
Extension Practical
Step 1.
Equipment Setup
1. Set up clamp stand on the edge of a table with two clamps attached by two bosses. Place a ounterweight on the base of the clamp stand.
Safety Concerns
Do not drop counterweight
Step 2. More setup
1. Attach a meter ruler to the inner-most clamp
2. Attach a spring to the outermost clamp
3. Record the initial length of the spring
Safety Concerns
Step 3.
Measuring extension
1. Add a 1N weight to the spring
2. Measure and record the length of the spring
3. Add another 1N weight
4. Measure and record the new length of the spring
5. Repeat steps 3 - 4 three more times up to a combined weight of 5N
6. Find the extension of the spring for each weight:
Safety Concerns
Acceleration Practical
Step 1.
Everything
1. Attach a pulley to the end of a table. Run a string over the pulley connected to a toy car on one end and a weight on the other end.
2. Attach a meter ruler to the side of the table.
3. Pull the car back to the 1 metre mark
4. Let go of the car and allow the weight to fall, immediatley start a timer.
5. Stop the timer when the car collides with the pulley.
6. Repeat the experiment with different weights on the car and on the initial weight.
7. Find the acceleration using the equation
Safety Concerns
Do not drop counterweight
Waves Practicals
Method 1.
Ripple Tank
1. Set up a ripple tank over a piece of paper.
2. Shine a light source through the ripple tank.
3. Turn off the lights in the room and shut the curtains, ensuring that the room is dark.
4. To measure wavelengths, place a ruler on the piece of paper perpendicular to the wave fronts. Measure the distance between as many wavefronts as possible and divide by the number of waves.
5. To measure frequency, count the number of wavefronts that pass a point in 10 seconds and divide the result by 10.
6. Caculate wave speed using the equation:
Safety Concerns
Do not stare directly at light source
Method 2.
Vibrating String
1. On a table, set up a string running over a pulley and wooden bridge, attached to a vibration generator and a weight.
2. Turn on the vibration generator and adjust the frequency until the string begins to vibrate only vertically.
3. To measure wavelength, use a meter ruler to measure the distance between multiple standing waves, and divide the result by the number of waves measured.
4. To measure frequency, use a timer to time the amount of time it takes for 10 oscillations. Divide the result by 10 to find the time period, then use the equation:
5. Find the wave speed using the equation:
Safety Concerns
The string may snap
Light Practical
Step 1.
Ray box Setup
1. Set up a ray box with a lens and a slit.
Safety Concerns
Glass lenses can smash and cause cuts
Step 2. Paper Setup
1. Using a ruler, draw a pencil line down the center of the paper
2. Using a protractor and a ruler, draw another pencil line adjascent to the initial pencil line. Label this line N.
Safety Concerns
Lead pencils should not be injested
Avoid painful papercuts
Step 3.
Doing stuff
1. Place a glass block on the border of the initial pencil line
2. Turn off all the lights in a room and close curtains, ensuring that it is dark
3. Turn on the ray box
4. Aim the ray emitted by the ray box at the point where the normal line and initial line intersect
Safety Concerns
Glass can smash
Do not stare directly at the light source
Step 4.
Finding a reflection
1. Adjust the position of the ray box until a reflected ray is visible
Safety Concerns
Step 5.
Markings
1. Mark with crosses two points on the incident ray, the reflected ray, and the transmitted ray
Safety Concerns
Step 6. Remove everything
1. Turn back on the lights of the room and open the curtains
2. Turn off the raybox
3. Remove the glass block
Safety Concerns
Step 7. Connecting the dots
1. Draw a pencil line between the two points of the inident line
2. Draw a pencil line between the two points of the reflected line
3. Draw a pencil line between the two points of the transmitted line
Safety Concerns
Step 8. Connecting even more dots
1. Draw a pencil line connecting the transmitted line to the shared point of the incident and reflected line
2. Using a protractor, measure the angle between the normal line and the incident line
3. Using a protractor, measure the angle between the normal line and the reflected line
4. Using a protractor, measure the angle between the normal line and the refracted line
5. Repeat the entire experiment again, using a different block of material
Safety Concerns
Radiation Practical
Step 1.
Everything
1. Put a Leslie cube on a heat proof mat.
2. Align a radiation detector 20cm away from one side of the Leslie Cube.
3. Fill the Leslie cube with boiling water.
4. Turn on the radiation detector.
5. Measure and record the radiation at each surface of the Leslie Cube.
Safety Concerns
Boiling water
Units
The système international d'unités (SI) are the standardised units of measurement in physics. When using equations, you should always use the SI units, this may mean that you have to make conversions. SI units (at GCSE) are always base units (no prefix), however, this is not true for mass which needs to be in kg.
Système Internationale d'Unités:
metre (m)
kilograms (kg)
seconds (s)
ampere (A)
kelvin (K)
mole (mol)
Derived Units:
Measurable quantities that have there own units but with measurments that come from base units are called derived units.
frequncy (Hz) Hertz
force (N) Newtons
energy (J) Joules
power (W) Watts
pressure (Pa) Pascals
charge (C) Coulombs
potential difference (V) Voltage
resistance (Ω) Ohms
magnetic flux density (T) Teslas
Unit Conversions
Prefix |
Prefix Abreviation |
Multiple Size |
Power of 10
Relative to base unit |
Tetra |
T |
1,000,000,000,000 |
12 |
Giga |
G |
1,000,000,000 |
9 |
Mega |
M |
1,000,000,000 |
6 |
Kilo |
k |
1000 |
3 |
Centi |
c |
0.01 |
-2 |
Milli |
m |
0.001 |
-3 |
Micro |
μ |
0.000001 |
-6 |
Nano |
n |
0.000000001 |
-9 |
Paper 1 Equations to Learn
Paper 2 Equations to Learn
Physics Equations Matching Game
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