Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Listed below are the suggested practical activities identified within the three English examination boards (AQA, OCR, Edexcel) for the students to
achieve the practical endorsement to their A-Level Physics award.
To successfully achieve endorsement, candidates will be expected to have completed and recorded 12 activities within which they will have encountered
and demonstrated mastery of 12 practical techniques.
The activities outlined by the exam boards have been mapped to these techniques and so completing them will provide the minimum necessary
coverage to achieve endorsement.
Schools are permitted to choose alternative activities but in that case they will need to undertake mapping of techniques to their chosen activity and
ensure that these alternatives provide the same coverage of the techniques.
In addition there will be a significant element of the written papers which will examine practical skills and may make reference to these activities but
may be set in the context of other activities.
Many of the activities are common to all boards but with slightly different wording. There are separate entries and slightly different references where
appropriate.
Suggested activities
apparatus
http://tap.iop.org/electricity/emf/index.html
there are a collection of episodes on emf & internal
resistance (episodes 119-121)
http://tap.iop.org/electricity/circuits/118/page_46038.
html
again within the section on electric circuits and series
& parallel circuits episode 118 is specifically about
potential dividers
helpful
Suggested activities
apparatus
Styrocells beads
through water or more
sophisticated kits.
(practicalphysics.org)
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practicalchemistry/experiments-hydrogels-hair-gel-anddisposable-nappies
this ref goes to RSC as directed by the physics
site and may be helpful. smart
materials(mindsetsonline) which may help
fast timer + 2
detectors (djb
microtech)
or sig gen etc
http://tap.iop.org/mechanics/materials/index.html
this section on materials has helpful work on Hookes
Law leading to YM.
http://tap.iop.org/mechanics/materials/228/page_465
20.html
Two good simple experiments;
The standard stretching wire;
Bending a beam
http://tap.iop.org/vibration/progressive/311/page_466
61.html
whole section on freq, wavelength & speed including
approach to sound measurement using CRO,
speaker(s) & microphone
episode 311-3
http://tap.iop.org/vibration/superpostion/324/page_46
786.html
specifically episode 324-1 & 2 also
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practicalphysics/stretching-and-force
As above
As above
http://tap.iop.org/vibration/superpostion/index.html
this section on superposition and specifically;
http://tap.iop.org/vibration/superpostion/321/page_46
750.html
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practicalphysics/youngs-slits
series of relevant expts but for two-slits
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practical-
10
episode 321
321-5 for measuring wavelength of a laser. Difficult
with two-slit because faint or with grating easier to
see pattern
For light as above
For sound Episode 321-1 has an expt for hearing
superpositipon
physics/diffraction-light
above for gratings
http://tap.iop.org/vibration/superpostion/index.html
this section on superposition and specifically;
http://tap.iop.org/vibration/superpostion/321/page_46
750.html
episode 321
321-5 for measuring wavelength of a laser. Difficult
with two-slit because faint or with grating easier to
see pattern
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practicalphysics/youngs-slits
series of relevant expts but for two-slits
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practicalphysics/diffraction-light
above for gratings
Suggested activities
apparatus
A number of options
but basic set up with
trolleys, runways and
falling loads would
work. Measure
acceleration using
light gates etc, or
falling load to hit
ground then measure
final velocity (single
light gate or ticker
tape). For this need
also to know time to
fall
http://tap.iop.org/mechanics/momentum/220/page_4
6435.html
this has ideas of collisions & momentum conservation
momentum section;
http://tap.iop.org/mechanics/momentum/index.html
episode 222 has relevant activities on impulse of a
force
http://tap.iop.org/mechanics/momentum/222/page_4
6460.html
episode 222-3 has kicking football
(practicalphysics.org)
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practicalphysics/force-mass-and-acceleration-newtonssecond-law
for N2
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practicalphysics/force-used-kick-football
nice old Nuffield expt about kicking a football
there is a whole section on momentum;
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practicalphysics/momentum
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practicalphysics/momentum
11
12
analyse
Capacitor simple
circuit, stopwatch or
pd sensor
Modern digital scopes
are now cheaper and
more flexible than a
traditional CRO.
Picoscope also
Section on capacitors;
http://tap.iop.org/electricity/capacitors/index.html
decay of charge from a capacitors (episode 129);
http://tap.iop.org/electricity/capacitors/129/page_461
97.html
also energy stored (episode 128);
http://tap.iop.org/electricity/capacitors/128/page_461
77.html
Section on capacitors;
http://tap.iop.org/electricity/capacitors/index.html
decay of charge from a capacitors (episode 129);
http://tap.iop.org/electricity/capacitors/129/page_461
97.html
also energy stored (episode 128);
As above
http://tap.iop.org/electricity/capacitors/128/page_461
77.html
As above
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practicalphysics/effect-temperature-thermistor
simple expt. There are other similar
investigations for other components and
obviously an LDR could be explored illuminated
by a lamp at different heights, or
solar cell whose emf and internal resistance
could also be explored under different light/heat
and with different loads
Suggested activities
apparatus
13
14
Heating water
measure weight loss
record energy
supplied using
SEPenergymeter
Boyles Law
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practicalphysics/boyles-law-0
Charles Law & Law of pressures;
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practicalphysics/gas-laws-and-absolute-zero
Boyles Law
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practicalphysics/boyles-law-0
Charles Law & Law of pressures;
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practicalphysics/gas-laws-and-absolute-zero
Suggested activities
apparatus
http://tap.iop.org/atoms/radioactivity/511/page_4709
6.html
this episode 511 describes a range of absorption
investigation but not the specific absorption of
gamma by lead.
Source + detector
As above
As above
Simple mass on
springs arrangements
+ timing of no of
oscillations
(practicalphysics.org)
15
Absorption of or or radiation
(OCR)
16
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practicalphysics/gamma-radiation-inverse-square-law
Suggested activities
17
apparatus
As above
(practicalphysics.org)
As above but also possible to look at the simple
pendulum;
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practicalphysics/examples-simple-harmonic-motion
or a cantilever;
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practicalphysics/shm-cantilever
As above
18
19
20
Section on Electromagnetism,
http://tap.iop.org/fields/electromagnetism/index.html
then
http://tap.iop.org/fields/electromagnetism/414/page_
46948.html
electromagnetic induction and specifically
episode 414-5 magnet falling through a coil
http://tap.iop.org/fields/electromagnetism/412/page_
46925.html
then episode 412-3
http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practicalphysics/force-wire-carrying-current-magneticfield