Sixth Form A Level Physics Transition Booklet Name:
Welcome to Physics at Portland Place This Transition work is designed to help you to bridge the gap between your GCSE studies and AS/A Level. Why do Transition work? Preparation is crucial for studying A levels. A levels require you to be an independent learner. Although you have fewer subjects, A levels require different study skills and the volume of work is greater due to the increased demand of depth and detail. The exercises in this booklet will ensure that you are ready for the exciting challenges of becoming an A level student in September. It may be necessary to complete some of the tasks on separate sheets of paper. You have the choice of either typing or handwriting your responses. Each subject will be slightly different, but they will all require you to use the skills you will need for A level: independent enquiry; evidence of reading around the subject and enthusiasm and interest. Is Transition work assessed? Yes. In September, your subject teacher will ask you for your Transition work and it will be assessed. Teachers will be able to diagnose your strengths and weaknesses and begin to support and challenge you in a more targeted way. You must bring all the work with you to your first Year 12 Physics lesson in September.
The A Level that we do at Portland Place is AQA s specification 7408 Your AS Level Physics ( year 12 ) will cover the following topics 1. Particle Physics 2. Waves 3. Mechanics 4. Electricity
Year 11 to Year 12 Physics/A-Level Transition Unit Section 1: Research You should be doing Physics because you are interested in it and you should be prepared take things away from lessons and look into them more in your own time. Ahead of the Particle Physics topic you should research:- 1. The discovery of the structure of the atom : electrons, protons and neutrons 2. The discovery of the structure of protons and neutrons : ie quarks 3. The work of Neils Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Enrico Fermi, Wolfgang Pauli, Murray Gell Mann, Richard Feynman Ahead of the Waves topic you should research :- 1. Newton s corpuscular theory of light 2. Huygen s wave theory 3. Snell s la 4. Thomas Young s 2 slit interference experiments Ahead of the mechanics topic you should research :- 1. Newton s laws of force 2. Hooke s work on elasticity Ahead of the electricity topic you should research the work of :- 1. Charles Coulomb 2. Andre Ampere 3. Alessandro Volta 4. George Ohm
Year 11 to Year 12 Physics/A-Level Transition Unit Section 2: Mathematical Requirements 1. You must be able to perform calculation using formulae Example :- If s = ut + ½at 2 and u = 5m/s, t = 2s, a = 10m/s 2 Calculate the displacement s 2. You must be able to rearrange formulae Examples :- If s = ut + ½at 2 what does a equal? If T = 2π (l/g) what does l equal? If x = A cos ωt what does ω equal? 3. You must understand numbers written in standard form Examples :- What is 5.5 x 10 14? 7 x 10-7? 3 x 10 8 / 6 x 10-3?
4. You must know and understand Unit Premultipliers Examples :- What are nanometres? GigaHertz? picofarads? 5. You must be able to solve simultaneous equations Example :- If 24 = 4a + 2b and -8 = 3a 5b, what are a and b? 6. You must be able to work out the gradient of a line Example :- 9 The gradient = 2 1 5 7. You just know and be able to use the general equation for a straight line which is y = In the equation, what are m and c?
Year 11 to Year 12 Physics/A-Level Transition Unit Section 3: Examination Questions Q1 A common type of smoke detector contains a very small amount of Americium-241 (a) Determine the number of each type of nucleon in one Am-241 nucleus. type of nucleon... number... type of nucleon... number... (b) Americium-241 is produced in nuclear reactors through the decay of Plutonium-241 State the decay process responsible for the production of Am-241. Explain your answer. (c) An Americium-241 nucleus decays into nuclide X by emitting an alpha particle. Write an equation for the decay of the nucleus and determine the proton number and nucleon number of X. nucleon number... proton number... (3) (d) The alpha radiation produced by Americium-241 causes the ionisation of Nitrogen and Oxygen molecules in the smoke detector. State what is meant by ionisation. (1)
(e) A friend who has not studied physics suggests that a smoke detector containing radioactive material should not be sold. Use your knowledge of physics to explain why a smoke detector containing Americium-241 does not provide any risk to the user. (Total 10 marks) Q2. The diagram below represents a progressive wave travelling from left to right on a stretched string. (a) (i) Determine the wavelength of the wave. wavelength... m (1)
(ii) The frequency of the wave is 22 Hz. Calculate the speed of the wave. speed... m s 1 (iii) State the phase difference between points X and Y on the string, giving an appropriate unit. Phase difference... (b) Describe how the displacement of point Y on the string varies in the next half-period............. (Total 7 marks)
Q3. The diagram below shows an electric two-wheeled vehicle and driver. (a) The vehicle accelerates horizontally from rest to 27.8 m s 1 in a time of 4.6 s. The mass of the vehicle is 360 kg and the rider has a mass of 82 kg. (i) Calculate the average acceleration during the 4.6 s time interval. (ii) acceleration =... m s 2 Calculate the average horizontal resultant force on the vehicle while it is accelerating. resultant force =... N
(b) State and explain how the horizontal forward force on the vehicle has to change for constant acceleration to be maintained from 0 to 27.8 m s 1.......... (3) (c) The electric motors drive both wheels of the vehicle. Add labelled force arrows to the diagram to show the horizontal forces acting on the vehicle when it is moving at a constant speed. (d) The vehicle now accelerates to a constant speed of 55 m s 1. The useful power output of the motors is 22 kw at this speed. Calculate the horizontal resistive force acting on the vehicle. horizontal resistive force =... N (Total 11 marks) Q4. (a) A semiconducting diode is an example of a non-ohmic component. State what is meant by a non-ohmic component....... (1)
(b) A filament lamp is also an example of a non-ohmic component. (i) Sketch on the axes below the current-voltage characteristic for a filament lamp. (ii) State, with reference to the current-voltage characteristic you have drawn, how the resistance of the lamp changes as the pd across its terminals changes. (1) (c) A filament lamp has a power rating of 36 W when there is a pd across its terminals of 12V. (i) Calculate the resistance of the filament when the pd across its terminals is 12V. resistance =... Ω
(ii) A student predicts that if the pd across the bulb is reduced to 6.0 V the power rating of the bulb would be 9.0 W. State and explain how in practice the power rating will be slightly different from this value.... (3) (Total 9 marks)