This is all the content required for physics paper 1. Each topic/lesson subheading has a link to either a cognito or Free Science lessons video. This doc states if the topic is triple content. Also includes required practicals.
Physics paper 1 videos notes
ENERGY
Energy stores:
- Energy is never created or destroyed, only transferred between different forms and
objects.
- A collection of matter is called a system. When the system changes, energy is
transferred, either between objects or different forms.
Kinetic energy:
- Kinetic energy is energy that it possesses, due to its motion, so anything that is
moving has kinetic energy.
- How much kinetic energy an object has depends on two things: speed and mass.
The faster an object is moving, the more kinetic energy it will have. The more mass
an object has, the more kinetic energy it has.
- Force and extension have a directly proportional relationship. However if we apply
too great of a force, then extension is no longer directly proportional to the force as
the spring has been stretched beyond the limit of proportionality. Now it won’t return
back to its original length if we take away the force.
Elastic potential energy:
- When we stretch a spring we’re applying a force to change the length of the spring.
Applying a force like this is called doing ‘work’. We’re putting energy into stretching
the spring. The stretched spring is storing this energy and we call that energy elastic
potential energy.
Gravity, weight and GPE:
- Gravity is a force of attraction between objects. The size of that force depends on
mass and how far apart the object is.
- Weight is the force acting on an object in a gravitational field while mass is an
intrinsic property.
Specific heat capacity:
- The specific heat capacity of a substance is the amount of energy required to raise
the temperature of 1 kg of the substance by 1 degrees celsius.
Energy transfers: pendulum:
- The law of conservation of energy: energy can be transferred usefully, stored or
dissipated but it cannot be created or destroyed.
- A system is an object or a group of objects.
- In a closed system no energy can enter or leave.
Work done by a force:
- Work is done whenever energy is transferred from one store to another.
- Mechanical work involves using a force to move an object.
- Electrical work involves a current transferring energy.
- An example:
The car is travelling at a speed of 20 m/s. The driver applies the brakes and the car
stops. The brake presses against the wheel which creates friction between the brake
and the wheel. The car moving is at a kinetic energy store and this is transferred to
thermal energy stored in the brakes. The temperature of the brakes increases and
the car slows down and stops.
Cooling of buildings:
, - Thermal energy is usually lost from buildings through conduction (vibrations pass
along particles in the walls/floor/roof/windows) transferring energy to the outside
surroundings.
- The higher the thermal conductivity of a material, the higher the rate of energy
transfer by conduction across that material.
- Modern houses are built from two layers: external brick and internal breezeblock wall.
Between the walls there is a cavity. Builders pack the cavity with an insulating
material which has a very low thermal conductivity. This reduces the overall thermal
conductivity so much less thermal energy passes through the walls and escapes
from the house. Thermal energy can also escape through the windows. Single glazed
windows have high thermal conductivity but double glazed windows have low thermal
conductivity. Loft insulation also reduces thermal energy loss.
- Reducing thermal energy transfer from a house: construct the building using
materials with a low thermal conductivity; build the house with thick walls as this also
reduces the rate of thermal energy transfer.
Energy from fossil fuels:
- The three main fossil fuels are coal, oil and natural gas.
- Advantages of fossil fuels: they are reliable since they always provide energy when
we need it; they release lots of energy which makes them useful for example
aeroplanes as they can fly for thousands of miles before refuelling; relatively cheap;
very versatile.
- Disadvantages: burning fossil fuels releases a huge amount of carbon dioxide which
contributes to climate change; they are non-renewable so they will one day
eventually run out; they can release other pollutants for example burning diesel
releases nitrogen oxides and carbon particles and coal releases sulphur dioxide
which leads to acid rain.
Nuclear power:
- Nuclear power is non-renewable. Nuclear power plants run on the elements uranium
and plutonium.
- Advantages: it releases no carbon dioxide once it is running therefore it does not
contribute to climate change; extremely reliable as it generates a lot of electricity
exactly when we want it.
- Disadvantages: nuclear power plants contain highly dangerous radioactive materials
so if there is an accident then these materials could be released into the
environment; decommissioning a nuclear power plant takes many years and is
extremely expensive; generates large amounts of highly dangerous radioactive waste
so this must be stored for thousands of years before it’s safe.
The uk energy mix:
- Up until the 1950s almost all of the electricity generated in the UK came from burning
coal. Coal and coal gas were also used for almost all heating and cooking in the Uk.
- In the 1950s, nuclear power came online and by the 1980s this produced around
20% of all the Uk’s electricity.
- In the 1970s, the UK became a major producer of oil and gas from the North Sea and
this began to replace coal for electricity generation.
- By 2000, as much electricity was generated from burning gas as from coal.
- The switch from coal to gas has many advantages: burning gas generates less
carbon dioxide than burning coal which contributes less to climate change; gas-fired
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