English Language School (PVT), Dubai

SCHEME OF WORK
AS Physics

Pearson Edexcel AS Physics

Scheme of Work 1 Year (AS)
Week
1

Prior Learning
GCSE mechanics
describing motion
graphically

Content of Lessons
SI base and derived units.
Measurement & techniques.
Sig. figs., scientific notation, standard form and prefixes.
Distance, displacement, speed, velocity and
acceleration.
Displacement/time and velocity/time graphs and their
interpretation, for motion with uniform and non-uniform
acceleration.

Teaching Suggestions
The work on SI base and
derived units, Sig. figs.,
standard form and prefixes
is required for all topics
and needs to be revisited
regularly.

Spec
Reference
1,
Introduce 2,
3, 4
10, 11

Displacement/time graph
for a trolley on a runway
with a motion sensor.
Mathematical requirement:
graph plotting and
measuring gradients

GCSE mechanics
equations for
speed and
acceleration

Derive equations of motion:

(u v)t
2
v u at
s

Examples to include
positive and negative
values of the variables.
Mathematical requirement:
manipulate of equations.

s ut 12 at 2
v 2 u 2 2as
Practise problems in one dimension.
Measurement of the acceleration of free fall.

Investigate the motion of a

bouncing ball.

9, 19

Relevant
Support

CORE PRACTICAL 1: Determine the acceleration of a

freely falling object.

GCSE mechanics

Free-body force diagrams

Newtons second
law as F = ma

Newtons second law of motion

mass and weight

Mass and weight.

Acceleration, mass and force.

All students should carry

out this experiment.
Use of light gates to
investigate the effect of
force and mass on the
acceleration of an object.

16, 17, 18,

20

Motion on a linear air track

to demonstrate N1.

F = ma
W = mg

2 students on roller skates

to demonstrate N3.

Newtons third law and Newtons first law of motion.

Examples of free-body
force diagrams for N3.
4

Vector and Scalar

Introduce vectors and vector addition

Practise calculations scale drawing
Parallelogram law equivalence to nose to tail shown
using drawings.
Bodies in equilibrium: vector forces on body sum to
zero, triangle of forces
Resolution of vectors into two components at right
angles to each other by calculation and scale drawing.

Resolution of
vectors (Week 7)

Work done and energy transfer

K.E. & G.P.E.

E k 12 mv 2

Egrav = mgh
W = Fs and W = Fs.cos
Derivation of

Application to mechanical situations, e.g. frictionless

12, 13, 14

Investigate the equilibrium

of three vertical forces
using two pulley wheels.
Mathematical requirement:
use of trig. functions.

Investigate the transfer of

GPE to KE for a trolley
rolling down a ramp.

and

Principle of conservation of energy.

Practise calculations using

scale drawing.

Include examples where

the direction of the force is
different to the direction of
motion.

25, 26, 27,

28

rollercoaster:
6

GCSE equations
for power and
efficiency

Ep + Ek = constant.
Measure the output power
of an electric motor.

W
t

W Fs

t
Derive P Fv using t
W
E
P
P
t and
t

29, 30

Efficiency of HEP stations

Mathematical requirement:
dealing with percentages

Discuss useful work done efficiency.

Efficiency = [useful power output]/[total power) input.
7

Equations of
motion (Week 5)

Free-body force
diagrams (Week
6)

Projectiles.

15

Independence of vertical and horizontal motion

Monkey and hunter demonstration.

Monkey and Hunter

demonstration (VDO)

Centre of gravity

Lorry on a bridge model,

using spring balances to
support a metre ruler with
weights (lorry) that move
along the ruler.

Moment of a force; the principle of moments.

16, 23, 24

Include examples where

the forces are not all
parallel to each other.
9

GCSE materials density = mass/

volume

Density

m
V

Flotation: upthrust = weight of fluid displaced

Measure the density of air

Demonstration of floating
objects sinking further as
their weight increases.

Laminar and turbulent flow, viscosity and Stokes law,

F = 6rv.

CORE PRACTICAL 4: Use a falling-ball method to

All students should carry

out this experiment.

49, 50, 51,

52

determine the viscosity of a liquid.

10

GCSE materials
Hookes law,
F = kx

Hookes law,

F = kx

Force-extension and force-compression graphs.

Idea of limit of proportionality, elastic limit, yield point,
elastic deformation and plastic deformation (including
relation to graphs)
Stress, strain, the Young modulus

11

Loading and unloading of

springs and rubber bands.

53, 54, 55

Measuring the effect of

compression on a range of
materials.
Measurement of Young
modulus for different
materials.

Tensile/compressive stress-strain graphs and

understanding the term breaking stress.

56, 57, 58

Elastic strain energy in a deformed material sample

from the area under the force/extension graph and

Eel 12 Fx

12

GCSE wave
properties and
wave equation,

v = f
13

CORE PRACTICAL 5: Determine the Young modulus

of a material.

Mechanical progressive wave properties.

Introduce wave types: transverse, longitudinal
Graphs representing transverse and longitudinal waves.
Wavefronts, coherence, path difference and phase
Principle of superposition and interference
Stationary wave demonstrations.

All students should carry

out this experiment.

Expectation of more
precise definitions for
transverse and longitudinal
waves.

59, 60, 61,

62, 63, 64

PhET Animation
Demonstrate interference
of sound waves with
loudspeakers and signal
generator.

65, 66, 67

Ripple tank demonstration.

14

Patterns of nodes and antinodes for stretched strings

and open and closed air columns

Demonstrate standing
waves on strings.

Speed of a transverse wave on a string:

Mathematical requirement:
manipulation of an
equation with a square
root in it.

T
v

15

GCSE light
reflection and
refraction

CORE PRACTICAL 7: Investigate the effects of

length, tension and mass per unit length on the
frequency of a vibrating string or wire.

Intensity,

All students should carry

out this experiment.
Ripple tank to demonstrate
refraction of wavefronts.

P
A

Waves meeting an interface between two media, pulse

echo techniques
Refraction, refractive index and Snells law
Critical angle and total internal reflection.

67, 68, 69

Ray tracing through a

glass block.

70, 71, 72,

73, 74, 88,
89

Use of semi-circular block

to demonstrate critical
angle.
Fibre optics as an
example.

16

Diffraction: single slit water wave diffraction

demonstration. Width of central maximum linked to
relative sizes of wavelength and slit.
the diffraction grating,

17

n = dsin.

GCSE light
simple ray
diagrams

An understanding that image formation in lenses is due

to refraction.

(Additional Topic)

Ray diagrams for converging and diverging lenses.

Definition of focal length of a lens

Real and virtual images and their properties

Ripple tank demonstration

for water wave diffraction.
Mathematical requirement:
use of trig functions.
Demonstration of image
formation by converging
and diverging lenses.
Ray diagrams to locate the
image position
Experimental verification

83, 84, 85

75, 76, 79,

80

18

GCSE current
electricity
Standard prefixes

1 1 1

u
v f .
Simple lens equation,

of lens formula

Current as rate of flow of charge:

Use of ammeters and

voltmeters to measure
current and potential
difference. I-V graph for an
ohmic conductor.

Q
t

P.d. as work done per unit charge:

W
Q.

Define resistance,

31, 32,
33,38

PhET animation

V
I

Ohms law.
19

GCSE electricity
series and parallel
circuits

Series and parallel circuits

Kirchhoffs laws.
Resistor combinations:

R = R1+R2+R3 (series resistors)

1 1
1
1

R R1 R2 R3 (parallel resistors).

20

Power

I-V characteristics of: ohmic conductors, filament bulbs,

thermistors and diodes
Electrical working

Experiments to investigate
series and parallel circuits.
Mathematical requirement:
derivation of formulae for
series and parallel
resistors.

Plot I-V graphs for a range

of components.

W = IVt
Plot P-V graphs.

34, 35, 36

37, 38

Electrical power,

P = I2R and
21

W
IV
t

V2
R .

Potential divider
Demonstration of variation of resistance of thermistor
with change of temperature and LDR with change of
light level.

V1
22

VR1
( R1 R2 ) .

e.m.f as work done per unit charge:

W
Q .e.m.f. and internal resistance.

CORE PRACTICAL 3: Determine the e.m.f. and internal

resistance of an electrical cell.

Demonstration of a
potential divider circuit.

42, 43, 44

Demonstration of variation
of resistance of thermistor
with change of
temperature and LDR with
change of light level.
Demonstrate the effect on
the terminal potential
difference of a cell of
altering the load across the
cell.

45, 46

Mathematical requirement:
dealing with a negative
gradient.
All students should carry
out this experiment.

23
Resistivity,

I
A

Conduction mechanisms, distinction between metals,

semiconductors and insulators.

I = nqvA.

CORE PRACTICAL 2: Measure the electrical

Investigate the effect of

temperature on the
rsistance of a thermistor.
All students should carry
out this experiment.

39, 40, 41,

47, 48

resistivity of a material.
24

GCSE light photons

Photon model:

E = hf

Small energy unit, 1eV = 1.6 x 10

-19

J.

Flame tests with diffraction

gratings.

90, 91, 94, 96

Demonstration using UV
and a zinc plate on a
coulombmeter.

92, 93

Atomicline spectra.
Energy level ladder diagrams. Ground & excited
states, choice of routes back photons emitted,

hf = E1 E2.
25

The photoelectric effect

Work function and the photoelectric equation
2
hf 12 mvmax

26

Diffraction

Wave-particle duality
Wave properties of free electrons
Electron diffraction demonstration.

PhET Animation to
investigate how max KE of
photoelectrons varies with
frequency of incident
radiation.
86, 87, 95