Heating a substance can cause either an increase in temperature or a change of state. This is not completely obvious, so let me put it another way; sometimes when we "heat up" a substance it doesn't actually get any hotter. The reason for this is that the energy supplied is being used to break bonds … Continue reading Specific Heat Capacity
Power is the Rate of Change of Energy
There are two booklets available on physbang.com to help you revise the equations that you are expected to know by the end of Y10. These booklets were posted a few months ago (click here to read that post and download the booklets) but it has since been pointed out that one equation is missing: sorry … Continue reading Power is the Rate of Change of Energy
Energy Summary
There are several posts about energy on physbang. You are welcome to explore these posts at your leisure but this one draws some of them together into a logical sequence: it also links to an online worksheet for practising kinetic energy calculations. Although explanations often start by talking about different types of energy, I feel … Continue reading Energy Summary
Tricky “relationships”
Sometimes in an exam paper you will see a question that reads something like: "State the relationship between speed, distance and time". This can seem confusing unless you know that, in this context, the word "relationship" means equation. So what you are really being asked to do is write the equation that contains the quantities … Continue reading Tricky “relationships”
BBC Bitesize – Paper 1 Revision
November's trial examination will include everything in Paper 1. This means everything that was due to be covered in Y10 - and that in turn means a fair amount of content that you had to study at home during the lockdown. Now you are about to be tested on what you know and it is … Continue reading BBC Bitesize – Paper 1 Revision
Element Names
People often ask why chemical elements are represented by the symbols they have been given. Some are obvious; H, C, N and O could only really be hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. Similarly, Zn is fairly obvious as zinc, Ar is clearly argon and Es makes sense as Einsteinium (once you know that name exists). … Continue reading Element Names
Radioactivity Summary
The test may be done but the learning doesn't stop! I've found a great summary of the basics that you need to know about radioactivity, courtesy of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The crucial page is at https://www2.lbl.gov/abc/Basic.html but you may like to take a look at the entire ABC's of Nuclear Science section. For … Continue reading Radioactivity Summary
Nuclear Reactor Components
In a highly simplified view of nuclear fission reactors, we can reduce the key elements to just two components that control the chain reaction. Control rods are used to reduce the number of free neutrons and the moderator is used to slow down the neutrons so that they can be captured by other nuclei to … Continue reading Nuclear Reactor Components
Irradiation and Contamination
There are two ways in which radioactive materials can affect the surrounding environment; irradiation and contamination. Understanding the differences between these two effects is important in terms of the precautions that must be taken when handling radioactive sources and also when storing radioactive waste. Irradiation refers to the transfer of energy (via ionising radiation) without … Continue reading Irradiation and Contamination
Radioactivity: Basics and Test
This post highlights the fundamental knowledge and key skills that form the basics of radioactivity. There is also a short online test for you to check your understanding. The first things you need to know are descriptions of the atom (how models have changed with time) and what causes "radioactivity". These two fundamentals are covered … Continue reading Radioactivity: Basics and Test
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