It is really important that you check your understanding as you work through a topic. With that in mind, I have created a short online test that you can use to check your recall and understanding of some of the basic knowledge required for the Electricity module. You can access the test, which is hosted … Continue reading Electrical Circuits: mini-test
Current and Voltage rules
There is a clear pattern to the measurements of current and potential difference (voltage) in electrical circuits - which, for us, means series and parallel circuits. These two patterns were identified by Gustav Kirchhoff and are therefore known as Kirchhoff's Laws. Kirchhoff's current law states that the sum of the currents flowing into a junction … Continue reading Current and Voltage rules
Series and Parallel Circuits
Electric circuits are all about energy transfers: they allow the energy in the original source to be transferred via electricity into some other form. In the classic torch-bulb circuit, for example, chemical energy (in the cells) is converted into electrical energy, which is then converted into light (and heat, for old-fashioned bulbs). The amount of … Continue reading Series and Parallel Circuits
What is Static Electricity?
When work is done on an object, by moving a force through a distance, the object gains energy. As a result, the object might get hotter (gain thermal energy) or accelerate (gain kinetic energy) or be lifted upwards (gain gravitational energy). There is also another possibility; the object could gain electrical energy in the form … Continue reading What is Static Electricity?
Electrical Energy Calculations
The equation for electrical energy is tricky because it contains four components whereas many of the common GCSE equations contain only three components - or can easily be reduced to three because one of the components can be treated as a constant. The best way to handle a four-component equation is to fill-in the values … Continue reading Electrical Energy Calculations
Specific Heat Capacity
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
Can you beat 49/50?
Doing a test may not be your idea of a cool holiday activity but CGP (the publisher of your revision guide) has just released a series of free online GCSE tests that I highly recommend. You can access the tests at https://www.cgpbooks.co.uk/resources/free-gcse-science-10-minute-tests. On the landing page, select Separate Science then choose Physics. You will have … Continue reading Can you beat 49/50?
Energy Sources
You must be able to describe and compare the Earth's major energy sources that are used for generating electricity. To help you structure clear answers to exam questions of this type I suggest that you use the SLAP! approach. SLAP! is my acronym to help you to remember the things you should think about when … Continue reading Energy Sources
Circuit Simulation
The excellent circuit simulation that we explored in our lessons is freely available for you to use as part of your independent learning. It was created by the University of Colorado and can be accessed here (or just search for PhET DC simulation). There are, however, a couple of points that you must remember when … Continue reading Circuit Simulation
Mr Tarrant's physbang 'blog 