National 5 Physics

What electric current, voltage and charge actually measure, how they relate through Q = It, and the difference between AC and DC.

What resistance measures, using Ohm's law (V = IR) to relate voltage, current and resistance, and how a potential divider splits a supply voltage.

How current and voltage behave differently in series and parallel circuits, and calculating total resistance in each.

Calculating electrical power from voltage and current, in different forms, choosing a fuse rating, and the energy a device transfers over time.

How energy changes from one form to another, work done by a force, the conservation of energy principle, and calculating kinetic and potential energy.

What specific heat capacity means, calculating the energy needed to change a substance's temperature, and using conservation of energy for heat transfer.

How power stations and renewable technologies convert other forms of energy into electrical energy.

Transverse and longitudinal waves, the quantities used to describe a wave, using v = fλ, and diffraction.

The seven types of electromagnetic wave, their order, and their main uses and dangers.

The law of reflection, and how a wave's change in speed at a boundary causes refraction.

The three main types of nuclear radiation, ionisation, and how their penetrating power and ionising ability compare.

What half-life means, activity, and using half-life to calculate how a radioactive sample's activity changes over time.

How absorbed dose and equivalent dose are calculated, background radiation, safety limits, and precautions used to limit exposure.

Calculating average speed from distance travelled and time taken, and rearranging the relationship.

What acceleration measures, calculating it from a change in velocity, and reading it from a velocity-time graph.

Newton's three laws, using F = ma to calculate force, and explaining free-fall and terminal velocity.

Balanced and unbalanced forces, weight versus mass, and how friction opposes motion.

Why the horizontal and vertical parts of a projectile's motion can be treated completely separately, and how a satellite orbit is a special case.

The structure of the solar system, key astronomical terms, geostationary satellites, and why humans send satellites and probes into space.