A-level physics, made visual.
Free revision notes and exam questions.
Free A-level Physics revision notes, diagrams, original exam-style questions with mark schemes, required practicals, flashcards and printable workbooks. Content is mapped to AQA, OCR A, Edexcel and Cambridge International.
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Written explainers for all 88 core topics, plus the electronics, engineering physics, astrophysics, turning points and medical physics options, organised by the physics rather than by any exam board.
Measurements
Mechanics
Materials
Waves
Quantum phenomena
Particles
Electricity
Periodic motion
Thermal physics
Gravitational fields
Electric fields
Capacitance
Magnetic fields
Nuclear physics
Electronics
Engineering physics
Astrophysics
Turning points
Medical physics
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MEASUREMENTS
- SI base and derived units
- Prefixes, labels and unit conversions
- Uncertainty and error
- Estimation and orders of magnitude
MECHANICS
- Scalars and vectors
- Moments and equilibrium
- Motion graphs and the SUVAT equations
- Projectile motion
- Newton's laws and the resultant force
- Mass and weight
- Drag and terminal speed
- Momentum and impulse
- Work, energy and power
- Conservation of energy
MATERIALS
WAVES
- Progressive waves
- Longitudinal and transverse waves
- Polarisation and electromagnetic waves
- Stationary waves on strings
- Stationary waves in air columns
- Refraction and Snell's law
- Total internal reflection and optical fibres
- Diffraction and the single slit
- Interference and Young's double slit
- Diffraction gratings
- Lenses and images
QUANTUM PHENOMENA
- The photoelectric effect
- The photoelectric graph and measuring h
- Collisions of electrons with atoms
- Energy levels and photon emission
- Wave-particle duality
PARTICLES
- Constituents of the atom
- Stable and unstable nuclei
- Antimatter and photons
- Particle interactions and exchange particles
- Classification of particles
- Quarks and antiquarks
- Decays at quark level
- Conservation laws
- Energy, momentum and particle tracks
ELECTRICITY
- Current, charge and potential difference
- Charge carriers, drift speed and resistance
- Current-voltage characteristics
- Resistivity and temperature
- Light-dependent resistors and superconductivity
- Circuit symbols and Kirchhoff's laws
- Series, parallel and power
- The potential divider and its output
- Sensing circuits and the potentiometer
- EMF and internal resistance
PERIODIC MOTION
- Circular motion
- Simple harmonic motion
- SHM systems: pendulums and springs
- Energy in an oscillation and damping
- Forced vibrations and resonance
THERMAL PHYSICS
- Internal energy and changes of state
- Specific heat capacity and latent heat
- Ideal gases and the gas laws
- Molecular kinetic theory
- What temperature means for a gas
GRAVITATIONAL FIELDS
ELECTRIC FIELDS
- Coulomb's law and electric field strength
- Electric potential
- Comparing electric and gravitational fields
CAPACITANCE
- Capacitors and the dielectric
- Energy stored and capacitor combinations
- Charging and discharging
- The time constant and exponential decay
MAGNETIC FIELDS
- Magnetic flux density and the force on a wire
- Force on a moving charge
- Magnetic flux and flux linkage
- Electromagnetic induction: Faraday and Lenz
- Alternating currents
- Rectification and smoothing
- Transformers
NUCLEAR PHYSICS
- Rutherford scattering and the nuclear model
- Alpha, beta and gamma radiation
- Radioactive decay and the decay constant
- Half-life and nuclear instability
- Nuclear radius and density
- Mass-energy and binding energy
- Fission and fusion
- Nuclear reactors and safety
ELECTRONICS
- The MOSFET as a switch
- Zener diodes and semiconductor sensors
- Tuned circuits and the Q factor
- Band-pass, band-stop and RC filters
- The ideal op-amp and the comparator
- Negative feedback amplifiers
- Summing and difference amplifiers
- Combinational logic
- Flip-flops, counters and clocks
- Modulation and PCM
- Radio propagation and data security
ENGINEERING PHYSICS
- Rotational motion and the angular equations
- Moment of inertia and rotational kinetic energy
- Torque and angular acceleration
- Angular momentum and rotational power
- The first law and its sign convention
- Non-flow processes and p-V diagrams
- Heat engines and their efficiency
- Heat pumps and combined heat and power
ASTROPHYSICS
- The astronomical refracting telescope
- Reflecting telescopes
- Telescopes beyond the visible
- Resolving power, collecting power and the CCD
- The apparent magnitude scale
- Stellar distances and absolute magnitude
- Black-body radiation and spectral classes
- The HR diagram and the life of Sun-like stars
- Supernovae, neutron stars and black holes
- The Doppler effect and red shift
- Hubble's law and the Big Bang
- Quasars
- Detecting exoplanets
TURNING POINTS
- Cathode rays and the electron gun
- The specific charge of the electron
- Millikan's oil drop experiment
- Corpuscles, waves and Young's fringes
- Electromagnetic waves and the speed of light
- Quanta and the photoelectric effect
- Matter waves and electron microscopes
- The Michelson-Morley experiment
- Time dilation and muon decay
- Length contraction, mass and energy
MEDICAL PHYSICS
- The eye as an optical system
- Defects of vision and their correction
- The ear and the transmission of sound
- Intensity, loudness and the decibel scale
- Biological measurement
- Ultrasound imaging
- MR scanning and the endoscope
- The physics of diagnostic X-rays
- X-ray detectors and CT scanning
- Radionuclide imaging and the gamma camera
- PET scanning and radiotherapy