THE CECIL ACADEMY

PHYSICS – (PURE) - EXPANDED LIST OF TOPICS

1. Measurements in science.
 Physical quantities
 Basic quantities, basic units, derived quantities, derived units
 Prefixes
 Significant figures
 Standard form
 Measuring distance with vernier calipers, micrometer screw gauge
 Measuring time interval with pendulum
2. Mass, weight, volume and density
 Compare mass and weight
 Relative density
3. Linear motion.
 Define vector quantities and examples
 Define scalar quantities and examples
 Distance (define distance and calculate)
 Displacement
 Speed
 Velocity
 Acceleration
 Equations of motion
 Graphs of motion
 Equations of motion for falling objects
 Graphs of motion of falling objects
4. Forces and motion
 Definition of force
 Examples of forces; tension, normal force, friction etc
 The three Newton’s laws of motion
 F=ma
 Hooke’s law and calculations of extension of elastic bodies
5. Work , energy and power
 Work
 Energy, types of energy, K.E and P.E, Energy changes, effects of energy on
environment
 Power
6. Moments of forces
 Definition of moment of a force,
 Magnitude of a force
 Calculating one sided moments
 Stating principle of moments
 Calculations involving systems that are balanced
 Calculations of moments with off -centre pivots
 Centre of mass and centre of gravity
 Calculations of moments involving centers of mass and gravity
 Moments of forces involving two pivots
7. Simple machines
 Define simple machine
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  Examples of simple machines
 Define and calculate Mechanical advantage (M.A), Velocity Ratio(V.R) and
efficiency in general
 Calculate M.A, V.R and efficiency of
 Lever
 Pulley system
 Inclined plane
 Gears
 Wheel and axle
 Ideal machines
8. Thermal physics: kinetic of theory
 State the kinetic theory of matter
 Brownian motion and describe its experiment
 Diffusion
 States of matter and define processes of changes of state e.g melting, etc
 Cooling and heating curves
9. Heat transfer
 Define heat and heat transfer
 conduction
 convection and describe experiments to show convection in gases and liquids
 radiation. Describe experiments to show surfaces that radiate more heat, surfaces
which absorb more heat.
 Explain operation of vacuum flask
10. Expansion of matter:
 Expansion of Solids
 Expansion of Liquids
 Measurement of temperature
 Definition of temperature
 Types of thermometers and their properties
 Thermometric liquids
 Converting temperatures from kelvin to degrees, vice versa
 Pressure
 Define pressure
 Use P=F/A
 Describe pressure in liquids
 Measurement of atmospheric pressure: Simple barometer
 Measurement of gas pressure: manometer
 Hydraulic system

Gases and gas laws

 Discuss how gases expand by considering Pressure, Volume
and Temperature.
 State Boyle’s law, Gay Lussac’s law and Charle’s law of gases
 Use the ideal gas law to perform calculations.
11. Measurement of thermal quantities
 Heat capacity
 Specific heat capacity
 Latent heat of fusion

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  Specific latent heat of fusion
 Latent heat of vaporization
 Specific latent heat vaporization
12. Engines
 Operation of the four stroke engine
13. General properties of waves
 Define wave,
 Differentiate between transverse and longitudinal waves, give examples.
 Define parts of waves, e.g wavelength, frequency, amplitude etc.
 Differentiate between displacement-position graph and displacement-time graph.
 Use the equation velocity=frequency x wavelength
14. Light and The Electromagnetic spectrum
 Define light
 Explain the formation of shadows
 State the rectilinear propagation of light
 Define reflection, state the two laws of reflection
 Locate image produced by mirror, state characteristics of images produced by
mirror
 Define refraction
 State the two laws of refraction
 Use n=sini/sinr
 Define critical angle and total interna reflection and uses.
 Lenses
 Define lens
 Differentiate between convex and concave lenses, parts of ray diagrams
 Locate image formed by lens using ray diagram
 Locate image formed by lens using 1/f =1/u + 1/v formula
 Uses of lenses
 Using lenses to correct sight defects
 The electromagnetic spectrum
 Define it
 Arrange parts of the E.M spectrum in orders of frequency and wavelength
 State uses of the waves of the E.M spectrum
 State properties of the electromagnetic spectrum
15. Sound
 Define sound
 Describe the experiment to show sound does not travel in a vacuum
 Describe the direct and echo methods of determining speed of sound in air
 Use s=2d/t to find speed of sound and distance
 Define audible frequency and state the range of audible frequencies
 Define ultra sounds and state their uses.
 Properties of sound; pitch, loudness, quality(timbre)
16. Static Electricity
 Define them
 State the two laws of electrostatics
 Use electric field lines to show repulsion and attraction between charges
 Describe charging by friction
 Describe how to charge one sphere positive, one sphere negative and two sphere
by induction
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  State effects and dangers of static charges
 State uses of static charges
17. Magnets and magnetism
 Define magnet and magnetism
 State the two laws of magnetism
 State properties of magnets
 Use magnetic field lines to show repulsion and attraction between poles magnets
 Describe compass and iron fillings methods of showing magnetic field around
magnet
 Test for a magnet
 Describe how to make magnets by using current and stroking methods
 State uses of magnets and proper storage of magnets
18. Current electricity
 Define current, electric charge
 Use i=Q/t
 Differentiate between voltage and potential difference
 Resistance, state Ohm’s law and use v=IR
 Calculate total resistance in D.C circuits
 Calculate electrical energy E=Vit and E=Pt
 Calculate electrical power P=VI
 Practical electricity, cost of electricity
 Dangers of electricity
 Safe use of electricity
19. Electromagnetism
 Define electromagnetism
 Describe magnetic effect of a current on wire, coil
 Use right hand grip rule to show magnetic field around wire, coil
 Uses of temporal magnets
 Describe force and movement of current carrying wire in a magnetic field
 Use Fleming’s Left hand rule to determine force and movement of current carrying
wire in a magnetic field
 Describe action and use of D.C motor
20. Electromagnetic induction
 Define electromagnetic induction
 State Faraday and Lenz’s laws
 Describe direction of induced current in a wire, or coil
 Use Fleming’s Right hand rule to determine direction of induced current
 Describe action and use of A.C generator
 Describe transformers and do calculations on transformers.
21. Basic Electronics
 Describe thermionic emission
 Cathode rays
 Draw, label and describe the parts of the Cathode Ray Oscilloscope (C.R.O): y-gain,
time base calculations, settings and graph output.
 Action and use of electrical components: potential dividers, transducers, LDR, LED,
thermistors, capacitors, transistors, resistors (color codes), logic gates, truth
tables, apply logic gates to intelligent circuits.
22. Radioactivity.
 Define radioactivity
 State properties of the radiations alpha, beta and gamma
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  Decay equations
 Background radiation and sources
 Detection of radiations
 Calculations of amounts remaining using formula
 Calculations of amounts remaining using decay curves
 Uses of radiations
 Dangers of radiations

5|P ag e The Ce cil Ac ade my ZM |Mr Chenda A.C