WhizzNotes

Physics

Motion, forces, energy, electricity and waves for Year 10, then the four NSW Year 12 modules: advanced mechanics, electromagnetism, the nature of light and the atom. Written so you can learn it on your own and prepare for a physics entrance exam or the HSC.

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Pick your year on any chapter.

Unit 1 Working Scientifically

  1. 1Thinking Like a ScientistFair tests, variables, graphs, and what validity, reliability and accuracy really mean.

Unit 2 Kinematics

  1. 2Time, Distance and SpeedHow fast is fast? Measuring motion with distance, time and speed, and changing units.
  2. 3Vectors and ScalarsSome quantities only need a size. Others need a size and a direction. Here is how to tell them apart and add them.
  3. 4AccelerationSpeeding up, slowing down and turning. How quickly velocity changes, and the equations of motion.
  4. 5Motion GraphsReading distance-time, speed-time and acceleration-time graphs. Gradients and areas tell the whole story.

Unit 3 Forces

  1. 6Types of Forces and Net ForcePushes and pulls, contact and non-contact forces, free body diagrams, and how forces add up.
  2. 7Newton's Laws of MotionThree simple rules that explain why things move the way they do, from shopping trolleys to rockets.
  3. 8GravityWhy things fall, the difference between mass and weight, and what keeps the Moon in orbit.
  4. 9MagnetismPoles, magnetic fields, Earth's own magnet, electromagnets and the motor effect.
  5. 10Electric Charge and Static ElectricityWhere electricity comes from. Charges, the electrostatic force, static shocks and lightning.

Unit 4 Energy

  1. 11Forms of EnergyEnergy comes in many forms and changes from one to another, but the total never changes.
  2. 12Kinetic and Potential EnergyCalculating the energy of moving and raised objects, and swapping between the two.
  3. 13Energy EfficiencyHow much of the energy we put in actually does the job we want? Calculating and improving efficiency.
  4. 14Heat Energy: Conduction, Convection and RadiationThe three ways heat moves, why metal feels cold, why hot air rises and how the Sun warms us across empty space.

Unit 5 Electrical Circuits

  1. 15Current, Voltage, Resistance and Ohm's LawThe three key quantities in every circuit and the simple law that links them.
  2. 16Drawing Electrical CircuitsThe standard symbols and rules for drawing circuit diagrams that anyone in the world can read.
  3. 17Series and Parallel CircuitsTwo ways to connect components, and the rules for current, voltage and resistance in each.

Unit 6 Waves

  1. 18Wave PropertiesWhat waves are, the two main types, and how to measure wavelength, frequency, amplitude and speed.
  2. 19Reflection and RefractionWhy mirrors work, why a straw looks bent in water, and how light changes direction at a boundary.
  3. 20Light: Brightness and ColourWhat makes light bright or dim, where colours come from, and why a red shirt looks red.
  4. 21The Electromagnetic SpectrumRadio, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays. One family of waves with very different jobs.

Unit 7 Module 5: Advanced Mechanics

  1. 22Projectile MotionWhy a thrown ball follows a curve, and how to split its motion into a steady sideways part and a falling part.
  2. 23Circular MotionWhy anything moving in a circle needs a force towards the centre, from cars on banked roads to spinning rides, plus torque.
  3. 24Motion in Gravitational FieldsNewton's law of gravitation, orbits, Kepler's laws, satellites, gravitational potential energy and escape velocity.

Unit 8 Module 6: Electromagnetism

  1. 25Charged Particles in Electric and Magnetic FieldsHow electric fields speed charges up and bend their paths into parabolas, and how magnetic fields bend them into circles.
  2. 26The Motor EffectWhy a wire carrying a current is pushed sideways in a magnetic field, and why two current-carrying wires attract or repel.
  3. 27Electromagnetic InductionHow a changing magnetic field makes a voltage, Faraday's law, Lenz's law, eddy currents and transformers.
  4. 28Motors, Generators and Power TransmissionHow DC motors, generators and AC induction motors work, why motors make back emf, and how electricity reaches your home.

Unit 9 Module 7: The Nature of Light

  1. 29Maxwell, Electromagnetic Waves and SpectraHow Maxwell showed light is an electromagnetic wave, how the speed of light was measured, and what spectra tell us about stars.
  2. 30Light: the Wave ModelNewton's particles against Huygens' waves, Young's double slit, diffraction gratings, polarisation and Malus's law.
  3. 31Light: the Quantum ModelBlack body radiation, Wien's law, Planck's quantum idea and Einstein's explanation of the photoelectric effect.
  4. 32Light and Special RelativityEinstein's two postulates, why moving clocks run slow and moving objects shrink, relativistic momentum and E = mc².

Unit 10 Module 8: From the Universe to the Atom

  1. 33Origins of the ElementsThe Big Bang, the expanding universe, how stars make energy and new elements, and how to read a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.
  2. 34Structure of the AtomCathode rays, Thomson's charge-to-mass ratio, Millikan's oil drops, Rutherford's gold foil and Chadwick's neutron.
  3. 35The Quantum AtomBohr's energy levels, the hydrogen spectrum and Rydberg's equation, de Broglie's matter waves and Schrödinger's electron clouds.
  4. 36Properties of the NucleusAlpha, beta and gamma decay, half-life, mass defect and binding energy, and how fission and fusion release energy.
  5. 37Deep Inside the AtomQuarks, leptons and force-carrying bosons in the Standard Model of matter, and how particle accelerators test it.

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