Upper 6th Form Curriculum

A2 Physics

Syllabus Followed:	AQA - 2450

As in the AS course, the A2 course consists of two units and a practical assessment.

A2 course details

Unit 4: Fields and Further Mechanics

The work on Fields includes electric fields, gravitational fields, magnetic fields, and electromagnetic induction. The Further Mechanics includes momentum, circular motion, and simple harmonic motion.

Unit 5: Nuclear Physics, Thermal Physics and Option Topics

This comprises two sections. Section A looks at probing the nucleus, radioactivity, nuclear instability, and nuclear energy. Also in section A is Thermal Physics which looks at the thermal properties of materials, ideal gases, and the kinetic theory of gases. Section B has four option topics to choose from. They are:

Astrophysics:

Lenses and optical and non-optical telescopes, classification of stars, and cosmology.

Medical Physics:

Physics of the eye and ear, biological measurement, imaging by ultra-sound, nuclear magnetic resonance, and X-rays.

Applied Physics:

This is more mathematical, including rotational dynamics, thermodynamics, and heat engines.

Turning Points in Physics:

This is more historical, including the discovery of the electron, wave-particle duality, and special relativity.

Unit 6: Investigative and Practical Skills

The practical assessment at A2 is similar to - but naturally more complex than - the AS practical assessment. For example, students will use a wider variety of laboratory equipment.

The intellectual demands of the A2 course are greater than those for AS. Some of the concepts will be a greater strain on your imagination. Mathematically you will need to become confident with the use of natural logarithms and exponentials. By the end of the course you will really begin to see the extent to which the human mind has managed to reduce the complexity of the physical world to a small number of beautifully simple ideas.

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