New GCEs for 2008

GCE Physics A (2450)

AS outline

At AS, this specification introduces new topics as well as building on previous studies in physics. The two AS theory units provide alternative starting points for the AS course.

The AS specification has 3 units:

Unit 1: Particles, Quantum Phenomena and Electricity

Topic list

The nucleus including particles, antiparticles and photons; hadrons and leptons; the quark model;
Quantum phenomena including photoelectricity, energy levels and photon emission, wave particle duality;
Electricity including electrical quantities, resistivity, circuits and components, alternating current.

Assessment

Written Paper:	1 hour 15 minutes
Weighting:	20% of total A Level marks

This unit comprises 6/7 structured questions.
All questions are compulsory. The question paper will have 70 raw marks.

Unit 2: Mechanics, Materials and Waves

Topic list

Mechanics, including motion along a straight line, projectile motion, Newton’s laws of motion, energy and power,
Properties of materials, including density and the Young modulus,
Waves, including longitudinal and transverse waves, progressive and stationary waves, refraction, diffraction and interference.c

Assessment

Written Paper:	1 hour 15 minutes
Weighting:	20% of total A Level marks

TThis unit comprises 6/7 structured questions.
All questions are compulsory. The question paper will have 70 raw marks.

Unit 3: Investigative and Practical Skills

Practical skills

Selection and use of various equipment
Processing of data,
Making observations and measurements,
Analysing and evaluation of results.

Assessment

Weighting:

10% of total A Level marks

This unit will involve the centre assessment of practical and investigative skills.

There are two routes for the assessment of this unit.
Either

Route T: Practical Skills Assessment (PSA) and Investigative Skills Assignment (ISA) which is teacher marked (assessed by centres).
Route X: Practical Skills Verification (PSV) and Externally Marked Practical Assignment (EMPA), taken at a centres' convenience and marked by AQA.

There will be 50 raw marks in this unit.