New GCEs for 2008
GCE Physics B: Physics in Context (2455)
A2 outline
The A2 specification has 3 units:
Unit 4: Module 1: Experiences Out of this World
Module 2: What Goes Around Comes Around
Module 3: Imaging the Invisible
Topic list
- how physics is used to send probes and astronauts into space; free-fall and apparent weightlessness of capsules in orbital motion
- energy and momentum conservation in relation to theme park rides
- investigating the invisible; searching for new mineral resources and buried remains; imaging organs inside the body.
Assessment
| Written Paper: | 1 hour 15 minutes |
| Weighting: | 20% of total A Level marks |
5-8 long questions.
Questions will be of the long structured type. Questions may be context free or be set in the prescribed unit contexts or closely related contexts. They may require information analysis and/or comprehension. All questions will be compulsory.
The question paper will have 100 raw marks.
Unit 5: Module 1: Matter under the Microscope
Module 2: Breaking Matter Down
Module 3: Energy from the Nucleus
Topic list
- macroscopic quantities such as temperature and pressure; molecular model of matter; steam and internal combustion engines
- the structure of matter; high energy particles; electric and magnetic fields
- the generation of energy; nuclear materials; spontaneous and stimulated nuclear decay; nuclear fusion; radioactivity.
Assessment
| Written Paper: | 1 hour 45 minutes |
| Weighting: | 20% of total A Level marks |
5-8 long questions.
Questions will be of the long structured type. Questions may be context free or be set in the prescribed unit contexts or closely related contexts. They may require information analysis and/or comprehension. All questions will be compulsory.
The question paper will have 100 raw marks.
Unit 6: 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.
Key documents
