PHYSICS A LEVEL

“……. To see eternity in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower. “ William Blake

William Blake, the author of this beautiful line of poetry, actually hated Isaac Newton and his approach to understanding the world, and God, through physics and mathematics. (So did Goethe, if you are interested.) Whether or not you find eternity there, a grain of sand can be very interesting to anyone. If you examine it on a microscopic scale, you would see the wonderful, regular array of atoms of silicon. You would be amazed to discover that, at most, only 1/10,100th of the material is solid; the rest is empty space! This means, when you are sitting on a rock by the beach, nothing very much is supporting you! If you studied more about materials, you would learn that silicon forms the basis for all of modern electronics in transistors and microchips. You would also begin to understand the very modern ideas of quantum mechanics and the forces, which hold the atoms in place. To finish, but not finalize, these observations, silicon is a fundamental constituent of glass.

You may be like William Blake and find all of the above quite dull, if not revolting. I would never impose my passion for this subject on anyone but rather encourage them to pursue their own passions (wild flowers?). Whatever you decide to study, your initial kernel of enthusiasm will grow and become more profound, the more you discover about your subject; so it is with physics.

Physics at Ashbourne College

As with all other subjects, we work in small groups or tutorials and allow for more classroom contact time than found at most schools and colleges within the UK. This means that you can never go to sleep and all students are drawn into the process of education.
Knowledge is power and we aim first to establish the understanding necessary for any hardworking student to achieve an A grade. As teachers, we never lose sight of the necessity to entertain our captive audience and always endeavour to keep our lessons lively and stimulating. The use of practical experiments, demonstrations and humour is really important in this regard.
We have high expectations for all our students and set much more homework than you will find in other educational institutions. This work is the essence of education and communication but is supported by regular testing and mock examinations based on past examination paper questions.
You do not need be a brilliant mathematician to succeed in this subject. We provide textbooks, self-contained notes, and syllabus outlines – everything you need to excel! We rely on no previous knowledge of physics and build up students’ understanding in a step-by-step way.
Best of all, we have fun!

PHYSICS TEACHERS AT ASHBOURNE COLLEGE

You will be taught by some of the most intelligent and experienced teachers on the planet  (in the universe?)!

Marcus Appleby, BSc, PhD
Marcus has over 20 years of experience and in addition is doing seminal research in probability in physics.
Mike Kirby, BApSc, MSc
Mike has over 20 years of experience but is as much interested in wild flowers as grains of sand.
Chella Nathan, BSc, MSc
Chella is a hardworking and versatile teacher who is also pursuing his interest in number theory.
Barry Rhule, BSc, MSc
Barry has over 20 years of experience and, in addition to his lifelong passion for physics, is passionate about jazz and blues.

APPLICATIONS OF PHYSICS

In medicine, you may understand things like: ultrasonic analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and osmosis, among many others. Why we sweat can be understood through heat transfer and vapour pressure.
In engineering the applications are infinite and include such topics as: materials, vibrations, stresses and elasticity, transfer of electrical energy and energy generally.
Carbon dating, which is related to nuclear physics and radioactivity, is applied in archaeology, geology and geography.
In music you might apply principles of acoustics, harmonic analysis and digital technology.
In biology and chemistry you use the concept of conservation of energy and potential energy, to explain why reactions proceed, how energy is stored and transformed from one form to another, and the origin of atomic spectra.
If you are interested in environmental issues, a good understanding of physics will help you understand the greenhouse effect and also the limitations of physics in understanding phenomena as complex as weather systems and as ‘simple’ as the turbulence produced when air flows over the wings of an aircraft.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER READING

Nelkon and Parker, A level Physics
This is an ancient text which will provide a student with dry, but comprehensive, treatments of all topics on the A level syllabus and beyond.
Roger Muncaster, A level Physics
This is the text we use and, although not brilliant, offers a useful and workmanlike approach with lots and lots of questions.
John Gribbin
You may choose almost any of his books, which popularize physics in particular, and science in general. Excellent.
Brain Greene, The Elegant Universe
An outstanding introduction to (post) modern physics. Don’t be put off if you don’t understand much but indulge yourself in this fascinating exposition of the ultimate mystery of the universe.
Richard Feynmann, The Feynmann Lectures on Physics
This is a ‘must’ for anyone who is truly passionate about this subject. Challenging.

SYLLABUS OUTLINE
AS PHYSICS (FIRST YEAR)

UNIT 1
MOTION
Units and dimensions, Vectors and Scalars including velocity, acceleration, forces and equilibrium, and moments. The law of conservation of momentum.
Newton’s laws.
Energy and Potential Energy. Different types of energy and their mutual transformation.
Youngs’ modulus, materials and intermolecular forces.

NUCLEAR PHYSICS
The laws of radioactivity. Binding energy and nuclear reactions.
Einstein’s E = mc2, nuclear fusion and fission and nuclear stability.

UNIT 2
ELECTRICITY
DC circuits, Kirchoff’s laws, potentiometers, meters and the measurement of internal resistance.
Capacitance, storage of electrical energy and the factors affecting capacitance.  Charging, discharging and time constants.
Diodes.

THERMODYNAMICS
The zeroth law and the first law of thermodynamics. Thermometry.
Specific and latent heats. The gas laws.

UNIT 3
This is assessed with a series of experiments under timed conditions.

A2 PHYSICS (SECOND YEAR)

UNIT 4
WAVES
Simple harmonic motion and resonance.
Longitudinal and transverse waves, polarization of waves.
Reflection, refraction, interference and diffraction. Young’s slits and diffraction gratings.

ATOMIC AND NUCLEAR PHYSICS
Wave-particle duality. Charge/mass (e/m) ratios. The photoelectric effect.

UNIT 5
FIELDS
Gravitational, electrical and magnetic field strength and potential.
Electromagnetic induction. Faraday and Lenz’ laws; eddy currents.
AC circuits, rms values. Cathode ray oscilloscopes.

UNIT 6
This unit is assessed in one part with a series of experiments under timed conditions. In the second part, students will have a written ‘synoptic’ exam, which links all of the units over both years.