Mathematical Requirements (Appendix C)

What Mathematical Requirements (Appendix C) covers

Mathematical Requirements (Appendix C) is examined in all three components, since the mathematical and How Science Works requirements are assessed throughout rather than on one paper. It covers units, prefixes and standard form, significant figures and arithmetic means, uncertainty and how uncertainties combine, ratios, proportionality and order of magnitude estimates, rearranging and solving physics equations, logarithms, exponentials and decay, resolving vectors, Pythagoras and trigonometry, radians, small angles, areas and volumes, straight-line graphs, gradients and intercepts and Tangents, areas under curves and logarithmic plots.

The 10 subtopics

Each one has its own page.

• Units, prefixes and standard formRecall questions on writing a physical quantity in standard form, the SI prefixes and their powers of ten, converting between units including squared and cubed ones, and building a derived unit from base units when an unfamiliar equation is met.Open →
• Significant figures and arithmetic meansRecall questions on counting significant figures, the rules for rounding a calculated result, why an answer cannot be more precise than its least precise input, calculating a mean from repeated readings, and when a reading should be discarded.Open →
• Uncertainty and how uncertainties combineRecall questions on absolute and percentage uncertainty, the resolution of common instruments, adding absolute uncertainties for a sum or difference and percentage uncertainties for a product or quotient, multiplying by the power for a raised quantity, and quoting a result to match.Open →
• Ratios, proportionality and order of magnitude estimatesRecall questions on direct and inverse proportionality and how each appears on a graph, testing a proportionality from a table of values, scaling one quantity when another changes, and making an order of magnitude estimate from rough figures.Open →
• Rearranging and solving physics equationsRecall questions on making any symbol the subject of the equations physics uses, substituting with consistent units, solving an equation containing a square or a square root, handling an equation with the unknown in more than one place, and checking by substituting back.Open →
• Logarithms, exponentials and decayRadioactive decay equation and define each symbol and plotted to turn an exponential decay into a straight line.Open →
• Resolving vectors, Pythagoras and trigonometryRecall questions on resolving a vector into perpendicular components, recombining components with Pythagoras and the inverse tangent, when to use the sine and when the cosine, resolving along a slope, and worked calculations with directions stated.Open →
• Radians, small angles, areas and volumesRecall questions on the radian and converting to and from degrees, the small angle approximations and when they hold, arc length and the area of a sector, the surface areas and volumes of a sphere and a cylinder, and where each appears in physics.Open →
• Straight-line graphs, gradients and interceptsRecall questions on y = mx + c applied to experimental quantities, deciding what to plot to obtain a straight line from a given relationship, calculating a gradient with its units, what an intercept represents, and reading a physical constant off the line.Open →
• Tangents, areas under curves and logarithmic plotsPlotted to turn a capacitor discharge into a straight line and plotted to turn a radioactive decay into a straight line.Open →

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Take Mathematical Requirements (Appendix C) further

The same content, four other ways.

Commonly confused

Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.

• The prefix milli vs The prefix mega

  The prefix milli: a thousandth and is written as a lower case letter. The prefix mega: 10⁶ and is written as a capital.

Questions from this topic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   Name the six base SI units used throughout A level physics and the quantity each measures.

   Model answer

   The kilogram measures mass, the metre length, the second time, the ampere electric current, the mole amount of substance and the kelvin thermodynamic temperature.

2. 2

   How is a compound unit built up from base units when an equation is used for the first time?

   Model answer

   Each symbol is replaced by its own unit and the result is simplified, so an unfamiliar quantity's unit follows from the equation defining it.

3. 3

   Does an equation that is homogeneous in its units have to be correct?

   Model answer

   No, homogeneity is necessary but not sufficient, because a missing dimensionless factor such as a half or a 2π leaves the units unchanged.

4. 4

   How is a physical equation checked for homogeneity?

   Model answer

   Every term is reduced to base units and the two sides compared, and an equation whose sides differ cannot be correct.

5. 5

   Why is reducing a derived unit to base units a useful check on an unfamiliar equation?

   Model answer

   Both sides must reduce to the same combination of base units, so a mismatch reveals an error before any number is substituted.

6. 6

   Show that the equation v² = u² + 2as is homogeneous.

   Model answer

   Both v² and u² have units of m² s⁻², and as has units of m s⁻² × m, which is also m² s⁻². Every term therefore carries the same unit, so the equation is homogeneous.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

Mathematical Requirements (Appendix C) revision questions

What does Mathematical Requirements (Appendix C) cover in Eduqas A-Level Physics?

10 subtopics: units, prefixes and standard form, significant figures and arithmetic means, uncertainty and how uncertainties combine, ratios, proportionality and order of magnitude estimates, rearranging and solving physics equations, logarithms, exponentials and decay, resolving vectors, pythagoras and trigonometry, radians, small angles, areas and volumes, straight-line graphs, gradients and intercepts and tangents, areas under curves and logarithmic plots. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.

How is Mathematical Requirements (Appendix C) organised?

By the Eduqas A420QS specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.