Process
OCR A-Level Physics A H556
Practical Skills in the Written Papers
The Practical Endorsement
Topic overviewAnalogue and digital measuring instrumentsImproving accuracy with repeat timing, fiducial markers and plumb linesTiming, calipers and micrometersConstructing and testing circuitsSignal generators and oscilloscopesGenerating and measuring wavesData loggers, modelling software and ionising radiation
Physical Quantities and Units
Making Measurements and Analysing Data
Nature of Quantities
Motion
Forces in Action
Work, Energy and Power
Materials
Newton’s Laws of Motion and Momentum
Charge and Current
Energy, Power and Resistance
Electrical Circuits
Waves
Topic overviewProgressive waves and their propertiesThe wave equationReflection, refraction and diffractionWave graphs and intensityThe electromagnetic spectrumPolarisationRefraction and refractive indexCritical angle and total internal reflectionThe principle of superpositionInterference, coherence and path differenceTwo-source interference, Young's double-slit experiment and the diffraction gratingForming stationary wavesStationary waves on strings and in air columnsMeasuring the speed of soundNode spacing, amplitude and phase in stationary wavesHarmonics and the fundamental mode
Quantum Physics
Thermal Physics
Topic overviewThermal equilibrium and absolute temperatureThe kinetic model of solids, liquids and gasesBrownian motion and internal energySpecific heat capacityMeasuring specific heat capacitySpecific latent heatMeasuring specific latent heatMoles, the Avogadro constant and kinetic theoryGas laws, the ideal gas equation and r.m.s. speedMaxwell-Boltzmann distribution, Boltzmann constant and internal energy
Oscillations
Gravitational Fields
Astrophysics and Cosmology
Topic overviewThe solar system and the birth of a starThe death of a low-mass starSupernovae, neutron stars and black holesThe Hertzsprung-Russell diagramEnergy levels and emission spectraAbsorption spectra and spectral linesPhoton energy and the diffraction gratingWien's law and Stefan's lawAstronomical distances, parallax and the cosmological principleDoppler shift and Hubble's lawThe expanding universe and the Big BangEvidence for the Big Bang and dark energy
Capacitors
Topic overviewCapacitance and charging a capacitorCapacitors in seriesCapacitors in parallel and combined circuitsEnergy stored by a capacitorCharging and discharging through a resistorInvestigating capacitor dischargeThe time constantIterative modelling, exponential decay and the constant-ratio property
Electric Fields
Electromagnetism
Nuclear and Particle Physics
Topic overviewAlpha-particle scattering and the nuclear modelProton number, nucleon number and isotopesThe strong nuclear force and nuclear radiusParticles, antiparticles and hadronsLeptons and the quark modelQuark composition and chargesBeta decay in the quark modelRadioactive decay and the three radiationsNuclear decay equationsActivity, decay constant and half-lifeExponential decay and radioactive datingMass-energy equivalenceAnnihilation, mass defect and binding energyBinding energy per nucleon and induced fissionThe fission reactor and nuclear wasteNuclear fusion and balancing nuclear equations
Thermal Physics
- 10 subtopics
- 30 things to know
- Papers 1, 2 and 3
What Thermal Physics covers
Temperature and internal energy, the kinetic model of matter, specific heat capacity and latent heat and how each is measured, and the ideal gas.
Where it is assessed
Papers 1, 2 and 3
Newtonian world, astrophysics and particles, drawn on across the papers.
Check the OCR specification ↗The 10 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Thermal equilibrium and absolute temperatureRecall questions on thermal equilibrium, the absolute scale, and converting between kelvin and degrees Celsius.Open →
- The kinetic model of solids, liquids and gasesRecall questions on the spacing, ordering and motion of particles in solids, liquids and gases, and the interparticle forces described by the simple kinetic model.Open →
- Brownian motion and internal energyRecall questions on Brownian motion and the smoke cell demonstration, internal energy as random kinetic and potential energies, absolute zero, and energy changes during a change of phase.Open →
- Specific heat capacityRecall questions on specific heat capacity, E = mcΔT with its unit, rearrangement and calculations, the method of mixtures, lagging and why heat losses raise the measured value.Open →
- Measuring specific heat capacityRecall questions on the electrical method for a solid and for a liquid, and on the main sources of error.Open →
- Specific latent heatRecall questions on specific latent heat of fusion and vaporisation, E = mL with its unit, rearrangement and calculations, why temperature stays constant during a change of state, and how heat losses affect the measured value.Open →
- Measuring specific latent heatRecall questions on the electrical method and on accounting for heat lost to the surroundings.Open →
- Moles, the Avogadro constant and kinetic theoryRecall questions on the mole and the Avogadro constant, the assumptions of the kinetic theory of gases, and how molecular collisions with container walls produce gas pressure.Open →
- Gas laws, the ideal gas equation and r.m.s. speedRecall questions on Boyle's law and the pressure law and investigating them, estimating absolute zero, the ideal gas equation pV = nRT, the kinetic theory equation, mean square speed and root mean square speed.Open →
- Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, Boltzmann constant and internal energyRecall questions on the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution and how temperature changes it, the Boltzmann constant, pV = NkT, deriving mean kinetic energy = 3/2kT, and the internal energy of an ideal gas.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
How do heat losses affect the accuracy of an experimental determination of specific latent heat, and in which direction is the error?
Evaluation
When measuring specific latent heat experimentally, the result is often greater than the accepted value. Explain what causes this systematic error.
Process
How does gas pressure arise at a molecular level, and how do molecular collisions with the walls produce a force?
Numbers
For a fixed mass of gas, what relationship holds at constant volume and at constant temperature, and how can Boyle's law be investigated?
Key term
How can the pressure-temperature relationship for a gas be investigated experimentally, and how can absolute zero be estimated from the data?
Process
What is the SI unit of thermodynamic temperature?
Numbers
State the equation used to convert a temperature from degrees Celsius to kelvin.
Key term
Describe the spacing of atoms or molecules in a solid.
Key term
Define Brownian motion.
Key term
Describe the motion observed when viewing smoke particles in a Brownian motion demonstration.
Numbers
State the equation that relates energy transfer to specific heat capacity, defining each symbol.
Numbers
State the equation relating energy transfer to latent heat, defining each symbol.
Process
Where is the immersion heater positioned in a latent heat of fusion experiment?
Numbers
In deriving (1/2)m⟨c²⟩ = (3/2)kT, what is the first step using the equations pV = NkT and pV = (1/3)Nm⟨c²⟩?
Key term
Define specific heat capacity.
Key term
What measurement of the metal block must be made before starting an electrical specific heat capacity experiment?
Key term
What initial measurement is recorded before heating begins in an electrical specific heat capacity experiment on a metal block?
Key term
State the equation of state for an ideal gas in terms of the number of moles.
Key term
Define mean square speed.
Key term
State Boyle's law for an ideal gas.
Key term
What distinguishes the absolute (thermodynamic) temperature scale from other temperature scales?
Key term
Describe the spacing of atoms or molecules in a liquid.
Key term
Why is illumination needed when demonstrating Brownian motion with smoke particles?
Key term
What is the SI unit of specific heat capacity?
Key term
In an electrical experiment on a metal block, what electrical quantities must be measured while heating?
Key term
In the method of mixtures, what must be known about the liquid before the hot sample is added?
Key term
In an electrical experiment to determine specific latent heat of fusion, how is the ice arranged?
Key term
Define root mean square speed in terms of mean square speed.
Key term
What does the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution describe?
Take Thermal Physics further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Specific heat capacity vs Specific latent heat
Specific heat capacity: thermal transfer required per kilogram per kelvin. Specific latent heat: thermal transfer required per kilogram for state change.
Internal energy vs Temperature
Internal energy: sum of microscopic kinetic and potential contributions. Temperature: measure related to mean molecular kinetic motion.
Evaporation vs Boiling
Evaporation: surface escape occurring below the characteristic phase-change temperature. Boiling: vapour formation throughout a liquid at a fixed temperature.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is thermal equilibrium?
Model answer
Thermal equilibrium is the state when two or more objects in thermal contact have no net heat transfer between them because they are at the same temperature.
- 2
Why does net heat transfer stop between objects that have reached thermal equilibrium?
Model answer
Because the objects are at the same temperature, so there is no temperature difference to drive heat flow.
- 3
What can you conclude about the temperatures of two objects that are in thermal equilibrium with each other?
Model answer
Their temperatures are equal.
- 4
If object A is in thermal equilibrium with object B, and object B is in thermal equilibrium with object C, what can be said about the temperatures of A and C?
Model answer
Objects A and C are at the same temperature (and therefore in thermal equilibrium with each other).
- 5
What distinguishes the absolute (thermodynamic) temperature scale from other temperature scales?
Model answer
The absolute scale is independent of the properties of any particular substance.
- 6
Why is the thermodynamic temperature scale considered a fundamental scale?
Model answer
Because it does not depend on the properties of any specific material or substance.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Thermal Physics revision questions
- What does Thermal Physics cover in OCR A-Level Physics A?
- 10 subtopics: thermal equilibrium and absolute temperature, the kinetic model of solids, liquids and gases, brownian motion and internal energy, specific heat capacity, measuring specific heat capacity, specific latent heat, measuring specific latent heat, moles, the avogadro constant and kinetic theory, gas laws, the ideal gas equation and r.m.s. speed and maxwell-boltzmann distribution, boltzmann constant and internal energy. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Thermal Physics organised?
- By the OCR H556 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Thermal Physics, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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