A set of videos to help you write up your advanced higher project report.
Setting up a Word Document
In this section I’ll add information about how to write up your AH Project. Here is the first installment. Nothing great, but just to set up your document so that you gain the Structure mark
Producing Graphs for your project
Being edited!
Adding Your Graphs into your project
Referencing
If you’ve time this is a great little document from Queen’s University Belfast,
Welcome to the 2021-22 AH Physics course. Another year, another journey together. I hope you feel that this site meets your requirements and that you can find the materials that you need.
Check out MrStewart’s YouTube channel for some great clear explanations from this course.
Using John Sharkey’s Flash Learning this video covers the required Virtual CfE Advanced Higher Physics Equations. NB there are some updates to equations since this material was produced.
Using John Sharkey’s Flash Learning Virtual CfE Advanced Higher Physics these videos cover all of the unit Rotational Motion and Astrophysics. Note there have been a few changes to the Course Specifications since these were produced.
Here are some of the recordings from Virtual Flash Learning for the Rotational Motion Section. Turn off the volume if you dont want to hear from me.
AH Kinematic Relationships using the Virtual Physics
Angular Momentum-
This one has audio but you can switch it off.
Angular Motion
Rotational Dynamics
Gravitation
Space and Time
Stellar Physics
Note in the Stellar Physics video the equation for Apparent Brightness has now been changed see below
Some really important information before starting out on your project. Plus some references you might wish to consult.
An adaptation of Tom Balanowski’s notes by Mr Bailey. This is a useful guide to teachers preparing students for their AH Physics Project. PLANNING is the KEY.
If you are not familiar with Excel can I recommend you spending a bit of time looking over the post in the BGE section (link below). I’ll add a further advanced part for you below.
Other packages are available and some are more robust such as R but I am not sure whether I will introduce that to you now.
check out the prefixes you need. Notice anything different?
I am grateful to Ms K Ward from George Heriot’s School for trawling through the new and old curriculum and recording the changes. Thanks also for allowing me to reproduce it here.
Assessment
Old assessment: 100 mark question paper, 30 mark project, plus pass all the units
New assessment: 155 mark question paper, scaled to 120, 40 mark project (hence project is 25%)
Changes to content:
The content is no longer divided into ‘mandatory course key areas’, ‘suggested learning activities’, and ‘exemplification of key areas’. There is simply a list of the course contents.
Where the wording has changed but I don’t see any real difference, I have said ‘no change’.
RMA
Kinematic relationships – no change
Angular motion – derivation of centripetal acceleration equation is gone
Rotational dynamics – no change
Gravitation
– ‘Conversion between astronomical units (AU) and metres and between light-years (ly) and metres’ – is new
– ‘Consideration of the energy required by a satellite to move from one orbit to another’ – is gone
General Relativity
– ‘Knowledge that the escape velocity from the event horizon of a black hole is equal to the speed of light’ – is new
Stellar physics
Specific example of a p-p chain is now given
Hertzprung-Russell section is rewritten more clearly.
Quanta and Waves
Introduction to quantum theory – no change
Particles from space
– ‘Knowledge of the interaction of the solar wind with Earth’s magnetic field’ – is gone. New document only mentions composition of solar wind. Helical motion of charged particles is still there though, so it might not really matter.
Simple harmonic motion (SHM)– no change
Waves – no change
Interference
Relationship for interference due to division of amplitude is now specified, opd=mλ or (m+1/2) λ where m=0,1,2…
Polarisation – no change
Electromagnetism
Fields
– ‘Knowledge of Millikan’s experimental method for determining the charge on an electron’ – this was in ‘exemplification’ before but is now specifically required knowledge
– ‘Comparison of gravitational, electrostatic, magnetic, and nuclear forces in terms of their relative strength and range’ – the words in bold are new
Circuits
– ‘Knowledge that, in an RC circuit, an uncharged capacitor can be considered to be fully
charged after a time approximately equal to 5τ. Knowledge that, in an RC circuit, a fully charged capacitor can be considered to be fully discharged after a time approximately equal to 5τ.’ – is new
Electromagnetic radiation– no change
Uncertainties
Knowledge and use of appropriate units, prefixes and scientific notation
Data analysis
– ‘Absolute uncertainty should normally be rounded to one significant figure. In some instances, a second significant figure may be retained.’ – the words in bold are new. It does not specify the instances in which a second figure may be retained.
– ‘Knowledge that, when uncertainties in a single measurement are combined, an uncertainty can be ignored if it is less than one third of one of the other uncertainties in the measurement’ – is new
– ‘Knowledge that, when uncertainties in measured values are combined, a fractional/percentage uncertainty in a measured value can be ignored if it is less than one third of the fractional/percentage uncertainty in another measured value’ – is new
– The equation for the uncertainty in a value raised to a power is now given:
Evaluation and significance of experimental uncertainties
The AH today were working in 3 groups to research via practicals and notes about SHM. The task is given below. Well done to Morford and Hodgson who created the following from their practical, with very little assistance. Their results were so good I thought I’d share them.
Mr Morford wrote “These graphs are from our recent experiment to determine the effect of damping on an oscillating mass. A mass was hung from a spring over an Alba Ranger ultrasound device. We then analysed our measurements using excel and graphed our results to find the decay due to damping.”
Morford & Hodgson (2019)
This was the task for the class and my thanks to the IoP for their Practical Physics lessons and to the other places referenced for some great practical techniques. I will neaten this post later, but I promised Morford and Hodgson that I would post tonight!
Hopefully I can collate the rest of the groups information soon.
Despite Covid-19 the intrepid AH students have been showing damping with a pendulum bob and tracker. The original movie has still to be analysed by our friends from Annan
Now if we can add Atwal, Burns, Carson and Morrin’s tracker we can have a full set for 2020 and you can look back with fondness at your time in AH, despite all the distancing.
Investigating a mass-on-spring
oscillator
Demonstration
A mass suspended on a spring
will oscillate after being displaced. The period of oscillation is affected by
the amount of mass and the stiffness of the spring. This experiment allows the
period, displacement, velocity and acceleration to be investigated by
datalogging the output from a motion sensor. It is an example of simple
harmonic motion.
Analysis Measurement of period Period and Amplitude Observe that the period appears to be independent of amplitude.
Effect of mass A straight line is the usual result, showing that the period squared is proportional to the mass.
Velocity and acceleration A plot of the resulting data shows a ‘velocity vs. time’ graph. Note that the new graph is also sinusoidal. However, compared with the ‘distance vs. time’ graph, there is a phase difference – the velocity is a maximum when the displacement is zero, and vice versa.
A similar gradient calculation based on the ‘velocity vs. time’ graph yields an ‘acceleration vs. time’ graph. Comparing this with the original ‘distance vs. time’ graph shows a phase difference of 180°. This indicates that the acceleration is always opposite in direction to the displacement. Teaching notes
Aim: To find the force constant of a helical spring by plotting a graph between load and extension.
Aim: To find the effect of damping on an oscillating spring
Aim: To find the effect of mass on an oscillating spring
Aim: To use the formula for an oscillating spring to find m or k etc
I’ve put together, with Mrs Mac’s help, a document with quantity, symbol, unit and unit symbol so that you know the meaning of the terms in the Relationships Sheet. It is in EXCEL so that you can sort it by course, quantity or symbol.
This is the same information in readily available Tablepress form. If you click on the Higher tab at the top it should sort by terms that you need in alphabetical order, or search for a term. Let me know if I’ve missed any.
Quantity, Symbol, Unit, Unit, Symbol N5-AH.
N
H
A
Physical Quantity
sym
Unit
Unit Abb.
5
absorbed dose
D
gray
Gy
5
absorbed dose rate
H (dot)
gray per second gray per hour gray per year
Gys -1 Gyh -1 Gyy -1
5
6
7
acceleration
a
metre per second per second
m s -2
5
6
7
acceleration due to gravity
g
metre per second per second
m s -2
5
activity
A
becquerel
Bq
5
6
7
amplitude
A
metre
m
5
6
7
angle
θ
degree
°
5
6
7
area
A
square metre
m 2
5
6
7
average speed
v (bar)
metre per second
m s -1
5
6
7
average velocity
v (bar)
metre per second
m s -1
5
6
7
change of speed
∆v
metre per second
m s -1
5
6
7
change of velocity
∆v
metre per second
m s -1
5
count rate
-
counts per second (counts per minute)
-
5
6
7
current
I
ampere
A
5
6
7
displacement
s
metre
m
5
6
7
distance
d
metre, light year
m , ly
5
6
7
distance, depth, height
d or h
metre
m
5
effective dose
H
sievert
Sv
5
6
7
electric charge
Q
coulomb
C
5
6
7
electric charge
Q or q
coulomb
C
5
6
7
electric current
I
ampere
A
5
6
7
energy
E
joule
J
5
equivalent dose
H
sievert
Sv
5
equivalent dose rate
H (dot)
sievert per second sievert per hour sievert per year
Svs -1 Svh -1 Svy -1
5
6
7
final velocity
v
metre per second
m s -1
5
6
7
force
F
newton
N
5
6
7
force, tension, upthrust, thrust
F
newton
N
5
6
7
frequency
f
hertz
Hz
5
6
7
gravitational field strength
g
newton per kilogram
N kg -1
5
6
7
gravitational potential energy
E p
joule
J
5
half-life
t 1/2
second (minute, hour, day, year)
s
5
6
heat energy
Eh
joule
J
5
6
7
height, depth
h
metre
m
5
6
7
initial speed
u
metre per second
m/s
5
6
7
initial velocity
u
metre per second
m s -1
5
6
7
kinetic energy
Ek
joule
J
5
6
7
length
l
metre
m
5
6
7
mass
m
kilogram
kg
5
number of nuclei decaying
N
-
-
5
6
7
period
T
second
s
5
6
7
potential difference
V
volt
V
5
6
7
potential energy
Ep
joule
J
5
6
7
power
P
watt
W
5
6
7
pressure
P or p
pascal
Pa
5
radiation weighting factor
wR
-
-
5
6
7
radius
r
metre
m
5
6
7
resistance
R
ohm
Ω
5
6
7
specific heat capacity
c
joule per kilogram per degree Celsius
Jkg-1 °C -1
5
6
specific latent heat
l
joule per kilogram
Jkg -1
5
6
7
speed of light in a vacuum
c
metre per second
m s -1
5
6
7
speed, final speed
v
metre per second
ms -1
5
6
7
speed, velocity, final velocity
v
metre per second
m s-1
5
6
7
supply voltage
Vs
volt
V
5
6
7
temperature
T
degree Celsius
°C
5
6
7
temperature
T
kelvin
K
5
6
7
time
t
second
s
5
6
7
total resistance
R
ohm
Ω
5
6
7
voltage
V
volt
V
5
6
7
voltage, potential difference
V
volt
V
5
6
7
volume
V
cubic metre
m3
5
6
7
weight
W
newton
N
5
6
7
work done
W or E W
joule
J
7
angle
θ
radian
rad
7
angular acceleration
a
radian per second per second
rad s -2
7
angular displacement
θ
radian
rad
7
angular frequency
ω
radian per second
rad s -1
7
angular momentum
L
kilogram metre squared per second
kg m2 s -1
7
angular velocity,
final angular velocity
ω
radian per second
rad s-1
7
apparent brightness
b
Watts per square metre
Wm-2
7
back emf
e
volt
V
6
7
capacitance
C
farad
F
7
capacitive reactance
Xc
ohm
W
6
critical angle
θc
degree
°
density
ρ
kilogram per cubic metre
kg m-3
7
displacement
s or x or y
metre
m
efficiency
η
-
-
6
7
electric field strength
E
newton per coulomb
volts per metre
N C -1
Vm -1
7
electrical potential
V
volt
V
6
7
electromotive force (e.m.f)
E or ε
volt
V
6
energy level
E 1 , E 2 , etc
joule
J
feedback resistance
Rf
ohm
Ω
focal length of a lens
f
metre
m
6
frequency of source
fs
hertz
Hz
6
7
fringe separation
∆x
metre
m
6
7
grating to screen distance
D
metre
m
7
gravitational potential
U or V
joule per kilogram
J kg-1
half-value thickness
T1/2
metre
m
6
7
impulse
(∆p)
newton second
kilogram metre per second
Ns
kgms-1
7
induced e.m.f.
E or ε
volt
V
7
inductor reactance
XL
ohm
W
7
initial angular velocity
ω o
radian per second
rad s-1
input energy
E i
joule
J
input power
Pi
watt
W
input voltage
V 1 or V2
volt
V
input voltage
V i
volt
V
6
internal resistance
r
ohm
Ω
6
7
irradiance
I
watt per square metre
W m-1
7
luminoscity
L
Watt
W
7
magnetic induction
B
tesla
T
7
moment of inertia
I
kilogram metre squared
kg m2
6
7
momentum
p
kilogram metre per second
kg m s-1
6
number of photons per second per cross sectional area