I’ve done my homework, I hope you have too! It gets harder folks!
Answers and there is absolutely no point in checking these until after I’ve noted you’ve done them- yourself! If you do, you are not doing yourself any favours, as I can guarantee you will be the one to struggle at Higher as you always run to the answers in your study and you wont have developed the skills to pass your exam under the stressful conditions. It is important you are honest with your teacher and more importantly yourself!
These papers and marking instructions are reproduced to support SQA qualifications, please check the conditions of use and ensure they are not used for commercial benefit.
If you’d like to work through past papers by topic then Mr Davie has done all the hard work for you and has promised to keep this list up to date. He says
Below are the Revised Higher Past Papers, the content is very very similar to the new National (CfE) Higher, although the marks would be different. These were the last past papers with half marks!
These are the traditional Higher Past Papers (once also known as revised!) Remember some of this material is no longer on the syllabus, and some is relevant to National 5.
From National Parent Forum of Scotland This great little pdf file gives some ideas of suitable questions from the traditional Higher papers that are suitable for the new National Qualifications.
Thanks to Mr John Irvine and Mr Stuart Farmer for the course reports.
PLEASE both teachers and students READ the Report after tackling the past paper. The course reports give really good background and information about how candidates performed in the exam and what messages you should learn from them.
It is important that you realise that this year will go really quickly. As a part of your life it seems a long time, but trust me, it will go quicker than you can possibly imagine. That is why it is important to realise how little time you have to cover the whole course and revise it. If you thought N5 went fast just imagine that in half the time- because that is what Higher Physics will feel like!
For people in D&G I’ve made a D&G Calendar. For other Regions you’ll just need to adjust your holiday dates. From the first Monday you return to school there will be only 146 teaching daysuntil Study Leave. Now if you think that you only get 5 periods a week, on 4 days per week that is a maximum of 117 times I’ll see you, you can start ticking them off if you dislike me that much. Take off all those days when you will be having trips, meetings, be at Sporting Events, doing prelims and the time to complete the course begins to look less plausible! We also have to fit in an Assignment.
I would therefore ask any student studying any subject not to waste any time in class and get as organised as possible. That means get into class, get out your stuff, and get going straight away. If there is a distraction then review your work, answer questions etc. Don’t waste a second!
Click on the link above (Revision plan). This takes you to an EXCEL spreadsheet. I can add a pdf file if some of you can’t open this. Revision isn’t just about LEARNING the work. What will take more of your time are the other bits!
The steps to revising are:
CHECK YOU HAVE ALL THE NOTES, CONTENT AND WORK YOU NEED.
UNDERSTAND THE WORK, DOES IT MAKE SENSE?
LEARN THE WORK.
You can and should be doing step one throughout the course. The better prepared you are as you go along the less time at the end of the course you will need for revision. Likewise with step 2. If you make sure you’ve fully understood each part of the work, then even if you’ve forgotten it, it should be easier to understand and grasp the second time around. If you pass on it and hope it will go away as you move through the course you’ll begin to have a fear of this section of the course and it will be harder to understand.
So how do you use the Revision Plan?
This can be used for just one subject but I think it puts it into perspective when you put all your calendar in one place. There are probably apps that will do the same thing, but I’m not there yet!
Mark in the dates and times of Exams (whether prelims or final exams). I’ve put in the Physics Exam Date for you and a counter has been added to the N5 Home Page. I’d check this often just to remind you how far we are through the course.
Shade in the dates and times of commitments, such as parties, trips away, days off (birthdays when you’ll have all those presents to open) etc.
Make a list of topics to cover for each subject; the Physics one is done for you. But remember revision is about CHECKING, UNDERSTANDING and LEARNING so all three of those have to be allocated time.
Calculate how many hours you have available and how much time you will allocate to each subject and each topic within that subject.
Decide on the order in which to tackle your subjects. Don’t tackle the easy subjects first as you’ll never get on to the harder ones! It is best to start revising the hard subjects and topics as these will take you more time to understand and learn
Draft your revision timetable.
Leave one or two revision slots free each week for extra revision or difficult topics.
BE SURE TO LEAVE YOURSELF SOME TIME FOR REST AND FUN ACTIVITIES including being healthy.
Don’t spend so long producing a beautiful revision timetable so that there is not enough time to revise.
It is really important that you get to grips with the uncertainty section. You will need this information for your Assignment and it could well form a question on the exam paper.
The key is remembering that ANY measurement is liable to uncertainty. Get that and you’re half way there!
Here is a summary of Key Knowledge for this section new for 2021
All measurements of physical quantities are liable to uncertainty, which should be expressed in absolute or percentage form. Random uncertainties occur when an experiment is repeated and slight variations occur. Scale reading uncertainty is a measure of how well an instrument scale can be read. Random uncertainties can be reduced by taking repeated measurements. Systematic uncertainties occur when readings taken are either all too small or all too large.
They can arise due to measurement techniques or experimental design.
The mean of a set of readings is the best estimate of a ‘true’ value of the quantity being measured. When systematic uncertainties are present, the mean value of measurements will be offset. When mean values are used, the approximate random uncertainty should be calculated. When an experiment is being undertaken and more than one physical quantity is measured, the quantity with the largest percentage uncertainty should be identified and this may often be used as a good estimate of the percentage uncertainty in the final numerical result of an experiment. The numerical result of an experiment should be expressed in the form final value ±uncertainty.
UNCERTAINTIES NOTES
Whenever you do an experiment there will be uncertainties.
There are three types of uncertainty and effects to look out for at Higher.
Systematic Effects
Here the problem lies with the design of the experiment or apparatus. It includes zero errors. Sometimes they show up when you plot a graph but they are not easy to recognise, as they are not deliberate. Systematic effects include slow running clocks, zero errors, warped metre sticks etc. The best way to ensure that these are spotted is to acknowledge their existence and go looking for them. Where accuracy is of the utmost importance, the apparatus would be calibrated against a known standard. Note that a systematic effect might also be present if the experimenter is making the same mistake each time in taking a reading.
Random Uncertainties
These uncertainties cannot be eliminated. They cannot be pinpointed. examples include fluctuating temperatures, pressure and friction. Their effect can be reduced by taking several readings and finding a mean.
Reading Uncertainties
These occur because we cannot be absolutely certain about our readings when taking measurements from scales. Use scales with mirrors where possible, good scales and repeat all measurements.
Repeat all experiments to reduce the reading and random uncertainties. Systematic effects are not improved by taking lots of results.
Which experiment has the best design?
Quantifying Uncertainties
1.Find the mean
This is the best estimate of the “true” value but not necessary the “true” value.
2. Find the approximate random uncertainty in the mean (absolute uncertainty)
This can be written as and it is sometimes referred to as average deviation or absolute uncertainty.
3. Find the percentage uncertainty.
or
Scale Reading Uncertainty
This value indicates how well an instrument scale can be read.
An estimate of reading uncertainty for an analogue scale is generally taken as:
± half the least division of the scale.
Note: for widely spaced scales, this can be a little pessimistic and a reasonable estimate should be made.
For a digital scale it is taken as
± 1 in the least significant digit displayed.
Or uncertainty in reading ÷reading × 100%
Overall final Uncertainty
When comparing uncertainties, it is important to take the percentage in each.
In an experiment, where more than one physical quantity has been measured, spot the quantity with the largest percentage uncertainty. This percentage uncertainty is often a good estimate of the percentage uncertainty in the final numerical result of the experiment.
eg if one measurement has an uncertainty of 3% and another has an uncertainty of 5%, then the overall percentage uncertainty in this experiment should be taken as 5%
Well done, especially to those 3 band 1 students. One band 8 missed a D by 1 mark, and two band 3s were 1 or 2 marks from an A. Learn for next year!
First web class.
Remember, you’ll always be my first website class.
Most of the Higher class 2016-17 starting on their journey, but someone is hiding!
Well that was the last official lesson with my Higher class of 2016/7. They have been a delightful class and they all got to the end, more or less unscathed. They’ve still got a smile on their faces.
Granny Resistor took the photo and the artist was absent. We celebrated the end of the course with Curly the Caterpillar cake, guess who got the bottom end! Thanks to Mr Physics who gave the students an amazing experience with the practical work, and thanks guys for your work and wonderful willingness to take this journey with me. Hope to see some of you next year. Do your best with your revision and make it all worthwhile. Get in touch if you need help.
Mrs Physics
If you’re feeling a bit down about your revision try the following link
If you came to Texas you’ll know about this. It obviously wont work on the school system at the moment, currently coming up “this is blocked and classified as games, time wasting”, but if you can get this going around at someone’s house with a Karl the Caterpillar it could be fun revision.
Grateful to Mr N Forwood, one of the IoP Coordinators for getting this done. He has gone through past papers and written out which questions are attached to which key area in the work. Hope it helps with your revision.
Here is a table showing some of the command words that are used in the exams. I will give examples later. It is important to answer the correct command word in the right way or you are likely to not be awarded marks.
Do go through past paper questions and get examples of the different command words and then look at the marking instructions and see how they are answered.
response to questions that ask candidates to:
describe,
you must provide a statement or structure of characteristics and/or features;
determine or calculate,
you must determine a number from given facts, figures or information; You should use numbers given in the question to work out the answer. You should always show your working, as it may be possible for the examiner to award some marks for the method even if the final answer is wrong. Always give the units as the final mark is for the answer and unit.
estimate,
you must determine an approximate value for something;
explain,
you must relate cause and effect and/or make relationships between things clear. Students should make something clear, or state the reasons for something happening. The answer should not be a simple list of reasons. This means that points in the answer must be linked coherently and logically.All of the stages/steps in an explanation must be included to gain full marks.
identify, name, give, or state,
you need only name or present in brief form. Only a short answer is required, not an explanation or a description. Often it can be answered with a single word, phrase or sentence. If the question asks you to state, give, or write down one (or two etc) examples, you should write down only the specified number of answers, or you may not be given the mark for some correct examples given.
justify,
you must give reasons to support their suggestions or conclusions, eg this might be by identifying an appropriate relationship and the effect of changing variables;
predict,
you must suggest what may happen based on available information;
show that,
you must use physics [and mathematics] to prove something e.g. a given value – All steps, including the stated answer, must be shown;
suggest,
you must apply their knowledge and understanding of physics to a new situation. A number of responses are acceptable: marks will be awarded for any suggestions that are supported by knowledge and understanding of physics.
use your knowledge of physics or aspect of physics to comment on,
you must apply your skills, knowledge and understanding to respond appropriately to the problem/situation presented (for example by making a statement of principle(s) involved and/or a relationship or equation, and applying these to respond to the problem/situation). you will be rewarded for the breadth and/or depth of their conceptual understanding.
Use the information in the passage/ diagram/ graph/ table to…
The answer must be based on the information given in the question. Unless the information given in the question is used, no marks can be given.
compare
This requires you to describe the similarities and/or differences between things, not just write about one. If you are asked to ‘compare x with y’, you need to write down something about x compared to y, using comparative words such as ‘better, ‘more than’, ‘less than’, ‘quicker’, ‘more expensive’, ‘on the other hand.’
Below I have taken examples of the command words contained in the 2015 Revised Higher paper, and given the expected response. I will continue to adjust this as I have time, for now just look over what is expected. You might need to refer to the paper to make sense of the question.
obviously I need a little practice at learning how to format tables, I'll work on that, but I've not been doing this a year yet!
Use a highlighter to underline the command words
Response
examples based on the 2015 Revised Higher Paper
(2·2 × 10−25 /1·673 × 10−27 =) 134 (½) (Higgs boson is) 2 orders of magnitude bigger (½) If mass of neutron (1·675 × 10−27) is used, treat as wrong physics – award zero marks. 134 times bigger, (½) only
Compare the mass of the Higgs boson with the mass of a proton in terms of orders of magnitude.
(when a) current (½) passes through a p-n junction (½) photons are emitted (1)
Describe how an LED operates.
vh = 11·6 cos 40 = 8·9 m s−1 (1) (accept 8·886, 8·89, 9 not 9·0)
Calculate the horizontal component of the initial velocity of the shot.
· (total energy remains the same) · the greater the angle the more energy used to lift the put to a greater height before release · less energy available to convert to Ek (½) · Kinetic energy is less (½) This statement is required before ANY marks can be awarded.
Using information from the graph, explain the effect of increasing the angle of projection on the kinetic energy of the shot at release.
v = 11·6 m s−1
photon
State the release speed of the shot at this angle.
Name the boson associated with the electromagnetic force.
(an extra particle) the (anti)neutrino (1) would have (some kinetic) energy (1)
From this evidence, what conclusion have particle physicists drawn about what happens in beta decay? Justify your answer.
(Constant speed Þ ) upward force = weight (½) 3 Tcos20 = 1380 (1½) T = 490 (N) If 490N not stated then (1½ max)
Show that the tension in each cord is 490 N at this instant.
A physics student notices that the digital clock in the family car loses one minute every six months. The student states “This must be due to time dilation as the car is driven at motorway speeds for much of the time.” Use your knowledge of physics to comment on the student’s statement.
On a similar matter, it is important that you don’t use the wrong adverb for a quantity.
Don’t use the terms quicker, slower, faster, for words such as time, acceleration, velocity.
Use terms longer, shorter for time greater than or less than for acceleration and velocity.
To say quicker time, you are talking about relativity! You want to say that the time will be less to do the same action.
…And here are my command words. Do your best, revise as hard as you can. This will be with you for the rest of your life.
and it is sometimes referred to as average deviation or absolute uncertainty.
