Curriculum

VCE Physics

11, 12

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Unit 1 — How is energy useful?

How are light and heat explained?

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Heat Energy $Q = m c Δ T$ Practise
Molar Heat Capacity $Q = n C Δ T$ Practise
Calorimetry $m_{1} c_{1} Δ T_{1} + m_{2} c_{2} Δ T_{2} = 0$ Practise
Latent Heat $Q = m L$ Practise
Total Heat with Phase Change $Q_{total} = m c Δ T + m L$ Practise
Stefan-Boltzmann Law $P = σ A ε T^{4}$ Practise
Wien's Displacement Law $λ_{max} = \frac{b}{T}$ Practise
Ideal Gas Law $P V = n R T$ Practise
Boyle's Law $P_{1} V_{1} = P_{2} V_{2}$ Practise
Charles' Law $\frac{V _{1}}{T _{1}} = \frac{V _{2}}{T _{2}}$ Practise
Gay-Lussac's Law $\frac{P _{1}}{T _{1}} = \frac{P _{2}}{T _{2}}$ Practise
Combined Gas Law $\frac{P _{1} V _{1}}{T _{1}} = \frac{P _{2} V _{2}}{T _{2}}$ Practise
Kinetic Energy of Gas $E_{k} = \frac{3}{2} k_{B} T$ Practise
Snell's Law $n_{1} sin θ_{1} = n_{2} sin θ_{2}$ Practise
Refractive Index $n = \frac{c}{v}$ Practise
Critical Angle $sin θ_{c} = \frac{n _{2}}{n _{1}}$ Practise
Brewster's Angle $tan θ_{B} = \frac{n _{2}}{n _{1}}$ Practise
Magnification $m = - \frac{v}{u} = \frac{h _{i}}{h _{o}}$ Practise
Power of a Lens $P = \frac{1}{f}$ Practise
Mirror Equation $\frac{1}{f} = \frac{1}{u} + \frac{1}{v}$ Practise
Lens Maker's Formula $\frac{1}{f} = (n - 1) (\frac{1}{R _{1}} - \frac{1}{R _{2}})$ Practise

How is energy from the nucleus?

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Mass-Energy Equivalence $E = m c^{2}$ Practise
Mass Defect $Δ m = m_{constituents} - m_{nucleus}$ Practise
Binding Energy $E_{b} = Δ m c^{2}$ Practise
Binding Energy per Nucleon $\frac{E _{b}}{A}$ Practise
Exponential Decay $N = N_{0} (\frac{1}{2})^{t / t_{1/2}}$ Practise
Activity $A = λ N$ Practise
Decay Constant $λ = \frac{l n 2}{t _{1/2}}$ Practise

Not yet covered

Nuclear fission and fusion reaction equations
Daughter nucleus identification from alpha/beta/gamma decay

How can electricity be used to transfer energy?

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Ohm's Law $V = I R$ Practise
Electric Power $P = V I$ Practise
Power from Resistance $P = I^{2} R = \frac{V ^{2}}{R}$ Practise
Resistors in Series $R_{total} = R_{1} + R_{2} + \dots$ Practise
Resistors in Parallel $\frac{1}{R _{total}} = \frac{1}{R _{1}} + \frac{1}{R _{2}}$ Practise
EMF Equation $ε = V + I r$ Practise
Electrical Energy $E = V I t = P t$ Practise
Resistivity Formula $R = \frac{ρ L}{A}$ Practise
Temperature Dependence of Resistance $R = R_{0} (1 + α Δ T)$ Practise
Series Resistance (n resistors) $R_{eq} = R_{1} + R_{2} + R_{3} + \dots$ Practise
Parallel Resistance (n resistors) $\frac{1}{R _{eq}} = \frac{1}{R _{1}} + \frac{1}{R _{2}} + \frac{1}{R _{3}} + \dots$ Practise

Unit 2 — How does physics help us understand the world?

How is motion understood?

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First SUVAT $v = u + a t$ Practise
Second SUVAT $s = u t + \frac{1}{2} a t^{2}$ Practise
Third SUVAT $v^{2} = u^{2} + 2 a s$ Practise
Fourth SUVAT $s = \frac{( u + v ) t}{2}$ Practise
Average Velocity $v_{av} = \frac{u + v}{2}$ Practise
Relative Velocity $v_{A B} = v_{A} - v_{B}$ Practise
Free Fall Velocity $v = g t$ Practise
Free Fall Displacement $s = \frac{1}{2} g t^{2}$ Practise
Newton's Second Law $F_{net} = ma$ Practise
Weight $W = m g$ Practise
Kinetic Friction $f_{k} = μ_{k} N$ Practise
Maximum Static Friction $f_{s, max} = μ_{s} N$ Practise
Hooke's Law $F = - k x$ Practise
Spring Potential Energy $U_{s} = \frac{1}{2} k x^{2}$ Practise
Equilibrium $Σ F = 0$ Practise
Tension at Rest $T = m g$ Practise
Normal on Incline $N = m g cos θ$ Practise
Momentum $p = m v$ Practise
Impulse $J = F Δ t$ Practise
Conservation of Momentum $m_{1} u_{1} + m_{2} u_{2} = m_{1} v_{1} + m_{2} v_{2}$ Practise
Kinetic Energy $E_{k} = \frac{1}{2} m v^{2}$ Practise
Gravitational Potential Energy $U_{g} = m g h$ Practise
Work $W = F s cos θ$ Practise
Power $P = \frac{W}{t}$ Practise
Power equals Force times Velocity $P = F v$ Practise
Efficiency $η = \frac{W _{out}}{W _{in}}$ Practise
Elastic Collision Relative Velocity $v_{2} - v_{1} = u_{1} - u_{2}$ Practise

Options

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No formulas in this area yet.

Unit 3 — How do fields explain motion and electricity?

How do physicists explain motion in two dimensions?

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Centripetal Acceleration $a_{c} = \frac{v ^{2}}{r}$ Practise
Centripetal Acceleration Angular $a_{c} = ω^{2} r$ Practise
Centripetal Force $F_{c} = \frac{m v ^{2}}{r}$ Practise
Angular Velocity $ω = \frac{2 π}{T}$ Practise
Period-Frequency $T = \frac{1}{f}$ Practise
Banked Curve $tan θ = \frac{v ^{2}}{r g}$ Practise
Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation $F_{g} = \frac{G m _{1} m _{2}}{r ^{2}}$ Practise
Gravitational Field Strength $g = \frac{GM}{r ^{2}}$ Practise
Orbital Speed $v_{orb} = \frac{GM}{r}$ Practise
Kepler's Third Law $\frac{T ^{2}}{r ^{3}} = \frac{4 π ^{2}}{GM}$ Practise
Gravitational Potential Energy $U = - \frac{GM m}{r}$ Practise
Gravity at Altitude $g_{h} = g_{0} (\frac{R}{R + h})^{2}$ Practise

Not yet covered

Projectile motion range and maximum height equations (currently covered by SUVAT in Unit 2)

How do things move without contact?

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Gravitational Field Strength $g = \frac{F _{g}}{m}$ Practise
Gravitational Field of a Point Mass $g = \frac{GM}{r ^{2}}$ Practise
Gravitational Potential $V = - \frac{GM}{r}$ Practise
Work from Gravitational Potential Difference $W = m Δ V$ Practise
Potential Difference in Uniform Field $Δ V = g Δ h$ Practise
Field from Potential Gradient $g = - \frac{Δ V}{Δ r}$ Practise
Electric Field Strength $E = \frac{F _{e}}{q}$ Practise
Coulomb's Law $F_{e} = \frac{k q _{1} q _{2}}{r ^{2}}$ Practise
Electric Field of a Point Charge $E = \frac{k q}{r ^{2}}$ Practise
Uniform Electric Field $E = \frac{V}{d}$ Practise
Work from Electric Potential Difference $W = q Δ V$ Practise
Electric Potential due to a Point Charge $V = \frac{k q}{r}$ Practise
Electric Potential Energy Change $Δ U = q Δ V$ Practise
Electric Field from Potential Gradient $E = - \frac{Δ V}{Δ r}$ Practise
Magnetic Force on a Moving Charge $F = q v B sin θ$ Practise
Magnetic Force on a Wire $F = B I L sin θ$ Practise
Radius of Circular Path $r = \frac{m v}{q B}$ Practise
Magnetic Field around a Wire $B = \frac{μ _{0} I}{2 π r}$ Practise

How are fields used in electricity generation?

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Magnetic Flux $Φ = B A cos θ$ Practise
Faraday's Law $ε = - N \frac{ΔΦ}{Δ t}$ Practise
Motional EMF $ε = B l v$ Practise
Self-Inductance $ε = - L \frac{Δ I}{Δ t}$ Practise
Transformer Voltage Ratio $\frac{V _{p}}{V _{s}} = \frac{N _{p}}{N _{s}}$ Practise
Transformer Current Ratio $\frac{V _{p}}{V _{s}} = \frac{I _{s}}{I _{p}}$ Practise
Transformer Power Conservation $P_{p} = P_{s}$ Practise

Unit 4 — How have creative ideas and investigation revolutionised thinking in physics?

How has understanding about the physical world changed?

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Time Dilation $t = \frac{t _{0}}{1 - \frac{v ^{2}}{c ^{2}}}$ Practise
Lorentz Factor $t = γ t_{0}$ Practise
Length Contraction $L = L_{0} 1 - \frac{v ^{2}}{c ^{2}}$ Practise
Length Contraction — Lorentz Factor $L = \frac{L _{0}}{γ}$ Practise
Lorentz Factor $γ = \frac{1}{1 - \frac{v ^{2}}{c ^{2}}}$ Practise
Relativistic Momentum $p = γ m v$ Practise
Relativistic Total Energy $E = γ m c^{2}$ Practise

Not yet covered

Relativistic velocity addition formula
Proper time and proper length definitions (qualitative, may not need formulas)

How is scientific inquiry used in physics?

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Photoelectric Equation $K_{max} = h f - ϕ$ Practise
Work Function $ϕ = h f_{0}$ Practise
Stopping Potential $e V_{s} = K_{max}$ Practise
Photon Energy $E = h f$ Practise
Photon Momentum $p = \frac{h}{λ}$ Practise
Energy Level Transition $Δ E = h f = E_{2} - E_{1}$ Practise
Bohr Angular Momentum $L = \frac{nh}{2 π}$ Practise
Hydrogen Energy Levels $E_{n} = - \frac{13.6}{n ^{2}} eV$ Practise
Rydberg Formula $\frac{1}{λ} = R (\frac{1}{n _{1}^{2}} - \frac{1}{n _{2}^{2}})$ Practise

How are light and matter similar?

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Photon Energy $E = h f$ Practise
Photon Momentum $p = \frac{h}{λ}$ Practise
Diffraction Grating Maxima $d sin θ_{n} = nλ$ Practise
Single-Slit Minima $a sin θ_{n} = nλ$ Practise
Rayleigh Criterion $θ_{min} = \frac{1.22 λ}{D}$ Practise
Young's Fringe Spacing $Δ x = \frac{λ D}{d}$ Practise
Thin Film Constructive $2 n t = (m + \frac{1}{2}) λ$ Practise
Thin Film Destructive $2 n t = mλ$ Practise
Wave Speed $v = f λ$ Practise
Period-Frequency Relation $T = \frac{1}{f}$ Practise
Angular Frequency $ω = 2 π f$ Practise
Wave Intensity $I = \frac{P}{A}$ Practise
Inverse-Square Law $I = \frac{P}{4 π r ^{2}}$ Practise
Wave Speed on a String $v = \frac{T}{μ}$ Practise
Energy Proportional to Amplitude Squared $E \propto A^{2}$ Practise
Path Difference to Phase Difference $δ = \frac{2 π Δ x}{λ}$ Practise
n-th Harmonic String $f_{n} = \frac{n v}{2 L}$ Practise
n-th Harmonic Pipe Closed $f_{n} = \frac{( 2 n - 1 ) v}{4 L}$ Practise
Fundamental Frequency $f_{1} = \frac{v}{2 L}$ Practise
Wavelength of n-th Harmonic $λ_{n} = \frac{2 L}{n}$ Practise
Constructive Interference $Δ x = nλ$ Practise
Destructive Interference $Δ x = (n + \frac{1}{2}) λ$ Practise
Resultant Amplitude In-Phase $A_{res} = A_{1} + A_{2}$ Practise
Phase Difference $Δ ϕ = \frac{2 π Δ x}{λ}$ Practise
Beat Frequency $f_{beat} = f_{1} - f_{2}$ Practise
Doppler Effect $f^{'} = f \frac{v \pm v _{o}}{v \mp v _{s}}$ Practise
Doppler Moving Source $f^{'} = f \frac{v}{v - v _{s}}$ Practise
Doppler Moving Observer $f^{'} = f \frac{v + v _{o}}{v}$ Practise
Redshift $z = \frac{Δ λ}{λ _{0}} \approx \frac{v}{c}$ Practise

Not yet covered

de Broglie wavelength formula lambda = h/p
Electron diffraction and the Davisson-Germer experiment relationship
Wave function and probability interpretation (qualitative only in VCE)