Course map
Motion in two dimensions
- LessonPractice
Newton's laws and circular motion
Unit 3: Unit 3, Area of Study 1- Apply Newton's three laws to coplanar forces in one and two dimensions
- Analyse horizontal circular motion on flat roads, banked tracks and strings
- Find the forces at the top and bottom of a vertical circle
- LessonPractice
Projectile motion
Unit 3: Unit 3, Area of Study 1- Resolve a launch velocity and treat horizontal and vertical motion separately
- Find time of flight, range, maximum height and impact velocity
- Describe how air resistance changes a projectile's path
- LessonPractice
Momentum, impulse, work and energy
Unit 3: Unit 3, Area of Study 1- Apply conservation of momentum to collisions and explosions in one dimension
- Use impulse and force-time reasoning in collisions
- Find work from force and displacement and from force-distance graphs
- Track kinetic, elastic and gravitational potential energy, and judge whether a collision is elastic
Fields and their effects
- LessonPractice
Field models
Unit 3: Unit 3, Area of Study 2- Describe gravitational, electric and magnetic fields with a field model
- Compare the fields of point masses and point charges with the inverse square law
- Find the magnetic fields of magnets, wires, loops and solenoids
- Classify fields as static or changing and uniform or non-uniform
- LessonPractice
Gravity and satellites
Unit 3: Unit 3, Area of Study 2- Calculate gravitational field strength and force at a distance
- Find changes in gravitational potential energy from graph areas
- Model satellites in circular orbits and find their speed, period and radius
- LessonPractice
Electric fields and charges
Unit 3: Unit 3, Area of Study 2- Use Coulomb's law and the field of a point charge
- Find the field, force and work on a charge between parallel plates
- Find the speed of a charge accelerated through a potential difference
- LessonPractice
Magnetic forces, motors and accelerators
Unit 3: Unit 3, Area of Study 2- Find the size and direction of the force on a moving charge and on a current
- Calculate the radius of a charged particle's path in a magnetic field
- Explain how a DC motor and its commutator work, and what changes its torque
- Model a synchrotron with electric and magnetic fields
Generating and transmitting electricity
- LessonPractice
Induction and generators
Unit 3: Unit 3, Area of Study 3- Calculate magnetic flux and describe the effect of angle
- Calculate induced emf and find the direction of an induced current
- Compare DC generators and alternators
- Explain how photovoltaic cells and inverters supply a home
- LessonPractice
AC, transformers and transmission
Unit 3: Unit 3, Area of Study 3- Read the frequency, period, peak and peak-to-peak values of AC
- Convert between peak and RMS values and compare AC with DC power
- Calculate voltages and currents in ideal transformers
- Calculate transmission losses and explain high-voltage transmission
Light and matter
- LessonPractice
Light as a wave
Unit 4: Unit 4, Area of Study 1- Describe light as an electromagnetic wave travelling at c
- Explain standing waves and find their wavelengths
- Explain diffraction with the wavelength to gap ratio
- Analyse Young's double slit experiment
- LessonPractice
Photons and the photoelectric effect
Unit 4: Unit 4, Area of Study 1- Calculate photon energies in joules and electron-volts
- Analyse photoelectric graphs: threshold frequency, work function and stopping voltage
- Explain why the photoelectric effect needs the particle model of light
- LessonPractice
Matter waves and atomic spectra
Unit 4: Unit 4, Area of Study 1- Calculate de Broglie wavelengths and compare photon and electron momentum
- Interpret electron diffraction as evidence that matter behaves as a wave
- Explain emission and absorption spectra with energy levels
- Interpret single-photon and electron double slit experiments
Special relativity
- LessonPractice
Special relativity
Unit 4: Unit 4, Area of Study 1- State Einstein's postulates and the meaning of the Michelson-Morley result
- Identify proper time and proper length and apply time dilation and length contraction
- Explain muons, accelerator design and GPS corrections
- Calculate rest energy, total energy and relativistic kinetic energy
Key science skills
- LessonPractice
Key science skills and investigations
Unit 3 and Unit 4: Key science skills; Unit 4, Area of Study 2- Identify variables, controls and a suitable method
- Distinguish accuracy, precision, repeatability, reproducibility and validity, and kinds of error
- Linearise data and find the meaning of a gradient or intercept
- Judge how far evidence supports a conclusion
The examination
VCE Physics Units 3 and 4. The examination covers Unit 3 and Unit 4. School-assessed Coursework is set by your school, so it is described in a lesson rather than practised here.