IGCSE Physics

Astronomy

25/9/2017

Let's get the basics straight first.

We live on earth which is the 3rd planet from the sun. The sun is a star, just like all the others you see in the sky, it's just a hell of a lot closer to us. It's pretty big too, and we orbit around it.

We live on the one called 'Earth' by the way

Click read more to read the rest! (it's all free!)

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Radioactivity

7/4/2017

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Syllabus Statements :

What on earth is radioactivity?

Radioactivity is basically a way for the nuclei (plural of nucleus) of atoms to become more stable. These instabilities in the nucleus arise when there are too many or too little neutrons in the nucleus, usually in isotopes of atoms that have I high mass. There are 3 ways that nuclei can become more stable, Alpha, Beta and Gamma radiation (This is actually not true but you only need to know 3).

note: Whenever we're talking about radioactivity, forget about the electrons in the shells orbiting the nucleus, we're only interested in the Nucleus specifically. Electrons are still important though (Beta).

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Fleming's left hand rule

26/2/2017

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This is very important skill in the electromagnetism topic.

What on earth is electromagnetism? Well, if you look at the word you can probably guess. It's when you use electricity to generate a magnetic field. Electricity creates a magnetic field? Yes it does! This is what Faraday is so famous for!

Fleming's left hand rule

Remember to use your LEFT hand for this or you'll be wrong.

Get out your left hand and make it look like the picture on the left. If you're confused, stick your thumb up and your index finger out, making a gun, and then stick your middle finger to your right. Stick your middle finger up at the wall (what has the wall ever done to you) and then shoot it with an imaginary gun made by your fingers (don't do this to your Physics teacher okay). If that doesn't make sense then make a gun and then stick your middle finger out to your right.

The Thumb represents the movement of the wire. This is usually what you'll be using the left hand rule to find out. The first finger or index finger represents magnetic field. Point this finger in the direction of the magnetic field, keeping in mind that the magnetic field runs from north to south. The third finger or middle finger represents current. Point this in the direction that the current travels in, keeping in mind that current travels from + to -

Have a look at this situation. Which way will the wire in the magnetic field move when the circuit is turned on? Get out your left hand, it's time to figure this out! Index finger is magnetic field, so point your index finger down. Look at the circuit, where are the + and -? Current will run from + to - so the current is running 'towards' us so point your middle finger towards you. Where is your thumb pointing? If you got this right then your thumb should be pointing to the right.

Looks like we were right! If you want to practice your use of Fleming's left hand rule more then go here to get a simulator

Fleming's left hand rule practice

This simulator is really good so make use of it!

I hope this was useful! I will be posting again later on motors, the awesome real life use of electromagnetism!

Let me know in the comments if this is useful or not, and what I can do to improve!

Feel free to email me about any questions you have about this post! If you want more go to my home page and fill out my questionnaire on what topics I should post on!

Let me know what I should post on!

Thanks to people who answered my questionnaire, I will post on these topics for you as soon as possible!

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Series and Parallel Circuits

23/2/2017

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Electricity!

This topic is actually my favourite ever!

Anyway, that isn't important for you. Today I'm going to go through series and parallel circuits and when and where to use them and why. This is generally well understood by people which is good.

So here we have a series and a parallel circuit. Which is which and why? Check out my previous post for that.

Learn which is which and more!

So hopefully from the picture and my previous post you get the general idea of what series and parallel circuits are. Next lets go through the advantages and disadvantages of each one.

Series

Advantages

Easy to wire

Why are they easy to wire? This is because all components are wired in one continuous loop. Imagine wiring 100 light bulbs all in parallel. You would need a lot of wire and a lot of time. If you buy cheap Christmas lights you will often find they are wired in series as it reduces labour costs and therefore the product is cheaper than lights wired in parallel.

Disadvantages

If one component breaks the whole circuit breaks

This is because in a series circuit all components are wired in a continuous loop. If this loop is broken then the circuit will not work. When a component breaks no current can run through it. It becomes a blockage in the circuit and the circuit can no longer function.

As you add components you decrease the electricity going to each component

This is evident if you put a lot of light bulbs into a series circuit. As you add more and more the light bulbs start dimming down until you can hardly see them

Parallel

advantages

If one component breaks the rest of the circuit can still function normally

This is because if one component breaks and current can't flow through one loop of the parallel circuit, the rest are still fine (terms and conditions apply - something for the next post)

If you add more components they still get a good amount of electricity

Unlike series circuits if you add more light bulbs for example then they'll all still be just as bright no matter how many you add to your circuit

Disadvantages

More power is required.

This is because of something we will go over in the next post. It needs more words than I can fit in here. Simply put, it is because unlike in a series circuit when you add more and more the components (light bulbs) are still bright, so keeping them all bright at the same time needs more power. If that doesn't make sense to you then don't worry, I'll go over it next post.

As usual guys I hope you found this useful! If not, let me know in the comments and I'll re write it or make a video on it.

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Circuit components

5/2/2017

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Syllabus statements

components

Unfortunately for you if you don't like physics, there are a number of electrical components you need to know about. Today I'll be going through them so hopefully you can understand their purposes better.

Click Read More to learn about components and their circuit symbols

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Circuits!!!! (My favourite Topic!!)

3/2/2017

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Syllabus statements 2.1, 2.11, 2.14 - 2.17

Circuits! Ok so first things first, let me introduce you to the simple circuits. Series circuits and parallel circuits.

Series circuits. They are the simplest kind. A series circuit is a circuit that is connected in one single loop.

Parallel Circuits. They are circuits that have what you could call levels in them, see how it has 2 connected loops (or one loop split in 2 depending on how you see it)? Basically whenever it has 2 or more loops its a parallel circuit.

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Forces and motion

3/2/2017

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Newtons 1st, 2nd and 3rd laws

(and also Terminal Velocity, Weight, Gravity and resultant forces)

They're honestly easier than you think they are. The first thing to learn is what resultant force means. Resultant force is the same as NET force. NET force being the difference in opposite forces. So for example if I have 20 N to the left and 10N to the right then the resultant force is 10N to the left.

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IGCSE Physics - movement and position

3/2/2017

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Seems suitable to make my first post about the first section of the IGCSE Edecxel Physics Syllabus. This is generally well understood but people get confused about what the gradients and areas of the graphs mean. Anyway, I have created a YouTube video to help clear this all up. This video covers syllabus statements 1.1 - 1.8, and 1.11 and 1.12 which are about Vectors and Scalars, Distance and Displacement, Distance Time Graphs and Velocity Time Graphs.

Let me know if you have any questions!

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PHYSICS

Astronomy

Let's get the basics straight first.

Radioactivity

Syllabus Statements :

What on earth is radioactivity?

note: Whenever we're talking about radioactivity, forget about the electrons in the shells orbiting the nucleus, we're only interested in the Nucleus specifically. Electrons are still important though (Beta).

Fleming's left hand rule

This is very important skill in the electromagnetism topic.

Fleming's left hand rule

Let me know in the comments if this is useful or not, and what I can do to improve!

Series and Parallel Circuits

Electricity!

Series

Advantages

Disadvantages

Parallel

advantages

Disadvantages

Circuit components

Syllabus statements

components

Circuits!!!! (My favourite Topic!!)

Syllabus statements 2.1, 2.11, 2.14 - 2.17

Forces and motion

Newtons 1st, 2nd and 3rd laws

IGCSE Physics - movement and position

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