Analysis | OCR A-Level Physics B (Advancing Physics) (H557)
Analysis
- 51 questions
- 3 subtopics
- Practical and data analysis skills, examined on all three papers
- Component 01, Component 02 and Component 03
Analysis is examined in all three written papers — the specification states that Components 01, 02 and 03 each assess content from across all the teaching modules, so nothing is confined to one paper.
It covers processing results and reaching conclusions, significant figures and mathematical processing and graphs, gradients and intercepts.
Sample questions from Analysis
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Processing results and reaching conclusions
Why is extrapolating a long way beyond the measured range unsafe?
Show the answer
There is no evidence that the relationship continues to hold outside the range tested, and a different physical behaviour may take over. -
Processing results and reaching conclusions
A straight-line graph that theory says should pass through the origin has a small positive intercept. What does that indicate?
Show the answer
It indicates a systematic error, such as a zero error in an instrument or a constant additional contribution such as the resistance of the leads. -
Significant figures and mathematical processing
Write 0.000 000 45 m in standard form.
Show the answer
It is 4.5 × 10⁻⁷ m. -
Significant figures and mathematical processing
What is an order of magnitude calculation?
Show the answer
It is a calculation carried out with values rounded to the nearest power of ten, to establish the rough size of an answer rather than its precise value. -
Graphs, gradients and intercepts
Why should a large triangle be used when a gradient is measured?
Show the answer
The uncertainty in reading each coordinate is fixed, so making the differences large makes those reading uncertainties a smaller fraction of the gradient. -
Graphs, gradients and intercepts
What is measured by the gradient of a tangent drawn to a curve?
Show the answer
The instantaneous rate of change of the plotted quantity at that point.
The 3 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Processing results and reaching conclusions | Recall questions on averaging repeats, choosing a plot that straightens a relationship, what a gradient or unexpected intercept yields, correlation against cause, and wording a conclusion within its uncertainty. | 15 |
| Significant figures and mathematical processing | Recall questions on significant figures in measurements and calculated results, decimal places for a mean, standard form and calculator entry, percentage change, scaling R = ρL/A, rearranging E = mc² and T = 2π√(L/g), order of magnitude calculations, and the symbols ∝, Δ, ≈, ≪ and ≫. | 20 |
| Graphs, gradients and intercepts | Recall questions on scales and axis labels, false origins, best-fit lines, gradients and their units, tangents to curves, intercepts, and what the area under a line represents. | 16 |
How the guide is worked
Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.
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Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
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Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
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Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.
Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.
Nearby topics
OCR A-Level Physics B (Advancing Physics) Active Recall Guide
Every topic, not just this one. 2,455 questions with their answers.