Practical Skills | OCR A-Level Physics B (Advancing Physics) (H557)
Practical Skills
- 75 questions
- 5 subtopics
- Practical and data analysis skills, examined on all three papers
- Component 01, Component 02 and Component 03
Practical Skills 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 investigative approaches and solving practical problems, working safely with equipment and materials, following instructions and recording observations, presenting data and using software and research, referencing and choice of instruments.
Sample questions from Practical Skills
Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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Investigative approaches and solving practical problems
A quantity cannot be measured directly. Describe the general strategy for obtaining it.
Show the answer
Measure quantities that can be read directly and are linked to it by a known equation, then combine them, preferably from the gradient of a graph rather than a single set of values. -
Investigative approaches and solving practical problems
Why should a complicated practical problem be broken into separate measurable stages?
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Each stage can then be checked and its uncertainty estimated on its own, so a fault is traced to one measurement rather than to the whole experiment. -
Working safely with equipment and materials
What precautions must be taken when a high-voltage supply is used?
Show the answer
Use only shrouded leads and a supply whose output current is limited, and switch off and disconnect before any change is made to the circuit. -
Working safely with equipment and materials
What should be done with a lead or a piece of apparatus found to be damaged?
Show the answer
It should be taken out of use, labelled as faulty and reported, rather than being used with care. -
Following instructions and recording observations
What should be recorded about an instrument before it is used to take readings?
Show the answer
Its resolution and any zero error, together with which instrument it was if more than one of the same kind is in use. -
Following instructions and recording observations
What should be done with an observation that does not fit what was expected?
Show the answer
It should be recorded exactly as observed together with the circumstances, because the explanation often lies in those circumstances and cannot be recovered later. -
Presenting data and using software
Why is it dangerous to copy a spreadsheet result straight into a report?
Show the answer
The display may show many digits that the data does not justify, so the value must be rounded to the significant figures the least precise measurement allows. -
Presenting data and using software
Why must axes produced by software still be labelled with the quantity and its unit?
Show the answer
A graph is a piece of evidence that must be readable on its own, and without units the numbers on the axes have no meaning.
The 5 subtopics
One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.
| Subtopic | What it covers | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Investigative approaches and solving practical problems | Recall questions on what makes an investigation, the stages of an investigative approach, testable hypotheses, measuring a quantity indirectly, finding the specific heat capacity of a metal block, choosing between methods, predicting and estimating from theory, adapting a method, breaking a problem into stages, straight-line techniques, and independent working. | 15 |
| Working safely with equipment and materials | Recall questions on hazard against risk, risk assessments, lasers, sealed radioactive sources and limiting exposure to ionising radiation, high-voltage supplies, discharging capacitors, wires loaded to breaking, heating water electrically, damaged apparatus, loud sound, minimising risk, and securing loose hair, bags and heavy masses. | 15 |
| Following instructions and recording observations | Recall questions on reading a method through first, recording raw readings as taken, showing precision, keeping every repeat, what besides numbers belongs in a record, and noting method changes. | 15 |
| Presenting data and using software | Recall questions on a well-set-out table, spreadsheet processing, trendlines and unsuitable chart types, building and testing a computer model, and how a final result and report are set out. | 15 |
| Research, referencing and choice of instruments | Recall questions on why sources are cited, what a reference must contain, judging reliability, primary against secondary sources, quoting values to the right precision, and manufacturers' data sheets. | 15 |
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.