AQA GCSE Physics, Foundation tier Active Recall Guide (8463)
AQA · GCSE
AQA GCSE Physics, Foundation tier Active Recall Guide
Every topic of specification 8463 written as exam-style questions with the answers printed after them. 1,263 questions across 8 topics and 71 subtopics, at Foundation tier, covering Paper 1 and Paper 2.
- AQA
- GCSE
- Specification 8463
- 1,263 questions
Guide overview All topics Sample questions Papers and weighting Look inside Questions and answers
What the exam asks of you
AQA GCSE Physics (specification 8463) is one of the three separate sciences and is examined by two written papers of 1 hour 45 minutes and 100 marks each, worth 50% apiece. Paper 1 covers the first half of the topics and Paper 2 the second, though Paper 2 questions can also draw on energy changes, transfers and conservation from the Energy and Electricity topics. This is the Foundation tier: grades 1 to 5 are available, and the higher-tier content is not examined.
Physics at GCSE is a large number of small, precise things: a definition, a required practical, an equation, a named process. Almost none of it can be worked out in the hall from first principles, which makes recall the whole problem and a question list the instrument that matches it.
| Paper | Covers | Length | Marks | Weighting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Paper 1 Physics Paper 1 |
Energy Electricity Particle Model of Matter Atomic Structure |
1 hour 45 minutes | 100 marks | 50% |
|
Paper 2 Physics Paper 2 |
Forces Waves Magnetism and Electromagnetism Space Physics |
1 hour 45 minutes | 100 marks | 50% |
What is in the guide
All topics
Every topic has its own page with its subtopics, what it covers and sample questions.
Sample questions
Taken from the guide. Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.
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The structure of an atom
Where in an atom are the electrons found?
Show the answer
Surrounding the nucleus, outside it. -
Circuit symbols, electrical charge and current
What must a closed circuit include before electrical charge will flow round it?
Show the answer
A source of potential difference, such as a cell or a battery. -
Energy stores and systems
A ball thrown straight upwards is momentarily at rest at the top of its path. State where its energy is stored at that instant.
Show the answer
In its gravitational potential store. -
Scalars, vectors, forces and the resultant force
What is a force?
Show the answer
A force is a push or a pull acting on an object because of its interaction with another object. -
Poles of a magnet
When two magnets are brought close together, does only one of them feel a force?
Show the answer
No, the two magnets exert a force on each other, so both feel a force. -
Density of materials
A liquid has a density of 1200 kg/m³. Calculate the mass of 0.050 m³ of the liquid.
Show the answer
Mass = 1200 × 0.050 = 60 kg. -
Our solar system, and the orbits of satellites
What is a nebula?
Show the answer
A cloud of dust and gas in space. -
Transverse and longitudinal waves, and the wave equation
Write the wave equation using the symbols for wave speed, frequency and wavelength.
Show the answer
v = f λ.
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.
Look inside
Questions for a subtopic print together and the answers for that section print after them.
- Atomic Structure186
- Electricity235
- Energy157
- Forces313
- Magnetism and Electromagnetism55
- Particle Model of Matter117
- Space Physics55
- Waves145
- What kind of symbols are used in a circuit diagram, and why?
- Describe the circuit symbol for a cell, and say how the symbol for a battery differs from it.
- Which components are shown by a circle containing the letter A and a circle containing the letter V?
- How does the symbol for a variable resistor differ from the symbol for a fixed resistor?
- Describe the circuit symbol for a diode.
- Where must an ammeter be connected if it is to measure the current through a lamp?
- Where must a voltmeter be connected if it is to measure the potential difference across a resistor?
- A diagram shows one cell, a closed switch and two lamps joined in a single loop. What happens when the switch is opened?
- How can you tell from a circuit diagram that two lamps are connected in parallel?
- Standard agreed symbols, so that the same diagram means the same circuit to everyone who reads it.
- A cell is a long thin line beside a short thick line, the long line being the positive terminal, and a battery is two or more of these cell symbols in a row.
- An ammeter and a voltmeter.
- A fixed resistor is a plain rectangle in the wire, while a variable resistor is that rectangle with an arrow drawn through it.
- A triangle pointing at a straight bar, the triangle pointing in the direction in which current can pass.
- In series with the lamp, in the same loop, so that all the current through the lamp passes through the meter.
- In parallel with the resistor, joined across its two ends.
- Both lamps go out, because the single loop is broken and no charge can flow.
- The circuit splits into two branches that each hold one lamp and then rejoin, so there is more than one path for the charge.
questions
Scroll sideways to turn through the pages.
Questions students ask first
I do Combined Science, not separate sciences.
Then you need a different guide. Combined Science: Trilogy is 8464, a double award worth two GCSEs, and it examines less physics than the separate Physics GCSE. Working from this guide would mean learning content your papers will not ask for.
The one you want is AQA GCSE Combined Science Trilogy Physics, Foundation.
Trilogy or Synergy? My school mentioned both.
AQA runs two combined science specifications. Combined Science: Trilogy is 8464, taught as three separate sciences, and that is the one this guide set covers. Combined Science: Synergy is 8465 and is taught as four integrated topics instead.
The code is on your exam timetable. If it says 8465 this is not your specification.
Higher or Foundation. Which do I need?
This is the Foundation tier guide, offering grades 5 to 1.
AQA sits the same numbered papers at either tier, so Paper 1 and Paper 2 is what you sit whichever tier you are entered for. The tier changes the content and the grades available, not the paper numbers.
Your teacher decides the entry, usually during Year 11. If you are moved up to Higher you will need the Higher guide, which adds the higher-tier content.
Which topics are on which paper?
Paper 1 covers Energy, Electricity, Particle Model of Matter, Atomic Structure. Paper 2 covers Forces, Waves, Magnetism and Electromagnetism, Space Physics.
Paper 2 questions can also draw on energy changes, transfers and conservation from the Energy and Electricity topics, so the Paper 1 content is never finished with. The full breakdown is here.
AQA GCSE Physics, Foundation tier Active Recall Guide
Every question paired with its answer, grouped by topic and subtopic, ready to work in three passes.