Look inside the AQA GCSE Physics, Higher tier guide (8463)

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Look inside the AQA GCSE Physics, Higher tier guide

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AQA · GCSE · 8463
Physics Higher
Active Recall Guide
1,495 questions
Physics HigherContents
Contents
8 topics, 82 subtopics
  1. Atomic Structure190
  2. Electricity239
  3. Energy158
  4. Forces386
  5. Magnetism and Electromagnetism129
  6. Particle Model of Matter124
  7. Space Physics60
  8. Waves209
ii
ElectricityQuestions
Electricity
Circuit symbols, electrical charge and current
  1. What kind of symbols are used in a circuit diagram, and why?
  2. Describe the circuit symbol for a cell, and say how the symbol for a battery differs from it.
  3. Which components are shown by a circle containing the letter A and a circle containing the letter V?
  4. How does the symbol for a variable resistor differ from the symbol for a fixed resistor?
  5. Describe the circuit symbol for a diode.
  6. Where must an ammeter be connected if it is to measure the current through a lamp?
  7. Where must a voltmeter be connected if it is to measure the potential difference across a resistor?
  8. A diagram shows one cell, a closed switch and two lamps joined in a single loop. What happens when the switch is opened?
  9. How can you tell from a circuit diagram that two lamps are connected in parallel?
12
ElectricityAnswers
Answers
Circuit symbols, electrical charge and current
  1. Standard agreed symbols, so that the same diagram means the same circuit to everyone who reads it.
  2. 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.
  3. An ammeter and a voltmeter.
  4. A fixed resistor is a plain rectangle in the wire, while a variable resistor is that rectangle with an arrow drawn through it.
  5. A triangle pointing at a straight bar, the triangle pointing in the direction in which current can pass.
  6. In series with the lamp, in the same loop, so that all the current through the lamp passes through the meter.
  7. In parallel with the resistor, joined across its two ends.
  8. Both lamps go out, because the single loop is broken and no charge can flow.
  9. The circuit splits into two branches that each hold one lamp and then rejoin, so there is more than one path for the charge.
13
ForcesQuestions
Forces
Gravity
  1. What is the weight of an object?
  2. Why does an object near the Earth have weight?
  3. What two quantities does the weight of an object depend on?
  4. An astronaut takes a toolbox to the Moon. Explain why its weight changes.
  5. State the equation used to calculate the weight of an object, in words.
  6. Calculate the weight of a 6.0 kg bag where the gravitational field strength is 9.8 N/kg.
  7. Write the equation for weight using symbols.
  8. An object weighs 245 N where the gravitational field strength is 9.8 N/kg. Calculate its mass.
  9. In what unit is weight measured?
34
ForcesAnswers
Answers
Gravity
  1. Weight is the force acting on an object due to gravity.
  2. Because it sits in the gravitational field around the Earth, which pulls on it.
  3. Its mass and the gravitational field strength at the point where it is.
  4. The gravitational field strength on the Moon is smaller than on Earth, so the same mass has a smaller weight.
  5. Weight = mass × gravitational field strength.
  6. Weight = 6.0 × 9.8 = 58.8 N.
  7. W = mg, where W is weight, m is mass and g is gravitational field strength.
  8. Mass = 245 ÷ 9.8 = 25 kg.
  9. Weight is measured in newtons, N.
35
Space PhysicsQuestions
Space Physics
Our solar system, and the orbits of satellites
  1. Which star lies at the centre of our solar system, and how many stars does the solar system contain?
  2. Apart from the Sun, which two kinds of body orbit the Sun directly?
  3. The moons that orbit planets are examples of what, and are they part of the solar system?
  4. Which galaxy is our solar system part of?
  5. How big is our solar system compared with the galaxy it belongs to?
  6. What is a nebula?
  7. Describe how the Sun was formed.
  8. At the very beginning of a star's life, what causes the dust and gas of a nebula to be drawn together?
  9. Why do fusion reactions begin once gravity has drawn enough dust and gas together?
56
Space PhysicsAnswers
Answers
Our solar system, and the orbits of satellites
  1. The Sun, and it is the only star in the solar system.
  2. The eight planets and the dwarf planets.
  3. They are natural satellites, and they are part of the solar system.
  4. The Milky Way galaxy.
  5. It is only a small part of that galaxy.
  6. A cloud of dust and gas in space.
  7. A cloud of dust and gas was pulled together by gravitational attraction.
  8. The force of gravity pulls the material together.
  9. The material is pulled together tightly enough for nuclei to fuse.
57
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1,495
questions
82 subtopics

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1,495 questions
Across 82 subtopics, every one of them from specification 8463.
One PDF
Print it, or work from a screen with a notebook beside you.
Answers after, not beside
Covering the answers is a matter of not turning the page, which is what makes the closed-book pass possible.

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.

  1. Step 1 · Closed book

    Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

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