Look inside the Edexcel GCSE Combined Science Physics, Foundation tier guide (1SC0)

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Edexcel · GCSE · 1SC0
Combined Physics Foundation
Active Recall Guide
1,297 questions
Combined Physics FoundationContents
Contents
13 topics, 98 subtopics
  1. Key Concepts of Physics30
  2. Motion and Forces194
  3. Conservation of Energy97
  4. Waves81
  5. Light and the Electromagnetic Spectrum86
  6. Radioactivity201
  7. Energy - Forces Doing Work98
  8. Forces and Their Effects22
  9. Electricity and Circuits264
  10. Magnetism and the Motor Effect61
  11. Electromagnetic Induction21
  12. Particle Model96
  13. and 1 more
ii
Motion and ForcesQuestions
Motion and Forces
Scalar and vector quantities
  1. What is meant by a scalar quantity?
  2. A student writes that a mass of 3 kg acts to the left. Explain why the direction is meaningless here.
  3. How much information is needed to state a scalar quantity fully?
  4. Explain why temperature is classed as a scalar.
  5. Is the time taken for a race a scalar or a vector? Give a reason.
  6. What is meant by a vector quantity?
  7. State the two pieces of information needed to describe a vector quantity fully.
  8. How is a vector quantity represented on a diagram?
  9. A force is described as 20 N acting vertically downwards. Which part of that description shows force is a vector?
12
Motion and ForcesAnswers
Answers
Scalar and vector quantities
  1. A scalar quantity has magnitude only and no specific direction.
  2. Mass is a scalar, so it has size only and cannot act in a direction.
  3. Only a number and its unit are needed, because no direction is involved.
  4. A temperature has a size but does not point anywhere, so it has no direction.
  5. Time is a scalar, because it has magnitude only and no direction.
  6. A vector quantity has both a magnitude and a specific direction.
  7. Its size and the direction in which it acts must both be given.
  8. It is shown as an arrow whose length gives the magnitude and whose direction gives the direction of the vector.
  9. The stated direction, vertically downwards, is what makes force a vector.
13
RadioactivityQuestions
Radioactivity
Isotopes, atomic number and mass number
  1. What does the atomic number of a nucleus tell you?
  2. What does the mass number of a nucleus tell you?
  3. How is the number of neutrons in a nucleus worked out from its mass number and atomic number?
  4. In the symbol ¹³₆C, what do the numbers 13 and 6 represent?
  5. How many neutrons are there in a nucleus of ¹³₆C?
  6. What are isotopes?
  7. A nucleus is written ²³⁵₉₂U. State the number of protons and the number of neutrons it contains.
  8. What single quantity decides which element an atom belongs to?
  9. Why does every nucleus of a given element carry the same positive charge?
34
RadioactivityAnswers
Answers
Isotopes, atomic number and mass number
  1. The atomic number is the number of protons in the nucleus.
  2. The mass number is the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus.
  3. Subtract the atomic number from the mass number.
  4. 13 is the mass number and 6 is the atomic number.
  5. There are 7 neutrons, because 13 − 6 = 7.
  6. Isotopes are atoms of the same element with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons.
  7. It contains 92 protons and 143 neutrons.
  8. The number of protons in its nucleus decides the element.
  9. Every nucleus of that element contains the same number of protons.
35
Magnetism and the Motor EffectQuestions
Magnetism and the Motor Effect
Magnetic poles, permanent and induced magnets
  1. State what happens when the north pole of one magnet is brought near the south pole of another.
  2. State what happens when the south poles of two magnets are brought close together.
  3. State the only observation that proves a steel bar is a magnet rather than simply a magnetic material.
  4. Name the two poles of a bar magnet.
  5. Explain why attraction to a magnet does not show that an iron nail has been magnetised.
  6. State whether magnetic forces are contact or non-contact forces.
  7. State what is meant by a permanent magnet.
  8. State what is meant by an induced magnet.
  9. Explain why a chain of steel paper clips can hang from the end of one magnet.
56
Magnetism and the Motor EffectAnswers
Answers
Magnetic poles, permanent and induced magnets
  1. They attract each other.
  2. They repel each other.
  3. The bar repels one end of a known magnet.
  4. The north-seeking pole and the south-seeking pole.
  5. An unmagnetised piece of iron is attracted to a magnet as well.
  6. They are non-contact forces.
  7. A permanent magnet produces its own magnetic field all the time.
  8. An induced magnet is a magnetic material that becomes a magnet only while it is in a magnetic field.
  9. Each clip becomes an induced magnet and so attracts the next clip in the chain.
57
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1,297 questions
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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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