New+Standard+Level+SoW

v Use scientific notation and metric multipliers. v Quote and compare ratios, values and approximations to the nearest order of magnitude. v Estimate quantities to an appropriate number of significant figures. || v Collect data that include absolute and/or fractional uncertainties and stating these as an uncertainty range. v Propagate uncertainties through calculations involving addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and raising to a power. v Determine the uncertainty in gradients and intercepts. || v Solve problems using equations of motion for uniform motion. v Sketch and interpret motion graphs. v Determine the acceleration of free-fall experimentally. v Analyse projectile motion, including the resolution of vertical and horizontal components of acceleration, velocity and displacement. v Qualitatively describe the effect of fluid resistance on falling objects or projectiles, including reaching terminal speed. || v Sketch and interpret free-body diagrams. v Describe the consequences of Newton’s first law for translational equilibrium. v Use Newton’s second law quantitatively and qualitatively. v Identify force pairs in the context of Newton’s third law. v Solve problems involving forces and determining resultant force. v Describe solid friction (static and dynamic) by coefficients of friction. || v Sketch and interpret force-distance graphs. v Determine work done including cases where a resistive force acts. v Solve problems involving power. v Quantitatively describe efficiency in energy transfers. || v Use Newton’s second law quantitatively and qualitatively in cases where mass is not constant. v Sketch and interpret force-time graphs. v Determine impulse in various contexts including (but not limited to) car safety and sports. v Qualitatively and quantitatively compare situations involving elastic collisions, inelastic collisions and explosions. || v Solve problems involving centripetal force, centripetal acceleration, period, frequency, angular displacement, linear speed and angular velocity. v Qualitatively and quantitatively describe examples of circular motion including cases of vertical and horizontal circular motion. || v Apply Newton’s law of gravitation to the motion of an object in circular orbit around a point mass. v Solve problems involving gravitational force, gravitational field strength, orbital speed and orbital period. v Determine the resultant gravitational field strength due to two bodies. || v Solve problems involving electric fields and Coulomb’s law. v Calculate work done in an electric field in both joules and electronvolts. v Identify sign and nature of charge carriers in a metal. v Identify drift speed of charge carriers. v Solve problems using the drift speed equation. v Solve problems involving current, potential difference and charge. || v Identify ohmic and non-ohmic conductors through a consideration of the V/I characteristic graph. v Solve problems involving potential difference, current, charge, Kirchhoff’s circuit laws, power, resistance and resistivity. v Investigate combinations of resistors in parallel and series circuits. v Describe ideal and non-ideal ammeters and voltmeters. v Describe practical uses of potential divider circuits, including advantages of a potential divider over a series resistor in controlling a simple circuit. v Investigate one or more of the factors that affect resistance experimentally. || v Describe the discharge characteristic of a simple cell (variation of terminal potential with time). v Identify the direction of current flow required to recharge a cell. v Determine internal resistance experimentally. v Solve problems involving emf, internal resistance and other electrical quantities. || v Determine the direction of force on a current-carrying conductor in a magnetic field. v Sketch and interpret magnetic field patterns. v Determine the direction of the magnetic field based on current direction. v Solve problems involving magnetic forces, fields, current and charges. || v Sketch and interpret graphs of simple harmonic motion examples. || v Sketch and interpret displacement-distance graphs and displacement-time graphs for transverse and longitudinal waves. v Solve problems involving wave speed, frequency and wavelength. v Investigate the speed of sound experimentally. || v Solve problems involving amplitude, intensity and the inverse square law. v Sketch and interpret the superposition of pulses and waves. v Describe methods of polarization. v Sketch and interpret diagrams illustrating polarized, reflected and transmitted beams. v Solve problems involving Malus’s law || v Solve problems involving reflection at a plane interface. v Solve problems involving Snell’s law, critical angle and total internal reflection. v Determine refractive index experimentally. v Qualitatively describe the diffraction pattern formed when plane waves are incident normally on a single-slit. v Quantitatively describe double-slit interference intensity patterns. || v Distinguish between standing and travelling waves. v Observe, sketch and interpret standing wave patterns in strings and pipes. v Solve problems involving the frequency of a harmonic, length of the standing wave and the speed of the wave. || v Solve problems involving atomic spectra, including calculating the wavelength of photons emitted during atomic transitions. v Complete decay equations for alpha and beta decay. v Determine the half-life of a nuclide from a decay curve. v Investigate half-life experimentally (or by simulation). || v Solve problems involving the energy released in radioactive decay, nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. v Sketch and interpret the general shape of the curve of average binding energy per nucleon against nucleon number. || v Apply conservation laws in particle reactions. v Describe protons and neutrons in terms of quarks. v Compare the interaction strengths of the fundamental forces, including gravity. v Describe the mediation of the fundamental forces through exchange particles. v Sketch and interpret simple Feynman diagrams. v Describe why free quarks are not observed. || v Using Kelvin and Celsius temperature scales and converting between them. v Apply the calorimetric techniques of specific heat capacity or specific latent heat experimentally. v Describe phase change in terms of molecular behavior. v Sketch and interpret phase change graphs. v Calculate energy changes involving specific heat capacity and specific latent heat of fusion and vaporization. || v Sketch and interpret changes of state of an ideal gas on pressure-volume, pressure-temperature and volume-temperature diagrams. v Investigate at least one gas law experimentally. || v Sketch and interpret Sankey diagrams. v Describe the basic features of fossil fuel power stations, nuclear power stations, wind generators, pumped storage hydroelectric systems and solar power cells. v Solve problems relevant to energy transformations in the context of these generating systems. v Discuss safety issues and risks associated with the production of nuclear power. v Describe the difference between photovoltaic cells and solar heating panels. || v Solve problems involving the Stefan-Boltzmann law and Wien’s displacement law. v Describe the effects of the Earth’s atmosphere on the mean surface temperature. v Solve problems involving albedo, emissivity, solar constant and the Earth’s average temperature. || v Determine whether a force on a charge or current is electric or magnetic in a given frame of reference. v Determine the nature of the fields observed by different observers. || v Use the Lorentz transformation equations to determine the position and time coordinates of various events. v Use the Lorentz transformation equations to show that if two events are simultaneous for one observer but happen at different points in space, then the events are not simultaneous for an observer in a different reference frame. v Solve problems involving velocity addition. v Derive the time dilation and length contraction equations using the Lorentz equations. v Solve problems involving time dilation and length contraction. v Solve problems involving the muon decay experiment. || v Represent the positions of a moving particle on a spacetime diagram by a curve (the worldline). v Represent more than one inertial reference frame on the same spacetime diagram. v Solve problems on simultaneity and kinematics using spacetime diagrams. v Represent time dilation and length contraction on spacetime diagrams. v Describe the twin paradox. v Resolve the twin paradox through spacetime diagrams. || v Solve problems involving moment of inertia, torque and angular acceleration. v Solve problems in which objects are in both rotational and translational equilibrium. v Solve problems using rotational quantities analogous to linear quantities. v Sketch and interpret graphs of rotational motion. v Solve problems involving rolling without slipping. || v Explain sign convention used when stating the first law of thermodynamics as Q = ∆U + W. v Solve problems involving the first law of thermodynamics. v Describe the second law of thermodynamics in Clausius form, Kelvin form and as a consequence of entropy. v Describe examples of processes in terms of entropy change. v Solve problems involving entropy changes. v Sketch and interpret cyclic process. v Solve problems for adiabatic processes for monoatomic gases using pV5/3 = constant. v Solve problems involving thermal efficiency. || v Identify the principal axis, focal point and focal length of a simple converging or diverging lens on a scaled diagram. v Solve problems involving not more than two lenses by constructing scaled ray diagrams. v Solve problems involving not more than two curved mirrors by constructing scaled ray diagrams. v Solve problems involving the thin lens equation, linear magnification and angular magnification. v Explain spherical and chromatic aberrations and describe ways to reduce their effects on images. || v Solve problems involving the angular magnification and resolution of optical compound microscopes. v Investigate the optical compound microscope experimentally. v Construct or complete ray diagrams of simple optical astronomical refracting telescopes at normal adjustment. v Solve problems involving the angular magnification of simple optical astronomical telescopes. v Investigate the performance of a simple optical astronomical refracting telescope experimentally. v Describe the comparative performance of Earth-based telescopes and satellite-borne telescopes. || v Describe how waveguide and material dispersion can lead to attenuation and how this can be accounted for. v Solve problems involving attenuation. v Describe the advantages of fibre optics over twisted pair and coaxial cables. || v Qualitatively describe the equilibrium between pressure and gravitation in stars. v Use the astronomical unit (AU), light year (ly) and parsec (pc). v Describe the method to determine distance to stars through stellar parallax. v Solve problems involving luminosity, apparent brightness and distance. || v Explain how the chemical composition of a star may be determined from the star’s spectrum. v Sketch and interpret HR diagrams. v Identify the main regions of the HR diagram and describe the main properties of stars in these regions. v Apply the mass-luminosity relation. v Describe the reason for the variation of Cepheid variables. v Determine distance using data on Cepheid variables. v Sketch and interpret evolutionary paths of stars on a HR diagram. v Describe the evolution of stars off the main sequence. v Describe the role of mass in stellar evolution. || v Describe the characteristics of the CMB radiation. v Explain how the CMB radiation is evidence for a Hot Big Bang. v Solve problems involving //z//, //R// and Hubble’s law. v Estimate the age of the universe by assuming a constant expansion rate. ||
 * New IB Physics Scheme of Work **
 * **Topic** ||  **Subtopics**  ||  **Understandings**  ||  **Applications and skills**  ||
 * **1: Measurement and uncertainties**
 * (5 hours)** || **1.1 – Measurements in Physics** || * Fundamental and derived SI units
 * Scientific notation and metric multipliers
 * Significant figures
 * Orders of magnitude
 * Estimation || v Use SI units in the correct format for all required measurements, final answers to calculations and presentation of raw and processed data.
 * ^  || **1.2 – Uncertainties and errors** || * Random and systematic errors
 * Absolute, fractional and percentage uncertainties
 * Error bars
 * Uncertainties of gradient and intercepts || v Explain how random and systematic errors can be identified and reduced.
 * ^  || **1.3 – Vectors and scalars** || * Vector and scalar quantities
 * Combination and resolution of vectors || v Solve vector problems graphically and algebraically. ||
 * **2: Mechanics**
 * (22 hours)** || **2.1 – Motion** || * Distance and displacement
 * Speed and velocity
 * Acceleration
 * Graphs describing motion
 * Equations of motion for uniform acceleration
 * Projectile motion
 * Fluid resistance and terminal speed || v Determine instantaneous and average values for velocity, speed and acceleration.
 * ^  || **2.2 – Forces** || * Objects as point particles
 * Free-body diagrams
 * Translational equilibrium
 * Newton’s laws of motion
 * Solid friction || v Represent forces as vectors.
 * ^  || **2.3 – Work, energy and power** || * Kinetic energy
 * Gravitational potential energy
 * Elastic potential energy
 * Work done as energy transfer
 * Power as rate of energy transfer
 * Principle of conservation of energy
 * Efficiency || v Discuss the conservation of total energy within energy transformations.
 * ^  || **2.4 – Momentum and impulse** || * Newton’s second law expressed in terms of rate of change of momentum
 * Impulse and force-time graphs
 * Conservation of linear momentum
 * Elastic collisions, inelastic collisions and explosions || v Apply conservation of momentum in simple isolated systems including (but not limited to) collisions, explosions, or water jets.
 * **6: Circular motion and gravitation**
 * (5 hours)** || **6.1 – Circular motion** || * Period, frequency, angular displacement and angular velocity
 * Centripetal force
 * Centripetal acceleration || v Identify the forces providing the centripetal forces such as tension, friction, gravitational, electrical, or magnetic.
 * ^  || **6.2 – Newton’s law of gravitation** || * Newton’s law of gravitation
 * Gravitational field strength || v Describe the relationship between gravitational force and centripetal force.
 * **5: Electricity and magnetism**
 * (15 hours)** || **5.1 – Electric fields** || * Charge
 * Electric field
 * Coulomb’s law
 * Electric current
 * Direct current (dc)
 * Potential difference || v Identify two forms of charge and the direction of the forces between them.
 * ^  || **5.2 – Heating effect of electric currents** || * Circuit diagrams
 * Kirchhoff’s circuit laws
 * Heating effect of current and its consequences
 * Resistance expressed as R = V/I
 * Ohm’s law
 * Resistivity
 * Power dissipation || v Draw and interpret circuit diagrams.
 * ^  || **5.3 – Electric cells** || * Cells
 * Internal resistance
 * Secondary cells
 * Terminal potential difference
 * Electromotive force (emf) || v Investigate practical electric cells (both primary and secondary).
 * ^  || **5.4 – Magnetic effects of electric currents** || * Magnetic field
 * Magnetic force || v Determine the direction of force on a charge moving in a magnetic field.
 * **4: Waves**
 * (15 hours)** || **4.1 - Oscillations** || * Simple harmonic oscillations
 * Time period, frequency, amplitude, displacement and phase difference
 * Conditions for simple harmonic motion || v Qualitatively describe the energy changes taking place during one cycle of an oscillation.
 * ^  || **4.2 – Travelling waves** || * Travelling waves
 * Wavelength, frequency, period and wave speed
 * Transverse and longitudinal waves
 * The nature of electromagnetic waves
 * The nature of sound waves || v Explain the motion of particles of a medium when a wave passes through it for both transverse and longitudinal cases.
 * ^  || **4.3 – Wave characteristics** || * Wavefronts and rays
 * Amplitude and intensity
 * Superposition
 * Polarization || v Sketch and interpret diagrams involving wavefronts and rays.
 * ^  || **4.4 – Wave behaviour** || * Reflection and refraction
 * Snell’s law, critical angle and total internal reflection
 * Diffraction through a single-slit and around objects
 * Interference patterns
 * Double slit interference
 * Path difference || v Sketch and interpret incident, reflected and transmitted waves at boundaries between media.
 * ^  || **4.5 – Standing waves** || * The nature of standing waves
 * Boundary conditions
 * Nodes and antinodes || v Describe the nature and formation of standing waves in terms of superposition.
 * **7: Atomic, nuclear and particle physics**
 * (14 hours)** || **7.1 – Discrete energy and radioactivity** || * Discrete energy and discrete energy levels
 * Transitions between energy levels
 * Radioactive decay
 * Fundamental forces and their properties
 * Alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays
 * Half-life
 * Absorption characteristics of decay particles
 * Isotopes
 * Background radiation || v Describe the emission and absorption spectrum of common gases.
 * ^  || **7.2 – Nuclear reactions** || * The unified atomic mass unit
 * Mass defect and nuclear binding energy
 * Nuclear fission and nuclear fusion || v Solve problems involving mass defect and binding energy.
 * ^  || **7.3 – The structure of matter** || * Quarks, leptons and their antiparticles
 * Hadrons, baryons and mesons
 * The conservation laws of charge, baryon number, lepton number and strangeness
 * The nature and range of the strong nuclear force, weak force and electromagnetic force
 * Exchange particles
 * Feynman diagrams
 * Confinement
 * The Higgs boson || v Describe the Rutherford-Geiger-Marsden experiment that led to the discovery of the nucleus.
 * **3: Thermal physics**
 * (11 hours)** || **3.1 – Thermal concepts** || * Molecular theory of solids, liquids and gases
 * Temperature and absolute temperature
 * Internal energy
 * Specific heat capacity
 * Phase change
 * Specific latent heat || v Describe temperature change in terms of internal energy.
 * ^  || **3.2 – Modelling a gas** || * Pressure
 * Equation of state for an ideal gas
 * Kinetic model of an ideal gas
 * Mole, molar mass and the Avogadro constant
 * Differences between real and ideal gases || v Solve problems using the equation of state for an ideal gas and gas laws.
 * **8: Energy production** || **8.1 – Energy sources** || * Specific energy and energy density of fuel sources
 * Sankey diagrams
 * Primary energy sources
 * Electricity as a secondary and versatile form of energy
 * Renewable and non-renewable energy source || v Solve specific energy and energy density problems.
 * ^  || **8.2 – Thermal energy transfer** || * Conduction, convection and thermal radiation
 * Black-body radiation
 * Albedo and emissivity
 * The solar constant
 * The greenhouse effect
 * Energy balance in the Earth surface-atmosphere system || v Sketch and interpret graphs showing the variation of intensity with wavelength for bodies emitting thermal radiation at different temperatures.
 * **Opt A: Relativity**
 * (15 hours)** || **A.1 – The beginnings of relativity** || * Reference frames
 * Galilean relativity and Newton’s postulates concerning time and space
 * Maxwell and the constancy of the speed of light
 * Forces on a charge or current || v Use the Galilean transformation equations.
 * ^  || **A.2 – Lorentz transformations** || * The two postulates of special relativity
 * Clock synchronization
 * The Lorentz transformations
 * Velocity addition
 * Invariant quantities (spacetime interval, proper time, proper length and rest mass)
 * Time dilation
 * Length contraction
 * The muon decay experiment || v Use the Lorentz transformations to describe how different measurements of space and time by two observers can be converted into the measurements observed in either frame of reference.
 * ^  || **A.3 – Spacetime diagrams** || * Spacetime diagrams
 * Worldlines
 * The twin paradox || v Represent events on a spacetime diagram as points.
 * **Opt B: Engineering physics**
 * (15 hours)** || **B.1 – Rigid bodies and rotational dynamics** || * Torque
 * Moment of inertia
 * Rotational and translational equilibrium
 * Angular acceleration
 * Equations of rotational motion for uniform angular acceleration
 * Newton’s second law applied to angular motion
 * Conservation of angular momentum || v Calculate torque for single forces and couples.
 * ^  || **B.2 – Thermodynamics** || * The first law of thermodynamics
 * The second law of thermodynamics
 * Entropy
 * Cyclic processes and pV diagrams
 * Isovolumetric, isobaric, isothermal and adiabatic processes
 * Carnot cycle
 * Thermal efficiency || v Describe the first law of thermodynamics as a statement of conservation of energy.
 * **Opt C: Imaging**
 * (15 hours)** || **C.1 – Introduction to imaging** || * Thin lenses
 * Converging and diverging lenses
 * Converging and diverging mirrors
 * Ray diagrams
 * Real and virtual images
 * Linear and angular magnification
 * Spherical and chromatic aberrations || v Describe how a curved transparent interface modifies the shape of an incident wavefront.
 * ^  || **C.2 – Imaging instrumentation** || * Optical compound microscopes
 * Simple optical astronomical refracting telescopes
 * Simple optical astronomical reflecting telescopes
 * Single-dish radio telescopes
 * Radio interferometry telescopes
 * Satellite-borne telescopes || v Construct and interpret ray diagrams of optical compound microscopes at normal adjustment.
 * ^  || **C.3 – Fibre optics** || * Structure of optic fibres
 * Step-index fibres and graded-index fibres
 * Total internal reflection and critical angle
 * Waveguide and material dispersion in optic fibres
 * Attenuation and the decibel (dB) scale || v Solve problems involving total internal reflection and critical angle in the context of fibre optics.
 * **Opt D: Astrophysics**
 * (15 hours)** || **D.1 – Stellar quantities** || * Objects in the universe
 * The nature of stars
 * Astronomical distances
 * Stellar parallax and its limitations
 * Luminosity and apparent brightness || v Identify objects in the universe.
 * ^  || **D.2 – Stellar characteristics and stellar evolution** || * Stellar spectra
 * Hertzprung-Russell (HR) diagram
 * Mass-luminosity relation for main sequence stars
 * Cepheid variables
 * Stellar evolution on HR diagrams
 * Red giants, white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes
 * Chandrasekhar and Oppenheimer-Volkoff limits || v Explain how surface temperature may be obtained from a star’s spectrum.
 * ^  || **D.3 – Cosmology** || * The Big Bang model
 * Cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation
 * Hubble’s law
 * The accelerating universe and redshift (//z//)
 * The cosmic scale factor (//R//) || v Describe both space and time as originating with the Big Bang.