NCEA Level 2 Physics Overview

NCEA Level 2 Physics Overview

1. Waves

   • Light
     • Reflection
     • Reflection in curved mirrors
     • Ray diagrams for plane and curved mirror
     • Refraction
     • Refraction through lenses
     • Ray diagrams for convex and concave lenses
     • Snell's law including the graphing of sin I and sin R
     • Total internal reflection
     • Critical angle at a plane boundary
   • Waves
     • Properties of electromagnetic Waves
     • Reflection at a plane boundary
     • Refraction at a plane boundary
     • Phase and wave parameter upon reflection & refraction
     • Superposition of pulses
     • Diffraction
     • 2-point source interference ( qualitative)
   • Skills
     • The appropriate use of significant figures
     • The appropriate use of units
     • negative index ( e.g. ms^-2) notation or slash notation ( e.g m/s 2)

2. Mechanics

   • Motion
     • Displacement
     • Initial velocity
     • Final velocity
     • Acceleration
     • Time
     • Equation of motion
     • Displacement - time graphs
     • Velocity - time graphs
     • Change in velocity
     • Velocity vector components
     • Constant acceleration in a straight line
     • free fall under gravity including terminal velocity
     • Projectiles Motion
     • Circular motion ( constant speed with one force only providing centripetal force)
   • Forces
     • Force components
     • Drawing force diagrams
     • Vector addition of forces
     • Unbalanced force and acceleration
     • Torque
     • Equilibrium
       • Balanced Forces
       • Clockwise and anticlockwise torques
   • Momentum and Energy
     • Momentum
     • Change in momentum in one dimension
     • Change in momentum in one dimension and impulse
     • Impulse and force
     • Conservation of momentum in one dimension
     • Elastic and inelastic collisions
     • Work
     • Power
     • Conservation of energy
     • Elastic potential Energy
     • Gravitational potential energy
     • Kinetic energy
   • Skills
     • The appropriate use of significant figures
     • The appropriate use of units
     • Negative index notations or slash notations e.g m/s^2

3. Electricity and electromagnetism

   • Static Electricity
     • Uniform electric field
     • electric field strength
     • Force on a charge in an electric field
     • Electric potential energy
     • Work done on a charge moving in an electric field
   • DC Electricity
     • Drawing circuits diagrams
     • Interpreting circuits diagrams
     • Series circuits
     • Parallel circuits ( with resistive components(s) in series with the source)
     • Complex circuits
     • Voltage
     • Current
     • Resistance in series and in parallel
     • Energy
     • Power
   • Electromagnetism
     • Force on a current caring conductor in a magnetic field
     • Force on charge particles moving in a magnetic field
     • The DC motor
     • Induced voltage generated across a straight conductor moving in uniform
     • The simple generator