Try these and thanks to Mr Williams, hope he doesn’t mind. I’ve made some adjustments. Not sure they’re complete, but can’t you do that!
I recommend you printing them out 8 to a page!
Tag: SQA
Learn these Experiment
Thanks to S Gray, Drummond Community High School, for putting together this book of experiments that you should have covered in your N5 Physics lessons. Any of these could be discussed in your exam as a question.
Practice Questions
Thanks to the wonderful Physics teacher who provided these.
| Dynamics & Space | Electricity & Energy | Waves & Radiation |
|---|---|---|
| Notes ver 1.2 doc | Notes ver 3.1 | Notes ver 2.1 |
| Problems 1.2 doc | Problems 3.0 doc | Problems 3.1 doc |
| Problems 1.2 pdf | Problems 3.0 pdf | Problems ver 3.1 pdf |
| Answer File ver 1.4 | Answer File ver 3.0 | Answer File ver 3.1 |
SPACE Resources
Space Notes
Space
Sorry I just couldn’t get this to fit on 2 pages. I am sure someone will send it back to me looking beautiful!
Just heard about this on twitter!
You can read about some of the risks of human spaceflight in the infographic below.
Source Space.com: All about our solar system, outer space and exploration
Here are a few links and documents. Hope you can get access to them.
www.open.edu/History of Universe Timeline
The EM Spectrum and Space
The EM spectrum gives us loads of important information about the world outside our Earth
http://physics.bu.edu/~duffy/HTML5/emission_spectra.html
Launching a Rocket
Want to be a rocket scientist? Can you launch a payload to 400 km in your first go? Don’t forget to have drag on and mass use to be more natural!
https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/389-lift-offRocket
Dock with the ISS
Protected: Revision Answers
Revision Questions
Lots of people are asking me about the answers to these North Ayrshire revision check tests. Can I also recommend you pop across to the Learning Outcome Questions, which have fully worked answer. Click on the links below. No cheating though!
https://mrsphysics.co.uk/n5/category/coursematerials/lo/
Thanks to those in North Ayrshire who provided these excellent questions for you to get your teeth into. I’ll post the answers as password protected to protect those students and staff who are giving these for homework! They’re in the old order, so you’ll have to search through for the right section.
ENJOY!
| Units | Summary Notes | Problems |
|---|---|---|
| Dynamics & Space | Summary Notes D&S | Questions D&S pdf Problems D&S doc |
| Electricity & Energy | Summary Notes E&E | Questions E&E pdf Problems E&E doc |
| Waves & Radiation | Summary Notes W&R | Questions W&R pdf Problems W&R doc |
Quantity Symbol, Unit and Unit Symbol
I’ve put together, with Mrs Mac’s help, a document with quantity, symbol, unit and unit symbol so that you know the meaning of the terms in the Relationships Sheet. It is in EXCEL so that you can sort it by course, quantity or symbol.
Quantity, Symbol, Units the excel sheet
Quantity, Symbol, Units N5 a pdf sheet sorted by course and then alphabetical by quantity.
Quantity, Symbol, Unit, Unit Symbol N5-AH
| N | H | A | Physical Quantity | sym | Unit | Unit Abb. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | absorbed dose | D | gray | Gy | ||
| 5 | absorbed dose rate | H (dot) | gray per second gray per hour gray per year | Gys-1 Gyh -1 Gyy-1 | ||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | acceleration | a | metre per second per second | m s-2 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | acceleration due to gravity | g | metre per second per second | m s-2 |
| 5 | activity | A | becquerel | Bq | ||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | amplitude | A | metre | m |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | angle | θ | degree | ° |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | area | A | square metre | m2 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | average speed | v (bar) | metre per second | m s-1 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | average velocity | v (bar) | metre per second | m s-1 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | change of speed | ∆v | metre per second | m s-1 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | change of velocity | ∆v | metre per second | m s-1 |
| 5 | count rate | - | counts per second (counts per minute) | - | ||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | current | I | ampere | A |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | displacement | s | metre | m |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | distance | d | metre, light year | m , ly |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | distance, depth, height | d or h | metre | m |
| 5 | effective dose | H | sievert | Sv | ||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | electric charge | Q | coulomb | C |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | electric charge | Q or q | coulomb | C |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | electric current | I | ampere | A |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | energy | E | joule | J |
| 5 | equivalent dose | H | sievert | Sv | ||
| 5 | equivalent dose rate | H (dot) | sievert per second sievert per hour sievert per year | Svs -1 Svh-1 Svy -1 | ||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | final velocity | v | metre per second | m s-1 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | force | F | newton | N |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | force, tension, upthrust, thrust | F | newton | N |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | frequency | f | hertz | Hz |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | gravitational field strength | g | newton per kilogram | N kg-1 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | gravitational potential energy | Ep | joule | J |
| 5 | half-life | t1/2 | second (minute, hour, day, year) | s | ||
| 5 | 6 | heat energy | Eh | joule | J | |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | height, depth | h | metre | m |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | initial speed | u | metre per second | m/s |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | initial velocity | u | metre per second | m s-1 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | kinetic energy | Ek | joule | J |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | length | l | metre | m |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | mass | m | kilogram | kg |
| 5 | number of nuclei decaying | N | - | - | ||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | period | T | second | s |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | potential difference | V | volt | V |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | potential energy | Ep | joule | J |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | power | P | watt | W |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | pressure | P or p | pascal | Pa |
| 5 | radiation weighting factor | wR | - | - | ||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | radius | r | metre | m |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | resistance | R | ohm | Ω |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | specific heat capacity | c | joule per kilogram per degree Celsius | Jkg-1 °C -1 |
| 5 | 6 | specific latent heat | l | joule per kilogram | Jkg -1 | |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | speed of light in a vacuum | c | metre per second | m s -1 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | speed, final speed | v | metre per second | ms -1 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | speed, velocity, final velocity | v | metre per second | m s-1 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | supply voltage | Vs | volt | V |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | temperature | T | degree Celsius | °C |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | temperature | T | kelvin | K |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | time | t | second | s |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | total resistance | R | ohm | Ω |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | voltage | V | volt | V |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | voltage, potential difference | V | volt | V |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | volume | V | cubic metre | m3 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | weight | W | newton | N |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | work done | W or EW | joule | J |
| 7 | angle | θ | radian | rad | ||
| 7 | angular acceleration | a | radian per second per second | rad s-2 | ||
| 7 | angular displacement | θ | radian | rad | ||
| 7 | angular frequency | ω | radian per second | rad s-1 | ||
| 7 | angular momentum | L | kilogram metre squared per second | kg m2 s -1 | ||
| 7 | angular velocity, final angular velocity | ω | radian per second | rad s-1 | ||
| 7 | apparent brightness | b | Watts per square metre | Wm-2 | ||
| 7 | back emf | e | volt | V | ||
| 6 | 7 | capacitance | C | farad | F | |
| 7 | capacitive reactance | Xc | ohm | W | ||
| 6 | critical angle | θc | degree | ° | ||
| density | ρ | kilogram per cubic metre | kg m-3 | |||
| 7 | displacement | s or x or y | metre | m | ||
| efficiency | η | - | - | |||
| 6 | 7 | electric field strength | E | newton per coulomb volts per metre | N C -1 Vm -1 |
|
| 7 | electrical potential | V | volt | V | ||
| 6 | 7 | electromotive force (e.m.f) | E or ε | volt | V | |
| 6 | energy level | E 1 , E 2 , etc | joule | J | ||
| feedback resistance | Rf | ohm | Ω | |||
| focal length of a lens | f | metre | m | |||
| 6 | frequency of source | fs | hertz | Hz | ||
| 6 | 7 | fringe separation | ∆x | metre | m | |
| 6 | 7 | grating to screen distance | D | metre | m | |
| 7 | gravitational potential | U or V | joule per kilogram | J kg-1 | ||
| half-value thickness | T1/2 | metre | m | |||
| 6 | 7 | impulse | (∆p) | newton second kilogram metre per second | Ns kgms-1 |
|
| 7 | induced e.m.f. | E or ε | volt | V | ||
| 7 | inductor reactance | XL | ohm | W | ||
| 7 | initial angular velocity | ω o | radian per second | rad s-1 | ||
| input energy | E i | joule | J | |||
| input power | Pi | watt | W | |||
| input voltage | V 1 or V2 | volt | V | |||
| input voltage | V i | volt | V | |||
| 6 | internal resistance | r | ohm | Ω | ||
| 6 | 7 | irradiance | I | watt per square metre | W m-1 | |
| 7 | luminoscity | L | Watt | W | ||
| 7 | magnetic induction | B | tesla | T | ||
| 7 | moment of inertia | I | kilogram metre squared | kg m2 | ||
| 6 | 7 | momentum | p | kilogram metre per second | kg m s-1 | |
| 6 | number of photons per second per cross sectional area | N | - | - | ||
| number of turns on primary coil | n p | - | - | |||
| number of turns on secondary coil | n s | - | - | |||
| 6 | observed wavelength | λ observed | metre | m | ||
| output energy | E o | joule | J | |||
| output power | P o | watt | W | |||
| output voltage | V o | volt | V | |||
| 6 | peak current | Ipeak | ampere | A | ||
| 6 | peak voltage | V peak | volt | V | ||
| 7 | phase angle | Φ | radian | rad | ||
| 6 | 7 | Planck’s constant | h | joule second | Js | |
| 7 | polarising angle (Brewster’s angle) | i p | degree | ̊ | ||
| power (of a lens) | P | dioptre | D | |||
| power gain | Pgain | - | - | |||
| 7 | Power per unit area | Watts per square metre | Wm-2 | |||
| primary current | I p | ampere | A | |||
| primary voltage | Vp | volt | V | |||
| 7 | radial acceleration | ar | metre per second per second | m s-2 | ||
| 6 | redshift | z | - | - | ||
| 6 | 7 | refractive index | n | - | - | |
| 6 | relativistic length | l' | metre | m | ||
| 6 | relativistic time | t' | second | s | ||
| rest mass | mo | kilogram | kg | |||
| 6 | rest wavelength | λrest | metre | m | ||
| 6 | root mean square current | I rms | ampere | A | ||
| 6 | root mean square voltage | Vrms | volt | V | ||
| 7 | rotational kinetic energy | Erot | joule | J | ||
| 7 | schwarzchild radius | rSchwarzchild | metre | m | ||
| secondary current | Is | ampere | A | |||
| secondary voltage | Vs | volt | V | |||
| 7 | self-inductance | L | henry | H | ||
| 6 | 7 | slit separation | d | metre | m | |
| 7 | tangential acceleration | at | metre per second per second | m s-2 | ||
| 6 | threshold frequency | fo | hertz | Hz | ||
| 7 | time constant | t | second | s | ||
| 7 | torque | Τ | newton metre | Nm | ||
| 7 | uncertainty in Energy | ∆E | joule | J | ||
| 7 | uncertainty in momentum | ∆px | kilogram metre per second | kgms-1 | ||
| 7 | uncertainty in position | ∆x | metre | m | ||
| 7 | uncertainty in time | ∆t | second | s | ||
| 6 | velocity of observer | vo | metre per second | m s-1 | ||
| 6 | velocity of source | vs | metre per second | m s-1 | ||
| voltage gain | - | - | - | |||
| voltage gain | Ao or V gain | - | - | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | wavelength | λ | metre | m |
| 6 | work function | W | joule | J |
Revision for..
If you don’t know your scalars from your vectors try this….
Space Definitions 1
Space Definitions 2
Thanks to Ms K Ward from Edinburgh Academy for these equation flashcards. If you print them on card double sided you can get two lots to share with a friend
Revision Plan – 2018/9
A revision planner for you to use. 
Revision-plan 2018 19
Someone has pinched my line!
and I had this idea at Science on Stage!
For those doing the UASP -Electricity and Energy
- Revise the type of energy and conversion
- Gravitational potential
- Kinetic
- Work done
- Heat
- Electrical
- Practical electrical and electronic circuits
- Ohm’s law
- Electrical practical circuits
- Electrical power
- Specific Heat Capacity
- Pressure
- Gas Laws
- Kinetic Theory
Try the following questions
Specimen Paper:
Section 1: q6, 10, 11, 12, 13,14,15,16,17, Section 2: Q5, 6, 7, 8
National 5 2017
Section 1: Q1-7, 19, Section 2: Q1,2,3,
National 5 2016
Section 1: Q1-7 Section 2: Q1,2,3,4,5
National 5: 2015
Section 1: Q1-6 Section 2: Q1,2,3,4
National 5: 2014
Section 1: Q1-7 Section 2: Q1,2,3
Learn the formula for
Ew=QV, Ew=Fd, Ep=mgh, Ek=½mv2, E=Pt, Ee=ItV, EH=mcΔT, EH = ml, P=F/A, Q=It, R in series, R in parallel, V1 =R1/Rt ´Vs, V=IR, P=IV, P=I2R, P=V2/R, pV/T(K)=constant
Make flashcards of
- The Kinetic theory
- Gas Laws
- Rules for series and parallel
- Circuit Symbols
- Rules for charges attracting and repelling
- Definitions of
- Pressure
- Temperature and average speed and kinetic energy
- Electric Fields
- Conservation of Energy
- Specific Heat Capacity
- Specific Latent Heat
- Power
- Current
Learn the units for all the electricity quantities, properties of matter and energy quantities.
I’ll add to this during the week as I have time
If you are doing a PROPERTIES OF MATTER TEST
Look over some OLD Higher papers for the Pressure and Gas Laws as well as the relevant past papers above. I’ll look out the papers with question numbers as soon as I can.
If you’re doing the Waves and Radiation UASP I’ll get some revision plans up soon
Old/ traditional higher……
H 2015 Q7 and 24
H 2014 Q7 and 24
H 2013 Q7 and 24 not part c
H2012 Q7 and 24
H 2011 Q7 and 24
H 2010 Q7 and 23 b
H 2009 Q7 and 23 a,c
H 2008 Q7 and 23
These can be found on the higher part of the website.
Updated July 18
10 week Revision Plan
This is a ten week revision plan, put together by Mr A Riddell from “up North”. It will give you some ideas on how to break up the daunting task of revision. NB I’ll need to change this for the 2024date of 25th April for your exam.
Homework N5 Starters
This homework is a great introduction to the N5 Assignment, which is worth 20% of your exam.
National 5 PHYSICS Assignment starters
Answer the following Questions from the Understanding Standards website
https://www.understandingstandards.org.uk/Subjects/Physics
It is important that you spend an adequate time on this homework (an hour is advised). If you complete this thoroughly you ought to have a good grasp of what is required for the Assignment at National 5.
- List the twelve experiments that have been given as examples for the N5 Physics Assignment.
- In the marking instructions for the assignment how many marks are available for the underlying Physics?
- What are the six sections in the data collection and handling (and I don’t want 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d! BTW it isn’t even section 4)
- Section 3e and 3f refer to literature and sources. How do you achieve these marks?
- What are the marks awarded for when plotting your graph?
- What must your conclusion be related to, to achieve the mark?
- For candidate 1, how many repeats of the experiment did they make?
- What did candidate 1 do correctly for the graph and what was incorrect?
- Mark Candidate 2’s evidence thoroughly yourself using the marking scheme and compare your answer to the commentary. Record your results and the comparison. Comment on both of these.
- CHOOSE a topic that would be suitable using the Physics Compendium https://mrsphysics.co.uk/n5/ Research some Underlying Physics and find a suitable graph that you can try to replicate.
August 2023
Properties of Matter Notes
Not the best fit for a Properties of Matters song, but still lots of important material here.
The Properties of Matter Booklet in both word and pdf form.
Here are a set of summary notes, I made a few changes and put them into a table rather than boxes to help the flow, not that anyone would know. Thanks to the teacher who produced these- sorry there was no name on them.
Gay-Lussac is incorrectly recognized for the Pressure Law which established that the pressure of an enclosed gas is directly proportional to its temperature and which he was the first to formulate (c. 1809). He is also sometimes credited with being the first to publish convincing evidence that shows the relationship between the pressure and temperature of a fixed mass of gas kept at a constant volume.
Maybe for the deception he should be sent to Pressure Cooker!
These laws are also known variously as the Pressure Law or Amontons’s law and Dalton’s law respectively.
Thanks to other Physics teachers who have provided resources for these notes.
Tips!
Here I will post a few tips and hints to remember when answering SQA N5 Papers. Hopefully they’ll be quick, snappy and memorable. You’ve got the whole of the Scottish Physics Teachers’ Community Wisdom Below!
Tips to Aid Memory
- Neutrons don’t carry/have (net) charge so aren’t accelerated/guided/ deflected by magnetic fields.
- I.S.S. (current in series the same). I.P.A (current in parallel adds), USA (voltage in series adds), UPS (voltage in parallel same) OK you need to think of a U as a V but most of you write like that anyway!
- Voltage dividers- think Kendal Mint cake!
- Learn your 7 point plan!
- Transistors act as a SWITCH.
Preparing for the Exam
- Check out the past paper marking instructions for do’s and don’ts- its full of them in that second column!
- Read the Course Reports, they give common mistakes that lots of students made and then you avoid these.
- Make up flashcards, or cue cards and leave them where you go most often, (e.g. biscuit tin, phone, computer, loo). Don’t let yourself have a treat until you’ve set yourself so many questions to get right.
- Check through your compendium that you’ve covered ALL the content and understand it BEFORE you get to the exam and find out you’ve missed something out. (Believe me as someone who missed 5 questions from her 50 questions she needed to learn for her German exam and these were the 5 that came up- it is really upsetting!)
- If you learn nothing else- learn units and symbols. BUT PLEASE learn more than units and symbols. I think this tip is meant to inspire you that these are so important and can get you a long way!
- Learn your prefixes!
During the Exam
-
- Obviously you know- no secs in Physics, just stick to unit symbols and save all the problems of spelling.
- Remember: SIG FIG, your final answer should be rounded up to the same number of significant figures as the LEAST significant measurement.
- Make sure you see the words “end of question paper”. Don’t assume you’ve got to the end and there are no questions on the very last page!
- Actually there are NO questions on the question paper anyway. All have command words, so learn these and what they mean. I’ll add the link in later.
- “Show” questions – means show correct formula, working and numerical answer stated as given in the question. Your final statement should be what you’ve been asked to find.
- Don’t leave anything blank! If you really don’t know, give it a go – you never know.
- The questions in the exam sections (MC and then extended answers) are in approximately the same order as the Relationships Sheet.
- LIST: given numbers with the correct symbols before doing a calculation. Or as we say IESSUU (information, Equation, Substitution, Solution, Units and Underline)
- Start by writing down what the question has asked you to find. E.g. “Eh = ?”. Then write down the other quantities given. Only then choose a formula.
- Substitute then rearrange.
- Read all of the question, especially that bit you skipped over at the start.
- Don’t forget units! It’s now worth at least 33% of a calculation!
- Use common sense regarding “real life” things i.e. cars are unlikely to be going at 245 ms-1, a tennis player isn’t going to be serving the ball from 5m up etc etc
- Sometimes multiple choice questions can be logic-ed through without any knowledge of physics. Physics and common sense are often the same thing.
- If you can’t do part a) but could do part b) if you only knew part a), then make up an answer for part a) and put it in part a of the question and use that in part b).
- This will do for now more to come as they arise……
Some practice notes from Mr Dawson from Wallace Hall Academy.
N5 Revision Pupil Questions pdf version
N5 Revision Pupil Questions word version
ELECTRICITY from 2017
Here is the topic song
Updated November 2019
Electricity 2017 Final word version of the Electricity Unit.
Electricity 2017 Final pdf version.
The booklet is large as it contains lots of questions for you to practice, practicals for you to complete and notes.
They are large notes so that you ought to be able to work your way through whether you are in class or away at college etc.
Please return your copy to the faculty on 30th April 2020!
The section numbers are linked to the compendium with all the things to cover in National 5 Physics.
I can now upload ppp to mrsphysics, so here is one of the first. It is to cover section 9 and 10 of the outcomes. Thanks to the kind person who produced the stuff on A.C and D.C. I’ve been using it for years. Let me know if I’ve nicked it from you and I’ll add my grateful thanks.
Ohm’s Law
Components
resistor network Try this when you think you have got to grips with resistances in series and parallel.
AC_DC[1] This is a powerpoint presentation that someone passed to be in the days of SG. It covers AC and DC traces
Voltage Dividers
VOLTAGE DIVIDER FORMULAE The formula sheet for voltage dividers
VOLTAGE divider Q Practice those horrible voltage divider questions with this pdf version of the document below. The answers are given for you to check. VOLTAGE divider Q
Resistance NetwoRK
Other notes
Mains- Electricity in the home
Here are some additional notes that might help as you go through the materials. Check out the post on using your calculators to measure resistance (I’ll add the link here when I’ve found the post!)
Ring main Based on the SG course notes and not really in the N5 course, but it might give a little background to why when calculating the fuse rating for an appliance you use 240V and not the 230 V as stated.
Older Notes
EE1 – Electricity LOCKERBIE The old electricity notes (based on a colleagues work- thank you and I’ll find out who you are), these will be superceded when the document above is completed.
Elect & elect D&G Prob Book no answers These are some great little questions by Mr Belford from Dumfries Academy, but some of the numbers are a little bit fictional!
Elect & elect D&G Prob Book no answers The above document as a pdf file.
…… to be continued!
WAVES ASSESSMENT
For all Senior N4/N5 classes your assessment for the waves section will be on Tuesday AUGUST 29th 2017. It is expected that you will have completed the Outcome Questions, and marked these REVISE NOW!
Workshop 2017 for SQA
National 5 Workshop for Physics- Thursday 3rd May 2018 P1 & 2
This is the document that we will be going through. We wont have time to go through all the material, so you might want to use this as part of your revision. Do start your revision early and be sure to look over some of the ways to revise, I’ll get a link when I can locate it! It the Higher Revision section of the site there is a link to type of learner. Try the learning styles it will help you revise.
Click on the link below to go directly to the SQA website where you can make a personalized exam timetable.
https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/1439.html
If you’re less computer savy, or a parent he is the paper copy for this year
Nat 5 open ended questions booklet
Nat 5 Dyn 3 Skills and Open ended
Thanks to Mr Cavers, and Belmont Academy for sorting the N5 past papers into topic order.
Exam Practice Questions DYNAMICS
Exam Practice Questions ELECTRICITY
Exam Practice Questions ENERGY
Exam Practice Questions PROPERTIES OF MATTER
Exam Practice Questions RADIATION