Advanced Higher Physics

Knowledge of the origin and composition of cosmic rays and the interaction of cosmic rays with Earth’s atmosphere.

Knowledge of the composition of the solar wind as charged particles in the form of plasma.

Explanation of the helical motion of charged particles in the Earth’s magnetic field.

Use of appropriate relationships to solve problems involving the force on a charged particle, its charge, its mass, its velocity, the radius of its path, and the magnetic induction of a magnetic field.

E=\mathrm{hf}

Knowledge of the Bohr model of the atom in terms of the quantisation of angular momentum, the principal quantum number n and electron energy states, and how this explains the characteristics of atomic spectra.

Use of an appropriate relationship to solve problems involving the angular momentum of an electron and its principal quantum number.

\mathrm{mvr}=\frac{\mathrm{nh}}{\mathrm{2\pi }}

Description of experimental evidence for the particle-like behaviour of ‘waves’ and for the wave-like behaviour of ‘particles’.

Use of an appropriate relationship to solve problems involving the de Broglie wavelength of a particle and its momentum.

\lambda =\frac{h}{p}

Knowledge that it is not possible to know the position and the momentum of a quantum particle simultaneously.

Knowledge that it is not possible to know the lifetime of a quantum particle and the associated energy change simultaneously.

Use of appropriate relationships to solve problems involving the uncertainties in position, momentum, energy, and time. The lifetime of a quantum particle can be taken as the uncertainty in time.

{\mathrm{\Delta x\Delta p}}_x\ge \frac{h}{\mathrm{4\pi }}

\mathrm{\Delta E\Delta t}\ge \frac{h}{\mathrm{4\pi }}

Knowledge of implications of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, including the concept of quantum tunnelling, in which a quantum particle can exist in a position that, according to classical physics, it has insufficient energy to occupy.