La Salle College

Physics Programme Outline Form 5

1. Course Aims & Objectives
- To provide students a good foundation and basis for further study in physics and other relevant
science/engineering subjects.
- To help students to develop skills and appreciation in practical work.
- To teach students to acquire knowledge through various channels.
- To help students to develop the ability in independent and scientific thinking, rational judgement.
- To prepare students to be responsible citizens in a changing world.
- To help students to appreciate the simplicity and beauty of physics.
2. Course Outline
List of Topics/Tasks
Term 1

Projectile motion

Knowledge & Skills Covered

Uniform circular motion

Gravitation

Gas laws

Kinetic theory

Electricity and Magnetism

Electrostatics and electric field

Electric current and resistance

To study the projectile motion as a motion in two dimensions under the influence of
gravity.
To understand the independence of horizontal and vertical motions and use this
concept of independence to solve the problems of projectile motion.
To describe the circular motion in terms of angular displacement and angular
velocity.
To study the centripetal acceleration a =

v2
and the centripetal force in uniform
r

circular motion.
To solve the problems involving uniform circular motion.
Mm
To learn the Newton's law of universal gravitation F = G 2 .
r
To study the gravitational field.
To solve the problems of the circular motion under the influence of gravitational
force.
To study the relationships between pressure, volume and temperature.
To define the absolute temperature scale.
To solve problems of ideal gases using the general gas equation PV = nRT
To explain the gas behaviour in terms of the kinetic theory of gases.
1
To study the kinetic theory equation PV = Nmc 2 .
3
To study the relation between the microscopic properties, e.g. force, momentum, and
the macroscopic properties, e.g. pressure, temperature.
To solve the problems of gases using kinetic theory.
To study the phenomena of electrostatics.
QQ
To study the Coulomb's law F = 1 22 for the interaction between electrostatic
4 o r
charges and solve problems involving forces between point charges.
To study the electric field and its relationship to the electrostatic force.
To study the electric potential energy and the electric potential due to the change of
the energy of a charge moving in an electric field.
To solve the problems involving some special distribution of charges.
To study the relationship of electric current and the flow of different types of
charges.
To study the electromotive force, potential difference (voltage) in terms of the
energy transformation.
To study the resistance and Ohm's law.

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Term 2

Simple circuits
Domestic electricity

To study the effect of resistors connected in series and parallel circuits.

To solve problems involving simple connection of resistors in an electric circuit.
To study the heating effect of electric current.

To solve the problems using the equations P = IV = I 2 R =

Magnetic force and magnetic

field

Magnetic force on current and

moving charge, Hall effect

Electromagnetic induction

Alternating currents

Transformer and power

transmission system

Atomic physics
Radiation and radioactivity

Atomic model

Nuclear energy

V2
.
R
To study the power rating of electrical appliances and the cost of running various
electrical appliances.
To learn about the household wirings and the safety aspects of domestic electricity.
To learn the interaction between magnets.
To study the magnetic force with the concept of magnetic field.
To study the magnetic field using the concepts of field lines.
To study the magnetic field due to the currents.
To study the factors affecting the force acting on a straight current-carrying wire in a
magnetic field and define ampere in terms of the magnetic forces.
To study the turning effect on a current-carrying coil in a magnetic field and the
working of a simple d.c. motor.
To solve problems involving current-carrying conductors in a magnetic field.
To study the magnetic force on a moving charge in a magnetic field and the Hall
Effect.
To study the phenomena of electromagnetic induction and apply the Lenz's law to
find out the direction of induced current.
To study concept of magnetic flux and the Faraday's law.
To study the working of simple d.c. and a.c. generators.
To study the occurrence and practical uses of eddy currents.
To learn about the difference between direct currents (d.c.) and alternating currents
(a.c.).
To study the r.m.s. value of alternating current.
To study the structure of a simple transformer and its working.
To learn how to use the transformers to improve the efficiency of electrical energy
transmission.

To study the generation, properties and uses of X-rays.

To learn about the origin and nature of , and radiations.
To study the interaction of, and radiations with different matters.
To study the radioactive decay, the activity of a radioactive source and its half-life.

To apply the exponential law of decay N = N oe kt to solve problems.

To study the detection of radiation and the radiation safety.

To study the Rutherford's particle scattering experiment.
To study the structure of atoms.
To study the isotopes and radioactive transmutation.
To study the nuclear fission, nuclear fusion and chain reaction.
To learn about the Einstein's mass-energy equation and use the
equation E = mc 2 to solve problems.

3. Assessment
(Note: Dates are given as an approximate only. Specific dates will be given during the course)

3.1 Continuous Assessments

The continuous assessments will be implemented in the first term and the second term, the results of the

Date
2nd week,
Oct 2013

continuous assessments will be counted at 20% in the final results of examination.

Failure to complete the home assignments properly will incur mark penalty (max 2 %) in the results of the
continuous assessments.
Components
Class test (1st term)

Requirements
Multiple choice questions and
structured questions

Assessment Criteria

Understanding of the subject

content
Interpretation of information
Application of the subject
knowledge in problem solving

Weighting
10 %

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2nd week
Nov 2013
2nd week
Mar 2014
2nd week
Apr 2014

Uniform test (1st term)

Same as above

Same as above

10 %

Class test (2nd term)

Same as above

Same as above

6%

Uniform test (2nd term)

Same as above

Same as above

10 %

1st week
Apr 2014

Written task (2nd term)

Complete a formal report with

the data obtained in the
practical related tasks of SBA

4%

Interpretation of science data

Skills of written presentation

3.2 Examinations Duration and breakdown of marks for different papers in Mid-Year & Final Exams
Date

Paper

Jan
2014
June
2014

Marks out of

One paper for mid-year exam

100 / 100

One paper for final exam

100 / 100

Composition
Multiple choice questions, short
questions and long questions
Multiple choice questions, short
questions and long questions

Weighting
100 %
100 %

Duration
1 hour & 45
minutes
1 hour & 45
minutes

3.3 HKDSE External Exam

Date

Paper (s)

Format

Weighting

Duration

60 %

2 hours and
30 minutes

20 %

1 hour

2015

Paper 1
(Compulsory Part)

Section A: Multiple Choice Questions

Section B: Short Questions, Essay Questions Structured
Questions

2015

Paper 2
(Elective Part)

Multiple Questions & Structured Questions

3.4 School-based Assessment (SBA) Framework

Date

Assessment Task (F5)

Oct -Nov
2013
Mar Apr
2014

Date

Task Description

Marking Criteria

Weighting

Practical related tasks

Scheduled group experiments

Refer to the student guidelines of

SBA

6%

Practical related tasks

Scheduled group experiments

Same as above

6%

Assessment Task (F6)

Oct -Nov
2014

Practical related tasks

Task Description

Marking Criteria

Weighting

Scheduled group experiments

Refer to the student guidelines of

SBA

8%

The SBA Marking Scale

Marking Band
9-10
6-8
3-5
1-2

Descriptor
Excellent
Good
Fair
Poor

Please refer to EDB marking criteria for details.

4. Other Information & Useful Resources

OUP student learning centre

Hyper physics: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html
Physics 2000: http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/index.pl
Physics World: http://www.hk-phy.org/

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