higher revision
Check this blog post to find out how you can get free physics revision software for home use only.
You can read all my blog posts about Higher Physics by clicking here. Try this revision quiz I made for mobile phones – it works like a photo slideshow.
Remember that you can also get all the worked answers to homework questions (as short videos) together with most of the homework questions themselves by subscribing to my iTunes podcast. You need to download and install the free iTunes program for this to work. When you have installed iTunes, then click on the iTunes button below to go to the podcast.
Now click on the subscribe button inside iTunes, this gives you a list of the available podcast episodes. You can click on the get button next to any episode in the list to download it or the get all button at the top of the list to download everything.
Download your own copy of the SQA Physics Data Booklet (pdf)
If you can’t open the powerpoint files at home, you can get a set of programs that work just like Microsoft Office for free. Go to OpenOffice.org to download your free wordprocessor, spreadsheet and presentation software – it will open Word, Excel and Powerpoint files.
This table contains links to SQA past papers for the Higher Physics exam. These papers and solutions are reproduced to support SQA qualifications on a non-commercial basis according to SQA conditions of use.
Higher Physics past papers
You can download summary notes for the whole Higher Physics course here. Thanks to the Physics Department at Hermitage Academy, Helensburgh, for making these available.
Unit 1 – Mechanics and Properties of Matter
unit 1 summary (PowerPoint)
unit 1 revision notes (pdf)
notes on vectors (pdf)
Try these relative velocity problems.
Example of how to draw a scale diagram to find displacement
Vector Scale Diagrams from mr mackenzie on Vimeo.
Graphs of motion
Click on the picture below to try this simulation. Set the variables and click start. Watch as the graphs of displacement, velocity and acceleration are drawn.
You will need java to run the simulation.
equations of motion
The equations of motion can be obtained by analysing a velocity-time graph.
I have some handwritten examples of how to apply the equations of motion to different scenarios. They are available as pdf files by clicking on the links below. There is a commentary in red pen alongside the solution as it progresses.
moving up & down in one problem
projectiles
Thanks to Valdo at Yoker Uni in Glasgow for this video on projectile motion.
projectile off a cliff (similar to equation of motion examples above)
example of projectile motion - shoot the monkey (video)
projectile motion (video)
momentum & impulse
simulation of collisions on an airtrack – set mass/velocity and predict what happens after the collision
explosion simulator – predict motion of the person and the cart after the jump
Of course, Valdo has a lesson on momentum in his own style
my blog post on Newton III in action (equal and opposite forces)
Elastic and Inelastic collision simulator
Valdo also has a video about impulse.
properties of matter
I wrote a short post about pressure and shoes here. Watch the Science Babe video about high heels:
short video about bouyancy – the same guy also has a video about density
buoyancy – use your physics knowledge to analyse this animation
Here is another buoyancy simulator. Click on the picture below to start.
Air pressure – you might need quicktime to view this video
Here is a short BBC Learning Zone clip about pressure and decompression.
Valdo has some thoughts about Pressure and Density
Here are some youtube videos to demonstrate the gas laws
Pressure-Volume
Volume-Temperature
The professor from the brilliant periodic videos site has a clip about Lord Kelvin and the temperature scale named after him.
Kinetic Theory
Can you use the kinetic theory of gases to describe the pressure-temperature, pressure-volume or volume-temperature relationships? If you are having difficulties with this, try reading this blog post.
Then watch the video below about a party trick involving hot air and an egg.
Now go back and listen to Molly’s explain the behaviour of the oxygen molecules once more. Did you notice the “cause and effect” style of explaining what happens? This is the type of answer you need to give in a question where you are asked to describe gas behaviour using the kinetic theory. Also notice that the egg is never “sucked” – suck is bad physics! (Bonus points if you spotted Molly describing air as oxygen, when it is mostly composed of nitrogen)
I found great online revision materials from St. Kentigern’s Academy. Their unit 1 materials are split into smaller sections covering sections 1.1 & 1.2, 1.3 & 1.4 and 1.5 & 1.6. There is also a revision test (maybe you could try this when you’re preparing for the prelim?) with a separate answers file.
Unit 2 – Electricity & Electronics
Unit 2 summary (Powerpoint)
This set of unit 2 notes covers everything apart from the Op Amp topic.
Here is a (quite old) film about Voltage and Potential Difference that someone has put on to Youtube. It’s about 10 minutes long and has a good analogy to electricity. I recommend that you take some time to watch and see if it improves your understanding of electricity.
BBC Bitesize page about EMF and internal resistance – good explanation.
Have you seen Valdo’s internal resistance video?
TPD, EMF and internal resistance (pdf)
You can practise calculating the internal resistance and emf of a cell using this blog post.
I have written a blog post about Wheatstone Bridges
Capacitors
This short video is an introduction to capacitors and how they work.
MAKE presents: The Capacitor from make magazine on Vimeo.
This article describes the different types of capacitors available and looks at their application in smoothing a dc voltage obtained by rectifying an ac voltage.
Here is a youtube video about charging/discharging of capacitors – ignore the short maths bit at the end.
These 2 videos are included with some others in a blog post I wrote about capacitors.
Valdo from Yoker Uni has put a capacitor video on youtube.
St. Kentigern’s Academy Notes: unit 2.1, unit 2.2, unit 2.3, unit 2.4, revision questions, answers to revision questions
Unit 3 – Radiation & Matter
There are summary notes for the whole of unit 3 here.
Interference
Here is a simulation of interference between sound waves. Click on the picture to take you to the site and choose the Two Source Interference option at the top of the screen. Move the man’s head very slowly and listen for changes in the volume (remember to switch the audio on!)
You can also investigate the effects of amplitude, wavelength, bright fringe spacing and slit-to-screen distance on interference patterns obtained using sound, water or light waves in this second simulation. Click on the image to go to the site.
Young’s Slits
Here are 2 short videos showing an example of a Young’s slits problem involving microwaves
Youngs Slits example 1(a) from mr mackenzie on Vimeo.
Youngs Slits example 1(b) from mr mackenzie on Vimeo.
Diffraction gratings
This animation allows you to vary the number of lines per mm on a diffraction grating.
Working through the questions on that page will give you a good grounding in this topic. There is a moveable protractor in the bottom left corner when the animation loads. Move this up to the grating and test the grating equation
for different diffracted orders (n), wavelengths(?) and line spacings (d).
Polychromatic light
Light containing more than one wavelength is called polychromatic light. White light is an example of polychromatic light as it contains all the colours in the visible spectrum. We can split polychromatic light into its constituent colours using a prism. Notice how red light is refracted least when a prism is used.
We could also use a grating to split the polychromatic light into the individual colours it contains, such as the white light from this candle.
Notice that there are several differences between the prism and the grating;
- the prism produces only one spectrum but the grating gives many spectra
- the zero order light (centre candle image) from the grating is not split up – it is the same as the original incident light
- the long wavelengths (such as red light) that are refracted (bent) least by the prism are diffracted (bent) the most by the grating
- the grating spectra either side of the centre (zero order) are mirror images – long wavelengths (e.g. red) are always diffracted to the outer side of the spectrum.
Photoelectric effect
Here are two animations.
In animation#1, the effect of frequency can be investigated. Find out which of the light sources shown produces the photoelectric effect. You should find that the effect only occurs when the high frequency light is used.
In animation#2, you can investigate how irradiance affects the photoelectric effect by changing the position of the uv lamp. Remember that irradiance is the power per unit area.
To explain the photoelectric effect, we have to think of the light behaving as particles rather than waves. We call these particles of light photons. Click here to see a short animation of photons freeing electrons from a surface.
Here is a video showing the photoelectric effect on an electroscope.
There is another animation that lets you change photon energy and irradiance here.
Absorption & Emission of Photons
Here is a website that lets you choose the energy of a photon and see whether or not it causes a change in the energy of an electron inside the hydrogen atom.
You can read more about line spectra and where they come from here and here.
The visible line spectrum of the Hydrogen atom is explained in the following short film. Click on the image below to start the clip.
I wrote a blog post with some links to laser sites.
Semiconductors
Here’s a youtube video about doped semiconductors
What is an atom?
Start by reading my original blog post about Rutherford’s alpha particle scattering experiment. This has some video that helps to explain what Rutherford did and what we now know about the structure of the atom. I wrote another entry about Rutherford to mark the centenary of the publication of his results.
Here is another video that recreates Rutherford’s experiment.
The BBC4 programme Beautiful Equations included a discussion on Einstein’s famous equation 
. Watch the short clip below to learn more.
Learn about nuclear fission in this blog post.
Radiation doses are mentioned in this article in The Guardian newspaper.
Here are links to the Unit 3 notes from St Kentigern’s Academy:
3.3 Optoelectronics & Semiconductors
Themocracy
“no comments yet – be the first?”
I thought I’d be the first.
Nice site
Thanks for putting everything we need online!
yeah wat tht guy said ^66666
I don’t understand the equations of motion. I keep geting confused with how you apply them to questions. Could you maybe put up a few questions up on it and the answers with one example to start me off? Thank you.
Which type of examples would you like?
I could write some out by hand and scan them in (quickest way to get something online) or I can make video clips (takes longer).
Would scanned handwritten ones with notes in margin be enough to get you started?
I agree with what Stephanie C said, and yes scanned handwritten ones would be great.
Thank you so much
OK, some scanned handwritten examples are now in the links above. Also available in iTunes.
[...] higher revision jump to navigation [...]
Hi
I am doing Higher Physics this year and am actually do ok at it. I get a tutor once a week but I thought I’d just drop a wee thank you to say that this site has helped a massive amount and I am on course for an A so thank you for putting so much effort into it. At my school this would be unheard of. Thanks.
hi, i find that your higher notes very useful but i have noticed that the 3.3 Optoelectronics & Semiconductors pdf file is missing all the notes on semiconductors and i was wondering if there is a problem with the document or if you have missed them out
thanks
Callum,
you’re right! I just checked and there is nothing on semiconductors. Those notes are not mine, I only link to them. I will add something later in the year though, so please check back.
Hi mrmackenzie.
just tried St. Kentigern’s Academy revision questions for unit 2 and i think some of the answers are wrong? Qu1, qu10 and 22b)
Thank you very much my Exams are coming up in May and your help with electronics is much appreciated. Might possibly get an “A” in th Int 2 exam.
Hi
I was wondering if you could help me with an explanation on photodiodes. In photovoltaic mode when an electron hole pair are created do the electrons move to the n – type or p – type? Also im struggling to understand how the voltage is created. Any help would be great.
Thanks
Cameron,
Valdo explains this in his video
Hey! I need to inform you that the only Physics Higher past paper available to me is the 1992 Paper II, the rest just lead me to a “can’t find this page”. Please get back to me if you know of anywhere else to get the older past papers.
Chaz
HI Chaz,
all of the links are working for me. I wonder if the wikispaces site where I uploaded them was down for a while?
Try clicking here to get all the past papers. Use the download link at the end of each section to get the papers you want.
Does it work that way?
Hey, The webtribe website seems to be down, so I am unable to get the answers to the old past papers. Is there any way you can put them on your blog?
thanks
The webtribe site is not my site. I don’t actually know who created it, although I am very grateful to whoever it is!
I downloaded a copy of the site to use in school when our internet access was restricted and have uploaded these files here.
I hope it works but no guarantees…
AMAZING SITE, ANY CHANCE OF A POWERPOINT SUMMARY OF UNIT 3?
OR AM I BEING DUMB AND MISSED IT?
MY PHYSICS EXAM IS TOMMORROW MORNING AND IVE GOT LIKE 4 HOURS TO REVISE THE WHOLE COURSE, I WISH I DIDNT LEAVE IT TO THE LAST MINUTE, NEVERMIND BOUT THAT POWERPOINT BTW, I PROBS WONT BE ABLE TO SEE IT B4 I SIT MY EXAM =
great website thanks for making all these materials available. downloaded the higher past papers dating back to 1992 off your website and was wondering if you could provide the answers for the papers as well. I apologise if these are available but I just couldn’t see them.
Thanks in advance.
You should be able to get them here.
Im sitting my Higher Physics exam at the end of this school year and I love this website, but in addition, are there any textbooks you would recommend that I could buy, to give me good and detailed summary notes with examples etc to help me revise?
I already have “Leckie & Leckie – Higher Physics Success Guide” but I find it only skims over the work.
Many Thanks
Try these questions (pdf) if you want some practise. There are answers at the back.
Additional stuff can be found on the Fife Science pages.
The best book, in my opinion, is Higher Still Physics By Geoff Cackett,Jim Lowrie. It is out of print but shows up fairly frequently on ebay. The Bright Red revision book is good (diagrams are excellent) but, like the Lockie & Lockie book you mentioned, it skims across the course. There is another book called New Higher Physics, with a picture of the sun on the front but I don’t like that book as much as the one I mentioned above.
Heyy
I can’t seem to get any of the past papers, maybe the links are broken the only one I seem to be able to view is 2004 paper 1,
Would love to be able to view the others as i’ve almost completed all the ones in my past paper book
Thanks
Sorry
I ment *1994 paper 1
I just checked the links and the all of the papers open for me.
Try clicking on just one at a time. Some of the files are very large, especially those from before 2000, as they are scans of original paper copies. Allow them some time to download and you should get them ok.
Instead of waiting for your browser to download and display the question paper, you could right-click on the link and save the file to your computer and open it with a pdf reader instead.
I have a question about the first “Young’s Slits” video.
When it speaks of ‘second order minimum’ n=2 is used. I don’t understand why it is not n=1 because from the 0th order maximum to the 2nd order maximum, I think there are two minimums ie. 0.5 and 1.5 (which would be the second order minimum).
Can you please explain why to use n=2?
Good question!
The number we use for n comes from the path difference calculation. If there are 2 waves travelling different distances to reach a point, the extra distance travelled by one of the waves is called the path difference.
For constructive interference to occur, the path difference = n x wavelength (with n=0,1,2,3…)
and for destructive interference we need path difference = (n + 0.5) x wavelength (with n=0,1,2,3…)
If you think about moving from the 0 order maximum to the 1st order maximum, we will find a minimum in between them – just like you said. The path difference to the 0 order maximum is 0 (n=0) and path difference to the 1st order maximum is 1 x wavelength (n=1). For the minimum that we find between these 2 maxima, the path difference is 0.5 x wavelength.
From our destructive interference equation for path difference, we are looking for (n + 0.5) = 0.5, so n=0 and we call it the zero order minimum. The next minimum will use n=1 and we call it the 1st order minimum, the one after that uses n=2 and is called the second order minimum, and so on.
Hope this helps.
Amazing website.A lot of information here which really helps. The past papers i found were also very helpful.Thank you.
Hi mrmackenzie !
GREAT website I must say, I am currently doing projectile motion questions and can’t seem to find a solution to my problem, its probably very simple I just haven’t realised it but how would I possibly start this question ;
Aii ) “After the first bounce, what height did the ball reach above the ground” .. my mind went totally blank here and I can’t seem to work out what to do : do I use an Equation of Motion or what, im very stuck and could use some help since I am not going to be in school untill Monday!
You might need to use impulse or conservation of energy? I can’t say for sure without seeing the whole question. Is it a past paper? If so, tell me which year and I’ll have a look.
Hi mrmackenzie, sorry for the late reply, I worked out the answer about 20 minutes after posting this and then totally forgot about my comment!
Anyway, would you beable to put up any Unit 1 NAB Retests for revision as my Physics teacher told me the Unit 1 Retest Nab is good for Unit 1 revision but I was off sick today and I couldnt get a copy of it and I am now on study leave!
Any help would be appreciated
I am not able to share NABs, the SQA requires schools to keep them until lock & key. However, there is a practice unit 1 NAB available on North Berwick High Schools’s site. They also have a set of answers.
Hello Mr Mackenzie. Fantastic website, helped me alot
I’d be really grateful if u could help me with Question 8 from 2006 (Higher). I can’t see any way around it. Thank you!
Jake,
A good strategy for questions like these is to simplify each branch of the circuit until there is only one resistor per branch – you can use the series resistor rule to do this. Then combine your parallel branches to find the total resistance between points X & Y.
Hi. Great website Mr Mackenzie! Im struggling quite alot with the multichoice in the past papers and as the sqa only give the answers without an explanation i was wondering if you could put up some explanations even if just for the most recent papers. Sorry if i have missed this on your site if you already have such a thing available! Thank you.
Fantastic Site, very useful.
One thing that puzzles me in the Higher Physics course is what a “hole” is in terms of semiconductors. Can you explain to me what it is?
Danny B,
Have you watched the Valdo video?
A hole is really a place where an electron should be, but it’s missing.
Let’s imagine we have a piece of silicon. Each atom in our piece of silicon has 4 outer electrons. Each silicon atom shares its electrons with neighbouring atom so that there are 8 electrons associated with each atom. Sharing electrons like this is what your Chemistry teacher would call a covalent bond, but enough about the Chemistry…..
In silicon, the outer electrons are not free to move about. This is why pure silicon is not a good conductor of electricity. There are 2 ways to turn the silicon into a better conductor;
1.
We can add some electrons to the silicon to make it a better conductor. This is done by adding some atoms of a group V element (such as phosphorous or arsenic) to the silicon. The phosphorous has 5 outer electrons and it shares 4 of these with the neighbouring silicon atoms, leaving the 5th electron free. This 5th electron can move about if a potential difference is placed across the material, allowing a current to flow. Since the particle carrying the current is negatively charged, we call this an n-type type of semiconductor.
2. (…and might sound a little weird!)
We can modify the silicon so it is short of electrons. We do this by swapping some silicon atoms for atoms of a group III element, such as boron. Boron has 3 outer electrons. The boron atom we have added can only bond with three neighbouring silicon atoms, leaving a gap where the 4th electron should be. These gaps are called holes and Valdo shows these as empty circles in his video. Now you can place a potential difference across the material and the holes (which are said to be positive as they are “short” of an electron) move towards the negative potential. Since the charge carrying particle is positive, we say that this is a p-type semiconductor.
The problem with this explanation is that the “hole” is just a gap and it doesn’t really move, it’s just handy for us to think of it that way. Let me explain.
Have you ever played with one of those puzzles where you slide the tiles round to put the numbers in order or recreate a picture? Try this one – the Einstein photo is my favourite
. Notice how the blank piece looks like it is moving around? Well, it’s not. What happens is that a tile moves in to the blank area and leaves a new blank area in its place. It looks like the blank bit is moving but really its the tiles are moving from place to place.
The same thing happens with holes. Electrons are able to move into the hole, leaving a new hole where the electron used to be. It kind of looks like the hole has moved but it hasn’t. It’s just easier to think of a positive particle called a hole moving in the opposite direction to an electron when a voltage is applied to the semiconductor.
In a forward biased p-n junction, an electron and hole can meet in the depletion region. They recombine and release a photon. This is how a LED works. Alternatively, a photon entering the depletion region in a reverse biased p-n junction can create an electron and a hole, producing a current.
Hi Stephanie,
Sorry to hear you are struggling with MC questions. I’m afraid I am up to my ears in other stuff just now. Can I suggest that you try to go in to school and ask one of your Physics teachers before the exam. You’ve still got today, tomorrow and Monday morning.
Or how about asking a friend from your class?
Failing that, there are loads of people online at the Student Room forum but make sure you post in the Scottish Qualifications forum.
Hello Mr Mackenzie, brilliant site.
Just to let you know, the link you provide for the 2008 higher past paper solutions just takes you back to the higher page – it takes you to this page http://mrmackenzie.co.uk/higher-revision/ and not a page with the solutions.
Hope this helps and thanks again for all your efforts!
Thanks, Ryan. I left something out of the link code so it wouldn’t work. It’s fixed now.
hi Mrmackenzie can i ask what you predict to come in this years paper ? do you think another MOSFET question will come up
hi Mr Mackenzie really good site it has helped me alot just to ask i am having some diffcultites with the final unit what advice what you give me on how to improve
Greg,
The SQA’s content statements for unit 3 are on p11-17 of this document. They are broken down clearly into many small statements. I suggest you start by seeing how many of them you can tick off and then continue to organise your revision by focusing on the ones where you are least confident.
If you want to be able to answer describe/explain/justify questions and score well, make sure that you understand (and can use in sentences!) terms such as
This is not a full list but you get the idea.
There are video examples further up this page that show you how to do calculations based on an interference pattern. There is also a long comment from me about analysing an interference pattern and selecting the correct value for n in your equation.
Make sure you know the differences between a diffraction grating spectrum and the spectrum from a prism. These are explained further up this page.
Know how to use the information provided in a ray diagram to calculate properties of a material, such as refractive index, speed of light in that material or the critical angle of the light in that material – remember that all of these properties depend on wavelength.
Angles are always measured from the normal. A diagram may not show the normal but you need to know to use it.
For radiation, know how to write a nuclear equation and identify any missing particle or nucleus. Remember that the back page of the blue SQA data booklet has a periodic table with atomic numbers and chemical symbols..
Shielding questions might not just be about calculating the thickness or an absorber. Make sure you also calculate any new equivalent dose or equivalent dose rate if it has been requested.
If you are not sure about this, there are decent BBC Bitesize notes about but they don’t cover everything!
This does not cover everything (hopefully you’ve noticed that I haven’t mentioned photoelectric effect, absorption/emission spectra or semiconductors, for example) but it should help you to plan the work you have to do over the weekend to familiarise yourself with unit 3.
All your revision stuff is brilliant! This really helped for SG.
My only question is if you have anything on the revised higher?
Sorry. My school is not running with the new course yet so I have nothing for it just now.
Hi there, i am looking for the past papers for higher. I found them last week but the links are not in the higher revision section anymore. Could you please help. thank you.
Hi. I’ve had to move everything and it will take some time to bring it all back. See my message on the front page.
where r the recent past paper solutions at? like 2010/11
9_9
Rory,
They won’t appear again until after my own classes have sat their prelims. However, the recent solutions you are looking for are available on the SQA past paper site.
great site. not a lot on waves though but thanks anyway.
The Unit 3 notes for the summary of the whole of unit 3 aren’t working?
I just tried to download it and it worked, although it took about 30s to download. Try clicking here instead.
Hi
Great site has really helped me this year so far with my higher. I am trying to find the 2004 and 2005 past papers on your website. I have tried clicking on previous links you have posted but can only get from 1999 backwords. I have found the answers but unfortunatly there not much use without the questions haha! Any help you can give me would be appreiciated, thanks!
You’ll get the papers at these links; 2004, 2005
Hi i just wanted to say thanks this site has helped me so much!! Its great, Thanks
Hey, Mr Mackenzie, I’m struggling at the moment with Physics. I revise the basics, I know the equations inside out, but when it comes to tackling questions, I find most of them tough. Please help.
Have you tried “starter questions”? These are the kind of questions you might do in class as you meet a new topic. Your teacher might be able to lend you a booklet, or you can find some online here and here. Both documents have numerical answers at the back, use these to check your progress as you go. The purpose of these is to make sure you don’t just know the equations but can use them to solve problems.
You’ll get better with practise. Look for signs that you are improving, such as;
This page has links to revision notes for whole units and small sections of the course. Use these to improve your understanding; knowing facts alone is not enough, problem solving questions require a deeper level of understanding.
Have you tried working through the higher materials on BBC Bitesize? These do not cover everything, but taking the tests as you go will help identify areas upon which to focus. There is also a new message board on Bitesize where you can ask questions.
Leave past papers for now. They will only be useful once you have made progress with the shorter questions I mentioned earlier.
Good luck!
Hi Sir, I am crashing Higher Physics this year and I am finding Unit 3 the most challenging units of all. I do not understand the entire topic at all, no matter how much notes I’ve revised on. When it comes to answering questions, I just go blank. Do you have any worked examples of unit 3 questions posted as a video? where you are speaking it while doing the solutions? I find it easier to understand when someone is there directing you. Thankyou! (i have my nab tomorrow!!!!)
I don’t have many unit 3 videos as I tend to be getting people through nab resits, 2nd prelims etc. by then.
I have some older ones on my Vimeo channel. Try these examples on interference and refraction.
http://vimeo.com/4331762
http://vimeo.com/4331755
http://vimeo.com/4331749
http://vimeo.com/4331716
http://vimeo.com/4331710
http://vimeo.com/4331698
http://vimeo.com/4331689
http://vimeo.com/4331710
http://vimeo.com/3703313
http://vimeo.com/3701744
http://vimeo.com/4331689
Hi, do you have any questions on the revised physics course. Will be doing the higher exams in a few weeks and finding difficulty with it. Thanks.
I don’t have any resources specifically for the new course, sorry.