TCE Physics · Free preparation planner
Review your subject topics, choose what to practise next and find official assessment material.
Syllabus preparation with limited indexed evidence. Future exam questions are not guaranteed. Independent of TASC.
These are ATARMAxxing’s course-guide summaries. Review all required areas, including school assessments, practical work, performances or folios where applicable. Follow your course’s option rules.
20 of 20 topics shown · 0 selected for your plan
Treat displacement, velocity and acceleration as vectors. Slopes of s–t and v–t graphs give velocity and acceleration; the area under a v–t graph gives displacement. Use the constant-acceleration equations with one sign convention throughout, including vertical motion with g = 9.81 m s⁻².
Split the launch velocity into components, keep horizontal velocity constant and apply uniform acceleration vertically. Launch and landing heights can differ, so solve the vertical equation for time first, then use it horizontally.
Impulse FΔt equals the change in momentum, and momentum is conserved in collisions and explosions in two dimensions. Use vector triangles with the cosine and sine rules. Compare kinetic energy before and after to classify a collision, and use W = Fs cos θ and P = W/t.
Draw free-body diagrams with every real force and no 'centripetal force' arrow. Apply ΣF = ma on inclines, to rockets and to mass-flow systems where force equals momentum change per second. In horizontal circles the net force points to the centre: F = mv²/r = 4π²mr/T².
F = Gm₁m₂/r² and g = GM/r² use centre-to-centre distance. Add the fields of two masses as vectors, locate the null point, and sketch field lines. Kepler's third law T² = 4π²r³/GM links period and orbital radius for satellites, including geostationary orbits.
Coulomb's law F = kq₁q₂/r² and E = kq/r² give magnitudes; directions come from the sign of the source charge. Combine fields from two charges with a labelled vector diagram, and sketch field lines that start on positive and end on negative charge.
Between parallel plates E = V/d and a charge gains qV of kinetic energy. A charge entering perpendicular to the field follows a parabola like a projectile. Millikan's oil-drop method balances qE against mg.
A long straight wire produces B = kI/r in circles given by a right-hand rule. A current in a field feels F = IlB sin θ; parallel currents attract and antiparallel currents repel with F/l = kI₁I₂/r. Motors use this force with a split-ring commutator.
A moving charge feels F = qvB sin θ at right angles to its velocity, so it moves in a circle of radius r = mv/qB, or a helix if it has a component along B. Crossed fields pass only v = E/B, and the Bainbridge spectrometer separates isotopes by radius.
A conductor moving through a field has emf = vlB sin θ, and a closed circuit carries I = V/R. Lenz's law makes the induced current oppose the change, so work done against the opposing force becomes electrical energy and then heat. Generators, eddy currents and transformers apply the same idea.
Waves carry energy without carrying matter. v = fλ and f = 1/T link the graphs. A pulse inverts on reflection from a fixed end and stays upright at a free end; on a string v = √(T/μ), so a heavier string carries a slower, shorter-wavelength transmitted pulse.
Snell's law n₁ sin θ₁ = n₂ sin θ₂ uses angles from the normal. Different colours have different refractive indices, so a prism disperses white light. Total internal reflection needs light travelling from a slower to a faster medium at more than the critical angle.
Overlapping waves add. Two close frequencies give beats at |f₁ − f₂|. Standing waves form from reflected waves: strings and open pipes have f = nv/2L, closed pipes have only odd harmonics f = nv/4L. Resonance builds energy at a natural frequency.
Coherent sources produce maxima where the path difference is a whole number of wavelengths and minima at half-wavelengths. For a distant screen the fringe (band) width is w = λx/d. The same method works for light, sound, radio and water waves.
Diffraction is greatest when the gap or obstacle is comparable to the wavelength, which limits resolution and helps long-wavelength signals bend round obstacles. Only transverse waves polarise; reflection, transmission and scattering partly polarise light.
Planck explained black-body spectra with quantised energy; Wien's law gives λ_max T = 2.90 × 10⁻³ m K. Einstein's equation Ek(max) = hf − W = eV₀ means a graph of stopping voltage against frequency has gradient h/e (h in eV s) and intercepts that give the threshold frequency and work function.
X-ray tubes give a continuous spectrum with f_max = eV/h plus characteristic lines. Photons carry momentum p = h/λ, so Compton scattering conserves vector momentum. de Broglie's λ = h/p gives particles wave behaviour, strongest at low momentum.
Electrons occupy discrete levels. Moving between them absorbs or emits a photon with ΔE = hf = hc/λ. Electron collisions can excite an atom if they carry at least the level gap, and the scattered electron keeps the rest; photons must match a gap exactly unless they ionise.
Alpha, beta-minus (with antineutrino), beta-plus (with neutrino) and gamma emissions conserve charge and nucleon number. Activity A = λN, λ = 0.693/T½ and N = N₀e^(−λt); convert between mass and number of atoms with N = mN_A/M.
Mass defect × 931 MeV per u gives binding energy; the binding energy per nucleon curve peaks near iron, so fusion of light nuclei and fission of heavy nuclei release energy. Reactors need moderators, control rods and heat exchangers. The strong force is short-range; nucleons are up/down quarks held by gluons.
Your readiness ratings are your own. Selections stay on this page and reset when you leave or reload; print or save your plan before leaving.
Select the topics you want to work on above. Include an area you find difficult and revisit it after practice.
These links come from this subject’s existing official-paper archive. A listed year is the document’s year, not a claim that it matches the 2026 course. Written papers may cover only part of your assessment; use the official requirements for practical, performance and folio components.
Physics Level 4 (PHY415115) course document version 3c (accreditation renewed 25 September 2025, current for 2026); External Assessment Specifications Version 1.3 (March 2023); PHY415115 Physics Information Sheet. Sources downloaded and verified 4 October 2026.
Personal preparation priorities, not predicted exam questions, probabilities or grades.
Check current requirements and course options: https://www.tasc.tas.gov.au/students/courses/science/phy415115-9/
Subject archive: https://atarmaxxing.com.au/subjects/tce-physics/papers