GCSE Double Award Science Physics - Unit 7 Practical Manual - Prescribed Physics Practicals

Sep 5, 2026

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Revision support for GCSE Double Award Science Physics Unit 7 practical skills. The manual prepares learners for the practical assessment in Booklet A by covering six prescribed physics practical activities. Each practical outlines aim, variables, apparatus, safety (where relevant), method steps, and guidance for processing results, including how to calculate average measures and construct graphs and lines of best fit. Additional notes explain that related questions may be set in Units 3, 6, and 7B.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Unit 7: Double Award Science Physics Practical Manual

1.1 Motion, prescribed practical activity P1

1.2 Force, prescribed practical activity P2 (Hooke’s Law)

1.3 Force, prescribed practical activity P3 (Principle of Moments)

1.4 Energy, prescribed practical activity P4 (Investigating personal power)

2.2 Light, prescribed practical P5

2.3 Electricity, prescribed practical P6 (Ohm’s Law)

GCSE Double Award Science Physics Unit 7 Practical Manual This practical manual was created to support students with their revision for Double Award Science, Physics Unit 7 Booklet A, which assesses practical skills. The practical manual covers the six prescribed physics practicals listed in the Double Award Science specification. The physics practical tasks in booklet A will be based on the six prescribed practical tasks but not identical to these. Students may also be asked questions about physics practical work in units 3, 6 and 7B. GCSE Double Award Science Physics Unit 7 Practical Manual eGuide Unit 7: Double Award Science Physics Practical Manual Content/Specification Section Page 1.1 Motion, prescribed practical activity P1: Investigating the motion of an object on inclined runway 2 1.2 Force, prescribed practical activity P2: (Hooke’s Law) Investigating the relationship between the extension of a spring and applied force 4 1.3 Force, prescribed practical activity P3: Investigating the Principle of Moments 7 1.4 Energy, prescribed practical activity P4: Investigating personal power 9 2.2 Light, prescribed practical P5: Investigating refraction of white light by a glass block 11 2.3 Electricity, prescribed practical P6: (Ohm’s Law) Investigating the relationship between the current, voltage and resistance for a metal wire 13 GCSE Double Award Science Physics Unit 7 Practical Manual eGuide 1.1 Motion, prescribed practical activity P1: Investigating the motion of an object on inclined runway Introduction This material is on prescribed practical activity. That means that you can be asked to do practical assessment in Unit 7A or in "ordinary" examination questions based on it in Units 3, 6 or 7B. Aim • to investigate how the average speed of an object moving down a runway depends on the slope of the runway measured as the height of one end of the runway. Variables • The independent variable is the height of the ramp. • The dependent variable is the average speed of the marble down the ramp. • The controlled variable is the surface of the ramp. Note that using marbles of different mass would produce a detectable difference in the time taken to for the marbles to roll down the ramp. But that is not the focus of this experiment as can be seen from the aim identified above. Apparatus • Wooden ramp about 120 cm long • Blocks of wood from about 5 cm high to about 15 cm high • Metre stick – to measure height of block and distance on runway • Pencil • Stopwatch • Marble Method 1. Set up a ramp against a wooden block. 2. With a ruler draw two pencil lines in the ramp, one at the top and the other at the bottom, approximately 1.0 m apart. 3. Measure the distance, x between these two lines. 4. Measure the height of the ramp, h. 5. Allow a marble to roll down the ramp, starting from rest at the upper pencil line and finishing at the lower pencil line. 6. For each height h, ranging from about 5 cm to about 15 cm, time this motion a total of three times using a stop watch and record the results in a table (such as shown below.) 7. Calculate the average time, t. 8. The average speed is equal to x/t. GCSE Double Award Science Physics Unit 7 Practical Manual eGuide Marble Mark on runway Mark on runway Source: Line Diagram – Author | Typical Results | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Height h /cm 5 | 7 | 9 | 11 | 15 | | Time t1 /s 8.2 | 5.9 | 4.6 | 4.1 | 3.5 | | Time t2 /s 8.2 | 5.8 | 4.7 | 4.1 | 3.7 | | Time t3 /s 8.1 | 5.8 | 4.8 | 4.2 | 3.9 | | Average time t / s 8.2 | 5.8 | 4.7 | 4.1 | 3.7 | | Average speed, v / cm/s 12.2 | 17.2 | 21.3 | 24.4 | 27.0 | Treatment of Results • Plot the graph of average speed (y-axis) against height, h (x –axis) . • The line of best fit is a curve through the origin of decreasing gradient. • The graph shows that the average speed is NOT proportional to h, but it increases with h i

FAQs

What is the purpose of the Unit 7 practical manual for GCSE Double Award Physics?

It supports revision for Double Award Science Physics Unit 7 by covering the six prescribed physics practicals used in the Booklet A practical assessment.

Which practical activities are covered in this manual?

It covers P1 investigating motion on an inclined runway, P2 Hooke’s Law (spring extension vs applied force), P3 the Principle of Moments, P4 investigating personal power, P5 refraction of white light, and P6 Ohm’s Law (current, voltage and resistance).

How are results treated for the motion on an inclined runway practical (P1)?

Learners plot average speed against ramp height, draw a line of best fit through the origin, and interpret the trend as increasing with height in a non-linear way rather than being proportional to height.

Sep 5, 2026

Upload by Hazel