Grade 11 physics

By the end of this section you should be able to:

• Explain the importance of measurement. • Identify and use appropriate units for data that will be collected.

• Describe what is meant by the term significant figures and how it is

related to precision.

• Identify rules concerning the number of significant figures that a

numeral has.

• Define the term scientific method.

• State the steps of scientific methods.

• State the uncertainty in a single measurement of a quantity.

• Identify the orders of magnitude that will be appropriate and the

uncertainty that may be present in the measurement of data.

• Distinguish between random error and systematic error.

• Describe sources of errors.

• Identify types of errors.

• Distinguish between random uncertainties and systematic errors.

• Distinguish between precision and accuracy.

• State what is meant by the degree of precision of a measuring instrument.

• Use scientific calculators efficiently.

• Describe the procedures of report writing.

• Use terminology and reporting styles appropriately and successfully to

communicate information and understanding.

• Present information in tabular, graphical, written and diagrammatic form.

• Report concisely on experimental procedures and results

By the end of this section you should be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the difference between scalars and

vectors and give common examples.

• Explain what a position vector is.

• Use vector notation and arrow representation of a vector.

• Specify the unit vector in the direction of a given vector.

• Determine the magnitude and direction of the resolution of two or

more vectors using Pythagoras’s theorem and trigonometry. 

• Add vectors by graphical representation to determine a resultant.

• Add/subtract two or more vectors by the vector addition rule.

• Use the geometric definition of the scalar product to calculate the

scalar product of two given vectors.

• Use the scalar product to determine projection of a vector onto

another vector.

• Test two given vectors for orthogonality.

• Use the vector product to test for collinear vectors.

• Explain the use of knowledge of vectors in understanding natural

phenomena.

By the end of this section you should be able to:

• Describe motion using vector analysis.

• Define the term reference frame.

• Explain the difference between average speed (velocities) and

instantaneous speed (velocity).

• Solve numerical problems involving average velocity and instantaneous

velocity.

• Define instantaneous acceleration.

• Solve problems involving average and instantaneous acceleration.

• Solve quantitative and qualitative kinematics problems related to

average and instantaneous velocity and acceleration.

• Derive equations of motion for uniformly accelerated motion.

• Apply equations of uniformly accelerated motion in solving problems.

• Draw graphs from the kinematics equations.

• Interpret s–t, v–t and a–t graphs.

• Solve numerical kinematics problems.

• Relate scientific concepts to issues in everyday life.

• Explain the science of kinematics underlying familiar facts, observations

and related phenomena.

• Describe the conditions at which falling bodies attain their terminal

velocity.

• Analyse and predict, in quantitative terms, and explain the motion of a

projectile with respect to the horizontal and vertical components of its

motion.

• Derive equations related to projectile motion.

• Apply equations to solve problems related projectile motion.

• Define centripetal force and centripetal acceleration.

• Identify that circular motion requires the application of a constant

force directed toward the centre of the circle.

• Distinguish between uniform and non-uniform circular motion.

• Analyse the motion of a satellite.

• Identify that satellites are projectiles that orbit around the Earth.

• Analyse and predict, in quantitative terms, and explain uniform circular

motion in the horizontal and vertical planes with reference to the

forces involved.

• Describe Newton’s law of universal gravitation, apply it quantitatively

and use it to explain planetary and satellite motion.

• Determine the relative velocities of bodies moving at an angle relative

to each other.

• Use the relative velocity equation to convert from o

By the end of this section you should be able to:

• Identify the four basic forces in nature.

• Define and describe the concepts and units related to force.

• Define the term dynamics.

• Define and describe the concepts and units related to

coefficients of friction.

• Use the laws of dynamics in solving problems.

• Interpret Newton’s laws and apply these to moving objects.

• Explain the conditions associated with the movement of

objects at constant velocity.

• Solve dynamics problems involving friction.

• State Newton’s universal law of gravitation.

• Analyse, in qualitative and quantitative terms, the various

forces acting on an object in a variety of situations, and

describe the resulting motion of the object.

• Define, and when appropriate give examples of, such concepts

as gravity and Newton’s law of universal gravitation.

• Describe how Newton’s laws of motion and his law of

universal gravitation explain the phenomenon of gravity and

necessary conditions of ‘weightlessness’.

• Describe the terms momentum and impulse.

• State the law of conservation of linear momentum.

• Discover the relationship between impulse and momentum,

according to Newton’s second law.

• Apply quantitatively the law of conservation of linear momentum.

• Distinguish between elastic and inelastic collisions.

• Describe head-on collisions.

• Describe glancing collisions.

• Define and describe the concepts and units related to torque.

• Describe centre of mass of a body.

• Determine the position of centre of mass of a body.

 Describe explosions and rocket propulsion in relation to

momentum conservation.

• Interpret Newton’s laws and apply these to objects

undergoing uniform circular motion.

• Solve dynamics problems involving friction.

By the end of this section you should be able to:

• Differentiate between energy, work and force.

• Describe and explain the exchange among potential energy,

kinetic energy and internal energy for simple mechanical

systems, such as a pendulum, a roller coaster, a spring, a freely

falling object.

• Identify the relationship between work and change in kinetic

energy.

• Analyse and explain common situations involving work and

energy, using the work–energy theorem.

• Determine the energy stored in a spring.

• Describe and explain the exchange among potential energy,

kinetic energy and internal energy for simple mechanical

systems, such as a pendulum, a roller coaster, a spring, a freely

falling object.

• Predict velocities, heights and spring compressions based on

energy conservation.

• Apply the law of mechanical energy conservation in daily life

situations.

• Describe and explain the exchange among potential energy,

kinetic energy and internal energy for simple mechanical

systems, such as a pendulum, a roller coaster, a spring, a freely

falling object.

• Solve problems involving conservation of energy in simple

systems with various sources of potential energy, such as

springs.

• Distinguish between conservative and non-conservative forces.

• Analyse situations involving the concepts of mechanical energy

and its transformation into other forms of energy according to

the law of conservation of energy.

• Define and work out power.

By the end of this section you should be able to:

• Describe the motion of a rigid body about a pivot point.

• Give the angular speed and angular velocity of a rotating body.

• Determine the velocity of a point in a rotating body.

• Solve problems involving net torque and angular acceleration.

• Determine the velocity and acceleration of a point in a

rotating body.

• Express torque as a cross product of r and F.

• Apply the cross product definition of torque to solve problems.

• Solve problems involving the moment of inertia.

• Apply the concepts of rotation dynamics and kinetic energy to

solve problems.

• Identify factors affecting the moment of inertia of a body.

• Derive equations of motion with constant angular acceleration.

• Use equations of motion with constant angular acceleration to

solve related problems.

• State the parallel axis theorem.

• Use it to solve problems involving the moment of inertia.

 Derive an expression for angular momentum in terms of I and ω.

• Use the relationship between torque and angular momentum,

according to Newton’s second law.

• Apply the relationship between torque and angular momentum

to solve problems involving rigid bodies.

• State the law of conservation of angular momentum.

• Apply the law of conservation of angular momentum in

understanding various natural phenomena, and solving problems.

• Determine the location of centre of mass of a uniform rigid

body.

By the end of this section you should be able to:

• Find the resultant of two or more concurrent forces acting

at a point.

• Define the term equilibrium.

• State the first condition of equilibrium.

• Identify and label the forces and torques acting in problems

related to equilibrium.

• Apply the first condition of equilibrium to solve equilibrium

problems.

• Distinguish between coplanar and concurrent forces.

• Draw free body diagrams to show all the forces acting

• Differentiate static equilibrium from dynamic equilibrium.

• State the second condition for equilibrium.

• Verify the second condition for equilibrium is valid about any

arbitrary axis of rotation.

• Describe the difference among the terms stable, unstable and

neutral equilibrium.

• Explain why objects are stable, unstable and neutral.

• Explain methods of checking stability, instability and neutrality

of rigid bodies.

• Describe the equilibrium conditions for a body acted on by

coplanar forces.

• Verify by experiment the conditions necessary for the

equilibrium of a set of non-concurrent forces.

• State the conditions for rotational equilibrium.

• Define the term couples.

• Describe the rotational effects of couples on the rigid body.

• Solve problems involving the equilibrium of coplanar forces.

By the end of this section you should be able to:

• Define the terms elastic limit, stress, strain, Young’s modulus,

shear modulus.

• State Hooke’s law.

• Carry out calculations involving stress, strain, Young’s modulus

and the energy stored in a stretched material.

 Define the terms density, atmospheric pressure, absolute

 pressure, pressure, volume.

• Describe the concepts related to hydraulic and pneumatic

systems.

• State and apply Archimedes’s principle.

• Define surface tension and surface energy.

• Define the angle of contact and account for the shapes of the surfaces of liquids.

• Determine 

• Define the terms laminar and turbulent flow, flow rate.

• Identify factors affecting laminar flow and give examples.

• Identify factors that affect the streamlining of cars, boats and

planes.

• Define the Reynolds number.

• State Bernoulli’s principle.

• Explain applications of Bernoulli’s principle.

• Use Bernoulli’s equation to solve problems.

• State Stokes’s law and use it to solve problems.

• Use the equation of continuity to solve problems.

 Define the terms calorimetry, phase, phase change, phase

thermal expansion diagram, state variable, critical point, triple point, latent heat,

 heat capacity, specific heat capacity.

• Distinguish between heat, temperature, internal energy and

work.

• State the units for heat, heat capacity, specific heat capacity

and latent heat.

• Explain the factors that determine the rate of heat flow through a material.

• Describe the thermal expansion of solids in terms of the

molecular theory of matter.

• Carry out calculations involving expansivity.

• Solve problems involving thermal conductivity.

• Describe experiments to measure latent heat.