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WESLEY COLLEGE DUBLIN

The Complete Co-Educational Day and Boarding School

Physics

Physics

Introduction

This new Leaving Certificate Physics specification will be introduced for fifth year students in September 2025 and will replace the current Leaving Certificate Physics syllabus. There are five strands: a unifying strand, Nature of Science, and four contextual strands;

1. Nature of Science - Students develop an understanding that whilst science is powerful, generating knowledge that forms the basis for many advances and innovations in society, it has limitations and that the application of scientific knowledge to problemsolving can be influenced by considerations such as economic, social, sustainability and ethical factors.

2. Forces and Motion - Students learn about Newtonian mechanics as a successful physical theory that explains the motion of objects. They explore how objects move (kinematics) and the reason why objects move in the way they do (dynamics). They use the verbal, mathematical and graphical language of kinematics to discuss and explain motion in one dimension as well as motion in a circle.

3. Waves and Energy Transfer - Students are introduced to energy transfer in a number of ways. They categorise different types of waves and explore the distinguishing features of each. They are introduced to the anatomy of a wave and associated vocabulary and mathematical relationships. Students further explore electromagnetism as one of the four fundamental forces of nature.

4. Electricity and Magnetism - Students are introduced to the concept of electric and magnetic fields as examples of vector fields of force and use field lines to represent the relative strength and direction of these fields. They explore evidence for electric charge as responsible for these electric and magnetic forces and fields and establish links with atomic structure, Newton’s Laws of motion, and work and energy.

5. Modern Physics - Students gain a deep appreciation of the evolving nature of physics as they turn their attention to the late 19th and early 20th centuries when unexplainable observations were challenging accepted theories and models.

 

Assessment

Higher Ordinary
Written Paper Physics in Practice Investigation 1 Paper - 60% of Marks Common Brief - 40% of Marks 1 Paper - 60% of Marks Common Brief - 40% of Marks


Useful Links

https://www.curriculumonline.ie/Senior-cycle/Senior-Cycle-Subjects/Physics/ 

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