Every subtopic of DP Physics, ready to teach.

Theme A spans 15 lessons across five topics: kinematics (displacement, velocity, acceleration and projectile motion), forces and momentum (Newton's laws, friction and free-body diagrams), work, energy and power, rigid-body mechanics (torque, moment of inertia and angular momentum), and Galilean and special relativity. Together these topics establish the conceptual and mathematical foundations of mechanics, extended into rotational systems and relativistic frames.

Skills & assessment. Students develop skills in graphical analysis of motion, vector resolution, free-body diagramming, and derivation of kinematic and dynamic equations. Evaluative tasks address relativistic consequences — time dilation, length contraction and mass–energy equivalence — requiring students to apply both AO2 calculation and AO3 interpretation skills in exam-style contexts.

Theme B spans 15 lessons across five topics: thermal energy transfers (conduction, convection, radiation and Newton's law of cooling), the greenhouse effect (energy balance, greenhouse gases and climate feedbacks), gas laws (empirical and ideal gas models, kinetic theory), thermodynamics (the first and second laws, entropy and thermodynamic processes), and current and circuits (Ohm's law, EMF, Kirchhoff's laws). The theme moves from macroscopic thermal behaviour down to molecular models and back up to real-world energy systems.

Skills & assessment. Students practise interpreting p–V diagrams, applying gas law equations, analysing circuit configurations, and evaluating climate data — skills that span AO1 recall through to AO4 evaluation of scientific evidence. Mark schemes support both numerical and discursive exam responses.

Theme C spans 15 lessons across five topics: simple harmonic motion (restoring force, energy interchange, damping and resonance), the wave model (transverse and longitudinal waves, superposition and interference), wave phenomena (refraction, diffraction and grating analysis), standing waves and resonance (strings, air columns and harmonic series), and the Doppler effect (derivation, calculation and applications in medicine and astronomy). The theme establishes waves as both a physical model and a mathematical framework.

Skills & assessment. Students develop skills in deriving and applying SHM equations, interpreting interference patterns, applying Snell's law, calculating resonant frequencies, and using the Doppler formula across different scenarios — addressing the full range of command terms from define and calculate through to evaluate and predict.

Theme D spans 12 lessons across four topics: gravitational fields (Newton's law of gravitation, gravitational potential and orbital mechanics), electric and magnetic fields (Coulomb's law, electric potential, magnetic force on conductors), motion in electromagnetic fields (Lorentz force, circular motion of charges, velocity selectors and the Hall effect), and induction (Faraday's and Lenz's laws, AC generation, and transformers). The theme develops the field concept as a unifying model across all fundamental interactions studied at DP level.

Skills & assessment. Students practise field-line and equipotential diagram interpretation, vector force calculations, and derivation of orbital period relationships. Induction lessons require students to apply Faraday's law quantitatively and evaluate transformer efficiency — skills assessed across Paper 2 extended-response questions.

Theme E spans 15 lessons across five topics: the structure of the atom (Rutherford scattering, nuclear notation and atomic spectra), quantum physics (photoelectric effect, wave–particle duality and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle), radioactive decay (decay types, the decay law and radiation safety), fission (binding energy, chain reactions and reactor design), and fusion and stars (Q-values, the proton–proton chain, stellar nucleosynthesis and the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram). The theme is unified by the interplay between experimental evidence and evolving physical models.

Skills & assessment. Students practise writing nuclear equations, calculating binding energies and decay constants, interpreting spectra and HR diagrams, and evaluating the social and environmental context of nuclear technologies — spanning AO1 recall through to AO4 evaluation across all three exam papers.

Skills & assessment.