Year 11 "Get Ahead in Physics"

We are really looking forward to you joining us at Hartlepool Sixth Form in September to study Physics!

You have a unique opportunity this year to get ahead as you prepare to move into the next phase of your education. Here is how you can get ahead in Physics...

Welcome to Physics at Hartlepool Sixth Form

The Secrets of the Sun

We would like you to carry out some research into our nearest star - The Sun.

This project links to the Astrophysics element of the A level Physics specification as well as incorporating elements of Gravitational Fields, Magnetic Fields and Nuclear Physics

See our full specification here

Here is what we'd like you to find out...

What is the Sun made of? How can we know?
What powers the Sun? How does this process work?
How hot is the Sun? How can this be measured?
What class of star is the Sun? What does this mean?
How did the Sun form?
How old is the Sun? How can we tell?
What are sunspots? What causes them?
What will the final fate of the Sun be?

We'd like you to produce a report on your research the report should be 1000 – 2000 words. You should keep a record of all of your sources of information as you go and make sure to reference any direct quotes clearly. A list of references should be given at the end of your report.

If you'd like to choose an alternative topic for your research project that's no problem, just email your project idea to lisa.hall@hartlepoolsixth.ac.uk and she will get back to you.

A few resources just to get you started...

BBC Two - The Secret Life of the Sun, Secrets of the Sun - Sunlight is born deep within the sunImages from The Secret Life of the Sun.

Get ahead part 2: We hope you've enjoyed researching the "Secrets of the Sun". Our second challenge is a practical one. Take a look at the video clip from Lisa for an overview of the task. You will find some more detailed instructions underneath this clip.

Get Ahead in A level Physics - Task 2

Here is the link to the instructions in Google Docs if you'd like to print them

How to measure g in your house!

Here is some graph paper to print if you don't have any

Printable graph paper

If you want to explore some other methods of finding 'g' you can check out this link

Measuring 'g'

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