§-Module

Unit 4: Revolutions in Modern Physics

4 dot points across 4 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do atoms emit light and how do nuclei release energy?

Explain atomic energy levels and spectra and analyse nuclear decay and mass-energy in reactions.

Bohr energy levels and line spectra, radioactive decay and half-life, and how mass defect and binding energy explain the energy released in nuclear reactions.

9 min answer →

What happens to space and time at very high speeds?

Apply Einstein's postulates to time dilation, length contraction and mass-energy equivalence.

Einstein's two postulates and their consequences: time dilation, length contraction and the equivalence of mass and energy expressed by E equals m c squared.

9 min answer →

Why does light behave like a stream of particles?

Use the photon model and Einstein's photoelectric equation to explain the photoelectric effect.

How the photoelectric effect reveals light as photons of energy E equals h f, Einstein's photoelectric equation, work function and threshold frequency.

9 min answer →

What are the fundamental building blocks of matter?

Describe the Standard Model's particles, the four fundamental forces and their carriers.

The Standard Model of particle physics: quarks and leptons, the four fundamental forces, force-carrying bosons, and how protons and neutrons are built from quarks.

9 min answer →