Portugal: Description of Physics Programs and Curriculum
Physics is offered as an optional subject in the Grade 12 Science and Technology upper secondary academic track and some professional/vocational tracks. Its main objective is to promote and develop students’ basic knowledge of concepts, laws and theories of physics, as well as their applications in explaining natural phenomena and technological devices. The curriculum is organized into units under three main areas: Mechanics, Electricity and Magnetism, and Modern Physics. The topics included in each unit are listed below.
| Content Area | Units | Topics |
|---|---|---|
| Mechanics | Particle Mechanics | Particle kinematics and dynamics in more than one dimension: reference frames, position, vector, trajectory equations, displacement, average velocity, instantaneous velocity, average acceleration and instantaneous acceleration vectors, motion equations, tangential and radial acceleration, Newton’s Second Law, circular motion
Motion under the action of a constant force: importance of motion initial conditions, motion equations, projectile motion Applying Newton’s Laws: objects connected by a cord, car in a banked circular turn, vertical circular loop, static frictional force and kinetic frictional force |
| Oscillations | Hooke’s Law, simple harmonic motion (period, frequency and angular frequency, displacement from equilibrium and amplitude), velocity and acceleration in SHM, energy of a simple harmonic oscillator, and damped oscillations | |
| Linear Momentum | Center of mass (extended object and system of particles), velocity and acceleration of the CM, linear momentum (particle and system of particles), momentum and Newton’s second Law, conservation of linear momentum, elastic and inelastic collisions | |
| Fluids | Hydrostatic: density, pressure, variation of pressure with depth, Pascal’s Law, buoyant force, Archimedes’ Principle, floating objects equilibrium
Fluid dynamics: steady flow, equation of continuity, Bernoulli’s equation, viscosity |
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| Gravitation | Kepler’s Laws, Newton’s law of gravitation, gravitational constant and Cavendish experiment, gravitational field, gravitational force and weight, gravitational potential energy, orbital speed, escape speed | |
| Electricity and Magnetism | Electricity and Magnetism | Coulomb’s law and electric fields: charge conservation, conductors and insulators, charging objects by induction and by contact, polarization, Coulomb’s law and its similarity to Newton’s laws, electric field, properties of conductors in electrostatic equilibrium
Electrical potential: electric potential energy, electric potential, equipotential surfaces, capacitors |
| Electric Circuits | Electric current: microscopic model of current, current and potential difference, resistance and resistivity, Ohm’s law
Energy in electrical circuits: Joule’s law, electromotive force and total power output of a battery, internal resistance of a battery and power delivered to the external load resistance, terminal voltage of a battery, electromotive force of a motor, internal resistance of a motor, terminal voltage of a motor Electric circuits equations: resistors in series and parallel, applying Ohm’s law to circuits with batteries, motors and resistors, R-C circuits |
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| Magnetic Fields | Sources of magnetic fields, magnetic field lines, magnetic force acting on a charge moving in a magnetic field, motion of charged particles in crossed electric and magnetic fields, Thomson’s experiment, mass spectrometer, cyclotrons, magnetic force on a current-carrying wire, and Earth’s magnetic field | |
| Modern Physics | Relativity |
Relative motion: inertial frames and accelerated frames, the principle of Galilean relativity, Galilean transformation equations
Einstein’s relativity: postulates of special theory of relativity, relativity of simultaneity, time dilation and length contraction, rest energy of a particle, general theory of relativity (curvature of space-time, principle of equivalence |
| Introduction to Quantum Physics | Planck’s energy quantization, Einstein theory of light, wave-matter duality for light, ionizing and non-ionizing radiations, photoelectric effect, Compton scattering, X-rays, wave-matter duality for matter, De Broglie wavelength, and Heisenberg’s principle | |
| Nuclear Physics and Radioactivity | Nuclear binding energy and nuclear stability, natural radioactivity, alpha, beta and gamma emission, law of radioactive decay, half-life and mean life, activity, biological effects of radioactive emissions, absorbed dose and dose equivalent, ionizing radiation detectors, applications of ionizing radiations, and nuclear reactions (nuclear fusion and nuclear fission) |