CAPE Physics Syllabus 2026

Students will learn to express physical quantities with numerical magnitudes and units, including understanding dimensionless quantities.

Students will distinguish between scalar and vector quantities, state examples, and learn to resolve, add, and subtract vectors graphically and by calculation.

Students will learn to measure physical quantities using appropriate instruments and construct and use calibration curves to establish measurement relationships.

Students will learn to rearrange physical relationships to produce linear graphs, including applying logarithmic plots for exponential and power law variations.

Students will distinguish between precision and accuracy in physical measurements, understanding their importance and practical implications.

Students will estimate the uncertainty in derived quantities by combining actual, fractional, or percentage uncertainties from constituent measurements.

Students will state the seven base quantities and their SI units, using them to obtain expressions for derived quantities and their units.

Students will use SI prefixes and their symbols to express multiples and sub-multiples of base and derived units in calculations.

Students will apply base units to check the dimensional homogeneity of physical equations, ensuring their consistency and validity.

Students will explain and differentiate between displacement, speed, velocity, and acceleration, defining each in the context of single-dimension motion.

Students will use graphs to represent displacement, speed, velocity, and acceleration, interpreting gradients and areas to solve problems.

Students will derive and apply the equations of motion to solve problems involving uniformly accelerated motion in a single dimension.

Students will solve problems involving bodies undergoing projectile motion and demonstrate that the trajectory is parabolic.

Students will state and understand Newton's three laws of motion, recognizing that an unbalanced external force changes velocity.

Students will explain linear momentum, state and apply its conservation principle, and distinguish between inelastic and perfectly elastic collisions.

Students will explain and use the concept of impulse, drawing and interpreting force-time graphs to solve related problems.

Students will solve problems related to Newton's laws of motion, specifically focusing on situations involving uniform acceleration.

Students will express angular displacement in radians and apply the concept of angular velocity to problems involving circular motion.

Students will use equations for centripetal acceleration and centripetal force to solve problems involving various types of circular motion.

Students will use Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation to solve problems involving the attractive force between any two masses.

Students will explain and use the term gravitational field strength, understanding its variation with height above Earth's surface.

Students will solve problems involving circular orbits and discuss the motion and applications of geostationary satellites, comparing them to other orbits.

Students will explain the origin of the upthrust acting on a body wholly or partially immersed in a fluid due to pressure differences.

Students will explain the nature, cause, and effects of resistive forces and use the concept of terminal velocity, including Stokes' Law, to solve problems in fluids.

Students will apply the principle of moments to solve problems involving the turning effect of forces and rotational equilibrium.

Students will use the concepts of static and dynamic equilibria to solve problems where the sum of forces and torques are both zero.

Students will use the concept of work as the product of force and displacement in the direction of the force, applying the formula W = Fx.

Students will use the formula for kinetic energy and for potential energy changes near Earth's surface, while distinguishing various types of potential energy.

Students will apply the concept of power as the rate of doing work, utilizing formulas such as P = W/t and P = Fv.

Students will describe examples of energy conversion, apply this concept to Caribbean situations, and discuss mechanisms for efficient energy use.

This chapter focuses on using the fundamental equations of simple harmonic motion to solve various physics problems.

This chapter describes the necessary conditions for simple harmonic motion and graphically represents changes in displacement, velocity, and acceleration over time.

Students will use formulae to calculate the period of simple pendulums and mass-spring systems, including springs in series and parallel configurations.

This chapter describes the interchange between kinetic and potential energies in oscillating systems and calculates the total energy of a body undergoing SHM.

This chapter describes examples of forced oscillations and resonance, using graphs to illustrate amplitude effects and discussing desirable versus undesirable resonance.

This chapter describes damped oscillations, represents their motion graphically, explains the importance of critical damping, and provides real-life examples of damping.

Students will learn how physical properties are used to measure temperature, including linear and non-linear variations, calibration techniques, and the empirical scale.

Students will describe features, advantages, and disadvantages of various thermometers and identify their appropriate applications based on specific needs.

Students will recall the absolute thermodynamic temperature scale, understand absolute zero and the triple point of water, and perform conversions between Celsius and Kelvin.

Students will define internal energy as the sum of molecular kinetic and potential energies and relate temperature changes to internal energy changes.

Students will explain heat capacity and specific heat capacity, and describe experimental methods for their determination in liquids and metals.

Students will apply equations for charge transfer and current flow, defining the Coulomb and understanding its relation to electron charge.

This subtopic defines potential difference and the volt, using V=W/Q and power equations P=IV, P=I²R, P=V²/R to solve problems.

Students will apply Ohm's Law, define resistivity, and use R = ρL/A to determine resistance and resistivity.

Students will distinguish between e.m.f. and p.d. using energy considerations and solve problems involving terminal p.d. and internal resistance.

Students will explain and apply the concept of drift velocity and the equation I = nqvA for charge carriers in various materials.

Students will compare Ohmic and non-Ohmic devices using I-V graphs and explain characteristics based on resistance variation.