Are You Ready for the Year 9 Physics Syllabus? A Full Guide

In Year 9 Science, you’ll be introduced to Physics – the study of the fundamental laws of the world. The Year 9 Physics syllabus focuses on how energy works in everyday life, including in light, sound, heat, motion, and electricity!

Table of contents:

• Year 9 Physics syllabus: Energy
• Year 9 Physics syllabus: The role of potential energy
• Year 9 Physics syllabus: Electricity
• Year 9 Physics Syllabus: Building circuits
  • Ohm’s law and circuit calculations
  • How series and parallel circuits work
  • Measuring electricity
• Year 9 Physics syllabus: Energy in the real world
• Year 9 Physics syllabus: Climate change

This article is part of our Year 9 Science Syllabus Series. Check out the other articles in the series: Year 9 Chemistry Syllabus and Year 9 Biology Syllabus.

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Year 9 Physics syllabus: Energy

One of the most important things to learn is the Law of Conservation of Energy:

Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can only be transferred from one thing to another, or transformed from one type to another.

This means energy is never lost – It just changes form. If we track the amount of energy contained by every object in a system (a group of things that interact), we find that the total amount of energy never changes.

This isn’t always the most intuitive idea. For example, if you light a piece of wood on fire you can make light and heat that wasn’t there before. Doesn’t this mean you’ve created energy?

Well, no. The energy already had to exist, stored inside the wood. You just found a way to release it in a different form!

Energy can be measured in Joules, calories and kilowatt hours.

So, are you ready to:

• Memorise the Law of Conservation of Energy?
• Measure energy in appropriate units?
• Use the Law of Conservation of Energy to explain where energy ‘comes from’?

Year 9 Physics syllabus: The role of potential energy

Energy never appears out of nowhere – it’s just stored in different forms. This stored energy is called potential energy. It stays inside objects until something causes it to be released.

Chemical potential energy: Stored inside chemicals through chemical reactions such as photosynthesis. It can be released easily through combustion (in fuels like wood or petrol) or digestion (in food). Batteries are also storage devices for chemical potential energy.

Gravitational potential energy: Any object with mass has gravitational potential energy when it is within a gravitational field. Whenever an object is released from a height, this energy turns into motion (kinetic energy).

So, are you ready to:

• Define potential energy?
• Name several different types of energy?
• Explain the transformations to and from different types of energy?

Year 9 Phyics Curriculum: Electricity

One of the most important types of energy for our modern world is electricity.

Electricity is the energy created when tiny particles called electrons move through a wire. This movement is called an electric current.

The rule for charges:

• Unlike charges (positive with negative) attract
• Like charges (positive with positive or negative with negative) repel.

Because electrons have a negative charge, they naturally move away from the negative side of a battery and towards the positive side. This flow of electrons is what creates electricity!

The properties of an electric circuit can be measured in many ways:

• Current (Ams, A): How much charge flows through the circuit per second.
• Voltage (Volts, V): The amount of energy gained or used by the electrons as they flow around the circuit.
• Resistance (Ohms, Ω): How difficult it is for electrons to flow through a circuit.

So, are you ready to:

• Explain the relationship between electricity, electrons and charge?
• Define the different aspects of electricity?
• Use the correct units for the correct quantity?

Building circuits in Year 9 Science

In Year 9 Science, you will build electrical circuits in the lab and through virtual simulations. You’ll learn the rules that must be followed to build a successful circuit, like how wires must make a complete loop.

When you start adding devices to your circuit, you’ll learn that you can connect them in different ways:

• Series circuit: Devices are connected in a single line, meaning that the electricity will flow through each device in turn.
• Parallel circuit: Devices are on different branches, so the electric current splits down multiple paths.

Electricians, engineers, and physicists use the different properties of these circuits to pick the best one for any given situation.

So, are you ready to:

• Build safe and functional circuits?
• Identify and explain the difference between series and parallel circuits?
• Understand which one to build to suit your needs?

Ohm’s law and circuit calculations

After you’ve built the circuits, you’ll start investigating the properties by applying certain maths formulas.

One important formula is Ohm’s Law:

The voltage drop across a device (V) can be calculated by multiplying the current through the device (I) with the resistance of the device (R).

V=IR

Voltage = Current x Resistance

This formula helps you calculate how much energy (voltage) is lost as electricity moves through a circuit.

How Series and Parallel Circuits Work

Series circuit: The current (I) is the same everywhere, but the voltage (V) is shared across the devices, equalling the voltage of the power supply.

So if we measured the current in three different places (I1, I2, and I3) and measured the voltage across three different light bulbs that were in the circuit (V1, V2, and V3) we would find the following relationships.

Itotal = I1 = I2 = I3

Vtotal = V1 + V2 + V3

Parallel circuit, the rules are the opposite. They have the exact same voltage in each branch, while the different currents add up to give the total!

Itotal = I1 + I2 + I3

Vtotal = V1 = V2 = V3

Measuring Electricity

To check your circuits, you’ll use special tools:

• Ammeter: Measures current (I).
• Voltmeter: Measures voltage (V).

These tools must be connected correctly to get accurate results and avoid damaging them.

Note: Not every circuit you see in Year 9 Science will be real. Circuit diagrams are simplified representations of circuits that you will need to learn to draw and interpret.

So, are you ready to:

• Perform calculations using Ohm’s Law?
• Use current and voltage relationships to solve problems for series and parallel circuits?
• Correctly use an ammeter and voltmeter?
• Draw and interpret circuit diagrams?

Year 9 Physics syllabus: Energy in the Real World

Energy needs to come from somewhere. In Year 9 Science, you’ll learn about the sources used to generate electricity. These include non-renewable sources like fossil fuels and renewable sources like wind and solar. Each has positive and negative aspects.

The Year 9 Physics syllabus encourages you to think about how energy choices affect our world.

The rate at which a device uses energy is known as Power. In electrical devices, power is calculated using voltage and current. The units for power are joules per second (J/s), Watts (W) or kilowatts (kW).

P = VI

Over the last few decades, manufacturers have tried to build common household appliances like fridges, air conditioners and TVs that use less energy.

To help people choose wisely, the government created the star rating system. More stars mean the device uses less energy.You’ll learn to compare the cost of an efficient device with the money saved on electricity bills.

So, are you ready to:

• Explain how electrical energy is generated?
• Reflect on the choice between renewable and non-renewable sources?
• Make calculations involving power, time, energy, voltage and current?
• Calculate costs for household uses of electricity?

Year 9 Physics syllabus: Climate change

The reason we have increased the amount of greenhouse gases so much over the last 200 years is because we keep burning fossil fuels for energy. This releases gases like carbon dioxide, which traps heat in our atmosphere.

To understand this, you need to learn about heat transfer from the sun to the ground, to our atmosphere via:

• Conduction: Heat moves through solids.
• Convection: Heat moves through liquids and gases.
• Radiation: Heat moves through empty space.

You’ll see how heat energy is transformed in our atmosphere and is responsible for various extreme weather events such as hurricanes and droughts.

So, are you ready to:

• Explain the causes of climate change?
• Relate the effect of climate change to energy in our atmosphere?

Conclusion

The Year 9 Physics syllabus in Science allows you to flex your mathematical and experimental skills. The concepts you learn this year are crucial building blocks for your future studies:

• In Year 10 Science, you’ll study Newton’s Laws and how forces are involved in transforming one type of energy into another.
• In Year 11 Physics, you’ll learn about energy waves and solve problems with more complex electrical circuits.
• In Year 12 Physics, you’ll learn the quantum nature of light and matter, unlock the process for annihilating matter in nuclear explosions, and help us explain the age and shape of the universe itself!

Now, test your skills and get ready for Year 9 Phsyics!

Get ahead in Year 9 Science!

Your first step into Year 9 Phsyics—test your knowledge with these practice questions

Download now

Get ahead in Year 9 Science!

Fill out your details below to get this resource emailed to you.

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First Name*

Last Name*

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Grade in 2025*

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