wAEC

Physics
syllabus
A comprehensive Guide to acing your
WASSCE examinations with ease

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Standard

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Syllabu
Recommended Text
WAEC Grading System

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

About Us..................................................................................Page 3
Chapter One
Marking Guides........................................................................Page 5
Chapter Two
Syllabus...................................................................................Page 7
Chapter Three
Recommended Textbooks........................................................Page 11
Chapter Four
WAEC Grading System.............................................................Page 12
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 Chapter One
Aims & Objectives

About

The WAEC Physics syllabus is a must-read for anyone writing Physics in the upcoming
WAEC examinations.

Having a well detailed Physics syllabus is necessary for your exam preparation as it

will serve as a guide for you so you know the topics to focus on for your exams

You should see this syllabus as a form of expo because this is WAEC letting you

know the topics you need to know before your examination

The exam will have a total of 3 papers; Papers 1 and 2 which are the Objective and

Theory sections will be taken in one day and paper 3 which is the practical section

will be taken alone on a separate day. It is often said that once you do well in your

practical exam, your result will be good but we would advise you to aim to score well

in all 3 papers.

Marking Guides & Sections

There will be three papers, Papers 1, 2, and 3, all of which must be taken.

Papers 1 and 2 will be taken in one sitting.

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___________________________________________________________________ Aims & Objectives

Paper 1

Will consist of fifty multiple-choice questions and will last for 1 hour and 15 minutes
and carry 50 marks.

Paper 2

Will consist of two sections, Sections A and B lasting 1 hour 30 minutes and carrying
60 marks.

•Section A

Will comprise seven short-structured questions and you will be required to answer
any five questions for a total of 15 marks.

•Section B

Will comprise five essay questions out of which you will be required to answer any
three for 45 marks.

Paper 3

Will be a practical test for school candidates or an alternative to a practical work

paper for private candidates

Each version of the paper will comprise three questions out of which candidates
will be required to answer any two in 2 hours 30 minutes for 50 marks.

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 Chapter Two

WAEC PHYSICS SYLLABUS

SN TOPICS OBJECTIVES
PART 1: INTERACTION OF MATTER, SPACE & TIME
1 CONCEPT OF MATTER
2 FUNDAMENTAL & DERIVED QUANTITIES i. Fundamental quantities and units
& UNITS
ii. Derived quantities and units
3 POSITION, DISTANCE & DISPLACEMENT i. Concept of position as a location of
point-rectangular coordinates.

ii. Measurement of distance

iii. Concept of direction as a way of

locating a point–bearing

iv. The distinction between distance and

displacement
4 MASS & WEIGHT i. The distinction between mass and
weight
5 TIME i. Concept of time as an interval
between physical events

ii. Measurement of time

6 FLUID AT REST i. Volume, density and relative density

ii. Pressure in fluids

iii. Equilibrium of bodies

iv. Archimedes’ principle

v. Law of flotation

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7 MOTION i. Types of motion: Random, rectilinear,
translational, Rotational, circular,
orbital, spin, Oscillatory.

ii. Relative motion

iii. Cause of motion

iv. Types of force:

a) Contact force
b) Non-contact force(field force)

v. Solid friction

vi. Viscosity (friction in fluids)

vii. Simple ideas of circular motion

8 SPEED & VELOCITY i. Concept of speed as a change of
distance with time

ii. Concept of velocity as a change of

displacement with time

iii. Uniform/non-uniform speed/velocity

iv. Distance/displacement-time graph

9 RECTILINEAR ACCELERATION i. Concept of Acceleration/deceleration
as increase/decrease in velocity with
time.

ii. Uniform/non-uniform acceleration

iii. Velocity-time graph

iv. Equations of motion with constant

acceleration; Motion under gravity is a
special case.

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10 SCALARS & VECTORS i. Concept of scalars as physical
quantities with magnitude and no
direction

ii. Concept of vectors as physical

quantities with both magnitude and
direction.

iii. Vector representation

iv. Addition of vectors

v. Resolution of vectors

vi. Resultant velocity using vector

representation.
11 EQUILIBRIUM OF FORCES i. Principle of moments

ii. Conditions for the equilibrium of rigid

bodies under the action of parallel and
non-parallel forces.

iii. Centre of gravity and stability

12 SIMPLE HARMONIC MOTION i. Illustration, explanation and definition
of simple harmonic motion (S.H.M)

ii. Speed and acceleration of S.H.M.

iii. Period, frequency and amplitude of a

body executing S.H.M.

iv. Energy of S.H.M

v. Forced vibration and resonance

13 NEWTON'S LAWS OF MOTION i. First Law: Inertia of rest and inertia of
motion

ii. Second Law: Force, acceleration,

momentum and impulse

iii. Third Law: Action and reaction

PART II: ENERGY: MECHANICAL & HEAT
14 ENERGY i. Forms of energy

ii. World energy resources

iii. Conservation of energy.

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15 WORK, ENERGY & POWER i. Concept of work as a measure of
energy transfer

ii. Concept of energy as the capability to

do work

iii. Work done in a gravitational field.

iv. Types of mechanical energy

a) Potential energy (P.E.)
b) Kinetic energy (K.E)

v. Conservation of mechanical energy.

vii. Concept of power as the time rate of

doing work.

viii. Application of mechanical energy

machines.

ix. Levers, pulleys, inclined plane,

wedge, screw, wheel and axle, gears.

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16 HEAT ENERGY i. Temperature and its measurement

ii. Effects of heat on matter e.g

a) Rise in temperature
b) Change of phase state
c) Expansion

iii. Change of resistance

iv. Thermal expansion – Linear, area and

volume expansivities

v. Heat transfer Condition, convention

and radiation.

vi. The gas laws-Boyle’s law Charles’

law, pressure law and general gas law

vii. Measurement of heat energy:

Concept of heat capacity
Specific heat capacity.

viii. Latent heat

a) Concept of latent heat
b) Melting point and boiling Point
c) Specific latent heat of fusion and
vaporization

ix. Evaporation and boiling

x. Vapour and vapour pressure

xi. Humidity, relative humidity and dew

point

xii. Humidity and the weather

PART III: WAVES

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17 PRODUCTION & PROPAGATION OF
WAVES
18 TYPES OF WAVES
19 PROPERTIES OF WAVES
20 LIGHT WAVES
21 ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES
i. Production and propagation of
mechanical waves
ii. Pulsating system: Energy transmitted
with definite speed, frequency and
wavelength.
iii. Waveform
iv. Mathematical relationship connecting
frequency (f), wavelength(?), period (T)
and velocity (v)
i. Transverse and longitudinal
Mathematical representation of wave
motion.
Reflection, refraction, diffraction,
Interference, superposition of
progressive waves producing standing
stationary waves
i. Sources of light
ii. Rectilinear propagation of light
iii. Reflection of light at plane surface:
plane mirror
iv. Reflection of light at curved surfaces:
concave and convex mirrors
v. Refraction of light at plane surfaces:
rectangular glass prism (block) and
triangular prism.
vi. Refraction of light at curved surfaces:
Converging and diverging lenses
vii. Application of lenses in optical
instruments.
viii. Dispersion of white light by a
triangular glass prism.
i. Types of radiation in electromagnetic
Spectrum
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22 SOUND WAVES i. Sources of sound

ii. Transmission of sound waves

iii. Speed of sound in solid, liquid and air

iv. Echoes and reverberation

v. Noise and music

vi. Characteristics of sound

vii. Vibration in strings

viii. Forced vibration

a) Resonance
b) Harmonies and overtones

ix. Vibration of air in pipe – opennand

closed pipes
PART IV: FIELDS
23 DESCRIPTION PROPERTY OF FIELDS i. Concept of fields: Gravitational,
electric and Magnetic

ii. Properties of a force field

24 GRAVITATIONAL FIELD i. Acceleration due to gravity, (g)

ii. Gravitational force between two

masses: Newton’s law of gravitation

iii. Gravitational potential and escape

velocity.
25 ELECTRIC FIELD i. Electrostatics
a) Production of electric charges
b)Types of distribution of charges
c) Storage of charges
d) Electric lines of force
e) Electric force between point charges:
f) Coulomb’s law
g) Concepts of electric field, electric
field intensity (potential gradient) and
electric potential.

ii. Capacitance: Definition, arrangement

and application

13
26 CURRENT ELECTRICITY i. Production of electric current from
primary and secondary cells

ii. Potential difference and electric

current

iii. Electric circuit

iv. Electric conduction through materials

v. Electric energy and power

vi. Shunt and multiplier

vii. Resistivity and Conductivity

viii. Measurement of electric current,

potential difference, resistance, e.m.f.
and internal resistance of a cell.
27 MAGNETIC FIELD i. Properties of magnets and magnetic
materials.

ii. Magnetization and demagnetization.

Concept of magnetic field

iii. Magnetic force on:

a) a current-carrying conductor placed
in a magnetic field;
b) between two parallel current-carrying
conductors.

iv. Use of electromagnets

v. The earth’s magnetic field

vi. Magnetic force on a moving charged

particle
28 ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD i. Concept of electromagnetic field

ii. Shunt and multiplier

iii. Resistivity and Conductivity

iv. Measurement of electric current,

potential difference, resistance, e.m.f.
and internal resistance of a cell.

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29 ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD(II) i. Concept of electromagnetic field

ii. Electromagnetic induction

iii. Faraday’s law ,Lenz’s law and motor-

generator effect

iv. Inductance

v. Eddy currents

vi. Power transmission and distribution

30 SIMPLE A.C. CIRCUITS i. Graphical representation of e.m.f and
current in an a.c. circult.

ii. Peak and r..m.s. values

iii. Series circuit containing resistor,

inductor and capacitor

iv. Reactance and impedance

v. Vector diagrams

vi. Resonance in an a.c, circuit

vii. Power in an a.c. circuit

PART V: ATOMIC & NUCLEAR PHYSICS
31 STRUCTURE OF AN ATOM i. Models of the atom

ii. Energy quantization

iii. Photoelectric effect

iv. Thermionic emission

v. X-rays
32 STRUCTURE OF THE NUCLEUS i. Composition of the nucleus

ii. Radioactivity – Natural and artificial

iii. Nuclear reactions – Fusion and

Fission
33 WAVE-PARTICLE PARADOX i. Electron diffraction

ii. Duality of matter

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Be ahead of your peers when you
download this approved WAEC Physics
syllabus

16
 Chapter Three
Recommended Textbooks

Ike, E. E (2014) Essential Principles of Physics, Jos ENIC Publishers.

Ike, E. E (2014) Numerical Problems and Solutions in Physics, Jos, ENIC Pub-
lishers.

Nelson, M (1977) Fundamentals of Physics, Great Britain: Hart Davis Educa-

tion.

Nelson, M and Parker … (1989) Advanced Level Physics (Sixth Edition), Heine-
mann.

Okeke, P. N and Anyakoha, M. W (2000) Senior Secondary School Physics, La-

gos, Pacific Printers.

Olumuyionwa A. and Ogunkoya O. O (1992) Comprehensive Certificate

Physics, Ibadan: University Press Plc.

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 Chapter Four
WAEC Grading System
Having a good grade is very important in every exam especially one like WAEC which
will determine your admission status in higher institutions. Below is a table showing
how WAEC grades you depending on your score

  

75-100 A1 Excellent

70-74 B2 Very Good

65-69 B3 Good

60-64 C4 Credit

55-59 C5 Credit

50-54 C6 Credit

45-49 D7 Pass

40-44 E8 Pass

39 and below F9 Fail

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________________________________________________________________ WAEC Grading System

It is very important to score at least 50% which will give you a C6 in the 4 compul-
sory subjects as well as your core subjects or you could have problems getting admis-
sion and may have to re-write the exams.

For example, if you want to study Medicine and Surgery, you should try hard to score
high in Mathematics, English, Civic Education, and the trade subject you are writing
and your core subjects which are: Physics, Biology, and Chemistry

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