Preface

Changes in the new edition This new edition is a result of changes made to the SACE Stage 2 Physics Curriculum Statement that have been made since the introduction of the new syllabus in 1999. This new edition incorporates the following changes. Necessary amendment of the content to bring it into line with the syllabus changes. Increase in the font size, to make the text more readable. Spreading out the layout to break up large blocks of text, to make it easier to read. Preface This book is not a general physics textbook. It does not cover many important, interesting and exciting aspects of physics. Its focus is strictly on the content of the SACE Stage 2 Physics course. Our original intent was to update the Physics Essentials student workbooks, which many students and teachers have found useful over the last few years. However as we started the update, like Topsy “it just growed” into what you have before you. The intent of this book is to provide students with something, which is more than just a set of revision or teaching notes. The material covers specifically all the content of the new Stage 2 syllabus and we have resisted the temptation to stray far beyond the syllabus. We have done this with some minor exceptions which we felt were necessary to include to aid student understanding of a topic (e.g. the magnetic field of a bar magnet). Any material that we felt was particularly relevant, but not strictly within the syllabus, has been included in appendices. The book has been written in an explanatory, developmental style and we have tried to link concepts together as much as possible. We believe that most students should be able to read and understand the bulk of this material. A companion workbook is available. This contains much briefer notes on the syllabus which are not suitable for learning purposes but which are designed to be appropriate for student revision. The workbook also contains full solutions to its exercises.