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Who is the magazine for?
Physics Review is written specifically for A-level students, with articles that broaden their
understanding of physics, exploring how science works and its impact on everyday life. The magazine
is also an excellent classroom resource, ensuring teaching is student centred and building the skills
students need for higher education.
For students
For teachers
•Articles on key exam topics put physics in the context of
everyday life
•Keeps your teaching topical with articles discussing
the latest research
•Access to cutting-edge science develops an
understanding of the practical skills involved
•Additional online resources help to extend your
teaching of subjects in the magazine
•Looks beyond A-level to studying physics at university
and the diverse career paths it can offer
•Magazine centrespreads can be used as visual
resources to introduce or review topics in the classroom
What sort of content can you expect?
The editorial team, based at the University of York, commissions articles that are topical and relevant
but also encourage students to stretch their knowledge:
Understand important developments
Physics in context
Mastering maths
Improve practical, revision and exam skills
See the impact made by past discoveries and how the
techniques are used in science today, including the
century-old technique of X-ray crystallography and its use
in environmental science.
Regular column ‘Mathskit’ explores how maths is used
in physics, with tips and examples to help students
understand the hardest parts.
Articles focus on the key theories and principles of
physics, putting them into contexts students can grasp,
from how to walk a tightrope without falling off to
understanding analogue electronic circuits.
Teachers and examiners give advice on recording data,
revising key topics and answering exam questions,
illustrated with students’ answers.
For sample articles, additional study and teaching resources and 2014/2015
subscription details please go to www.hoddereducation.co.uk/physicsreview
d to understand and explain physics in an A-level context.
What does a subscription include?
Four magazines per year
September, November, February and April
Editorial board
University of York
Extra online resources at
www.hoddereducation.co.uk/physicsreviewextras
•Questions on key physics ideas linked to articles in the magazine
•Help and advice on how you can use Physics Review with the forthcoming
specifications
•A printable PDF of the centrespread to use as a classroom poster
Physics e-review
Elizabeth Swinbank (chair)
Yvette Hancock
Derek Jacobs
Ian Lovat (Ampleforth College)
Peter Main
Robin Millar
John Szymanski
Bernard Taylor (Bede Sixth Form College)
Carol Tear (Deputy chair)
Mary Whitehouse
Nigel Woolsey
A between-issues update, with a topical article and activities
review
review
review
March 2014
YOUR FREE PHYSICS REVIEW UPDATE
October 2013
December 2013
YOUR FREE PHYSICS REVIEW UPDATE
YOUR FREE PHYSICS REVIEW UPDATE
Fukushima
news?
Supernova SN2014J
Carol Tear recounts the recent discovery
of a supernova in M82, a galaxy in the
constellation Ursa Major. The supernova is
identified as SN2014J (J indicates it is the
tenth discovered this year)
O
n the evening of 21 January, University College
London students Ben Cooke, Tom Wright,
Matthew Wilde and Guy Pollack had a practical
astronomy class at the teaching observatory with their
tutor Stephen Fossey. The clouds were closing in, so the
students chose M82 to look at because it was in an area
of clear sky. As Fossey adjusted the telescope he noticed
a star he did not remember seeing before. They checked
archive photos online and realised it was a new star-
(Above) Remnants of a Type Ia supernova.
Observed by Chinese astronomers in 185 ce, it
is thought to be the earliest recorded supernova
like object, so they quickly began taking photographs
before the clouds closed in completely. They had just
20 minutes to confirm that it was real.
When astronomers looked back at images collected
automatically by telescopes over the previous days,
nothing was visible until 14 January. That was the day
the supernova first appeared, but it was a week before
anyone noticed it. It peaked in brightness in the first
week of February.
What caused the supernova?
SN2014J is a Type Ia supernova, which are thought to be
caused by the explosion of a white dwarf star in a binary
Next page
MAKSYM YEMELYANOV/FOTOLIA
Typhoon Haiyan
PHOTOBANK/FOTOLIA
Why is
back in the
XMM-NEWTON, CHANDRA, WISE, SPITZER
Reducing the impact of destructive storms
Carol Tear looks at the physics of tropical
cyclones and how we can reduce damage
and save lives
T
yphoon Haiyan made landfall at Tacloban in the
Philippines on 8 November 2013. The central
low pressure was 89.5 kPa and the maximum
sustained wind speed reached 230 km h–1. It made
landfall in Vietnam 2 days later.
Hurricane, typhoon or cyclone?
A tropical cyclone is a low-pressure weather system
that occurs over tropical or subtropical seas, where the
low-level winds circulate anticlockwise in the northern
hemisphere and clockwise in the southern hemisphere.
Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones are all tropical
cyclones with sustained winds exceeding 118 km h–1,
but different names are used in different parts of the
world. Those affecting the USA, the Caribbean and
Mexico are called hurricanes, while in Bangladesh,
India and Australia they are known as cyclones.
Typhoons form in the western Pacific Ocean
between longitudes 100°E and 180°, so they affect
Japan, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. If the
maximum winds exceed 241 km h–1 it is called a super
typhoon.
Storm formation
As the Sun heats the Earth, convection currents are set
up. Hot air expands, becomes less dense and rises. As
the air rises, it cools and the water vapour in the air
condenses, forming clouds. The condensing vapour
transfers energy to the movement of the air and water.
The atmospheric pressure is reduced, so these are areas
of low pressure. If the wind does not vary much with
height, then the rising warm, moist air causes very large
vertical storm clouds to form. In the tropics, during
the time of year when the surface ocean temperature
rises to 27°C or more, there is enough energy to create
tropical cyclones.
Miles away, the cool air falls, creating areas of high
pressure. If the surface of the Earth was stationary, the
wind would blow from areas of high pressure to areas
Carol Tear examines reports of radioactive
water leaks at the site of the Fukushima
nuclear disaster
T
he Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is back
in the news, over 2 years since the disaster there.
Highly radioactive water has been detected at the
site — on 5 September 2013 the Tokyo Electric Power
Company (TEPCO) measured a radiation level of 2200
millisieverts close to a tank containing contaminated
water.
The millisievert (mSv) is a unit of radiation dose
that takes into account the effect of the ionising
radiation on the body. For example, an alpha particle
source with the same activity in bequerels (see below)
as a beta particle source will give a dose in millisieverts
that is 20 times higher than the beta source, because
alpha particles are more ionising than beta particles. A
1000 mSv dose is associated with a 5.5% risk of cancer
developing later in life. Exposure to doses greater than
Layout of the Fukushima nuclear plant
this over a few hours can cause radiation poisoning
and death.
Since the disaster, scientists have been monitoring
the levels of radioactivity in the Pacific Ocean’s water
and sea life. TEPCO estimates that the tritium that
has leaked into the ocean has resulted in an activity of
between 20 × 1012 becquerels and 40 × 1012 becquerels.
The becquerel (Bq) is the unit of activity of a radioactive
source, equating to one nuclear decay per second.
You can read a full analysis of the original disaster
in ‘Physics in the news: The Japanese nuclear crisis’,
which has been republished at www.hoddereducation.
co.uk/physicsreviewextras
Radioactive isotopes
The Japanese government estimates that about 300
tonnes of radioactive water are still leaking into the
ocean every day. Table 1 summarises the properties
of the radioactive isotopes that are of most concern
around Fukushima.
Next page
Next page
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