Refraction and total internal reflection
A light ray bends when it passes into glass or water. At a shallow angle it cannot get out at all: total internal reflection, as in an optical fibre.
Physics – grade 10
In Saxony-Anhalt, grade 10 is the introductory phase of upper secondary (Abitur after grade 12). Units are the curriculum’s focal points; it does not number them, the numbers are our own.
Unit 1Geometrical optics
Speed of light, reflection, the law of refraction quantitatively, total internal reflection and optical fibres, the lens equation for converging lenses and the telescope.
Lenses and image formation
Move a candle in front of a lens and construct the image with three special rays. It becomes sharp on the screen.
Unit 2Radioactivity and nuclear energy
Structure of the nucleus, types of radiation, activity, half-life and the decay law, decay as a random process, radiation protection, nuclear fission or fusion.
Radioactive decay and half-life
Many nuclei decay at random and a Geiger counter clicks. Even so, after each half-life almost exactly half are left.
Unit 3Gravitation
Gravitational field and the law of gravitation, Kepler’s laws, orbits of satellites and planets, the first cosmic velocity.
Planetary orbits and Kepler’s laws
Too fast and the planet flies off, never to return. A little slower and it traces an ellipse around the Sun, exactly as Kepler's laws say.
Unit 4Climate physics
The electromagnetic spectrum, Earth’s radiation budget, albedo, the Stefan–Boltzmann law, the natural and the man-made greenhouse effect.
No separate simulation is planned for this.
Unit 5Experimental practical
Planning, carrying out and evaluating experiments independently, with attention to measurement errors and generalising to laws.
No separate simulation is planned for this.
The summaries describe the curriculum in our own words. The original text is authoritative. Original text (German): Fachlehrplan, Gymnasium, Physics, grade 10