Sound Waves

How sound is produced and what gives it pitch, loudness and quality; the speed of sound in solids, liquids and gases; reflection, refraction, diffraction and interference of sound; stationary waves and harmonics in strings and pipes, with the resonance-tube measurement of the speed of sound; beats; the Doppler effect; sound intensity and the decibel scale; and the uses of sound and ultrasound.

2

Rotational Motion

The mechanics of rotating bodies: angular displacement, velocity and acceleration and the equations for constant angular acceleration; torque and rotational equilibrium; moment of inertia for common shapes, the parallel-axis theorem and Newton's second law for rotation; work, power and rotational kinetic energy, flywheels and objects rolling down an incline; angular momentum and its conservation, with applications in gears, machines, sport, turbines and generators.

3

Electromagnetic Induction

How a changing magnetic flux induces an emf: Faraday's experiments, magnetic flux and flux linkage, and Faraday's law; Lenz's law and the conservation of energy; motional emf; generators and transformers, and how Rwanda's grid carries power at high voltage; self-inductance, mutual inductance and the energy stored in a magnetic field; and eddy currents and their uses.

4

Alternating Current

How alternating current behaves: sinusoidal quantities, phasors, and peak, mean and rms values; resistors, inductors and capacitors in AC circuits, with reactance and phase; series RL, RC, LC and RLC circuits, impedance and resonance; and power in AC circuits, the power factor, and how AC serves Rwanda's grid, motors and radio.

5

Atomic Nuclei and Radioactive Decay

The nucleus and its energy: nuclides, nuclear size and density, the unified atomic mass unit, the electronvolt and E = mc²; mass defect, binding energy and nuclear stability; alpha, beta and gamma decay, with balanced nuclear equations and how radiation is detected; the decay law and half-life; and fission, fusion, the uses of radioactivity and how to handle radiation safely.

6

Nature of Particles and Their Interactions

What matter is made of at the smallest scale: leptons, quarks and the hadrons built from them; antiparticles, pair production and annihilation; the four fundamental interactions and their exchange particles, with Feynman diagrams; the conservation laws that decide which reactions and decays can happen; and the accelerators and detectors behind the Standard Model, with its uses in medicine and technology.

7

X-Rays and Laser Radiations

Two kinds of radiation made by electrons in atoms: X-rays, their nature, production in an X-ray tube and properties, the continuous and characteristic X-ray spectrum and the Duane–Hunt limit; and lasers, from stimulated emission and population inversion to the special properties of laser light; with the uses and dangers of both, and how they compare.

8

Radiation and Medical Imaging

How ionising and non-ionising radiation interact with the body and how they are measured and controlled: attenuation, absorbed, equivalent and effective dose, effective half-life and the ALARA principle; and how medicine uses them to see inside the body and to treat it: ultrasound, X-ray CT, endoscopy, MRI, nuclear medicine (gamma camera and PET) and radiation therapy.

9

Introduction to Electronics

How semiconductors work and what is built from them: energy bands, intrinsic and extrinsic (n- and p-type) semiconductors, the p–n junction diode, Zener diodes and LEDs, half-wave and full-wave rectifiers with smoothing, the bipolar junction transistor as a switch and as an amplifier, and integrated circuits with the basic logic gates and their truth tables.

10

Cosmology, Galaxies and Expansion of the Universe

The large-scale universe and the stars in it: astronomical distances, the Milky Way, the types and clusters of galaxies and the evidence for dark matter; the radiation of the Sun and stars, brightness, magnitude and spectral classes; parallax, standard candles and the masses of binary stars; stellar evolution and the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram; and the Big Bang: redshift, Hubble's law, the cosmic microwave background, the light-element abundances and the age of the universe.

Units

Sound Waves

Rotational Motion

Electromagnetic Induction

Alternating Current

Atomic Nuclei and Radioactive Decay

Nature of Particles and Their Interactions

X-Rays and Laser Radiations

Radiation and Medical Imaging

Introduction to Electronics

Cosmology, Galaxies and Expansion of the Universe

Units

Sound Waves

Rotational Motion

Electromagnetic Induction

Alternating Current

Atomic Nuclei and Radioactive Decay

Nature of Particles and Their Interactions

X-Rays and Laser Radiations

Radiation and Medical Imaging

Introduction to Electronics

Cosmology, Galaxies and Expansion of the Universe