Year 7 Science

EOY Exam

Revision Booklet
Physics
Forces
Forces are pushes or pulls. Forces can:
● change the shape or size of an object
● change the speed things are moving (make them move faster or slower)
● change the direction of a moving object.
The unit for measuring force is the newton (N).
Friction is a force caused by two things rubbing together. Air resistance and water
resistance are kinds of friction.
Solid things, like your chair, push up on you when you sit on them. Upwards forces from
water or air are called upthrust. Things float in water because of upthrust.
Contact forces only act when two objects or Some forces can have an effect without objects
materials are touching. Examples of contact forces touching. They are called non-contact forces. There
are: are three non-contact forces:
● friction ● magnetism
● air resistance ● gravity
● water resistance ● static electricity.
● upthrust.

Weight and mass

Your mass is the amount of substance in your body. Your mass is measured in kilograms
(kg). Your weight is a force caused by gravity pulling on your body. The newton (N) is the
scientific unit used to measure forces, and so it is also used as the unit for weight.
Wherever you take an object, its mass will not change but its weight depends on the force of
gravity. An object on the Moon would have a smaller weight than on Earth, because the
Moon’s gravity is not as strong as Earth’s.

Measuring forces
Elastic materials will stretch with a force and then return to
their original shape when the force is taken away. Springs are
elastic. The extension of a spring is the difference between its
original length and its stretched length.
The extension of a spring is proportional to the force on it.
This is called Hooke's Law.
If the spring is stretched too far, the extension stops being
proportional to the force. If it is stretched even further, it goes
beyond its elastic limit. The spring will no longer return to its
original length when the force is removed.
Force meters have springs inside them.
Materials like Plasticine® will stretch with a force but they will
not return to their original shape afterwards. Plasticine ® is a
plastic material.
Friction
Friction is a contact force. Friction can:
● slow things down ● produce heat
● wear things away ● cause a noise.

Friction can be increased by using rough surfaces, or by using materials such as rubber that
have a lot of friction.
Friction can be reduced by using smooth surfaces, or by lubrication. Oil and grease are
examples of lubricants, and help things to move past each other easily.

Pressure
Pressure is the amount of force pushing on a certain area.
For a certain area, the bigger the force, the bigger the pressure. For a certain force, the
bigger the area, the smaller the pressure.

Sharp knife – a small area giving a large pressure. Snow shoes – a large area giving a small pressure.
We can work out the pressure under an object using this formula:
pressure = force ÷ area

Balanced and unbalanced forces

Balanced forces are forces on an object that are the same size but work in opposite
directions. If forces are balanced:
● a stationary object stays stationary
● a moving object continues to move at the same speed and in the same direction.
If there are unbalanced forces on an object:
● a stationary object will start to move
● a moving object will change its speed or direction.

Balanced forces – the motorbike will continue to

Unbalanced forces – the motorbike will speed up. move at a steady speed.
A car or motorbike uses the energy stored in fuel to move at a steady speed because it
needs a force from the engine to balance the forces of air resistance and friction.

Earth and space

The Solar System
We live on a planet called the Earth. The Earth gets
energy from the Sun. The Earth spins on its axis once
every 24 hours. The side of the Earth facing the Sun
has daylight, and it is night on the side facing away
from the Sun.
The Earth orbits around the Sun. It takes one year to
go around once.
The Moon is a satellite of the Earth. We can see the
Moon because it reflects light from the Sun. The Moon
seems to change shape. The different shapes are
called phases of the Moon. The phases happen
because we cannot always see all of the part that is lit
by the Sun.
There are eight planets in elliptical (oval-shaped)
orbits around the Sun. Most of the planets have
moons orbiting around them. The Sun, the planets
and their moons make up the Solar System.
The eight planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Our current model of the Solar System

The Earth’s axis is tilted. When the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun it is
summer in the UK. Days are longer than nights, and the Sun is higher in the sky. The Sun’s
rays are more concentrated, so it feels hotter.

Magnets and magnetic fields

Magnets attract magnetic materials. The two ends of a bar magnet are called the north-
seeking pole and the south-seeking pole, or north pole and south pole for short. A north
pole and a south pole attract each other. Two north poles or two south poles repel each
other.
The space around a magnet where it
has an effect is called its magnetic
field. You can find the shape of the
magnetic field using iron filings or
using a plotting compass.
The Earth has a magnetic field. A
compass is a small magnet that will
point towards the Earth’s North Pole.
But magnetic materials placed near
a compass can change the direction
that the compass points towards. This is the shape of the magnetic field of a bar magnet.

Gravity and gravitational fields

The mass of something is the amount of substance or ‘matter’ it contains. It is measured in
kilograms (kg). Weight is the force of gravity pulling on a mass. It is a force, so it is
measured in newtons (N).
Gravity is the force of attraction between two masses. The force of gravity is stronger if:
● the objects have large masses
● the objects are close together.
On Earth, gravity pulls on every kilogram of mass with a force of about 10 N.
Gravity is not as strong on the Moon because the Moon has a much smaller mass than the
Earth. If you went to the Moon your mass would not change, but your weight would be less
than on Earth because the Moon’s gravity is weaker.
You can calculate the weight of an object using this formula:
weight (N) = mass (kg) × gravitational field strength (N/kg)
The Sun’s gravity keeps all the planets in our Solar System moving in elliptical orbits around
it. If there was no gravity from the Sun, the planets would all fly off into space. The Earth’s
gravity keeps the Moon in orbit around the Earth.
A satellite is anything that orbits
around a planet. The Moon is the
only natural satellite of the
Earth. Artificial satellites are put
into orbit around the Earth or
other planets. They can be used
for taking pictures or transmitting
TV programmes.

Beyond the Solar System

Planets do not make their own light. We can sometimes see the planets because they reflect
light from the Sun.
The Sun is a star. It is a ball of gas that gives out large amounts of energy. The Sun is like
the stars you can see in the sky at night. The stars do not look very bright because they are
a lot further away than the Sun. People often group stars into patterns called constellations.
The Sun is one of millions of stars in our galaxy, which is called the Milky Way. There are
millions of galaxies in the Universe.
The stars are a very long way from Earth. Scientists measure distances to the stars using
light years. A light year is the distance that light can travel in one year.

Energy transfers
Energy and temperature
When we know the temperature of something, we know how hot it is, not how much
internal energy (thermal energy) is in it.
Temperature is measured in degrees Celsius (°C).
Internal (thermal) energy is measured in joules (J).
The amount of thermal energy stored in something depends on:
● how hot it is (its temperature)
● the material it is made from
● its mass.
When two objects are at different temperatures, energy will be transferred from the hotter
one to the cooler one until they are at the same temperature.

Transferring energy by heating

Energy can be transferred by heating in different ways.
Evaporation can take place from a liquid at any temperature. When part of a liquid
evaporates, it is the fastest-moving particles that escape to form a gas. The particles that are
left are storing less energy as movement and so the temperature of the remaining liquid is
lower.
Conduction takes place in solids and can also happen in liquids (although not very well).
The particles in a solid are held together tightly. When they gain energy they vibrate faster
and further, and the vibrations are passed on. Metals are the best conductors. Most other
solids are poor conductors.
Particles are not as close in a liquid, so conduction is not very good. Particles are a long way
apart in gases, so gases hardly conduct heat at all. Something that does not conduct heat
very well is a thermal insulator. Liquids, gases, and solids that contain a lot of trapped air are
insulators.
Convection takes place in fluids (liquids
and gases). When part of a fluid is heated,
the particles spread further apart and the
fluid becomes less dense. This makes it
rise. As it rises it meets cooler fluid and
passes the energy on. More cool fluid
moves in to replace the rising fluid, setting
up a convection current.
Infrared radiation can transfer energy through empty space and also through transparent
materials. Radiation does not require the movement of particles. Any hot or warm object
gives off or emits radiation. When something takes in energy from radi ation, it is said to
absorb it.
Infrared radiation is similar to light. It can be absorbed or reflected, and it can also be
focused.
Dark, dull surfaces are good emitters and absorbers of radiation. Light, shiny surfaces are
good at reflecting radiation. They are poor absorbers and emitters of radiation.

Efficiency
Not all energy is transferred usefully. Wasted energy is often transferred by heating.
The percentage of useful energy produced by something is known as its efficiency.
useful energy transferred
efficiency = × 100%
total energy supplied
The Sankey diagram shows the energy transfers in
a kettle. The width of each arrow shows the amount
of energy it represents. The energy stored in the
kettle and the surroundings is wasted energy.
1600 J
efficiency of kettle = × 100%
2000 J
= 80%

Energy transfers and stores

Energy can be transferred by:
● heating
● light
● sound
● electricity
● forces.
Energy can also be stored in different ways.

Energy stored in… Commonly called…

the chemicals in food, fuels and batteries chemical energy
moving objects kinetic energy
hot objects thermal energy
objects that are stretched, squashed or twisted strain energy or elastic potential energy
objects moved to high places gravitational potential energy
inside the particles that everything is made up from nuclear energy or atomic energy

Energy is not used up. It can be transferred and stored in different ways, but it cannot be
created or destroyed. This is called the law of conservation of energy.
Fuels
Fuels store energy, and this energy is transferred when the fuels burn. Burning fuels are
used to heat things.
Fossil fuels:
● are made from plants and animals that were trapped in mud and rocks millions of years
ago
● include coal, oil and natural gas
● are non-renewable (they take millions of years to form, and so our supplies will run out)
● produce gases that cause pollution and global warming when burnt
● are relatively cheap to obtain
● originally got their energy from the Sun. The plants that became coal, oil and natural gas
got their energy from the Sun, and the animals that became oil and natural gas got their
energy from plants, which got their energy from the Sun.
Nuclear fuel is also non-renewable. Nuclear power stations produce dangerous waste
materials.
Electricity is not a fuel. It has to be generated using other energy resources.

Making fossil fuels last longer

We can make fossil fuels last longer and help to reduce global warming by using less of
them. We could walk or cycle whenever we can, or use a bus instead of using a car. Walking
and cycling would make us fitter and healthier, and there would be less pollution if there
were not as many cars on the roads. We could also save energy by keeping our houses
cooler and putting on more clothes if we are cold instead of turning up the heating.

Renewable energy resources:

● include solar, wind, tidal, wave, biofuels, geothermal and hydroelectricity
● do not produce harmful gases or contribute to global warming
● are often more expensive than using fossil fuels
● will not run out
● are not always available.
Hydroelectricity, geothermal energy and biofuels are available at any time. Tidal power is not
available all the time, but we can predict when it will be available. Energy from solar, wind
and waves is only available some of the time.

Energy from the Sun

Most of the energy resources we use store energy that originally came from the Sun.
Only geothermal power, nuclear power and tidal power do not depend on energy from the
Sun.
How energy is transferred to our food:
How energy is stored in the wind and in waves:

The particle model

The particle model can explain the properties of solids, liquids and gases.

Solids Liquids Gases

Properties ● fixed volume ● fixed volume ● expand to fill
● fixed shape ● take shape of container
container ● take shape of
container

Particle
diagram

Particles ● are close together ● are close together ● are far apart
● are held in fixed ● are held by fairly ● are held by very
positions by strong strong forces weak forces
forces ● can move around ● can move around

Density
Density is the mass of a certain volume of something, and it can be calculated using this
formula:
mass
density =
volume
The units for density are g/cm3 or kg/m3.

Changes of state
Substances can change state when they are heated or cooled. The three states of matter
are solid, liquid and gas.
A liquid evaporates from its surface. When it is boiling, bubbles of gas form within the liquid.

The melting point and the freezing point of a substance are the same temperature. The
temperature of a substance does not change while it is melting, even if it is still being heated.

Changing density
Substances expand when they are heated. The particles in a solid vibrate more and take up
more space. The particles in liquids and gases move around faster and take up more space.
When a material expands its density decreases.
Substances contract when they cool down, as the particles have less energy and do not
move as much. This reduces the volume and increases the density. When a liquid freezes
and becomes a solid its density increases a lot.
Ice is unusual, because it is less dense than liquid water. This is why ice floats on water.
Pressure in fluids
Both gases and liquids are fluids. Fluids can flow. Pressure in fluids acts in all directions.
The particles in fluids are moving all the time and hitting the walls of containers and other
things they come into contact with. The force of the collisions causes pressure, which acts in
all directions.
The pressure of gas in a container can be increased by:
● putting more particles into the container (so there will be more collisions with the
container walls each second).
● heating the gas (so the particles move faster, hitting the walls harder and more often).
● reducing the volume of the container (so the particles do not have as far to go between
the walls and so collide with the walls more often).
As you go deeper into the sea, pressure increases because there is more water above you
pressing down. If you climb a high mountain, the air pressure on you will get less, because
there is less air above you pressing down.
Floating and sinking
You can decide if something will float by working out its density, and the density of the fluid.
If the density of the object is less than the density of the fluid, it will float.
The density of water is 1 g/cm3, so objects with densities less than 1 g/cm3 will float in water.
Drag
Drag is another name for air resistance or water resistance. The amount of drag on
something can be reduced by giving it a smooth surface and a streamlined shape. The drag
increases as the speed increases, so cars use up more fuel per kilometre when they are
travelling fast. Drag is caused by particles in the fluid hitting the moving object, and by the
force needed for the object to push the fluid out of the way. The particles transfer energy to
the object, which is why objects moving through air can get hot.
Physics Exam Style Questions

1 Fill in the gaps. Choose words from the box. You do not need to use all the words.

weight direction colour pull push shape

speed

a A force is either a or a [1 mark]

b A tennis ball is flying towards a racquet. The force of the racquet on the ball can
change its
, or . [1 mark]

a Write down the names of forces X and Y.

Force X is

Force Y is [2 marks]

b The drawing shows one non-contact force. Name one other non-contact force.

[1 mark]

3 Jen is investigating springs. She is comparing how far

two springs stretch compared to just one spring. She
uses the apparatus shown on the right.
a Springs are elastic. What does ‘elastic’ mean?

[1 mark]
b What must Jen keep the same to make her test fair?
 [1 mark]

c Give one safety precaution that Jen should take. Explain your answer.

[1 mark]

The graph shows Jen’s results.

d Write a conclusion for Jen’s investigation. Explain what
she found, if you can.

[2 marks]

4 Will these pairs of magnets drawn below attract or repel each other? Write ‘attract’ or
‘repel’ underneath each pair.

.
.

[1 mark]

5 Write these things in order of size, starting with the smallest:

Universe, Earth, galaxy, Moon, Solar System, Sun.

[1 mark]
6 The diagram shows a spacecraft orbiting above a moon.

a On the diagram, draw an arrow to show the force of the moon on the spacecraft.
Label the arrow M.
Draw another arrow to show the force of the spacecraft on the moon. Label the arrow
S.
Draw your arrows so that the length of each arrow represents the size of the force.
[2 marks]

b How would the size of forces M and S change if the spacecraft had a greater mass?

[1 mark]

c How would the size of forces M and S change if the spacecraft was further away from
the moon?

[1 mark]

7 The table shows the strength of gravity of three Moon Gravity at the surface
moons in the Solar System. of the Moon (N/kg)
Io 1.80
Europa 1.32
Moon 1.63

The mass of an astronaut plus spacesuit is 900 kg.

Calculate the weight of the astronaut plus spacesuit on Europa. Show your working.

[2 marks]