Common Mistakes

What you should do next

On the right is small selection of common mistakes that are talked about by examiners every year. You should read each one carefully and try to figure out the correct response so you dont make the same mistakes. The Undercover Physicist

Every year people makes these mistakes in exams. Don't let it be you

Forgetting that the signs of x, a, v and u in the equations of motion can be postive or negative

Confusing the meaning of the area under a graph with the gradient of the line or curve.

Using v= d/t to work out the velocity at a point in time when the object is accelerating

Using the equations of motion to investigate the horizontal motion of a projectile

Forgetting that if an object is travlling with constant velocity the resultant force is 0

Forgetting that using Newton's third law the two forces act on different objects

Forgetting that equilibrium means the forces are balanced

Confusing the distance used to calculate work done with the distance used to calculate moments

Forgetting to use the perpendicular distance from the force to the pivot when calculating moments

Saying that momentum is lost in an inelastic collision

Forgetting that it is kinetic energy that is converted into other forms of energy in an inelastic collision

Not realising that Alpha particles are the most ionising form of radiation

Thinking that Beta (β) particles come from electron shells of the atom