GCSE Physics: Energy Stores and Transfers

Energy is the opening topic of GCSE Physics, and the store-and-pathway model it introduces runs through every later unit. This quiz secures that model and puts it to work in calculations, matching the way the topic is actually assessed.

The conceptual questions test the framework itself: distinguishing the eight energy stores (kinetic, gravitational potential, elastic potential, thermal, chemical, nuclear, magnetic, electrostatic) from the four transfer pathways (mechanical work, electrical work, heating, radiation) — a distinction that sounds simple but is precisely where exam answers go wrong, because "heating" and "radiation" are pathways while "thermal" and "chemical" are stores. A dedicated question on dissipation checks that wasted energy is understood as spreading into the surroundings as thermal energy rather than disappearing.

The calculation questions apply the kinetic energy, gravitational potential energy and elastic potential energy relationships with all values given in the question — a 2.0 kg ball dropped from 5.0 m, a 1200 kg car at 10 m/s, a spring of known constant stretched a known amount. In line with the real 2025–2027 exams, where an equations sheet is provided, no question asks you to recall a formula from memory: the skill tested is choosing the right relationship, substituting correctly and handling units.

Conservation of energy ties the set together: a drop question requires equating gravitational potential energy at the top with kinetic energy at the bottom, and a proportionality question asks what happens to kinetic energy when mass doubles at constant speed — reasoning about the structure of the relationship rather than plugging numbers. Each answer includes a worked explanation, and the flashcard deck reinforces the store/pathway vocabulary the whole topic depends on.

• Distinguish the eight energy stores from the four transfer pathways
• Calculate kinetic, gravitational potential and elastic potential energy from given values
• Apply conservation of energy to falling and rising objects
• Explain what happens to dissipated energy and why it becomes less useful
• Reason about how energy quantities scale when mass, speed or height change

Topic scope follows the Energy section of the Department for Education's GCSE combined science and physics subject content: energy stores and system changes, calculations of kinetic, gravitational potential and elastic potential energy, conservation of energy and dissipation. Reflects the 2025–2027 arrangement in which an equations sheet is provided, so questions test application rather than formula recall.