Demonstrate understanding of mechanical systems
This standard asks you to show you understand how mechanical systems work—including objects moving in circles, spinning systems, and things that bounce back and forth (oscillating). You need to explain how forces, energy, and motion relate to these systems, and you should be able to use equations and diagrams to solve real problems involving these systems.
You can identify the basic relationships between forces and motion (like recognising that centripetal force equals gravitational force), state the conditions for simple harmonic motion, and substitute numbers into formulas to get answers.
You can explain *why* these relationships work by using formulas to justify your reasoning, correctly rearrange equations, solve multi-step problems with working shown, and explain concepts like how rotational inertia affects spinning systems or how energy is lost through damping.
You provide comprehensive discussions that connect multiple concepts together, draw and interpret diagrams that show relative magnitudes of forces in different positions, use equations systematically to justify every step of your solution, and fully explain energy transformations and all factors involved in phenomena like damping.
Standards typically taken alongside or after this one. Same subject, grouped by level.