Physics: Examiner-Report Misconception Explorers

Measurement — combining uncertainties when quantities are subtracted

Kinematics — applying equations of motion to a displacement–time graph

Dynamics — impulse as area under F–t graph and change in momentum (vector!)

Forces — taking moments about a point; perpendicular distances

Kinematics — distance fallen grows as t², not t

Gravitational field — combining M = ρV with g = GM/R² (multi-step)

D.C. circuits — potential (not just p.d.) at points in a potential divider

D.C. circuits — e.m.f., internal resistance and terminal p.d.

Electric fields — direction of E is the direction a positive test charge would move

D.C. circuits — definitions per unit charge; thermistor in a potential divider

Work & energy — EPE from an F–x graph; (a−b)² ≠ a²−b²; energy bookkeeping on release

Forces in equilibrium — resolving tension; the effect of wire length on angle and tension

Electromagnetism — F = BIL sinθ and F = Bqv sinθ; why the magnetic force does no work

Forces — free-body diagram of a stationary car: arrow lengths carry meaning

Newton’s laws & circular motion — what actually pushes a car around a bend

Nuclear physics — half-life estimation without the exponential formula; properties of α radiation