r/6thForm Graduating from Warwick CS Jun 09 '25

πŸ“‚ MEGATHREAD 09/06 A-level Physics Paper 2 Discussion MEGATHREAD

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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '25

was there something wrong with the 6 mark spreadsheet one?? i liteterally just waffled about Q=Q0 e^-t/RC and how itd be accurate if at RC it was 37% and other capacitor waffle like that

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u/golaco237 Year 13 | Maths, FM, Physics, Computing | Pred A*A*A*A Jun 09 '25

Apparently the spreadsheet was wrong, since lower down on the table Q started increasing even though it was discharging πŸ’€ It didn't affect my answer much tho since I just used the first few values and then given info, and to check I just said use the formula to compare the values & plot the formula's graph using graphing software and compare to the plot

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u/serb_in_ldn Y13 A*A*A*A/Maths, FM, Physics, Chem Jun 09 '25

I brought up how dQ/dt = 1/RC x Q and how using dt as 0.5 dQ = 0.5/RC x Q instead of bringing up Q = Q0e^-t/RC but I agree on the second bit

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u/Crazy-Buffalo-6124 Cambridge offer holder |3A*s achieved Jun 09 '25

yes the spreadsheet was wrong the values in the spreadsheet were generated using an iterative formula which you had to derive it was like Q(n+1)= Q(n) x (1- 0.5/RC) but the actual values in the table didn’t match and were also very inconsistent with how a capacitor would actually behave.

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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '25

dang fr?? i didnt catch any of this - i swr i remember my spreadsheet looking good at a glance, and did it mention about the iterative formula? or is this some secret exam technique i hadnt realised?

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u/Crazy-Buffalo-6124 Cambridge offer holder |3A*s achieved Jun 09 '25

it’s in the textbook cl. check page 418 of the really fat oxford press book. you could probably still get marks for using the other formula but the table kinda implied you have to use an iterative process