TP2b Current, Potential Difference & Resistance | AQA GCSE Combined Science Physics Topic Mastery

This pack covers AQA specification 6.2.1.3 and Required practical activity 15 (with combinations of resistors from 6.2.2): how the current through a component depends on its resistance and the potential difference across it, calculating with potential difference = current × resistance and rearranging it, and Required practical 15: investigating how the resistance of a wire depends on its length and how resistors combine in series and in parallel.

The Topic Mastery Sheet gives the AQA statements on current, potential difference and resistance, a table of quantities, units and meters, and the equation V = I R marked as a Recall equation. Two worked examples show a straight calculation and finding a current in milliamperes, and a table shows every rearrangement. Required practical 15 is covered with an original circuit diagram, a step-by-step method for the length of a wire, the variables, why the wire must stay at a constant temperature, safety, a graph of resistance against length and what a line that misses the origin means, plus a table explaining resistors in series and in parallel and tips for drawing the circuit. An exam tip quotes the AQA June 2025 Physics Paper 1H examiners’ report. A key vocabulary table gives the exact AQA terms, six common errors are corrected, and the Grade 8-9 stretch section uses the gradient of a resistance against length graph.

The Student Exam Practice Sheet (28 marks) has six questions. They progress from a tick-box item and naming a meter, through a resistance calculation for a hand warmer and an explanation of what a greater resistance does to the current, to a current calculation in milliamperes. A Required practical 15 question on the length of a wire then asks for the independent and dependent variables, a resistance from a results table, a point to plot with a line of best fit, a reason the line misses the origin and why the switch is opened between readings. The answer key follows AQA mark-scheme conventions (allow, ignore, do not accept, dependent marks) and gives the AO and specification reference for every part, with RPA15 on the practical items; the 6-mark question uses AQA’s own level descriptors for practical methods.

Project the mastery sheet for a ready-made revision lesson, set the practice sheet as homework or a timed check, or use the pack for intervention and independent study. PDF and editable Word versions are both included. Written for AQA GCSE Combined Science: Trilogy (8464); content that appears only in AQA GCSE Physics (8463) is not included. All questions are original. This resource is not endorsed by or affiliated with AQA.

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