Choose a focused resource
Use the resource cards below to revise one idea at a time. Each page includes worked examples, mini quizzes, practice questions, exam language and a visual or simulation when it adds learning value.
GCSE Physics resources
AQA GCSE Energy
AQA GCSE Energy Revision
Energy questions become easier when you name the system, track the stores that change and identify the transfer pathway. Then choose an equation only when the physical change requires it.
Start here
Your route through this topic
Use the resource cards below to revise one idea at a time. Each page includes worked examples, mini quizzes, practice questions, exam language and a visual or simulation when it adds learning value.
By the end, you should be able to…
- Explain choose a focused resource using precise physics language.
- Apply the relevant equations, diagrams or practical method to an exam-style situation.
- Use the mini quizzes and practice answers to identify and correct a misconception.
Core learning content
Learn the idea before you practise it
Start with this short teaching sequence for AQA GCSE Energy Revision. Read the model, use the visual, then test your recall before moving into examples and exam practice.
Use the store-and-transfer model
Energy is stored in thermal, kinetic, gravitational potential, elastic potential, chemical, magnetic, electrostatic and nuclear stores. It is transferred mechanically, electrically, by heating or by radiation. The total energy of a closed system is conserved.
Use the right relationship
Choose a relationship because of the physical change in the question, not because it is familiar. Kinetic energy: Eₖ = ½mv² (J, kg, m/s). Gravitational potential energy: Eₚ = mgh (J, kg, N/kg, m). Elastic potential energy: Eₑ = ½ke² (J, N/m, m). Keep the unit next to each value while you substitute.
What a strong answer does
Use precise definitions, show the relevant working and link each conclusion to the physics evidence in the question. Before writing, underline the command word and identify the information that matters. Keep a calculation as equation, substitution and answer with unit; keep an explanation as a linked chain using because, so or therefore. Finish by checking that the final sentence answers the exact context in the question and that the number, direction or conclusion agrees with the evidence given.
Retrieval practice
Quick checks
Answer without looking back first. The feedback explains the model, so a wrong answer still helps you learn.
Mini quiz 1
Starter: stores and pathways
Mini quiz 2
Equation choice
Mini quiz 3
Exam language
Worked examples
See the method being built
Cover the answer, attempt the method and then compare your physics language as well as the number.
Example 1 · Gravitational potential energy
A 2.0 kg bag is lifted through 5.0 m. Take g = 9.8 N/kg. Calculate the increase in gravitational potential energy.
- Choose Eₚ = mgh because height changes.
- Substitute: Eₚ = 2.0 × 9.8 × 5.0.
- Calculate and include the unit.
Show the answer
98 J. The gravitational potential store increases by 98 J.
Example 2 · Power from transferred energy
A motor transfers 72 kJ in 120 s. Calculate its power.
- Convert 72 kJ to 72 000 J.
- Use P = E ÷ t.
- P = 72 000 ÷ 120.
Show the answer
600 W.
Example 3 · Efficiency
A device receives 30 J and gives 18 J of useful output. Calculate its efficiency.
- Use efficiency = useful output ÷ total input.
- 18 ÷ 30 = 0.60.
- Multiply by 100 if a percentage is requested.
Show the answer
0.60, or 60%. The remaining 40% is transferred through unwanted pathways.
Misconception clinic
Common wrong turns
Each of these is tempting because it sounds almost right. Replace it with the precise physics before you meet it in a question.
- Calling light, sound or electricity an energy store.
- Using grams instead of kilograms in an energy equation.
- Reporting a decimal efficiency as a percentage without multiplying by 100.
- Confusing power with total energy transferred.
Independent practice
Exam-style questions
Use the working space first. Reveal the guidance only after you have committed to an answer, then improve the exact part that would gain the next mark.
1. State one energy store that increases when a stretched spring is released and launches a trolley.
[1 mark]Show answer and marking guidance
The trolley’s kinetic store increases.
2. A 50 W lamp transfers 3 000 J. Calculate the time taken.
[2 marks]Show answer and marking guidance
t = E ÷ P = 3 000 ÷ 50 = 60 s.
3. Explain why lubrication can improve the efficiency of a machine.
[3 marks]Show answer and marking guidance
Lubrication reduces friction, so less energy is transferred into the thermal stores of the machine and surroundings.
4. A student says that energy is “used up” by a motor. Correct the statement.
[2 marks]Show answer and marking guidance
Energy is transferred from one store to others; the total energy of the closed system is conserved.
5. Give one reason why wind power cannot always match demand by itself.
[1 mark]Show answer and marking guidance
Wind speed varies, so the electrical output is intermittent.
6. A kettle receives 200 kJ and transfers 150 kJ usefully to the water. Calculate its efficiency.
[2 marks]Show answer and marking guidance
150 ÷ 200 = 0.75, so the efficiency is 75%.
Focused revision
Choose one idea at a time
When you are ready to go narrower, each focused page follows the same learning route: explain, check, explore, diagnose and practise.
EN-01
Energy Stores and Changes
Track energy by defining a system, naming the stores that change and identifying the transfer pathway.
EN-02
Energy Calculations and Power
Choose an equation from the physical change, convert every quantity to SI units and show the substitution.
EN-03
Efficiency and Unwanted Energy Transfers
Efficiency compares the useful output with the total input; it does not measure how quickly a device works.
EN-04
Specific Heat Capacity Required Practical
Measure how electrical energy supplied to a block changes its temperature, then determine specific heat capacity.
EN-05
Thermal Insulation Required Practical
This required practical belongs to AQA GCSE Physics 8463 only; it is not a Combined Science: Trilogy required practical.
EN-06
National and Global Energy Resources
Evaluate an energy resource using reliability, response time, environmental effects, scale and cost—not a single memorised advantage.
Keep going
Related GCSE Physics routes
AQA GCSE Electricity RevisionElectricity questions reward careful definitions and circuit rules. Keep current, charge, potential difference, resistance, power and energy as separate quantities.AQA GCSE Particle model of matter RevisionUse a particle model to explain density, changes of state, internal energy and gas pressure. Keep particle spacing, particle motion and energy separate.AQA GCSE Atomic structure RevisionAtomic-structure questions combine a model of the atom, radiation properties and careful use of nuclear notation. Always distinguish irradiation from contamination.AQA GCSE Forces RevisionForces questions often hide a simple model inside a diagram. Draw the forces, find the resultant, then connect the resultant to the motion or deformation.
AQA GCSE Physics Required PracticalsExam skills, method and self-checks.GCSE Physics Equations and Maths SkillsExam skills, method and self-checks.
Questions pupils ask
GCSE Physics FAQs
What is the key idea in AQA GCSE Energy Revision?
Energy questions become easier when you name the system, track the stores that change and identify the transfer pathway. Then choose an equation only when the physical change requires it.
How should I practise AQA GCSE Energy Revision?
Read the snapshot, attempt the worked examples without looking, complete the mini quizzes and then use the practice questions to check your wording and method.
Next step
Keep your revision moving
Physics sticks when you move between explanation, retrieval and application.