Tanzania Form Two Physics Syllabus

This syllabus outlines the Physics topics covered in Form Two in Tanzania. It is based on the 2007 Physics Syllabus for Secondary Schools, Form I-IV, issued by the Tanzania Institute of Education (TIE).

Form Two Competences: By the end of Form Two, students should be able to:

• Apply electricity and magnetism knowledge in daily life.
• Apply the concepts of turning forces in daily life.
• Apply laws of motion when dealing with moving objects.
• Use simple machines to simplify work.
• Apply environmental knowledge in interacting with the environment.

Form Two Objectives: By the end of Form Two, students should be able to:

• Understand concepts and principles of magnetism and electricity.
• Develop knowledge of force in equilibrium.
• Comprehend the laws of motion.
• Understand principles of simple machines.
• Understand the concept of temperature.
• Develop knowledge on environmental conservation.

Topics Covered:

1. Static Electricity: Covering the concept of static electricity, origin of charges, types of charges (positive and negative), the fundamental law of static electricity (like charges repel, unlike charges attract), methods of charging bodies (friction, conduction, induction), detection of charges using a gold leaf electroscope, conductors and insulators, and capacitors (concept, mode of action, construction of an air-filled capacitor, equivalent capacitance). Also covering charge distribution along the surface of a conductor and lightning conductors.

2. Current Electricity: Defining current electricity, exploring different sources of current electricity, simple electric circuits (components, symbols, concepts of current, voltage, and resistance, SI units, connecting and measuring electric current and voltage, analyzing simple electric circuits).

3. Magnetism: Covering the origin of magnetism, magnetic and non-magnetic materials, properties of magnets, types of magnets, applications of magnets, magnetization and demagnetization, magnetic fields of a magnet (concept, illustrating magnetic field lines, magnetic shielding), and Earth's magnetic field (phenomenon, direction, magnetic lines of force, angles of inclination and declination, applications).

4. Forces in Equilibrium: Explaining the effects of turning forces, determining the moment of a force, stating the principle of moments, applying the principle of moments in daily life, explaining and determining the center of gravity for regular and irregular shaped bodies, and explaining types of equilibrium (stable, unstable, neutral) and their applications.

5. Simple Machines: Covering the concept of a simple machine, terms used (load, effort, mechanical advantage, velocity ratio, efficiency), different kinds of simple machines (lever, pulley, inclined plane, screw jack, wheel and axle, hydraulic press). For each simple machine, students will identify different types/classes, determine mechanical advantage, velocity ratio, and efficiency, and describe applications in daily life.

6. Motion in a Straight Line: Distinguishing between distance and displacement (and their SI units), speed and velocity (and their SI units), determining average velocity, interpreting velocity-time graphs, determining acceleration, explaining retardation, deriving and applying equations of uniformly accelerated motion, explaining the concept of gravitational force, determining acceleration due to gravity, and explaining applications of gravitational force.

7. Newton's Laws of Motion: Covering inertia and Newton's First Law (statement and verification), linear momentum (concept, SI unit, determination), Newton's Second Law (statement and verification), conservation of linear momentum (distinguishing between elastic and inelastic collisions, stating and applying the principle of conservation), action and reaction forces, and Newton's Third Law and its applications.

8. Temperature: Defining temperature and its SI unit, identifying measurable physical properties that change with temperature, defining the fundamental interval of a thermometer, describing the mode of action of a liquid-in-glass thermometer, and measuring temperature accurately.

9. Sustainable Energy Sources: Covering the generation of electricity from water, the importance and applications of water energy, constructing a model of a hydroelectric power plant, the sun as a source of energy, converting solar energy to electricity, constructing a model of a solar panel, wind as a source of energy, constructing a model of a windmill, applying windmills in daily life, sea wave energy as a source of energy, converting sea wave energy to electricity, geothermal energy as a source of energy, and converting geothermal energy to electricity.