The unit in one line
How things move, what makes them move, and how solids and fluids answer a force. 10 of Physics's 50 questions over eight chapters — the second-largest unit in Physics, and the one whose language every later unit borrows.
The chapters
| Chapter | What it covers | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Physical quantities, vectors and scalars | Units and dimensions, significant figures and errors, and the addition, resolution and products of vectors | 19 min |
| Kinematics | Linear motion and its graphs, free fall, and projectiles with and without a resistive force | 15 min |
| Dynamics | Newton's laws and equilibrium, impulse and momentum, work, energy and power, collisions, and solid friction | 18 min |
| Rotational dynamics | Moment of inertia and radius of gyration, torque, and the work, energy and power of a rotating body | 12 min |
| Fluid statics and dynamics | Pressure, surface tension and capillarity, viscosity, Stokes' and Poiseuille's laws, and Bernoulli's principle | 19 min |
| Circular and periodic motion | Centripetal force in horizontal and vertical circles, simple harmonic motion, and forced oscillations | 14 min |
| Gravity | Gravitational force and field strength, orbits and satellites, gravitational potential and escape velocity | 12 min |
| Elasticity | Stress and strain, the three moduli, Poisson's ratio and the energy stored per unit volume | 11 min |
About two hours in all.
Read in this order
Syllabus order is the right order, and the first three chapters are not groundwork you can skip.
Start with physical quantities and vectors. Dimensional analysis is how you eliminate three of the four options in a formula question without doing any physics, and every chapter after this one resolves something into components. Read it before kinematics.
Kinematics then gives you the motion itself, and dynamics gives you the cause; read them in that order, because a projectile question is kinematics wearing a dynamics hat. Rotational dynamics is dynamics with every symbol swapped for its angular twin, so it only reads easily once dynamics is done.
Circular and periodic motion is worth reading before gravity: an orbit is a circle held by a centripetal force, and the gravity chapter assumes you already know that. Fluids and elasticity are self-contained and can be read whenever — but fluids is the chapter this paper leans on medically, from blood pressure to the syringe, so do not leave it last by accident.
How it is asked
MEC sets the paper roughly half recall, a third understanding and a fifth application. Recall here is a unit, a dimension or which quantity is a vector. Understanding is why a body in a vertical circle needs a minimum speed at the top, or why a hollow cylinder rolls more slowly than a solid one. Application is a single substitution into one formula — the marks go to whoever picks the right equation quickly, not to whoever calculates most carefully.
Then practise
Each chapter has a fixed-length chapter test under Practice › Topics, drawn from questions written to that chapter's scope. With ten marks riding on it, this is the unit to re-test most often.