Matched to the Higher Physics and Advanced Higher Physics course specifications for 2026-27, published by Qualifications Scotland (which replaced the SQA in February 2026).
Curriculum links last reviewed November 2026.
Where the ISS is right now, and how fast it is going.
explain that a satellite is in free fall around the Earth, using Newton's thought experiment.
In one second the ISS moves about 7.7 km. Use s = ½gt2 (g is about 8.6 N/kg at its height) to find how far it falls in that second, then compare it with how far the Earth's surface curves away over 7.7 km (about 4.3 m). Why does it never land?
Low, medium, geostationary and polar orbits, and what each one is used for.
use Newton's law of universal gravitation to compare the Earth's pull on satellites at different heights.
Work out the Earth's pull on a 1,000 kg satellite 400 km up, and on one in geostationary orbit, 35,786 km up. Remember r is measured from the Earth's centre. How many times weaker is it?
Every upcoming rocket launch, and when it lifts off.
apply Newton's second law to a rocket whose mass falls as it burns fuel.
Pick the next launch. If the engines push with a steady force while the fuel burns, what happens to the rocket's acceleration, and why? Sketch the speed-time graph for the first two minutes.
Orbit details for thousands of satellites: height, period and inclination.
use F = GMm/r2 = mr(2π/T)2 to link a satellite's orbit radius and period, and apply it to real satellites.
Take a weather, a navigation and a TV satellite from the directory. Use each one's height and period to work out the mass of the Earth. Do they agree?
A live map of the solar system, with every working deep-space spacecraft where it is today.
derive escape velocity and use it to show that Voyager 1 is leaving the Solar System.
Voyager 1 is about 170 AU from the Sun. Convert that to metres, work out the Sun's escape velocity there (M = 2.0 × 1030 kg) and compare it with Voyager's 17 km/s.
Satellites and rocket stages due to come back down, and when.
use gravitational potential energy (EP = −GMm/r) to explain why a satellite slowed by drag drops lower and speeds up.
For a 1,000 kg object, work out its kinetic, potential and total energy at 400 km and at 200 km. Where did the missing energy go?
A live 3D globe of our nearest star.
use L = 4πr2σT4 to work out the Sun's luminosity and the sunlight reaching the Earth.
The Sun's radius is 6.96 × 108 m and its surface is about 5,800 K. Find L, then the brightness at the Earth, b = L/4πd2 with d = 1.5 × 1011 m. Compare with the 1,361 W/m2 measured from space.
Tonight's chance of seeing the northern lights, town by town.
explain the aurora with the helical paths of solar wind particles in the Earth's magnetic field.
Check tonight's forecast for Inverness. Then find the radius of the circle a solar wind proton moving at 400 km/s makes in a 50 µT field, with r = mv/qB (about 84 m).
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Orbital Radar. (2026, November 4). Scotland: Higher and Advanced Higher Physics. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://orbitalradar.com/schools/uk/scotland-higher
“Scotland: Higher and Advanced Higher Physics.” Orbital Radar, 4 Nov. 2026, orbitalradar.com/schools/uk/scotland-higher. Accessed 4 Nov. 2026.
Orbital Radar (2026) Scotland: Higher and Advanced Higher Physics. Available at: https://orbitalradar.com/schools/uk/scotland-higher (Accessed: 4 November 2026).
Orbital Radar. “Scotland: Higher and Advanced Higher Physics.” Last modified November 4, 2026. https://orbitalradar.com/schools/uk/scotland-higher.
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title = {Scotland: Higher and Advanced Higher Physics},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
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url = {https://orbitalradar.com/schools/uk/scotland-higher},
urldate = {2026-11-04},
note = {Accessed 2026-11-04}
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