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Cambridge IGCSE · 0625 · 2026–2028 syllabus

Cambridge IGCSE Physics

ConceptOrbit’s Cambridge IGCSE Physics course is written to the 0625 syllabus for 2026–2028: 114 lessons in 7 units, with 69 simulations you can experiment with. It covers Core and Extended. Every lesson is free to read.

Lessons
114
Simulations
69
Units
7
Topics
30
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Every unit and topic

The lessons open at launch, and every one will be free to read. Simulations marked Free open for everyone; the rest come with the Student plan or a teacher’s class.

Unit 1

Motion, Forces and Energy

10 topics · 34 lessons

Physical Quantities and Measurement Techniques

Lessons

  1. Physical Quantities and SI Units
  2. Measuring Length, Area and Volume
  3. Measuring Time
  4. Scalars and Vectors

Simulations

  • Read the scaleFreeMeasure an object that does not start at zero, and find out what looking at the scale from an angle does to the reading.
  • Read the instrumentFreeRead a rule, a measuring cylinder, a micrometer, a protractor and a milliammeter the way the exam expects: the right scale, from zero, with any zero error corrected for, and the mean of repeated readings.
  • Density and displacementMeasure an object’s volume by displacement, work out its density, and find what decides whether it floats.
  • Time repeated oscillationsFreeFind out why timing many swings and dividing gives a better period than timing just one.
  • Investigate scatter and systematic errorFreeFind out how random scatter and a zero offset each change a set of readings, and which of them taking more repeats can fix.
  • Build a resultantAdd two forces at right angles into one resultant force, and predict its size before you read it.

Motion

Lessons

  1. Distance, Displacement, Speed and Velocity
  2. Distance–Time Graphs
  3. Speed–Time Graphs
  4. Free Fall and Terminal Velocity

Simulations

  • Distance versus displacementFreeWalk out and back, and compare how far you travel with how far you end up from the start.
  • Motion and its graphFind what the gradient of a speed–time graph and the area under it tell you about how a trolley moves.
  • Read a distance–time graphFind what the gradient of a distance–time graph tells you, including where the line goes flat.
  • Approach terminal velocityFind out why a falling object stops speeding up, and what opening a parachute does to its speed.
  • Balance forces on a trolleyFind what the resultant force on a trolley does to its motion, and what happens when the forces balance.

Mass and Weight

Lessons

  1. Mass
  2. Weight and Gravitational Field Strength

Simulations

  • Same mass, different weightFreeTake one mass to places with different gravitational field strengths, and find out what changes and what does not.
  • Force towards the centreFind what keeps a satellite moving in a circle, and how its speed and period change with the size of its orbit.

Density

Lessons

  1. Density of Solids
  2. Density of Irregular Solids
  3. Density of Liquids

Simulations

  • Density and displacement
  • Read the instrumentFree

Forces

Lessons

  1. Effects of Forces
  2. Friction and Drag
  3. Springs and Elasticity
  4. Newton's Laws and Acceleration
  5. Circular Motion

Simulations

  • Balance forces on a trolley
  • Build a resultant
  • Approach terminal velocity
  • Force–extension investigationLoad a spring step by step, find how its extension depends on the load, and find where that stops being true.
  • Investigate scatter and systematic errorFree
  • Force towards the centre

Turning Effect of Forces

Lessons

  1. Moments
  2. Principle of Moments

Simulations

  • Balance the beamFreeFind the rule that makes a beam balance, then use it to balance loads that are not equal.

Centre of Gravity

Lessons

  1. Centre of Gravity
  2. Stability

Simulations

  • When does it topple?FreeFind what decides whether a tilted block falls back or topples over, and how to make it harder to topple.

Momentum

Lessons

  1. Momentum
  2. Conservation of Momentum
  3. Force and Momentum

Simulations

  • Collide two cartsFreeCompare momentum and kinetic energy before and after two carts collide, and find which is always conserved.
  • Make a gentler stopFind how the time taken to stop the same momentum changes the average force needed.

Energy, Work and Power

Lessons

  1. Energy Stores and Transfers
  2. Kinetic and Gravitational Potential Energy
  3. Energy Resources
  4. Work
  5. Power
  6. Efficiency

Simulations

  • Account for every jouleFreeFollow every joule into a device and out again, and work out how efficient the device is.
  • Follow energy through a fallFollow the energy of a falling ball from one store to another, and check what happens to the total.
  • Follow an energy resourceFreeFollow each resource’s energy from its store to the electrical output, and compare how much of it each one wastes.
  • Force through a distanceFind how the force and the distance the load moves decide the work done, and find different pushes that do the same work.
  • How quickly is energy transferred?Find how the energy transferred and the time it takes decide the power, and compare quick and slow transfers of the same energy.

Pressure

Lessons

  1. Pressure in Solids
  2. Pressure in Liquids
  3. Atmospheric Pressure

Simulations

  • Spread the same forceFreeFind how the same force can press gently or sharply, depending on the area it is spread over.
  • Move a pressure probeFind how the depth of a probe and the density of the liquid decide the pressure it measures.
  • Compress a gasFreeFind how squeezing a gas, and heating it, change the pressure it exerts on its container.

Unit 2

Thermal Physics

3 topics · 10 lessons

Kinetic Particle Model of Matter

Lessons

  1. States of Matter
  2. Changes of State
  3. Particle Motion and Temperature
  4. Gas Pressure

Simulations

  • Follow a particleFollow one particle in a solid, a liquid and a gas, and find how temperature changes the way particles move.
  • Explore a heating curveHeat ice until it boils, and find out what happens to its temperature while it melts and while it boils.
  • Compress a gasFree

Thermal Properties and Temperature

Lessons

  1. Thermal Expansion
  2. Specific Heat Capacity
  3. Melting, Boiling and Evaporation

Simulations

  • Leave room for expansionFind how much room a rail needs to expand into as it warms, and what that depends on.
  • Heat equal massesSupply the same energy to equal masses of water and a metal, and compare how much each one warms up.
  • Investigate scatter and systematic errorFree
  • Explore a heating curve
  • Follow a particle

Thermal Processes

Lessons

  1. Conduction
  2. Convection
  3. Infrared Radiation

Simulations

  • Watch energy spreadFreePut one end of two rods in hot water, and find which materials carry the energy along fastest.
  • Trace a convection currentFollow a marked parcel of water round a heated tank, and find what makes the water circulate.
  • Compare emitting surfacesFind how a surface’s temperature, its colour and texture, and its area change the infrared it emits and absorbs.

Unit 3

Waves

4 topics · 16 lessons

General Wave Properties

Lessons

  1. Wave Motion
  2. Wave Quantities
  3. Transverse and Longitudinal Waves
  4. Reflection, Refraction and Diffraction

Simulations

  • Make a waveFreeFind out what sets the speed of a wave along a rope, and what changing the frequency does to its wavelength.
  • Compressions and rarefactionsFollow a sound wave through air: find how the air moves, and what sets how far apart its compressions are.
  • Waves through a gapFind out when waves spread out after passing through a gap, and when they carry straight on.
  • Bend a ray at a boundaryFreeFind out how much a ray bends as it enters a block, and what decides it.

Light

Lessons

  1. Reflection of Light
  2. Refraction
  3. Total Internal Reflection
  4. Converging Lenses

Simulations

  • Construct a ray diagramDraw the rays that find the image a converging lens forms, and the image in a plane mirror, check your diagram, then describe the image.
  • Bend a ray at a boundaryFree
  • Find the critical angleFind the angle at which light stops leaving glass, and how that angle depends on the glass.
  • Construct a lens imageFind how the image a converging lens forms changes as the object moves towards the lens.

Electromagnetic Spectrum

Lessons

  1. Electromagnetic Waves
  2. Uses of Electromagnetic Waves
  3. Hazards
  4. Analogue and Digital Signals

Simulations

  • Explore the electromagnetic spectrumFreeExplore how the wavelength changes across the electromagnetic spectrum, and what each region is used for.
  • Compare radiation penetrationFreeSend alpha, beta and gamma radiation at paper, aluminium and lead, and find what it takes to stop each one.
  • Recover a digital signalFind out how much noise a digital signal can carry before its bits are misread, and how the threshold matters.

Sound

Lessons

  1. Production and Propagation of Sound
  2. Speed of Sound
  3. Pitch and Loudness
  4. Ultrasound

Simulations

  • Compressions and rarefactions
  • Locate a reflector with an echoUse the time an echo takes to come back to find how far away a reflector is.
  • Make a waveFree

Unit 4

Electricity and Magnetism

5 topics · 23 lessons

Simple Phenomena of Magnetism

Lessons

  1. Magnetic Poles and Fields
  2. Permanent and Temporary Magnets
  3. Electromagnets

Simulations

  • Probe a magnetic fieldFreeCarry a compass round a bar magnet and find what decides the way its needle points.
  • Magnetise a materialFind out what happens to the domains in soft iron and in steel when the magnetising field is switched off.
  • Control an electromagnetFind how the current and the number of turns change an electromagnet’s strength, and what decides which end is north.

Electrical Quantities

Lessons

  1. Electric Charge and Static Electricity
  2. Current
  3. Potential Difference and EMF
  4. Resistance and Ohm's Law
  5. Factors Affecting Resistance

Simulations

  • Test an electric fieldFreeFollow the force on a positive test charge as you change the charge it is near and move it round.
  • Count flowing chargeCount the charge that passes an ammeter, and find how it depends on the current and on how long you count for.
  • Energy per coulombFollow the energy each coulomb carries round a circuit, from the source to the two resistors.
  • Build a circuitFreeBuild each circuit on the diagram so that it does what the task asks: two lamps that stay lit, two ammeters that agree, a supply shared in half, an unknown resistance measured.
  • Trace an I–V characteristicTrace how the current through a resistor, a filament lamp and a diode changes with the p.d. across it.
  • Change a wire’s resistanceFind how the length and the thickness of a wire change its resistance, changing one at a time.
  • Make a sensor respondPut a light or temperature sensor in a potential divider and make it switch a lamp on and off.

Electric Circuits

Lessons

  1. Circuit Symbols and Diagrams
  2. Series Circuits
  3. Parallel Circuits
  4. Combined Resistance
  5. Potential Dividers

Simulations

  • Build a circuitFree
  • Make a sensor respond

Electrical Safety

Lessons

  1. Electrical Hazards
  2. Fuses and Circuit Breakers
  3. Earthing and Double Insulation
  4. Plug Wiring and Safe Use

Simulations

  • Wire a plug, then break itFreeWire a three-pin plug and choose its fuse, then make faults happen and see what the fuse and the earth wire do.

Electromagnetic Effects

Lessons

  1. Magnetic Effect of Current
  2. Force on a Current-Carrying Conductor
  3. Electric Motors
  4. Electromagnetic Induction
  5. Generators
  6. Transformers

Simulations

  • Control an electromagnet
  • Probe a magnetic fieldFree
  • Turn a current-carrying coilFind what decides which way a current-carrying coil turns in a magnetic field, and what makes it turn harder.
  • Move a magnet through a coilPush a magnet into a coil, stop it, and pull it out, and find what makes the induced e.m.f. bigger or reverse it.
  • Generate an alternating outputFind how the speed of a generator’s coil and the strength of its field shape the alternating output.
  • Transform voltage and currentFind how the numbers of turns set a transformer’s output, and what happens to the current when the voltage is stepped up.

Unit 5

Nuclear Physics

3 topics · 14 lessons

The Nuclear Atom

Lessons

  1. Structure of the Atom
  2. Atomic and Mass Numbers
  3. Isotopes
  4. Nuclear Stability

Simulations

  • Build a nucleusFreeBuild atoms from protons and neutrons, then find which count decides the element and what makes two atoms isotopes.
  • Watch random decayWatch 100 nuclei decay, and find what the half-life can tell you about one nucleus and about the whole sample.

Radioactivity

Lessons

  1. Detecting Radiation
  2. Alpha, Beta and Gamma Radiation
  3. Comparing Nuclear Radiation
  4. Radioactive Decay
  5. Half-Life
  6. Radiation Safety
  7. Uses of Radioactivity

Simulations

  • Measure a half-lifeTake count-rate readings from a radioactive source, correct them for background, and measure its half-life more than once.
  • Compare radiation penetrationFree
  • Build a nucleusFree
  • Balance nuclear numbersFind the nucleus bismuth-212 leaves behind when it decays, by making both sides of its equation balance.
  • Watch random decay

Fission and Fusion

Lessons

  1. Nuclear Fission
  2. Nuclear Reactors
  3. Nuclear Fusion

Simulations

  • Control a chain reactionFind what share of the neutrons the control rods must absorb to keep a chain reaction steady.
  • Follow an energy resourceFree
  • Join light nucleiFreeCompare the nuclei before and after they fuse, and find out where the energy released comes from.

Unit 6

Space Physics

2 topics · 11 lessons

The Earth and the Solar System

Lessons

  1. The Earth and Moon
  2. The Solar System
  3. Gravity in Space
  4. Satellites
  5. Light and Distances in Space

Simulations

  • See the Moon’s illuminated fractionFind out why the Moon seems to change shape over a month, then predict how it looks from anywhere on its orbit.
  • Force towards the centre
  • Same mass, different weightFree
  • Travel at the speed of lightFind out how far light travels in a year, and how long light from distant stars and galaxies takes to reach us.

Stars and the Universe

Lessons

  1. The Sun as a Star
  2. Star Formation
  3. Stable Stars
  4. Evolution of Stars
  5. Galaxies
  6. The Expanding Universe

Simulations

  • Order a star’s lifePut the stages in the life of a star like the Sun, and of a much more massive star, in order, and find where their paths divide.
  • Join light nucleiFree
  • Travel at the speed of light
  • Expand space and stretch lightFind out what happens to light from a distant galaxy while space stretches, and how the change compares with the gaps between galaxies.

Unit 7

Practical and Scientific Skills

3 topics · 6 lessons

Measurement

Lessons

  1. Measurement Quality
  2. Uncertainty

Simulations

  • Read the instrumentFree
  • Read the scaleFree
  • Investigate scatter and systematic errorFree
  • Time repeated oscillationsFree

Graphs and Data

Lessons

  1. Data Tables
  2. Graphs

Simulations

  • Investigate scatter and systematic errorFree
  • Motion and its graph

Experimental Design

Lessons

  1. Planning Investigations
  2. Evaluation

Simulations

  • Force–extension investigation
  • Change a wire’s resistance
  • Investigate scatter and systematic errorFree
  • Time repeated oscillationsFree

Questions about IGCSE Physics

What does ConceptOrbit’s IGCSE Physics course cover?

Cambridge IGCSE Physics (0625), written to the 0625 syllabus for 2026–2028, in 7 units: Motion, Forces and Energy; Thermal Physics; Waves; Electricity and Magnetism; Nuclear Physics; Space Physics; and Practical and Scientific Skills. That’s 114 lessons across 30 topics, with 69 simulations.

Does the IGCSE Physics course cover Core and Extended?

Yes. It covers both, and its practice questions are marked Core or Extended, so you can revise for the tier you’re sitting.

Which IGCSE Physics simulations are free?

24 of the 69, marked Free in the list on this page. The rest come with the Student plan or a teacher’s class.

How much does IGCSE Physics cost on ConceptOrbit?

Every lesson is free to read. The Student plan is $8 a month for your first course and $5 for each extra one, and opens every simulation, the interactive past papers and the AI Tutor. Students in a teacher’s class get the course through the class.

The other courses

More subjects and qualifications will follow after launch: more IGCSE subjects, O Level, AS & A Level, and other exam boards such as Pearson Edexcel.