GCSE Physics Equations: Which Are Given and Which You Must Memorise

Quick answer: For the 2025 to 2027 AQA GCSE Physics and Combined Science exams you are actually given a full equation sheet as an insert, so you do not strictly have to memorise the formulae. But the sheet only lists them - it will not tell you which equation to pick, what the letters mean, how to rearrange it, or which units to use, and the arrangement is only confirmed to 2027. So learn the roughly 23 core equations, like V = I R, F = m a and kinetic energy = 0.5 x mass x speed^2, as if they were not given.

I sit Cambridge IGCSE and A-Level, not AQA - but when my GCSE friends found out they would get an equation sheet in the exam, half of them stopped learning equations completely. They still dropped marks. Here is the bit nobody explains: a page full of formulae is close to useless if you do not already know which one the question wants, what each symbol stands for, and how to make the quantity you are asked for the subject. The sheet hands you the tool; it does not tell you the job.

The rule right now - and why it is a trap

Because of the exam disruption a few years back, AQA confirmed that students sitting exams in 2025, 2026 and 2027 do not need to memorise the physics equations: a Physics Equations Sheet is provided as an insert with both Paper 1 and Paper 2. That is genuinely helpful.

Two catches, though. It is temporary - only confirmed to 2027, with 2028 still being decided, so if you are starting the course now do not assume a sheet will be there on the day. And a sheet cannot do the physics for you: you still have to read a wordy question, spot that it is a current, resistance and potential difference problem, find V = I R, rearrange it and convert your units - only the middle step is printed. Lean on the sheet as an excuse not to learn the equations and you become the student who freezes because they cannot tell which one to reach for.

The equations you would normally have to recall

In a normal year - and the set to know cold whether or not there is a sheet - AQA expects you to recall about 23 equations. These are the everyday ones, grouped by topic:

• Forces and motion: distance = speed x time; acceleration = change in velocity / time; resultant force = mass x acceleration; weight = mass x gravitational field strength; momentum = mass x velocity; force on a spring = spring constant x extension; moment = force x distance to the pivot; pressure = force / area.
• Energy and power: kinetic energy = 0.5 x mass x speed^2; gravitational potential energy = mass x gravitational field strength x height; work done = force x distance; power = energy transferred / time; efficiency = useful output / total input.
• Electricity: charge = current x time; potential difference = current x resistance; power = potential difference x current; power = current^2 x resistance; energy transferred = power x time; energy transferred = charge x potential difference.
• Waves and density: wave speed = frequency x wavelength; density = mass / volume.

Combined Science drops a couple of these, but rebuild that list from memory and you are covered on either course.

The ones that are given to you

The shorter set - the fiddly, less-common formulae - is what normally sits on the equation sheet:

• (final velocity)^2 - (initial velocity)^2 = 2 x acceleration x distance
• elastic potential energy = 0.5 x spring constant x extension^2
• change in thermal energy = mass x specific heat capacity x temperature change

Separate Physics adds a few Combined does not need: specific latent heat, pressure in a column of liquid, the force on a conductor in a magnetic field, and the transformer equation. Notice the pattern - anything with a square, a subtraction, or a constant you would never remember is handed to you; the short, everyday ones are not.

Rearrange before you substitute - and bin the formula triangle

The formula triangle only works for one shape: an equation where one quantity equals two others multiplied together, like V = I R or distance = speed x time. Cover the letter you want, read off the rest. Fine - until the equation is not that shape, which is most of them. You cannot draw kinetic energy = 0.5 x mass x speed^2 as a triangle: there is a one-half and a square in it. Nor v^2 - u^2 = 2 a s - four quantities and a subtraction. Students who only know the triangle freeze the instant an equation has a square or a minus sign.

The habit that always works is to rearrange with letters first, then put numbers in. Quick one: a 1200 kg car travels at 12 m/s, so kinetic energy = 0.5 x 1200 x 12^2 = 0.5 x 1200 x 144 = 86,400 J, about 86 kJ. Square the speed first, then multiply - do not square the whole thing, and do not lose the one-half. If rearranging scares you, practise a few on the math solver and have any equation re-taught, letter by letter, on Explain anything.

Units - where the sheet cannot save you

The sheet gives you the formula but never the units or the conversions, and that is where marks quietly disappear. Everything goes in as SI units before you substitute: grams to kilograms, centimetres to metres, minutes to seconds, milliamps to amps. There is often a mark just for the correct unit on the end - free, if you know potential difference is in volts, energy in joules, power in watts and resistance in ohms.

Worked example: rearrange, convert, then substitute

Question: a filament lamp has a current of 250 mA through it and a potential difference of 6.0 V across it. Calculate its resistance and give the unit.

1. Pick the equation. This links potential difference, current and resistance, so it is V = I R - a recall-list equation, not on the sheet.
2. Rearrange first. Make R the subject while it is still algebra: R = V / I. Moving letters is safer than juggling decimals.
3. Convert to SI units. The current is 250 mA, but the equation needs amps, so divide by 1000: 250 mA = 0.25 A. The potential difference is already in volts.
4. Substitute. R = 6.0 / 0.25 = 24.
5. Add the unit. Resistance is measured in ohms, so R = 24 ohms.

The trap: leave the current as 250 and you get 6.0 / 250 = 0.024 - wrong by a factor of 1000, and no unit mark either. On this style of question, the dropped mark is almost always a prefix that never got converted, not the physics.

Test yourself

1. Rearrange power = potential difference x current to make current the subject.
2. A 2.0 kg mass is lifted 1.5 m. Taking gravitational field strength as 9.8 N/kg, calculate the gain in gravitational potential energy.
3. A current is written as 400 mA. Write it in amps.

Quick answers: (1) current = power / potential difference. (2) gravitational potential energy = mass x gravitational field strength x height = 2.0 x 9.8 x 1.5 = 29.4 J. (3) 400 / 1000 = 0.4 A.

If any felt shaky, drop the exact equation into Explain anything and ask it to rearrange it with you step by step, or turn the whole recall list into a deck on Flashcards so the everyday ones come back without thinking.

FAQ

Do I have to memorise physics equations for the 2026 AQA GCSE exam? No - for 2025, 2026 and 2027 you are given a Physics Equations Sheet as an insert, so you are not required to recall them. But you still have to know which equation to use, what the symbols mean, how to rearrange it and which units to use - and learning the common ones anyway saves time.

Is the equation sheet the full list? For these years the provided sheet covers the formulae you would normally have to recall, so you should not be caught short. In a normal year only the harder, less-common equations are printed and the roughly 23 everyday ones are not - the situation that may return from 2028.

Is the sheet the same for Combined Science? You get a shorter one. Physics-only equations - specific latent heat, pressure in a liquid column, the magnetism and transformer equations - are not on the Combined sheet, because those topics only appear on the separate Physics course.

Are formula triangles allowed in the exam? There is no rule against scribbling one in the margin. But they only work for three-quantity "one equals two multiplied" equations, so they are useless for anything with a square or a subtraction, like kinetic energy or v^2 - u^2 = 2 a s. Rearranging with algebra always works.

In short: Even though the 2025 to 2027 AQA exams hand you an equation sheet, learn the roughly 23 core equations, know your SI units, and always rearrange with letters before you substitute - because the sheet lists the formula but never does the thinking, and it is only guaranteed to 2027.