May/June 2025

What type of quantity has both magnitude and direction, and is it classified as a scalar quantity or a vector quantity?

Physical quantities and measurement techniques

Object P has more mass than object Q. The objects do not have the same amount of matter, and their resistance to changes in motion is different. Which row gives the correct answer?

Mass and weight

A builder places two identical, heavy stone tiles on soft ground. One tile stands upright, while the other lies flat. After a few hours, the upright tile has begun to sink into the soft ground. The flat tile has not yet started to sink. Which row gives the correct comparison of the forces and pressures exerted by the tiles on the ground?

Pressure

There are four beakers, each holding the same liquid. At which point is the pressure highest?

Pressure

The extent to which a solid expands on heating depends on the strength of the forces between its particles. Which statement about these forces is correct?

Thermal expansion of solids, liquids and gases

Air is heated in a closed container whose volume stays constant. Why does the air pressure rise as the temperature rises?

Particle model

A student finds the specific heat capacity of a metal by doing an experiment. The apparatus available to the student is listed below. 1 electronic balance 2 ruler 3 thermometer 4 heater operating at a power of $50\,\text{W}$ 5 stopwatch 6 ammeter 7 voltmeter Which items of apparatus should the student use?

Specific heat capacity

As a liquid evaporates, molecules leave from the surface. Which molecules are able to leave, and what happens to the mean kinetic energy of the molecules that stay in the liquid?

Melting, boiling and evaporation

A beaker contains a sample of water at temperature $T$. The water has a surface area of $A$, and an electric fan drives air over the top of the beaker with speed $v$. For which values of $T$, $A$ and $v$ does the water evaporate at the greatest rate?

Melting, boiling and evaporation

Thermal energy is transferred rapidly from the hotter parts of a metal to the cooler parts of the metal. Why do metals make good conductors of thermal energy?

Conduction

The diagram illustrates light falling on a plane mirror and then being reflected. Which angle is the angle of incidence?

Reflection of light

The speed-time graph displays part of the journey of a bicycle over a time of $10\,\text{ s}$. What distance does the bicycle travel in the $10\,\text{ s}$?

Motion

A shoe shop installs a mirror on a wall so that shoppers can check their shoes. The mirror has a length of $50\,\text{cm}$. One customer’s eyes are $150\,\text{cm}$ above floor level. The lower edge of the mirror is at a height of $h$ above the ground. What is the minimum value of $h$ needed for the customer to see an image of his shoes in the mirror?

Reflection of light

Which statement correctly describes a dull black surface?

Radiation

Light rays from a ray-box travel through three lenses fitted at positions $1$, $2$ and $3$. What kind of lens is used at each position?

Thin lenses

An underwater light illuminates a swimming pool. A ray of light strikes the water’s surface. What route does the ray of light take?

Refraction of light

When a converging lens is used as a magnifying glass, what type of image is produced?

Thin lenses

A sound wave is made up of compressions and rarefactions. What kind of wave is sound, and how does the pressure in a rarefaction compare with the pressure in a compression?

Sound

What happens to a sound wave when the sound heard becomes louder?

Sound

An ultrasound pulse is sent out from a sensor, and it is reflected back to the sensor by a crack in a piece of metal and also by the lower surface of the metal. The echo from the crack returns to the sensor $1.0 \times 10^{-5}\,\text{s}$ after the pulse is emitted. The echo from the lower surface returns to the sensor $1.5 \times 10^{-5}\,\text{s}$ after the pulse is emitted. The speed of ultrasound in the metal is $5200\,\text{m s}^{-1}$. Calculate the distance $x$ between the crack and the lower surface of the metal?

Sound

A $12\,\text{V}$ battery is connected to a resistor with resistance $100\,\Omega$. How much charge flows through the resistor in $30\,\text{minutes}$?

Electrical current

A circuit includes a resistor placed between the positive terminal and the negative terminal of a power supply. Which row shows the direction of conventional current and the direction in which free electrons move in the resistor?

Electrical current

Which statement explains why a heavy coin, as it drops a short distance towards the ground, does not attain terminal velocity?

Balanced and unbalanced forces

The graph illustrates the way the resistance of a thermistor changes with temperature. The thermistor is at a temperature of $10\,^{\circ}\text{C}$ and is linked in series with a fixed resistor whose resistance is $20\,\Omega$. What is the total resistance of the two components together?

Series and parallel circuits

Every resistor in the circuit diagram has a resistance of $6.0\,\Omega$. What is the total resistance of the circuit?

Series and parallel circuits

An alternating current (a.c.) generator is linked to an oscilloscope. The diagram illustrates the trace that appears on the oscilloscope screen. What possible angles could there be between the plane of the coil and the direction of the magnetic field at the instants shown by points 1, 2 and 3?

The a.c. generator

A beam of beta particles moving vertically downward enters the magnetic field between two magnetic poles. The beta particles experience a force because of the magnetic field. What is the direction of the force on a beta particle as it enters the magnetic field?

Forces on a current-carrying conductor

A step-up transformer is placed between a power station and a long-distance electricity transmission cable. What is the role of the step-up transformer, and does it work with alternating current (a.c.) or with direct current (d.c.)?

The transformer

Each diagram represents the nucleus of an atom. Which of the diagrams depict isotopes of the same element?

The nucleus

A radioactive nucleus $X$ undergoes decay to form another radioactive nucleus. Following several decays, a stable nucleus $Q$ is formed. The proton number (atomic number) of $X$ is the same as that of $Q$. The nucleon number (mass number) of $X$ exceeds that of $Q$ by four. Which radiations are emitted to form $Q$?

The three types of emission

The graph presents the findings from an experiment used to determine the count rate of a radioactive isotope. What is the half-life of the isotope?

Half-life

In fission, a uranium-235 (U-235) nucleus takes in one neutron and splits into two daughter nuclei plus three neutrons. Krypton-92 (Kr-92) is one of the daughter nuclei, and it has 92 nucleons. How many nucleons are in the other daughter nucleus?

Fission and fusion

A planet’s orbital speed about the Sun is $v$ and its orbital period is $T$. Jupiter is located farther from the Sun than the Earth. Which planet has the larger value of $v$, and which planet has the larger value of $T$?

Earth and the Solar System

The diagram displays the load-extension graph for a spring. What is the name given to point $X$ on the graph?

Elastic deformation

What place does the Earth hold in the sequence of planets from the Sun?

The Solar System

A group of students measures the masses and volumes of wood samples of different sizes. Which graph represents their results?

Density

The diagram depicts one part of a roller coaster track that forms a vertical circle. At the point shown, the truck is travelling at constant speed. Which arrow indicates the direction of the resultant force acting on the truck?

Circular motion

What is one possible unit of momentum?

Momentum

During a safety test, a car impacts a concrete block. The impulse applied by the block to the car is $14\,000\,\text{N s}$. The impact with the block takes $70\,\text{ms}$. Calculate the force on the car.

Momentum

An object being pulled across level ground speeds up towards the right. The diagram indicates the directions of the forces acting on the object. Which force is multiplied by the distance travelled to calculate the work done in increasing the kinetic energy store?

Work

Which list consists only of vector quantities?

Physical quantities and measurement techniques

Which row states the definition of work done and the unit used for work done?

Work

A hammer drives a nail into a block of wood. The nail’s weight is negligible. The hammer applies a force $F_H$ and a pressure $p_H$ to the nail. The nail applies a force $F_W$ and a pressure $p_W$ to the wood. How do these forces and pressures compare?

Pressure

The pressure at a point below the surface of a liquid depends on how deep the point is and on the liquid’s density. Which two changes both make the pressure below the surface of a liquid larger?

Pressure

The diagram illustrates a cylinder that contains air. The piston can move freely within the cylinder, and atmospheric pressure acts on the outside of the cylinder. When the air inside the cylinder is heated, the piston shifts to the right. Which quantity decreases?

Thermal expansion of solids, liquids and gases

A fixed mass of air occupies a volume of $150\ \text{cm}^3$ and is at a pressure of $120\ \text{kPa}$. The volume of the air is then altered to $100\ \text{cm}^3$. The temperature of the air stays constant. What is the air’s new pressure?

Particle model

The diagram illustrates four state changes, W, X, Y and Z. Which row correctly names these four changes of state?

States of matter

The diagram depicts a metal pan resting on a hotplate. The hotplate supplies heat to the pan. How is thermal energy passed from the hotplate to the metal pan?

Conduction

A beaker containing cold water is warmed at the bottom. What occurs to the water that is heated?

Convection

At a single instant, the graph illustrates the pressure changes along a sound wave. Which point on the diagram shows a rarefaction, and what is the wavelength of the sound wave?

Sound

A cork floating on the water’s surface rises and falls as a wave travels over the surface. The diagram shows how the cork’s height above the mean level of the surface changes with time. The numerical value of the wavelength of this wave is the same as the numerical value of the amplitude of this wave. What is the speed of the wave?

General properties of waves

The diagram presents the distance-time graph of an object in motion. What description matches the moving object?

Motion

As a water wave moves from deep water into shallow water in a ripple tank, what change occurs to its speed and to its wavelength?

General properties of waves

A ray of light is shown striking a plane mirror in the diagram. What are the angle of incidence and the angle of reflection?

Reflection of light

A light ray travelling in glass strikes the surface at an angle $c$. Angle $c$ is the critical angle. Which diagram shows the effect on the light?

Refraction of light

An object $O$ is positioned between a converging lens and one principal focus $F$ of the lens. What magnification is produced by the image formed?

Thin lenses

Which statement comparing red light with violet light is correct?

Light

Ultrasound is used to clean jewellery in a liquid bath. State one other use of ultrasound.

Sound

A ship at rest on the sea surface sends sound pulses straight down to the sea bed. Each pulse that is reflected by the sea bed is detected after $1.0\,\text{ s}$ has elapsed since it was transmitted. When a whale passes beneath the boat, the received pulse arrives after $0.60\,\text{ s}$. The speed of sound in sea water is $1500\,\text{m s}^{-1}$. How far above the sea bed is the whale?

Sound

Which row gives a description of ultrasound waves?

Sound

A quantity is described as the work carried out by a source to move unit charge all the way around a complete circuit. Name the quantity and state its unit.

Electromotive force and potential difference

A student sets up the circuit shown. The switch $S$ is then closed. What does the voltmeter read?

Electromotive force and potential difference

The speed-time graph for a skydiver in free fall is shown below. During the descent, he extends his arms and legs, and then deploys his parachute. Which section of the graph indicates that the skydiver is falling at terminal velocity?

Motion

As shown, two resistors joined in series form a potential divider. Their resistances are $R_1$ and $R_2$, and the potential differences across them are $V_1$ and $V_2$ respectively. Which expression is equal to $\frac{V_1}{V_2}$?

Series and parallel circuits

A current of $1.5\,\text{A}$ flows through a $4.0\,\Omega$ resistor. What amount of energy is converted from electrical energy to thermal energy in $1.0$ minute?

Electrical quantities

A square coil is situated in a horizontal uniform magnetic field. The coil’s plane is at right angles to the magnetic field. The coil is then turned about an axis passing through point $P$ at a constant rate. The coil turns through $180^{\circ}$. Which diagram shows how the electromotive force (e.m.f.) induced in the coil changes as it turns through $180^{\circ}$?

Electromagnetic induction

Three items of apparatus made from magnetic materials are shown below. 1 the core of a transformer 2 the needle of a compass 3 iron filings used to reveal a magnetic field pattern Which of these items behave as temporary magnets while they are being used?

Simple magnetism and magnetic fields

Students are required to propose factors that influence the rotational speed of a direct current (d.c.) motor. Three suggestions are given below. 1 the strength of the magnetic field 2 the current 3 the number of turns on the coil Which of these suggestions are correct?

The d.c. motor

A transformer is being used to supply a lamp. The secondary coil has more turns than the primary coil. Which statement is correct?

The transformer

Within an electric field, a beta ($\beta$)-particle moves along the route illustrated. Which route would an alpha ($\alpha$)-particle, moving at the same speed, take?

The three types of emission

Which row indicates the sign of the charge on an atom's nucleus and the sign of the charge carried by an electron?

The atom

An isotope’s half-life is $6000$ years. How long does it take for the count rate from a sample of the isotope to fall to $\frac{1}{16}$ of its starting value?

Half-life

Approximately how long does light take to travel from the Sun to the Earth?

The Solar System

A car driver who is moving in a straight line at constant speed notices a hazard in the road ahead at time $= 0$. The speed-time graph shows the way the car’s speed varies from time $= 0$. Three students give their ideas about what area $X$ and area $Y$ mean. student 1: Area $X$ shows the thinking distance. student 2: Area $Y$ shows the stopping distance. student 3: Area $X$ + area $Y$ shows the stopping distance. Which students are correct?

Motion

At what position in the Solar System is the asteroid belt located?

The Solar System

The diagram illustrates a graph of load plotted against extension for a material. At which point does the limit of proportionality occur?

Elastic deformation

There is no atmosphere on the Moon. On the Moon, two spheres made of metal have the same volume but different masses, and both are initially at rest at the same height above the ground. They are released at the same time. What is the motion of the spheres after they are released?

Motion

A student measures the density of a small rock. The weight of the small rock is $1.2\,\text{N}$. She adds $100\,\text{cm}^3$ of water to a measuring cylinder. She then lowers the rock carefully into the $100\,\text{cm}^3$ of water. The measuring cylinder now reads $147\,\text{cm}^3$. What is the density of the rock?

Density

A stone with mass $20\,\text{kg}$ moves through space at a speed of $6.0\,\text{m s}^{-1}$. What is its kinetic energy?

Energy

Which row identifies one benefit and one drawback of using nuclear fuel to produce electrical power?

Fission and fusion

Fig. 1.1 shows a skydiver dropping straight down through the air. During the first part of the descent, her speed rises while her acceleration falls. During the second part of the descent, her speed stays the same.

Motion

An airline passenger wants to check the weight of a suitcase he is carrying as hand luggage on to an aeroplane. He balances a uniform wooden plank, pivoted at its centre, as shown in Fig. 2.1. The plank is in equilibrium with the suitcase on one side of the pivot and three bags of sugar, each with mass $2.0\,\text{kg}$, on the opposite side. The distances are shown in Fig. 2.1.

Turning effect of forces

As illustrated in Fig. 3.1, a battery, a pulley and a motor are used to raise a load.

Energy, work and power

Water evaporating from the skin’s surface leads to cooling. If a refrigerator is turned on, the cooling coils at the top of the inside space become cold. A convection current is then produced, which cools the air inside the refrigerator.

Thermal properties and temperature

Fig. 5.1 is a diagram of how the air particles are arranged as a longitudinal wave moves through them.

General properties of waves

A student assembles a circuit to find the resistance of a piece of wire. The circuit includes a battery with unknown e.m.f., a length of wire used as resistor X, an ammeter, a voltmeter and a variable resistor R.

Resistance

Fig. 7.1 depicts an a.c. power supply linked to a transformer.

The transformer

Plutonium-239 ($^{239}_{94}\text{Pu}$) is an isotope that serves as fuel in some nuclear reactors.

Radioactivity

A star’s life cycle starts when a huge cloud of dust and gas collapses.

Stars

A ball is released beside a vertical scale labelled in centimetres. A video of the drop records the ball's position on the scale every 0.10 s. The ball's fallen distance is indicated by its position on the scale. Table 1.1 presents the results.

Motion

Fig. 2.1 presents a fork-lift truck being used to raise a load. While the load is being lifted, the electric motor on the fork-lift truck has a useful output power of 600 W.

Energy, work and power

Fig. 3.1 shows a car tyre that has gone flat. It needs inflating.

Pressure

The sound wave from a vibrating tuning fork is shown on the oscilloscope in Fig. 4.1. It is picked up by a microphone.

Sound

A student builds the circuit illustrated in Fig. 5.1 in order to determine the resistance of a length of wire. The circuit has four identical cells. When the switch is closed, the student notices that both meters give zero. This is because the arrangement shown in Fig. 5.1 is unsuitable for carrying out the measurement.

Resistance

Fig. 6.1 illustrates part of a mains circuit containing three lamps and a heater.

Electrical safety

Fig. 7.1 depicts a basic d.c. motor. The poles at the ends of the magnets have not been labelled.

The d.c. motor

Fig. 8.1 shows a diagram of a nuclear reactor. Nuclear fission takes place in the fuel rods, which become hotter as a result. Thermal energy is transferred to the coolant flowing around the rods.

Fission and fusion

Fig. 9.1 presents the comet’s path, along with Earth’s orbit and Jupiter’s orbit about the Sun. The comet is at position 3 when Earth is at position 5.

The Solar System

A student carries out an investigation into the resistance of a lamp.

Resistance

A student examines the light reflected by a plane mirror.

Reflection of light

A student is studying how long water takes to pass through a small opening in the base of a can. The setup is arranged as shown in Fig. 3.1.

Physical quantities and measurement techniques

If a table tennis ball is released from the position shown in Fig. 4.1, it rises again after the impact. During the bounce, some of the ball’s starting gravitational potential energy (GPE) is transferred away. GPE is calculated with the equation $\text{GPE} = mgh$, where $m$ is the mass of the ball, $g$ is the gravitational field strength and $h$ is the height above the bench from which the ball is released.

Energy

A student studies how a ray of light is refracted as it travels through a transparent block and finds the block’s refractive index $n$. The student’s ray-trace sheet is shown at full size in Fig. 1.1. The transparent block’s outline is drawn as rectangle ABCD. A line SR that intersects side AD of the block is also marked.

Refraction of light

A student explores how the resistance of a thermistor changes at different temperatures. The circuit in Fig. 2.1 is assembled by the student. The thermistor in Fig. 2.1 is placed in an empty beaker and is initially at room temperature.

Resistance

A student is examining how far a spring stretches. The student hangs the spring from the clamp on a retort stand, as illustrated in Fig. 3.1.

Elastic deformation

When a metal ball drops through a liquid, the liquid provides a frictional force on the ball that acts against the ball’s motion. Design an experiment to find out how the density of a liquid in a measuring cylinder is related to the average speed of a metal ball as it falls through the liquid from the surface to the base of the cylinder. The average speed of the ball is found from: average speed $= \dfrac{\text{distance travelled}}{\text{time taken}}$. The setup of the apparatus is shown in Fig. 4.1.

Density