Cambridge Past Paper Questions
Browse 23,045questions from 25 years of O-Level & A-Level exams. Click any question to practice.
The prefixes nano (n), micro (μ) and pico (p) are often used with units. Which row shows their correct values?
A crane has an arm to which is attached a frictionless pulley. A cable passes over the pulley and supports a load of 10 kN as shown. [Figure 2.1] T...
The SI unit of specific heat capacity is J kg⁻¹ K⁻¹. What is the unit of specific heat capacity expressed in SI base units?
Quantity X has a fractional uncertainty of x. Quantity Y has a fractional uncertainty of y. What is the fractional uncertainty in \frac{X}{Y^2}?
PQR and XYZ are wires in a circuit. A galvanometer connects Q and Y as a null indicator. [Figure 5.1] When the galvanometer reads zero, which state...
An object has an initial velocity u and an acceleration a. The object moves in a straight line through a displacement s and has final velocity v. T...
A car is travelling at constant velocity. Its brakes are then applied, causing uniform deceleration. Which graph shows the variation with distance ...
A ball is thrown across a flat field. [Figure 8.1] Which statement describes the motion of the ball, when the effects of air resistance are ignored?
Which statement defines force?
A particle of mass m, travelling with speed u, collides with a stationary particle of mass M. The velocities of the two particles before and after ...
An object falls freely from rest in a vacuum. The graph shows the variation with time t of the velocity v of the object. [Figure 11.1] Which graph,...
The diagram shows a uniform beam PQ. The length of the beam is 3.0 m and its weight is 50 N. The beam is supported on a pivot 1.0 m from end P. A l...
Two forces, each of magnitude F, act at points V and W on an object. The two forces form a couple. The shape of the object is a right-angled triang...
A giant squid of length 20.0 m is vertical in seawater, with the top of the squid at a depth of 8.00 m. The density of seawater is 1050 kg m⁻³. Wha...
The force diagram shows an aircraft accelerating. At the instant shown, the velocity of the aircraft is 40 m s⁻¹. [Figure 15.1] At which rate is it...
A man is running in a straight line. What is an approximate value of his kinetic energy?
The pump of a water pumping system uses 2.0 kW of electrical power when raising water. The pumping system lifts 16 kg of water per second through a...
A metal wire is stretched by a load. The force-extension graph is shown. [Figure 18.1] What is represented by the area under the whole graph?
The Young modulus of steel is twice that of copper. A 50 cm length of copper wire of diameter 2.0 mm is joined to a 50 cm length of steel wire of d...
With which types of wave can the Doppler shift be observed?
A distant star is receding from the Earth with a speed of 1.40 × 10⁷ m s⁻¹. It emits light of frequency 4.57 × 10¹⁴ Hz. The speed of light is 3.00 ...
The graph shows the variation with time of the displacement of two separate waves X and Y. [Figure 22.1] Wave X has frequency f and amplitude A. Wh...
Diffraction is a term used to describe one aspect of wave behaviour. What does diffraction make possible?
The diagram represents the pattern of stationary waves formed by the superposition of sound waves from a loudspeaker and their reflection from a me...
A musical instrument called a bugle is a long tube with a mouthpiece at one end. The other end is open and flared, as shown. [Figure 25.1] A musici...
Monochromatic light of wavelength 5.30 × 10⁻⁷ m is incident normally on a diffraction grating. The first order maximum is observed at an angle of 1...
The diagram shows an electron in a uniform electric field. In which direction will the field accelerate the electron? [Figure 27.1]
The electric field strength at a certain distance from an isolated alpha particle is 3.0 × 10⁷ N C⁻¹. What is the force on an electron when at that...
Two large parallel plates X and Y are placed a distance of 5.0 mm apart and connected to the terminals of a 200 V d.c. supply, as shown. [Figure 29...
An electrical conductor has a resistance of 5.6 kΩ. A potential difference (p.d.) of 9.0 V is applied across its ends. How many electrons pass a po...
A fixed resistor of resistance 12 Ω is connected to a battery. There is a current of 0.20 A in the resistor. The current is now doubled. What is th...
Which measurements are taken in order to calculate the resistivity of the metal of a piece of wire?
A 12 V battery is charged for 20 minutes by connecting it to a source of electromotive force (e.m.f.). The battery is supplied with 7.2 × 10³ J of ...
Three cells with e.m.f.s V₁, V₂ and V₃, have negligible internal resistance. These cells are connected to three resistors with resistances R₁, R₂ a...
Three resistors, each of resistance R, are connected in a network, as shown. [Figure 35.1] The total resistance between points X and Y is 8.0 Ω. Wh...
In deriving a formula for the combined resistance of three different resistors in series, Kirchhoff's laws are used. Which physics principle is inv...
The battery of a car has an internal resistance of 0.10 Ω and an electromotive force of 12 V. When the battery is connected to the starter motor, t...
A sample of an isotope emits β⁻ particles. The emitted β⁻ particles have a range of energies. What must also be emitted?
A nucleus of magnesium decays into a nucleus of sodium by emitting a β⁺ particle. The decay is represented by the equation shown. ²³P Mg → Q Na + ⁰...
Thorium-234 (²³⁴₉₀ Th) decays by β⁻ emission into a daughter product which in turn decays by a further β⁻ emission into a granddaughter product. Wh...
Which expression has the same SI base units as pressure?
What is an approximate value for the speed of sound in air?
A pendulum bob is held stationary by a horizontal force H. The three forces acting on the bob are shown in the diagram. The tension in the string o...
A student is investigating an electrical signal using a cathode-ray oscilloscope (c.r.o). The frequency of the signal is 50 kHz. Which time-base se...
A student wishes to measure a distance of about 10 cm to a precision of 0.01 cm. Which measuring instrument should be used?
An aircraft, initially stationary on a runway, takes off with a speed of 85 km h⁻¹ in a distance of no more than 1.20 km. What is the minimum const...
A radio-controlled toy car travels along a straight line for a time of 15s. The variation with time t of the velocity v of the car is shown. [Figur...
The acceleration of free fall on Pluto is 0.66 m s⁻². An object weighs 6.0 N on Earth. What would this object weigh on Pluto?
Water flows out of a pipe and hits a wall. [Figure showing pipe, water jet, wall, velocity v, cross-sectional area A] When the jet of water hits th...
A stationary firework explodes into three pieces. The masses and the velocities of the three pieces immediately after the explosion are shown. [Fig...