Cambridge Past Paper Questions

What is correct for all transverse waves?

A transmitter of electromagnetic waves is placed 45 cm from a reflective surface. [Figure showing a transmitter and a reflective surface 45 cm apa...

A teacher sets up the apparatus shown to demonstrate a two-slit interference pattern on the screen. [Figure showing a double-slit experiment setup...

Two conducting layers of a liquid crystal display of a calculator are 8 µm apart. A 1.5V cell is connected across the conducting layers when the ca...

A positively-charged particle is projected into a uniform electric field. Which diagram represents the path of the particle in the electric field?

A power cable has length 2000m. The cable is made of twelve parallel strands of copper wire, each with diameter 0.51 mm. What is the resistance of...

A low-voltage supply with an e.m.f. of 20 V and an internal resistance of 1.5 Ω is used to supply power to a heater of resistance 6.5 Ω in a fish t...

A filament lamp has a resistance of 180 Ω when the current in it is 500 mA. What is the power transformed in the lamp?

Two wires P and Q made of the same material are connected to the same electrical supply. P has twice the length of Q and one-third of the diameter ...

A 12V battery is in series with an ammeter, a 2Ω fixed resistor and a 0-10Ω variable resistor. High-resistance voltmeters P and Q are connected acr...

Five resistors are connected as shown. [Figure showing a resistor network with 20Ω, 8.0Ω, 6.0Ω, 8.0Ω, 7.0Ω resistors between points P and Q] What...

In the circuit below, the reading Vₜ on the voltmeter changes from high to low as the temperature of the thermistor changes. The reading Vₗ on the ...

What is the approximate mass of an alpha particle?

An actinium nucleus has a nucleon number of 227 and a proton number of 89. It decays to form a radium nucleus, emitting a beta particle and an alph...

The maximum theoretical power P of a wind turbine is given by the equation P = kpAvⁿ where ρ is the density of air, A is the area swept by the turb...

What is the unit of resistance when expressed in SI base units?

A quantity y is to be determined from the equation shown. y = px/q² The percentage uncertainties in p, x and q are shown. [Table 4.1] What is the...

A thermometer can be read to an accuracy of ±0.5°C. This thermometer is used to measure a temperature rise from 40°C to 100 °C. What is the percent...

Two train carriages each of mass 5000 kg roll toward one another on a level track. One is travelling at 2.00 m s⁻¹ and the other at 1.00 m s⁻¹, as ...

A resultant force causes a body to accelerate. What is equal to the resultant force?

A ship of mass 8.4 × 10⁷ kg is approaching a harbour with speed 16.4 m s⁻¹. By using reverse thrust it can maintain a constant total stopping force...

A tractor of mass 1000 kg is connected by a tow-bar to a trailer of mass 1000 kg. The total resistance to motion has a constant value of 4000 N. On...

The graph shows the variation with time of the speed of a raindrop falling vertically through air. [Figure 11.1] Which statement is correct?

A tiny oil droplet with mass 6.9 × 10⁻¹³ kg is at rest in an electric field of electric field strength 2.1 × 10⁷ N C⁻¹, as shown. [Figure 12.1] The...

The diagram shows four forces applied to a circular object. [Figure 13.1] Which of the following describes the resultant force and resultant torque...

A mass at point X inside a uniform gravitational field experiences a gravitational force of 0.200 N. It has 1.00 J of gravitational potential energ...

A small mass is placed at point P on the inside surface of a smooth hemisphere. It is then released from rest. When it reaches the lowest point T, ...

If the Universe was such that the speed of the molecules in a substance increased with temperature but at any particular temperature the speed of a...

Liquid Q has twice the density of liquid R. At depth x in liquid R, the pressure due to the liquid is 4 kPa. At what depth in liquid Q is the press...

A sample of metal is subjected to a force which increases to a maximum value and then decreases back to zero. A force-extension graph for the sampl...

The graph shows the length of a spring as it is stretched by an increasing load. [Figure 20.1] What is the spring constant?

What, to two significant figures, are the period, the frequency and the amplitude of the wave represented by the graph? [Figure 22.1]

A sound wave consists of a series of moving pressure variations from the normal, constant air pressure. The graph shows these pressure variations f...

The diagram shows a vertical cross-section through a water wave moving from left to right. [Figure 24.1] At which point is the water moving upwards...

The principle of superposition states that a certain quantity is added when two or more waves meet at a point. What is this quantity?

Light passes through a diffraction grating ruled at 1000 lines per cm and the same wavelength of light also passes through two narrow slits 0.5 mm ...

The diagram shows an experiment which has been set up to demonstrate two-source interference. Microwaves of wavelength λ pass through two slits S₁ ...

Two oppositely-charged horizontal metal plates are placed in a vacuum. A positively-charged particle starts from rest and moves from one plate to t...

A battery of electromotive force (e.m.f.) V and negligible internal resistance is connected to a 1 kΩ resistor, as shown. [Figure 30.1] A student a...

A copper wire is to be replaced by an aluminium alloy wire of the same length and resistance. Copper has half the resistivity of the alloy. What is...

The diagram shows an electric pump for a garden fountain connected by an 18 m cable to a 230 V mains electrical supply. [Figure 32.1] The performan...

Cell X has an e.m.f. of 2.0 V and an internal resistance of 2.0 Ω. Cell Y has an e.m.f. of 1.6 V and an internal resistance of 1.2 Ω. These two cel...

In the circuit shown, a light-dependent resistor (LDR) is connected to two resistors R₁ and R₂. The potential difference (p.d.) across R₁ is V₁ and...

A power supply and a solar cell are compared using the potentiometer circuit shown. [Figure 35.1] The e.m.f. produced by the solar cell is measured...

In the circuit shown, all the resistors are identical. [Figure 36.1] The reading on voltmeter V₁ is 8.0 V and the reading on voltmeter V₂ is 1.0 V....

The diagram shows a light-dependent resistor (LDR) and a thermistor forming a potential divider. [Figure 37.1] Under which set of conditions will t...

A nucleus X decays into a nucleus Y by emitting an alpha particle followed by two beta particles. Which statement about this nuclear decay is correct?

A slow-moving neutron collides with a nucleus of uranium-235. This results in a nuclear reaction that is represented by the following nuclear equat...

The first artificial radioactive substance was made by bombarding aluminium, ²⁷₁₃Al, with α-particles. This produced an unstable isotope of phospho...

Which definition is correct and uses only quantities rather than units?