Cambridge Past Paper Questions
Browse 23,045questions from 25 years of O-Level & A-Level exams. Click any question to practice.
Two coplanar forces act on the rim of a wheel. The forces are equal in magnitude. Which arrangement of forces provides only a couple?
The density of air on the Earth decreases almost linearly with height from 1.22kg m⁻³ at sea level to 0.74 kg m⁻³ at an altitude of 5000 m. Atmosp...
A parachutist is falling at constant (terminal) velocity. Which statement is not correct?
A boy on a bicycle starts from rest and rolls down a hill inclined at 30° to the horizontal. The boy and bicycle have a combined mass of 25 kg. The...
An escalator in an underground station has 250 people standing on it and is moving with a velocity of 4.3 ms⁻¹. The average mass of a person is 78k...
An electric motor operating a lift has an output power of 20 kW. [Figure 19.1] The lift and passengers have a combined mass of 1500kg. The motor r...
A spring balance consists of a spring of length 20.0 cm with a hook attached. When a fish of mass 3.0 kg is suspended from the hook, the new length...
A metal wire is attached at one end to a fixed point and a load is hung from the other end so that the wire hangs vertically. The load is increased...
A microphone connected to the Y-plates of a cathode-ray oscilloscope (c.r.o.) is placed in front of a loudspeaker. The trace on the screen of the c...
A source of sound of frequency 1000 Hz moves away from a stationary observer at a speed of 30.0 ms⁻¹. The speed of sound is 330 ms⁻¹. What is the ...
Each of the principal radiations of the electromagnetic spectrum has a range of wavelengths. Which wavelength is correctly linked to its radiation?
A stationary wave is set up on a stretched string. The diagram shows the string at two instants of time when it has maximum displacement. [Figure 2...
Which statement is an example of the diffraction of light?
Sound waves of wavelength λ are emitted by a loudspeaker and pass through two slits P and Q. Two sound waves from the slits meet at R. [Figure 27.1...
Coherent light passes through a double slit, producing bright and dark fringes on a screen placed parallel to the plane of the double slit. The int...
Which diagram shows the pattern of the electric field between a positively charged metal sphere and a negatively charged metal plate?
Before a thunderstorm, the hairs on your head sometimes stand on end. A hair with mass 0.50mg and charge 1.0pC is supported by a force due to an e...
Two parallel metal plates, 4.0cm apart, are at electric potentials of 800V and 2000 V. Points X, Y and Z are situated in the space between the plat...
The potential difference V across a filament lamp is slowly raised from zero to its normal operating value. Which graph represents the variation w...
Two lamps are connected in series to a 250V power supply. One lamp is rated 240V, 60 W and the other is rated 10V, 2.5W. Which statement most accu...
Which equation is used to define resistance?
The charge that a fully charged 12V car battery can supply is 100 kC. The starter motor of the car requires a current of 200 A for an average perio...
A potential divider circuit is formed by connecting a battery of negligible internal resistance in series with two variable resistors, as shown. [F...
In the circuit shown, contact may be made at any point along the 3Ω resistor (potentiometer). [Figure 37.1] The battery has e.m.f. 9V and negligib...
The gold nucleus ¹⁸⁵₇₉Au undergoes alpha decay. What are the nucleon number and proton number of the nucleus formed by this decay?
Which row gives the correct classification of protons, electrons and neutrinos?
Which equation represents β⁺ decay?
What is the approximate average speed of a winning female Olympic athlete running a 100 m race?
Two forces act on a circular disc as shown. [Diagram shows a circular disc with two forces acting on it: 3N upwards from the top edge, and 4N to th...
What correctly expresses the volt in terms of SI base units?
The current in a block of semiconductor is 30.0 mA when there is a potential difference (p.d.) of 10.0 V across it. The dimensions of the block and...
A ball is set in motion at P on a frictionless surface. It moves up slope PQ, along the horizontal surface QR and finally descends slope RS. [Figur...
A rubber ball is dropped onto a table and bounces back up. The table exerts a force F on the ball. Which graph best shows the variation with time t...
A golf ball of mass m is dropped onto a hard surface from a height h₁ and rebounds to a height h₂. The momentum of the golf ball just as it reaches...
A book of weight W is at rest on a table. A student attempts to state Newton's third law of motion by saying that 'action equals reaction'. [Diagra...
A metal cylinder is suspended vertically in equilibrium by a cord. The diagram shows the cylinder in four different positions P, Q, R and S. [Figur...
In a machine, many couples act on a rotating object as shown. [Figure shows a rotating object with various forces and their distances from the cent...
A uniform beam is pivoted at P as shown. Weights of 10 N and 20 N are attached to its ends. The length of the beam is marked at 0.1 m intervals. Th...
What are the SI base units of the quantity pressure / density ?
Which quantities are conserved in an inelastic collision? [Table with columns: kinetic energy, total energy, linear momentum. Rows for A, B, C, D s...
A cyclist is travelling at a constant speed up a hill. The frictional force resisting the cyclist's motion is 8.0 N. The cyclist uses 450 J of ener...
A stone of mass m falls from rest at the top of a cliff of height h into the sea below. Just before hitting the sea the stone has speed v. What is ...
A railway engine accelerates a train of total mass 1200 tonnes (1 tonne = 1000 kg) from rest to a speed of 75 ms⁻¹. How much useful work must be do...
What is a correct derivation of the equation relating power, force and velocity?
A cable on a suspension bridge supports a weight of 19.3 × 10⁵ N. This weight causes the cable to stretch by 47 mm. A lorry crossing the bridge the...
What are the units of stress, strain and the Young modulus? [Table with columns: stress, strain, Young modulus. Rows for A, B, C, D show different ...
A rubber band is stretched and then relaxed to its original length. The diagram shows the force-extension graph for this process. [Figure shows a f...
Which statement about progressive longitudinal waves is not correct?
A bicycle gear wheel is a disc with 50 'teeth' equally spaced around its edge, as shown. The gear wheel is rotated 10 times each second. A springy ...
An ambulance travels along a straight road at a speed of 30.0 ms⁻¹. Its siren emits sound of frequency 2000 Hz. The speed of sound in the air is 34...