Cambridge Past Paper Questions
Browse 23,045questions from 25 years of O-Level & A-Level exams. Click any question to practice.
A beam of light consists of a continuous range of wavelengths from 420 nm to 740 nm. The light passes through a cloud of cool gas, as shown in Fig....
One possible nuclear reaction that takes place in a nuclear reactor is given by the equation ²³⁵₉₂U + ¹₀n → ¹³⁹₅₇La + ⁹⁵₄₂Mo + 2¹₀n + x⁰₋₁e Data fo...
The pressure p and volume V of an ideal gas are related to the density ρ of the gas by the expression p = ¹/₃ρ(c²).
A bar magnet of mass 250 g is suspended from the free end of a spring, as illustrated in Fig. 3.1. [Figure 3.1] The magnet hangs so that one pole i...
A capacitor consists of two parallel metal plates, separated by an insulator, as shown in Fig. 7.1. [Figure 7.1]
A student designs a circuit incorporating an operational amplifier (op-amp) as shown in Fig. 8.1. [Figure 8.1]
A Hall probe is placed near to one end of a current-carrying solenoid, as shown in Fig. 9.1. [Figure 9.1] The probe is rotated about the axis XY an...
An electron has charge –q and mass m. It is accelerated from rest in a vacuum through a potential difference V.
One nuclear reaction that can take place in a nuclear reactor may be represented, in part, by the equation ²³⁵₉₂U + ¹₀n → ⁹⁵₄₂Mo + ¹³⁹₅₇La + 2¹₀n ...
The Earth and the Moon may be considered to be uniform spheres that are isolated in space. The Earth has radius R and mean density ρ. The Moon, mas...
A bar magnet of mass 180 g is suspended from the free end of a spring, as illustrated in Fig. 2.1. spring magnet coil [Figure 2.1] The magnet hangs...
A student is investigating the motion of a wooden block on an inclined plane, as shown in Fig. 1.1. A falling body causes the wooden block to accel...
A student is investigating how the time for an electrical pulse to travel in a coaxial cable varies with the length of the cable. The pulse is refl...
A student is investigating the motion of a small cube on a turntable connected to an electric motor as shown in Fig. 1.1. [Figure 1.1] The cube i...
A student is investigating the current in a circuit. The circuit is set up as shown in Fig. 2.1. [Figure 2.1] Two resistors P and Q are connected...
A sheet of gold leaf has a thickness of 0.125 µm. A gold atom has a radius of 174 pm. Approximately how many layers of atoms are there in the sheet?
The drag coefficient Cd is a number with no units. It is used to compare the drag on different cars at different speeds. Cd is given by the equatio...
A student measures the current through a resistor and the potential difference (p.d.) across it. There is a 4% uncertainty in the current reading a...
A student applies a potential difference V of (4.0 ± 0.1)V across a resistor of resistance R of (10.0 ± 0.3)Ω for a time t of (50 ± 1)s. The stude...
The velocity of an object changes with time t as shown. [Graph] Which graph best shows the variation with time t of the displacement s of the object?
A projectile is launched at an angle to the horizontal at time t = 0. It travels over horizontal ground, as shown. [Diagram] Assume that air resis...
A sky-diver falls vertically from a helicopter and reaches constant (terminal) velocity. The graph shows the variation with time t of the speed v o...
A tennis ball of mass 55g is travelling horizontally with a speed of 30ms⁻¹. The ball makes contact with a wall before rebounding in the horizontal...
An elastic collision occurs between two bodies X and Y. The mass of body X is m and the mass of body Y is 4m. Body X travels at speed v before the ...
The density of water is 1.0 g cm⁻³ and the density of glycerine is 1.3 g cm⁻³. Water is added to a measuring cylinder containing 40 cm³ of glyceri...
An astronaut throws a stone horizontally near to the surface of the Moon, where there is no atmosphere. Which row describes the horizontal and ver...
A cylindrical block of wood has cross-sectional area A and weight W. It is totally immersed in water with its axis vertical. The block experiences ...
A uniform diving-board is held by two fixed rods at points P and Q. A person stands at end R of the diving-board, as shown. [Diagram] The forces e...
Two forces, each of magnitude F, act in opposite directions on a rod. [Diagram] Each force acts on the rod at a distance d from the pivot P. What...
The vector diagram shows three coplanar forces acting on an object at P. [Diagram] The magnitude of the resultant of these three forces is 1 N. W...
In 'normal driving conditions', an electric car has a range of 150 km. This uses all of the 200 MJ of energy stored in its batteries. With the bat...
The diagram shows a ball of weight W hanging in equilibrium from a string. [Diagram] The string is at an angle θ to the vertical. The tension in t...
A steel sphere is dropped vertically onto a horizontal metal plate. The sphere hits the plate with speed u, leaves it at speed v, and rebounds vert...
A car of mass 500 kg is at rest at point X on a slope, as shown. [Diagram] The car's brakes are released and the car rolls down the slope with its...
An elastic material with Young modulus E is subjected to a tensile stress S. Hooke's law is obeyed. What is the expression for the elastic energy ...
The graph shows the length of a spring as it is stretched by an increasing load. [Graph] What is the spring constant of the spring?
Two lasers emit light in a vacuum. One laser emits red light and the other emits green light. Which property of the two laser beams must be differ...
The diagram shows the screen of a cathode-ray oscilloscope (c.r.o.) displaying a wave. [Diagram] The time-base of the c.r.o. is set at 10 ms/divis...
A string is fixed at one end and the other end is attached to a vibrator. The frequency of the vibrator is slowly increased from zero. A series of ...
Which region of the electromagnetic spectrum has waves of wavelength 1000 times smaller than the wavelength of visible light?
The diagram shows apparatus for the measurement of the frequency of a sound wave. [Diagram] Sound of the unknown frequency is reflected back from ...
An astronomer observes the light from a star that is moving away from the Earth. For the observed light, what has been increased due to the star's...
The diagram shows a stationary wave, at time t = 0, that has been set up on a string fixed between points P and S. [Diagram] The nodes of the stat...
A two-source interference experiment uses the apparatus shown. [Diagram] What is the main purpose of the single slit?
Two large parallel metal plates X and Y are situated in a vacuum as shown. [Diagram] Plates X and Y carry equal and opposite charges. What happen...