Cambridge Past Paper Questions
Browse 23,045questions from 25 years of O-Level & A-Level exams. Click any question to practice.
A spherical object falls through water at constant speed. Three forces act on the object. Which diagram, showing these three forces to scale, is co...
A uniform metre rule of weight 2.0 N is pivoted at the 60 cm mark. A 4.0 N load is suspended from one end, causing the rule to rotate about the piv...
The vertical forces that the ground exerts on a stationary van are shown. [Figure showing a van with two upward forces and dimensions] The van is 2...
An object hangs by means of two cords around two rods, as shown. [Figure showing an object suspended by two cords around two rods, with forces F₁, ...
Which force is caused only by a pressure difference?
The total energy input Eᵢₙ in a process is partly transferred to useful energy output U and partly transferred to energy that is wasted W. What is ...
A gas is enclosed inside a cylinder which is fitted with a frictionless piston. [Figure showing a piston in a cylinder with gas, initial volume V₁,...
A projectile is thrown at an angle to the ground. [Figure showing a projectile path with horizontal velocity 23.0 m s⁻¹ and vertical velocity -10.1...
A car of mass 1400 kg is travelling on a straight, horizontal road at a constant speed of 25 m s⁻¹. The output power from the car's engine is 30 kW...
Two wires X and Y are made of different metals. The Young modulus of wire X is twice that of wire Y. The diameter of wire X is half that of wire Y....
A weight of 120 kN is placed on top of a metal column. The length of the column is compressed by 0.25 mm. The column obeys Hooke's law when compres...
What is the relationship between the amplitude of a wave and its intensity?
Which statement about light waves and sound waves is correct?
The diagram shows two waves R and S. [Figure showing displacement vs time graph for two waves R and S] Wave R has an amplitude of 8 cm and a period...
A source of sound waves is travelling as shown. In which situation would the stationary observer detect the largest decrease in the observed freque...
M and N are two electromagnetic waves. The ratio wavelength of M wavelength of N = 10⁵. What could M and N be?
A progressive wave is incident normally on a flat reflector. The reflected wave overlaps with the incident wave and a stationary wave is formed. At...
A monochromatic plane wave of speed c and wavelength λ is diffracted at a small aperture. The diagram illustrates successive wavefronts. [Figure sh...
In an experiment to demonstrate two-source interference of light, a beam of light is split into two beams using two slits 0.50 mm apart. These two ...
Two positive charges and one negative charge, all of equal magnitude, are set at the corners of an equilateral triangle. Which diagram best represe...
A constant potential difference is applied between two horizontal metal plates. A charged oil droplet is held stationary by the electric field betw...
An electric current I is given in the list of formulae on page 3 as I = Anvq. What do each of the symbols represent for an electric current in a me...
The potential difference across a resistor is 12 V. The current in the resistor is 2.0 A. A charge of 4.0 C passes through the resistor. What is th...
A coil contains N turns of insulated copper wire wound on to a cylindrical iron core of diameter D. The copper wire has a diameter d. The resistivi...
Two cells are connected to a load resistor of resistance 3.0 Ω. The electromotive force (e.m.f). and the internal resistance of each of the cells i...
Six resistors, each of resistance R, are connected as shown. [Figure showing six resistors, three in parallel, then two in series, then one in seri...
A potential divider consists of two resistors of resistances R₁ and R₂ connected in series across a source of potential difference (p.d.) Vᵢₙ. The ...
Which row describes the relative ionizing power and the relative penetration power per unit length in air of α-particles and γ-rays?
A nucleus of sodium-21, ²¹₁₁Na, decays to form a new nucleus containing 10 protons and 11 neutrons. Which leptons are emitted from the sodium-21 nu...
A neutron decays to form a proton. Which particle is not involved in the decay process?
A floating sphere is attached by a cable to the bottom of a river, as shown in [Figure 1.2]. The sphere is in equilibrium, with the cable at an ang...
Two blocks, A and B, are on a horizontal frictionless surface. The blocks are joined together by a spring, as shown in [Figure 2.1]. Block A has ma...
A car travels in a straight line up a slope, as shown in [Figure 3.1]. The car has mass 850 kg and travels with a constant speed of 9.0 m s⁻¹. The ...
A child sits on a rotating horizontal platform in a playground. The child moves with a constant speed along a circular path, as illustrated in [Fig...
An electron is travelling in a straight line through a vacuum with a constant speed of 1.5 × 10⁷ m s⁻¹. The electron enters a uniform electric fiel...
Three resistors of resistances R₁, R₂ and R₃ are connected as shown in [Figure 6.1]. The total current in the combination of resistors is I and the...
A nucleus of bismuth-212 (²¹²Bi) decays by the emission of an α-particle and γ-radiation.
In this experiment, you will investigate forces on a wooden strip in equilibrium.
In this experiment, you will investigate the friction between string and a plastic pipe.
Answer all the questions in the spaces provided. (b) A rocket is launched from the surface of a planet and moves along a radial path, as shown in ...
The first law of thermodynamics can be represented by the expression ΔU = q + w. (b) A fixed mass of an ideal gas undergoes a cycle ABCA of chan...
A uniform beam is clamped at one end. A metal block of mass m is fixed to the other end of the beam causing it to bend, as shown in Fig. 3.1. clam...
Explain the main principles of the generation of ultrasound waves for medical use.
(b) An optic fibre of length 57km is connected between a transmitter and a receiver, as shown in Fig. 5.1. transmitter signal power 15 × 10⁻³ W ...
(b) A positive point charge +Q is positioned at a fixed point X and an identical positive point charge is positioned at a fixed point Y, as shown i...
(b) In a strain gauge, the increase in resistance ΔR depends on the increase in length ΔL. The variation of ΔR with ΔL is shown in Fig. 7.1. 8 ΔR/...
(b) A particle of charge +q and mass m is travelling in a vacuum with speed v. The particle enters, at a right angle, a uniform magnetic field of f...
An ideal transformer is shown in Fig. 9.1. input primary coil 1200 turns Fig.9.1 core output secondary coil (b) An alternating voltage o...
(b) Light in a beam has a continuous spectrum that lies within the visible region. The photons of light have energies ranging from 1.60 eV to 2.60 ...
Use band theory to explain why, unlike a copper wire, the resistance of an intrinsic semiconductor decreases with an increase of temperature.