Cambridge Past Paper Questions

A stationary nucleus of uranium-238 (²³⁸U) decays to form a nucleus of thorium-234 (²³⁴Th). An α-particle and a gamma-ray photon are emitted. The e...

A student is investigating the speed of a vehicle on a track when a small ball is projected into the vehicle, as shown in Fig. 1.1. ball vehicle tr...

A student is investigating the potential difference in a circuit. The circuit is set up as shown in Fig. 2.1. E P Q V [Figure 2.1] Two resistors P ...

Which unit is equivalent to the coulomb?

Which row shows a quantity and an incorrect unit?

Two forces of equal magnitude are represented by two coplanar vectors. One is directed towards the east and the other is directed towards the north...

The density of paper is 800 kg m⁻³. A typical sheet of paper has a width of 210 mm and a length of 300 mm. The thickness of a pack of 500 sheets of...

A person calculates the potential difference across a wire by using the measurements shown. Which measured quantity has the greatest contribution t...

A cathode-ray oscilloscope (c.r.o.) is connected to an alternating voltage. The following trace is produced on the screen. [Figure 6.1] The oscillo...

A stone of mass m is dropped from a tall building. There is significant air resistance. The acceleration of free fall is g. When the stone is falli...

The velocity-time graph for an object is shown. [Figure 8.1] How can the total displacement of the object be determined?

A girl throws a ball vertically upwards. It takes a time of 3.20 s to return to her hand. Assume air resistance is negligible. What is the initial ...

Steel pellets, each with a mass of 0.60 g, fall vertically onto a horizontal plate at a rate of 100 pellets per minute. They strike the plate with ...

The diagram shows four forces applied to a circular object. [Figure 11.1] Which row describes the resultant force and resultant torque on the object?

A charged oil drop is held stationary between two charged parallel plates. [Figure 12.1] Which forces act on the oil drop?

In which example is it not possible for the underlined body to be in equilibrium?

A car of mass 1100 kg is travelling at a constant speed of 15 ms⁻¹ up a slope inclined at 10° to the horizontal. The combined frictional forces act...

An old-fashioned 60 W lamp converts 95% of its energy supply into heat. A 4.0 W modern lamp has the same power output of light as the old-fashioned...

A bead is released from rest at point P and slides along a wire, as shown. [Figure 16.1] The track loops around and forms a vertical circle of diam...

A small diesel engine uses a volume of 1.5 × 10⁴ cm³ of fuel per hour to produce a useful power output of 40 kW. It may be assumed that 34 kJ of en...

Two boxes X and Y have the same mass. Box X is lifted vertically through a height h by a force of magnitude F. Box Y is pulled along a slope by a f...

The force-extension graph of a metal wire is shown. [Figure 19.1] At which point on the graph does the metal wire stop obeying Hooke's law?

The diagram shows a large crane on a construction site lifting a cube-shaped load at a constant speed. [Figure 20.1] A model is made of the crane, ...

A wave pulse moves along a stretched rope in the direction shown. [Figure 21.1] Which diagram shows the variation with time t of the displacement s...

A wave has period T, wavelength λ and amplitude A. The wave is shown on a graph of displacement x against distance d. Which graph is correctly labe...

The table lists possible orders of magnitude of the wavelengths of some of the principal radiations of the electromagnetic spectrum. Which row show...

A vehicle carries a microwave transmitter that emits microwaves of a constant frequency. A stationary observer has a microwave receiver. The vehicl...

The diagram shows a cathode-ray oscilloscope display of an electromagnetic wave. [Figure 25.1] The time base setting is 0.20 µs cm⁻¹. Which stateme...

In a double-slit interference experiment, light of frequency 6.0 × 10¹⁴ Hz is incident on a pair of slits. Bright fringes that are 3.0 mm apart are...

Monochromatic light is incident on a pair of narrow slits a distance of 0.1 mm apart. A series of bright and dark fringes are observed on a screen ...

A tube of length L is open at both ends. A stationary wave is set up in this tube when a tuning fork vibrating with frequency fₓ is held at one end...

Which statement gives a condition that enables diffraction to occur?

An electron passes into the space between two parallel plates that are 5.0 cm apart and which are maintained at electric potentials of +2000 V and ...

Which statement about electric charges in a uniform electric field is not correct?

The diagram shows a simple circuit. [Figure 32.1] Which statement is correct?

A resistor has resistance R. When the potential difference across the resistor is V, the current in the resistor is I. The power dissipated in the ...

A wire of resistance 9.55 Ω has a diameter of 0.280 mm. It is made of metal of resistivity 4.90 × 10⁻⁷ Ω m. What is the length of the wire?

Charge carriers, each of charge q, move along a wire of fixed length. The number density of the charge carriers in the wire is n. What is also requ...

A potential divider circuit is constructed with one variable resistor X and one fixed resistor Y, as shown. [Figure 36.1] The potential difference ...

A cell of electromotive force (e.m.f.) E and negligible internal resistance is connected into a circuit, as shown. [Figure 37.1] The voltmeter has ...

Five resistors are connected as shown. [Figure 38.1] What is the total resistance between points P and Q?

A nucleus of neptunium-236 contains 93 protons and 143 neutrons. This nucleus decays with the emission of an α-particle. The nucleus formed then em...

An isolated neutron decays to produce a proton, a β⁻ particle and an antineutrino. Which row gives the quark composition of the neutron and the pro...

A sample of a radioactive isotope emits a beam of β⁻ radiation.

In this experiment you will investigate an electrical circuit. You are provided with several groups of resistors connected in parallel.