Cambridge & Pearson Edexcel Past Paper Questions

Visible light is one component of the electromagnetic spectrum.

There is no atmosphere on the Moon. An astronaut on the Moon drops a feather and a hammer from the same height at the same time. They both accelera...

A student uses a pump to inflate a bicycle tyre. [Figure 2.1] shows the pump and the tyre.

Solar panels are used to heat water.

In many countries, solid salt is produced by trapping sea-water in large, shallow ponds and letting the water evaporate. [Figure 4.1] shows salt be...

Both sound and ultrasound are longitudinal waves.

An electric circuit contains a 700Ω resistor and a light-dependent resistor (LDR). [Figure 6.1] is the circuit diagram. The electromotive force (e....

[Figure 7.1] shows a horizontal, rectangular coil ABCD placed between a magnetic N-pole and an S-pole. There is a current in the coil. An upward fo...

[Figure 8.1] shows an elastic rope (bungee). The unstretched length of the rope is 0.80 m. A student uses the hook at one end to suspend the rope f...

[Figure 9.1] shows a boiling liquid at its boiling point, trapped in a cylinder by a piston. There is an electric heater in the liquid which is con...

All the isotopes of the gas radon are radioactive.

A heavy nail is fixed firmly to a wall. It is pulled by a string at 40° to the vertical. The nail does not move. Three forces act on the nail: its ...

A car of mass 800 kg has a forward acceleration of 2.5m/s². A frictional force of 1200 N opposes the motion of the car. What is the driving force d...

A parachutist falling at a steady speed opens her parachute. Which row is correct for the direction of the resultant force and for the direction of...

Some gas trapped in a cylinder is compressed at constant temperature by a piston. Which property of the gas does not change?

A block is hung on a spring balance. The marker inside the balance is pulled down by the block. What can the position of the marker be used to dete...

An electrically charged plastic ball is at rest. Which types of field are caused by the ball?

Which expression is used to calculate density?

A length of thread is attached to a lamina at point P, as shown in the diagram. The lamina is free to rotate about point Q. The tension in the thre...

Which list contains only quantities that can be changed by a force?

An extension-load graph is plotted for a spring. Which point marks the limit of proportionality for this spring?

A mercury manometer is used to measure the pressure of a gas. The pressure of the atmosphere is po and the density of mercury is ρ. What is the pre...

There is a current in a resistor. Which energy transfer takes place?

A ball is dropped from a height as shown. Ignoring the effects of air resistance, which statement about the total energy of the ball is correct?

Which source of electrical energy is not renewable?

The table shows some data from a high-jump competition. Which athlete jumps the highest?

A workman rolls a barrel of weight 2000 N up a plank of length 2.0 m and onto a lorry. The back of the lorry is 0.80 m above the horizontal surface...

Data for three types of electricity generator are shown. Which is the least efficient generator and which is the most efficient?

An instruction in a physics book states 'divide the length between two marks on the glass tube into 100 equal parts'. What is being described?

What is a unit for heat capacity?

A block of aluminium is heated. What happens to the kinetic energy and to the potential energy of the molecules?

Which statement about the melting of ice and the boiling of water is correct?

A substance has a melting point of –17 °C and a boiling point of 117 °C. In which state does the substance exist at –10 °C and at 110 °C?

A smoke particle Z is seen to move randomly when suspended in air as illustrated. Which statement explains why Z moves randomly?

An electromagnetic wave has a speed of 3.0 × 10⁸ m/s and a wavelength of 10 cm. What is the frequency of the wave?

Three objects P, Q and R are placed in front of a plane mirror. The student's eye is positioned as shown. Which of the images of P, Q and R can the...

A ray of light R is incident on a water-to-air surface with an angle of incidence θ. The angle θ is less than the critical angle c. Which statement...

A parallel beam of light is incident on a thin converging lens. F is one focal point of the lens. Which ray diagram shows the light after it has pa...

Which description of a sound wave is correct?

Where does sound travel the fastest?

A bar magnet is placed in a hollow iron cylinder. The diagram shows the magnetic field pattern produced. What is the cause of the field inside the ...

A polythene rod is brought near to a stream of water from a metal tap which is earthed. Tap water is an electrical conductor. The water moves towar...

A small negative charge is placed at a point where an electric field is vertically upwards. There is a force on the charge due to the field. In whi...

In the circuit shown, the resistance of resistor Y is four times greater than the resistance of resistor X. What is the difference Vᵧ – Vₓ of the v...

Two identical resistors connected in parallel have a total resistance of 4.0 Ω. What is the total resistance when the same two resistors are connec...

Three identical lamps and three ammeters are connected as shown. The readings on the ammeters are I₁, I₂ and I₃. How are the readings related?

A student calculates the amount of energy used by an electric heater. What is the equation for calculating the energy E in kWh?

An isotope P is radioactive and has a half-life of 7.0 years. A sample initially contains 0.016 kg of P. After how long will the sample contain 0.0...

The speed-time graph for a car's journey is shown. During which part of the journey is the car moving with non-uniform acceleration?

A car is travelling forwards at high speed. The brakes are applied and the car skids along the road surface. In which direction and where does the ...