Cambridge Past Paper Questions
Browse 23,045questions from 25 years of O-Level & A-Level exams. Click any question to practice.
(a) State what is meant by the centre of gravity of a body. (b) A uniform wooden post AB of weight 45N stands in equilibrium on hard ground, as sho...
A ball is fired horizontally with a speed of 41.0ms⁻¹ from a stationary cannon at the top of a hill. The ball lands on horizontal ground that is a ...
(a) State Hooke's law. (b) A spring is fixed at one end. A compressive force F is applied to the other end. The variation of the force F with the c...
(a) A sound wave is detected by a microphone that is connected to a cathode-ray oscilloscope (CRO). The trace on the screen of the CRO is shown in ...
(a) Define electric potential difference (p.d.). (b) A wire of cross-sectional area A is made from metal of resistivity ρ. The wire is extended. As...
Two vertical metal plates are separated by a distance d in a vacuum, as shown in Fig. 7.1. [Figure 7.1] The potential difference (p.d.) between the...
In this experiment, you will investigate the equilibrium of a plastic cup.
In this experiment, you will investigate a cardboard shape falling down a wooden board.
In this experiment, you will investigate the oscillations of a square shape.
A pendulum consists of a metal sphere P suspended from a fixed point by means of a thread, as illustrated in Fig. 3.1. [Figure 3.1]. The centre of ...
An ideal operational amplifier (op-amp) is to be used in a comparator circuit. Part of the comparator circuit is shown in Fig. 7.1. [Figure 7.1]. T...
A slice of a conducting material has its face QRLK normal to a uniform magnetic field of flux density B, as illustrated in Fig. 8.1. [Figure 8.1]. ...
A photon of wavelength 540nm collides with an isolated stationary electron, as illustrated in Fig. 11.1. [Figure 11.1]. The photon is deflected ela...
Iodine-131 (¹³¹₅₃I) is a radioactive isotope with a decay constant of 9.9 × 10⁻⁷s⁻¹.
The Earth may be considered to be a uniform sphere of radius 6.4 × 10⁶m with its mass of 6.0 x 10²⁴ kg concentrated at its centre. A satellite of m...
The atoms of an ideal gas occupy a container of volume 2.30 x 10⁻³m³ at pressure 2.60 x 10⁵ Pa and temperature 180K, as illustrated in [Figure 2.1]...
A simple pendulum consists of a metal sphere suspended from a fixed point by means of a thread, as illustrated in [Figure 3.1]. The sphere of mass ...
An analogue signal is to be transmitted in digital form. The transmission system may be represented in block form as in [Figure 4.1]. The variation...
An isolated solid metal sphere of radius 0.15m is situated in a vacuum, as illustrated in [Figure 5.1]. The electric field strength at the surface ...
A student has available three capacitors, each of capacitance 12 μF. Draw diagrams, one in each case, to show how the student connects the capacito...
Electrons in a beam are travelling at high speed in a vacuum. The electrons are incident on a metal target, causing X-ray radiation to be emitted. ...
An ideal operational amplifier (op-amp) is said to have infinite bandwidth and infinite slew rate. The resistance of resistor R is to be fixed so t...
A small coil is placed close to one end of a solenoid connected to a power supply. The plane of the small coil is normal to the axis of the solenoi...
A long straight vertical wire A carries a current in an upward direction. The wire passes through the centre of a horizontal card, as illustrated i...
Electromagnetic radiation is incident on a metal surface. It is observed that there is a minimum frequency of electromagnetic radiation below which...
A student suggests that one possible nuclear reaction is ⁵⁶₂₆Fe + ¹₀n → ²⁰₉F + ³⁷₁₇Cl. The binding energy per nucleon of a nucleus varies with the ...
The first law of thermodynamics may be expressed as ∆U = (+q) + (+w) where ∆U is the increase in internal energy of the system.
A student investigates a spring of width w made from a metal wire, as shown in Fig. 1.1. [Figure 1.1] The student constructs several springs, each ...
A student investigates the image of an object formed on a screen by a converging lens, as shown in Fig. 2.1. [Figure 2.1] The student measures the ...
A student investigates the motion of a trolley on a wooden surface, as shown in Fig. 1.1. mass m -trolley wooden surface [Figure 1.1] A mass m is p...
A student investigates the behaviour of a liquid inside a narrow tube, as shown in Fig. 2.1. d h liquid [Figure 2.1] (not to scale) When the tube i...
Which row shows what all physical quantities must have? [Figure 1.1]
What is an alternative way of expressing an energy of 43 dJ?
A tennis ball is hit so that it leaves the racket with velocity v at an angle θ to the horizontal. [Figure 3.1] The vertical component of the veloc...
Four cathode-ray oscilloscope (CRO) screens each display a waveform. The screen and the time-base setting of each CRO is shown. [Figure 4.1] Which ...
The graph shows the variation with time t of the velocity of a vehicle moving in a straight line. [Figure 6.1] The vehicle, moving at 4.0 m s⁻¹, be...
A stone is projected vertically upwards from the ground at an initial speed of 15 m s⁻¹. Air resistance is negligible. What is the maximum height r...
What is meant by the mass of an object?
The diagram shows two parachutists, X and Y, moving vertically downwards. [Figure 9.1] The total mass of parachutist Y and his parachute is twice t...
The table shows four different collisions between two blocks, each of mass 0.50 kg. [Figure 10.1] Which collision is perfectly elastic?
Two forces, each of magnitude F, act on a disc of diameter s, as shown. [Figure 12.1] What is the torque exerted on the disc?
A mass of 500 g is attached at one end of a rod of length 1.50 m. The rod is pivoted at a distance of 25 cm from the other end. The rod is horizont...
A beam QR is held in position by a wire PQ. The structure is used to form a crane supporting a stationary load of 4.0 kN, as shown. [Figure 14.1] W...
A metal cylinder, totally immersed in water, is hung from a newton meter. [Figure 15.1] The cylinder, of height L, is slowly raised vertically by l...
A ball is thrown vertically upwards into the air. It rises to the top of its path before beginning to fall vertically downwards. [Figure 16.1] Assu...