Cambridge Past Paper Questions

In this experiment you will investigate the rate of cooling of water at the top and at the bottom of a beaker of hot water. You are provided with: ...

In this experiment you will investigate how the potential difference V across the terminals of a power supply changes as the current I in a circuit...

A student investigates the average speed of a trolley moving along a horizontal bench. The trolley is placed on a ramp and released from rest. Some...

A student determines the speed of a wavefront on the surface of water. The student fills a plate with water and uses a dropping pipette to let one ...

A student investigates the resistance of a resistance wire. The circuit used is shown in Fig. 2.1. [Figure 2.1] The crocodile clip attached to the ...

A student investigates the indentation made by a glass ball in the surface of modelling clay.

A student measures the spring constant k of a spring using two different methods. The spring constant k of a spring is a measure of the stiffness o...

A student investigates the rate of cooling of water at the top and at the bottom of a beaker of hot water. (a) The student: • measures the room tem...

A student investigates how the potential difference V across the terminals of a power supply changes as the current I in a circuit changes. The stu...

A crane lifts a heavy load at a steady rate. Which unit is suitable for the output power of the crane's motor?

The bob of a simple pendulum is pulled horizontally by a force that is equal to weight W of the bob. Which diagram shows the angle between the pend...

A student takes 20 minutes to walk from X to Y at a speed of 3.0 km/h. She turns 90° at Y and walks at a speed of 4.0 km/h for 15 minutes to reach ...

A car is at rest by a red traffic light. When the light changes to green, the car starts moving. The graph represents the motion of the car. [Figur...

An object falls without air resistance. Its position at equal time intervals is shown by a sequence of dots. Which sequence of dots is correct?

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

A car has a weight of 8000 N. What is the mass of the car?

A lorry is travelling along a straight, horizontal road. The constant driving force on the lorry is 80 kN and the total resistive force is 20 kN. W...

As a cyclist uses the brakes on a bicycle, energy is transferred from the kinetic store to the thermal store. What causes the transfer of energy?

The extension of a spring is measured as the load stretching it is increased. The graph shows the results. [Figure showing an extension vs load gra...

A satellite orbits the Earth. What is the direction of the force on the satellite causing this circular motion?

A uniform beam is pivoted at its centre and balanced by three weights as shown. [Figure showing a beam pivoted at center with weights 2.0 N at x di...

A piece of card of uniform thickness and density is suspended freely from a horizontal pin. The diagram shows the card at rest. Which cross is the ...

Trolley X of mass 2.0 kg is moving to the right at 2.0 m/s. Trolley Y of mass 1.0 kg is moving to the left at 1.0 m/s. The trolleys collide and sti...

An object of mass 5.0 kg is moving at a constant speed. It has 10 J of kinetic energy. What is the speed of the object?

A wind-up radio is used in areas where mains electricity is not available. [Figure of a wind-up radio with a handle]. A person winds a spring in th...

Energy is transferred in a filament lamp at a rate of 60 W. The lamp wastes energy at a rate of 46 W. Which ratio is used to calculate the efficien...

A liquid is held in a cylindrical container. The diameter of the base of the cylinder is d. The mass of the liquid is m and its depth is h. [Figure...

The diagram shows an instrument that is used to measure the atmospheric pressure. [Figure showing a mercury barometer with vacuum, mercury column h...

Air at atmospheric pressure and room temperature is trapped in an insulated container by a frictionless piston of negligible weight. The air can be...

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

Thermal energy is supplied at a constant rate to a fixed mass of a substance that is initially solid. The graph shows how the temperature of the fi...

A piece of paper torn out of an exercise book is shown. [Figure showing a torn piece of paper with handwritten text: "As the average kinetic energy...

A ray of light passes from glass to air. Which arrow shows the direction of the ray in air?

A short-sighted student looks at a distant object. Which row shows the position of an image in a short-sighted eye and the type of lens used to cor...

A student makes four statements about infrared waves. 1 They can be seen by the human eye. 2 They travel at 330 m/s in air. 3 They are transverse w...

A plastic strip is rubbed with a cloth and the plastic becomes negatively charged. Which statement explains this?

Two parallel, conducting plates are charged. The charge on the upper plate is positive. The charge on the lower plate is equal in size but negative...

Which quantity is defined as the electrical work done by a source in moving a unit charge around a complete circuit?

Four 1.5 V cells are connected in a circuit as shown. [Figure showing four cells in series connected to a voltmeter]. The switch is closed. What is...

Two resistors are connected in series with a battery, as shown. The readings on three voltmeters Vo, V₁ and V2 and the currents Io, I₁ and I2 are a...

The current in a home computer varies between 0.40 A and 1.2 A when the computer is connected to the mains supply. What is the rating of the most s...

Students are asked to draw the pattern and direction of the magnetic field due to a direct current (d.c.) in a straight wire. Diagrams 1, 2 and 3 a...

Which row identifies the positive and negative particles in the atom?

The nuclide notation of a certain isotope of element Q is R_Z Q. What is the total number of protons, neutrons and electrons in a neutral atom of t...

Which list shows the planets in order of increasing distance from the Sun?

A student spills ink on the page in a textbook that defines redshift. The ink covers the three important words 1, 2 and 3. Redshift is ......1........

The diagram shows a clothes peg. [Figure] Which device is suitable for obtaining an accurate value for the height of the clothes peg?

The graph shows the motion of a cyclist during a ride that lasts for 14s. [Figure] What is the average speed of the cyclist for the ride?

The diagram shows how the velocity of a train varies with time. [Figure] Which sections of the graph show where the magnitude of the velocity of th...

A metal disc is squeezed in the jaws of a vice. [Figure] Which property of the metal disc is unchanged when it is squeezed?