Cambridge Past Paper Questions

The gravitational field strength in space is smaller than on the Earth's surface. How are the mass and the weight of a satellite affected as the sa...

A material has a density of 2.4 g/cm³. What is the density in kg/m³?

An object falls vertically through the air. Which diagram represents the forces acting on the object?

A force F is applied to a lever at distance l from the pivot as shown. [Figure] Length d is the perpendicular distance between the force and the pi...

A rocket is launched vertically upwards by a constant force from its engines. The data for the launch is shown. [Table: weight of rocket 1.9 MN, av...

Which equation is used to calculate the efficiency of an energy transfer?

Four objects of different masses are lifted through different distances in different amounts of time. In which combination of mass, distance and ti...

Air at a pressure of 1.0 × 10⁵ N/m² is trapped in a container by a piston. [Figure] A force is applied to move the piston down into the container. ...

A sealed gas syringe contains a gas that is kept at constant volume. [Figure] Which row describes how a change in the temperature of the gas affect...

The melting temperature of gold is 1064 °C. What is the melting temperature of gold on the Kelvin scale?

The table shows the melting and boiling temperatures of three elements. [Table: element (argon, nitrogen, oxygen), melting temperature /°C, boiling...

The diagram shows a liquid at room temperature in a beaker. [Figure] What reduces the rate of loss of liquid by evaporation?

What is the colour and what is the texture of the best absorber of infrared radiation?

Which row gives the velocity and wavelength of a wave that is an ultrasound wave? [Table: velocity m/s, wavelength /cm]

The diagram shows a ray of light incident on a plane mirror. [Figure] What is the angle of reflection?

An object O is placed in front of a plane mirror. Which diagram shows the image I formed by the mirror?

The diagram shows a ray of light travelling from air to medium Q. [Figure] What is the critical angle for the boundary between medium Q and air?

The diagrams show an iron nail in four different situations. In which diagram is the nail an induced magnet?

Which row correctly shows a magnetic metal and a non-magnetic metal? [Table: magnetic metal, non-magnetic metal]

A freely suspended magnet is held perpendicular to a uniform magnetic field as shown. The magnet is viewed from above. [Figure] What happens to the...

A plastic rod becomes charged when it is rubbed with a cloth. Which statement gives the reason for the charge on the rod?

Four resistors, each of resistance R, are connected in series with a cell of e.m.f. E. [Figure] From left to right, what is the current in each of ...

X is a piece of wire with length l, area a and resistance R. Wire Y is made from the same material and is connected to wire X to produce a componen...

Which circuit contains a fuse and a diode?

How is energy transferred within a kettle that is powered by the mains supply?

A magnet moves through a coil of wire as shown. [Figure] Magnetic poles are produced at the two ends of the coil as the magnet enters and as the ma...

A straight vertical wire carries a current in the direction shown. [Figure] What is the pattern of the magnetic field around the wire seen by an ob...

Which part of a simple d.c. motor reverses the direction of current in the coil once every half rotation of the coil?

Which statement about the nuclide notation R^X_Z is correct?

During a radioactivity experiment, the background reading is 28 counts per minute. A radioactive source is placed 2 cm in front of a detector which...

A radioactive isotope is injected into a patient as part of a medical test. The radiation emitted is detected outside the body. What are suitable p...

A student writes four statements about the Solar System. 1 Light takes approximately 3.0 × 10⁸ seconds to travel from the Sun to the Earth. 2 The E...

What is never formed by the explosion of a red supergiant?

A trolley of mass 0.20 kg is at rest on a frictionless surface. A block of wood is attached to the trolley. The volume of the block of wood is 0.00...

A student makes a ball from modelling clay. The ball has a mass of 0.20 kg. She drops the ball from a height of 40 m above the ground.

Fig. 3.1 shows gas at room temperature. The gas is trapped in a metal cylinder by a metal piston fixed in position. [Figure 3.1]

A student directs a beam of white light from a filament lamp towards a glass prism in a dark room. Fig. 4.1 shows the beam of white light incident ...

Ultrasound is a longitudinal wave which cannot be heard by humans as the frequency of ultrasound is too high.

A bar magnet can rotate freely around a thin rod through its centre. The bar magnet is at rest on a frictionless horizontal surface in a laboratory...

A filament lamp connected to a 12V power supply transfers 24W of power.

The nuclide notation for the radioactive isotope hydrogen-3 is ³₁H.

A stable star in a distant galaxy has a mass that is more than 15 times the mass of the Sun.

A jet ski is a type of boat that carries one or two people and travels at high speed on water. Fig. 1.1 shows a student riding on a jet ski. [Figur...

A glass beaker of mass m is at rest on a horizontal surface. The base of the beaker is a circle with a radius r.

Fig. 3.1 shows a laboratory freezer. [Figure 3.1] The door is closed and the freezer is switched on. A cold liquid is pumped through the copper pip...

Fig. 4.1 shows a large syringe that is sealed at the nozzle by wax. There is a piston inside the syringe. [Figure 4.1] The pressure of the air insi...

Some glass lenses are converging lenses, and others are diverging lenses.

Fig. 6.1 shows the circuit symbol for a relay and two labelled terminals. [Figure 6.1]

The frequency of an alternating current mains electricity supply is 50 Hz. The maximum voltage of the supply is 300 V.

The isotope thorium-230 (²³⁰₉₀Th) decays by alpha particle (α-particle) emission.