Cambridge & Pearson Edexcel Past Paper Questions

The battery of a car has an internal resistance of 0.10 Ω and an electromotive force of 12 V. When the battery is connected to the starter motor, t...

A sample of an isotope emits β⁻ particles. The emitted β⁻ particles have a range of energies. What must also be emitted?

A nucleus of magnesium decays into a nucleus of sodium by emitting a β⁺ particle. The decay is represented by the equation shown. ²³P Mg → Q Na + ⁰...

Thorium-234 (²³⁴₉₀ Th) decays by β⁻ emission into a daughter product which in turn decays by a further β⁻ emission into a granddaughter product. Wh...

Which expression has the same SI base units as pressure?

What is an approximate value for the speed of sound in air?

A pendulum bob is held stationary by a horizontal force H. The three forces acting on the bob are shown in the diagram. The tension in the string o...

A student is investigating an electrical signal using a cathode-ray oscilloscope (c.r.o). The frequency of the signal is 50 kHz. Which time-base se...

A student wishes to measure a distance of about 10 cm to a precision of 0.01 cm. Which measuring instrument should be used?

An aircraft, initially stationary on a runway, takes off with a speed of 85 km h⁻¹ in a distance of no more than 1.20 km. What is the minimum const...

A radio-controlled toy car travels along a straight line for a time of 15s. The variation with time t of the velocity v of the car is shown. [Figur...

The acceleration of free fall on Pluto is 0.66 m s⁻². An object weighs 6.0 N on Earth. What would this object weigh on Pluto?

Water flows out of a pipe and hits a wall. [Figure showing pipe, water jet, wall, velocity v, cross-sectional area A] When the jet of water hits th...

A stationary firework explodes into three pieces. The masses and the velocities of the three pieces immediately after the explosion are shown. [Fig...

A spherical object falls through water at constant speed. Three forces act on the object. Which diagram, showing these three forces to scale, is co...

A uniform metre rule of weight 2.0 N is pivoted at the 60 cm mark. A 4.0 N load is suspended from one end, causing the rule to rotate about the piv...

The vertical forces that the ground exerts on a stationary van are shown. [Figure showing a van with two upward forces and dimensions] The van is 2...

An object hangs by means of two cords around two rods, as shown. [Figure showing an object suspended by two cords around two rods, with forces F₁, ...

Which force is caused only by a pressure difference?

The total energy input Eᵢₙ in a process is partly transferred to useful energy output U and partly transferred to energy that is wasted W. What is ...

A gas is enclosed inside a cylinder which is fitted with a frictionless piston. [Figure showing a piston in a cylinder with gas, initial volume V₁,...

A projectile is thrown at an angle to the ground. [Figure showing a projectile path with horizontal velocity 23.0 m s⁻¹ and vertical velocity -10.1...

A car of mass 1400 kg is travelling on a straight, horizontal road at a constant speed of 25 m s⁻¹. The output power from the car's engine is 30 kW...

Two wires X and Y are made of different metals. The Young modulus of wire X is twice that of wire Y. The diameter of wire X is half that of wire Y....

A weight of 120 kN is placed on top of a metal column. The length of the column is compressed by 0.25 mm. The column obeys Hooke's law when compres...

What is the relationship between the amplitude of a wave and its intensity?

Which statement about light waves and sound waves is correct?

The diagram shows two waves R and S. [Figure showing displacement vs time graph for two waves R and S] Wave R has an amplitude of 8 cm and a period...

A source of sound waves is travelling as shown. In which situation would the stationary observer detect the largest decrease in the observed freque...

M and N are two electromagnetic waves. The ratio wavelength of M wavelength of N = 10⁵. What could M and N be?

A progressive wave is incident normally on a flat reflector. The reflected wave overlaps with the incident wave and a stationary wave is formed. At...

A monochromatic plane wave of speed c and wavelength λ is diffracted at a small aperture. The diagram illustrates successive wavefronts. [Figure sh...

In an experiment to demonstrate two-source interference of light, a beam of light is split into two beams using two slits 0.50 mm apart. These two ...

Two positive charges and one negative charge, all of equal magnitude, are set at the corners of an equilateral triangle. Which diagram best represe...

A constant potential difference is applied between two horizontal metal plates. A charged oil droplet is held stationary by the electric field betw...

An electric current I is given in the list of formulae on page 3 as I = Anvq. What do each of the symbols represent for an electric current in a me...

The potential difference across a resistor is 12 V. The current in the resistor is 2.0 A. A charge of 4.0 C passes through the resistor. What is th...

A coil contains N turns of insulated copper wire wound on to a cylindrical iron core of diameter D. The copper wire has a diameter d. The resistivi...

Two cells are connected to a load resistor of resistance 3.0 Ω. The electromotive force (e.m.f). and the internal resistance of each of the cells i...

Six resistors, each of resistance R, are connected as shown. [Figure showing six resistors, three in parallel, then two in series, then one in seri...

A potential divider consists of two resistors of resistances R₁ and R₂ connected in series across a source of potential difference (p.d.) Vᵢₙ. The ...

Which row describes the relative ionizing power and the relative penetration power per unit length in air of α-particles and γ-rays?

A nucleus of sodium-21, ²¹₁₁Na, decays to form a new nucleus containing 10 protons and 11 neutrons. Which leptons are emitted from the sodium-21 nu...

A neutron decays to form a proton. Which particle is not involved in the decay process?

A floating sphere is attached by a cable to the bottom of a river, as shown in [Figure 1.2]. The sphere is in equilibrium, with the cable at an ang...

Two blocks, A and B, are on a horizontal frictionless surface. The blocks are joined together by a spring, as shown in [Figure 2.1]. Block A has ma...

A car travels in a straight line up a slope, as shown in [Figure 3.1]. The car has mass 850 kg and travels with a constant speed of 9.0 m s⁻¹. The ...

A child sits on a rotating horizontal platform in a playground. The child moves with a constant speed along a circular path, as illustrated in [Fig...

An electron is travelling in a straight line through a vacuum with a constant speed of 1.5 × 10⁷ m s⁻¹. The electron enters a uniform electric fiel...

Three resistors of resistances R₁, R₂ and R₃ are connected as shown in [Figure 6.1]. The total current in the combination of resistors is I and the...