Cambridge Past Paper Questions
Browse 23,045questions from 25 years of O-Level & A-Level exams. Click any question to practice.
A rock of mass 40 kg is released from rest from a height of 20 m above the surface of a planet. The rock has a kinetic energy of 32 kJ when it hits...
A metal wire is stretched. The wire obeys Hooke's law. Which quantity has a value that does not change?
An object is stretched until it reaches the elastic limit. Which statement must describe the stress on the object when it is at the elastic limit?
Which statement about progressive waves is correct?
A cathode-ray oscilloscope (CRO) is used to determine the frequency of a sound wave. The diagram shows the waveform on the screen. [Figure 21.1] Th...
The warning signal on an ambulance has a frequency of 600 Hz. The speed of sound is 330 ms⁻¹. The ambulance is travelling with a constant velocity ...
Brief pulses of red, blue and green light are emitted from the Sun at the same time. The pulses travel the same distance to reach Mars. Assume that...
Two coherent progressive waves from different sources meet at a point. Which condition must be satisfied for there to be zero resultant amplitude a...
A corridor is 13.2 m long and has closed doors that reflect sound at both ends. The speed of sound in the air in the corridor is 330 ms⁻¹. [Figure ...
Water waves of wavelength λ are formed in a ripple tank. The waves are diffracted as they pass through a narrow gap of width d (d is greater than λ...
Two loudspeakers X and Y emit sound waves that are in phase and of wavelength 0.75 m. An observer O is able to stand anywhere on a straight line th...
Light of a single wavelength is incident normally on a diffraction grating. The resulting diffraction pattern is displayed on a screen. Which chang...
For a current-carrying wire, the current can be calculated using the equation shown. I = Anvq What is the meaning of n?
The number of free electrons passing a point in a wire in 24 hours is 6.0 × 10²³. What is the average current in the wire?
In the circuit shown, lamp P is rated 250 V, 50 W and lamp Q is rated 250 V, 200 W. The two lamps are connected in series to a 250 V power supply. ...
A piece of wire has a length of 0.80 m and a diameter of 5.0 × 10⁻⁴ m. The I–V characteristic of the wire is shown. [Figure 32.1] What is the resis...
Ten cells, each of electromotive force (e.m.f.) 1.5 V, are connected together, as shown. [Figure 33.1] What is the combined e.m.f. between terminal...
A cell of electromotive force (e.m.f.) E and internal resistance r is connected to a variable resistor, as shown. [Figure 34.1] The resistance of t...
Each of Kirchhoff's two laws presumes that some quantity is conserved. Which row states Kirchhoff's first law and names the quantity that is conser...
A cell has an electromotive force (e.m.f.) of 8.0 V and negligible internal resistance. The cell forms part of a circuit, as shown. [Figure 36.1] T...
In the circuit shown, the cells have negligible internal resistance and the reading on the galvanometer is zero. [Figure 37.1] What is the value of...
When α-particles are directed at gold leaf: 1 almost all α-particles pass through without deflection 2 a few α-particles are deviated through large...
A nucleus X is radioactive and decays into a nucleus Y. X and Y are isotopes of the same element. Which combination of particles could have been em...
A positively charged meson consists of a quark and an antiquark. What could be the quark and antiquark?
Which row shows a physical quantity and its base unit in the SI system?
A car of mass 850kg is travelling in a horizontal straight line. The diagram shows the two horizontal forces acting on the car in opposite directio...
An object of mass m is suspended by a spring from a fixed point. spring object of mass m The spring has spring constant k. The object is set into v...
An object of fixed mass is initially at rest at point P. The object then moves away from point P with uniform acceleration. Which statement describ...
A projectile is launched at an angle of 25° to the horizontal with a horizontal component of velocity of 13 ms⁻¹. What is the vertical component of...
A ball is released from rest at position X at time zero. At 1.0 s, it bounces inelastically from a horizontal surface and rebounds, reaching the to...
What is the definition of acceleration?
Two balls P and Q, of equal mass, move along a straight line directly towards each other as shown. [Figure showing balls P and Q approaching] Ball ...
A basketball player hits a ball vertically downwards with a speed of 2.4ms⁻¹ from a height of 0.90 m. Air resistance is negligible. What is the spe...
Some small solid cubes each have mass 1.0 kg and sides of length 5.0 cm. These small cubes are stacked together to form a large solid cube with sid...
A borehole of depth 2000 m contains both oil and water, as shown. The pressure due to the liquids at the bottom of the borehole is 17.5MPa. The den...
A rod is pivoted at one end. Initially the angle θ of the rod to the horizontal is 0°. The weight of the rod causes a moment M about the pivot. The...
A hinged trapdoor is held closed in the horizontal position by a cable. Three forces act on the trapdoor: the weight W of the door, the tension T i...
What is the definition of force?
A boat moves at a constant velocity v through still water. A constant drag force F acts on the boat. What is the power used by the boat to move thr...
The diagram shows four forces acting on a circular disc. [Figure showing a circular disc with four forces F acting] Each force has magnitude F. Two...
A ball is projected into the air from horizontal ground and follows the path shown in the diagram. [Figure showing a projectile path with points Q,...
The battery of a small tablet computer is initially uncharged. It is connected to a constant 10W power supply for 2.0 hours to charge the battery. ...
An initially stationary firework explodes and splits into two fragments that move horizontally in opposite directions. The total kinetic energy tra...
A spring is fixed at one end and extended by applying force F to the other end. The spring has extension x and elastic potential energy Ep. The spr...
A force-extension graph is produced for a metal wire. What must describe the limit of proportionality of the wire?
A spring has a spring constant of 6.0N cm⁻¹. It is joined to another spring whose spring constant is 4.0 N cm⁻¹. A load of 80 N is suspended from t...
The range of frequencies of sound waves emitted by blue whales is 10 Hz to 40 Hz. The speed of sound in seawater is approximately 1.5kms⁻¹. What is...
A sound wave is detected by a microphone and displayed on the screen of a cathode-ray oscilloscope (CRO). [Figure showing a waveform on a CRO scree...
A source of sound waves with constant frequency moves towards a stationary observer. The observer compares the sound waves arriving at the observer...
Which type of waves cannot be polarised?