Cambridge & Pearson Edexcel Past Paper Questions
Browse 35,704 questions from Cambridge O-Level & A-Level and Pearson Edexcel IGCSE & IAL exams. Click any question to practice.
(a) The kinetic theory of gases is based on a number of assumptions about the molecules of a gas. State the assumption that is related to the volum...
(a) State what is meant by specific latent heat. (b) A student determines the specific latent heat of vaporisation of a liquid using the apparatus ...
A mass is suspended vertically from a fixed point by means of a spring, as illustrated in Fig. 4.1. [Figure 4.1] The mass is oscillating vertically...
(a) A section of a coaxial cable is shown in Fig. 5.1. [Figure 5.1]
(a) State an expression for the electric field strength E at a distance r from a point charge Q in a vacuum. State the name of any other symbol use...
(a) An ideal operational amplifier (op-amp) has infinite bandwidth and zero output impedance. State what is meant by: (i) infinite bandwidth (ii) z...
(a) A long straight vertical wire carries a current I. The wire passes through a horizontal card EFGH, as shown in Fig. 8.1 and Fig. 8.2. [Figure 8...
A bridge rectifier using four ideal diodes is shown in Fig. 10.1. [Figure 10.1] The sinusoidal alternating electromotive force (e.m.f.) applied bet...
(a) With reference to the photoelectric effect, state what is meant by work function energy. (b) The work function energy of a clean metal surface ...
One possible nuclear reaction that takes place is ²³⁵U + ¹n → ⁹⁵Mo + ¹³⁹La + 2¹n + 7⁰e ⁹² ₀ ⁴² ⁵⁷ ₀ ⁻¹ Data for nuclei in this reaction are given i...
When a light plastic ball is placed in a vertical column of moving air, the ball becomes stationary at a height h, as shown in Fig. 1.1. ball ↑ h ...
A student is investigating the oscillations of a mass attached to two springs connected in series, as shown in Fig. 2.1. springs mass Fig. 2.1 ...
A student is investigating the maximum height reached by a light plastic ball when it is launched vertically from a compressed spring, as shown in ...
A student is investigating how the resistance of a thermistor varies with temperature. The thermistor is placed in water, as shown in Fig. 2.1. [F...
A student uses the volume of a metal coin in order to determine the density of the metal. What is not needed in order to determine an estimate of t...
The speed v of waves on a stretched wire is given by the equation v = T^p μ^q where T is the tension in the wire and μ is the mass per unit length ...
The diagram shows a force F. P is the horizontal component of F, at an angle θ to F. [Figure 3.1] Which graph best shows the variation with θ of th...
A steel ball is dropped and falls through a vertical height h. The time t taken to fall is measured using light gates. The results are given in the...
A stone is thrown vertically upwards from a point X at time t = 0. The variation with time t of the velocity v of the stone is shown. [Figure 6.1] ...
A mass of 5.0 kg is released from rest on a frictionless surface inclined at 30° to the horizontal. Air resistance is negligible. [Figure 7.1] How ...
What is not a statement of one of Newton's laws of motion?
An object falls from a tall building. The graph shows how the velocity of the object changes with time t. [Figure 9.1] The acceleration of free fal...
Two balls, one of mass 2m and one of mass m, collide. The diagrams show the initial and final velocities of the balls. Which collision is not elastic?
The diagram shows a 'ballistic pendulum'. [Figure 11.1] A pellet of mass m travelling at a speed u hits a stationary block of mass M. The pellet be...
A rigid circular disc of radius r has its centre at X. A number of forces of equal magnitude F act at the edge of the disc. All the forces are in t...
In a high-wire circus act, a man of mass 85 kg is standing at rest at the midpoint of the wire. [Figure 14.1] The wire on either side of the man is...
A cylindrical block of ice of cross-sectional area 12 m² is floating, partially submerged, in the sea. The density of the sea water is 1020 kg m⁻³....
A ball is thrown vertically upwards. Air resistance is negligible. Which statement is correct?
The change in gravitational potential energy ∆E of an object of mass m when moving through height ∆h near the surface of the Earth is given by the ...
A racing car has an output power of 300 kW when travelling at a constant speed of 60 m s⁻¹. What is the total resistive force acting on the car?
A mass of 60.0 g is suspended from a spring and the distance from the bottom of the spring to the floor is measured to be 16.4 cm. The mass is repl...
The graph shows the force-extension graph for a wire. [Figure 21.1] The wire is already extended by a force of 60 N. How much work is done to incre...
The speed v of waves in deep water is given by the equation v² = gλ / (2π) where λ is the wavelength of the waves and g is the acceleration of free...
An emergency vehicle sounds its siren as it accelerates along a straight road between two points X and Y, as shown in the diagram. [Figure 25.1] Th...
Part of the electromagnetic spectrum is shown. [Figure 26.1] What is the name of the shaded region and what is the order of magnitude of a waveleng...
The three waves shown in each diagram have the same amplitude and frequency but different phase. They are added together to give a resultant wave. ...
A transmitting mast sends out microwaves of wavelength 1.5 cm and radio waves of wavelength 1.5 km. [Figure 28.1] A receiving aerial behind a mount...
An experiment is carried out to demonstrate double-slit interference using light of wavelength 500 nm. The distance between bright fringes in the i...
Light of a single frequency is incident on a diffraction grating. Seven bright spots are observed on a screen. Which change will result in an incre...
A molecule behaves as an electric 'dipole' consisting of two equal point charges of opposite sign, separated by a fixed distance. The molecule move...
Two parallel metal plates are connected to a battery of negligible internal resistance. [Figure 32.1] One of the plates is slowly moved towards the...
Four point charges, each of charge Q, are placed on the edge of an insulating disc of radius r. The disc rotates at a rate of n revolutions per uni...
In the circuit shown, a fixed resistor X is connected in series with a battery and a variable resistor. [Figure 34.1] The power dissipated in resis...
A resistor and a filament lamp are connected in series with a power supply. The I-V characteristics of the resistor and of the lamp are shown below...
A car battery has an electromotive force (e.m.f.) of 12 V and an internal resistance of 0.05 Ω. The battery is connected to the starter motor of a ...
A cell of negligible internal resistance is connected to a network of resistors and a voltmeter, as shown. [Figure 37.1] The reading on the voltmet...
A voltmeter is connected into a circuit with the polarity shown in the diagram. [Figure 38.1] The sliding contact is moved to end P of the potentio...
What is a conclusion from the alpha-particle scattering experiment?
Which particle is a hadron?
A small block is lifted vertically upwards by a toy aircraft, as illustrated in Fig. 2.1. [Figure 2.1] As the block is moving upwards, the string b...