1. Which one of the following units is a unit of energy?

A. eV

–1
B. Ws

–1
C. Wm

–1
D. Nms

(1)

diameterof a nucleus
2. The ratio diameterof an atom is approximately equal to

–15
A. 10 .

–8
B. 10 .

–5
C. 10 .

–2
D. 10 .

(1)

3. Two forces of magnitudes 7 N and 5 N act at a point. Which one of the following is not a
possible value for the magnitude of the resultant force?

A. 1N

B. 3N

C. 5N

D. 7N

(1)

1
4. The diameter of the nucleus of a hydrogen atom is of the order of

–8
A. 10 m.

–15
B. 10 m.

–23
C. 10 m.

–30
D. 10 m.

(1)

5. The unit, the electron-volt is equivalent to

19
A. 1.6 × 10 J.

B. 1.0 J.
–19
C. 1.6 × 10 J.
–31
D. 9.1 × 10 J.

(1)

6. The time period T of oscillation of a mass m suspended from a vertical spring is given by the
expression

m
T = 2π k

where k is a constant.

Which one of the following plots will give rise to a straight-line graph?
2
A. T against m

B. T against m

C. T against m

D. T against m

(1)

2
7. The number of heartbeats of a person at rest in one hour, to the nearest order of magnitude is
1
A. 10 .
2
B. 10 .
3
C. 10 .
5
D. 10 .

(1)

8. An ammeter has a zero offset error. This fault will affect

A. neither the precision nor the accuracy of the readings.

B. only the precision of the readings.

C. only the accuracy of the readings.

D. both the precision and the accuracy of the readings.

(1)

9. Which one of the following is a fundamental unit?

A. Coulomb

B. Ohm

C. Volt

D. Ampere

(1)

3
10. Which of the following gives the approximate ratio of the separation of the molecules in water
and in steam at atmospheric pressure?

Water : Steam
A. 1: 1

B. 1 : 10

C. 1 : 100

D. 1 : 1000
(1)

11. Which of the following is the best estimate, to one significant digit, of the quantity shown
below?

π  8.1
15.9
A. 1.5

B. 2.0

C. 5.8

D. 6.0

(1)

12. The order of magnitude of the weight of an apple is

–4
A. 10 N.

–2
B. 10 N.

C. 1 N.
2
D. 10 N.

(1)

4
13. The reading of a constant potential difference is made four times by a student. The readings are

1.176 V
1.178 V
1.177 V
1.176 V

The student averages these readings but does not take into account the zero error on the
voltmeter. The average measurement of the potential difference is

A. precise and accurate.

B. precise but not accurate.

C. accurate but not precise.

D. not accurate and not precise.

(1)

diameterof hydrogenatom
14. The ratio diameterof hydrogennucleus to the nearest order of magnitude is
2
A. 10 .
5
B. 10 .
10
C. 10 .
15
D. 10 .

(1)

15. The diagram below shows the position of the meniscus of the mercury in a mercury-in-glass
thermometer.

2 4 6 8 10
T / °C

5
 Which of the following best expresses the indicated temperature with its uncertainty?

A. (6.0 ± 0.5)°C

B. (6.1 ± 0.1)°C

C. (6.2 ± 0.2)°C

D. (6.2 ± 0.5)°C

(1)

16. Which of the following represents two vector quantities?

A. distance, acceleration

B. kinetic energy, work

C. force, momentum

D. electric field strength, electric potential

(1)

92
17. The mass of an atom of the isotope strontium-92 ( Sr) is of the order of
–23
A. 10 kg.
–25
B. 10 kg.
–27
C. 10 kg.
–29
D. 10 kg.

(1)

6
18. Which one of the following is a fundamental unit in the SI system?

A. Ampere

B. Volt

C. Ohm

D. Tesla

(1)

19. The frequency f of an oscillating system is given by

1 g
f
2 l

where g and  are constants.

The frequency f is measured for different values of l and a graph is plotted.

Which one of the following will produce a straight-line graph?

x-axis y-axis

A.
f l

B. l
f

2 1
C. f
l
2
D. f
l
(1)

7
 92
20. The mass of an atom of the isotope strontium-92 ( Sr) is of the order of
–23
A. 10 kg.
–25
B. 10 kg.
–27
C. 10 kg.
–29
D. 10 kg.

(1)

−2
21. An object has an acceleration of 2.0 m s . Which of the following gives the change in the speed
of the object after 7.00 s to the correct number of significant digits?
−1
A. 14 m s
−1
B. 14.0 m s
−1
C. 14.00 m s
−1
D. 14.000 m s

(1)

8
22. The diagram below shows two vectors, x and y.

y
x

Which of the vectors below best represents the vector c that would satisfy the relation
c = x + y?

A . B .

C. D .

(1)

–31 –27
23. The mass of an electron is 9.1  10 kg and that of a proton is 1.7  10 kg. Which one of
the following is the difference in the order of magnitude of the masses of the electron and the
proton?

A. 10.8

B. 7.4

C. 5.4

D. 3

(1)

9
24. Values of current I in an electrical component and of the corresponding potential difference V
across the component are plotted on a graph. Error bars for each point have been included.
Which one of the following shows the best-fit line for the plotted points?

A . I B . I

V V

C . I D . I

V V

(1)

25. Which one of the following quantities is a vector?

A. Work

B. Temperature

C. Electric field

D. Pressure

(1)

10
 12 3
26. The volume of the Earth is approximately 10 km and the volume of a grain of sand is
3
approximately 1 mm . The order of magnitude of the number of grains of sand that can fit in the
volume of the Earth is

12
A. 10 .

18
B. 10 .

24
C. 10 .

30
D. 10 .

(1)

27. The time interval between human heartbeats is of the order of

–2
A. 10 s.

–1
B. 10 s.

0
C. 10 s.

1
D. 10 s.

(1)

28. The kilowatt-hour is equivalent to approximately

A. 60 J.
3
B. 3.6  10 J.

4
C. 8.6  10 J.

6
D. 3.6  10 J.

(1)

11
29. The sides of a cube are each of length 1.00 m. Each side is measured with an uncertainty of 2%.
The absolute uncertainty in the volume of the cube is

3
A. ±0.02 m .

3
B. ±0.06 m .

3
C. ±0.2 m .

3
D. ±0.6 m .

(1)

30. The grid below shows one data point and its associated error bar on a graph. The x-axis is not
shown.

5 .0

4 .0

3 .0

2 .0

1 .0

Which of the following is the correct statement of the y-value of the data point, with its
uncertainty?

A. 3 ± 0.2

B. 3.0 ± 0.2

C. 3.0 ± 0.20

D. 3.00 ± 0.20

(1)

12
31. Which of the following contains only fundamental SI units?

A. ampere newton second

B. volt second kelvin

C. mole ampere kilogram

D. kilogram metre tesla

(1)

32. The molar mass of water is 18 g. The approximate number of water molecules in a glass of
water is
22
A. 10 .
25
B. 10 .
28
C. 10 .
31
D. 10 .

(1)

33. Both random and systematic errors are present in the measurement of a particular quantity.
What changes, if any, would repeated measurements of this quantity have on the random and
systematic errors?

Random Systematic

A. reduced reduced

B. reduced unchanged

C. unchanged reduced

D. unchanged unchanged
(1)

13
14
34. The mass of a body is measured with an uncertainty of 2.0% and its volume with an uncertainty
of 10%. What is the uncertainty in the density of the body?

A. 0.2%

B. 5.0%

C. 12%

D. 20%

(1)

35. Which list gives the masses of the particles in ascending order of magnitude?

least → greatest

A. α-particle β-particle proton

B. proton α-particle β-particle
C. proton β-particle α-particle
D. β-particle proton α-particle
(1)

36. An elephant has a life expectancy of 60 years. Which of the following gives the order of
magnitude of this lifetime?
11
A. 10 s
9
B. 10 s
7
C. 10 s
5
D. 10 s

(1)

15
37. The frequency f of waves of wavelength λ travelling on the surface of deep water is given by

g
f= 2

where g is the acceleration of free fall.

Which of the following will yield a straight-line graph?

y-axis x-axis
2 1
A. f

2
B. f 
C. f 
1
D. f

(1)

38. The diagram below shows two vectors X and Y.

X
Y

Which of the following best represents the vector Z = X – Y.

A . B .
Z Z

C . D .

Z Z

(1)

16
 m
2π
39. The period T of oscillation of a mass m on a spring, having spring constant k is T = k .

The uncertainty in k is 11% and the uncertainty in m is 5%. The approximate uncertainty in T is

A. 4%.

B. 6%.

C. 8%.

D. 16%.

(1)

40. This question is about an experiment designed to investigate Newton’s second law.

In order to investigate Newton’s second law, David arranged for a heavy trolley to be
accelerated by small weights, as shown below. The acceleration of the trolley was recorded
electronically. David recorded the acceleration for different weights up to a maximum of 3.0 N.
He plotted a graph of his results.

a c c e le ra tio n
h e a v y tro lle y p u lle y

w e ig h t

17
 (a) Describe the graph that would be expected if two quantities are proportional to one
another.

.....................................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................................

(2)

(b) David’s data are shown below, with uncertainty limits included for the value of the
weights. Draw the best-fit line for these data.

1 .4 0
a c c e le ra tio n
/ m s–2 1 .2 0

1 .0 0

0 .8 0

0 .6 0

0 .4 0

0 .2 0

0 .0 0
0 .0 0 0 .5 0 1 .0 0 1 .5 0 2 .0 0 2 .5 0
w e ig h t / N

(2)

18
 (c) Use the graph to

(i) explain what is meant by a systematic error.

...........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................

(2)

(ii) estimate the value of the frictional force that is acting on the trolley.

...........................................................................................................................

(1)

(iii) estimate the mass of the trolley.

...........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................

(2)
(Total 9 marks)

41. Data based question. This question is about change of electrical resistance with temperature.

The table below gives values of the resistance R of an electrical component for different values
of its temperature T. (Uncertainties in measurement are not shown.)

T/°C 1.2 2.0 3.5 5.2 6.8 8.1 9.6

R/Ω 3590 3480 3250 3060 2880 2770 2650

(a) On the grid below, plot a graph to show the variation with temperature T of the resistance
R. Show values on the temperature axis from T = 0°C to T = 10°C.

19
 (3)

(b) (i) Draw a curve that best fits the points you have plotted. Extend your curve to cover
the temperature range from 0°C to 10°C.

(1)

(ii) Use your graph to determine the resistance at 0°C and at 10°C.

Resistance at 0°C = ...............................................Ω

Resistance at 10°C = .............................................Ω

(2)

(c) On your graph, draw a straight-line between the resistance values at 0°C and at 10°C.
This line shows the variation with temperature (between 0°C and 10°C) of the resistance,

20
 assuming a linear change.

(1)

(d) (i) Assuming a linear change of resistance with temperature, use your graph to
determine the temperature at which the resistance is 3060 Ω.

Temperature = .........................................................°C

(1)

(ii) Use your answer in (d)(i) to calculate the percentage difference in the temperature
for a resistance of 3060 Ω that results from assuming a linear change rather than
the non-linear change.

...........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................

(3)
(Total 11 marks)

21
42. This question is about the rise of water in a capillary tube.

A capillary tube is a tube that is open at both ends and has a very narrow bore. A capillary tube
is supported vertically with one end immersed in water. Water rises up the tube due to a
phenomenon called capillary action. The water in the bore of the tube forms a column of height
h as shown below.

n a rro w b o re

g la s s w a ll g la s s w a ll

w a te r

22
(a) The height h, for a particular capillary tube was measured for different temperatures of
the water. The variation with temperature q of the height h is shown below. Uncertainties
in the measurements are not shown.

17

16

15

14

13
h / cm
12

11

10

9 .0

8 .0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
  C

(i) On the graph above, draw a best-fit line for the data points.

(1)

(ii) Determine the height h0 of the water column at temperatureq = 0C.

.........................................................................................................................

.........................................................................................................................

(1)

23
(b) Explain why the results of this experiment suggest that the relationship between the
height h and temperature q is of the form

h = h0(1 − kq)

where k is constant.

...................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................

(4)

−3 −1
(c) Deduce that the value of k is approximately 4.8  10 deg C .

...................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................

(3)

24
(d) The experiment is repeated using tubes with bores of different radii r but keeping the
1
water temperature constant. The graph below shows the variation with r of the height h
for capillary tubes of different radii r for a water temperature of 20C.

0 .3 5

0 .3 0

0 .2 5

0 .2 0
h / m
0 .1 5

0 .1 0

0 .0 5

0
0 5 .0 1 0 .0 1 5 .0 2 0 .0 2 5 .0
1
– / 1 0 3 m –1
r

It is suggested that capillary action is one of the means by which water moves from the
roots of a tree to the leaves. A particular tree has a height of 25 m.

Use the graph to estimate the radius of the bore of the tubes that would enable water to be
raised by capillary action from ground level to the top of the tree. Comment on your
answer.

Estimate: .................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................

Comment: .................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................

(4)
(Total 13 marks)

25