Cambridge GCE O Level: Physics

Modified from Paper 1, May/June 2010

Each question is changed, but it is still based on the same topic as that question.

In the actual exam, the time given for this paper is 1 hour. Use this stopwatch to time yourself.

STOPWATCH



1. Energy is measured in joules. What is the correct symbol for millions of joules?
  1. mj
  2. mJ
  3. Mj
  4. MJ
2. Which of the following is about vectors?
  1. A bird flies north for 20 km.
  2. A girl runs round a garden at 2 m/s.
  3. A worm crawls at 2 mm/s straight towards an apple.
  4. A student wanders for 5 km around town.
  1. 1 and 2
  2. 1 and 3
  3. 2 and 3
  4. 2 and 4
3. A boy measures the speed of a toy car. At one time, it is at 1 m/s. After 2 s, it is 4 m/s. What is the acceleration?
  1. 1.5 m/s²
  2. 2.5 m/s²
  3. 3.5 m/s²
  4. 4.5 m/s²
4. This graph shows the movement of a bicycle.

What is the area under the graph?
  1. acceleration
  2. speed
  3. distance
  4. time
5. A girl stands on a chair and drops a stone and a piece of paper at the same time and from the same height.

Why does the stone fall faster than the paper?
  1. The stone feels a larger air resistance.
  2. The stone has a larger mass.
  3. The paper feels larger air resistance.
  4. the paper has not reached terminal velocity.




6. An aeroplane turns right in the air. Which is the resultant force direction?

  1. A
  2. B
  3. C
  4. D
7. A boy climbs a very tall mountain with his father. What happens to his mass and weight?
  1. Mass decreases. Weight decreases.
  2. Mass increases. Weight increases.
  3. Mass unchanged. Weight decreases.
  4. Mass unchanged. Weight increases.
8. A wooden board is hinged at one end to a wall, and supported at the other end on a chair

The chair pushes up at the board with 15 N. Gravitational field strength = 10 N/kg. What is the mass of the board?
  1. 1.5 kg
  2. 3 kg
  3. 30 kg
  4. 150 kg
9. This is the graph for an elastic rod.

Where is the limit of proportionality?
  1. O
  2. OP
  3. P
  4. PQ
10. Five blocks of wood have the same mass but different shapes. They are all on a table. Which graph shows the pressure of the block on the table plotted against the base area?

  1. A
  2. B
  3. C
  4. D




11. This is a water manometer.

What is the pressure of the gas?
  1. 18 cm of water below air pressure
  2. 9 cm of water below air pressure
  3. 9 cm of water above air pressure
  4. 18 cm of water above air pressure
12. A lump of crushed paper is falling at a constant speed. What energy change is taking place?
  1. kinetic energy to potential energy
  2. kinetic energy to heat
  3. potential energy to kinetic energy
  4. potential energy to heat
13. A power supply gives 216 000 000 J of electricity in 12 hours. What is its power?
  1. 5000 W
  2. 200 000 W
  3. 15 000 000 W
  4. 216 000 000 W
14. If your hand is wet, the water on you hand evaporates and its temperature changes. How does the water temperature change and why?
  1. decreases, because molecules with less energy leaves
  2. decreases, because molecules with more energy leaves
  3. increases, because molecules with less energy leaves
  4. increases, because molecules with more energy leaves
15. I put some ice on the top shelf in a cupboard. The air around the ice cools down. How does the density and position of this air change?
  1. decreases, and sinks
  2. decreases, and stays at the same place
  3. increases, and sinks
  4. increases, and stays at the same place




16. A lump of ice is 15 g. It is at 0 °C. Heat goes into the ice at 2.4975 J/s from the surroundings. The specific latent heat of fusion is 333 J/g. How long does it take to melt?
  1. 35.5 s
  2. 55.5 s
  3. 2000 s
  4. 3120 s
17. Zinc and iron are used to make a bimetallic strip.

Zinc expands more when hot. What is the new shape?

  1. A
  2. B
  3. C
  4. D
18. Which of these show a longitudinal wave?

  1. A
  2. B
  3. C
  4. D
19. A piece of paper has these letters:

What does it look like in a mirror?

  1. A
  2. B
  3. C
  4. D
20. A light ray goes through a glass block as shown:

What is the refractive index?
  1. 1.24
  2. 1.40
  3. 1.50
  4. 1.60




21. In cameras and in magnifying glasses, what kind of images are formed?
  1. Real in camera, real in magnifying glass.
  2. Real in camera, virtual in magnifying glass.
  3. Virtual in camera, real in magnifying glass.
  4. Virtual in camera, virtual in magnifying glass.
22. Which of these is used to sterilise medical equipment?
  1. infra-red
  2. microwaves
  3. radiowaves
  4. ultraviolet
23. A student hears the thunder 5 s after seeing a flash of lightning, and calculates that the lightning is 1500 m away. What does this assume?
  1. Light is much faster than sound, which travels at 300 m/s.
  2. Light is 300 m/s faster than sound.
  3. Light is 300 times faster than sound.
  4. The thunder is produced 6 s after the lightning.
24. Which property is important for an electromagnet?
  1. easy to demagnetise, difficult to magnetise
  2. retains magnetic strength, difficult to magnetise
  3. retains magnetic strength, easy to magnetise
  4. easy to demagnetise, easy to magnetise
25. Two uncharged metal spheres P and Q touch each other.

A positive charge is moved close to P. Q is then moved away. Which of the following is true?
  1. P becomes negative, Q becomes positive, and they have the same amount of charges.
  2. P becomes negative, Q becomes positive, and they have the different amount of charges.
  3. P becomes positive, Q becomes negative, and they have the same amount of charges.
  4. P becomes positive, Q becomes negative, and they have the different amount of charges.




26. Which of the following will not reduce the resistance of a piece of wire?
  1. Cover it with plastic.
  2. Make it thicker.
  3. Make it shorter.
  4. Make it colder.
27. A 3 V battery is connected to a 2 Ω resistor. What is the current?
  1. 0.67 A
  2. 1.5 A
  3. 10 A
  4. 24 A
28. The voltages and currents are measured for a few resistors. Which of the following is for a 100 Ω resistor?
  1. (1 V, 5 mA), (3 V, 30 mA)
  2. (1 V, 10 mA), (3 V, 30 mA)
  3. (1 V, 20 mA), (3 V, 60 mA)
  4. (1 V, 30 mA), (3 V, 60 mA)
29. Which switch can light the lamp?

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
30. Which of the following is in joules?
  1. charge
  2. current
  3. energy
  4. power




31. The insulation of the wire to a kettle is broken. The live wire touches the case, which is earthed. What happens then?
  1. Current keeps flowing to earth.
  2. Fuse melts and current stops.
  3. The case is live.
  4. The case is hot.
32. Current flows in four wires as shown:

Which two pairs attract each other?
  1. J and K; K and M.
  2. J and K; L and M.
  3. J and L; K and M.
  4. J and L; L and M.
33. A simple d.c. motor consists of a square coil in a horizontal magnetic field, and a battery connected to the coil. What is the split-ring commutator for?
  1. Change current direction in coil when coil is horizontal.
  2. Change current direction in coil when coil is vertical.
  3. Change current direction in battery when coil is horizontal.
  4. Change current direction in battery when coil is vertical.
34. When a magnet is moved slowly into a coil of wire, a current is induced in the coil. Then the magnet is pulled back out quickly. The current in the coil
  1. changes direction and becomes smaller.
  2. changes direction and becomes larger.
  3. becomes smaller in the same direction.
  4. becomes larger in the same direction.
35. A cathode ray oscilloscope shows this wave:

when an a.c. generator is connected. The rotation speed of the generator is doubled. What happens to the wave?
  1. The number of peaks doubles, and the amplitude doubles.
  2. The number of peaks doubles, and the amplitude stays the same.
  3. The number of peaks stays the same, and the amplitude doubles.
  4. The number of peaks stays the same, and the amplitude stays the same.




36. When the capacitor is charged:

what are the directions of the current?
  1. 1, 3
  2. 1, 4
  3. 2, 3
  4. 2, 4
37. In this radioactive decay: 238U → 234Th, what else is produced?
  1. alpha particle
  2. beta particle
  3. alpha and beta particles
  4. gamma rays
38. Which of the following about the atomic nucleus is correct?
  1. Fission gives larger nuclei. Fusion produces energy in a star.
  2. Fission gives larger nuclei. Fusion produces energy in a power station.
  3. Fission gives smaller nuclei. Fusion produces energy in a star.
  4. Fission gives smaller nuclei. Fusion produces energy in a power station.
39. The count rate of a radioactive sample falls from 1600 to 200 in 3 minutes. What is the half life?
  1. 0.75 minutes
  2. 1 minutes
  3. 3 minutes
  4. 9 minutes
40. Isotopes are nuclei with
  1. different number of protons, different number of nucleons.
  2. different number of protons, same number of nucleons.
  3. same number of protons, different number of nucleons.
  4. same number of protons, same number of nucleons.

Score = correct, out of 40 questions.

(Remember to check the stopwatch above to see how long you have taken.)

Correct answers:

Copy and paste the results below to Notepad.
Then look up the explanations here: SOLUTIONS)