IGCSE Physics (0972) — May–June 2023, Paper 21

40 questions · every question answerable online with instant point-by-point AI marking against the official mark scheme.

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Question 1 · 1 mark · Forces

Which vector diagram correctly shows the force Z as the resultant of forces X and Y? (Z is the resultant of vectors X and Y added head-to-tail.) A, B, C, D show different vector…

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Question 2 · 1 mark · Motion

An object falls towards the surface of the Earth. The object is falling at its terminal velocity. Which statement is correct? A There is air resistance and the acceleration of the…

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Question 3 · 1 mark · Motion

The graph represents the motion of a vehicle. Speed (m/s, y-axis) rises linearly from 0 at time 0 to 20 m/s at time 400 s (x-axis, time/s). What is the distance travelled by the…

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Question 4 · 1 mark · Mass and weight

On the Earth, a spring stretches by 5.0 cm when a mass of 3.0 kg is suspended from one end. The gravitational field strength on the Moon is 1/6 of that on the Earth. Which mass,…

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Question 5 · 1 mark · Mass and weight

A shopkeeper pours rice into a dish that hangs from a spring balance. He records the reading. A customer buys some pasta. The shopkeeper notices that the reading on the spring…

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Question 6 · 1 mark · Density

A student determines the density of an irregularly shaped stone. The stone is slowly lowered into a measuring cylinder partly filled with water. Which other apparatus does the…

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Question 7 · 1 mark · Forces

A train is travelling horizontally in a straight line. A book is on a table in the train. The diagram shows all the forces acting on the book: a contact force (up), weight (down),…

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Question 8 · 1 mark · Turning effect of forces

The diagrams show four beams, each of negligible weight and freely pivoted, with loads at marked distances from the pivot. Which beam is not in equilibrium? A 3.0 N at 2.0 m left,…

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Question 9 · 1 mark · Forces and motion

An object of mass 1.2 kg is moving with a velocity of 2.0 m/s when it is acted on by a force of 4.0 N. The velocity of the object increases to 5.0 m/s in the same direction. For…

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Question 10 · 1 mark · Energy stores and transfers

Which row about the change of energy in the energy store must be correct? A process: water pumped up to a high-altitude dam; store: gravitational potential energy of water;…

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Question 11 · 1 mark · Kinetic energy

A woman of mass 50 kg has 81 J of kinetic energy. What is her speed? A 1.3 m/s B 1.6 m/s C 1.8 m/s D 3.2 m/s

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Question 12 · 1 mark · Power

A child runs up a set of stairs four times. The time taken for each run is recorded. Which time is measured when the child's useful power is greatest? A 10 s B 20 s C 30 s D 40 s

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Question 13 · 1 mark · Pressure

A dam holds water in a reservoir. The height of the water in the reservoir is 15 m. The density of water is 1000 kg/m³. What is the pressure due to the water at the bottom of the…

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Question 14 · 1 mark · Kinetic particle model

A student uses a microscope to observe pollen moving on the surface of water. Which statement describes the reason for this movement? A Water molecules are moved by microscopic…

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Question 15 · 1 mark · Kinetic particle model

Which statements about evaporation of water are correct? 1 Evaporation causes the remaining liquid to cool. 2 During evaporation, the more energetic particles escape from the…

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Question 16 · 1 mark · Thermal energy transfer

Some hot water is sealed inside a metal can. The can is in a vacuum in outer space. The hot water slowly cools down. How does the thermal energy escape into space? A by conduction…

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Question 17 · 1 mark · Waves

The diagrams show graphs of displacement against time for four waves. All the graphs are drawn to the same scale. Which wave has the largest amplitude and the highest frequency? A…

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Question 18 · 1 mark · Refraction of light

The diagram shows a ray of light entering a glass block. The ray makes an angle of 50° with the air-glass surface and refracts to 25° from the normal in the glass. Which…

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Question 19 · 1 mark · Lenses

An object O is placed at point P near to a thin converging lens. The diagram shows three rays from the top of O passing through the lens. Each point F is one focal length from the…

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Question 20 · 1 mark · Dispersion of light

Which diagram shows the dispersion of white light by a glass prism? (The correct one has white light split so that red is deviated least and violet most.) A, B, C, D show prisms…

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Question 21 · 1 mark · Electromagnetic spectrum

Visible light has wavelengths in the range 4.0 × 10⁻⁷ m to 7.0 × 10⁻⁷ m. What is the range of the frequencies of visible light? A 0.12 Hz to 0.21 Hz B 120 Hz to 210 Hz C 4.3 ×…

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Question 22 · 1 mark · Sound

Student X fires a starting pistol which produces smoke and sound. Student Y is standing 100 m away and sees the smoke the instant it is produced. The speed of sound in air is 340…

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Question 23 · 1 mark · Magnetism

An unmagnetised piece of soft iron is placed close to a strong permanent magnet, as shown (magnet poles S then N from the left, N facing the soft iron). End X of the soft iron is…

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Question 24 · 1 mark · Electric charge

A plastic rod is rubbed with a cloth. The rod and the cloth both become charged as electrons move between them. The rod becomes negatively charged. Which diagram shows how the rod…

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Question 25 · 1 mark · Resistance

A wire has a uniform circular cross-sectional area. Which statement is correct? A The resistance of the wire is directly proportional to its cross-sectional area and inversely…

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Question 26 · 1 mark · Resistance

The diagram shows the current–voltage graph for a metal wire. The graph curves so that the gradient decreases as voltage increases. What can be deduced from the graph? A As…

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Question 27 · 1 mark · Electrical quantities

A battery is connected to a circuit. It is switched on for 1.0 minute. During that time, there is a current of 0.40 A in the circuit and the battery supplies a total of 48 J of…

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Question 28 · 1 mark · Electrical circuits

The circuit diagram shows two identical lamps connected in parallel to a cell. Three ammeters, X, Y and Z, are also connected in the circuit. X is in the main line; Y and Z are in…

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Question 29 · 1 mark · Electrical circuits

A student connects the circuit shown, containing a bell, a lamp and four switches numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4. Which switches must be closed for the bell to ring without lighting the…

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Question 30 · 1 mark · Electromagnetic induction

The diagram shows an a.c. generator with a coil rotating between magnet poles N and S, and terminals X and Y. The graph shows the potential difference between points X and Y…

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Question 31 · 1 mark · Magnetic effect of a current

An electron moves into a uniform magnetic field. The arrow shows the initial direction of motion of the electron. The direction of the magnetic field is into the plane of the…

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Question 32 · 1 mark · Transformers

Which statement about a transformer is correct? A There is an alternating current in the iron core from the primary coil to the secondary coil. B An alternating current in the…

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Question 33 · 1 mark · Atomic structure

How are positive and negative ions formed from atoms? A positive ion: add positive charge to the nucleus; negative ion: add an electron to the atom B positive ion: add positive…

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Question 34 · 1 mark · Atomic structure

A nucleus of element X is represented as ⁵⁶₂₆X (nucleon number 56, proton number 26). Which is an isotope of element X? A ²⁶₅₆X B ⁵⁴₂₆X C ⁵⁶₂₄X D ⁵⁴₂₈X

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Question 35 · 1 mark · Radioactivity

A radioactive source is placed near a detector connected to a counter. 210 counts are recorded by the counter in 3 minutes. The background count rate is 20 counts per minute…

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Question 36 · 1 mark · Radioactivity

The background count rate measured by a radiation counter is 40 counts per minute (cpm). With the counter close to a radioactive source, the counter reading is 960 cpm. The…

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Question 37 · 1 mark · The Solar System

Which planet in our Solar System is nearest to the Sun and what is the nature of the planet? A Mercury, rocky B Mercury, gaseous C Venus, rocky D Venus, gaseous

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Question 38 · 1 mark · The Solar System

A space station orbits the Earth at a distance of 7000 km from the Earth's centre. It makes 15 orbits in every 24-hour period. What is the speed of the space station in its orbit?…

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Question 39 · 1 mark · Stars

Which nuclear reaction powers a stable star? A nuclear fission of nuclei producing hydrogen B nuclear fission of a uranium nucleus into a krypton nucleus and a barium nucleus C…

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Question 40 · 1 mark · Stars

Which stages in the life cycle of a star are listed in the order that they occur? A interstellar dust cloud → stable star → protostar B protostar → red giant → stable star C red…

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