Thermal physics — IGCSE Sciences - Co-Ordinated (0654) questions by topic
Only 9 thermal physics questions appear from the 2023 and 2024 papers, but they carry substantial weight, from 7 to 12 marks, on convection in a refrigerator's cooling unit, expansion gaps in steel rail track, insulating a cooling beaker with cotton wool, and smoke-particle motion under a microscope.
State and describe dominate the command words, asking you to name a process or explain particle behaviour rather than calculate a value, though calculate and complete still appear where energy transfer is tested numerically. Because these questions reward precise physics vocabulary over arithmetic, draft full explanations and check them against instant marking to see whether your wording of a process, not just your final answer, satisfies the mark scheme.
What examiners look for
- Examiners repeatedly note candidates suggesting that gaps between rails were designed to slow trains down, rather than to allow for expansion.
- A recurring criticism is candidates attempting an unnecessary calculation where work done simply equals energy transferred.
- Few candidates could suggest a suitable method for storing a substance, or identify all three missing radiations and place them correctly.
- Reports note that where calculations were required, such as one on a cooling curve, many candidates did complete the working well.
May–June 2024, Paper 32
Fig. 9.1 shows water in a steel saucepan being heated on an electric cooker. The water boils and some of the water changes into steam. State the main method of thermal energy…
Answer this question and get it marked →A student investigates the motion of smoke particles in air using a microscope. Fig. 12.1 shows the apparatus (glass box containing smoke particles and air molecules, microscope,…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 33
Fig. 9.1 shows water in a steel saucepan being heated on an electric cooker. The water boils and some of the water changes into steam. State the main method of thermal energy…
Answer this question and get it marked →A student investigates the motion of smoke particles in air using a microscope. Fig. 12.1 shows the apparatus (glass box containing smoke particles and air molecules, microscope,…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 32
Fig. 12.1 shows an electric heater used in a classroom in a school. The air around the heater is warmed. On Fig. 12.1, draw three more arrows to show how the warmed air moves…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 33
Fig. 12.1 shows an electric heater used in a classroom in a school. The air around the heater is warmed. On Fig. 12.1, draw three more arrows to show how the warmed air moves…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 42
A student investigates the use of cotton wool to insulate a beaker of hot water at 90 degrees C. The student uses a digital thermometer to measure the temperature of the water in…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 31
Train track is made of lengths of steel rails with small gaps between them. Fig. 9.1 shows some train track with small gaps marked. Suggest why gaps are left between the steel…
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 43
Fig. 6.1 shows an electric refrigerator (with temperature control and a cooling unit). The cooling unit inside the refrigerator is placed at the top. State the name of the process…
Answer this question and get it marked →Other IGCSE Sciences - Co-Ordinated topics
- Practical skills (146)
- Motion, forces and energy (41)
- Organic chemistry (16)
- Electricity and magnetism (15)
- Waves (14)
- Reproduction (13)
- Nuclear physics (13)
- Coordination and response (12)
- Organisms and their environment (12)
- Metals (11)
- Atoms, elements and compounds (10)
- Stoichiometry (9)