Cambridge A Level · 9702 · Paper 1 · Multiple choice

Physics 9702/12 May/June 2018 past paper

Cambridge A Level Physics (9702) Paper 1 (Multiple choice), variant 2, May/June 2018: the question paper and its official mark scheme, 40 questions, with the grade thresholds. Free to open, no account needed.

Questions: 40
Marks: 40
Grade A from: 29

Open the question paper Mark scheme ▶ Practise as MCQ

File names: 9702_s18_qp_12 · 9702_s18_ms_12

Grade thresholds for 9702/12 May/June 2018

The minimum raw marks Cambridge set for each grade on this component (out of 40). Thresholds change every session and variant, so always compare your score with the paper you actually sat.

A	B	C	D	E
29	25	21	17	14

Topics in this paper

Which syllabus chapters 9702/12 May/June 2018 tested, by marks. Each chapter links to every past-paper question on it.

Chapter	Questions	Marks
Electricity	10	–
Forces, density and pressure	6	–
Waves	6	–
Dynamics	4	–
Kinematics	3	–
Particle physics	3	–
Physical quantities and units	2	–
Work, energy and power	2	–
Deformation of solids	2	–
Superposition	2	–

Questions in 9702/12 May/June 2018

Question 1Physical quantities and units
A sheet of gold leaf has a thickness of …
Question 2Forces, density and pressure
The drag coefficient Cd is a number with no units. It is used to compare the drag on different cars at different speeds. Cd is given by the equation Cd …
Question 3Electricity
A student measures the current through a resistor and the potential difference (p.d.) across it. There is a 4% uncertainty in the current reading and a 1% uncertainty in the p.d. reading. The student calculates the resistance of the resistor. …
Question 4Physical quantities and units
A student applies a potential difference V of …
Question 5Kinematics
The velocity of an object changes with time t as shown. velocity …
Question 6Kinematics
A projectile is launched at an angle to the horizontal at time …
Question 7Kinematics
A sky-diver falls vertically from a helicopter and reaches constant (terminal) velocity. The graph shows the variation with time t of the speed v of the sky-diver. …
Question 8Dynamics
A tennis ball of mass 55 g is travelling horizontally with a speed of …
Question 9Dynamics
An elastic collision occurs between two bodies X and Y. The mass of body X is m and the mass of body Y is 4m. Body X travels at speed v before the collision and speed 5 3v in the …
Question 10Forces, density and pressure
The density of water is 1.0 g cm–3 and the density of glycerine is 1.3 g cm–3. Water is added to a measuring cylinder containing 40 cm3 of glycerine so that the density of the mixture is 1.1 g cm–3. …
Question 11Dynamics
An astronaut throws a stone horizontally near to the surface of the Moon, where there is no atmosphere. Which row describes the horizontal and vertical forces acting on the stone after release? horizontal force vertical force A non-zero and constant …
Question 12Forces, density and pressure
A cylindrical block of wood has cross-sectional area A and weight W. It is totally immersed in water with its axis vertical. The block experiences pressures pt and pb at its top and bottom surfaces respectively. Which expression is equal …
Question 13Forces, density and pressure
A uniform diving-board is held by two fixed rods at points P and Q. A person stands at end R of the diving-board, as shown. rod rod …
Question 14Forces, density and pressure
Two forces, each of magnitude F, act in opposite directions on a rod. …
Question 15Dynamics
The vector diagram shows three coplanar forces acting on an object at …
Question 16Electricity
In ‘normal driving conditions’, an electric car has a range of 150 km. This uses all of the 200 MJ of energy stored in its batteries. With the batteries initially fully charged, the car is driven 100 km in ‘normal …
Question 17Forces, density and pressure
The diagram shows a ball of weight W hanging in equilibrium from a string. …
Question 18Electricity
A steel sphere is dropped vertically onto a horizontal metal plate. The sphere hits the plate with speed u, leaves it at speed v, and rebounds vertically to half of its original height. Ignore air resistance. Which expression gives the …
Question 19Work, energy and power
A car of mass 500 kg is at rest at point X on a slope, as shown. The car’s brakes are released and the car rolls down the slope with its engine switched off. At point Y the car has …
Question 20Deformation of solids
An elastic material with Young modulus E is subjected to a tensile stress S. Hooke’s law is obeyed. What is the expression for the elastic energy stored per unit volume of the material? …
Question 21Deformation of solids
The graph shows the length of a spring as it is stretched by an increasing load. …
Question 22Waves
Two lasers emit light in a vacuum. One laser emits red light and the other emits green light. Which property of the two laser beams must be different? A amplitude B frequency C intensity D speed
Question 23Waves
The diagram shows the screen of a cathode-ray oscilloscope (c.r.o.) displaying a wave. The time-base of the c.r.o. is set at 10 ms / division. What is the frequency of the wave? A 0.24 Hz B 4.2 Hz C 12 …
Question 24Superposition
A string is fixed at one end and the other end is attached to a vibrator. The frequency of the vibrator is slowly increased from zero. A series of stationary waves is formed. Assume that for a stationary wave there …
Question 25Waves
Which region of the electromagnetic spectrum has waves of wavelength 1000 times smaller than the wavelength of visible light? A infra-red B microwaves C ultraviolet D X-rays
Question 26Waves
The diagram shows apparatus for the measurement of the frequency of a sound wave. metal plate microphone source of sound D Sound of the unknown frequency is reflected back from a metal plate. A microphone placed at a distance D …
Question 27Waves
An astronomer observes the light from a star that is moving away from the Earth. For the observed light, what has been increased due to the star’s motion? A amplitude B frequency C speed D wavelength
Question 28Superposition
The diagram shows a stationary wave, at time …
Question 29Waves
A two-source interference experiment uses the apparatus shown. lamp double slit screen single slit What is the main purpose of the single slit? A to make a narrow beam of light B to make the same amplitude of light incident …
Question 30Electricity
Two large parallel metal plates X and Y are situated in a vacuum as shown. plate X plate …
Question 31Electricity
Four diagrams representing the electric field between two oppositely-charged point charges are shown. Which diagram correctly shows the electric field lines? …
Question 32Work, energy and power
The power output of an electrical supply is 2.4 kW at a potential difference (p.d.) of 240 V. The two wires between the supply and a kettle each have a resistance of 0.50 Ω, as shown. supply kettle …
Question 33Electricity
Which graph shows the variation of voltage V with current I for a semiconductor diode? …
Question 34Electricity
Four different resistors are arranged as shown. A current of 1.5 A enters the network at junction X and leaves through junction …
Question 35Electricity
A cell of constant electromotive force drives a current I through an external resistor of resistance R. The terminal potential difference (p.d.) across the cell is V. r cell …
Question 36Electricity
In the circuits shown, the batteries are identical and all have negligible internal resistance. All of the resistors have the same resistance. The diodes have zero resistance when conducting and infinite resistance when not conducting. In which circuit is the …
Question 37Electricity
A thermistor is an electrical component with a resistance that varies with temperature. A thermistor T is used in a fire alarm system. The alarm is triggered when the potential difference between X and Y is …
Question 38Particle physics
In the α-particle scattering experiment, a beam of α-particles is aimed at a thin gold foil. Most of the α-particles go straight through or are deflected by a small angle. A very small proportion are deflected through more than 90°, …
Question 39Particle physics
Radon-211, Rn 211 86 , francium-210, Fr …
Question 40Particle physics
A neutron is composed of one up (u) quark and two down (d) quarks. When the neutron decays to a proton, there is β-emission. What is the change in the quark structure of the neutron due to the β-emission? (The …

Other Physics papers from May/June 2018

Questions students ask

Where can I get the 9702/12 May/June 2018 mark scheme?

Open the mark scheme above - it is the official Cambridge scheme for this exact paper (9702_s18_ms_12), and on a wide screen it sits beside the question you are reading.

What was the grade threshold for an A in 9702/12 May/June 2018?

29 marks out of 40, a C needed 21.

Which topics came up in 9702/12 May/June 2018?

Mostly Physical quantities and units, Forces, density and pressure, Electricity. The full list is in the table above.

Do I need an account to open 9702/12 May/June 2018?

No. Every paper opens for free without signing in. A free account also saves your pen marks and records your score against the grade thresholds.