3
2 Atoms are made of protons, neutrons and electrons.
(a) Write down the charge on a proton.
[1]
(b) Write down the charge on an electron.
[1]
(c) Atoms consist of a nucleus surrounded by a cloud of electrons.
nucleus
cloud of electrons
Explain what holds the particles in an atom together.
[2]
© UCLES 2025 S/S8/01 [Turn over
4
3 Mike is flying on a plane from Australia to Canada.
The two airports are 15 000 km apart.
The flight takes 20 hours.
Calculate the average speed of the plane.
Include the units for speed in your answer.
Show your working.
average speed = units
[3]
4 Aiko hammers different nails into blocks of wood.
block A block B
Aiko uses the same hammer, the same force and identical blocks of wood.
Explain why she finds it easier to hammer the nail into block A instead of block B.
[2]
© UCLES 2025 S/S8/01
5
5 There are millions of asteroids in the Solar System.
(a) The table shows information about four objects in space.
distance from the Sun diameter
object year of discovery
in km in km
A 57 909 000 4 879 1631
B 353 000 000 530 1807
C 413 690 000 952 1801
D 4 473 600 000 49 244 1846
Two of the objects are planets and two of the objects are asteroids.
Which two objects are asteroids?
and
Explain your answer.
Use information from the table.
[2]
© UCLES 2025 S/S8/01 [Turn over
6
(b) Blessy looks at descriptions of some objects in the Solar System.
object description
Bennu a collection of stones connected by gravity
Ceres three quarters rock, one quarter water
Hale-Bopp ice, dust and gas
Ida silica rock
Kleopatra nickel and iron centre, surrounded by rock
Blessy knows that four of the objects are asteroids because of their descriptions.
Which object is not an asteroid?
Explain your answer.
Use information from the table.
[2]
(c) Vesta is one of the largest asteroids in the Solar System.
Vesta orbits around the Sun between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
Describe how Vesta was formed.
[2]
© UCLES 2025 S/S8/01
7
6 This question is about pollution in ecosystems.
The diagram shows the impact of releasing chemical waste into the sea.
fishermen eat
seawater normally contains large fish
0.1 ppb (parts per billion)
of mercury
chemical waste enters sea,
sea water now contains
2 ppb of mercury
plankton take in mercury
compounds, but cannot
excrete them
large fish feed on small fish
small fish feed on plankton
NOT TO SCALE
Minamata disease affects the nervous system.
The disease is caused by levels above 20 000 ppb (parts per billion) of mercury in the body.
Explain why the fishermen develop Minamata disease.
[3]
© UCLES 2025 S/S8/01 [Turn over
8
7 Jamila investigates the coloured dyes used to make an ink.
Jamila:
• uses paper chromatography
• draws a start line in pencil on the chromatography paper
• places a dot of the ink on the start line
• places dots of pure dyes on the start line
• puts the chromatography paper in a solvent as shown in the diagram
chromatography
paper
direction of
motion of
solvent
start line
solvent
blue green yellow red ink
• waits until the solvent has moved up the chromatography paper.
Look at Jamila’s chromatogram.
solvent front
A
start line
blue green yellow red ink
pure dyes
© UCLES 2025 S/S8/01
9
(a) Jamila puts her ink and pure dyes on a pencil line rather than a line drawn with an ink pen.
Explain why.
[1]
(b) (i) Measure the distance in mm from the start line to:
• dot A
• the solvent front.
distance to dot A = mm
distance to solvent front = mm
[1]
(ii) Calculate the Rf value for dot A.
Use the equation shown.
Rf = distance from start line to dot A
distance from start line to solvent front
Rf = [1]
(c) Which coloured dyes are present in the ink?
[1]
© UCLES 2025 S/S8/01 [Turn over
12
9 This question is about ecosystems.
(a) Look at the pictures of four different ecosystems.
marine bushland
tundra rainforest
© UCLES 2025 S/S8/01
13
Safia writes this dichotomous key to identify the four ecosystems.
question answer
yes
……………………………………………………………. the ecosystem is marine
1
no
……………………………………………….……………
go to 2
yes
……………………………………………………………. go to 3
2
no
……………………………………….……………………
the ecosystem is tundra
yes
the ecosystem is rainforest
3 Is the ground around the trees very dark?
no
the ecosystem is bushland
The key is not complete.
(i) Complete the key by suggesting question 1 and question 2.
Use information from the pictures of the ecosystems.
Write your answers in the key.
[2]
(ii) Look at question 3 in the key.
Suggest one other question that distinguishes between the bushland and the
rainforest ecosystems.
Use information from the pictures of the ecosystems.
[1]
(b) Hornbills are birds that live in rainforests.
The main predators of hornbills are snakes.
(i) The snake population rapidly increases.
Describe the effect on the hornbill population.
[1]
© UCLES 2025 S/S8/01 [Turn over
14
(ii) Eagles are predators of monkeys and some farm animals.
Monkeys often feed on fruits, nuts and seeds.
Farmers who keep animals sometimes kill eagles.
Farmers who grow fruit encourage the protection of eagles.
Suggest why farmers use different evidence to support their attitude to eagles.
[1]
© UCLES 2025 S/S8/01
17
12 Angelique learns about climate change and how temperatures around the world are changing.
She finds a graph on the internet that appears to show average global temperatures are falling.
This is not what she has been taught.
Look at the graph.
14.90
14.88
14.86
14.84
14.82
average global
temperature 14.80
in qC
14.78
14.76
14.74
14.72
14.70
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
year
(a) Complete the sentence.
Choose from the list.
appropriate biased fair reliable
The data has been chosen to show a trend that is different from that which is accepted.
This source of information is . [1]
© UCLES 2025 S/S8/01 [Turn over
18
(b) Angelique knows that the Earth’s climate changes over time.
Which is the best way for her to show how climate changes happen over time?
Tick () the correct statement.
look at how global temperatures change every month for ten years
look at how global temperatures change every year for ten years
look at how global temperatures change over a period of one hundred years
look at how global temperatures change over a period of thousands of years
[1]
13 This question is about aerobic respiration.
(a) Complete the word equation for aerobic respiration.
+ oxygen + water
.................... .....................
[1]
(b) Name the part of a cell where aerobic respiration takes place.
[1]
© UCLES 2025 S/S8/01