A Level Physics A Practice Paper Set 2
A Level Physics A Practice Paper Set 2
A Level Physics A
H556/01 Modelling physics
First name
Last name
Centre Candidate
number number
INSTRUCTIONS
• Use black ink. You may use an HB pencil for graphs and diagrams.
• Complete the boxes above with your name, centre number and candidate number.
• Answer all the questions.
• Write your answer to each question in the space provided. If additional space is
required, use the lined page(s) at the end of this booklet. The question number(s) must
be clearly shown.
• Do not write in the barcodes.
INFORMATION
• The total mark for this paper is 100.
• The marks for each question are shown in brackets [ ].
• Quality of extended responses will be assessed in questions marked with an
asterisk (*).
• This document consists of 32 pages.
A frequency
B acceleration
C phase difference
D angular frequency
Your answer
[1]
A 1.0 %
B 4.6 %
C 7.1 %
D 8.1 %
Your answer
[1]
A 0.3 m
B 0.8 m
C 1.3 m
D 2.5 m
Your answer
[1]
© OCR 2016 Practice paper H556/01
3
4 A canal boat is pulled by a single rope.
The tension in the rope is 220 N. The rope makes an angle of 30° to the direction of travel.
The speed of the boat is 1.8 m s−1.
boat
direction of travel
30°
220 N canal
What is the work done per second by the 220 N force in the direction of travel?
A 61 J s−1
B 200 J s−1
C 340 J s−1
D 400 J s−1
Your answer
[1]
5 A student is investigating two wires of different diameters made from the same metal. She plots
graphs of force against extension and graphs of stress against strain for both wires.
1 Young modulus is equal to the gradient of the stress against strain graph.
2 Force constant is equal to the gradient of the force against extension graph.
3 The graphs of stress against strain have different gradients.
A 1, 2 and 3
B Only 1 and 2
C Only 2
D Only 1
Your answer
[1]
U+D
A a = g-
m
U-D
B a = g-
m
D-U
C a = g-
m
U+D
D a = g+
m
Your answer
[1]
What fraction of the volume of the cylinder is below the water line?
A 0.2
B 0.4
C 0.6
D 1.0
Your answer
[1]
v1
P
y
P Q
30°
x 20°
m 2m
Q
v2
before after
After the collision, the total momentum of the balls in the x-direction is px and the total momentum
in the y-direction is py.
px py
A 2mv2 cos 20° + mv1 cos 30° 0
B 2mv2 sin 20° + mv1 sin 30° 0
C 2mv2 cos 20° + mv1 cos 30° 2mv2 sin 30° + mv1 sin 20°
D 2mv2 sin 20° + mv1 sin 30° 2mv2 cos 30° + mv1 cos 20°
Your answer
[1]
Your answer
[1]
temperature / °C
Z
Y
X
0
0 time
The metal is a solid in region X, a mixture of solid and liquid in region Y and a liquid in region Z.
Which row shows the best description of the energy of the atoms of the metal?
Your answer
[1]
B 0.67
C 1.50
D 6.00
Your answer
[1]
A 0.010 m3
B 0.032 m3
C 0.050 m3
D 0.090 m3
Your answer
[1]
13 A satellite is in a circular orbit around the Earth. The vertical height of the satellite above the
surface of the Earth is 3200 km. The radius of the Earth is 6400 km.
B 0.44
C 0.50
D 0.67
Your answer
[1]
Your answer
[1]
What is the maximum speed of this object when the string breaks?
A 0.67 m s−1
B 0.82 m s−1
C 1.22 m s−1
D 1.50 m s−1
Your answer
[1]
16 Fig. 16.1 shows an arrangement used by a group of students to determine the acceleration of free
fall g in the laboratory.
electromagnet
steel ball
trapdoor
to switch and timer
Fig. 16.1
An electromagnet is used to hold a small steel ball in position above a trapdoor. A timer starts as
soon as the ball is released, and is stopped when the ball hits and opens the trapdoor. The clamp
stands holding the trapdoor mechanism and the electromagnet are not shown in Fig. 16.1.
(a) The distance between the bottom of the steel ball and the top of the trapdoor is 1.200 ± 0.001 m.
The steel ball takes 0.50 ± 0.02 s to fall through this distance.
(b) State one source of error when timing the drop of the steel ball and describe how the
percentage uncertainty in the measurement of time can be minimised.
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ball
d ramp
table
θ
Fig. 16.2
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ball
plastic
rod
Fig. 17.1
A pair of identical compressible springs are fixed between a plastic plate and a support. The
springs are in parallel. A plastic rod attached to the plate is pulled to the left to compress the
springs. A ball, initially at rest, is fired when the plate is released.
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F/N x / cm
1.1 ± 0.2 2.0
2.0 ± 0.2 4.0
2.9 ± 0.2 6.0
4.0 ± 0.2 8.0
5.1 ± 0.2 10.0
Fig. 17.2 shows four data points from the table plotted on a F against x graph.
6.0
5.0
F/N
4.0
3.0
2.0
1.0
0
0 2.0 4.0 6.0 8.0 10.0 12.0
x / cm
Fig. 17.2
(ii) Describe how the data shown in the table may have been obtained in the laboratory.
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(iii) Draw the best fit and the worst fit straight lines on Fig. 17.2.
Use the graph to determine the force constant k for a single spring and the absolute
uncertainty in this value.
(iv) State the feature of the graph that shows Hooke’s law is obeyed by the springs.
...........................................................................................................................................
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Use your answer from (iii) to calculate the launch speed v of the ball when the plastic
plate shown in Fig. 17.1 is pulled back 12.0 cm.
transparent
plastic tube
plastic ball
rod
plastic plate
support plastic plate
with hole
in centre
Fig. 17.3
[2]
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(b) A cylinder head gasket is a thin sheet of material used in a car engine.
A car manufacturer wants to locate the centre of gravity of the gasket shown in Fig. 18.1.
Fig. 18.1
Describe how the centre of gravity of the gasket can be determined using equipment from a
laboratory.
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1.60 m
T support
cable
wall
metal beam
30°
A
0.20 m
pulley
rope
engine
A uniform metal beam of length 2.00 m is hinged to a vertical wall at point A. The beam is
held at rest in a horizontal position by a support cable of diameter of 3.0 cm. One end of this
cable is fixed to the wall and the other end is fixed to the beam at a perpendicular distance of
1.60 m from the wall. The support cable makes an angle of 30° to the horizontal.
The car engine is lifted and lowered using a rope and a pulley. The pulley is fixed to the lower
end of the beam at a distance of 0.20 m from the far end of the beam.
The metal beam has a mass of 120 kg and the car engine has a mass of 95 kg.
T = ...................................................... N [3]
(iii) The engine is lowered using the pulley and the rope. The engine accelerates downwards.
Explain briefly the effect this would have on the tension T in the support cable.
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200
F/N
100
0
0 10 20 30 40
t / ms
Fig. 19.1
(a) Use Fig. 19.1 to determine the final velocity v of the ball as it leaves the stick.
velocity
0
30 40
t / ms
Fig. 19.2
[2]
(c) After time t = 40 ms, the ball travels along the horizontal ground.
The ball experiences a constant friction of 0.80 N.
T = ....................................................... s [2]
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(b) A group of students conduct an experiment using water to heat glycerol in a boiling tube. The
apparatus they use is shown in Fig. 20.1.
boiling tube
beaker
clamp
water stand
hot plate
glycerol
table
Fig. 20.1
The table below shows the mass m and the specific heat capacity c for water and glycerol
used in the experiment.
i = .................................................... °C [3]
(iii) Explain why the actual temperature i is different from your value calculated in (ii).
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(c) In a specialist laboratory, energy is supplied at a constant power to solid glycerol initially at a
temperature of −100 °C. The glycerol is then heated from this temperature until it boils.
The specific heat capacity of solid glycerol is less than the specific heat capacity of liquid
glycerol. Glycerol melts at a temperature of about 20 °C and starts to boil at a temperature of
about 290 °C.
Sketch a graph on Fig. 20.2 to show the variation of the temperature of glycerol with time.
Assume that there is no heat transfer to the surroundings.
300
temperature / °C
200
100
0
time
–100
Fig. 20.2
[3]
© OCR 2016 Practice paper H556/01 Turn over
24
21 (a) A mass is hung from the bottom end of a flexible spring.
Describe and explain how the mass can be made to show resonance.
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The graph in Fig. 21.1 shows the variation of amplitude A of the oscillator with driving (forced)
frequency f.
6.0
A / cm
4.0
2.0
0
1.0 1.2 1.4
f / Hz
Fig. 21.1
(i) Use Fig. 21.1 to determine the maximum acceleration of the oscillator at resonance.
(ii) The oscillator is now removed from the viscous fluid. It is now forced to oscillate in air.
On Fig. 21.1 sketch the new shape of the amplitude against frequency graph. [2]
3.0
2.0
x / cm
1.0
0
0 0.3 0.6 0.9 t / s
–1.0
–2.0
–3.0
Fig. 21.2
(i) According to a student, the amplitude of the oscillator decays by the same fraction every
half oscillation.
Analyse Fig. 21.2 to assess whether or not the student is correct.
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(ii) State and explain at which time the oscillator dissipates maximum energy.
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Discuss the evidence for the Big Bang theory of the Universe. Use data in the table and your
knowledge of electromagnetic radiation in your answer.
1 pc = 3.1 × 1016 m
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(i) Use the information from the table in (a) to calculate the observed wavelength λ of the
hydrogen-beta spectral line from a star in the galaxy NGC-4151.
λ = ................................................... nm [3]
(ii) A diffraction grating with 800 lines per mm is used to observe and analyse the light from
the Sun in the laboratory.
A narrow beam of light from the Sun is incident normally at the diffraction grating.
Calculate the angle i between the central beam of light through the grating and the
hydrogen-beta spectral line in the second order spectrum.
i = ........................................................ ° [2]
(c) Other than matter, state what else may be present in the Universe that may affect its density.
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The surface temperature of the star in kelvin is T and λmax is the wavelength of the emitted
electromagnetic radiation at which the intensity is maximum.
(a) Analyse and evaluate this data to show whether or not Wien’s displacement law is obeyed.
[2]
(b) A sensor of cross-sectional area 4.0 × 10−4 m2 mounted on a satellite orbiting the Earth is
used to gather the electromagnetic radiation from the star Antares.
Antares is 550 light years from the Earth. The radiant power entering the sensor from Antares
is 2.6 × 10−11 W.
L = ...................................................... W [3]
r = ..................................................... m [2]
If additional space is required, you should use the following lined page(s). The question number(s)
must be clearly shown in the margin(s).
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