UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE LOCAL EXAMINATIONS SYNDICATE

General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level

PHYSICS 5054/1
PAPER 1 Multiple Choice
MAY/JUNE SESSION 2000 1 hour

Additional materials:
Multiple Choice answer sheet
Soft clean eraser
Soft pencil (type B or HB is recommended)

TIME 1 hour

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES
Do not open this booklet until you are told to do so.
Write your name, Centre number and candidate number on the answer sheet in the spaces provided
unless this has already been done for you.
There are forty questions in this paper. Answer all questions. For each question, there are four
possible answers, A, B, C and D. Choose the one you consider correct and record your choice in soft
pencil on the separate answer sheet.
Read very carefully the instructions on the answer sheet.

INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

Each correct answer will score one mark. A mark will not be deducted for a wrong answer.
Any rough working should be done in this booklet.

This question paper consists of 15 printed pages and 1 blank page.

SB (SC / JB) QF06362/2
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1 The diagram shows a vernier scale.

3 4 cm

0 0.1

Which reading is shown?

A 3.44 cm B 3.46 cm C 3.60 cm D 4.00 cm

2 A ball falls freely (with no air resistance) near the surface of the Earth.

Which quantity remains constant?

A acceleration
B distance travelled in 1 s
C speed
D velocity

3 Oil drips at a constant rate from a moving car. The diagram shows the pattern of the drips on a
road.

direction of movement

Which statement describes the motion of the car?

A It accelerated and then moved at a steady speed.

B It accelerated and then slowed down.
C It moved at a steady speed and then slowed down.
D It moved at a steady speed and then accelerated.

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4 A heavy lorry has a high inertia.

How difficult is it to start the lorry moving and to stop it moving?

to start to stop
A difficult difficult
B difficult easy
C easy difficult
D easy easy

5 A rectangular block of wood has length 6.0 cm, width 5.0 cm and height 10.0 cm. It has mass
150 g.

What is the mass of a block of the same type of wood of length 3.0 cm, width 5.0 cm and height
20.0 cm?

A 75 g B 150 g C 300 g D 600 g

6 An airship is moving forwards at constant height.

upward force (lift)

downward force

Which statement is correct?

A Gravity no longer has any effect.

B The airship now has zero mass.
C The potential energy is zero.
D The upward and downward forces are balanced.

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7 A pivoted uniform bar is in equilibrium under the action of the forces shown.

10 N F 6N

4m 2m 2m

What is the magnitude of the force F ?

A 2N B 4N C 8N D 14 N

8 A car accelerates up a hill.

What happens to its kinetic energy and to its potential energy?

kinetic energy potential energy

A decreases increases
B increases decreases
C increases increases
D unchanged decreases

9 The diagram shows a simple mercury barometer.

height of
mercury
column
mercury

reservoir

Which of the following does not cause the height of the mercury column to vary?

A changes in the atmospheric pressure

B changes in the value of g
C evaporation of mercury from the barometer reservoir
D leakage of air into the tube

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10 The results table is produced by a student studying the ‘work done’ in moving an object.

force used distance moved ‘work done’

110 10 1100

Units are missing from each column.

What should they be?

force distance work done

A F D W
B kg m kg/m
C m kg N
D N m J

11 Which of the following correctly states the properties of solids, liquids and gases?

solids liquids gases

A do not flow easily flow easily flow easily
B easily compressed easily compressed hard to compress
C fixed shape fixed shape no fixed shape
D no fixed volume fixed volume no fixed volume

12 A swimmer comes out of the water on a windy day. He may feel colder before he dries himself than
afterwards.

Why is this?

A The water is cooled down by the swimmer.

B The water on his skin is colder than the air.
C The water prevents warm air reaching his skin.
D The wind evaporates the water, cooling his skin.

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13 A partially inflated balloon is placed under a bell jar (diagram 1).

diagram 1 diagram 2

balloon

airtight seal

metal table

to vacuum to vacuum
pump pump

A vacuum pump is turned on for several minutes and the volume of the balloon increases
(diagram 2).

Which pressure changes occur within the bell jar and within the balloon?

pressure change pressure change

in the bell jar in the balloon
A decrease decrease
B decrease increase
C increase decrease
D increase increase

14 What is reduced when a mercury thermometer is made using a larger bulb, but with a capillary
tube of the same diameter and length?

A accuracy
B linearity
C range
D sensitivity

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15 The diagram shows a bimetallic strip in a circuit. The copper expands more than the invar for the
same temperature rise.

signal lamp

invar electric bell

copper
motor
M

What will be switched on when the bimetallic strip becomes hot?

A bell only
B lamp and bell only
C motor and bell only
D lamp, bell and motor

16 An experiment is carried out as shown.

steam

boiling water
glass test-tube

metal gauze

ice
Bunsen
burner

Why does the ice take a long time to melt, even though the water at the top of the test-tube is
boiling?

A Convection cannot occur in water.

B Ice is a poor radiator of heat.
C The metal gauze prevents energy reaching the ice.
D Water is a poor conductor of heat.

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17 A lightly coiled spring is fixed at one end and held by hand at the other.

up fixed

left right

down

Which hand movements cause first a compression and then a rarefaction to travel along the
spring?

A down then up
B up then down
C left then right
D right then left

18 The diagram shows a converging lens producing an upright, virtual image.

image object
F F

lens

Which optical instrument uses this arrangement?

A a camera
B a magnifying glass
C a photographic enlarger
D a projector

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19 A ray of light passes through a rectangular glass block. It is refracted and totally internally
reflected.

Which diagram shows a possible path of this ray?

glass glass

A B

glass glass

C D

20 A person stands 2.0 m in front of a plane mirror as shown.

2.0 m

mirror
1.5 m

How far from the person is her image?

A 2.0 m B 3.0 m C 3.5 m D 4.0 m

21 On what does the quality (timbre) of a sound wave depend?

A the loudness of the sound

B the pitch of the sound
C the shape of the wave
D the speed of the wave

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22 Four different whistles, when blown, emit pure notes with the frequencies shown.

0.1 kHz 1 kHz 10 kHz 100 kHz

How many of the frequencies are above the normal audible range for humans?

A 1 B 2 C 3 D 4

23 An iron bar is placed near a magnet as shown.

N S
magnet
iron bar

Which diagram correctly shows the induced magnetisation of the iron bar?

A B C D
N S

N S S N

S N

24 A small compass is placed beside the middle of a bar magnet.

compass

S N

In which direction will the compass needle point?

A B C D

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25 Materials can be classed, in electrical terms, as either conductors or insulators.

Which two materials are correctly identified?

conductor insulator
A aluminium copper
B copper polythene
C glass aluminium
D polythene glass

26 A 0.4 m length of resistance wire with an area of cross-section of 0.2 mm2 has a resistance of 2 Ω.

Which wire of the same material will also have a resistance of 2 Ω?

wire length area

A 0.2 m 0.2 mm2
B 0.2 m 0.4 mm2
C 0.8 m 0.1 mm2
D 0.8 m 0.4 mm2

27 The diagram shows two resistors connected in parallel across a voltage source.

Which statement is true for this circuit?

A The combined resistance is equal to the sum of the resistances.

B The current at every point in the circuit is the same.
C The current from the source is equal to the sum of the currents in X and in Y.
D The sum of the p.d’s across X and across Y is equal to the p.d. across the voltage source.

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28 The diagram shows part of an electric circuit.

2Ω 8Ω
X Y

5Ω 5Ω

What is the effective resistance between X and Y?

1
__ 1
__
A Ω B Ω C 5Ω D 20 Ω
20 5

29 Which diagram shows a lamp and a switch correctly wired to the mains supply?

A B

live live

neutral neutral

C D
live live

neutral neutral

30 Which fuse should be used for a 750 W electric iron connected to a 240 V supply?

A 3A B 5A C 10 A D 13 A

31 For a step-down transformer, what are the relative numbers of turns on the two coils and the
material of the core?

primary turns secondary turns core material

A few many hard steel
B few many soft iron
C many few hard steel
D many few soft iron

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32 The diagram shows a current-carrying wire passing through the centre of a sheet of paper.

X Y Z

How do the strengths of the magnetic field at points X, Y and Z compare?

A equal at X, Y and Z
B equal at X and Z, but stronger at Y
C equal at X and Z, but weaker at Y
D stronger at X than Y and stronger at Y than Z

33 A 12 V lamp is connected to a 12 V supply using very long leads.

long lead
12 V 12 V
supply lamp

long lead

Why does the lamp glow only dimly?

A A d.c. supply is being used rather than an a.c. supply.

B Electrical energy is converted to heat in the long leads.
C The current through the lamp is less than that from the supply.
D The potential difference across each lead is half the voltage supply.

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34 The diagram shows a horizontal beam of electrons entering a region between two charged plates.

+ + + + + + + electric
field
line
electron beam

– – – – – – –

In which direction is the electron beam deflected?

A upwards
B downwards
C into the diagram
D out of the diagram

35 A radioactive nucleus is represented by 227

85 X. It emits an alpha particle and forms a different
nucleus of element Y.
Which of the following represents the new nucleus?
223 223 223 223
A 83 Y B 84 Y C 86 Y D 85 Y

36 A factory uses a radioactive source and a detector to monitor the thickness of plastic sheets. The
arrangement is as shown.

too too
correct
thick thin

meter

detector

plastic
radioactive sheet
source

Which type of radioactive source would be best for this device?

radiation half-life
A
1 day
B
10 years
C  1 day
D  100 years

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37 Isotopes of an element contain the same number of

A atoms.
B neutrons.
C nucleons.
D protons.

38 In the Geiger-Marsden experiment, why do the great majority of the
-particles pass through the
metal foil with only small deviations?

A Atomic nuclei may contain neutrons.

B Atoms are electrically neutral.
C Atoms are largely empty space.
D Atoms have positively charged nuclei.

39 The diagram represents two helium nuclei. They have the same speed, mass and charge. They
are moving directly towards each other.

helium nucleus helium nucleus

Which statement is correct?

A The nuclei attract one another with a net gain in their energy.
B The nuclei repel one another with a net loss in their energy.
C The nuclei attract one another and their total energy stays constant.
D The nuclei repel one another and their total energy stays constant.

40 The amount of energy transferred when 10 C of charge passes through a p.d. of 20 V is the same
as the energy needed to raise a 2 kg mass through a distance x.

[gravitational field strength = 10 N/kg]

What is the value of x?

A 0.1 m B 1m C 10 m D 100 m

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