A-level Physics exam-style questions
Work through a connected problem, show your calculations and explain the physics. Then assess your response against the marking points.
These 24 original cases practise selected skills relevant to AQA 7408 and OCR A H556. They are not official board questions or complete papers. Marks are indicative; written answers and method marks are self-assessed.
Mechanics
- A trolley passing a motion sensor
- 9 marks · 4 linked parts
- Braking a loaded cart
- 9 marks · 4 linked parts
- Two trolleys coupling together
- 9 marks · 4 linked parts
- A hoist raising a load
- 8 marks · 4 linked parts
- Changing a spacecraft’s circular orbit
- 8 marks · 3 linked parts
- Assessing grip on a banked road
- 10 marks · 4 linked parts
Circuits
- A light sensor controlling a warning lamp
- 8 marks · 4 linked parts
- Testing a low-voltage heater
- 8 marks · 4 linked parts
- A charged particle between parallel plates
- 8 marks · 4 linked parts
- Inferring a capacitor’s discharge time
- 8 marks · 4 linked parts
- Powering a flash from a capacitor
- 10 marks · 4 linked parts
- Selecting electrons with crossed fields
- 9 marks · 4 linked parts
Practicals
- A cell measured with a biased voltmeter
- 8 marks · 4 linked parts
- Measuring free fall with electronic timing
- 9 marks · 4 linked parts
- A resistivity measurement with an uneven wire
- 10 marks · 4 linked parts
- Checking a spring’s force–extension data
- 8 marks · 4 linked parts
- Testing a pendulum with a length offset
- 14 marks · 4 linked parts
- Allowing for heat loss in a calorimeter
- 15 marks · 4 linked parts
- Testing a decay model with background counts
- 15 marks · 5 linked parts
Waves
- Measuring sound speed between microphones
- 8 marks · 4 linked parts
- Finding the modes of a stretched string
- 7 marks · 4 linked parts
- Testing double-slit fringe spacing
- 8 marks · 4 linked parts
- Following an oscillator through equilibrium
- 7 marks · 4 linked parts
- Finding a wavelength from diffraction orders
- 10 marks · 4 linked parts