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Free US Common Core Common Core US Physics
Practice Paper

8 mixed-difficulty practice questions in the style of real US Common Core Common Core papers — answers, mark-scheme-style explanations, and the official exam structure all on one page.

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What the real US Common Core Common Core US Physics paper looks like

Paper 1
Objective and short-answer questions covering the breadth of the specification.
Paper 2
Structured and extended-response questions testing depth of understanding.
Total exam time varies by board and tier — typically 2.5 to 3.5 hours.
Grading: See the official board specification for the current grading scale.

Mini practice paper: 8 questions

Mixed-difficulty questions from across the US Physics syllabus. Tap "Show answer" after each to check yourself.

Q1 · Difficulty 1/3

A swimmer pushes backward against the water with her hands. According to Newton's Third Law, which of the following best describes what happens next?

  1. The swimmer accelerates because her push creates a net forward force
  2. The water absorbs the force, so no reaction force acts on the swimmer
  3. The water pushes forward on the swimmer with an equal and opposite force
  4. The reaction force acts on the swimmer in the same direction as her push
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: C — The water pushes forward on the swimmer with an equal and opposite force
Newton's Third Law states that for every action force, there is an equal in magnitude and opposite in direction reaction force acting on the other object. The swimmer pushes backward on the water (action), so the water pushes forward on the swimmer (reaction). Option A confuses net force with action-reaction pairs. Option B incorrectly suggests forces can be absorbed without a reaction. Option C contradicts the 'opposite direction' requirement of the Third Law.
Q2 · Difficulty 1/3

What is Newton's Third Law?

  1. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction
  2. Objects at rest stay at rest
  3. Energy is conserved
  4. F = ma
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: A — For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction
Newton's Third Law: when object A pushes object B, object B pushes back on A with equal force in the opposite direction. Forces always come in pairs.
Q3 · Difficulty 1/3

What is the law of conservation of energy?

  1. Energy can be created from nothing
  2. Energy is always lost as heat
  3. Energy always decreases
  4. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed from one form to another
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: D — Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed from one form to another
Total energy in an isolated system remains constant. Energy changes form (kinetic ↔ potential, chemical → thermal, etc.) but the total amount never changes.
Q4 · Difficulty 2/3

A 5 kg skateboard is pushed by a student exerting a 40 N force on it. By Newton's Third Law, the skateboard exerts a 40 N force back on the student. Why does the student move less than the skateboard?

  1. Action-reaction forces cancel out, so neither object should accelerate
  2. The force on the student is smaller than the force on the skateboard
  3. Friction only acts on the skateboard, reducing its acceleration more
  4. The student has greater mass, so the same force produces less acceleration
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: D — The student has greater mass, so the same force produces less acceleration
Newton's Second Law (a = F/m) shows that equal forces produce different accelerations in objects of different mass. The student has much greater mass than the 5 kg skateboard, so the equal 40 N reaction force produces a smaller acceleration in the student. Option B incorrectly states the forces are unequal — Third Law forces are always equal. Option D is a classic misconception; action-reaction forces act on different objects and cannot cancel. Option A reverses the effect of friction and misapplies it.
Q5 · Difficulty 2/3

A 2 kg object has a momentum of 10 kg·m/s. What is its velocity?

  1. 20 m/s
  2. 5 m/s
  3. 8 m/s
  4. 12 m/s
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: B — 5 m/s
p = mv, so v = p/m = 10/2 = 5 m/s.
Q6 · Difficulty 2/3

What is momentum?

  1. Mass times velocity (p = mv) — a vector quantity
  2. Force times distance
  3. Mass times acceleration
  4. The same as velocity
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: A — Mass times velocity (p = mv) — a vector quantity
Momentum = mass × velocity. Unit: kg·m/s. It is a vector (has direction). A heavier or faster object has more momentum.
Q7 · Difficulty 1/3

What is power?

  1. The total energy used
  2. The rate at which work is done or energy is transferred: P = W/t
  3. The force applied
  4. The distance moved
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: B — The rate at which work is done or energy is transferred: P = W/t
Power = work ÷ time (P = W/t). It measures how quickly energy is transferred. Unit: watts (W). 1 watt = 1 joule per second.
Q8 · Difficulty 1/3

What is work in physics?

  1. Force without movement
  2. Any physical effort
  3. The transfer of energy when a force moves an object: W = Fd
  4. The same as power
Show answer & explanation
✓ Answer: C — The transfer of energy when a force moves an object: W = Fd
Work = Force × distance (in the direction of the force). W = Fd. If an object does not move, no work is done regardless of the force applied. Unit: joules.
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US Common Core Common Core US Physics FAQ

What does the US Common Core Common Core US Physics exam look like?
The US Common Core Common Core US Physics exam is structured across 2 components. Paper 1: Objective and short-answer questions covering the breadth of the specification. Paper 2: Structured and extended-response questions testing depth of understanding. Total exam time varies by board and tier — typically 2.5 to 3.5 hours.
Can I download a free US Common Core Common Core US Physics past paper?
Real US Common Core past papers are published directly by US Common Core on their official website. Kramizo doesn't redistribute copyrighted past papers, but we do generate free AI-written practice papers in the exact same style — same command words, same difficulty tier, same mark conventions. Use this practice paper as warm-up, then time yourself on official past papers before exam day.
How is US Common Core Common Core US Physics graded?
See the official board specification for the current grading scale. Kramizo's practice questions are tagged with difficulty 1-3 mapping roughly to the lower, middle, and top grade boundaries you'll encounter in the real exam.