Total marks: 60 · Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes
Instructions to candidates
- This paper has 60 questions. Answer ALL questions.
- Each question is worth ONE mark.
- For each question there are four options, A, B, C and D. Choose the ONE you think is correct. In the January 2027 sitting, Paper 01 is taken online, so you select your answer on screen.
- The questions are grouped by syllabus section: Mechanics (1–20), Thermal Physics and Kinetic Theory (21–32), Waves and Optics (33–44), Electricity and Magnetism (45–56) and the Physics of the Atom (57–60).
- You may use a silent, non-programmable electronic calculator.
- Take g = 10 N/kg (10 m/s²) where needed.
Paper
Section A — Mechanics
1. Which of the following is a scalar quantity?
A) Velocity
B) Acceleration
C) Energy
D) Force
2. How many newtons are there in 2.5 kN?
A) 2500
B) 25 000
C) 250
D) 25
3. To find the period of a pendulum, a student times 20 complete swings and divides by 20. Why is this better than timing one swing?
A) It changes the length of the pendulum
B) It reduces the effect of reaction-time errors in starting and stopping the stopwatch
C) It removes the need to use a stopwatch at all
D) It makes the pendulum swing more quickly
4. A car accelerates uniformly from rest to 10 m/s in 5 s. How far does it travel in this time?
A) 25 m
B) 2 m
C) 50 m
D) 15 m
5. A cyclist travels 1.2 km in 2 minutes. What is the average speed?
A) 10 m/s
B) 2.4 m/s
C) 0.6 m/s
D) 600 m/s
6. A car slows from 25 m/s to 5 m/s in 4 s. What is its acceleration?
A) −20 m/s²
B) 5 m/s²
C) −5 m/s²
D) −7.5 m/s²
7. A 1200 kg car accelerates at 2.5 m/s². What resultant force acts on it?
A) 1202.5 N
B) 30 000 N
C) 480 N
D) 3000 N
8. An astronaut has a mass of 60 kg. Taking g = 10 N/kg, what is her weight on Earth?
A) 600 N
B) 60 N
C) 60 kg
D) 6 N
9. A skydiver reaches terminal velocity. Which statement is correct?
A) Her weight has fallen to zero
B) Air resistance is equal to her weight
C) Air resistance is greater than her weight
D) She is still accelerating downwards
10. A 0.15 kg cricket ball moves at 20 m/s. What is its momentum?
A) 30 kg m/s
B) 0.0075 kg m/s
C) 3 kg m/s
D) 133 kg m/s
11. A man of weight 400 N sits 1.5 m from the pivot of a see-saw. Where must a child of weight 300 N sit on the other side to balance it?
A) 1.1 m from the pivot
B) 1.5 m from the pivot
C) 2.0 m from the pivot
D) 3.5 m from the pivot
12. Which design makes a table lamp MOST stable?
A) A high centre of gravity and a wide base
B) A high centre of gravity and a narrow base
C) A low centre of gravity and a narrow base
D) A low centre of gravity and a wide base
13. A worker lifts a 50 kg sack onto a platform 3 m high. Taking g = 10 N/kg, how much work is done?
A) 1500 J
B) 15 000 J
C) 150 J
D) 500 J
14. A motor does 1500 J of work in 5 s. What is its power output?
A) 7500 W
B) 0.003 W
C) 1505 W
D) 300 W
15. A 2 kg flower pot sits on a shelf 5 m above the ground. Taking g = 10 N/kg, what is its gravitational potential energy relative to the ground?
A) 50 J
B) 1000 J
C) 10 J
D) 100 J
16. A ball is dropped from a height of 5 m. Ignoring air resistance and taking g = 10 m/s², what is its speed just before it hits the ground?
A) 10 m/s
B) 50 m/s
C) 100 m/s
D) 5 m/s
17. Which of these is a renewable source of energy?
A) Coal
B) Natural gas
C) Uranium
D) Wind
18. A crate of weight 500 N rests on an area of 0.02 m². What pressure does it exert?
A) 0.00004 Pa
B) 10 Pa
C) 250 Pa
D) 25 000 Pa
19. Beyond a certain load, a spring no longer stretches in proportion to the load. This point is the
A) terminal velocity
B) limit of proportionality
C) centre of gravity
D) point of equilibrium
20. A block of wood floats in water. What does this tell you?
A) Its mass is less than 1 kg
B) Its density is less than that of water
C) Its volume is less than that of water
D) Its density is greater than that of water
Section B — Thermal Physics and Kinetic Theory
21. Smoke particles viewed under a microscope move about in a random, jerky way. This is evidence that
A) the smoke particles are heating the air
B) air molecules are fixed in position
C) smoke particles are alive and swim through the air
D) air molecules are moving randomly and colliding with the particles
22. How does boiling differ from evaporation?
A) Boiling cools the liquid that is left behind
B) Boiling happens without any input of energy
C) Boiling happens only at the surface at any temperature
D) Boiling happens throughout the liquid at a fixed temperature
23. How much heat is needed to raise the temperature of 0.5 kg of aluminium from 20 °C to 60 °C? (Specific heat capacity of aluminium = 900 J/kg °C)
A) 27 000 J
B) 18 000 J
C) 36 000 J
D) 9000 J
24. How much energy is needed to turn 0.2 kg of boiling water into steam? (Specific latent heat of vaporisation = 2.26 × 10⁶ J/kg)
A) 2 260 000 J
B) 11 300 000 J
C) 452 000 J
D) 45 200 J
25. A temperature of 300 K is equal to
A) 27 °C
B) 573 °C
C) −27 °C
D) 300 °C
26. A gas at 150 kPa occupies 4 litres. At constant temperature it expands to 6 litres. What is its new pressure?
A) 100 kPa
B) 225 kPa
C) 600 kPa
D) 36 kPa
27. A gas occupies 2 m³ at 250 K. At constant pressure it is heated to 375 K. What is its new volume?
A) 5 m³
B) 3 m³
C) 2.5 m³
D) 1.3 m³
28. Metals are good conductors of heat MAINLY because they
A) are always hotter than other materials
B) have atoms that are far apart
C) contain air trapped between the atoms
D) contain free electrons that carry energy through the metal
29. The heating element in an electric kettle is placed at the bottom. Why?
A) Heated water rises, setting up convection currents that heat all the water
B) The element would melt if placed at the top
C) Heat can only travel downwards through water
D) Cold water is lighter and stays at the bottom
30. Marathon runners are wrapped in shiny foil blankets after a race. Why?
A) Shiny surfaces make the runners sweat more
B) Shiny surfaces are good absorbers of radiation from the sun
C) Shiny surfaces are poor emitters of radiation, so less heat is lost
D) Shiny surfaces conduct heat quickly into the body
31. A bimetallic strip in a thermostat bends when heated because
A) the two metals melt at different temperatures
B) the strip becomes magnetic when hot
C) the two metals expand by different amounts
D) one metal contracts as the other expands
32. At night on a Caribbean coast, a breeze blows from the land towards the sea. Why?
A) The moon pulls the air from the land out to sea
B) The land cools faster than the sea, so warmer air rises over the sea
C) The sea cools faster than the land, so air rises over the land
D) Warm air sinks over the sea and draws air from the land
Section C — Waves and Optics
33. A sound wave has a frequency of 500 Hz and a wavelength of 0.68 m. What is its speed?
A) 0.0014 m/s
B) 500.68 m/s
C) 735 m/s
D) 340 m/s
34. The pitch of a musical note depends on its
A) loudness
B) frequency
C) amplitude
D) speed
35. Which of the following is a longitudinal wave?
A) A radio wave
B) A light wave
C) A sound wave
D) A water wave
36. A ringing bell is placed in a jar, and the air is pumped out. The bell can still be seen but no longer heard. This shows that
A) the bell has stopped vibrating
B) light needs a medium to travel through
C) sound travels faster than light
D) sound needs a medium to travel through
37. Which is a medical use of ultrasound?
A) Producing images of a baby in the womb
B) Sterilising surgical instruments
C) Taking images of broken bones
D) Killing cancer cells deep in the body
38. Light travels at 3.0 × 10⁸ m/s in air and 2.0 × 10⁸ m/s in a type of glass. What is the refractive index of the glass?
A) 1.5
B) 0.67
C) 6.0
D) 1.0
39. A ray enters glass of refractive index 1.5 with an angle of incidence whose sine is 0.75. What is the sine of the angle of refraction?
A) 1.125
B) 0.25
C) 0.5
D) 0.75
40. Optical fibres carry light signals over long distances by
A) total internal reflection
B) diffraction at the ends
C) absorption in the glass
D) refraction into the air
41. A man stands 2 m in front of a plane mirror. How far is he from his image?
A) 1 m
B) 4 m
C) 8 m
D) 2 m
42. An object is placed closer to a converging lens than its focal length. What kind of image is formed?
A) Virtual, upright and magnified
B) Real, upright and the same size
C) Virtual, inverted and diminished
D) Real, inverted and diminished
43. Which electromagnetic waves are used to produce images of broken bones?
A) Radio waves
B) Microwaves
C) Infrared
D) X-rays
44. Which statement is true of ALL electromagnetic waves?
A) They travel at the same speed in a vacuum
B) They have the same frequency
C) They need a medium to travel through
D) They are longitudinal waves
Section D — Electricity and Magnetism
45. A current of 2 A flows for 30 s. How much charge passes?
A) 0.067 C
B) 15 C
C) 60 C
D) 32 C
46. A potential difference of 9 V drives a current of 0.3 A through a resistor. What is its resistance?
A) 0.033 Ω
B) 30 Ω
C) 9.3 Ω
D) 2.7 Ω
47. A 4 Ω and a 6 Ω resistor are connected in series to a 12 V supply. What current flows?
A) 2 A
B) 1.2 A
C) 5 A
D) 3 A
48. A 3 Ω and a 6 Ω resistor are connected in parallel. What is their combined resistance?
A) 2 Ω
B) 4.5 Ω
C) 18 Ω
D) 9 Ω
49. A hair dryer draws 4 A from a 230 V supply. What is its power?
A) 234 W
B) 920 W
C) 0.017 W
D) 57.5 W
50. A 100 W lamp is left on for 10 hours. How much electrical energy does it use?
A) 10 kWh
B) 0.1 kWh
C) 1000 kWh
D) 1 kWh
51. An iron is rated 2.3 kW, 230 V. Which fuse should be fitted?
A) 30 A
B) 3 A
C) 13 A
D) 5 A
52. Why is the switch for an appliance placed in the live wire?
A) So the neutral wire carries more of the current
B) So the appliance is disconnected from the high voltage when it is switched off
C) So the earth wire can carry the current instead
D) So the appliance uses less electricity when it is on
53. A polythene rod becomes negatively charged when rubbed with a cloth. Why?
A) Positive charge is destroyed in the rod
B) Electrons are transferred from the cloth to the rod
C) Protons are transferred from the rod to the cloth
D) Electrons are created in the rod by friction
54. Which change makes an electromagnet stronger?
A) Using fewer turns of thicker wire
B) Replacing the iron core with a wooden one
C) Increasing the number of turns on the coil
D) Reducing the current in the coil
55. A wire carrying a current in a magnetic field experiences a force. What happens to the force if the current is reversed?
A) It becomes zero
B) It doubles in size
C) It stays exactly the same
D) It reverses direction
56. A transformer steps 240 V down to 12 V. The primary coil has 2000 turns. How many turns are on the secondary coil?
A) 20
B) 40 000
C) 100
D) 167
Section E — The Physics of the Atom
57. Isotopes of an element have the same number of protons but a different number of
A) nuclei
B) protons
C) electrons
D) neutrons
58. A beta particle is
A) a helium nucleus emitted from the nucleus
B) an electromagnetic wave of very short wavelength
C) a fast-moving electron emitted from the nucleus
D) a neutron emitted from the nucleus
59. The count rate from a radioactive source falls from 640 to 80 counts per minute in 6 hours. What is its half-life?
A) 1.5 hours
B) 2 hours
C) 3 hours
D) 6 hours
60. Which type of radiation is the MOST penetrating and is reduced significantly only by thick lead or concrete?
A) Alpha
B) Ultraviolet
C) Gamma
D) Beta