1
1 A student is studying elephants.The diagram shows an elephant.
(a) The student measures the elephant and records the values, as shown in the table.
Complete the table by adding a suitable unit for each measurement. Choose the units from
those shown in the box.
2 2 2
m kg cm mm g m cm mg mm
measurements value unit
mass of elephant 4000
height of elephant 3.0
average area of an elephant’s foot 0.125
[2]
(b) Using information from the table in (a):
(i) calculate the weight of the elephant
weight = .............................................. N [3]
2
(ii) calculate the pressure the elephant exerts on the ground when it is standing on four
feet. Include a unit.
pressure = .............................................. [4]
[Total: 9]
2 A student measures a book.
(a) He measures the length of the book, as shown in the diagram.
The student records his measurements.
length of book = 19.9 cm
His measurement is not accurate.
Describe two ways that the student can improve the accuracy of his measurement.
1. .......................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
2. .......................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................... [2]
3
(b) The book contains 200 thin sheets of paper.
The student wants to find the average (mean) thickness of a sheet of paper in the book.
Describe how he can determine such a small distance using only a ruler.
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................... [3]
(c) The book has a mass of 400 g.
Calculate the weight of the book. Include the unit.
weight = ...................................................... [4]
[Total: 9]
4
3 A pipe drips water into an empty glass jar. A student takes measurements to find how fast the water
is rising up the jar. The diagram shows the arrangement.
(a) The student measures the depth of the water every minute.
State the two pieces of equipment that she uses.
1. ......................................................................................................................................
2. ...................................................................................................................................... [2]
(b) The student records her observations in a table. She then plots a graph using the axes shown.
(i) On the grid, label both axes with title and unit. [2]
5
(ii) The water rises up the jar at a constant rate.
Draw a line on the grid to show the student’s graph. Start the line from the time when
the jar is empty. [2]
(c) A puddle of water forms on the ground. The average depth of the water is 2.5 mm.
Determine the average depth of the water in m.
depth = .......................................................... m [2]
[Total: 8]
4 The diagram shows the top view of a rectangular paddling pool of constant depth. The pool is filled
with sea water.
3
(a) The volume of the sea water in the pool is 264 m .
Calculate the depth of the pool.
depth = .............................................. [3]
6
5
(b) The mass of the sea water in the pool is 2.70 × 10 kg.
Calculate the density of the sea water. Give your answer to 3 significant figures.
density = .............................................. [2]
(c) Calculate the pressure due to the sea water at the bottom of the pool.
pressure = .............................................. [2]
[Total: 7]
5 A bottle contains some oil.
(a) The mass of the oil and the bottle is 678 g. The mass of the empty bottle is 318 g.
Calculate the mass of the oil.
mass = .............................................. g [1]
7
(b) Some of the oil from (a) is poured into measuring cylinder A. The rest of the oil is poured into
measuring cylinder B, as shown in the diagram.
(i) State the volume of oil in measuring cylinder B, as shown in the diagram.
3
volume = .............................................. cm [1]
(ii) Calculate the total volume of oil.
3
volume = .............................................. cm [1]
(iii) Calculate the density of the oil.
3
density = .............................................. g / cm [3]
[Total: 6]
8
6 The diagram shows a simple pendulum swinging backwards and forwards between P and Q. One
complete oscillation of the pendulum is when the bob swings from P to Q and then back to P.
A student starts two stopwatches at the same time while the pendulum bob is swinging.
The student stops one stopwatch when the pendulum bob is at P. He stops the other stopwatch
when the pendulum bob next is at Q.
The diagram shows the readings on the stopwatches.
(a) Use the readings on the two stopwatches to determine the time for one complete oscillation
of the pendulum.
time = .............................................. s [2]
9
(b) The method used by the student does not give an accurate value for one complete oscillation
of the pendulum.
Describe how the student could obtain an accurate value for one complete oscillation of the
pendulum.
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................... [4]
[Total: 6]
7 This question is about measuring the speed of sound in air.
A student stands in front of a large wall. She hits a drum and hears an echo. The diagram shows
the position of the student and the wall.
(a) (i) State the name of a piece of equipment for measuring the distance from the student to
the wall.
................................................................................................................................ [1]
(ii) Explain how sound forms an echo.
................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................ [1]
10
(b) The student hits her drum repeatedly once per second. She walks away from the wall and
listens for the echo. When the student is 170 m from the wall she hears the echo from one
beat of the drum at the same time as the next beat of the drum.
Use this information to determine the speed of sound. State the unit.
speed = ........................... [4]
[Total: 6]
8 In the past, burning candles were used as timers.
A boy carries out an experiment to make his own timer using a burning candle.
The figure (not to scale) shows the length of the candle, and the clock he used, at the start of the
experiment and at the end of the experiment.
start of the experiment end of the experiment
clock clock
11: 50 14 : 05
candle at 5.0 cm
the start candle at 3.2 cm
the end
(a) Use the figure to complete the table.
time at start of the experiment
time at end of the experiment
time for which the candle was .................. hours ..................minutes
burning
= .................. hours
[2]
11
(b) The difference in the length of the candle from the start to the end of the experiment was
1.8 cm.
Calculate the rate, in cm / hour, at which the candle burns.
rate = .............................................. cm / hour [2]
(c) The boy estimates that he would need a candle about 24 cm long, of the same material and
diameter, to make a candle timer that would last at least one day.
State whether the boy’s estimate is correct. Give a reason for your answer.
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................... [2]
[Total: 6]
12
9 The diagram shows a measuring cylinder containing some water.
25
cm3
20
15
10
(a) State the volume of the water in the measuring cylinder.
3
volume = ....................................... cm [1]
(b) A student adds 20 drops of water to the water that is in the measuring cylinder in the diagram.
3
The new volume of water in the measuring cylinder is 25 cm .
Calculate the average volume of one drop of water.
3
average volume of one drop = ......................................... cm [4]
[Total: 5]
13
10 The diagram shows students about to start a 50.0 m swimming race.
(a) The length of the pool is 50.0 m.
Name a suitable piece of equipment that could be used to measure the length of the pool.
........................................................................................................................................... [1]
(b) The race starts and the students swim to the end of the 50.0 m pool.
The diagram shows the times recorded on the stop watches for the winner and the swimmer
in second place.
(i) Determine the time taken by the winner to swim 50.0 m. Use information from the
diagram.
winner’s time = ...................................................... s [1]
(ii) Calculate the average speed of the winner.
average speed = .............................................. m / s [2]
14
(iii) Calculate the time difference between the winner and the swimmer in second place.
time difference = .................................................... s [1]
[Total: 5]
11 A student has been told to find the density of some liquid paraffin by measuring its mass and its
volume.
(a) Which piece of laboratory equipment should she use to measure the volume of the liquid
paraffin?
........................................................................................................................................... [1]
(b) Which piece of laboratory equipment should she use to find the mass of the liquid paraffin?
........................................................................................................................................... [1]
(c) Describe the procedure she would follow in order to find the mass.
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................... [3]
[Total: 5]
15
12 Water is dripping from a tap into a measuring cylinder.
The water drops fall from the tap at equal time intervals.
A student uses a stop-watch to measure the time taken for the tap to produce 200 drops. The
diagram shows the time reading on the stop-watch.
1 s
min s 100
03 : 46. 50
(a) Determine the time, in seconds, for the tap to produce 200 drops.
time = .............................................. s [2]
(b) Determine the average time interval between one drop starting to fall and the next drop starting
to fall.
time interval = .............................................. s [2]
[Total: 4]
16
13 The diagram shows a pile of coins, a measuring cylinder and a beaker containing some water.
Describe how the student can measure the volume of one of the coins using the set-up shown in
the diagram.
..................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................................................. [4]
[Total: 4]
14 A device has a light-emitting diode (LED) that flashes briefly at regular intervals.
Describe how to determine accurately the average time for each interval, using a stopwatch.
..................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................
.................................................................................................................................................. [4]
[Total: 4]
17
15 A model train is travelling along part of a model railway track.
The graph is a speed-time graph for this model train as it travels along part of the track.
Determine the total distance travelled by the train on this part of the track.
distance = ........................... m [4]
[Total: 4]
18
16 A student has a pile of A4 paper for his computer printer.
The diagram shows the dimensions of the pile of paper.
3
(a) Show that the pile of paper has a volume of 3000 cm . Use the information shown in the
diagram.
[1]
(b) The mass of the paper in the pile is 2400 g.
Calculate the density of the paper.
3
density = .....................................g / cm [3]
[Total: 4]
19
17 A device for measuring gas pressure is connected to a gas supply as shown in the diagram.
300
250
242
connection to
gas supply 200
h
150
100
82
50
mercury
mm scale
0
(a) Determine the difference h between the mercury levels shown in the diagram.
h = .......................................... mm [2]
(b) The atmospheric pressure is 760 mm of mercury.
Determine the pressure of the gas supply.
pressure of gas supply = ........................ mm of mercury [1]
[Total: 3]
