Sample exam questions - forces - EdexcelThree and four mark questions
Understanding how to approach exam questions helps to boost exam performance. Questions will include multiple choice, structured, using mathematical skills and extended writing.
These are similar to one- and two-mark questions but you will be expected to write in more depth for three- and four-mark questions.
Sample question 1 - Foundation and Higher
Question
Some students investigate a model of the craters produced by meteorite impacts. They drop balls into a tray filled with sand. They use six balls with different masses. They drop each ball from the same height.
Describe how the energy of a ball changes as it drops towards the sand. [2 marks]
Edexcel question courtesy of Pearson Education Ltd.
Gravitational potential energy decreases and the kinetic energy increases [1]. However the total energy remains constant [1].
Sample question 2 - Foundation
Question
A lamp receives 40 J of electrical energy every second. If 34 J is transferred as heat to the surroundings, how much is transferred as light? Explain your answer. [3 marks]
This question has been written by a Bitesize consultant as a suggestion to the type of question that may appear in an exam paper.
Total energy must be conserved [1].
40 J - 34 J [1]
= 6 J of light energy [1]
Sample question 3 - Foundation and Higher
Question
The driver of a moving car applies the brakes and the car comes to a standstill.
Describe the changes involved in the way energy is stored as the car slows and then stops. [3 marks]
This question has been written by a Bitesize consultant as a suggestion to the type of question that may appear in an exam paper.
The car has kinetic energy [1]. Work is done by the brakes (force is applied over the stopping distance) [1]. Energy is transferred to heat (and sound) in the brakes and surroundings [1].
