Year 9 Exam Physics Practice Questions Q. Megan s dog is pulling on his lead. Which arrow, A, B, C or D, shows the direction of this force? Give the letter.... Megan has to pull to keep the dog still. Which arrow shows the direction of this force? Give the letter.... Page of 9
Suddenly the dog s collar breaks. (i) When the collar breaks, the lead moves. Draw an arrow on the diagram to show which way the lead starts to move. Why does the lead move when the collar breaks?...... Maximum 4 marks Page 2 of 9
Q2. Draw a line from each circuit symbol below to the correct name. Draw only four lines. circuit symbol name 3 marks Fred made circuit as shown below. Give the name of the part that is the energy source for the circuit.... Page 3 of 9
Fred then made circuit 2 as shown below. In the table below, tick a box to show whether circuit and circuit 2 are series or parallel circuits. Tick only two boxes. series parallel circuit circuit 2 (d) What metal is usually used for wires in electric circuits?... maximum 6 marks Page 4 of 9
Q3. The table below gives information about the planets of the Solar System. They are listed in alphabetical order. planet average distance from the Sun in million km diameter in km time for one orbit round the Sun time for one rotation on its axis in hours temperature on surface of planet in C Earth 50 3 000 365 days 24 +22 Jupiter 780 40 000 2 years 9.8 50 Mars 230 6800 687 days 25 23 Mercury 58 4900 88 days 400 +350 Neptune 4500 5 000 65 years 6 220 Pluto 5900 2300 248 years 50 220 Saturn 400 20 000 29 years 0.2 80 Uranus 2900 5 000 84 years 7 20 Venus 0 2 000 225 days 5800 +480 (Data obtained from The Guinness Book of Astronomy, Patrick Moore; published by Guinness 992) Explain why Neptune and Pluto are the coldest planets....... Explain why there could be no liquid water on the surface of: (i) Mars...... Venus...... On which planet would the time between sunrise and sunset be shortest?... Page 5 of 9
(d) (e) Which planet has the shortest year?... Give the name of the force which keeps the planets in their orbits.... Maximum 6 marks Q4. In a power station, coal can be used to generate electricity. Use words from the box to answer the questions below. chemical electrical gravitational potential kinetic light sound thermal (i) What is the useful energy transfer when coal is burnt?... energy is transferred to... energy Some of the energy stored in coal is wasted when it is burnt. Give the name of one type of energy released that is not useful.... Page 6 of 9
Wind turbines are also used to generate electricity. The wind turns the turbine blades and the turbine blades turn a generator. Use words from the box opposite. Complete the sentence to show the useful energy transfer in a wind turbine and generator.... energy is transferred to... energy Suggest one disadvantage of using wind to generate electricity....... (d) Sugar cane is a plant. The sugar from the cane is used to make alcohol. Alcohol is a fuel. (i) Which energy source do plants use to produce sugar?... Is sugar cane a renewable or non-renewable source of energy? Tick one box. renewable source non-renewable source Give a reason for your answer.... maximum 7 marks Page 7 of 9
Q5. The table below shows information about four planets. planet time taken to orbit the Sun (Earth years) distance from the Sun (million km) Mercury 0.25 60 Venus 0.5 08 Earth.0 50 Mars 2.0 228 The diagram below shows the orbits of the Earth, Mercury, Venus and Mars, and their position at one particular time. The arrows show the direction in which the planets move. not to scale Show the position of each planet six months later by drawing a letter X on the orbit of each planet. 2 marks Page 8 of 9
Use the information in the table to calculate the largest and smallest distance between the Earth and Venus. closest... million km furthest... million km The speed of light is 300 000 km/second. Calculate how long light takes to reach the Earth from the Sun....... s (d) The diagram below shows the path of an asteroid around the Sun. not to scale (i) On the path of the asteroid, draw a letter S to show the position where the asteroid is travelling the slowest. On the path of the asteroid, draw a letter F to show the position where the asteroid is travelling the fastest. Explain why the speed of the asteroid changes....... maximum 7 marks Page 9 of 9
Q6. An early type of echo sounder for a boat produces a sound of frequency 2000 Hz. (i) The wavelength of this sound in water is 0.75 m. What is the speed of the sound in water? Give the unit....... This sound is heard by the operator as a brief ping. The speed of sound in air is 330 m/s. What is the wavelength of the sound in air? Give the unit....... (iii) Modern echo sounders use higher frequencies than the early type. Complete the sentence below to describe how the wavelength produced by a modern echo sounder compares with that produced by the early type. The wavelength produced by a modern echo sounder is... The diagram shows a wave in a slinky spring. The frequency of the waves is 5 pulses per second and the wavelength is 80 cm. What is the wave speed? Give the unit.... Maximum 4 marks Page 0 of 9
Q7. A man does a bungee jump over a lake. He jumps from point A with an elasticated rope tied to his ankles. The rope reaches down to point B when it is not being stretched. The man falls past B, and the rope begins to stretch. He falls past point C to point D, which is the lowest point he reaches. Then he begins to move upwards again. Eventually he comes to rest at point C. (i) At which point, A, B, C or D, is the man when the tension in the rope is greater than his weight?... At which point, A, B, C or D, is the man when the tension in the rope is equal to his weight?... Page of 9
The graph shows how the man s speed varies with time as he falls from point A to point D and bounces back upwards. The point when the man jumped from A has been labelled on the curve. Label the points on the curve when the man was at points B, C and D as he fell. 3 marks The total energy of the man and the rope includes the man s potential energy, his kinetic energy, and the elastic (strain) energy stored in the stretched rope. Describe how the elastic (strain) energy in the rope changes as the man falls from point A to point D............. 2 marks Maximum 7 marks Page 2 of 9
Mark schemes Q. B D (i) (L3) (L3) one mark for the arrow pointing to the left the arrow may be anywhere on the diagram accept D on the diagram accept arrows pointing diagonally downwards and to the left do not accept arrows pointing vertically downwards (L3) answers should refer to a force pulling or the effect of pulling any one from because Megan is pulling it because there is a force on it because the force is unbalanced force D is still acting accept because it was stretched or because the dog isn t pulling it any more accept answers referring to gravity, weight or falling only if the arrow in (i) points diagonally or vertically downwards do not accept it is not attached to the dog any more (L3) [4] Page 3 of 9
Q2. all four lines are required for three marks any three lines are required for two marks any two lines are required for one mark if more than one line is drawn from a symbol, do not give credit for that symbol 3 (L4) battery accept cell or cells accept power supply or power pack (L4) series parallel circuit circuit 2 both ticks are required for one mark if more than one box is ticked in any row, award no mark (L4) (d) copper accept aluminium accept gold do not accept any other metal (L4) [6] Page 4 of 9
Q3. they are furthest from the Sun accept they are further from the Sun or they are furthest away or Pluto is furthest from the Sun do not accept they are far from the Sun (i) it is below the freezing point of water accept it would freeze or it is too cold it is above the boiling point of water accept it would boil or it would evaporate or it is too hot do not accept it would dry up or it is too close to the Sun Jupiter (d) Mercury (e) gravity do not accept weight [6] Q4. (i) chemical answers must be in the correct order thermal accept kinetic heat is insufficient movement is insufficient (L6) (L6) any one from sound light kinetic electrical answers must be in the correct order both answers are required for the mark movement is insufficient for kinetic (L6) (L6) Page 5 of 9
any one from the wind speed varies accept it depends on the weather sometimes the wind does not blow accept the wind is unreliable the wind cannot be controlled accept it varies accept it could be too windy responses that do not refer to wind, such as they spoil the landscape or they kill birds or they are too noisy or interfere with TV and radio signals are insufficient (d) (i) Sun(light) accept light accept solar (energy) do not accept heat photosynthesis is insufficient (L5) (L5) renewable source both the correct answer and a correct explanation are required for the mark you can grow more plants accept you grow it (again) do not accept you can use it again it is a biofuel is insufficient (L6) [7] Page 6 of 9
Q5. for all four correct, award two marks for any two or three correct, award one mark accept a cross drawn that lies within the width of the Sun for each planet, e.g. 42 258 accept 50-08 accept 50+08 2 (L7) (L7) (L7) Page 7 of 9
500 accept or accept 8.3 minutes accept about 8 minutes (L7) (d) (i) both answers are required for the mark accept an answer within the dotted lines at either end of the ellipse (L7) attracted by the Sun s gravity accept increased gravity near to Sun (L7) [7] Q6. (i) 500 m/s or.5 km/s unit required for the mark accept 2000 0.75 m/s (iii) 0.65 m or 6.5 cm or 65 mm unit required for the mark accept 330 2000 m shorter or less accept lower or smaller 4 m/s or 400 cm/s unit required for the mark accept 5 0.8 m/s or 5 80 cm/s [4] Page 8 of 9
Q7. (i) D C zero from A to B one mark each for correctly labelling B, C and D accept B anywhere on the curve between 3.3 and 4.3 cm from A C is at the highest point on the curve D is at the point where the speed is zero 3 increases from B to D accept increases after B do not accept it increases accept it is zero from A to B and then increases for both marks [7] Page 9 of 9