Practical questions
You will complete eight required practical activities if you are studying GCSE Physics and 21 if you are studying GCSE Combined Science. You could be asked questions about the methods, safety precautions you might take, results and conclusions of these experiments.
There is one required practical in the motion and forces section: investigating the relationship between force, mass and acceleration by varying the masses added to trolleys.
Edexcel questions courtesy of Pearson Education Ltd.
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Dr Alex Lathbridge answers questions about practicals.
Sample question 1 - Foundation
Question
Some students investigate the speed of cars. They measure the time it takes each car to travel a distance of 80 m.
a) State two measuring instruments the students should use. [2 marks]
The table shows some of their results.
| Colour of the car | Distance travelled (m) | Time (s) |
| Green | 80 | 5.0 |
| Red | 80 | 4.0 |
| Blue | 80 | 5.5 |
| Black | 80 | 4.3 |
| White | 80 | 5.6 |
| Colour of the car | Green |
|---|---|
| Distance travelled (m) | 80 |
| Time (s) | 5.0 |
| Colour of the car | Red |
|---|---|
| Distance travelled (m) | 80 |
| Time (s) | 4.0 |
| Colour of the car | Blue |
|---|---|
| Distance travelled (m) | 80 |
| Time (s) | 5.5 |
| Colour of the car | Black |
|---|---|
| Distance travelled (m) | 80 |
| Time (s) | 4.3 |
| Colour of the car | White |
|---|---|
| Distance travelled (m) | 80 |
| Time (s) | 5.6 |
b) State the colour of the slowest car. [1 mark]
c) Calculate the speed of the black car. [1 mark]
d) 20 miles per hour is approximately 9 m/s. Estimate the speed, in miles per hour, of the black car. [1 mark]
a) Stopwatch [1] and tape measure [1].
b) White [1].
The slowest car will take the longest time to travel 80 m.
c) \(v = \frac{x}{t}\)
\(= \frac{80}{4.3}\)
Speed = 19 m/s [1]
Recall an equation linking speed, distance and time. Substitute the numbers in and remember to give the unit.
d) 40 miles per hour [1].
To answer part d) you need to have an answer for part c). If you don't know the answer to part c) you should have a guess and then use that answer to attempt part d), as you can still receive the mark for part d) even if part c) is wrong.
9 m/s is 20 miles per hour. 19 m/s is about double 9 m/s, so we should double 20 miles per hour.
Sample question 2 - Foundation and Higher
Question
Two students, Alice and Bob, carry out an experiment to measure the speed of cars. Alice paces out the distance between two lamp posts.
She records: 'Distance between lamp posts = 20 paces'.
Bob starts to count when a car passes the first lamp post. He stops counting when he thinks it has passed the second lamp post.
He records: 'My estimate for the time taken for the car to pass between the two lamp posts = three'.
Give three ways the students could improve their experimental procedure. [3 marks]
- Use a tape measure to measure the distance. [1]
- Use a stop watch to measure the time. [1]
- Use a greater distance to reduce the effect of human reaction time. [1]
Carefully read the method given and try to find ways in which it could be improved. Be specific in your descriptions, indicating clearly what changes could be made.