Edexcel A Level Physics Paper 2: Advanced Physics II June 2023 question paper 9PH0/02

A sphere of radius r is made from material of density ρ_M. The sphere is fully immersed in a liquid of density ρ_L. Which of the following expressions gives the upthrust on the sphere?

A source of light is viewed through a polarising filter, as shown in photograph 1.

The filter is rotated through an angle and then viewed, as shown in photograph 2.

Photograph 1
Photograph 2

Which row of the table shows whether the light emitted by the source is polarised or unpolarised, and the angle of rotation of the filter?

Two stars, P and Q, are observed from Earth. The intensity of radiation from P is less than that from Q. The parallax angle for P is greater than that for Q.

Which row of the table is correct?

A wire Y of cross‑sectional area A and length l is joined to a second wire Z of cross‑sectional area 2 A and length 2 l as shown. Wire Z is fixed at one end and a force F is applied to the other end of wire Y.

The wires are made of the same material.

Wire Y extends by a distance x.

Which of the following is the extension of wire Z?

A raindrop is falling through the air with an increasing velocity. The forces on the raindrop are weight W, upthrust U and viscous drag F.

Which of the following shows the relationship between these forces?

Monochromatic light of wavelength λ is incident normally on two slits, S₁ and S₂, producing an interference pattern on a screen as shown. V, W, X, Y and Z represent positions of adjacent maxima.

The distance from S₁ to X is represented as S₁X. Which of the following expressions is equal to 2λ?

Carbon‑14 is a radioactive isotope with a decay constant of 1.2×10^–4 year^–1.

The fossil of a plant contains 24% of the amount of carbon‑14 that would have been present when the plant was alive.

Which of the following expressions gives the age of the fossil in years?

A ray of light is directed towards a prism as shown. The prism is made from a material with refractive index 1.5

Which of the dashed lines best shows the subsequent path of this ray of light?

An object oscillates with simple harmonic motion. The object has kinetic energy E_k and displacement x.

Which of the following graphs shows the variation of E_k with x for the object?

A radioactivity monitoring badge is worn by people who might be exposed to radiation. The badge is made from photographic film wrapped in thin paper and then held in a plastic holder that has an open window and a lead window, as shown.

The film gets darker when exposed to ionising radiation.

Which of the following represents the film after the badge is exposed to beta radiation?

The photograph shows a stringed instrument called a cello being played with a bow.

(Source: © Vadim Ponomarenko/Alamy Stock Photo)

A standing wave forms on a cello string when the bow moves across the string.

Deduce whether a thicker string will produce a note of higher or lower frequency compared with a thinner string.

Assume each string is the same length and at the same tension.

A fusion research centre was opened in Rotherham in 2021. The centre has a device which tests materials in the extreme conditions found inside a fusion reactor.

Describe the extreme conditions inside a fusion reactor.

The graph shows how the binding energy per nucleon varies with nucleon number for a range of nuclides.

Explain why the fusion of nuclei can produce large amounts of energy. Your answer should refer to information from the graph.

The fuel used in a camping stove is butane, which is stored in a canister as shown.

Some of the butane in the canister is in a liquid state, and some is a gas.

When the stove uses the butane gas, some of the liquid butane evaporates.

Explain why the temperature of the canister decreases when the stove is used.

The pressure inside the canister is 220 kPa and the temperature of the gas is 21C.

The canister is in the shape of a cylinder of length 0.23 m and radius 0.11 m.

Calculate the number of molecules of butane gas in the canister.

Assume the volume of liquid butane inside the canister is negligible.

Calculate the r.m.s. speed of the molecules of butane gas.

mass of butane molecule = 9.6×10^–26kg

The photograph below was taken by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and shows a group of galaxies that formed shortly after the big bang, about 1310⁹ years ago.

Derive the equation T = 1/H₀ where T is the age of the universe.

State one assumption made in your derivation.

The parsec (pc) is a unit used for astronomical distances. 1 pc is 3.1×10¹⁶m.

The accepted range for the Hubble constant H₀ is (60–80) km s^–1 Mpc^–1. Deduce whether the observation by the JWST leads to a value of H₀ within the accepted range.

1 year = 3.1610⁷s

The light from one of the galaxies, called Maisie, has a redshift z of 14. The wavelength of light from Maisie detected at the telescope is 4.010^–6m and lies within the infrared section of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Calculate the wavelength of light emitted by Maisie.

Explain why the light emitted by Maisie arrives at the telescope as infrared.

One of the infrared detectors on the JWST is made from material with a work function of 0.30 eV.

Deduce whether this detector can detect the light from Maisie.

The suspension system in a car includes a spring attached to each wheel as shown.

The car, of mass 1100 kg, is stationary. Each spring is compressed by 152 mm due to a quarter of the weight of the car. Each spring is well within both the limit of proportionality and the elastic limit.

State what is meant by within the elastic limit.

Show that the stiffness of each spring is about 18 000 N m^–1.

A force is applied to the car which results in a further small compression of each spring. The force is then removed, and the body of the car oscillates with simple harmonic motion.

Determine the frequency of the oscillations.

State the conditions for simple harmonic motion.

The oscillations are heavily damped by a piston in the suspension system. The piston moves within a cylinder filled with oil, as shown. The oil has a high viscosity.

Explain why using oil of high viscosity will produce heavy damping.

Scientists can analyse light from stars that has passed through a diffraction grating.

*(a) Explain the pattern produced when a mixture of blue and red light, from the same source, passes through a diffraction grating.

Light interacts with atoms as it passes through the atmosphere of the star.

Explain how this leads to the formation of the dark lines within the spectrum.

The surface temperature of the star is 5800 K.

On the axes below, sketch a graph of the intensity of radiation against the wavelength of that radiation for this star.

This star is a main sequence star.

Explain why main sequence stars do not collapse due to gravitational forces.

Galileo is credited with inventing the first telescope in 1610. The picture shows an early demonstration of the telescope.

(Source: © CPA Media Pte Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo)

A converging lens was positioned at one end of the telescope. A diverging lens was placed at the other end and a person looked through this lens.

The converging lens produced an image at a distance equal to the focal length of the lens.

Explain what can be concluded about the object being viewed.

The final image produced by the telescope is described as virtual and upright.

State what is meant by virtual and upright.

Virtual

Upright

The image, I, produced by the converging lens is at a distance from the diverging lens equal to the focal length of the diverging lens, as shown. This image acts as an object for the diverging lens.

The distance equal to the focal length on the other side of the lens is marked with F.

Draw the ray diagram for the diverging lens.

Galileo’s first telescope had a magnification of 10, and a distance between the centres of the two lenses of 90 cm.

Calculate the focal length of each lens.

Galileo was the first person to observe Jupiter’s larger moons.

Ganymede is Jupiter’s largest moon. The distance between the centre of Ganymede and the centre of Jupiter is 1.07×10⁶km. Ganymede takes 171 hours to complete an orbit around Jupiter.

Calculate the mass of Jupiter.