AQA GCSE Physics Paper 2 Higher June 2024 question paper 8463/2H

A student investigated the refraction of light by a glass block.

Figure 1 shows the protractor used to measure the angles of incidence and the angles of refraction.

What is the resolution of the protractor used to measure the angles?

Table 1 shows the results.

Describe a method the student could have used to obtain the data in Table 1.

You may include a labelled diagram.

Figure 2 shows some of the results.

The student measured the angles of refraction for two additional angles of incidence.

Table 2 shows the additional results.

Complete Figure 2.

You should:

• plot the results from Table 2

• draw the line of best fit.

How does Figure 2 show that the angle of refraction is not directly proportional to the angle of incidence?

Figure 3 shows a diagram of a car headlight.

The headlight has a lamp, a reflective surface and a transparent cover.

Figure 4 shows a ray of light incident on the reflective surface.

Complete Figure 4 to show the reflected ray of light.

You should include the normal line at the point where the incident ray meets the reflecting surface.

Rays of light pass through the transparent cover of the headlight.

Which diagram shows how a ray of light passes through the transparent cover?

Tick () one box.

Figure 5 shows a young child using a baby walker.

The child is standing still.

What is the resultant vertical force on the child?

Give a reason for your answer.

Use the Physics Equations Sheet to answer questions 02.2 and 02.3.

Write down the equation which links distance (s), force (F) and work done (W).

The child pushed the baby walker 2.8 m across a horizontal floor.

The work done by the child was 35 J.

Calculate the horizontal force the child applied to the baby walker.

The child pushed the baby walker from a carpet onto a hard floor.

The child applied the same horizontal force to the baby walker.

Explain why the speed of the baby walker increased.

There are some toy gears on the front of the baby walker.

Figure 6 shows the gears.

The child applies a force to gear A.

This causes a moment about the pivot, so gear A rotates.

Use the Physics Equations Sheet to answer questions 02.5 and 02.6.

Write down the equation which links distance (d), force (F) and moment of a force (M).

The child applies a force of 2.0 N on gear A.

The perpendicular distance between the force and the pivot is 7.5 cm.

Calculate the moment of the force about the pivot.

Explain what happens to gear B when the child applies the force to gear A.

The Universe contains many stars.

The Sun is the star at the centre of our solar system.

Give three other types of object that form our solar system.

Some main sequence stars will eventually form black holes.

Table 3 gives the mass of four stars.

Which star in Table 3 is most likely to form a black hole?

The distance from Cygni A to the Earth is 1.1 × 10⁸ gigametres.

Which distance is the same as 1.1 × 10⁸ gigametres?

Tick () one box.

The light spectrum from every galaxy includes dark lines.

The lines have the same pattern.

Figure 7 shows the position of dark lines in the visible spectra of light from the Sun and from two distant galaxies.

Explain what these light spectra tell us about the velocities of galaxy A and galaxy B.

The distance between Arcturus and the Earth is 3.6 × 10¹⁴ km.

Calculate the time taken for light from Arcturus to reach the Earth.

Use the Physics Equations Sheet.

When stars are formed, they contain mostly hydrogen.

Describe how stars produce all other naturally occurring elements.

The Mariana Trench is the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean.

Figure 8 shows a submarine going to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

The depth of the submarine increases.

Explain what happens to the pressure on the submarine.

The submarine moved from the surface of the water to the bottom of the Mariana Trench.

The change in pressure was 110 000 kPa.

mean density of sea water = 1026 kg/m³

gravitational field strength = 9.8 N/kg

Calculate the depth of the Mariana Trench.

Use the Physics Equations Sheet.

Earthquakes often occur at the Mariana Trench.

P-waves and S-waves are produced by earthquakes.

Which statement describes P-waves and S-waves?

Tick () one box.

Figure 9 shows the layers inside the Earth.

An earthquake occurs at the position shown.

Which letter shows the position where only P-waves will be detected?

Give a reason for your answer.

Tick () one box.

An S-wave has a frequency of 3.6 Hz.

The S-wave has a speed of 4.5 km/s.

Calculate the wavelength of this S-wave.

Use the Physics Equations Sheet.

A seismometer is a device that detects earthquakes.

P-waves travel at a known speed between an earthquake and a seismometer.

S-waves travel at a slower speed than P-waves.

A P-wave and an S-wave from the earthquake arrive at the seismometer at different times.

Describe the relationship between the distance from the earthquake to the seismometer and the time between the P-wave and the S-wave arriving.

A student investigated how the acceleration of a trolley varies with the resultant force on the trolley.

Figure 10 shows some of the equipment used.

Figure 10 shows the force F which acts through the string.

What name is given to force F ?

Give one variable that should have been a control variable in this investigation.

The student held the trolley stationary and then released it.

The trolley moved along the runway with a constant acceleration.

The student recorded the time taken for the trolley to travel a measured distance along the runway.

Describe how the acceleration of the trolley can be calculated using the time taken and distance travelled by the trolley.

For one set of results, the force acting through the string was 2.0 N.

The student released the trolley three times and determined the following values for acceleration:

Calculate the uncertainty in the values of acceleration.

The runway was then raised at one end.

The force acting through the string remained the same.

Figure 11 shows this.

Explain how the acceleration was affected by raising the end of the runway.

Radio waves and gamma rays both transfer energy.

Give three other similarities between radio waves and gamma rays.

Both radio waves and gamma rays are used in medicine.

Give one medical use of gamma rays.

Explain why exposure to gamma rays can be harmful but exposure to radio waves is not harmful.

Some medical scanners produce radio waves at a specific frequency.

Explain how radio waves are produced at a specific frequency.

Figure 12 shows a velocity–time graph for a train travelling between two stations.

Determine the distance travelled by the train in the first 600 s of the journey.

Explain what happens to the braking force as the train decelerates.

Use information from Figure 12.

Determine the maximum deceleration of the train.

Another train travels at a speed of 60 m/s.

A constant braking force of 270 000 N causes the train to decelerate and stop.

mass of train = 240 000 kg

Calculate the distance travelled while the braking force is applied.

Use the Physics Equations Sheet.

It is illegal for train drivers to drink alcohol before driving a train.

Explain how drinking alcohol would affect the stopping distance of a train.

Figure 13 shows some apparatus used by a teacher in a demonstration.

The teacher moved the wire upwards between the magnets.

The needle on the ammeter deflected to a value of +0.4 mA and then returned to zero.

What effect did this demonstrate?

Explain why a current was detected when the wire in Figure 13 was moved upwards.

The teacher reversed the direction of the magnetic field.

The teacher replaced the wire in its original position.

The teacher moved the wire upwards in the same way as before.

What was the deflection of the needle on the ammeter?

Tick () one box.

Figure 14 shows a sound wave incident on the diaphragm of a moving-coil microphone.

The inside of the microphone includes a small coil of wire and a magnet.

Explain why the sound waves have an effect on the electric circuit.