AQA GCSE Physics Paper 1 Foundation November 2020 question paper 8463/1F

Figure 1 shows how the National Grid connects power stations to consumers.

Name the parts of the National Grid labelled K, L and M.

Figure 2 shows how the percentage of electricity generated by gas-fired power stations changed in the UK over 5 years.

Calculate how many times greater the percentage of electricity generated by gas-fired power stations was in 2018 than in 2014.

Explain one environmental effect of generating electricity using a gas-fired power station.

The UK government wants more electricity to be generated using renewable energy resources. What is a renewable energy resource? Tick (✓) one box.

An offshore wind farm is a group of wind turbines that are placed out at sea. Figure 3 shows the power output of an offshore wind farm compared with a wind farm on land for a 24-hour period.

Give two advantages of the offshore wind farm compared with the wind farm on land. Use information from Figure 3.

Figure 4 shows a theme park ride called AquaShute.

Riders of the AquaShute sit on a sled and move down a slide. There is a layer of water between the sled and the slide. How does the layer of water affect the friction between the sled and the slide? Tick (✓) one box.

The mass of one rider is 62.5 kg. The height of the slide is 16.0 m. gravitational field strength = 9.8 N/kg Calculate the gravitational potential energy of the rider at the top of the slide. Use the equation: gravitational potential energy = mass gravitational field strength height

At the bottom of the slide the speed of the rider is 12 m/s. The mass of the rider is 62.5 kg. Calculate the kinetic energy of the rider at the bottom of the slide. Use the equation: kinetic energy = 0.5 mass (speed)²

When a rider reaches the bottom of the slide, the sled decelerates and stops. Give two factors that will affect how far the sled will move before it stops.

Figure 5 shows part of a lighting circuit in a house.

What is the frequency of the ac mains electricity supply in the UK? Tick (✓) one box.

The mains electricity supply has an alternating potential difference. Which diagram shows an alternating potential difference? Tick (✓) one box.

The potential difference across the lamp is 230 V. The current in the lamp is 0.020 A. Calculate the power output of the lamp. Use the equation: power = potential difference current

The potential difference across the lamp is 230 V. Calculate the energy transferred by the lamp when 180 C of charge flows through the lamp. Use the equation: energy transferred = charge flow potential difference

An electrician needs to replace the light switch in Figure 5. Describe the possible hazard and the risk to the electrician of changing the light switch.

A student investigated how the total resistance of identical resistors connected in series varied with the number of resistors. The student used an ohmmeter to measure the total resistance of the resistors. Figure 6 shows the student’s circuit with 3 resistors.

The student repeated each reading of resistance three times. Table 1 shows the student’s results for 3 resistors in series.

Calculate the mean resistance of 1 resistor.

What was the resolution of the ohmmeter the student used? Tick (✓) one box.

How do the results show that the student’s measurements were precise? Tick (✓) one box.

Figure 7 shows the results.

How do the results show that the total resistance is directly proportional to the number of resistors? Tick (✓) one box.

Predict the mean total resistance of 7 resistors. Use Figure 7.

Some resistors are connected in series with a battery. When more resistors are added in series, the total resistance increases. Complete the sentences. Choose answers from the box. Each answer may be used once, more than once or not at all.

When the number of resistors increases, the potential difference across each

When the number of resistors increases, the current in the

Radioactive waste from nuclear power stations is a man-made source of background radiation.

Which of the following is also a man-made source of background radiation? Tick (✓) one box.

Nuclear power stations use the process of nuclear fission. Complete the sentences to describe the process of nuclear fission. Choose answers from the box.

Plutonium-239 is one type of radioactive waste from nuclear power stations. The following nuclear equation represents the decay of plutonium-239 (Pu-239). 239 235 4

How does the nuclear equation show that alpha radiation is emitted when plutonium-239 decays?

Tick (✓) one box.

Figure 8 shows how the activity of a sample of plutonium-239 varies with time.

How much time will it take for the activity of the sample of plutonium-239 to fall to half of its initial activity?

What is the half-life of plutonium-239?

The radioactive waste from a nuclear power station is buried underground. People are warned to stay away from places where radioactive waste is buried. Suggest one risk of going near the place where radioactive waste is buried.

A student used the equipment in Figure 9 to investigate how the pressure of a gas varies with the volume of the gas.

The syringe is filled with air. Table 2 shows the results.

Describe how the student could use the equipment in Figure 9 to obtain the data shown in Table 2.

Describe what happens to the pressure of the air when the volume of the air is halved.

The temperature of the air in the syringe remained constant during the student’s investigation. Which two properties of the air particles would change if the temperature increased? Tick (✓) two boxes.

A student heated water in an electric kettle.

Water has a high specific heat capacity. Complete the sentence. Choose answers from the box.

The specific heat capacity of a substance is the energy needed to raise the

The kettle circuit contains a thermistor which is used to switch the kettle off when the water reaches 100 °C. What is the correct symbol for a thermistor? Tick (✓) one box.

The resistance of the heating element in the kettle is 15 Ω. The current in the heating element is 12 A. Calculate the power of the heating element. Use the equation: power = (current)² resistance

The student investigated how quickly the kettle could increase the temperature of 0.50 kg of water. Figure 10 shows the results of the investigation.

The temperature of the water did not start to increase until 10 seconds after the kettle was switched on. What is the reason for this? Tick (✓) one box.

Describe a method the student could have used to obtain the results shown in Figure 10.

The mass of water in the kettle was 0.50 kg. The temperature of the water increased from 20 °C to 100 °C. specific heat capacity of water = 4200 J/kg °C Calculate the energy transferred to the water. Use the Physics Equations Sheet.

The water in the kettle boiled for a short time before the kettle switched off. During this time 5.0 g of water changed to steam. specific latent heat of vaporisation of water = 2 260 000 J/kg Calculate the energy transferred to change the water to steam. Use the Physics Equations Sheet.

A student investigated how the current in a filament lamp varied with the potential difference across the filament lamp. Figure 11 shows part of the circuit used.

Figure 11

Complete Figure 11 by adding an ammeter and a voltmeter. Use the correct circuit symbols.

Figure 12 shows some of the results.

The student reversed the connections to the power supply and obtained negative values for the current and potential difference. Draw a line on Figure 12 to show the relationship between the negative values of current and potential difference.

Write down the equation which links current (I), potential difference (V) and resistance (R).

Determine the resistance of the filament lamp when the potential difference across it is 1.0 V. Use data from Figure 12.

A second student did the same investigation. The ammeter used had a zero error. What is meant by a zero error?

Figure 13 shows an LED torch.

The torch contains one LED, one switch and three cells. Which diagram shows the correct circuit for the torch? Tick (✓) one box.

Write down the equation which links charge flow (Q), current (I) and time (t).

The torch worked for 14 400 seconds before the cells needed replacing. The current in the LED was 50 mA. Calculate the total charge flow through the cells.

When replaced, the cells were put into the torch the wrong way around. Explain why the torch did not work.

Write down the equation which links efficiency, total power input and useful power output.

The total power input to the LED was 0.24 W. The efficiency of the LED was 0.75 Calculate the useful power output of the LED.

Figure 14 shows a hydroelectric power station.

Electricity is generated when water from the reservoir flows through the turbines.

Write down the equation which links density (ρ), mass (m) and volume (V).

The reservoir stores 6 500 000 m³ of water.

Calculate the mass of water in the reservoir. Give your answer in standard form.

Write down the equation which links energy transferred (E), power (P) and time (t).

The electrical generators can provide 1.5 × 10⁹ W of power for a maximum of 5 hours. Calculate the maximum energy that can be transferred by the electrical generators.

Figure 15 shows how the UK demand for electricity increases and decreases during one day.

The hydroelectric power station in Figure 14 can provide 1.5 × 10⁹ W of power for a maximum of 5 hours. Give two reasons why this hydroelectric power station is not able to meet the increase in demand shown between 04:00 and 16:00 in Figure 15.