Edexcel GCSE Physics Paper 1 Higher June 2018 question paper 1PH0/1H

Sonar is an example of a use of ultrasound.

State one other example of a use of ultrasound.

State an example of a use of infrasound.

Figure 1 shows the depth of the sea, measured using sonar, at different distances from the shore.

A technician on a boat uses sonar pulses to measure the depth of the sea when the boat is 120 m from the shore.

Calculate the total time of travel for the sonar pulse used to make this measurement.

The speed of the sonar pulse in seawater is 1600 m/s.

(a) A student investigates what happens when light travels from air to glass.

Figure 2 shows some of the apparatus used in the investigation.

In Figure 2, angle Y is the angle of

Figure 3 is a graph of the student’s results.

Use the graph to calculate a value for

The student concludes that angle Y is directly proportional to angle X.

Explain what the student must do to test this conclusion in more detail.

The speed of light is 3.0 × 10⁸ m/s.

The wavelength of yellow light is 5.8 × 10⁻⁷ m.

Calculate the frequency of yellow light.

State the unit.

Use the equation

Figure 4 shows a Geiger-Müller (GM) tube used for measuring radioactivity.

Figure 4

Describe how a teacher should use a Geiger-Müller (GM) tube to compare the count-rates from two different radioactive rocks.

A hospital uses a radioactive isotope with a half-life of 6 hours.

A technician measures a count rate of 80 counts per minute (cpm) from this isotope.

Complete the graph on Figure 5, as accurately as possible, to show how the count-rate from this isotope will change from the time of the first measurement.

The first point is already drawn in Figure 5.

One radioactive source used in hospitals is technetium (Tc).

Technetium is produced from the radioactive decay of molybdenum (Mo).

Complete the following nuclear equation.

Which row of the table is correct for both force and velocity?

Figure 6 shows a satellite orbiting the Earth.

State the name of the force that keeps the satellite in orbit around the Earth.

Draw an arrow on Figure 6 to show the direction of the force acting on the satellite, that keeps the satellite in orbit around the Earth.

Label this arrow ‘F’.

Satellites are used to gather data about the origin of the Universe.

The Big Bang theory is a theory about the origin of the Universe.

Evidence for the Big Bang theory is provided by red-shift and CMB radiation.

Describe what is meant by red-shift.

Explain how red-shift provides evidence for the Big Bang theory.

The Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite observed CMB radiation from 1989 to 1993.

State what the ‘M’ in CMB radiation stands for.

State what is meant by ‘cosmic background radiation’.

Explain how the presence of CMB radiation provides evidence for the Big Bang theory.

Figure 7 shows a tuning fork.

When the prongs of the tuning fork are struck, the prongs vibrate in the directions shown by the arrows on Figure 7.

Describe how the vibrating tuning fork causes a sound wave to travel through the air.

You may add to the diagram if it helps your answer.

The following descriptions describe waves from different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Complete each description by adding the name of the wave.

Use the name of each wave only once. Each description refers to a different part of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Description 1

used in cooking

used in short-range communication

typical wavelength 900 nm

Description 2

used in cooking

used in communication

typical wavelength 150 mm

Description 3

used in communication

produced by oscillations in electrical circuits

typical wavelength 150 m

Description 4

used in medical scanning

is emitted by the nucleus of an atom

typical wavelength 2.0 × 10⁻³ nm

When white light crosses the boundary between air and glass, it can split up into the colours of the spectrum.

Explain, in terms of speed, why the light behaves like this.

The symbol ‘ g ’ can be used to refer to the acceleration due to gravity.

The acceleration due to gravity ‘g’ has the unit of m/s².

‘ g ’ can also have another unit.

Which of these is also a unit for g ?

Two students try to determine a value for g, the acceleration due to gravity.

They measure the time, t, for a small steel ball to fall through a height, h, from rest.

They measure t to be 0.74 s, using a stopwatch.

They measure h to be 2.50 m, using a metre rule.

Calculate a value for g from the students’ measurements.

Use the equation

They record the time t for two more drops from the same height.

The three values for time t are

0.74 s, 0.69 s, 0.81 s.

Calculate the average value of time t to an appropriate number of significant figures.

Explain one way the students could improve their procedure to obtain a more accurate value for g.

A car travelling at 15 m/s comes to rest in a distance of 14 m when the brakes are applied.

Calculate the deceleration of the car. Use an equation selected from the list of equations at the end of this paper.

Which of these is a non-renewable source of energy?

Explain why renewable sources provide an increasing fraction of the electricity supply for many countries.

Electricity can be generated using a water turbine.

Water gains kinetic energy by falling from the top of a dam.

Calculate the minimum height that 7.0 kg of water must fall to gain 1300 J of kinetic energy.

As water enters the turbine at the bottom of the dam, the kinetic energy of 8.0 kg of moving water is 1100 J.

Calculate the speed of the moving water as it enters the turbine.

Moving air can be used to generate electricity using a wind turbine.

Figure 8 is a graph of kinetic energy against wind speed for a mass of moving air.

Just before the air reaches a wind turbine it has a wind speed of 15 m/s.

When the air has gone through the turbine it has a wind speed of 13 m/s.

As the air moves through the turbine some of its kinetic energy is transferred to the turbine.

Use the graph to determine the percentage of the kinetic energy transferred to the turbine from the air.

A student investigates how different surfaces radiate energy as they cool.

Figure 9 shows some of the apparatus used in a part of the investigation.

Describe how the student could collect data to show how the rate of cooling of the container and water change with time.

Figure 10 is a graph of intensity against wavelength for the electromagnetic radiation emitted by a halogen lamp.

Describe how the intensity of the radiation varies with wavelength in Figure 10.

Figure 11 is a graph of temperature against time for a halogen lamp for the first 120 ms after it has been switched on.

Calculate the gradient of the graph at a time of 30 ms.

State the unit.

Explain why the temperature of the lamp rises and then remains at a constant value.

(a) A student investigates the relationship between force and acceleration for a trolley on a runway.

Figure 12 shows some of the apparatus the student uses.

Describe how the student could increase the accelerating force applied to the trolley.

Describe how the mass of the moving system can be kept constant.

Explain how the student could improve the procedure to compensate for the effects of frictional forces acting on the trolley.

*(b) Figure 13 shows two objects, Q and R, before and after they collide.

The arrows show the direction of movement of the objects. The arrows are not to scale.

Explain how momentum is conserved in the collision.

Use Newton’s third law and Newton’s second law in your answer.

Newton’s second law can be written as

Fusion and fission are nuclear reactions in which large amounts of energy are released.

In a fusion reaction, two hydrogen nuclei are forced together to form a helium nucleus.

Explain why a very high temperature is needed for this reaction to happen.

In a fusion reaction, the combined mass of the two small nuclei is greater than the mass of the resulting nucleus.

This decrease in mass, m, appears as energy, E, according to the equation.

c is the speed of light = 3.0 × 10⁸ m/s.

The energy released in one fusion reaction is 4.5 × 10⁻¹² J.

Calculate the decrease in mass.

*(b) Nuclear fission is used in nuclear reactors in some power stations.

In the reactor, a fission chain reaction is maintained and controlled to produce a supply of energy to generate electricity.

Figure 14 is a diagram of a nuclear reactor.

Explain how the graphite core and the movable rods are used to maintain and control the chain reaction.