OCR GCSE Physics A (Gateway) Paper 4 Higher June 2023 question paper J249/04

A sound wave travels from air into water.

Which quantity stays the same ?

A Amplitude

B Frequency

C Speed

D Wavelength

Ultrasound pulses can be used to measure the depth of the seabed.

The speed of ultrasound in sea water is 1500 m / s.

The seabed is 3600 m below sea level.

An ultrasound pulse is emitted from the ship.

How long is it before the ultrasound pulse returns to the ship?

Use the equation: distance travelled = speed × time

A 0.40 s

B 0.80 s

C 2.4 s

D 4.8 s

A radioactive element emits gamma rays.

A teacher accidentally spills some of the radioactive element on their hands.

Which sentence describes what happens to the teacher?

A They are contaminated and irradiated.

B They are contaminated only.

C They are irradiated only.

D They are not contaminated and not irradiated.

An oscilloscope is used to display a wave.

The diagram shows the screen of the oscilloscope.

The horizontal scale is 5 ms / cm.

What is the time period of the wave?

A 5 ms

B 10 ms

C 15 ms

D 30 ms

Which sentence about P seismic waves is correct?

A P waves are slower than S waves.

B P waves are transverse.

C P waves can travel through solids and liquids.

D P waves can travel through solids but not liquids.

A teacher plugs an electric kettle into the domestic electricity supply.

The kettle has a power rating of 2300 W.

What is the current in the kettle?

Use the Equation Sheet.

A 0.10 A

B 3 A

C 10 A

D 13 A

The velocity–time graph shows how the velocity of a car changes after the driver sees a hazard in the road.

What is the braking distance of the car?

A 8.4 m

B 15.0 m

C 17.5 m

D 23.4 m

Ultrasound scans are used to take pictures of unborn babies.

Before the ultrasound scan, gel is placed on the skin.

Which sentence explains why the scan only works when the gel is used?

A The gel amplifies the ultrasound waves.

B The gel lubricates the skin.

C The gel reflects the ultrasound waves.

D The gel transmits the ultrasound waves.

The kinetic energy of a car is 180 kJ when its speed is 20 m / s.

What is the mass of the car?

Use the Equation Sheet.

A 225 kg

B 450 kg

C 900 kg

D 18 000 kg

A radio aerial receives radio signals.

The aerial is connected to a radio receiver using a cable.

How does the radio signal travel through the cable?

A As a light wave

B As a radio wave

C As a sound oscillation

D As an electrical oscillation

A coal fired power station has an efficiency of 0.4.

What is the input energy needed to obtain a useful output energy of 500 MJ?

A 200 MJ

B 500 MJ

C 540 MJ

D 1250 MJ

0.090 J of energy is transferred when stretching a spring.

The spring constant of the spring is 50 N / m.

What is the extension of the spring?

Use the Equation Sheet.

A 0.0036 m

B 0.030 m

C 0.060 m

D 0.084 m

Object T moves at a constant speed in a circular orbit around object U.

Why does the velocity of T change?

A The force of gravity is at right angles to the velocity of T.

B The forces acting on T are balanced.

C The force of U on T equals the force of T on U.

D The forces acting on U are balanced.

A vehicle is travelling at 30 m / s.

The vehicle travels 75 m while decelerating to a stop.

What is the deceleration of the vehicle?

Use the Equation Sheet.

2.5 m / s² A

6.0 m / s² B

12 m / s² C

24 m / s² D

The wavelength of red light in glass is 4.33 × 10^–7 m. (b)

The speed of red light in glass is 2.0 × 10⁸ m / s.

Calculate the frequency of the red light in glass.

Use the equation: wave speed = frequency × wavelength

Give your answer to 2 significant figures.

A football player wears a red shirt with a white number 3 on the back.

What is the colour of the shirt and the number when viewed under blue light?

Colour of shirt........

Colour of number........

Another football player says, ‘Under red light, I cannot read the number on the shirt.’

Explain why.

An underground water pipe has a leak, as shown in the diagram.

A tracer called sodium-24 is used to detect leaks in underground pipes.

Sodium-24 has a half-life of 15 hours.

Give two reasons why this is useful.

Sodium-24 emits beta and gamma radiation.

Explain why this makes sodium-24 a good tracer.

Sodium-24 decays to form a stable isotope.

Explain why this is important.

The tracer is monitored using a gamma radiation detector.

How is the location of the leak found?

A 12 mg mass of sodium-24 is added to water.

The half-life of sodium-24 is 15 hours.

What mass of sodium-24 remains in the water after 30 hours?

Polonium-210 is a radioactive material which emits alpha particles.

Complete Table 18.1 to show the composition of an alpha particle.

Table 18.1

A person swallows a small amount of polonium-210. Doctors examine the person using a Geiger-Müller tube outside the body.

Explain why the doctors do not detect the polonium-210 inside the body.

Polonium-210,²¹⁰₈₄Po, can be made in a nuclear reactor in two steps.

In the first step, bismuth-209,²⁰⁹₈₃Bi is bombarded with neutrons to make²¹⁰₈₃Bi.

State the name given to these different forms of the element bismuth.

In the second step,²¹⁰₈₃Bi decays to form²¹⁰₈₄Po.

Complete the balanced nuclear equation for this decay.

1 g of polonium-210 is enough to kill a human being. 210 g of polonium-210 has an activity of 3.57 × 10¹⁶ Bq.

Calculate the activity of a sample of 1 g of polonium-210.

Give your answer in standard form.

The graph shows how the mass of a sample of polonium-210 changes with time.

Use the graph to complete Table 18.2. Two answers have been filled in for you.

Table 18.2

Time (days)	Mass (g)
0	160
200	.....................................
400	30
600	.....................................

Atoms can emit or absorb electromagnetic radiation when electrons move between energy levels.

The diagram shows electron transitions Y and Z between energy levels in an atom.

Draw an arrow on the diagram showing the transition of an electron in the lowest

energy level when it is lost from the atom.

Complete each sentence about the electron transitions in the diagram.

Use the words in the list.

absorbed emitted excited ionised

higher than lower than the same as

When an electron is........, as shown by arrow Y, electromagnetic

radiation is........ by the atom.

The frequency of electromagnetic radiation involved in transition Z is

........ the frequency of the electromagnetic radiation involved in

transition Y.

Line spectra give astronomers information about the motion of distant galaxies.

The table gives the wavelength of a line in the spectrum of hydrogen observed in a laboratory on the Earth.

The table also gives the wavelength of the same line in the spectrum of hydrogen observed from galaxy A and galaxy B.

Explain how the data in the table can be used to compare the motion of galaxy A with galaxy B.

The Sun is a star.

Describe how the Sun was formed.

* Nuclear power stations use nuclear fission rather than nuclear fusion to generate energy.

This graph shows how the probability of a nuclear fusion reaction changes with temperature.

Compare the processes of fission and fusion.

Explain why power stations only use nuclear fission at present.

Use the graph, and your scientific knowledge.

A student investigates how the potential difference across the secondary coil of a transformer changes with the number of turns on the secondary coil.

The diagram shows the student’s equipment.

Soft iron rod a.c. power supply Voltmeters Insulated wire Connecting wires

Describe a method that the student uses to obtain valid results.

You can include a labelled diagram to support your answer.

A transformer is used to change the potential difference (p.d.) of a supply.

The table shows the data for this transformer.

Calculate the p.d. across the secondary coil of the transformer.

Use the Equation Sheet.

p.d. across the secondary coil =........ V

Calculate the current in the primary coil of the transformer.

Use the Equation Sheet.

A teacher calculates power losses in a model power line.

The teacher changes the ‘turns ratio’ of a step-up transformer using the equation:

The graph shows how power loss in the power line changes with the turns ratio.

A student says, ‘As the turns ratio doubles, the power loss halves.’

Use data from the graph to explain why the student is incorrect.

Explain why step-up transformers are used in the national grid.

Student A and student B determine the specific heat capacity of lead using this method.

• Measure the mass and initial temperature of small lead pellets.

• Place the pellets in a sealed cardboard tube.

• Quickly turn the tube upside down 40 times.

• Measure the final temperature of the lead pellets.

Fig. 22.4 shows a diagram of the equipment:

Fig. 22.4

State one way to improve the experiment.

Explain why the cardboard tube is turned upside down very quickly.

Student A uses 0.030 kg of lead pellets and a 1.5 m long cardboard tube.

Calculate the change in potential energy of the pellets when the tube is turned upside down once.

Use the equation: potential energy = mass × height × gravitational field strength

Student B repeats the experiment using a different tube.

The total change in potential energy of 0.030 kg of lead pellets for this tube is 21 J. The temperature change of the lead pellets is 5 °C.

Calculate the specific heat capacity of lead. Include the correct unit.

Use the Equation Sheet.

Student A says, ‘I think we should use a metal with a higher specific heat capacity. This will give us more accurate results.’

Student B says, ‘I think we should turn the tube upside down 100 times. This will give us more accurate results.’

Explain why both student A and student B are not correct.

Student A........

Student B........