OCR GCSE Physics A (Gateway) Paper 2 Foundation June 2024 question paper J249/02

Which statement describes the nucleus of an atom?

A It contains electrons and protons only.

B It contains neutrons only.

C It contains protons and neutrons only.

D It contains protons, neutrons and electrons.

The diagram shows an object in orbit around the Earth.

What is the name of the object?

A A moon

B A natural satellite

C An artificial satellite

D An asteroid

One atom of carbon contains 6 protons, 6 electrons and 6 neutrons.

Another atom of carbon contains 6 protons, 6 electrons and 7 neutrons.

Which answer describes these different atoms of carbon?

A Alpha particles

B Ions

C Isotopes

D Nuclei

The graph shows how the velocity of a car changes when the driver sees a hazard in the road at time = 0 seconds.

Which statement is correct?

A The driver brakes for 1 second.

B The driver brakes for 5 seconds.

C The driver takes 1 second to react.

D The driver takes 5 seconds to react.

Which ray diagram correctly shows rays of light passing through a lens with principal focus F?

Which statement about some typical values of speed is correct?

A The speed of a car is greater than the speed of a jet plane flying.

B The speed of a car is greater than the speed of sound in air.

C The speed of a runner is greater than the speed of a jet plane flying.

D The speed of sound in air is greater than the speed of the wind.

Which diagram shows how alpha particles (), beta particles () and gamma rays () penetrate

What happens in the process of nuclear fusion?

A A chain reaction starts.

B A heavy nucleus splits and releases energy.

C A uranium nucleus absorbs a neutron.

D Light nuclei join to form a heavier nucleus.

A shirt appears green in white light.

Which colour will the shirt appear in red light?

A Black

B Blue

C Green

D Red

Which statement about electromagnetic waves in air is always correct?

A High frequency waves have a higher velocity than low frequency waves.

B High frequency waves have a longer wavelength than low frequency waves.

C Low frequency waves have a longer wavelength than high frequency waves.

D Low frequency waves have a lower amplitude than high frequency waves.

The graph shows the electromagnetic radiation emitted by four objects at different temperatures.

Which object has the highest temperature?

A book is lifted a vertical distance, x, from the floor to a table.

The gravitational potential energy store of the book increases by 10 J.

The book is then lifted a further vertical distance, x, from the table onto a shelf.

What is the total increase in the gravitational potential energy store of the book when it is lifted from the floor to the shelf?

A 5 J

B 10 J

C 20 J

D 40 J

An electrician measures the potential difference (p.d.) between two different wires, X and Y, in a plug.

The plug is wired correctly and working safely.

The p.d. between wire X and wire Y is 0 V.

Which row shows the correct name of wire X and wire Y ?

A force of 1200 N moves an object a distance of 16 m.

What is the work done on the object?

Use the equation: work done = force × distance

A 75 J

B 9600 J

C 19 200 J

D 153 600 J

Which row describes the potential difference for a washing machine and for a battery-operated torch?

This question is about waves.

Fig. 16.1 shows a diagram of a sound wave travelling through air.

Fig. 16.1

The dots in the diagram represent air particles.

Which type of wave is a sound wave?

electromagnetic longitudinal radio transverse

Fig. 16.2 shows four diagrams of the air particles after the sound wave has passed.

Which diagram is correct?

Tick (✓) one box.

Fig. 16.2

The lists show two groups of words about waves: a start of a sentence and an end of a sentence.

Draw one line from each start of the sentence to the matching end of the sentence.

Fig. 16.3 shows how ultrasound pulses can be used to find distances in water.

Fig. 16.3

Sometimes more than one echo is received by the ship from each ultrasound pulse.

Suggest why.

An ultrasound pulse takes 0.60 s to travel to the seabed and back to the ship.

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

Calculate the distance from the ship to the seabed.

Use the equation: distance travelled = speed × time

A sound wave has a frequency of 500 Hz.

The speed of sound in air is 330 m / s.

Calculate the wavelength of the sound wave.

Use the equation: wave speed = frequency × wavelength

Since 2009, filament lamps in the home have often been replaced by other lamps, called LED lamps.

The table compares a filament lamp and an LED lamp which produce the same intensity of light.

State the power of the filament lamp in kW.

Calculate the energy transferred by the LED lamp during its lifetime.

Use the equation: energy transferred = power × time

Give your answer in kW h.

Energy transferred =........ kW h

In 1 year, the filament lamp transfers 110 kW h of energy.

This costs £22.00.

What is the cost of 1 kW h of electricity?

Calculate the number of filament lamps a person must buy during the lifetime of one LED lamp.

Suggest one reason for and one reason against using LED lamps.

Use the data in the table.

For........

Against........

One LED lamp has an efficiency of 0.4.

In one second, the input energy transferred by the lamp is 10 J.

Calculate the energy wasted by the lamp in one second.

The graph shows how the total cost of buying and using each lamp varies with the number of days each lamp is used.

A person buys an LED lamp.

After how many days is the total cost of the LED lamp the same as the total cost of the filament lamp?

Use the graph.

The person uses the LED lamp for 100 days.

How much money does the person save by buying and using the LED lamp instead of the filament lamp?

Use the graph.

A student draws a ray diagram to show the refraction of a light ray through a glass block.

X is the incident ray. What are the names of line Y and line Z?

Y........

Z........

* The student does an experiment to investigate the reflection of light from a plane mirror.

The diagram shows the equipment the student uses.

Describe how the student does the experiment.

In your answer include:

• how the student sets up the equipment

• what the student will measure

• a prediction of what the student will find out from their results.

You can draw a labelled diagram to support your answer.

Hydrogen gas is placed in a glass tube in a laboratory.

Fig. 19.1 shows the emission spectrum of hydrogen.

Each line in the emission spectrum has a different colour.

Fig. 19.1

Complete the sentences to explain the cause of the lines in the emission spectrum.

Use words from the list.

atoms electrons light protons sound

........ move from a higher energy level to a lower energy level

and emit........

There is a potential difference of 3000 V across the tube.

A charge of 0.08 C flows in the tube.

Calculate the energy transferred.

Use the equation: energy transferred = charge × potential difference

A special power supply is needed to provide the high potential difference of 3000 V.

Describe one risk of using this power supply.

Fig. 19.2 shows the emission spectrum for each of three different galaxies.

The same emission spectrum is also shown for an equivalent laboratory source on the Earth.

Fig. 19.2

The emission spectrum for each galaxy shows red-shift.

Use Fig. 19.2 to explain what is meant by the term red-shift.

Which galaxy in Fig. 19.2 is furthest from the Earth?

Give a reason for your answer.

Galaxy........

Reason........

State which theory the spectra from each galaxy in Fig. 19.2 gives evidence for.

This question is about the acceleration and deceleration of cars.

A student wants to estimate a typical value for the accelerating force on a car.

The student writes down three possible values for the car’s acceleration.

3 m / s² 50 m / s² 100 m / s²

The car has a mass of 1800 kg.

Use the value for the acceleration you chose in (a)(i) to estimate the accelerating force on a car.

Use the equation: force = mass × acceleration

In a crash, the change in velocity of a car is 18 m / s.

The time for the crash is 0.15 s.

Calculate the deceleration of the car.

Deceleration =........ m / s²

In America, many cars have a ‘black box’ fitted.

The ‘black box’ records the change in velocity of the car if it crashes and comes to a stop.

The graph shows how the probability of serious injury to passengers in the car varies with the change in velocity of the car.

Describe how the probability of serious injury changes as the change in velocity of the car increases from 10 m / s to 20 m / s.

Use values from the graph.

Use the graph to estimate the minimum change in velocity which definitely causes serious injury.

Change in velocity =........ m / s

A scientist measures the activity, in counts per minute (cpm), of different radioactive isotopes.

The diagram shows the equipment the scientist uses.

The scientist:

• Records the activity on the counter before the detector is switched on.

• Switches on the detector and records the activity with the radioactive isotope nearby.

The table shows the scientist’s results.

How can the scientist make the results more accurate?

Tick (✓) one box.

The activity of a different radioactive isotope is 480 counts per minute (cpm).

Calculate the activity in counts per second.

Activity =........ counts per second

A radioactive isotope called yttrium-90 can be used to treat liver cancer.

Yttrium-90 has a short half-life of 64 hours.

Explain why a short half-life is important for the patient.

Problems of using yttrium-90 to treat liver cancer include:

• poor appetite, abdominal pain, fever or sickness

• people in contact with the patient can be exposed to small doses of radiation.

Explain why patients are treated with yttrium-90 despite these problems.

This question is about how electricity is transferred from a power station to homes.

Draw:

• one line to connect each type of transformer with the one box that describes what it does

• one line to connect what each type of transformer does with the one box that gives the reason for its use.

Type of transformer
What it does
Reason for its use

The table shows information for a transformer.

Calculate the current in the primary coil of the transformer.

Use the Equation Sheet.

A teacher connects the primary coil of a transformer to the domestic mains supply.

The teacher uses an oscilloscope to view the potential difference across the secondary coil of the transformer.

The graph shows the oscilloscope trace.

Use the graph to explain which type of current is supplied by the mains supply.

Type of current........

Explanation........

In 1986, there was an accident when a nuclear reactor in a power station exploded.

In the explosion, radioactive materials from inside the reactor were spread over the power station.

Explain why workers at the power station were both contaminated and irradiated in the accident.

Contaminated because........

Irradiated because........

The flow diagram shows energy transfers when electricity is generated in a nuclear power station.

Complete the flow diagram to show the changes in energy stores.

One of the elements released in the accident when the nuclear reactor exploded was caesium-137.

Caesium-137 has a half-life of 30 years.

Explain what is meant by the phrase ‘a half-life of 30 years’.

Which sentence explains why we use the idea of half-life in radioactive decay?

Tick (✓) one box.

In the accident, 28 kg of caesium-137 was released into the atmosphere.

What mass of caesium-137 remains undecayed after 90 years?

A nuclear reactor needs neutrons to start a nuclear fission reaction.

A plutonium nucleus (Pu) decays into a uranium nucleus (U) and an alpha particle (⁴₂He).

The alpha particle then joins with a beryllium nucleus (Be) to produce a carbon nucleus (C) and a neutron (n).

Complete the equations.