Electric current: past paper questions

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• Question 34May/June 2026, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  There is an electric current of $10\text{ mA}$ in a conductor. What is the charge that passes a fixed point in the conductor in a time of $50\text{ s}$?

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• Question 32Oct/Nov 2025, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  What is a possible charge on a particle?

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• Question 32Oct/Nov 2024, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  There is a current in a resistor for a short time interval. Which statement about the total charge that passes through the resistor is correct?

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• Question 30Oct/Nov 2023, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  The current $I$ in a conductor is given by the equation shown. $$I=Anvq$$ What does the letter $n$ represent in this equation?

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• Question 34Oct/Nov 2024, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  An electric current of $12\text{ A}$ is in a wire of length $0.35\text{ m}$. The average drift speed of the free electrons (charge carriers) in the wire is $5.0\times {10}^{-4}{\text{ m s}}^{-1}$. How many free electrons are in the wire?

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• Question 31May/June 2026, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram shows a metal block. The block has sides of length $a$, $b$ and $c$ as shown, and its volume is $V$. Each charge carrier has a charge $-q$ and the number density of the charge carriers in the metal is $n$.

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• Question 32May/June 2025, paper 13Multiple choice1 mark

  The current $I$ in a metallic conductor of cross-sectional area $A$ is given by $$I=Anve$$ where $e$ is the elementary charge and $v$ is the mean drift velocity of the conduction electrons. What is represented by the letter $n$ in the equation?

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• Question 31Oct/Nov 2024, paper 13Multiple choice1 mark

  What is an electric current?

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• Question 30Oct/Nov 2023, paper 13Multiple choice1 mark

  What could not be used to create an electric current?

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• Question 33May/June 2025, paper 13Multiple choice1 mark

  What cannot be the charge on a charge carrier?

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• Question 6Oct/Nov 2023, paper 22Structured12 marksHas a diagram

  A metal wire has a resistance per unit length of $0.92\mathrm{\Omega }{\text{ m}}^{-1}$. The wire has a uniform cross-sectional area of $5.3\times {10}^{-7}{\text{ m}}^2$. Calculate the resistivity of the metal of the wire.

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• Question 6May/June 2025, paper 21Structured9 marksHas a diagram

  A nichrome wire X of length 45 cm and cross-sectional area $4.7\times {10}^{-7}{\text{ m}}^2$ is connected into the circuit shown in Fig. 6.1. The resistance of X is $1.1\mathrm{\Omega }$. The cell has electromotive force (e.m.f.) 1.3 V and negligible internal resistance.

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• Question 7Oct/Nov 2023, paper 23Structured11 marksHas a diagram

  State Ohm’s law.

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• Question 5May/June 2026, paper 22Structured12 marksHas a diagram

  Three resistors of resistances $R_1$, $R_2$ and $R_3$ are connected in a network in parallel as shown in Figure 5.1. The currents in the resistors are $I_1$, $I_2$ and $I_3$ respectively. The total current entering the network is $I_{\text{T}}$.

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• Question 33May/June 2024, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  An electric current is formed by moving charge carriers. What is not a possible charge on a charge carrier?

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• Question 4Oct/Nov 2023, paper 42Structured11 marksHas a diagram

  An electron in a metal rod moves randomly about a mean position. When an alternating voltage is applied to the ends of the rod, the mean position can be considered to oscillate with simple harmonic motion along the axis of the rod.

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• Question 3May/June 2024, paper 22Structured11 marksHas a diagram

  Lightning occurs when charge builds up in the atmosphere, creating a potential difference between the ground and the atmosphere. During a lightning strike there is an average current of $3.3\times {10}^4\text{ A}$ for a time of $2.6\times {10}^{-5}\text{ s}$.

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• Question 30May/June 2023, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  The electric current in a metal wire is $4.0\text{ mA}$. How many electrons pass a fixed point in the wire in a time of $10\text{ hours}$?

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• Question 30May/June 2023, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  Which charge can be carried by a charge carrier?

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• Question 6May/June 2023, paper 21Structured4 marks

  A metal wire in a circuit has a length of $1.8\text{ m}$ and a cross-sectional area of $1.5\times {10}^{-6}{\text{ m}}^2$. The total number of free electrons (charge carriers) in the wire is $2.3\times {10}^{23}$.

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• Question 6May/June 2023, paper 22Structured5 marks

  The current in a filament lamp decreases. State and explain how the resistance of the lamp changes.

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