Thermal properties and temperature: past paper questions

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• Question 13May/June 2026, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  Why are small gaps left between the metal rails of a railway track?

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• Question 15Oct/Nov 2024, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  Which row describes the process of melting?

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• Question 13May/June 2026, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram shows a lorry travelling under electricity transmission cables. What is a possible hazard when the cables are too long?

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• Question 14Oct/Nov 2025, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The chart shows the boiling points for four different liquids at standard atmospheric pressure. Which liquid is water?

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

  Which name is given to the change of state when steam at $100{}^{\circ }\text{C}$ changes to water at $100{}^{\circ }\text{C}$?

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• Question 15Oct/Nov 2023, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  Which diagram shows the processes happening during changes of state?

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• Question 15May/June 2026, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  At the surface of a liquid, the more-energetic molecules can escape from the liquid into the atmosphere. Which name is given to this process?

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• Question 13Oct/Nov 2025, paper 13Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram shows part of a railway track. Each section of the railway track is separated by a gap. Why are these gaps necessary?

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• Question 14Oct/Nov 2024, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram shows electricity cables being put up on a warm day. The cables are suspended between the supporting pylons, as shown. Why are the cables not tightened to make them higher above the ground?

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• Question 14Oct/Nov 2023, paper 13Multiple choice1 mark

  What happens when a metal block is heated?

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• Question 15Oct/Nov 2025, paper 13Multiple choice1 mark

  When a liquid is exposed to the air, the more-energetic particles escape from the surface of the liquid. What is the name of this process?

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• Question 15Oct/Nov 2024, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  Which diagram shows the overall movement of particles and the temperature change when a liquid evaporates?

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• Question 15Oct/Nov 2023, paper 13Multiple choice1 mark

  Which statement about the temperature of the solid describes what happens when a solid is melting?

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• Question 14May/June 2026, paper 13Multiple choice1 mark

  Which statement is correct about the particles of a substance after condensation?

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• Question 12Oct/Nov 2025, paper 21Multiple choice1 mark

  The distance between two electricity pylons is $60\text{ m}$. The cable that connects the two pylons is $62\text{ m}$ in length. Why is the cable longer than the distance between the two pylons?

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• Question 14Oct/Nov 2024, paper 13Multiple choice1 mark

  Which effect is not due to thermal expansion?

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• Question 14Oct/Nov 2023, paper 21Multiple choice1 mark

  On a warm day, a carton of fresh milk is covered with a wet cloth. Why does this help to reduce the temperature of the milk?

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• Question 15Oct/Nov 2024, paper 13Multiple choice1 mark

  On a hot summer day, the level of the water in a pond falls. Which statement explains this?

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• Question 13May/June 2026, paper 22Multiple choice1 mark

  $900\mathrm{k}\mathrm{J}$ of energy is transferred to a mass of water. The temperature of the water increases from $20{}^{\circ }\mathrm{C}$ to $45{}^{\circ }\mathrm{C}$. The specific heat capacity of water is $4200\mathrm{J}\mathrm{/}(\mathrm{k}\mathrm{g}{}^{\circ }\mathrm{C})$.

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• Question 12Oct/Nov 2025, paper 22Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram represents the particle arrangements in samples of three different substances, P, Q and R. The samples have equal volumes and the same temperature. The samples are heated. The temperature increase of each sample is the same and no changes of state take place.

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• Question 14Oct/Nov 2023, paper 22Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  Liquid evaporates from a beaker. What happens to the temperature of the remaining liquid and how does this temperature change affect the rate of evaporation?

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• Question 14May/June 2026, paper 22Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  A beaker of liquid is heated slowly so that the liquid evaporates. During evaporation, from where do the more-energetic molecules leave the liquid?

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• Question 15Oct/Nov 2023, paper 22Multiple choice1 mark

  Thermal energy $\mathrm{\Delta }E$ is supplied to an object of mass $m$ which does not change its state during the heating process.

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• Question 15May/June 2026, paper 22Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  A student uses a tall container and a shallow dish for two experiments heating water. The same mass of water at room temperature is used in each experiment.

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• Question 13May/June 2026, paper 23Multiple choice1 mark

  What happens when the temperature of a liquid increases?

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• Question 13Oct/Nov 2025, paper 23Multiple choice1 mark

  The specific heat capacity of ice is $2000\text{ J}\mathrm{/}(\text{kg}{}^{\circ }\text{C})$. Which thermal energy is required to raise the temperature of $100\text{ g}$ of ice by $5{}^{\circ }\text{C}$?

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• Question 14Oct/Nov 2024, paper 22Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  Which row gives the correct name for each change of state shown?

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• Question 15Oct/Nov 2023, paper 23Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  Four containers each contain water. More water at the same temperature is added to each container. From which container does water now evaporate more slowly than it did before?

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• Question 4May/June 2026, paper 32Structured6 marksHas a diagram

  A hot furnace heats some solid metal until the metal becomes liquid. Name the process by which a solid becomes a liquid.

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• Question 14Oct/Nov 2025, paper 23Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram shows four labelled changes of state, P, Q, R and S, between solid, liquid and gas.

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