Balanced and unbalanced forces: past paper questions

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• Question 2May/June 2026, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  A heavy sack is suspended from a ceiling by a rope. The sack is then pulled to one side and held stationary. Which vector diagram represents the forces acting on the sack in its new position?

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• Question 3Oct/Nov 2024, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The bob of a simple pendulum is pulled horizontally by a force that is equal to weight $W$ of the bob. Which diagram shows the angle between the pendulum thread and the vertical?

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• Question 9May/June 2026, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  Force $F_1$ and force $F_2$ are a Newton’s third law pair of forces. Force $F_1$ is a gravitational force that acts on object O. Which type of force is force $F_2$, and what is the object that it acts on?

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• Question 2Oct/Nov 2025, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  Two forces act on an object. $1.5\text{ N}$ acts vertically upwards and $2.0\text{ N}$ acts horizontally. What is the magnitude of the resultant force?

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• Question 8Oct/Nov 2024, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  An object falls vertically through the air. Which diagram represents the forces acting on the object?

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• Question 6Oct/Nov 2023, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  A student drops, from rest, a light ball in air. The ball experiences some air resistance as it falls. What happens to the velocity and to the acceleration of the ball during the first few seconds after release?

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• Question 8Oct/Nov 2025, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  Which list contains only quantities that can be changed by a force?

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• Question 3May/June 2023, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  Forces of $6.0\text{ N}$ and $8.0\text{ N}$ act as shown. Which diagram shows the resultant $R$ of these two forces?

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• Question 1Oct/Nov 2024, paper 22Structured10 marksHas a diagram

  A jet ski is a type of boat that carries one or two people and travels at high speed on water. Fig. 1.1 shows a student riding on a jet ski. A high-speed jet of water is forced backwards out of the back of the jet ski by a pump inside the jet ski.

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• Question 7May/June 2023, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram shows the only two horizontal forces acting on a trolley that is accelerating at $0.12\text{ m}\mathrm{/}{\text{s}}^2$. What is the mass of the trolley?

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• Question 1May/June 2026, paper 21Structured8 marksHas a diagram

  A bus starts a journey with a uniform acceleration for the first 20 s. State what is meant by ‘uniform acceleration’.

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• Question 10Oct/Nov 2025, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  An object is at rest on a table. The length of the arrows in the free-body diagrams represent the magnitude and the direction of the forces acting on the object. Which diagram shows the free-body diagram for the object?

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• Question 5May/June 2024, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  An object slides down a frictionless slope as shown. As the object presses on the surface, the surface pushes back on the object. In which direction does the surface push back on the object?

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• Question 3May/June 2023, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  What is the size of the resultant of the two forces shown?

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• Question 2Oct/Nov 2025, paper 22Structured9 marksHas a diagram

  A spherical container is used to carry measuring instruments to the bottom of a lake. Fig. 2.1 shows the container held at rest just below the water surface of a lake. The container is released and falls through the water to the bottom of the lake.

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• Question 2May/June 2024, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  Two people pull on ropes to move a boat along a canal. The boat moves at a constant velocity. The vector diagram for the tension in the ropes is shown.

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• Question 8May/June 2023, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  Newton’s third law describes a pair of forces. Which row shows whether the two forces are of the same type and whether they act on the same object?

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• Question 3May/June 2025, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  Which statement explains why a heavy coin that falls through a short distance towards the ground does not reach terminal velocity?

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• Question 1May/June 2023, paper 21Structured9 marksHas a diagram

  An aircraft pulls a glider along a runway as shown in Fig. 1.1. Fig. 1.2 shows the speed of the glider during the first 12 s of the motion. Describe the motion of the glider in the first 12 s.

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• Question 3May/June 2025, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The speed–time graph for a falling skydiver is shown. As he falls, the skydiver spreads out his arms and legs and then opens his parachute. Which part of the graph shows the skydiver falling with terminal velocity?

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• Question 8May/June 2024, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  Four of the gravitational forces that act between objects in the Solar System are listed.

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• Question 1May/June 2023, paper 22Structured8 marksHas a diagram

  Fig. 1.1 shows the speed–time graph for a car travelling on a straight horizontal road. Describe the motion of the car shown in Fig. 1.1.

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• Question 1May/June 2025, paper 21Structured9 marksHas a diagram

  Fig. 1.1 shows a skydiver falling vertically through the air. In the first part of the fall, her speed increases and her acceleration decreases. In the second part of the fall, her speed is constant.

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• Question 1May/June 2025, paper 22Structured10 marksHas a diagram

  A ball is dropped by the side of a vertical scale that is marked in centimetres. A video recording of the fall shows the position of the ball on the scale every $0.10\text{ s}$. The distance the ball falls is shown by the position on the scale.

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