O Level Physics 5054, topic 1.7.4
Efficiency: past paper questions
13 Cambridge O Level Physics 5054 questions on Efficiency (1.7.4) from 13 papers, 2023 to 2026. Mostly multiple choice. Open the paper or try a question free.
Practising builds a set from this topic, free with an account. One question opens straight away, with no account.
- Questions
- 13
- Papers
- 13
- Years
- 2023 to 2026
- Total marks
- 55
- Average per question
- 4.2 marks
- Largest question
- 10 marks
By type: Multiple choice 7 · Structured 5 · Essay 1
How hard the questions are
- Recall0
- Apply5
- Analyse4
- Not banded4
Derived from the command word Cambridge prints in each question, banded by a fixed table beside the syllabus's own definitions. A question printing no command word is unbanded: unknown, not middling.
Command words
- calculateApply7 questions
work out from given facts, figures or information
- explainAnalyse4 questions
set out purposes or reasons / make the relationships between things clear / say why and/or how and support with relevant evidence
- describeApply3 questions
state the points of a topic / give characteristics and main features
- stateRecall2 questions
express in clear terms
- suggestAnalyse2 questions
apply knowledge and understanding to situations where there are a range of valid responses in order to make proposals / put forward considerations
- defineRecall1 question
give precise meaning
- determineApply1 question
establish an answer using the information available
- drawApply1 question
Where the questions come from
By year
- 20261
- 20256
- 20244
- 20232
By session
- May/June7
- Oct/Nov6
By paper
- Paper 17
- Paper 24
- Paper 42
Questions on this topic
Showing 11 of 13, spread across the years. Open one to write your answer and have it marked.
- Try this questionQuestion 17Oct/Nov 2025, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark
What is the definition of efficiency?
- Try this questionQuestion 18Oct/Nov 2024, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark
Energy is transferred in a filament lamp at a rate of . The lamp wastes energy at a rate of . Which ratio is used to calculate the efficiency of the lamp?
- Try this questionQuestion 14Oct/Nov 2023, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram
An electric motor is used to lift a load at a constant speed. The gravitational potential energy (GPE) stored in the load increases. The moving load also has stored kinetic energy (KE).
- Try this questionQuestion 2Oct/Nov 2025, paper 21Structured8 marksHas a diagram
In a factory, an electric motor is used to lift the boxes shown in Fig. 2.1. The boxes are placed in a cage and the motor winds a cable around a cylinder to lift the cage and boxes.
- Try this questionQuestion 11Oct/Nov 2024, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark
Which equation is used to calculate the efficiency of an energy transfer?
- Try this questionQuestion 8May/June 2023, paper 21Structured8 marksHas a diagram
A filament lamp is arranged above a shiny metal surface, as shown in Fig. 8.1. A student reads in a textbook that a light-emitting diode (LED) is more efficient than a filament lamp. State what is meant by 'efficiency'.
- Try this questionQuestion 1Oct/Nov 2025, paper 41Structured10 marksHas a diagram
A student measures the efficiency of a small electric heater. The student is provided with the circuit shown in Fig. 1.1. The coil of wire is the small electric heater.
- Try this questionQuestion 13May/June 2024, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark
The input power to a lamp is 6.0 W. The lamp wastes 2.7 J of energy in 3.0 s. What is the efficiency of the lamp?
- Try this questionQuestion 3May/June 2025, paper 21Structured8 marksHas a diagram
A battery, a pulley and a motor are used to lift a load as shown in Fig. 3.1. Describe the transfers between energy stores that occur as the load is lifted.
- Try this questionQuestion 2May/June 2025, paper 22Structured8 marksHas a diagram
Fig. 2.1 shows a fork-lift truck used to lift a load. When lifting the load, the electric motor on the fork-lift truck has a useful output power of . Define ‘power’.
- Try this questionQuestion 4May/June 2025, paper 41Essay6 marksHas a diagram
When a table tennis ball is dropped as shown in Fig. 4.1, it will bounce back upwards. Some of the initial gravitational potential energy (GPE) of the ball is lost in the bounce.