Energy: past paper questions

Where the questions come from

• Question 11May/June 2026, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  An electric motor produces a force $F$ to pull a trolley up a ramp. There is no friction or air resistance acting. Which quantity is equal to the work done by the force $F$?

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• Question 15Oct/Nov 2025, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  Energy is stored in batteries, fuel and food. What is the name of this energy store?

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• Question 10Oct/Nov 2024, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  As a cyclist uses the brakes on a bicycle, energy is transferred from the kinetic store to the thermal store. What causes the transfer of energy?

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• Question 8Oct/Nov 2023, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram shows a stationary fairground ride with four chairs of equal mass. Which chair has the most gravitational potential energy?

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• Question 2May/June 2026, paper 21Structured8 marksHas a diagram

  Figure 2.1 shows a waterfall. The speed of the water flow at points P and Q is the same. Describe the transfers of energy that occur as the water moves from point P to point Q.

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• Question 16Oct/Nov 2024, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  An object of mass $5.0\text{ kg}$ is moving at a constant speed. It has $10\text{ J}$ of kinetic energy. What is the speed of the object?

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• Question 1Oct/Nov 2025, paper 21Structured8 marksHas a diagram

  A car is at rest on a straight horizontal road. At time $t=0$, the car begins to accelerate. Fig. 1.1 shows how the momentum of the car varies with time.

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

  The diagram shows a curved track.

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• Question 9May/June 2025, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  An object pulled along horizontal ground accelerates to the right. The diagram shows the directions of the forces acting on the object. Which force is multiplied by the distance moved to calculate the work done to increase the kinetic energy store?

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

  How is energy transferred within a kettle that is powered by the mains supply?

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• Question 2Oct/Nov 2023, paper 21Structured8 marks

  A lorry (truck) is at rest on a straight, horizontal road. A constant driving force of $5.4\times {10}^4\text{ N}$ acts on the lorry and it accelerates forwards. Define what is meant by ‘acceleration’.

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• Question 2Oct/Nov 2024, paper 21Structured8 marks

  A student makes a ball from modelling clay. The ball has a mass of $0.20\text{ kg}$. She drops the ball from a height of $40\text{ m}$ above the ground.

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• Question 2Oct/Nov 2023, paper 22Structured9 marks

  A spacecraft of mass $300\text{ kg}$ is moving in a straight line in space, at a speed of $8000\text{ m/s}$. Calculate the momentum of the spacecraft.

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• Question 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.

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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 12May/June 2023, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  The diagram shows a burning candle. Which energy store is associated with the burning candle?

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• Question 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.

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• Question 10May/June 2024, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  An object of mass 5.0 kg is pushed up a slope at a steady speed of 2.0 m / s. Which calculation gives the change in gravitational potential energy from the bottom to the top?

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• Question 2May/June 2023, paper 21Structured7 marksHas a diagram

  In a safety test, a car of mass 1100 kg travels at a speed of 10 m/s and collides with a stationary van of mass 3000 kg. After the collision the car and the van move together with a velocity $v$. Fig. 2.1 shows the car and van before and after the collision.

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• Question 2May/June 2023, paper 22Structured8 marksHas a diagram

  Fig. 2.2 shows a rider on an electric scooter. The scooter contains a battery and a motor to drive the back wheel. State the name of the energy store in the battery.

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• Question 17May/June 2024, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  Which quantity is not measured in joules (J)?

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• Question 3May/June 2024, paper 22Structured9 marksHas a diagram

  Fig. 3.1 shows a solar-powered charger connected to a cell phone (mobile phone). The battery inside the cell phone is charged by the solar-powered charger. Complete Fig. 3.2 to show the useful transfer of energy from the Sun to the battery.

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