Light: past paper questions

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• Question 21May/June 2026, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The ray diagram shows light reflecting off a plane mirror. What is the angle between the incident and reflected rays?

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• Question 20Oct/Nov 2025, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  The following lists show colours of the spectrum.

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• Question 19Oct/Nov 2023, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagrams show light travelling in air incident on the surface of a glass block.

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• Question 24May/June 2026, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  Light travelling in glass is incident on a glass–air boundary. The angle of incidence of the light is greater than the critical angle. Which arrow shows the direction of the light after it is incident on the boundary?

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• Question 21Oct/Nov 2025, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  An object O is placed near to a thin converging lens. The diagram shows three rays of light from the object passing through the lens. Which row describes the image formed and gives the position of a principal focus (focal point) of the lens?

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• Question 20Oct/Nov 2024, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram shows a ray of light incident on a plane mirror. What is the angle of reflection?

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• Question 20Oct/Nov 2023, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  Which statement is correct?

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• Question 25May/June 2026, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  Three students suggest an advantage of using optical fibre cables in telecommunications rather than using copper cables.

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• Question 22Oct/Nov 2025, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  In which diagram is the path of the light ray not correct?

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• Question 21Oct/Nov 2024, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  An object O is placed in front of a plane mirror. Which diagram shows the image I formed by the mirror?

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• Question 21Oct/Nov 2023, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  An object is placed in front of a converging lens of focal length $4.0\text{ cm}$. The height of the image is $6.0\text{ cm}$. The arrangement is shown on the scale diagram.

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• Question 26May/June 2026, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  An object of height $5.0\text{ cm}$ is placed $2.0\text{ cm}$ from a converging (convex) lens which is being used as a magnifying glass. The image produced is $6.0\text{ cm}$ from the lens and has height $15.0\text{ cm}$. What is the focal length of the lens?

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• Question 22Oct/Nov 2024, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram shows a ray of light travelling from air to medium Q. What is the critical angle for the boundary between medium Q and air?

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• Question 27Oct/Nov 2025, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  Light passes into a transparent material that has a refractive index $n$. The angle of incidence at the surface of the transparent material is $i$. Which equation is used to calculate the angle of refraction $r$ ?

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• Question 4Oct/Nov 2024, paper 21Structured8 marksHas a diagram

  A student directs a beam of white light from a filament lamp towards a glass prism in a dark room. Fig. 4.1 shows the beam of white light incident on the left-hand side of the glass prism. A screen is placed to the right of the glass prism.

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• Question 27Oct/Nov 2023, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  Light travelling in air is incident on a water surface. The refractive index of water is $1.3$ and the angle of refraction in the water is ${40}^{\circ }$. What is the angle of incidence in the air?

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• Question 28Oct/Nov 2025, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  Which diagram shows a ray of light that is reflected by a plane mirror?

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• Question 5Oct/Nov 2024, paper 22Structured9 marksHas a diagram

  Some glass lenses are converging lenses, and others are diverging lenses. Draw the cross-section of a diverging lens.

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• Question 28Oct/Nov 2023, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram shows a ray of light passing through a triangular glass block. Which angle is the critical angle of light in glass?

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• Question 5May/June 2026, paper 22Structured9 marksHas a diagram

  A student uses a glass block and two identical glass prisms to demonstrate the action of a converging lens. Figure 5.1 shows three parallel rays of red light incident on the glass block and the two prisms. On Figure 5.1, draw and label the normal to the prism at point P.

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• Question 29Oct/Nov 2025, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  An object is placed in front of a plane mirror. Which statement describes the image produced?

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• Question 30Oct/Nov 2025, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  Three rays of light are incident on the boundary between a glass block and air. The angles of incidence are different. What is a possible critical angle for light in the glass?

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• Question 4Oct/Nov 2023, paper 21Structured10 marksHas a diagram

  Red light of frequency $4.7\times {10}^{14}\text{ Hz}$ travels in air at a speed of $3.0\times {10}^8\text{ m/s}$. Calculate the wavelength in air of this red light.

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• Question 25May/June 2024, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  Which diagram shows rays of light passing through a converging lens?

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• Question 19May/June 2023, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram shows two divergent rays of light from an object O being reflected from a plane mirror. At which position is the image formed?

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• Question 4Oct/Nov 2025, paper 21Structured10 marksHas a diagram

  Fig. 4.1 shows a ray of light striking the left-hand surface of a thin glass converging lens. Explain why the ray refracts and changes direction as it enters the glass.

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• Question 20May/June 2023, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  Light is incident on a mirror at an angle of ${45}^{\circ }$ as shown. The mirror can be rotated about an axis into the page through point X. The mirror is rotated until the light is reflected back along its original path. Through which angle is the mirror rotated?

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• Question 2Oct/Nov 2025, paper 41Structured10 marksHas a diagram

  A student investigates the refraction of light through a transparent block. Fig. 2.1 shows a top view of the transparent block. Fig. 2.1 On Fig. 2.1, draw a normal to the line XY at point M and extend it above and below the line XY.

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• Question 24May/June 2024, paper 12Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  Which diagram shows how light from a distant object forms an image in a normal eye?

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• Question 19May/June 2025, paper 11Multiple choice1 markHas a diagram

  The diagram shows light striking a plane mirror and reflecting. Which angle is the angle of incidence?

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