Momentum: past paper questions

Where the questions come from

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

  Quantity 1 is equal to the change in quantity 2 per unit time. What are quantity 1 and quantity 2?

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

  Trolley X of mass $2.0\text{ kg}$ is moving to the right at $2.0\text{ m/s}$. Trolley Y of mass $1.0\text{ kg}$ is moving to the left at $1.0\text{ m/s}$. The trolleys collide and stick together.

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• Question 10Oct/Nov 2023, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  Which expression is equal to impulse?

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• Question 10May/June 2026, paper 12Multiple choice1 mark

  What is the unit of impulse?

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• Question 3Oct/Nov 2025, paper 22Structured9 marksHas a diagram

  Fig. 3.1 shows a firefighter directing a jet of water at a wall. In $1.0\text{ s}$, a volume of $7.5\times {10}^{-3}{\text{ m}}^3$ of water hits the wall horizontally, at a speed of $24\text{ m}\mathrm{/}\text{s}$. The density of water is $1000\text{ kg}\mathrm{/}{\text{m}}^3$.

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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 1Oct/Nov 2023, paper 21Structured9 marksHas a diagram

  Fig. 1.1 shows a toy water rocket. The rocket is half-filled with water and connected by rubber tubing to a pump. Air is then pumped into the rocket so that the pressure of the air inside the rocket increases.

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• Question 3May/June 2026, paper 21Structured10 marksHas a diagram

  A syringe containing air is connected to a pressure sensor in a school laboratory as shown in Figure 3.1. Figure 3.1 The pressure of the air in the syringe cylinder is $1.0\times {10}^5\text{ Pa}$. There is no friction between the plunger and the walls of the syringe cylinder.

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• Question 7May/June 2025, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  What is a unit for momentum?

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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 8May/June 2025, paper 11Multiple choice1 mark

  In a safety test, a car collides with a concrete block. The impulse exerted by the block on the car is $14000\text{ N s}$. The collision with the block lasts for $70\text{ ms}$.

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• Question 1May/June 2024, paper 22Structured8 marksHas a diagram

  Fig. 1.1 shows two trolleys. On the front of trolley A, there is a wooden rod. Trolley B is initially at rest.

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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 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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