Chapter 3 Past paper

Table of Contents
• Paper 1 ................................................................................................................................ 2

May 2022 ............................................................................................................................... 2

May 2021 ............................................................................................................................... 6

November 2020 ..................................................................................................................... 8

November 2019 ................................................................................................................... 10

May 2019 ............................................................................................................................. 11

November 2018 ................................................................................................................... 16

May 2018 ............................................................................................................................. 18

November 2017 ................................................................................................................... 22

May 2017 ............................................................................................................................. 23

• Paper 2 .............................................................................................................................. 28

May 2022 ............................................................................................................................. 28

May 2021 ............................................................................................................................. 32

November 2020 ................................................................................................................... 37

November 2019 ................................................................................................................... 40

November 2018 ................................................................................................................... 42

May 2018 ............................................................................................................................. 45

November 2017 ................................................................................................................... 46

1
 • Paper 1

May 2022
1. A driver uses the brakes on a car to descend a hill at constant speed. What is correct about
the internal energy of the brake discs?
A. The internal energy increases.
B. The internal energy decreases.
C. There is no change in the internal energy.
D. The internal energy is zero.
Answer: A

2. Two blocks, X and Y, are placed in contact with each other. Data for the blocks are
provided.

X has a mass m. What is the mass of Y?

A. m/4
B. m
C. 4 m
D. 6 m
Answer: C

2
3. An ideal gas is maintained at a temperature of 100 K. The variation of the pressure P and
1/volume of the gas is shown.

What is the quantity of the gas?

Answer: C

4. What is true for an ideal gas?

A. nRT = NkBT
B. nRT = kBT
C. RT = NkBT
D. RT = kBT
Answer: A

3
5. Which assumption is part of the molecular kinetic model of ideal gases?
A. The work done on a system equals the change in kinetic energy of the system.
B. The volume of a gas results from adding the volume of the individual molecules.
C. A gas is made up of tiny identical particles in constant random motion.
D. All particles in a gas have kinetic and potential energy.
Answer: C

6. A quantity of an ideal gas is at a temperature T in a cylinder with a movable piston that

traps a length L of the gas. The piston is moved so that the length of the trapped gas is
reduced to 56/L and the pressure of the gas doubles.

What is the temperature of the gas at the end of the change?

Answer: C

4
7. Water at room temperature is placed in a freezer. The specific heat capacity of water is
twice the specific heat capacity of ice. Assume that thermal energy is transferred from
the water at a constant rate.
Which graph shows the variation with time of the temperature of the water?

Answer: B

8. System X is at a temperature of 40 °C. Thermal energy is provided to system X until it

reaches a temperature of 50 °C. System Y is at a temperature of 283 K. Thermal energy is
provided to system Y until it reaches a temperature of 293 K.
What is the difference in the thermal energy provided to both systems?

A. Zero
B. Larger for X
C. Larger for Y
D. Cannot be determined with the data given
Answer: D
5
May 2021
9. Which aspect of thermal physics is best explained by the molecular kinetic model?
A. The equation of state of ideal gases
B. The difference between Celsius and Kelvin temperature
C. The value of the Avogadro constant
D. The existence of gaseous isotopes
Answer: A
(May 2021)

10.

Answer: D
(May 2021)
11.

6
 Answer: D
(May 2021)

12.

Answer: B
(May 2021)
13.

Answer: C
(May 2021)

7
 14.

Answer: D
(May 2021)

November 2020

15.An ideal gas of constant mass is heated in a container of constant volume.

What is the reason for the increase in pressure of the gas?
A. The average number of molecules per unit volume increases.
B. The average force per impact at the container wall increases.
C. Molecules collide with each other more frequently.
D. Molecules occupy a greater fractional volume of the container.
Answer: B
(November 2020)

16.A substance in the gas state has a density about 1000 times less than when it is in the
liquid state. The diameter of a molecule is d. What is the best estimate of the average
distance between molecules in the gas state?
A. d
B. 10d
C. 100d
8
 D. 1000d
Answer: B
(November 2020)

17.

Answer: A
(November 2020)
½ Mv2=mcΔT

9
November 2019

18.

Answer: A
(November 2019)
19.

Answer: D
(November 2019)

10
 20.

Answer: C
(November 2019)

May 2019

21.Energy is transferred to water in a flask at a rate P. The water reaches boiling point and
then P is increased. What are the changes to the temperature of the water and to the rate
of vaporization of the water after the change?

11
 Answer: D

22.An insulated tube is filled with a large number n of lead spheres, each of mass m. The
tube is inverted s times so that the spheres completely fall through an average distance L
each time. The temperature of the spheres is measured before and after the inversions
and the resultant change in temperature is ΔT.
What is the specific heat capacity of lead?

Answer: B

23.A gas storage tank of fixed volume V contains N molecules of an ideal gas at temperature
T. The pressure at kelvin temperature T is 20 MPa. N/4 molecules are removed and the
temperature changed to 2T. What is the new pressure of the gas?
A. 10 MPa
B. 15 MPa
C. 30 MPa
D. 40 MPa
Answer: C

12
24.Boiling water is heated in a 2 kW electric kettle. The initial mass of water is 0.4 kg. Assume
the specific latent heat of vaporization of water is 2 MJ kg–1.
What is the time taken for all the water to vaporize?
A. 250 s
B. 400 s
C. 2500 s
D. 4000 s
Answer: B

25.A substance changes from the solid phase to the gas phase without becoming a liquid and
without a change in temperature.
What is true about the internal energy of the substance and the total intermolecular
potential energy of the substance when this phase change occurs?

Answer: C

26.A liquid of mass m and specific heat capacity c cools. The rate of change of the
temperature of the liquid is k. What is the rate at which thermal energy is transferred
from the liquid?

13
 Answer: D

27.The equation pV/T= constant is applied to a real gas where p is the pressure of the gas, V
is its volume and T is its temperature.
What is correct about this equation?
A. It is empirical.
B. It is theoretical.
C. It cannot be tested.
D. It cannot be disproved.
Answer: A

28.Cylinder X has a volume V and contains 3.0 mol of an ideal gas. Cylinder Y has a volume
V/2 and contains 2.0 mol of the same gas.
The gases in X and Y are at the same temperature T. The containers are joined by a valve
which is opened so that the temperatures do not change.
What is the change in pressure in X?

14
 Answer: A

29.The temperature of a fixed mass of an ideal gas changes from 200 °C to 400 °C.

Answer: B

30.

15
 Answer: A

November 2018

31.A solid substance has just reached its melting point. Thermal energy is supplied to the
substance at a constant rate. Which graph shows the variation of the temperature T of
the substance with energy E supplied?

Answer: C

32.A container is filled with a mixture of helium and oxygen at the same temperature. The
molar mass of helium is 4 g mol–1 and that of oxygen is 32 g mol–1.

16
 Answer: C

33.Container X contains 1.0 mol of an ideal gas. Container Y contains 2.0 mol of the ideal gas.
Y has four times the volume of X. The pressure in X is twice that in Y.

Answer: C

34.A 700 W electric heater is used to heat 1 kg of water without energy losses. The specific
heat capacity of water is 4.2 kJ kg–1 K–1. What is the time taken to heat the water from
25 °C to 95 °C?
A. 7 s

17
 B. 30 s
C. 7 minutes
D. 420 minutes
Answer: C

May 2018

specific heat capacity of copper

35.What are the units of the ratio ?
specific latent heat of vaporization of copper

A.no units
B.k
C.k-1
D.k-2
Answer: C

36.A sealed cylinder of length l and cross-sectional area A contains N molecules of an ideal
gasat kelvin temperature T.

What is the force acting on the area of the cylinder marked A due to the gas?

18
 Answer: D

37.A fixed mass of an ideal gas is trapped in a cylinder of constant volume and its
temperatureis varied. Which graph shows the variation of the pressure of the gas with
temperature indegrees Celsius?

Answer: A

19
38.The graph shows how the temperature of a liquid varies with time when energy is
supplied to the liquid at a constant rate P. The gradient of the graph is K and the liquid
has a specific heat capacity c.

What is the mass of the liquid?

Answer: A

39.Q and R are two rigid containers of volume 3V and V respectively containing molecules of
the same ideal gas initially at the same temperature. The gas pressures in Q and R are p
and 3p respectively. The containers are connected through a valve of negligible volume
that is initially closed.

20
 The valve is opened in such a way that the temperature of the gases does not change.
What is the change of pressure in Q?
A. + p
B. +p/2
C. −p/2
D. – p
Answer: B

40.A container that contains a fixed mass of an ideal gas is at rest on a truck. The truck now
moves away horizontally at a constant velocity. What is the change, if any, in the internal
energy of the gas and the change, if any, in the temperature of the gas when the truck
has been travelling for some time?

Answer: A

41.A sealed container contains water at 5 ˚C and ice at 0 ˚C. This system is thermally isolated
from its surroundings. What happens to the total internal energy of the system?
A. It remains the same.
B. It decreases.
C. It increases until the ice melts and then remains the same.

21
 D. It increases.
Answer: A

November 2017

42. A 1.0 kW heater supplies energy to a liquid of mass 0.50 kg. The temperature of the liquid
changes by 80 K in a time of 200 s. The specific heat capacity of the liquid is 4.0 kJ kg–1 K-1
. What is the average power lost by the liquid?
A. 0
B. 200 W
C. 800 W
D. 1600 W
Answer: B

43.The fraction of the internal energy that is due to molecular vibration varies in the different
states of matter. What gives the order from highest fraction to lowest fraction of internal
energy due to molecular vibration?
A. liquid > gas > solid
B. solid > liquid > gas
C. solid > gas > liquid
D. gas > liquid > solid
Answer: B

44.What does the constant n represent in the equation of state for an ideal gas pV = nRT ?
A. The number of atoms in the gas

22
 B. The number of moles of the gas
C. The number of molecules of the gas
D. The number of particles in the gas
Answer: B

45.Under what conditions of pressure and temperature does a real gas approximate to an
ideal gas?

Answer: C

May 2017

46.A liquid is initially at its freezing point. Energy is removed at a uniform rate from the liquid
until it freezes completely.
Which graph shows how the temperature T of the liquid varies with the energy Q removed
from the liquid?

23
 Answer: A

47.A thin-walled cylinder of weight W, open at both ends, rests on a flat surface. The cylinder
has a height L, an average radius R and a thickness x where R is much greater than x.

What is the pressure exerted by the cylinder walls on the flat surface?

24
 Answer: A

48.A fixed mass of an ideal gas in a closed container with a movable piston initially occupies
a volume V. The position of the piston is changed, so that the mean kinetic energy of the
particles in the gas is doubled and the pressure remains constant. What is the new volume
of the gas?
A. V/4
B. V/2
C.2V
D.4V
Answer: C
49.A mass m of ice at a temperature of – 5 °C is changed into water at a temperature of 50
°C.
Specific heat capacity of ice = ci
Specific heat capacity of water = cw
Specific latent heat of fusion of ice = L
Which expression gives the energy needed for this change to occur?
A. 55 m cw + m L
B. 55 m ci + 5 m L
25
 C. 5 m ci + 50 m cw + m L
D. 5 m ci + 50 m cw + 5 m L
Answer: C

50.A sealed container contains a mixture of oxygen and nitrogen gas.

Answer: A

51.An ideal gas has a volume of 15 ml, a temperature of 20 °C and a pressure of 100 kPa. The
volume of the gas is reduced to 5 ml and the temperature is raised to 40 °C. What is the
new pressure of the gas?
A. 600 kPa
B. 320 kPa
C. 200 kPa
D. 35 kPa
Answer: B

26
52.The graph shows the variation with time t of the temperature T of two samples, X and Y.
X and Y have the same mass and are initially in the solid phase. Thermal energy is being
provided to X and Y at the same constant rate.

What is the correct comparison of the specific latent heats LX and LY and specific heat
capacities in the liquid phase cX and cY of X and Y?

Answer: D

53.

27
 • Paper 2

May 2022

1. Cold milk enters a small sterilizing unit and flows over an electrical heating element.

28
The temperature of the milk is raised from 11 °C to 84 °C. A mass of 55 g of milk enters
the sterilizing unit every second.
Specific heat capacity of milk = 3.9 kJ kg-1 K-1

(a) Estimate the power input to the heating element. State an appropriate unit for your
answer. [2]

(b) Outline whether your answer to (a) is likely to overestimate or underestimate the
power input. [2]

(c) Discuss, with reference to the molecules in the liquid, the difference between milk at
11 °C and milk at 84 °C. [2]

(d) The milk flows out through an insulated metal pipe. The pipe is at a temperature of 84
°C. A small section of the insulation has been removed from around the pipe.

29
(i) State how energy is transferred from the inside of the metal pipe to the outside
of the metal pipe. [1]

(ii) The missing section of insulation is 0.56 m long and the external radius of the
pipe is 0.067 m. The emissivity of the pipe surface is 0.40. Determine the energy
lost every second from the pipe surface. Ignore any absorption of radiation by
the pipe surface. [3]

(iii) Describe one other method by which significant amounts of energy can be
transferred from the pipe to the surroundings. [2]

30
31
May 2021
2. A mass of 1.0 kg of water is brought to its boiling point of 100 °C using an electric heater
of power 1.6 kW.

(a) (i) The molar mass of water is 18 g mol-1. Estimate the average speed of the water
molecules in the vapor produced. Assume the vapor behaves as an ideal gas. [2]

(ii) State one assumption of the kinetic model of an ideal gas. [1]

(b) A mass of 0.86 kg of water remains after it has boiled for 200 s.

(i) Estimate the specific latent heat of vaporization of water. State an appropriate unit
for your answer. [2]

(ii) Explain why the temperature of water remains at 100 °C during this time. [1]

(c) The heater is removed and a mass of 0.30 kg of pasta at -10 °C is added to the boiling
water.

Determine the equilibrium temperature of the pasta and water after the pasta is added. Other
heat transfers are negligible. [2]

Specific heat capacity of pasta = 1.8 kJ kg-1 K-1

Specific heat capacity of water = 4.2 kJ kg-1 K-1

(d) The electric heater has two identical resistors connected in parallel.

32
The circuit transfers 1.6 kW when switch A only is closed. The external voltage is 220 V.

(i) Show that each resistor has a resistance of about 30 Ω. [1]

(ii) Calculate the power transferred by the heater when both switches are closed. [2]

33
34
3. (May 2021)

35
36
November 2020
4. A sample of vegetable oil, initially in the liquid state, is placed in a freezer that transfers
thermal energy from the sample at a constant rate. The graph shows how temperature T
of the sample varies with time t.

The following data are available.

Mass of the sample = 0.32 kg

Specific latent heat of fusion of the oil = 130 kJkg–1

Rate of thermal energy transfer = 15 W

(a)

(i) Calculate the thermal energy transferred from the sample during the first 30 minutes.

(ii) Estimate the specific heat capacity of the oil in its liquid phase. State an appropriate unit for
your answer.

37
(b) The sample begins to freeze during the thermal energy transfer. Explain, in terms of the
molecular model of matter, why the temperature of the sample remains constant during
freezing.

(c) Calculate the mass of the oil that remains unfrozen after 60 minutes.

38
39
November 2019
5. (November 2019)

40
41
November 2018
6. Liquid oxygen at its boiling point is stored in an insulated tank. Gaseous oxygen is
produced from the tank when required using an electrical heater placed in the liquid.
The following data are available.
Mass of 1.0 mol of oxygen = 32 g
Specific latent heat of vaporization of oxygen = 2.1 × 105 J kg–1
(a) Distinguish between the internal energy of the oxygen at the boiling point when it is
in its liquid phase and when it is in its gas phase. [2]

(b) An oxygen flow rate of 0.25 mol s–1 is needed.

(i) Calculate, in kW, the heater power required. [2]
(ii) Calculate the volume of the oxygen produced in one second when it is allowed
to expand to a pressure of 0.11 MPa and to reach a temperature of –13 °C. [2]

(c) State one assumption of the kinetic model of an ideal gas that does not apply to
oxygen. [1]

42
43
7. (a) An ideal monatomic gas is kept in a container of volume 2.1 × 10–4 m3, temperature
310 K and pressure 5.3 × 105 Pa.
(i) State what is meant by an ideal gas. [1]

(ii) Calculate the number of atoms in the gas. [1]

(iii) Calculate, in J, the internal energy of the gas. [2]

(b) The volume of the gas in (a) is increased to 6.8 × 10–4 m3 at constant temperature.

(i) Calculate, in Pa, the new pressure of the gas. [1]

(ii) Explain, in terms of molecular motion, this change in pressure. [2]

44
May 2018
8. A closed box of fixed volume 0.15 m3 contains 3.0 mol of an ideal monatomic gas. The
temperature of the gas is 290 K.
(a) Calculate the pressure of the gas. [1]
(b) When the gas is supplied with 0.86 kJ of energy, its temperature increases by 23 K. The
specific heat capacity of the gas is 3.1 kJ kg-1 K-1
(i) Calculate, in kg, the mass of the gas. [1]
(ii) Determine, in kJ, the total kinetic energy of the particles of the gas. [3]

(c) Explain, with reference to the kinetic model of an ideal gas, how an increase in
temperature of the gas leads to an increase in pressure. [3]

45
November 2017

9. (a) A large cube is formed from ice. A light ray is incident from a vacuum at an angle of
46˚ to the normal on one surface of the cube. The light ray is parallel to the plane of one
of the sides of the cube. The angle of refraction inside the cube is 33˚.

(i) Calculate the speed of light inside the ice cube. [2]
(ii) Show that no light emerges from side AB. [3]
(iii) Sketch, on the diagram, the subsequent path of the light ray. [2]

(b) Each side of the ice cube is 0.75 m in length. The initial temperature of the ice cube

is –20 °C.

(i) Determine the energy required to melt all of the ice from –20 °C to water at a

temperature of 0 °C. [4]

Specific latent heat of fusion of ice = 330 kJ kg–1

Specific heat capacity of ice = 2.1 kJ kg–1 K–1

Density of ice = 920 kg m–3

(ii) Outline the difference between the molecular structure of a solid and a liquid. [1]

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