GCSE WORKBOOK
PHYSICS
Easter Revision Course | Lesson 1
P1 Review and Past Paper Questions
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Easter Revision Course | Lesson 1 | P1 Review and Past Paper Questions GCSE
What do you remember?
Quantity Symbol Unit Unit Symbol
Mass m
Force F
Weight W
Length/Distance D
Time T
Speed/ Final velocity/ Initial s/ v/ u
velocity
Current I
Charge Q
Potential Difference V
Resistance R
Energy E
Power P
Frequency F
Area A
Volume V
Energy Stores
Law of Conservation of Energy:
Complete the below to show the transfer of energy from one store into another:
1. A ball is thrown up in the air
Kinetic energy -> ………………..
2. A man running
Chemical energy ->………………….
3. Wood burning in a fire
…………………… -> thermal energy
4. A car stopping
………………….. -> ………………….
5. A roller coaster falling from the maximum height to the bottom of the slope
…………………….. -> …………………….
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Easter Revision Course | Lesson 1 | P1 Review and Past Paper Questions GCSE
Kinetic Energy
The energy an object has because it is moving.
Calculate how much Kinetic energy this football has when kicked if it
has a mass of 200 g and moves at a speed of 5 m/s.
Past Paper Question
Calculate the speed a man runs at if he has a mass of 60 kg and 8 kJ of
kinetic energy.
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Easter Revision Course | Lesson 1 | P1 Review and Past Paper Questions GCSE
Past Paper Question
A potato head, falls to the ground losing 0.049 J of gravitational potential
energy as it fell 60 cm. Gravitational field strength = 9.8 N/kg.
Calculate the mass of the potato.
Give your answer to 2 significant figures.
Elastic Potential Energy – stretched/ compressed
A spring has springs constant 300 N/m and is stretched from 6 cm to 20 cm
when weights are added.
i. Calculate the energy stored in the spring.
ii. State the resolution of the ruler used to measure the change in length.
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Easter Revision Course | Lesson 1 | P1 Review and Past Paper Questions GCSE
Exam Practice
A roller coaster starts from rest at the top of a 50 m high track and descends without any external force
applied. The total mass of the roller coaster and passengers is 800 kg.
i. Describe the energy conversions that take place as the roller coaster moves from the top of the track
to the bottom.
ii. Calculate the gravitational potential energy (GPE) of the roller coaster at the top of the track.
iii. Assuming no energy is lost, calculate the maximum speed the roller coaster could reach at the
bottom.
iv. In reality, some energy is lost due to friction and air resistance. Explain what happens to this "lost"
energy and how it affects the motion of the roller coaster.
v. Suggest two ways engineers could reduce energy losses to make the roller coaster more efficient.
Specific Heat Capacity
Have you ever grabbed a piece of pizza, taken a bite out of it and burned
your mouth? Why does this happen?
Specific heat capacity is the energy needed to raise 1 kg of a substance by 1 °C.
When a 0.5 kg pizza is placed in the oven, it needs 66,000 J of energy to increase
the temperature from 25 °C to 190 °C.
Calculate the specific heat capacity of the pizza.
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Easter Revision Course | Lesson 1 | P1 Review and Past Paper Questions GCSE
Exam Practice
An iron block has a volume of 0.0005 m³ and is heated from 20°C to 200°C using an electric heater. The
specific heat capacity of iron is 450 J/kg°C, and its density is 7,800 kg/m³.
i. Explain what is meant by specific heat capacity and how it differs from density when describing the
properties of a material.
ii. Calculate the amount of energy required to heat the iron block from 20°C to 200°C.
iii. The heater has a power output of 1,000 W and is 85% efficient. Calculate how much useful energy is
transferred to the block.
iv. Determine how long it takes to heat the block to 200°C.
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Easter Revision Course | Lesson 1 | P1 Review and Past Paper Questions GCSE
Energy Resources
1. State the difference between
renewable and non-renewable
energy.
2. Explain using the diagrams
why burning fossil fuels is
harmful to the environment.
Energy Resources
Name some alternative energy resources and explain how they are used.
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Easter Revision Course | Lesson 1 | P1 Review and Past Paper Questions GCSE
Exam Practice
A country is deciding whether to invest in wind power or nuclear power to meet its growing electricity
demands.
i. Explain why wind power is considered renewable and nuclear power is considered non-renewable.
ii. A single wind turbine generates an average power output of 2 MW. A nuclear power station
generates 1,000 MW. Calculate how many wind turbines would be needed to match the output of
one nuclear power station.
iii. A government wants to reduce carbon emissions while ensuring a stable electricity supply. Explain
which energy resource would be more suitable and why a combination of energy sources might be
the best solution.
Review - How does a Power Station work?
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Easter Revision Course | Lesson 1 | P1 Review and Past Paper Questions GCSE
Exam Practice
Explain the role of the step-up transformer.
A student is wiring a three-pin plug to connect an electric kettle to the mains electricity supply.
i. Describe the function of each of the three wires inside the plug and their colours.
ii. The kettle operates at 230 V and has a power rating of 2.3 kW. Calculate the current flowing through
the kettle when it is in use.
iii. The fuse inside the plug is rated at 10 A. Explain whether this fuse is suitable for the kettle.
Model
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Easter Revision Course | Lesson 1 | P1 Review and Past Paper Questions GCSE
Match the terms to their descriptions
The difference in energy of each electron after passing through
Current (I) an electrical component. Energy transferred per unit of charge
that passes.
Potential
The rate of flow of charge
Difference (V)
Time (t) Measured in seconds.
The opposition to the flow of charge. Due to electrons
Power (P)
colliding with atoms in the metallic structure.
Resistance (Ω) The energy supplied by the source per second
Series and Parallel Circuits
1. Explain the difference in a series and parallel circuit.
2. If a voltmeter was connected across the battery and read 9 V, what would a voltmeter connected
across one of the bulbs read?
3. Fill in the missing ammeter readings and voltmeter readings on the series circuits below.
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Easter Revision Course | Lesson 1 | P1 Review and Past Paper Questions GCSE
Circuit analysis
1. Find the total resistance of the circuit.
2. Find the current using the equation, V = IR.
3. Find the potential difference across the 6.0 Ω resistor.
Exam Practice
i. The total resistance of a circuit due to a variable resistor is 7.5 Ω, the current in the circuit is 460 mA.
Calculate the potential across the fixed resistor.
ii. The circuit is set up a second time so that the current through the variable resistor is 20 mA and the
power transferred by the resistor is 5.0 W. Calculate the pd across the fixed resistor now.
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Easter Revision Course | Lesson 1 | P1 Review and Past Paper Questions GCSE
Exam Practice
A student places a beaker of ice at -5°C on a heater and gradually heats it until all of the ice has turned
into steam at 100°C.
Describe the changes of state that occur during this process and explain what happens to the particles at
each stage. In your answer, include references to energy transfers and particle movement.
The graph on the right shows the heating
curve of water, obtained from an experiment.
Ice was heated with a 200 W electric heater.
i. What happens to the kinetic and potential
energies of the water between
100 and 200 seconds?
ii. Estimate the energy transferred to
the water while it is boiling.
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Easter Revision Course | Lesson 1 | P1 Review and Past Paper Questions GCSE
Models of the Atom
State two differences between the two models of the atom shown below:
Atoms, Ions, and Isotopes
The table shows the composition of 4 particles:
Atomic Number Mass Number No. of Electrons
A 17 41 17
B 18 41 18
C 17 40 18
D 19 40 17
1. Which two particles are isotopes of the same element?
2. Which two particles have the same number of neutrons?
3. All elements are electrically neutral, what does this mean, and which above are neutral?
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Easter Revision Course | Lesson 1 | P1 Review and Past Paper Questions GCSE
Radioactive Decay
If you look at the periodic table,
Uranium has a very large nucleus. It is unstable.
How many protons, neutrons and electrons does it contain?
Radioactive decay is a random process.
Radiation is detected by a Geiger tube
The rate of decay is called activity.
Activity is measured in becquerel (Bq).
Name the three main types of radiation and list them in
order of decreasing ionisation.
Properties of Radiation
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Easter Revision Course | Lesson 1 | P1 Review and Past Paper Questions GCSE
Multiple Choice Questions
Which types of radiation is the most penetrating?
A. Alpha
B. Beta
C. Gamma
Which type of radiation is the most ionising?
A. Alpha
B. Beta
C. Gamma
Which type of radiation is stopped by 5 cm of air?
A. Alpha
B. Beta
C. Gamma
Decay Equations
Name the type of decay and fill in the missing numbers.
235 ?
U Th He
92 90
234 234
Th Pa e
90 ?
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Easter Revision Course | Lesson 1 | P1 Review and Past Paper Questions GCSE
Finding the Half-life
Half life = 2 seconds
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Easter Revision Course | Lesson 1 | P1 Review and Past Paper Questions GCSE
Half-life
A half-life is the time it takes for the number
of nuclei to fall to half its original value.
A barrel of Radon has a count rate of 512 Bq (512
radioactive nuclei are emitted each second).
The half life of Radon is 10 years.
What will be the activity of radon after 10 years?
What will be the activity of radon after 30 years?
A radioactive sample originally contains 2400 nuclei.
8 days later the number of nuclei remaining is 600.
Determine the half-life of this sample.
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