CSEC Physics Paper 1 January 2025 - Free CXC Past Paper with Answers

The volume of the liquid is

In an experiment to locate the centre of gravity of a sheet of cardboard, a plumb line (string with a small mass on the end) is used. The plumb line is used to

check that the apparatus is vertical

measure the width of the cardboard

check that the cardboard is swinging freely

show which points are vertically below the pivot

Which of the following expressions could be used to determine the speed of an object?

Change in velocity / Time taken

Change in displacement / Time taken

Distance travelled / Time taken

Distance travelled × Time taken

Which of the following is true?

When two bodies collide, momentum is conserved. This means that the

momentum of each body is unchanged

kinetic energy before impact is equal to that after impact

algebraic sum of the velocities before impact is equal to the sum of the velocities after impact

total momentum of the bodies before impact is equal to the total momentum of the bodies after impact

Errors due to parallax can be minimized by

taking an average of two readings using two separate scales

placing the eye at right angles to the mark being read

taking readings from different angles

taking more than one reading

Item 7 refers to the following graph of a light spring which shows a simple extension, x, versus force, F.

Which of the following statements are true about the spring above?

The moment of a force is defined as the

moment in time when a force is first applied to a body

length of time for which a force is applied to a body

ratio of the force and its perpendicular distance from the turning point

product of the force and its perpendicular distance from the turning point to the force

A glass marble, X, moving with a speed of 6 ms⁻¹, collides 'head on' with an identical stationary glass marble, Y. What is the speed of Y after collision, assuming that X is brought to rest?

An object with a mass of 45 g is lowered into a measuring cylinder containing 45 cm³ of water. When the object comes to rest at the bottom of the cylinder, the volume reading on the measuring cylinder rises to 75 cm³. What is the density of the object?

Power can be defined as

force × distance moved

What is the magnitude of the resultant force acting on the object?

The pressure due to the water is GREATEST at

A student sets up a simple pendulum and finds that the period is 1.7 seconds. To obtain a period nearer to one second, he should

shorten the pendulum

lengthen the pendulum

Which of the following quantities has the same value as 6 µC?

$6 \times 10^{-6} \, C$

$6 \times 10^{-3} \, C$

$6 \times 10^{3} \, C$

$6 \times 10^{6} \, C$

An ice cube sinks in Liquid A but floats in Liquid B. Which of the following statements is true?

The upthrust is less in Liquid A than in Liquid B.

The upthrust is greater in Liquid A than in Liquid B.

The weight of the ice cube is less in Liquid A than in Liquid B.

The weight of the ice cube is greater in Liquid A than in Liquid B.

Item 17 refers to the following graph which is based on an experiment on change of phase.

The graph shows that solidification started at Q. During which of the stages is the substance in the liquid phase?

The heat capacity of a substance is defined as the amount of heat energy

the substance can hold

1 kg of the substance can hold required to change the substance to another state

required to change the substance to another state

needed to raise the temperature of the substance by 1 degree

As the temperature of a liquid decreases, the

forces between the molecules decrease

kinetic energy of the molecules decreases

liquid molecules move away from each other

pressure it exerts at the bottom of the container increases

Which of the following play a role with respect to the greenhouse effect?

A student wants to conduct an experiment to determine the specific heat capacity, c, of a solid using the electrical method. Which of the following equations should be used?

$c = \frac{IVt}{m \Delta \theta}$

$c = \frac{F \times D}{m \Delta \theta}$

$c = \frac{m \Delta \theta}{PI}$

$c = \frac{m \Delta \theta}{IVt}$

A gas occupies 2 m³ at 27 °C at a pressure of 1 atmosphere. At a pressure of 2 atmospheres it occupies a volume of 1 m³. What is its temperature at this new volume and pressure?

Item 23 refers to the following diagram which shows water boiling at the top of a glass test tube while a piece of ice remains unmelted at the bottom.

Which of the following statements provides the reason for this occurrence?

Water is a poor conductor of heat.

Water is a good conductor of heat.

Gauze is a poor conductor of heat.

Glass is a good conductor of heat.

Which of the following is NOT an example of evaporation?

A copper wire placed around a block of ice gradually cuts through the ice.

The rapid disappearance of ether when exposed to the air.

A slice of bread left in the open air becomes dry.

The cooling effect of sweating in animals.

Which of the following are reasons why a hot liquid, placed in a double-walled vacuum flask, retains its heat for a long time? I. The silver inner walls reduce the loss of heat by radiation. II. The silvered outer wall helps to absorb heat from the surroundings. III. Evacuated space between the double walls reduces the loss of heat by conduction.

A detector of thermal energy is placed an equal distance in turn from each of four vertical faces of a hollow metal cube full of hot water. The reading on the detector is GREATEST when the detector is turned towards the face which is

The energy required to change the state of a substance was determined to be E. If the mass of the substance is DOUBLED, the value of E will

According to the principles of heat transfer, which of the following statements is INCORRECT?

The process of heat transfer is irreversible.

For heat exchange, a temperature gradient must exist.

A material medium is not necessary for heat transmission.

Heat flows in bodies even if there is no temperature difference.

Which of the following statements concerning characteristics of steel and iron is correct?

Iron is easily magnetized whereas steel does not retain its magnetism.

Iron is easily magnetized whereas steel retains its magnetism well.

Iron is not easily magnetized whereas steel retains its magnetism well.

Iron is not easily magnetized whereas steel does not retain its magnetism.

Item 30 refers to the following diagram which illustrates a longitudinal wave train produced on a slinky.

Which of the following distances represents the wavelength of the vibration?

If sounds of differing frequencies are played in succession, in which of the following properties would a change be detected?

Which of the following types of electromagnetic radiation causes tanning?

Which of the following are laws of refraction? I. $\frac{\sin i}{\sin r}$ = constant II. Angle of incidence = angle of refraction III. The incident ray, the refracted ray and the normal, at the point of incidence, all lie in the same plane.

The note from a drum is louder when it is struck harder because the sound waves produced have a greater

In which material would light waves have the SLOWEST speed?

A wave has wavelength 5 cm and amplitude 2 cm. Which of the following diagrams represents the wave?

Which of the following statements about the two waves is true?

Q is louder than P but P has a higher pitch.

P is louder than Q but Q has a higher pitch.

P is louder than Q and also has a higher pitch than Q.

Q is louder than P and also has a higher pitch than P.

The wavelength of the wave is equal to the distance

Item 38 refers to the following diagram which shows a transverse wave at a particular instant.

Which of the following diagrams represent(s) the diffraction of water waves in a ripple tank?

The reason for the formation of the bright fringes is that

these positions contain more light energy

all the crests are in phase along these points

the crests are larger than the troughs along these lines

all the crests and troughs are out of phase along these points

Which diagram BEST shows the path taken by a ray of light through a rectangular glass block?

The amplitude of the wave is

Which of the following statements about insulators are true? I. All electrons are bound firmly to the atoms in an insulator. II. In an insulator many electrons can move freely from atom to atom. III. An insulator could be charged by rubbing.

Which of the following diagrams represents the electric field that exists between two oppositely charged point charges?

Item 45 refers to the diagram below which shows an electrical circuit with a cell and two filament bulbs.

Which of the following circuits is electrically the same as the circuit above?

Item 46 refers to the following graphs which represent two alternating currents.

Which of the following combinations correctly identifies the currents?

Which of the following options shows the name of each component correctly matched with its number?

Diode: 2, Lamp: 4, Resistor: 3, Fuse: 1

Diode: 1, Lamp: 3, Resistor: 4, Fuse: 2

Diode: 4, Lamp: 3, Resistor: 1, Fuse: 2

Diode: 3, Lamp: 1, Resistor: 4, Fuse: 2

Which of the following arrows correctly indicates the direction of the movement of the dust particle when the switch, S, is closed?

Which of the following diagrams represents the magnetic field which exists between two opposite magnetic poles?

The frequency of the voltage-time graph is given by

Magnetic induction occurs when

an electroscope is charged

an N pole attracts an S pole

iron nails near a magnet become magnetized

a magnet is suspended and points in the NS direction

For a simple AC generator, which of the following graphs would be produced by two complete rotations of the armature?

An ammeter has a very low resistance so that it can be placed in

parallel with a component and not affect the circuit

series with a component and not affect the circuit

parallel with a component and not heat up

series with a component and not heat up

Which of the following statements about radioisotopes is true?

They are not used in scientific work because they are too dangerous.

They are most frequently used in radio communications.

They are sometimes used in medicine.

They are never found to occur naturally.

Which of the following describes two properties of an $\alpha$ -particle?

No charge, very penetrating

Positive charge, very penetrating

Positive charge, not very penetrating

Negative charge, not very penetrating

Which of the following scientists discov- ered radium?

Which of the following graphs shows how the activity of a radioactive source varies with time?

Which of the following equations is correct?

${}^{226}{88}\text{Ra} → {}^{222}{86}\text{Rn} + \beta\text{-particle}

${}^{14}{6}\text{C} → {}^{15}{7}\text{N} + \beta\text{-particle}

${}^{226}{88}\text{Ra} → {}^{222}{86}\text{Rn} + \alpha\text{-particle}

${}^{14}{6}\text{C} → {}^{15}{7}\text{N} + \alpha\text{-particle}

In the scattering experiment conducted by Geiger and Marsden, some of the alpha particles were deflected. The explanation for this phenomenon is that

electrons have a small mass

electrons have a small charge

the metal foil was only a few atoms thick and most of the atom is empty space

the nuclear charge and the mass are concentrated in a small volume in the atom

CSEC Physics Paper 1 January 2025 - Free CXC Past Paper with Answers

CSEC Physics Paper 1 January 2025 Questions