CSEC Physics Paper 1 May/June 2026 - Free CXC Past Paper with Answers

What is the reading shown on the thermometer?

Which of the following instruments is MOST suitable for measuring the diameter of a human hair?

Micrometer screw gauge

Which of the following groups of physical quantities consists only of scalar quantities?

Force, momentum, weight

Time, energy, speed, temperature

Displacement, density, acceleration

Speed, distance, velocity, acceleration

Which of the following is a derived unit?

Which of the following equations shows the correct relationship among a, b, P and Q?

$\frac{P}{a} = \frac{Q}{b}$

$P \times Q = a \times b$

$P \times a = Q \times b$

Which of the following quantities will be constant, if a constant net force is applied to a body?

Which of the following groups of implements has the BEST design for creating a large moment by taking advantage of a small force?

Knife, axe, see-saw, door

Flagpole, crane, screw, pulley

Crowbar, claw hammer, spanner

Pair of tweezers, scissors, doorknob

Which of the beams, W, X or Y, rotate clockwise?

A boy measured the height of a laboratory table. Which of the following measurements is MOST likely the correct one?

Which of the following statements about the object is true?

The object returns to its starting point at $t_4$ .

Between times $t_2$ and $t_3$ , the object has zero acceleration.

The object started from rest and decelerated from $t_3$ to $t_4$ to its destination.

During the periods $t_1$ to $t_2$ and $t_3$ to , the object is moving with constant speed.

Based on the graph, which of the following statements is INCORRECT?

The elastic limit of the spring was exceeded.

The spring obeyed Hooke's law over its entire extension.

The force per unit extension in the elastic region was $7.5\text{ N cm}^{-1}$ .

For forces above $75\text{ N}$ , the spring gets weaker and undergoes deformation.

A piece of string is tied onto a small stone and then the stone is totally immersed in water. The tension in the string will be

equal to the mass of water displaced by the stone

more than the weight of the stone

less than the weight of the stone

equal to the weight of the stone

When a ball is thrown vertically upwards and reaches its maximum height, it has

maximum kinetic energy and maximum potential energy

maximum kinetic energy and minimum potential energy

minimum kinetic energy and minimum potential energy

minimum kinetic energy and maximum potential energy

What is the gain in the gravitational potential energy of a body of weight $200\text{ N}$ , as it rises from a height of $30\text{ m}$ to a height of $35\text{ m}$ above the earth's surface?

Given that force = mass $\times$ acceleration, the unit of force could be written

$\text{kg}^{-1}\text{m}\text{s}^2$

$\text{kg}\text{m}^{-1}\text{s}^2$

$\text{kg}\text{m}^{-1}\text{s}^{-2}$

$\text{kg}\text{m}\text{s}^{-2}$

Which of the following is a MAJOR benefit of the use of renewable energy sources in the Caribbean?

Energy production from renewable sources can lead to reduced access to electricity and significant workforce retraining.

Energy production from renewable sources is expensive and requires significant infrastructure.

Producing energy from renewable sources is environmentally friendly and has a low carbon footprint.

Supply of energy from renewable sources is unreliable and inadequate for large-scale energy production.

Molten naphthalene at $100\ ^\circ\text{C}$ is allowed to cool down to room temperature. If naphthalene has a melting point of $80\ ^\circ\text{C}$ , which of the following graphs BEST represents the cooling curve?

According to the kinetic theory, when a gas in a closed container is heated the pressure rises because

there are more molecules hitting the walls of the container

the molecules move faster and hit each other harder and more often

the molecules expand and push harder on the walls of the container

the molecules move faster and hit the walls of the container harder and more often

Which of the following graphs shows the relationship between the pressure and volume of a fixed mass of gas at constant temperature ( $PV = k$ , where $k$ is a constant)?

Evaporation is different from boiling because evaporation occurs at

any temperature at the surface of a liquid

the surface of any medium and results in cooling

any temperature and is a faster process once the container is closed

a specific temperature within a liquid with visible bubbling from the bulk

The specific latent heat of fusion of water is $340\text{ kJ kg}^{-1}$ . This means that when $10\text{ kg}$ of water freezes,

$34\text{ kJ}$ of heat is given out

$34\text{ kJ}$ of heat is absorbed

$3400\text{ kJ}$ of heat is given out

$3400\text{ kJ}$ of heat is absorbed

An electric kettle full of water is plugged into the mains. The MAJOR process by which heat travels through the water is

When the piston is pushed to the right, the volume of the gas decreases to $200\text{ cm}^3$ and the temperature remains constant. Which of the following options represents the effect that this action has on the kinetic energy of the gas particles and the force per unit area exerted by the particles colliding with the inside walls of the container?

Stays the same / Doubles

Doubles / Stays the same

Stays the same / Stays the same

Which of the following methods is the MOST suitable means of heating a brass bob in order to determine its specific heat capacity by the method of mixtures?

Subjecting it to an open flame for ten minutes

Subjecting it to an infrared beam for ten minutes

Placing it in a boiling water-bath for ten minutes

Placing it in contact with an electrical heater for ten minutes

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

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

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

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

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

Which of the following statements about the transfer of thermal energy is correct?

Radiation that transfers thermal energy is a type of electromagnetic radiation.

Radiation requires a medium for the transfer of thermal energy to occur.

Conduction involves movement of particles to transfer heat from a less dense to a denser medium.

Convection involves heat transfer by vibration of particles at their position in solids and liquids only.

Narissa lives in a mud house in the hinterland region in Guyana. She observes that the interior of her house is cooler than the exterior in the hot season and warmer during the rainy season. The MAIN reason for this observation is that mud is

more dense than hot air

a poor conductor of heat

adaptable to changing temperatures

a good conductor of thermal energy

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. Evacuated space between the double walls reduces the loss of heat by conduction. II. Silvered inner walls reduce the loss of heat by radiation. III. The silvered outer wall helps to absorb heat from the surroundings.

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

Which of the following waves travel(s) only longitudinally?

I. Sound II. Radio III. Water

Which of the following equations expresses the correct relationship among the wavelength, $\lambda$ , speed, $v$ , and frequency, $f$ , of a wave?

$f = \frac{v}{\lambda}$

$f = \frac{\lambda}{v}$

$\lambda = \frac{f}{v}$

$\lambda = f \times v$

At some points along XY no sound is heard because

the sound waves are diffracted

interference of the sound waves takes place

the sound waves are refracted away from those points

the sound waves are reflected back to the same source

A ray of white light enters a transparent glass prism. In which of the following diagrams is the dispersion of light correctly illustrated?

The critical angle of glass is $42^\circ$ . Which of the following options is correct if the angle of incidence of a light ray at the glass-air boundary is either $32^\circ$ or $52^\circ$ ?

Angle of refraction greater than $32^\circ$ / Angle of refraction equals $38^\circ$

Angle of refraction equals $90^\circ$ / Angle of refraction less than

The reason for the formation of the bright fringes is that

these positions contain more light energy

the crests are larger than the troughs along these lines

all the crests and troughs are in phase along these points

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

A ray of light leaves the air and enters glass of refractive index $1.5$ . If the angle of incidence is $37^\circ$ , what is the sine of the angle of refraction?

$1.5 + \sin 37^\circ$

$\frac{1.5}{\sin 37^\circ}$

$\frac{\sin 37^\circ}{1.5}$

Which of the following media can produce a diminished virtual image of a real object?

Which of the following equations represents the relationship used to determine the linear magnification of an image?

$\frac{\text{Height of image}}{\text{Height of object}}$

$\frac{\text{Object distance}}{\text{Image distance}}$

$\frac{\text{Object distance}}{\text{Height of image}}$

$\frac{\text{Image distance}}{\text{Height of object}}$

Which of the following phenomena are exhibited by sound waves?

I. Refraction II. Diffraction III. Interference

Which of the spheres, if any, could be negatively charged?

Which of the following diagrams represents the electric field between two oppositely charged conducting spheres?

If a neutral object, X, is charged by another object, Z, by the process of induction, then X will acquire a charge

having the same sign as that of Z

having a sign opposite to that of Z

that is greater than the charge on Z

due to the transfer of protons from Z

Which of the following graphs illustrates an alternating current?

An uncharged glass rod is rubbed with a piece of silk and becomes positively charged. The glass rod obtains this charge by

A voltmeter has a very high 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 the voltmeter does not heat up

series with a component and the voltmeter does not heat up

Which of the following circuit arrangements is BEST suited for accurately measuring the voltage across the lamp?

A conductor, rotating in a uniform magnetic field, induces maximum instantaneous current when the conductor cuts the magnetic field lines at

What is the period of the current?

In which of the circuits can the effective total resistance be calculated using the relationship $R_T = R_1 + R_2$ ?

If $R_1 = 60\ \Omega$ and $R_2 = 40\ \Omega$ , then the effective resistance in the circuit labelled II is

Item 51 refers to the following diagram which shows two resistors, $R_1$ of $6.0\ \Omega$ and $R_2$ of $4.0\ \Omega$ , in parallel.

What is the current through $R_1$ if the current through $R_2$ is $1.8\ \text{A}$ ?

What is the output at C and D when an input of 0 0 is made at A and B?

Given that the potential difference across the lamp in the circuit is 4 V, what is the potential difference across Resistor A?

An $\alpha$ -particle collides with an atom to produce a positive ion. For the atom to have become a positive ion, it had to lose

a neutron from inside the nucleus

a proton from outside the nucleus

an electron from inside the nucleus

an electron from outside the nucleus

Isotopes of an element differ from each other in that they have a different

Which of the following statements about a proton is NOT true?

It is a hydrogen atom minus an electron.

It has the same mass as that of an electron.

It has a mass about 2000 times that of an electron.

It has a charge equal in size but opposite in sign to that of an electron.

If $n$ = number of neutrons, $p$ = number of protons and $e$ = number of electrons in the atom, then, according to the Rutherford–Bohr model of a neutral, stable atom, for all elements

Which of the following equations is correct?

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

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

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

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

How many neutrons are in the following isotope of uranium? ${}_{92}^{238}\text{U}$

An isotope of uranium, ${}_{92}^{234}\text{U}$ , changes to thorium, ${}_{90}^{230}\text{Th}$ . This is an example of

Totally internally reflected. / Angle of refraction equals $90^\circ$

Angle of refraction less than $90^\circ$ / Totally internally reflected.

CSEC Physics Paper 1 May/June 2026 - Free CXC Past Paper with Answers

CSEC Physics Paper 1 May/June 2026 Questions