The Physics Question Bank

Use a sharp pencil and a ruler. Give each diagram a title and label it with ruled label lines. Tap 🔍 See examples to see how the diagram usually looks – pictures online vary, so if one disagrees with the instructions, follow the instructions. ← All key diagrams

1. Energy stores for a ball thrown upwards
Draw a curved path of a ball going up and coming back down. Draw the ball at three points: just after it is thrown, at the top, and just before it is caught. Label each position with its energy store: mostly kinetic at the start, gravitational potential at the top (speed is zero), and kinetic again at the bottom. Add an arrow labelled “kinetic → gravitational potential” on the way up and “gravitational potential → kinetic” on the way down.
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2. Sankey diagram for a filament lamp
Draw a wide arrow coming in from the left and label it “100 J electrical energy in”. Split it into two arrows. Draw a thin arrow going straight on labelled “10 J light (useful)” and a wide arrow bending downwards labelled “90 J thermal energy to surroundings (wasted)”. Make the widths match the amounts – use 1 mm for every 10 J. Underneath, write “efficiency = 10 ÷ 100 = 0.10 (10%)”.
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3. Swinging pendulum
Draw a clamp at the top and a string hanging down with a bob. Draw the bob in three positions: at the left end of its swing, at the bottom, and at the right end, joined by a dotted curved path. Label both ends “maximum gravitational potential, zero kinetic” and the bottom “maximum kinetic, minimum gravitational potential”. Add a note: “air resistance dissipates energy, so each swing gets slightly smaller”.
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4. Bungee jumper
Draw a bridge at the top and a vertical dotted line showing the fall. Draw the jumper at four points: on the bridge, falling before the cord is tight, at the moment the cord starts to stretch, and at the lowest point. Label the main energy store at each point: gravitational potential; kinetic; kinetic → elastic potential; maximum elastic potential (speed zero).
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5. Specific heat capacity practical
Draw a rectangular metal block from the side with two holes drilled in the top. Draw a heater in one hole and a thermometer in the other. Show insulation wrapped around the block. Connect the heater to a power supply through a joulemeter (or an ammeter in series and a voltmeter across the heater). Label: metal block, insulation, heater, thermometer, joulemeter, power supply.
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6. Temperature vs energy supplied graph
Draw axes with “energy supplied (J)” on the x-axis and “temperature (°C)” on the y-axis. Draw a straight line sloping upwards that does not start at zero on the temperature axis (it starts at room temperature). Draw a large triangle on the line to show the gradient. Label: “gradient = Δθ ÷ ΔE” and “c = 1 ÷ (gradient × mass)”.
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7. Thermal insulation practical
Draw a small beaker inside a larger beaker. Shade the gap between them lightly and label it “insulating material”. Show a lid with a hole and a thermometer going through it into the water. Label: hot water, small beaker, large beaker, insulating material, lid, thermometer. Add a note: “measure the temperature every 3 minutes; the best insulator gives the smallest temperature drop”.
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8. Conduction in a solid
Draw a metal rod with a flame at the left end. Inside the rod, draw rows of small circles (particles) in a regular pattern. At the hot end, draw short zigzag lines next to the particles to show they are vibrating strongly; make the zigzags smaller along the rod. Label: “particles vibrate more and pass energy to their neighbours”, “free electrons carry energy quickly in metals” and an arrow along the rod labelled “direction of energy transfer”.
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9. Convection current
Draw a beaker of water with a Bunsen flame under the left-hand side. Draw a loop of arrows: up the left side above the flame, across the top, down the right side and back across the bottom. Label the rising part “hot water expands, becomes less dense and rises” and the falling part “cooler, denser water sinks”. Label the whole loop “convection current”.
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10. Vacuum flask
Draw a tall cross-section of a flask: an inner container with double walls, and a gap between them. Draw an outer plastic case with a small plastic support at the bottom and a stopper at the top. Label: “vacuum – no particles, so no conduction or convection”, “silvered walls – reflect infrared radiation”, “plastic stopper – poor conductor, stops convection and evaporation”, “plastic support”, “outer case”, “hot drink”.
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11. Energy losses from a house
Draw a simple house with a roof, walls, windows and a door. Draw arrows coming out through the roof, walls, windows, door and floor. Next to each, label how to reduce the loss: “loft insulation” (roof), “cavity wall insulation” (walls), “double glazing” (windows), “draught excluder” (door), “carpet or floor insulation” (floor). Add a note: “materials with a low thermal conductivity reduce the rate of energy transfer”.
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Check your drawings: Energy topic page  |  Conduction, convection and radiation  |  Required practicals  |  Teach the topic: Energy