The Physics Question Bank

Hints for every question on the June 2023 GCSE Combined Science: Trilogy Physics Paper 2 Foundation (8464/P/2F). Get the paper from AQA’s GCSE Combined Science page (Filter → Question papers → June 2023 → pick Physics Paper 2F). The hints tell you which equation to use and what to watch out for – but not the answer. Try each question first, and only open a hint if you’re stuck. ← All past papers

Question 1 – Hanging chair spring (11 marks)

💡 Show hints for Question 1

• 01.1 Which way does weight always pull?
• 01.2 Weight is caused by the Earth pulling on you. What type of force is that?
• 01.3 The equation is given: weight = spring constant × extension. Multiply. Unit: N.
• 01.4 The equation is given: elastic PE = 0.5 × spring constant × extension². Square the extension FIRST (0.070 × 0.070), then multiply.
• 01.5 “Inelastic” means it does NOT spring back. Which option says that?
• 01.6 Extension = how much longer the spring got – from the bottom of the spring before to the bottom after. Not the whole length.
• 01.7 Directly proportional = a straight line that goes through the origin (0, 0).
• 01.8 There are only two results. How could you get more (and better) data? Think about the number of different forces, and doing each one more than once.

Question 2 – Car black box (8 marks)

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• 02.1 On a distance–time graph, constant speed means the gradient doesn’t change. What does that look like?
• 02.2 Read the distance at 4 s (when the brakes go on) and the distance where the line goes flat (the car has stopped). Subtract.
• 02.3 The equation is given: deceleration = change in velocity ÷ time taken. Unit: m/s².
• 02.4 Tick TWO. A big deceleration needs a big braking force. What could happen to the brakes – and to the driver’s control of the car?
• 02.5 Use both words: “The greater the speed, the … the braking distance.”

Question 3 – Magnets and electromagnets (9 marks)

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• 03.1 Not all metals are attracted to magnets. What’s special about iron?
• 03.2 Draw several curved lines from one pole to the other, not crossing. Arrows go from N to S outside the magnet.
• 03.3 Magnets attract when the poles are… the same or different?
• 03.4 With no current in the wire, there’s no field from the wire. So what magnetic field are the compasses lining up with?
• 03.5 The field lines around a straight wire go round and round it.
• 03.6 The current was kept the same each time. What type of variable is that?
• 03.7 Read the newtonmeter in Figure 8 carefully – check the value of each small division.
• 03.8 Magnetic forces get weaker as you go further away.

Question 4 – Sound waves and the bird scarer (9 marks)

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• 04.1 Where the particles are squashed together is one label; where they’re spread out is the other. Learn both names.
• 04.2 Waves carry something from place to place – but the particles themselves don’t travel along with the wave.
• 04.3 Look at Figure 11: which part of the wave is different at 200 m – its height, or how many waves fit in? The sound is quieter further away.
• 04.4 Go up from 15 °C on Figure 12 to the line, then across. Check the scale.
• 04.5 The equation is given: distance = speed × time. Use your answer to 04.4. Unit: m.
• 04.6 Use Figure 12: as the air gets warmer, does sound travel faster or slower? So does it take more or less time to reach the farmer? Give both parts.

Question 5 – Engineer on a ladder (11 marks)

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• 05.1 There are 100 cm in 1 m, so divide by 100.
• 05.2 The equation is given: work done = force × distance. Use the distance in metres from 05.1.
• 05.3 Carrying equipment makes the total weight (force) bigger. How does that affect work done?
• 05.4 Tick TWO. At the top the engineer is higher. And climbing uses muscles, which get warm. Which stores go up? (They’re stationary, so not kinetic.)
• 05.5 Copy it from the equation sheet: weight = mass × gravitational field strength.
• 05.6 W = m g, so m = W ÷ g. There’s a mark for giving the answer to 2 significant figures – round at the end.

Question 6 – Electromagnetic spectrum and light (9 marks)

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• 06.1 Learn the order (longest wavelength first): radio, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, gamma rays. Use the names already on Figure 14 to find which ones are missing.
• 06.2 Similarity: what do ALL electromagnetic waves have in common (e.g. their speed in a vacuum, or the type of wave)? Difference: compare their wavelength or frequency.
• 06.3 Light bends when it goes into glass because it changes speed. What’s the name for this?
• 06.4 Copy it from the equation sheet: wave speed = frequency × wavelength.
• 06.5 v = f λ, so f = v ÷ λ. Type the powers of ten with the ×10ˣ button. Unit: Hz.

Question 7 – Force and acceleration practical (13 marks)

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• 07.1 (6 marks) This is a required practical. Say what extra equipment you need (e.g. light gates, or a stopwatch and ruler; masses on a hanger on a string over a pulley). Then describe the steps: how you change the force (move masses from the trolley to the hanger so the total mass stays the same), what you measure to find the acceleration, and that you repeat for several different forces.
• 07.2 Which of Newton’s laws is F = m a?
• 07.3 The acceleration is proportional to the force. How many times bigger is 3.6 N than 1.2 N? The acceleration gets bigger by the same amount.
• 07.4 Copy it from the equation sheet: resultant force = mass × acceleration.
• 07.5 F = m a, so m = F ÷ a. Unit: kg.

✅ Finished? Mark your paper with the mark scheme, then read the examiners’ report for the questions you found hardest. Find both on AQA’s GCSE Combined Science page (Filter → June 2023).