plumiActivity and half-life: Edexcel GCSE Combined Science questions
Every Edexcel GCSE Combined Science exam question on Activity and half-life (specification points 6.23–6.27), 2018–2025, with its mark scheme and examiner’s report.
Paper
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Exam
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Calculations
Q6(a)(i)
The whole paper ↗Your answerQ3(c)(i)
The whole paper ↗Q3(c)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q5(b)
The whole paper ↗Q3(b)(iii)
The whole paper ↗Q4(c)(i)
The whole paper ↗Q4(c)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q2(c)(iii)
The whole paper ↗Q2(d)
The whole paper ↗Q6(c)(iii)
The whole paper ↗Q5(c)
The whole paper ↗Q5(e)(i)
The whole paper ↗Q3(b)
The whole paper ↗Q2(c)
The whole paper ↗Q6(c)
The whole paper ↗Q2(b)
The whole paper ↗Q6(b)
The whole paper ↗
All 17 questions on Activity and half-life, as a list
- June 2025, Physics Paper 1 Higher, Q6(a)(i) (1 mark): Which of these is the unit for the activity of a sample of carbon-14? (1) A Pa B Nm C Gs D Bq
- June 2025, Physics Paper 1 Foundation, Q3(c)(i) (1 mark): Which of these is the unit for the activity of a radioactive isotope? (1) A second (s) B kilogram (kg) C kelvin (K) D becquerel (Bq)
- June 2025, Physics Paper 1 Foundation, Q3(c)(ii) (2 marks): The isotope nitrogen-13 (N-13) has a half-life of 10 minutes. A sample of N-13 has an initial mass of 120 g. Calculate the mass of N-13 that remains after 30 mi
- June 2023, Physics Paper 1 Higher, Q5(b) (3 marks): The activity of a radioactive source is measured as 128 Bq. This is shown as a point on the graph in Figure 10. (3) 140 120 100 80 activity in Bq 60 40 20 0 0 1
- June 2023, Physics Paper 1 Foundation, Q3(b)(iii) (2 marks): Figure 4 shows a graph for the decay of the radioactive isotope carbon‑14. 35 30 count rate 25 in counts per minute 20 15 10 5 0 0 5000 10 000 15 000 20 000 tim
- June 2022, Physics Paper 1 Foundation, Q4(c)(i) (1 mark): Calculate the mass of the original radioactive isotope remaining after 18 days. (1) mass after 18 days g
- June 2022, Physics Paper 1 Foundation, Q4(c)(ii) (2 marks): Calculate the mass of the original radioactive isotope remaining after 54 days. (2) mass after 54 days g
- November 2021, Physics Paper 1 Higher, Q2(c)(iii) (1 mark): State the SI unit for the activity of a radioactive source. (1)
- November 2021, Physics Paper 1 Higher, Q2(d) (2 marks): Radium-223 is a radioactive substance. Radium-223 is an alpha emitter. The half-life of radium-223 is 11 days. A radioactive source contains 1.7 × 1023 nuclei o
- November 2021, Physics Paper 1 Foundation, Q6(c)(iii) (1 mark): State the SI unit for the activity of a radioactive source. (1)
- November 2020, Physics Paper 1 Higher, Q5(c) (3 marks): The half-life of cobalt-60 is 5 years. A school cobalt source had an activity of 38.5 kBq in the year 2000. Estimate the activity of this source in the year 202
- November 2020, Physics Paper 1 Higher, Q5(e)(i) (2 marks): Calculate the average count rate, in counts / s, from the graph. Show your working on the graph. (2) average count rate = counts / s
- November 2020, Physics Paper 1 Foundation, Q3(b) (2 marks): The half‑life of strontium‑90 is 29 years. The table in Figure 4 gives some information about how the mass of a sample of strontium‑90 changes with time. mass o
- June 2019, Physics Paper 1 Higher, Q2(c) (2 marks): Carbon-14 is radioactive and has a half-life of 5 700 years. The number of radioactive carbon-14 atoms in a very old piece of wood is found to have decreased fr
- June 2019, Physics Paper 1 Foundation, Q6(c) (2 marks): Carbon-14 is radioactive and has a half-life of 5 700 years. The number of radioactive carbon-14 atoms in a very old piece of wood is found to have decreased fr
- June 2018, Physics Paper 1 Higher, Q2(b) (3 marks): A hospital uses a radioactive isotope with a half-life of 6 hours. A technician measures a count rate of 80 counts per minute (cpm) from this isotope. 100 80 60
- June 2018, Physics Paper 1 Foundation, Q6(b) (3 marks): A hospital uses a radioactive isotope with a half‑life of 6 hours. A technician measures a count rate of 80 counts per minute (cpm) from this isotope. 100 80 60
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