plumiCharging and discharging curves, time constant (core practical 11): Edexcel International A Level Physics questions
Edexcel International A Level Physics past-paper questions on 4.4.2.2 Charging and discharging curves, time constant (core practical 11), 2019–2025, with mark schemes and examiner’s reports where available.
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Q17(a)
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All 32 questions on Charging and discharging curves, time constant (core practical 11), as a list
- June 2025, Unit 4, Q17(a) (1 mark): State the potential difference across the capacitor at the end of a period of discharge. (1) Potential difference =
- June 2025, Unit 4, Q17(b)(i) (5 marks): Deduce whether the output with the capacitor shown on the graph is consistent with a resistor tolerance of ± 5%. (5)
- June 2025, Unit 4, Q17(b)(iii) (3 marks): The resistor is replaced by a bulb with a much lower resistance than 6.8 kΩ. Explain why the output is now very similar to the original output of the power supp
- January 2025, Unit 4, Q20(a)(i) (4 marks): Explain how the current in the circuit varies when the switch is connected to position X. You do not need to do any calculations. (4)
- January 2025, Unit 4, Q20(a)(ii) (3 marks): Sketch a graph to show the variation of current in the circuit as the capacitor is charged. Include the maximum value of current in the circuit. (3)
- January 2025, Unit 4, Q20(b)(i) (2 marks): Show that the time constant of the circuit is about 60 s. (2)
- January 2025, Unit 4, Q20(b)(ii) (3 marks): The student connected the switch to position Y for a time of 3 minutes. Determine, using the time constant of the circuit, the percentage of the original potent
- October 2024, Unit 4, Q14 (6 marks): *14 The diagram shows a circuit with a cell of potential difference (p.d.) V0 in series with a capacitor, a resistor and a switch. A voltmeter measures the pote
- June 2024, Unit 4, Q12(a) (1 mark): Add to the diagram to show a suitable circuit for measuring the current as the capacitor charged. (1)
- June 2024, Unit 4, Q12(b)(i) (3 marks): The resistance of the resistor is 5.1 kΩ. Show that the capacitance of the capacitor is about 0.02 F. (3)
- January 2024, Unit 4, Q18(a)(i) (4 marks): Determine a value for the capacitance C of the capacitor. (4) C =
- January 2024, Unit 4, Q18(a)(ii) (3 marks): Sketch on the axes below how current I in the circuit would vary with t. You should include the value of the maximum current. (3) I 0 t
- January 2024, Unit 4, Q18(b) (3 marks): The student connected a second 168 kΩ resistor in parallel with the first resistor. Explain how the time taken to charge the capacitor would change. You do not
- October 2023, Unit 4, Q18(a) (4 marks): The capacitor is labelled as 470 µF, with a tolerance of ±10%. Evaluate whether the capacitance of the capacitor is within the stated tolerance. (4)
- January 2023, Unit 4, Q16(a) (2 marks): Give two reasons why the circuit did not operate as intended. (2)
- January 2023, Unit 4, Q16(b)(i) (3 marks): Determine the resistance in the circuit when the switch was at position Y. (3) Resistance =
- October 2022, Unit 4, Q12(a) (4 marks): When the capacitor is completely discharged, the two-way switch is moved to position S1 at time t = 0 s. Complete the graph to show how the current varies with
- June 2022, Unit 4, Q15(a)(i) (2 marks): Sketch a graph to show how the potential difference VC across the capacitor varies with time t as the switch is closed. The time constant T for this circuit is
- June 2022, Unit 4, Q15(a)(ii) (2 marks): Explain how the potential difference VR across the resistor varies with time after the switch is closed. (2)
- January 2022, Unit 4, Q14(a) (2 marks): Determine whether the initial value of current on the graph is consistent with the values stated on the circuit diagram. (2)
- January 2022, Unit 4, Q14(b) (2 marks): Explain how the current on ammeter A2 would vary over the same time interval. (2)
- January 2022, Unit 4, Q14(d) (2 marks): Determine the charge stored on the capacitor after 30 s. (2) Charge stored on capacitor after 30 s =
- October 2021, Unit 4, Q14(a) (3 marks): Explain how this circuit can maintain power to the electronic controller if the switch is opened for a short time. (3)
- October 2021, Unit 4, Q14(c) (4 marks): The switch is closed at time t = 0 and then opened at t = 20 s. Sketch a graph on the axes below to show how current I through the resistor varies with t. (4) I
- June 2021, Unit 4, Q17(a) (3 marks): Add to the diagram to show a suitable circuit for charging and discharging the capacitor while measuring the p.d. across it. (3)
- June 2021, Unit 4, Q17(b)(i) (2 marks): Sketch, on the same axes, a graph to show how the p.d. across the resistor varies with time. (2)
- June 2021, Unit 4, Q17(b)(iii) (4 marks): During the charging process, the student recorded the p.d. across the capacitor and the resistance of the resistor. The capacitors available had the following v
- January 2021, Unit 4, Q5 (1 mark): An uncharged capacitor, a resistor, a switch and a cell are connected in series as shown. C R Which of the following shows how the charge stored on the capacito
- January 2021, Unit 6, Q2(a) (3 marks): Draw an appropriate circuit diagram for this investigation. (3)
- January 2021, Unit 6, Q2(c) (6 marks): The student had a stopwatch. Describe how the student should determine an accurate value for the total capacitance of the capacitors. (6)
- October 2020, Unit 4, Q15(c) (5 marks): The student tested the capacitor by charging it until the p.d. across the capacitor was 600 V and recording the p.d. as it was discharged through a resistor of
- January 2020, Unit 4, Q17(b) (3 marks): In practice, the resistance of the LED does not stay constant. The graph shows how current varies with potential difference (p.d.) for the LED. current 0 1.4 V
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