plumiCircular motion: Edexcel International A Level Physics questions
Every Edexcel International A Level Physics exam question on Circular motion (specification points 87–91), 2019–2025, with its mark scheme and examiner’s report.
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Calculations
Q15(a)(i)
The whole paper ↗Q15(a)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q15(b)(i)
The whole paper ↗Q15(b)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q17(b)
The whole paper ↗- Your answer
Q15(a)(i)
The whole paper ↗Q15(a)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q15(b)(i)
The whole paper ↗Q15(b)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q15(b)(iii)
The whole paper ↗Q17(b)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q17(b)(iii)
The whole paper ↗Q13(a)
The whole paper ↗Q13(b)(i)
The whole paper ↗Q13(b)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q17(a)
The whole paper ↗Q17(b)
The whole paper ↗- Your answer
All 59 questions on Circular motion, as a list
- June 2025, Unit 4, Q10 (1 mark): A model aeroplane is moving at a constant speed, in a horizontal circle. F and G are two positions of the model aeroplane. The velocity at F is vF and the veloc
- June 2025, Unit 4, Q15(a)(i) (3 marks): The time taken for the turntable to be rotated through 160° is 2.2 s. –1. Show that the average angular velocity of the glass is about 1.3 rad s (3)
- June 2025, Unit 4, Q15(a)(ii) (2 marks): The glass can be placed at different positions on the turntable. Explain why the angular velocity of the glass is the same but its velocity varies, depending on
- June 2025, Unit 4, Q15(b)(i) (4 marks): The maximum frictional force between the glass of water and the turntable is equal to mg , where m is the mass of the glass of water. 30 Someone says that if th
- June 2025, Unit 4, Q15(b)(ii) (2 marks): Two identical glasses are placed at the same distance from the edge of the turntable. One of the glasses is filled with water and the other is empty. Explain wh
- June 2025, Unit 5, Q17(b) (2 marks): The globe rotates with an angular velocity of 2.76 × 10 Calculate the time taken for the globe to make one complete rotation. (2) Time taken for one rotation =
- January 2025, Unit 4, Q1 (1 mark): Two sources produce waves with a phase difference of 40°. Which of the following gives the angle of 40° in radians? A 40 2π 360 360 B 40 2π C 40 π 360 360 D 40
- January 2025, Unit 4, Q15(a)(i) (2 marks): Show that the angular velocity of the drum is about 150 rad s –1. (2)
- January 2025, Unit 4, Q15(a)(ii) (2 marks): The diameter of the drum is 45 cm. Calculate the centripetal acceleration of a point on the circumference of the drum. (2) Centripetal acceleration =
- January 2025, Unit 4, Q15(b)(i) (2 marks): Add labelled arrows to each diagram to show the forces acting on the item of clothing. (2)
- January 2025, Unit 4, Q15(b)(ii) (3 marks): The drum rotates at constant speed. Explain how the forces on the item of clothing vary between the bottom and the top of the drum. (3)
- January 2025, Unit 4, Q15(b)(iii) (1 mark): Water leaves the drum through the holes as the drum rotates. Describe the path of the water as it leaves the holes. (1)
- October 2024, Unit 4, Q17(b)(ii) (3 marks): Show that the angle θ of the thread to the vertical is given by v 2 θ tan rg (3)
- October 2024, Unit 4, Q17(b)(iii) (3 marks): Calculate the time taken for the toy aeroplane to complete one revolution. θ = 22° r = 21 cm (3) Time =
- June 2024, Unit 4, Q13(a) (4 marks): The student determined the maximum frictional force between the coin and the disk by tilting the disk, as shown. coin plastic disk Not to scale 6.3 cm The edge
- June 2024, Unit 4, Q13(b)(i) (2 marks): Calculate the angular velocity of the disk. (2) Angular velocity =
- June 2024, Unit 4, Q13(b)(ii) (3 marks): When the student placed the coin near the centre of the disk, the coin remained in position and rotated with the disk. When the student placed the coin at the e
- January 2024, Unit 4, Q17(a) (5 marks): The path of the model aeroplane is a circle of radius r, centre O. The dots on the diagram represent two positions of the model aeroplane as it moves with a con
- January 2024, Unit 4, Q17(b) (4 marks): A model aeroplane is attached to a wire. The wire is held by a person, as shown. The aeroplane moves in a horizontal circle of radius 28.5 m at a speed of 22.5
- October 2023, Unit 4, Q8 (1 mark): A toy aeroplane is travelling in a circular path. The toy aeroplane completes 12 revolutions in 6 s. Which of the following gives the angular velocity, in rad s
- October 2023, Unit 4, Q10 (1 mark): A car travels over a humpback bridge, as shown. The bridge forms part of a circle of radius r. The car has mass m and travels with constant speed v. car humpbac
- October 2023, Unit 4, Q11 (3 marks): The photograph shows children on a roundabout in a playground. bar platform (Source: © Juice Flair/Shutterstock) The roundabout is a flat platform with bars. Th
- October 2023, Unit 4, Q14 (4 marks): A car travelled in a circular path as shown. path of car View from above A passenger in the car made the following claim. “When the car was travelling at high s
- June 2023, Unit 4, Q15(a)(i) (3 marks): Show that the angular velocity of the car’s motion about the centre of the ball is –1. about 40 radian s (3)
- June 2023, Unit 4, Q15(a)(ii) (4 marks): The student took measurements of the ball and wrote down a value of 86 mm. Deduce whether 86 mm was the radius or the diameter of the ball. mass of car = 9.5 g
- June 2023, Unit 4, Q15(b) (6 marks): The magnitude of the force exerted by the ball on the car was greatest at 0.04 s and least at 0.12 s. Discuss the position of the car at these two times. You sh
- January 2023, Unit 4, Q2 (1 mark): A laboratory centrifuge rotates at 1500 revolutions per minute. Which of the following expressions gives the angular velocity in radians per second? 1500 A × 60
- January 2023, Unit 4, Q13(a)(i) (5 marks): Show that the radius of the circular path is about 800 m. mass of aeroplane = 1200 kg speed of aeroplane = 54 m s −1 (5)
- January 2023, Unit 4, Q13(a)(ii) (2 marks): Determine the time taken by the plane to move through 90° of the circular path. speed of aeroplane = 54 m s −1 (2) Time =
- January 2023, Unit 6, Q2(a)(i) (2 marks): Show that the relationship between the period of rotation T and mass M can be written as T2 = 4π2 mx Mg (2)
- January 2023, Unit 6, Q2(a)(ii) (6 marks): The student used a stopwatch to determine T for different values of M. Devise a plan to test the validity of the relationship between T2 and M. The method shoul
- October 2022, Unit 4, Q16(a) (3 marks): The player swings her stick so that the heel moves horizontally in a circle of radius 0.80 m across the ground, as shown below. heel Plan view 1.3 rad Not to sc
- October 2022, Unit 4, Q17(a) (5 marks): The aeroplane flies at a constant speed v around a horizontal circular path of radius r. The diagram shows two positions A and B of the aeroplane, on its circul
- October 2022, Unit 4, Q17(b)(i) (4 marks): The diagram shows this lift force when the aeroplane is banking. lift force weight (Source: © Nadezda0704/Shutterstock) Explain how banking allows the aeroplane
- October 2022, Unit 4, Q17(b)(ii) (4 marks): During banking, the angle between the wings and the horizontal is 5.2°. Calculate the radius of the circular path when the aeroplane flies at a constant speed o
- June 2022, Unit 4, Q17(a)(i) (2 marks): The tension in the chain, acting on the sphere, is T. Draw the free-body force diagram for the sphere at the position shown in the diagram. (2)
- June 2022, Unit 4, Q17(a)(ii) (2 marks): Explain why the sphere moves with circular motion. (2)
- June 2022, Unit 4, Q17(a)(iii) (3 marks): The sphere completes 2.8 revolutions per second. Calculate the acceleration of the sphere. distance from sphere to centre of circle = 1.5 m (3) Acceleration =
- January 2022, Unit 4, Q10 (1 mark): A website states: “The radius of the orbit of the Moon around the Earth is increasing by a small amount each year, however the time period of the orbit remains
- January 2022, Unit 4, Q15(a) (5 marks): The poi ball moves clockwise in a circle of radius r, centre O, with a constant speed v. The diagram shows two positions, A and B, of the poi ball. A B r O Deri
- January 2022, Unit 4, Q15(b) (3 marks): The poi ball completes 1.3 revolutions per second. Calculate the acceleration of the poi ball. radius of circular motion = 0.58 m (3) Acceleration =
- January 2022, Unit 4, Q15(c) (4 marks): The child comments that as the ball goes round the circle with a constant speed, the size of the force on his hand changes. Discuss whether this comment is corr
- October 2021, Unit 4, Q12(a) (2 marks): Add to the diagram to show the two forces acting on the bob. (2)
- October 2021, Unit 4, Q12(b)(i) (4 marks): Derive the following equation for the angular velocity ω of the bob. g ω = l θ cos (4)
- October 2021, Unit 4, Q12(b)(ii) (3 marks): A clock requires the period of the bob to be 5.0 s. l = 6.4 m θ = 13.9° Deduce whether this arrangement leads to the required period. (3)
- June 2021, Unit 4, Q11(a) (3 marks): The wire made 10 complete revolutions around the magnet in a time of 8.3 s. Calculate the angular velocity of the wire. (3) Angular velocity =
- June 2021, Unit 4, Q13 (6 marks): The photograph shows a track for a toy car. The car moves down the track towards a circular loop. The loop starts at point A. release point C loop B track A D I
- June 2021, Unit 6, Q1(b) (4 marks): When the wheel is tested, the speed of the magnet is 22.2 m s–1. The oscilloscope can be adjusted to give the following values for the horizontal scale. millise
- January 2021, Unit 4, Q12 (5 marks): The photograph shows a coin in contact with the drum inside a washing machine. coin The washing machine drum rotates about a horizontal axis at 600 revolutions
- October 2020, Unit 4, Q9 (1 mark): A turntable for playing vinyl records rotates at 33 revolutions per minute. What is the angular velocity in radian s−1? A 33 × 60 × 2π 33 B (60 × 2 ) π 33 ×
- October 2020, Unit 4, Q16(a) (4 marks): An object travels with speed v around a circular path or radius r. The diagram shows two positions, A and B on the path. A v B v r r θ C The acceleration of the
- October 2020, Unit 4, Q16(b)(i) (1 mark): Complete a free body force diagram for one of the aeroplanes at this speed. (1)
- October 2020, Unit 4, Q16(b)(ii) (4 marks): Show that, at this speed, the time for an aeroplane to make 4 complete rotations is about 3 s. mass of aeroplane = 5.2 g (4)
- October 2020, Unit 4, Q16(b)(iii) (5 marks): Student A suggests that if the radius of the canopy was increased and rotated at the same angular velocity as before, the wires supporting the aeroplanes could
- January 2020, Unit 4, Q14(a) (2 marks): For one design the track is horizontal. As the go-kart goes round the semicircular end of the track, centripetal force is provided by friction between the track
- January 2020, Unit 4, Q14(b)(i) (3 marks): Show that tan ș = 2 v gd where d is the diameter AB of the curved part of the track. (3)
- January 2020, Unit 4, Q14(b)(ii) (2 marks): Calculate the angle ș using the stated design criteria for this track. (2) Angle =
- January 2020, Unit 4, Q14(c) (2 marks): A banked track will cost more to build. Suggest whether there are any significant advantages that would justify the cost. (2)
- January 2020, Unit 4, Q19(a)(i) (3 marks): Derive this expression. (3)
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