plumiE.m.f. and internal resistance: Edexcel International A Level Physics questions
Every Edexcel International A Level Physics exam question on E.m.f. and internal resistance (specification points 77–78), 2019–2025, with its mark scheme and examiner’s report.
Paper
All papers
Exam
All years
Calculations
Q14(a)
The whole paper ↗Q14(b)
The whole paper ↗Q16(a)
The whole paper ↗Q3(a)(i)
The whole paper ↗Q3(a)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q3(b)(i)
The whole paper ↗Q3(b)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q3(c)
The whole paper ↗- Your answer
Q16(a)
The whole paper ↗Q16(b)
The whole paper ↗- Your answer
Q14(a)
The whole paper ↗Q14(b)
The whole paper ↗Q14(c)(i)
The whole paper ↗Q14(c)(ii)
The whole paper ↗Q19(c)
The whole paper ↗Q13(b)(i)
The whole paper ↗Q12(a)
The whole paper ↗Q12(b)
The whole paper ↗
All 43 questions on E.m.f. and internal resistance, as a list
- June 2025, AS Unit 2, Q14(a) (3 marks): One cell is removed from the battery and connected in the circuit shown. V When the resistance of the variable resistor is 10 Ω , the reading on the voltmeter i
- June 2025, AS Unit 2, Q14(b) (4 marks): The battery in an electric bicycle gets warm when the battery supplies power to the motor in the bicycle. Explain why the battery gets hot when the bicycle is g
- June 2025, AS Unit 2, Q16(a) (1 mark): State what is meant by an e.m.f. of 6.00 V. (1)
- June 2025, AS Unit 3, Q3(a)(i) (2 marks): Explain why starting from the maximum resistance is safer than starting from the minimum resistance. (2)
- June 2025, AS Unit 3, Q3(a)(ii) (2 marks): Explain whether repeat readings are appropriate for this investigation. (2)
- June 2025, AS Unit 3, Q3(b)(i) (1 mark): Determine the internal resistance of the power supply. (1) Internal resistance =
- June 2025, AS Unit 3, Q3(b)(ii) (2 marks): Determine the output potential difference of the power supply when the power output is a maximum. (2) Output potential difference =
- June 2025, AS Unit 3, Q3(c) (2 marks): When the power output is at its maximum value, the overall efficiency is 50%. Radio transmitters are used to transmit radio waves over a large area. The aerial
- January 2025, AS Unit 2, Q10 (1 mark): A student connected the circuit shown. 9 V 10 Ω V The reading on the voltmeter was 6 V. Which of the following expressions gives the internal resistance, in Ω ,
- January 2025, AS Unit 2, Q16(a) (1 mark): State what is meant by the e.m.f. of a cell. (1)
- January 2025, AS Unit 2, Q16(b) (6 marks): The voltmeter measures the terminal potential difference across the cell. Explain how increasing the intensity of light incident on the LDR affects the reading
- June 2024, AS Unit 2, Q5 (1 mark): The circuit shown includes a cell with internal resistance 0.5 Ω. 0.5 Ω 6 Ω V 1.2 V Which of the following expressions gives the e.m.f., in V, of the cell? A 1.
- January 2024, AS Unit 2, Q14(a) (2 marks): The student connected a high resistance voltmeter across the battery. The battery was not connected to any other components. Explain why the reading on the volt
- January 2024, AS Unit 2, Q14(b) (2 marks): The student investigated how the potential difference V across the battery varied with the current I in the battery. Draw a circuit diagram for this investigati
- January 2024, AS Unit 2, Q14(c)(i) (3 marks): Determine the e.m.f. and internal resistance of the battery. (3) e.m.f. = Internal resistance =
- January 2024, AS Unit 2, Q14(c)(ii) (2 marks): Explain why there is a maximum current that can be supplied by the battery. (2)
- January 2024, AS Unit 2, Q19(c) (5 marks): A student connected two solar cells in series with a 4.0 Ω resistor as shown. solar cell 4.0 Ω The student adjusted the light conditions so that each solar cell
- October 2023, AS Unit 2, Q13(b)(i) (3 marks): The reading on the voltmeter was 1.4 V. Calculate the internal resistance of the cell. (3) Internal resistance =
- June 2023, AS Unit 2, Q12(a) (3 marks): Determine the e.m.f. ε of the cell, and the internal resistance r of the cell. (3) ε = r =
- June 2023, AS Unit 2, Q12(b) (2 marks): The student placed an identical cell in series with the original cell in the circuit. He connected the voltmeter across both cells and repeated the investigatio
- January 2023, AS Unit 2, Q17(a) (2 marks): Show that, for this circuit, R = ε I – r (2)
- January 2023, AS Unit 2, Q17(b) (3 marks): The student varied R and measured corresponding values of I. The student then plotted a graph of R against 1 I , as shown. 10 8 6 4 R / Ω 1 2 I / A –1 0 0 1 2 3
- January 2023, AS Unit 2, Q17(c) (3 marks): The student suggested that the power dissipated by the internal resistance r decreases as R increases. Comment on the student’s suggestion. No further calculati
- January 2023, AS Unit 2, Q17(d) (3 marks): The student added a second, identical cell in series with the first cell and repeated the experiment. Add a line to the graph to show the result of this experim
- October 2022, AS Unit 2, Q12(a) (3 marks): Draw a diagram of a circuit that can be used for this experiment. (3)
- October 2022, AS Unit 2, Q12(b) (4 marks): The student plotted a graph of the terminal potential difference V of the cell against the current I in the cell, as shown. V 0 I Explain how ε and r for the ce
- June 2022, AS Unit 2, Q15(b)(ii) (3 marks): The resistors are connected to a different cell, with e.m.f. E , as shown. The cell has an internal resistance. E C A B Describe how a single ammeter reading ca
- January 2022, AS Unit 2, Q3 (1 mark): The diagram shows a cell of e.m.f. ε and internal resistance r. The cell is connected in series with two resistors of resistance R1 and R2. The potential differ
- October 2021, AS Unit 2, Q17(a) (5 marks): Calculate r. (5) r =
- October 2021, AS Unit 2, Q17(b) (2 marks): Increasing R would make the terminal potential difference value closer to ε. Explain why, without further calculation. (2)
- October 2021, AS Unit 2, Q17(c) (4 marks): A voltmeter is added to the circuit as shown. ε mA V Explain how this circuit can be used to determine a value for r using a graphical method. (4)
- June 2021, AS Unit 2, Q12(a) (3 marks): Explain why the reading on the voltmeter is less than 9.0 V when the switch is closed. (3)
- June 2021, AS Unit 2, Q12(b) (3 marks): Calculate the reading on the voltmeter when the switch is closed. (3) Reading on voltmeter =
- January 2021, AS Unit 2, Q5 (1 mark): Corresponding values of potential difference V and current I were taken after adjusting the variable resistor. A graph of V on the y-axis against I on the x-axi
- January 2021, AS Unit 2, Q6 (1 mark): The resistance of the variable resistor is R. Which of the following gives the current in the cell? ε A R ε B r ε C ( R + r ) ε D ( R − r )
- January 2020, AS Unit 2, Q17(a) (1 mark): State what is meant by e.m.f. (1)
- January 2020, AS Unit 2, Q17(b)(i) (2 marks): Calculate the internal resistance of the car battery. (2) Internal resistance =
- January 2020, AS Unit 2, Q17(b)(ii) (3 marks): The student adjusted the variable resistor several times and recorded corresponding values from the ammeter and voltmeter. Describe how the values can be used t
- January 2020, AS Unit 2, Q17(c) (4 marks): With use, the internal resistance of a battery will increase. Eventually the power available from a battery will become too small to be useful. The student calc
- June 2019, AS Unit 2, Q1 (1 mark): Which of the following is an SI unit for electromotive force (e.m.f)? A coulomb B joule C newton D volt
- June 2019, AS Unit 2, Q19(a) (2 marks): Complete the diagram below to show a circuit that could be used in order to determine İ and r for the potato cell. (2) potato cell
- June 2019, AS Unit 2, Q19(b) (4 marks): The student completed the experiment and plotted a graph showing the relationship between potential difference V and current I as shown. 0.30 0.25 0.20 V / V 0.
- June 2019, AS Unit 2, Q19(c) (4 marks): In a separate experiment two resistors, with equal resistance R, are connected to a battery (with internal resistance r) with the two resistors firstly in a ser
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