Impulse and collisions: Edexcel International A Level Physics questions

Every Edexcel International A Level Physics exam question on Impulse and collisions (specification points 81–86), 2019–2025, with its mark scheme and examiner’s report.

All 67 questions on Impulse and collisions, as a list

June 2025, Unit 4, Q9 (1 mark): In a nuclear fission reaction, a nucleus splits into a nucleus S, a nucleus T and several neutrons. S and T have the same kinetic energy. T has twice the mass o
June 2025, Unit 4, Q12 (3 marks): A student investigated collisions, using three spheres. The student rolled a sphere of mass 35 g into two stationary spheres, each of mass 37 g, as shown. 0.40
January 2025, Unit 4, Q19(a) (3 marks): There is a thick rubber strip around the base of each car. Two cars collide and come to rest. Explain why the rubber strip reduces the likelihood of injury to t
January 2025, Unit 4, Q19(b) (6 marks): In another collision, car A collides with car B. Car A is initially travelling at 2.19 m s –1 in a straight line. Car B is stationary. After the collision, car
October 2024, Unit 4, Q6 (1 mark): An electron has a kinetic energy of 3.5 × 10–28 J. Which of the following gives the momentum of the electron in kg m s–1? 28 2 (3.5 10 ) A 31 2 9.11 10 31 2 B (
October 2024, Unit 4, Q7 (1 mark): A moving trolley collides with a stationary trolley and they move off together. Frictional forces are negligible and the collision is inelastic. Which row of th
October 2024, Unit 4, Q17(a)(ii) (2 marks): Determine the momentum of the air pushed backwards by the propeller in a time of 0.20 s. (2) Momentum =
October 2024, Unit 4, Q17(a)(iii) (2 marks): Determine the forwards force exerted on the aeroplane by the action of the propeller. (2) Force =
October 2024, Unit 4, Q18(b)(iii) (6 marks): The diagram shows the directions of the three particles involved in the decay. Not to scale θ 65 n + Σ+ Determine the magnitude and direction of the momentum o
June 2024, Unit 4, Q2 (1 mark): A moving particle, P, decays. After the decay there are two particles, particle Q and particle R. The diagram shows the momentum of particle Q and the momentum
June 2024, Unit 4, Q8 (1 mark): A ball collides with a wall and moves off in the opposite direction. The wall exerts a force on the ball during the collision. The force-time graph for the coll
June 2024, Unit 4, Q15(a) (2 marks): Explain how using the air table ensured that momentum was conserved in collisions between the pucks. (2)
June 2024, Unit 4, Q15(b)(i) (5 marks): Deduce whether the angle between the paths of the pucks after the collision was 90°. You should use the principle of conservation of momentum. (5)
June 2024, Unit 4, Q15(b)(ii) (5 marks): Deduce whether the collision was elastic. mass of each puck = 0.110 kg (5)
January 2024, Unit 4, Q9 (1 mark): A helium atom of mass m and velocity v collides at right angles with a surface, as shown. He v surface The atom bounces off the surface with the same speed but
January 2024, Unit 4, Q20(a) (2 marks): State what is meant by the principle of conservation of momentum. (2)
January 2024, Unit 4, Q20(b)(i) (4 marks): Show that the speed of the helium nucleus immediately after the collision is about 5.6 × 10 6 m s –1. mass of helium nucleus = 6.64 × 10 –27 kg speed of alpha p
January 2024, Unit 4, Q20(b)(ii) (3 marks): The kinetic energy of the alpha particle before the collision was 9.01 × 10 Deduce whether the collision was elastic. (3)
October 2023, Unit 4, Q2 (1 mark): A car travels along a straight horizontal road. A drag force of 150 N acts for 15 s causing the speed of the car to decrease. Which of the following is the chan
October 2023, Unit 4, Q19(a) (4 marks): Show that v is about 1.3 m s –1. (4)
October 2023, Unit 4, Q19(b) (3 marks): Deduce whether the collision was elastic. Your answer should include a calculation. (3)
June 2023, Unit 4, Q4 (1 mark): Which of the following gives the base units of impulse? A kg m s –1 B kg m s –2 C N m D N s
June 2023, Unit 4, Q14(a) (6 marks): Show that the momentum of the proton after the collision is about 5 × 10 –20 N s at an angle θ, where θ is about 20°. (6)
June 2023, Unit 4, Q14(b) (4 marks): Deduce whether the collision was elastic. mass of alpha particle = 6.64 × 10 –27 kg (4)
June 2023, Unit 4, Q18(b)(iii) (4 marks): The student stated that the average force acting on sphere B cannot be more than the weight of sphere A. Deduce whether this statement is correct. mass of each
January 2023, Unit 4, Q8 (1 mark): A non-relativistic particle of mass m has momentum p and kinetic energy Ek . A second non-relativistic particle of mass m 2 has momentum 2p. Which of the follow
January 2023, Unit 4, Q9 (1 mark): A ball travelling at speed u towards a wall collides with the wall at right angles. The ball bounces off the wall at speed v in the opposite direction. The time
January 2023, Unit 4, Q14(a) (2 marks): State the principle of conservation of momentum. (2)
January 2023, Unit 4, Q14(b)(i) (3 marks): Deduce whether the values show an elastic collision. (3)
January 2023, Unit 4, Q14(b)(ii) (5 marks): Deduce whether the values show the conservation of momentum. (5)
October 2022, Unit 4, Q9 (1 mark): An object of mass m has momentum p and kinetic energy E. Which of the following is the mass of an object with momentum 2p and kinetic energy 4E? A 1 2 m B m C 2
October 2022, Unit 4, Q16(b)(i) (5 marks): Deduce whether momentum is conserved for this collision by completing the vector diagram below. A scaled line representing pheel is shown. mass of ball = 160 g
October 2022, Unit 4, Q16(b)(ii) (4 marks): Deduce whether the collision is elastic. speed of heel before collision = 5.0 m s –1 (4)
June 2022, Unit 4, Q11 (3 marks): A flyboard enables a person to hover at a constant height above the sea as shown. Water is constantly pumped up to the flyboard in a thick pipe. A jet of water
June 2022, Unit 4, Q12(a) (1 mark): This collision was inelastic. State what is meant by inelastic. (1)
June 2022, Unit 4, Q12(b) (2 marks): For this situation, a scaled vector diagram showing the velocities of the balls can be used to demonstrate the law of conservation of momentum. Explain why. (2)
June 2022, Unit 4, Q12(c) (5 marks): Deduce whether the black ball moves towards the pocket. You should use a scaled vector diagram. (5)
June 2022, Unit 5, Q15(b) (2 marks): Explain why not all of the energy from the decay is released as kinetic energy of the alpha particle. (2)
January 2022, Unit 4, Q3 (1 mark): Which of the following is the kinetic energy of trolley X before the collision? A 0.5 J B 1 J C 2 J D 4 J
January 2022, Unit 4, Q4 (1 mark): Which row of the table is correct for this collision? Momentum Elastic or inelastic collision A conserved elastic B conserved inelastic C not conserved elastic
January 2022, Unit 4, Q12 (4 marks): A helicopter can hover in a fixed position as shown. helicopter blades (Source: Ascent Xmedia/Getty Images) The helicopter blades move air vertically downwards.
October 2021, Unit 4, Q2 (1 mark): Which row of the table identifies what happens to momentum and kinetic energy in an elastic collision? Momentum Kinetic energy A conserved conserved B conserved
October 2021, Unit 4, Q3 (1 mark): A particle of mass m has kinetic energy Ek and momentum p. A second particle of mass 2m has kinetic energy 2Ek. Both particles are non‑relativistic. Which of th
October 2021, Unit 4, Q15(a)(i) (2 marks): Show that the velocity of the carriage is about 40 m s–1 as it leaves the horizontal track. total mass of carriage and people = 7500 kg (2)
October 2021, Unit 4, Q18(e)(ii) (5 marks): The initial path of the muon is at an angle of 18° to the direction of the pion, as shown. Data for the momentum of each particle at point X is listed below. mo
October 2021, Unit 5, Q13(b) (4 marks): A textbook states that the kinetic energy gained by the alpha particle when a nucleus of thorium‑228 decays is equal to 5.4 MeV. Comment on this statement. Your
June 2021, Unit 4, Q7 (1 mark): A sphere travelling at speed v collides elastically with an identical sphere which is at rest. After the collision, both spheres move off at an angle θ to the d
June 2021, Unit 4, Q12(a) (2 marks): The kinetic energy of a non-relativistic particle of mass m with momentum p is given by p2 Ek = 2m Derive this formula. (2)
June 2021, Unit 4, Q12(b) (4 marks): A mercury ion with kinetic energy 6.42 × 10–15 J leaves a drift tube, as shown. drift tube drift tube path of mercury ion Calculate the momentum of the mercury
June 2021, Unit 4, Q15(a) (2 marks): This collision method is modelled for a spacecraft travelling in a direction at 90° to the path of the asteroid. Sketch a labelled vector diagram to show the mo
June 2021, Unit 4, Q15(b) (2 marks): Show that the momentum of the spacecraft is about 107 N s. mass of spacecraft = 920 kg speed of spacecraft = 12 000 m s–1 (2)
June 2021, Unit 4, Q15(c) (2 marks): Show that this collision method causes the asteroid to change its direction through an angle of about 10–7 radian. momentum of asteroid = 7.6 × 1013 N s (2)
June 2021, Unit 4, Q15(d) (2 marks): After the collision, the asteroid and spacecraft remain joined and move together. Calculate the component of their velocity at 90° to the original path of the a
June 2021, Unit 4, Q15(e) (2 marks): Another method would involve attaching a rocket motor to the asteroid and using the motor to apply a force to the asteroid. In this method the force is applied
January 2021, Unit 4, Q2 (1 mark): A particle of mass m has momentum p and kinetic energy Ek. A second particle of mass m/2 has momentum 2p. What is the kinetic energy of the second particle? A E
January 2021, Unit 4, Q17(a) (3 marks): In one experiment, the first puck reached a speed of 0.35 m s−1 after being pushed for a time of 0.28 s. Calculate, using the idea of impulse, the average force
January 2021, Unit 4, Q17(b)(i) (4 marks): Calculate the speed of puck 2 after the collision. mass of puck 1 = 110 g mass of puck 2 = 130 g speed of puck 1 after collision = 0.28 m s−1 (4) Speed of puck
January 2021, Unit 4, Q17(b)(ii) (3 marks): Deduce whether this was an elastic collision. (3)
January 2021, Unit 4, Q17(c) (2 marks): Explain the assumption made when applying the principle of conservation of momentum to collisions. (2)
October 2020, Unit 4, Q5 (1 mark): A gas molecule of mass m travelling at speed v strikes the side of a gas cylinder at an angle θ. The collision takes time t. v θ v θ What is the average force a
October 2020, Unit 4, Q17(b)(ii) (2 marks): The radon atom was stationary before the first alpha emission. The angle between the two alpha tracks is 60°. Sketch a vector diagram to show the momentum of th
October 2020, Unit 4, Q17(b)(iii) (6 marks): Determine the magnitude of the velocity of the lead ion. velocity of alpha particle emitted by radon = 1.74 × 107 m s−1 velocity of alpha particle emitted by po
October 2020, Unit 4, Q17(c) (3 marks): The photograph shows another pair of tracks following radon decay. Deduce which track is for the first alpha particle emitted. (3)
January 2020, Unit 4, Q3 (1 mark): A ball of mass m travelling with velocity v strikes a wall at right angles. It bounces off the wall in the opposite direction at the same speed. Which of the fo
January 2020, Unit 4, Q9 (1 mark): The diagram shows the momenta P and Q of two bodies about to collide. P Q When the bodies collide they merge and move on as a single body. Which of the followin
January 2020, Unit 4, Q13(b) (5 marks): Initially the spring was fully compressed. As the toy was released, the head accelerated upwards on its own until the spring was uncompressed. The head then pul
January 2020, Unit 4, Q13(c) (2 marks): Determine whether kinetic energy was conserved as the head began to pull the base upwards. (2)

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