plumiNewton’s first and second laws and terminal velocity: Edexcel International A Level Physics questions
Edexcel International A Level Physics past-paper questions on 1.3.3.2 Newton’s first and second laws and terminal velocity, 2019–2025, with mark schemes and examiner’s reports where available.
Paper
All papers
Exam
All years
Calculations
Loading the question…
Open the full PDFYour answerLoading the question…
Open the full PDFQ18(b)
The whole paper ↗
Loading the start of the question…
Loading the question…
Open the full PDFQ20(d)
The whole paper ↗
Loading the start of the question…
Loading the question…
Open the full PDFLoading the question…
Open the full PDFYour answerLoading the question…
Open the full PDFYour answerLoading the question…
Open the full PDFQ13(b)
The whole paper ↗
Loading the start of the question…
Loading the question…
Open the full PDFQ18(b)
The whole paper ↗
Loading the start of the question…
Loading the question…
Open the full PDFQ20(a)
The whole paper ↗
Loading the start of the question…
Loading the question…
Open the full PDFLoading the question…
Open the full PDFYour answerQ15(a)
The whole paper ↗
Loading the start of the question…
Loading the question…
Open the full PDFQ17(a)
The whole paper ↗
Loading the start of the question…
Loading the question…
Open the full PDFLoading the question…
Open the full PDFYour answerQ15(c)
The whole paper ↗
Loading the start of the question…
Loading the question…
Open the full PDFLoading the question…
Open the full PDFYour answerLoading the question…
Open the full PDFQ16(b)
The whole paper ↗
Loading the start of the question…
Loading the question…
Open the full PDFQ11(a)
The whole paper ↗
Loading the start of the question…
Loading the question…
Open the full PDFQ11(b)
The whole paper ↗Loading the start of the question…
Loading the question…
Open the full PDF
All 70 questions on Newton’s first and second laws and terminal velocity, as a list
- June 2025, AS Unit 1, Q8 (1 mark): A box of weight W slides down a ramp. The ramp is at an angle θ to the horizontal. A frictional force F acts on the box, as shown. F W θ Which of the following
- June 2025, AS Unit 1, Q11 (3 marks): A resultant force of 4800 N acts on a boat. The acceleration of the boat is 0.31 m s –2. Calculate the weight of the boat. Weight of boat =
- June 2025, AS Unit 1, Q18(b) (2 marks): A student pulls sphere A, so the string is at an angle of 38° to the vertical, as shown. The student then releases sphere A. 38 direction of acceleration Determ
- June 2025, AS Unit 1, Q20(d) (5 marks): The skydiver opened his parachute and his speed changed. After a time, he reached a terminal velocity. Explain how the forces on the skydiver caused his acceler
- January 2025, AS Unit 1, Q2 (1 mark): A coin and a feather are dropped from the same height, through air. Which row of the table is correct as the coin and feather fall to the ground? Initial accele
- January 2025, AS Unit 1, Q9 (1 mark): A free-body force diagram for an object moving through a fluid is shown. upthrust = 90 N Not to scale drag weight = 49 N The mass of the object is 5 kg. The obj
- January 2025, AS Unit 1, Q11 (3 marks): The mass of a car is 1850 kg. Some people sit in the car. The car then accelerates at 0.230 m s −2 when the resultant force on the car is 460 N. Calculate the t
- January 2025, AS Unit 1, Q13(b) (2 marks): The resistive force exerted by the sand on a vehicle is proportional to the weight of the vehicle. The weight of a car is less than the weight of a truck. Expla
- January 2025, AS Unit 1, Q18(b) (6 marks): A crane on a ship can lift the submarine out of the sea, as shown. cable crane submarine (Source: adapted from © PJF Military Collection/Alamy Stock Photo) The
- January 2025, AS Unit 1, Q20(a) (4 marks): The student released the sphere from rest in the oil. Explain why the sphere reached terminal velocity. (4)
- October 2024, AS Unit 1, Q5 (1 mark): A box slides down a slope at a constant speed. Weight and resistive forces both act on the box. Which of the following is a reason why the speed of the box is c
- October 2024, AS Unit 1, Q15(a) (3 marks): The athlete exerts a force of 890 N on the ground as he jumps into the air. Explain why the athlete accelerates upwards. Your answer should refer to Newton’s th
- October 2024, AS Unit 1, Q17(a) (6 marks): Explain how the acceleration of the student changes as she moves from Position A to Position C. Assume that air resistance is negligible. (6)
- June 2024, AS Unit 1, Q10 (1 mark): A ship has a mass of 1.2 × 10 7 kg and has an acceleration of 0.03 m s –2. The force produced by the ship’s engine is 8.0 × 10 5 N. Which of the following expre
- June 2024, AS Unit 1, Q15(c) (2 marks): During the collision there is a resultant force on ball B from ball A. Explain, in terms of Newton’s laws, why ball A decelerates during the collision. (2)
- January 2024, AS Unit 1, Q5 (1 mark): A student dropped a table tennis ball. The ball fell for time t and had velocity v just before it hit the ground. The student used the equations of motion to ca
- January 2024, AS Unit 1, Q13 (3 marks): A student has a toy called a ‘cartesian diver’ inside a sealed plastic bottle of water. The cartesian diver consists of a tube closed at one end. Air is trapped
- January 2024, AS Unit 1, Q16(b) (6 marks): Explain how Newton’s second and third laws of motion apply to the ball and the skittle during the collision. (6)
- October 2023, AS Unit 1, Q11(a) (3 marks): The rocket’s engines give a total upward thrust of 7.3 × 10 7 N. Calculate the initial acceleration of the rocket. mass of rocket = 5.0 × 10 6 kg (3) Initial ac
- October 2023, AS Unit 1, Q11(b) (1 mark): Give one reason why the acceleration will increase as the rocket rises. (1)
- October 2023, AS Unit 1, Q17(b)(i) (3 marks): When the balloon is released, the initial upward acceleration is 4.80 m s –2. Show that the weight of the balloon and equipment is about 13 N. volume of balloon
- October 2023, AS Unit 1, Q17(c) (6 marks): A weather balloon made of a strong material will rise and eventually stop expanding. It will continue to rise until it reaches a maximum height. Explain how and
- June 2023, AS Unit 1, Q18 (6 marks): *18 A student inflates a balloon. She uses a peg to keep the balloon closed. She then attaches a straw to the balloon using sticky tape. She passes a string thr
- June 2023, AS Unit 1, Q20(b)(i) (2 marks): Explain why the forces acting on the actor cause him to accelerate upwards. (2)
- June 2023, AS Unit 1, Q20(b)(ii) (3 marks): The actor has a mass of 77 kg and is lifted vertically from the ground with an acceleration of 2.1 m s–2. Show that the tension in the cable is about 920 N. (3)
- January 2023, AS Unit 1, Q15(a) (4 marks): The trampoline gives the gymnast a maximum upward acceleration of 14.2 m s –2. Calculate the maximum upward force of the trampoline on the gymnast. mass of gymn
- January 2023, AS Unit 1, Q15(c) (6 marks): The vertical acceleration of the gymnast varies while she is in contact with the trampoline. Explain how the forces on the gymnast affect the vertical accelerat
- January 2023, AS Unit 1, Q16(b)(i) (3 marks): Explain why the velocity of the descent module changes when the rocket motor is used. Your answer should refer to Newton’s laws of motion. (3)
- January 2023, AS Unit 1, Q16(b)(ii) (3 marks): When the rocket motor is operating, the velocity of the descent module changes –1 during a time of 5.0 seconds. by 0.58 m s mass of descent module = 2950 kg Cal
- January 2023, AS Unit 1, Q18(a)(ii) (2 marks): The drag force D on the object obeyed the formula 2 D = k v where v is the speed of the object. Determine the terminal velocity of the object. 2 m –2 k = 2.2 N
- January 2023, AS Unit 1, Q18(b) (3 marks): To lift the heavy object from the seabed, a diver used a ‘lift bag’. The diver used compressed air from a cylinder to fill the lift bag, as shown. compressed ai
- January 2023, Unit 4, Q10 (1 mark): A proton is accelerated by a uniform electric field. After time t the speed of the proton has increased by Δv. A helium nucleus 4 2He is accelerated by the same
- January 2023, Unit 4, Q13(b) (2 marks): The wings of the aeroplane are now levelled, as shown below. The speed and the magnitude of the lift force remain the same. Explain what will happen to the vert
- October 2022, AS Unit 1, Q11(a) (1 mark): State what is meant by a resultant force. (1)
- October 2022, AS Unit 1, Q11(b) (2 marks): At a certain time the drag force on the boat is 3.1 kN. Calculate the acceleration of the boat at this time. mass of boat = 7.5 × 103 kg (2) Acceleration =
- October 2022, AS Unit 1, Q14(a) (4 marks): The child releases the balloon by letting go of the string. Calculate the resultant force on the balloon immediately after it is released. mass of balloon and s
- October 2022, AS Unit 1, Q14(b) (6 marks): Immediately after the balloon is released, it begins to move upwards. The density of the air remains constant and there is no wind. Explain how the forces actin
- October 2022, AS Unit 1, Q19(c) (2 marks): At the top of the slope, the road becomes horizontal. The cyclist continues to pedal with the same force. Explain how the speed of the cyclist changes as the ro
- June 2022, AS Unit 1, Q6 (1 mark): A rocket is accelerating horizontally due to a constant resultant force. The mass of the rocket decreases steadily as it uses up its fuel. Which graph shows how
- June 2022, AS Unit 1, Q14(b)(i) (1 mark): Drag forces act on the car as it moves through the air. State how the drag forces vary with the velocity of the car. (1)
- June 2022, AS Unit 1, Q17(a)(iii) (3 marks): The collision lasted a total time of 1.35 s. Calculate the average horizontal force on Q during the collision. (3) Average horizontal force =
- June 2022, AS Unit 1, Q17(b) (3 marks): Explain why P decelerates during the collision. Your answer should make reference to Newton’s laws of motion. (3)
- June 2022, Unit 5, Q17(c) (3 marks): If the amplitude of oscillation is large enough, the man will lose contact with the board at a point above the equilibrium position. Explain why. (3)
- January 2022, AS Unit 1, Q10 (1 mark): Which row of the table contains two units that are not equivalent? Unit 1 Unit 2 A J s–1 W B kg m s–2 N s C N kg–1 m s–2 D N m J
- January 2022, AS Unit 1, Q14 (6 marks): *14 A student of weight 600 N is standing on weighing scales in a lift. The scales are calibrated to give readings in newtons. lift weighing scales The lift mov
- January 2022, AS Unit 1, Q17(b)(i) (3 marks): At one instant, the speed of the sphere is 5.2 × 10−3 m s−1. Calculate the resultant horizontal force on the sphere. (3) Resultant horizontal force =
- October 2021, AS Unit 1, Q10 (1 mark): The diagram shows a rocket of mass m accelerating upwards with acceleration a. The diagram represents the forces acting on the rocket. T Diagram not to scale mg
- October 2021, AS Unit 1, Q13(b)(i) (2 marks): Show that the initial acceleration of the sledge along the slope is about 1 m s–2. (2)
- October 2021, AS Unit 1, Q17(a)(ii) (1 mark): State the condition necessary for the speed of the droplet to be constant. (1)
- June 2021, AS Unit 1, Q3 (1 mark): A van travels along a straight, horizontal road at a constant velocity. Which of the following statements is correct? A The frictional force of the road on the
- June 2021, AS Unit 1, Q8 (1 mark): A constant forward force acts on a car. The car accelerates along a straight road. After a while, the speed of the car reaches a constant value. Which graph sho
- June 2021, AS Unit 1, Q15 (6 marks): *15 A large spacecraft is made up of several ‘stages’. Each stage consists of a rocket motor and a fuel tank. Once a stage has used all its fuel, the rocket mot
- June 2021, AS Unit 1, Q16(b) (2 marks): When the dragster starts, there is a driving force that gives the dragster an initial forward acceleration of 5.50 g. Calculate the initial driving force on the
- June 2021, AS Unit 1, Q18(a) (2 marks): Explain what is meant by terminal velocity. (2)
- January 2021, AS Unit 1, Q14(c) (3 marks): Initially the pump is turned off and the fireboat moves forwards through the water at a constant speed. The boat’s engine provides a constant forward force. Whe
- January 2021, AS Unit 3, Q1(b)(ii) (1 mark): The student concludes that these results do not show that the acceleration of the glider is directly proportional to the force. Comment on the student’s conclus
- January 2021, AS Unit 3, Q1(c) (1 mark): The teacher explained that for the resultant force to be directly proportional to acceleration, the total mass of the system must be kept constant. Describe how
- January 2021, Unit 4, Q19(a)(i) (3 marks): Show that r = ρg 2 η = viscosity of air ρ = density of oil (3)
- October 2020, AS Unit 1, Q12(b) (2 marks): Explain the motion of the unicycle. Your answer should make reference to all of the forces acting on the unicycle. (2)
- October 2020, AS Unit 1, Q14 (6 marks): *14 A skydiver jumps from an aeroplane and accelerates until she reaches terminal velocity. At a time t1, she opens a parachute and a second, lower terminal vel
- January 2020, AS Unit 1, Q4 (1 mark): A ball of mass m is projected vertically upwards. An air resistance F acts on the ball at all times. Which of the following equations would apply to the ball as
- January 2020, AS Unit 1, Q10 (1 mark): Some students were shown a velocity-time graph for the motion of an object falling through a liquid. Time The students suggested possible explanations for the d
- June 2019, AS Unit 1, Q2 (1 mark): Once in orbit above the Earth’s atmosphere, the engines on a space rocket are switched off. Which row of the table correctly states the resulting motion of the
- June 2019, AS Unit 1, Q10 (1 mark): A lift moves upwards from rest with an acceleration a. A student of mass 70 kg standing in the lift exerts a force of 800 N on the floor of the lift. Which of t
- June 2019, AS Unit 1, Q18(a)(i) (4 marks): Explain what is meant by the terminal velocity of the raindrop. Your answer should include a free-body force diagram for the raindrop when terminal velocity has
- June 2019, AS Unit 1, Q18(a)(ii) (4 marks): The air resistance F acting on a raindrop travelling at a velocity v, can be determined using the expression F 0.45ȡ$Y where $ is the cross-sectional area of t
- January 2019, AS Unit 1, Q16(a)(ii) (3 marks): The parachute was at an angle to the vertical as shown. 6° Not to scale The total resistive force acting on the parachute and probe was at an average angle of 6
- January 2019, AS Unit 1, Q18(b)(i) (3 marks): Explain why the mass of the athlete has little effect on the initial acceleration. (3)
- January 2019, AS Unit 1, Q18(b)(ii) (3 marks): Explain, in terms of forces, why the athlete reaches a maximum velocity. (3)
- January 2019, AS Unit 1, Q18(b)(iii) (2 marks): It is stated that the maximum speed is greater for athletes of greater mass. Suggest why this is only correct up to a certain mass. (2)
Questions, mark schemes and examiner’s reports are © Pearson Edexcel, from their published past papers. Plumi isn’t affiliated with any exam board. Want whole papers? Edexcel International A Level Physics past papers.
The Plumi iPad app also offers exam-style questions with AI feedback on your handwritten working.