plumiNewton’s third law: Edexcel International A Level Physics questions
Edexcel International A Level Physics past-paper questions on 1.3.3.4 Newton’s third law, 2019–2025, with mark schemes and examiner’s reports where available.
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Open the full PDFYour answerQ14(a)
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All 25 questions on Newton’s third law, as a list
- June 2025, AS Unit 1, Q4 (1 mark): The forces acting on a person sitting on a chair are weight and normal contact force. Which of the following gives a reason why these forces do not form a Newto
- January 2025, AS Unit 1, Q14(a) (1 mark): State how Newton’s third law applies to the gliders during the collision. (1)
- October 2024, AS Unit 1, Q4 (1 mark): The photograph shows a cable car hanging from a cable. The cable car is in equilibrium. cable cable car (Source: © zefart/Getty Images) Which of the following f
- 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
- 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, 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, Q12(b)(ii) (2 marks): Explain why the force of attraction between the two magnets did not affect this demonstration. (2)
- October 2023, AS Unit 1, Q16(a) (2 marks): State two reasons why the weight of the object and the force from the electromagnet are not a Newton third law pair. (2)
- June 2023, AS Unit 1, Q5 (1 mark): Two forces form a Newton’s third law pair. Which of the following statements is not true? A The forces act on the same object. B The forces have the same magnit
- 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
- January 2023, AS Unit 1, Q10 (1 mark): Two forces make a Newton’s third law pair. Which of the following statements is true for these forces? A They act in different directions on the same body. B Th
- 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)
- October 2022, AS Unit 1, Q18(b) (5 marks): A student suggests that the weight and the normal reaction force form a Newton’s third law pair of forces. Explain why the student’s suggestion is not correct.
- June 2022, AS Unit 1, Q11(a) (2 marks): The free‑body force diagram for the disc is shown below. F mg The two forces shown are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction. Give two reasons why these
- 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)
- January 2022, AS Unit 1, Q7 (1 mark): A person is pushing a trolley at a constant velocity. The floor exerts a force P on the person, the person exerts a force Q on the trolley. The trolley exerts a
- 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, AS Unit 1, Q2 (1 mark): A massive star exerts a gravitational force Fstar on a small distant planet. The planet exerts a gravitational force Fplanet on the star. Which row of the table
- 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
- January 2021, AS Unit 1, Q9 (1 mark): Which of the following statements is not correct for a Newton’s 3rd Law pair of forces? A The forces act in opposite directions. B The forces act on the same bo
- January 2021, AS Unit 1, Q14(b) (2 marks): Projecting water from the pipe causes a force to be exerted on the pump. Explain the direction of the force on the pump. (2)
- October 2020, AS Unit 1, Q12(a) (3 marks): Assess whether forces R and W are a Newton’s third law pair of forces. (3)
- January 2020, AS Unit 1, Q7 (1 mark): Trolleys X and Y of masses m and 3m respectively are travelling at the same speed towards each other. The trolleys collide and move off together. v v X Y Which
- January 2020, AS Unit 1, Q19(b)(i) (3 marks): Explain the increase in the reading on the balance. Your answer should include a reference to Newton’s third law. (3)
- January 2019, AS Unit 1, Q5 (1 mark): According to Newton’s third law, when two objects interact they exert forces on each other. Which of the following statements is not a correct description of th
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