Resistivity and charge carriers: Edexcel International A Level Physics questions

Every Edexcel International A Level Physics exam question on Resistivity and charge carriers (specification points 71–73), 2019–2025, with its mark scheme and examiner’s report.

All 64 questions on Resistivity and charge carriers, as a list

June 2025, AS Unit 2, Q10 (1 mark): Two wires, X and Y, are made of the same material. The wires are connected in series. The current in the wires is I, as shown. X Y I I Wire X has twice the diam
June 2025, AS Unit 2, Q11 (3 marks): A wire has a resistance of 65 mΩ. The length of the wire is 0.25 m. The wire has a circular cross-sectional area. Calculate the diameter of the wire. –8 Ω m res
January 2025, AS Unit 2, Q1 (1 mark): The formula for the current I in a conductor is I = nqvA. Which of the following gives the meaning of n? A number of conduction electrons in a wire of length 1
January 2025, AS Unit 2, Q8 (1 mark): A student used an ohmmeter to investigate the resistance of a uniform copper wire of length L, as shown. L d copper wire Ω Length d of the wire has resistance R
January 2025, AS Unit 2, Q13(b) (3 marks): When the wire is at the correct temperature for cutting, the resistance of the wire is 0.67 Ω. The wire has a circular cross-section. Calculate the resistivity
October 2024, AS Unit 2, Q12 (3 marks): Copper wires are used to connect a length of nichrome wire to a cell, as shown. copper copper nichrome The copper wires and the nichrome wire have the same diam
October 2024, AS Unit 2, Q15(a) (4 marks): Each metal strip has a rectangular cross-section of width 1.40 mm and thickness 0.23 mm. The resistance between the terminals is 0.16 Ω. The connectors and term
October 2024, AS Unit 2, Q15(b) (3 marks): The strain gauge is stretched and the length l of the metal strips increases. The metal strips change shape uniformly along their length. Explain why a graph of
June 2024, AS Unit 2, Q14(a)(i) (1 mark): State what is meant by resistivity of a material. (1)
June 2024, AS Unit 2, Q14(a)(ii) (4 marks): Describe how the student could determine a value for the resistivity of the conducting material. You do not need to draw a circuit diagram. (4)
June 2024, AS Unit 2, Q14(b) (2 marks): Copper has a low resistivity compared with the resistivity of the conducting material. Explain how the low resistivity of copper affects the drift velocity of e
June 2024, AS Unit 2, Q14(d) (5 marks): A student designs a heating system using five heating panels, as shown. conducting material 24 V 1.60 m 51 cm To be safe, the maximum power of the student’s hea
June 2024, AS Unit 3, Q4(b) (2 marks): The student formed the wire into a loop. She used the circuit below to determine the resistance between two points, X and Y, on the loop. fixed resistor A V loo
June 2024, AS Unit 3, Q4(c)(i) (2 marks): Explain how a graph of R L against L can be used to determine the value of ρ. (2)
June 2024, AS Unit 3, Q4(c)(ii) (2 marks): The student recorded the following data. R L / m I / A V / V L 0.100 0.720 1.40 0.200 0.390 1.39 0.300 0.290 1.42 0.400 0.250 1.48 0.500 0.220 1.47 0.600 0.210
June 2024, AS Unit 3, Q4(c)(iii) (5 marks): Plot a graph of R L on the y-axis against L on the x-axis on the grid opposite. (5)
June 2024, AS Unit 3, Q4(c)(iv) (3 marks): Determine the value of k from the graph. (3) k =
June 2024, AS Unit 3, Q4(c)(v) (3 marks): Determine the value of ρ from the graph. d = 0.27 mm (3) ρ =
January 2024, AS Unit 2, Q16(a) (3 marks): The steel cable has a diameter of 12 mm. The total resistance of the cable is 0.078 Ω. Calculate the total length of the cable. resistivity of steel = 1.4 × 10
January 2024, AS Unit 2, Q16(c) (3 marks): The steel cable is replaced with a copper cable. The copper cable has the same length and diameter as the steel cable. During a thunderstorm, the p.d. between t
October 2023, AS Unit 2, Q4 (1 mark): In a current-carrying copper wire, the drift velocity of the electrons is very small. Which of the following best explains this? A The charge on an electron is
October 2023, AS Unit 2, Q13(a) (3 marks): Calculate the thickness of the layer of carbon. –5 Ω m resistivity of carbon = 3.7 × 10 (3) Thickness of layer of carbon =
October 2023, AS Unit 3, Q2(a) (4 marks): Describe how the student could determine accurate values of x and R. (4)
October 2023, AS Unit 3, Q2(b) (1 mark): The student measured values of x and corresponding values of R and plotted a graph of his measurements. 2.00 1.50 R / mΩ 1.00 0.50 0.00 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20
October 2023, AS Unit 3, Q2(c) (4 marks): The total length l of copper in the circuit is given by l = 2x + 0.050 m The copper rods have a diameter of 3.0 mm. Determine the resistivity of the copper. (4)
October 2023, AS Unit 3, Q2(d) (2 marks): The safety system of the railway estimates the position of a train on the track using a resistance measurement. The rails become worn with continual use, so the
June 2023, AS Unit 2, Q16(c) (3 marks): The headlights are connected in the circuit using copper wire. The current in the wire is 4.60 A. Calculate the drift velocity of electrons in the copper wire.
January 2023, AS Unit 2, Q13(a) (4 marks): Explain why the drift velocity of the charge carriers is the same value in wires W and Z. (4)
January 2023, AS Unit 2, Q13(b) (4 marks): Wires W and Z are now connected in series as shown. W Z Complete the table by placing a cross in the correct box for each quantity. (4) Same value for Quantity
January 2023, AS Unit 3, Q1(b)(i) (4 marks): Describe how the student could determine an accurate value for the thickness of the graphite pencil shading. The method should use a suitable graph. (4)
October 2022, AS Unit 2, Q13(b)(i) (2 marks): Show that the cross-sectional area of this wire was about 2 × 10–8 m2 . (2)
October 2022, AS Unit 2, Q13(b)(ii) (2 marks): Calculate the length of copper wire used by the student. resistivity of copper = 1.68 × 10–8 Ω m (2) Length of copper wire =
October 2022, AS Unit 2, Q13(b)(iii) (2 marks): Calculate the drift velocity of the electrons in this copper wire. number of charge carriers per unit volume = 8.49 × 1028 m–3 current in copper wire = 0.14 A (
October 2022, AS Unit 3, Q2(a) (3 marks): When salt dissolves in water, the salt breaks down into ions. The salt ions are charge carriers. The student predicted that the resistivity of the salt solution
October 2022, AS Unit 3, Q2(b)(i) (3 marks): The student wrote the following conclusion. The resistivity of the salt solution is inversely proportional to the mass of salt dissolved in the sample. Explain
October 2022, Unit 6, Q4(b)(i) (3 marks): Show that the resistivity ρ of the metal is about 5 × 10–7 Ω m. (3)
October 2022, Unit 6, Q4(c) (3 marks): The student measured the resistances R1 and R2 of different lengths of wire Y using an ohmmeter. Each resistance was measured once. The student’s values are giv
October 2022, Unit 6, Q4(d) (3 marks): The student wanted to confirm that the metal of the wire is constantan. The student compared his calculated values of ρ and RL to published values for constanta
June 2022, AS Unit 2, Q13(b)(i) (3 marks): Calculate the drift velocity v of the electrons in the tungsten wire. number of charge carriers per m3 in tungsten = 1.26 × 1029 (3) v =
June 2022, AS Unit 2, Q13(b)(ii) (3 marks): When the potential difference across the tungsten filament is 140 V the current in the filament is 0.44 A. The table shows typical resistivity values for tungst
January 2022, AS Unit 2, Q11(a) (2 marks): Calculate the resistivity of nichrome. (2) Resistivity =
January 2022, AS Unit 2, Q11(b) (3 marks): A potential difference of 3.0 V is applied across the nichrome wire. Calculate the drift velocity of the conduction electrons in the nichrome wire. number of co
January 2022, AS Unit 2, Q11(c) (3 marks): A student suggests that the drift velocity will double if the length of wire used in the circuit is halved. Comment on this suggestion. (3)
January 2022, AS Unit 3, Q4(a)(i) (6 marks): Plot a graph of R on the y-axis against 1 / w on the x-axis. Use the additional column of the table for your processed data. (6)
January 2022, AS Unit 3, Q4(a)(ii) (3 marks): Determine t using data from the graph. ρ = 4.0 × 103 Ω m L = 10.0 cm (3)
January 2022, AS Unit 3, Q4(b)(i) (2 marks): Explain why this method gives a value for t with low uncertainty. (2)
October 2021, AS Unit 2, Q3 (1 mark): The equation I = nqvA relates the current in a sample of a material to the movement of free charge carriers in the sample. Which of the following is a correct d
October 2021, AS Unit 2, Q13(a) (4 marks): Calculate the length of the wire in the filament. (4) Length of wire =
June 2021, AS Unit 2, Q11(b) (4 marks): The current I in a conductor is given by the formula I = nqvA Complete the following table, which shows ratios of quantities for wires W and Z. The first row ha
June 2021, AS Unit 2, Q18(a) (3 marks): Show that the resistance of one resistor at room temperature is about 24 Ω. (3)
January 2021, AS Unit 2, Q11 (2 marks): A copper wire of radius 0.40 mm carries a current of 5.1 A. Calculate the drift velocity of the electrons in the wire. number of charge carriers per m3 for copp
January 2021, AS Unit 2, Q19(a) (2 marks): Complete the circuit diagram for this experiment. (2) nichrome wire
January 2021, AS Unit 2, Q19(b)(i) (4 marks): Determine the resistivity of nichrome. cross sectional area of nichrome wire = 5.31´10−8 m2 (4) Resistivity of nichrome =
January 2021, Unit 4, Q16(b)(i) (2 marks): Show that the resistance of the plasma is about 1.9 × 10−7 Ω. resistivity = 3.30 × 10−8 Ω m (2)
October 2020, AS Unit 2, Q7 (1 mark): A small metal cube, with sides of length x, is connected in a circuit. The current through the cube, between opposite faces, is I and the potential difference a
October 2020, AS Unit 2, Q9 (1 mark): Two copper wires are placed in series in a complete circuit. The electrons in the two wires have different values of drift velocity. Which of the following must
January 2020, AS Unit 2, Q5 (1 mark): A copper wire has a cross‑sectional area of 5.0 × 10–7 m2. There is a current in the wire of 0.93 A. Copper has 8.4 × 1028 conduction electrons per metre cubed.
January 2020, AS Unit 2, Q18(b)(iii) (3 marks): Show that the resistivity of the air in the lightning channel is about 0.2 Ω m. (3)
January 2020, AS Unit 2, Q18(b)(iv) (1 mark): The accepted value for the resistivity of air is 1016 Ω m. Suggest why the value calculated from the data is so much less than the accepted value. (1)
June 2019, AS Unit 2, Q8 (1 mark): Two copper wires of identical cross-sectional area are placed in series in a circuit. Which of the following could be different for the two wires? A charge carr
June 2019, AS Unit 2, Q11 (3 marks): A student carried out an experiment to determine the resistivity of a metal in the form of a wire. She made the following measurements: length of wire = 0.20 m
June 2019, AS Unit 2, Q12(a) (1 mark): State what is meant by drift velocity. (1)
June 2019, AS Unit 2, Q12(b) (2 marks): A copper wire has a cross-sectional area of 2.64 × 10í m2 and carries a current of 1.31 A. Calculate the drift velocity of the electrons in this copper wire. n
June 2019, AS Unit 2, Q15(c)(ii) (4 marks): As the light intensity incident upon the LDR decreases, the power dissipated in the fixed resistor decreases. Explain why the power in the fixed resistor decrea

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