plumiWork, energy and power: OCR A‑Level Physics B questions
OCR A-Level Physics B past-paper questions on 4.2.3 Work, energy and power, 2016–2025, with mark schemes and examiner’s reports where available.
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All 51 questions on Work, energy and power, as a list
- June 2025, AS Paper 1, Q1 (1 mark): The power rating of a device is defined as the typical amount of: A Electricity used in 1 second B Energy transferred in 1 second C Energy wasted by the device
- June 2025, AS Paper 1, Q14 (1 mark): The total kinetic energy of a motorcycle and its rider travelling at 12 m s–1 is 8.28 kJ. What is the total mass of the motorcycle and rider? A 57.5 kg B 115 kg
- June 2025, AS Paper 1, Q21(b) (3 marks): The child runs along the beach at a steady speed for 50 m. The string remains at the same angle. Calculate the work done by the tension force in moving the kite
- June 2024, Paper 1, Q6 (1 mark): The area surrounding a waterfall is at a constant temperature. The water falls 100 m to the lake below. The specific thermal heat capacity of water is 4200 J kg
- June 2024, Paper 2, Q1(a)(iii) (3 marks): Calculate the power required to pull the parasailor and sail through the air at a horizontal velocity of 5.8 m s–1. Explain your reasoning. power = W Explanatio
- June 2024, AS Paper 1, Q6 (1 mark): What is the kinetic energy of a car of mass 500 kg travelling at 80 km/h? A 5.6 kJ B 40 kJ C 0.12 MJ D 1.6 MJ Your answer [1]
- June 2024, AS Paper 1, Q15 (1 mark): An electrical motor with output power 5.0 kW raises a load of mass 250 kg through a height of 5.0 m. What is the minimum time this could take? A 2.5 s B 5 s C 5
- June 2024, AS Paper 2, Q4(a) (4 marks): Show that the frictional force acting on the box as it slides down the slope is about 120 N. [4]
- June 2024, AS Paper 2, Q4(b) (3 marks): Calculate the average rate at which energy is transferred to the surroundings. average rate of transfer of energy = W [3]
- June 2023, Paper 1, Q16 (1 mark): A 2.0 kg mass is pulled up a slope of length 9.0 m at constant speed. The slope is at an angle of 20° to the horizontal. A constant frictional force of 20 N act
- June 2023, Paper 2, Q8(a) (2 marks): Use the concept of the kinetic energy of a volume of air moving with velocity v to show that the power of the wind striking area A is given by P = 1 2ρAv3 where
- June 2023, Paper 2, Q8(b) (6 marks): This question is about the output power from a wind farm (lines 29–41). (b)* Here are some data about a wind farm: efficiency = 43% turbine height = 90 m blade
- June 2023, Paper 2, Q9(a) (2 marks): Calculate the efficiency at which the potential energy of the water is transferred to energy output. efficiency = % [2]
- June 2023, Paper 2, Q9(b)(iii) (2 marks): Maximum power is extracted from a Pelton turbine when the velocity of the turbine vane is half that of the water jet. Calculate the maximum power that can be tr
- June 2022, Paper 1, Q6 (1 mark): A block of mass m is dragged from point A to B against a constant frictional force F. What is the total work done in moving the block from A to B? The gravitati
- June 2022, Paper 1, Q37(a)(ii) (2 marks): Calculate the average power delivered by the engine during the acceleration. mass of train without passengers = 7.15 × 105 kg power = W [2]
- June 2022, Paper 1, Q37(b)(i) (2 marks): Calculate the power required for the train to maintain a speed of 300 km / h against the drag force. power = W [2]
- June 2022, AS Paper 1, Q11 (1 mark): A horse is towing a barge along a straight canal. 30° 1200 N What is the work done by the pulling force when the horse walks 5.0 m parallel to the canal? A 120
- June 2022, AS Paper 1, Q27(c)(i) (3 marks): Use the measurements of maximum height to estimate the energy stored in the spring. energy stored = J [3]
- June 2022, AS Paper 1, Q27(c)(ii) (2 marks): State and explain whether your estimate is likely to be too high or too low. [2]
- November 2021, Paper 1, Q1 (1 mark): Which expression gives a quantity that can be expressed in watts? A F s where F is the force causing a body to move and s is its displacement I 2 R B where I is
- November 2021, Paper 1, Q18 (1 mark): A metal spike of mass 2.8 kg is dropped onto level ground from a height of 4.0 m, measured from the point of the spike. It penetrates into the ground a distance
- November 2021, AS Paper 2, Q7(a) (4 marks): Modern electric cars use rechargeable batteries. The older fork-lift trucks, used on the flat floors of warehouses, also use rechargeable batteries. In each cas
- November 2021, AS Paper 2, Q7(b)(iii) (2 marks): Assuming that travelling for the given range at a speed of 80 km h–1 discharges the battery completely, show that the mean power drawn from the battery is about
- November 2021, AS Paper 2, Q7(c) (6 marks): This question is about electric vehicles (EVs). heavy load electric car being charged fork-lift truck in use Fig. 7.1 (c)* Table 7.3 displays data for two diffe
- November 2020, Paper 1, Q9 (1 mark): The diagram shows a log dragged horizontally by a rope at 30° to the horizontal. T = 1000 N 30° log s = 20 m The tension T in the rope is 1000 N, and the log is
- November 2020, AS Paper 1, Q10 (1 mark): Calculate the work done by gravity when the car shown below, of mass 500 kg, rolls 50 m down a hill which slopes at an angle of 8 degrees. 50 m 8° A 3 kJ B 34 k
- November 2020, AS Paper 1, Q23(c) (2 marks): Explain why the temperature increase is less than expected. [2]
- November 2020, AS Paper 2, Q7(b) (5 marks): The ball becomes compressed and the racket strings stretch slightly during the impact, as shown in the sectional view of Fig. 7.2. frame of strings racket r x r
- June 2019, Paper 1, Q17 (1 mark): The spring in this diagram has a spring constant k of 40 N m−1. The mass M of 0.50 kg is attached to the end of the suspended spring and then dropped under grav
- June 2019, Paper 1, Q26 (1 mark): What is the best estimate of the energy of one of the α-particles? A 2.2 MeV B 3.5 MeV C 4.4 MeV D 5.6 MeV Your answer [1] 18 This diagram is for use in questio
- June 2019, Paper 2, Q1(a)(ii) (2 marks): Show that kinetic energy is not conserved in this collision. [2]
- June 2019, AS Paper 1, Q23(c) (3 marks): Calculate the kinetic energy of the ball just before it hits the surface for the first time. kinetic energy = J [3]
- June 2019, AS Paper 1, Q23(d) (3 marks): Calculate the percentage change in kinetic energy of the ball on the bounce occurring at t = 0.4 s. percentage change = % [3]
- June 2019, AS Paper 2, Q5(b) (1 mark): Calculate the kinetic energy gained by the trolley as it travels 68 cm along the ramp. kinetic energy gain = J [1]
- June 2018, Paper 1, Q11 (1 mark): An electron is travelling at a speed of 3.1 # 105 m s−1. What is its kinetic energy in electronvolts? 4.4 # 10−20 eV A 8.8 # 10−7 eV B C 0.27 eV D 500 eV Your a
- June 2018, Paper 2, Q10 (4 marks): Solar Impulse 2 recharges its batteries during the day as it climbs from 1500 m to 8500 m. The solar cells produce an output power of 62.1 kW. Use data from pag
- June 2018, Paper 2, Q11 (3 marks): The intensity of solar radiation at 1 AU from the Sun is 1.4 kW m–2. At a distance of 5.2 AU from the Sun, the solar cells on the Juno probe produce a power of
- June 2018, AS Paper 1, Q28(b)(ii) (3 marks): When a cable breaks, most of its stored elastic energy is transferred to kinetic energy. Estimate the speed that the cable would reach, assuming all its mass mo
- June 2017, Paper 1, Q12 (1 mark): A car travelling at 10 m s–1 is brought to rest in a braking distance of 10 m. Using the same average braking force, in what distance can the car be brought to
- June 2017, Paper 1, Q13 (1 mark): The drag force F of the air on a train is 2 F 10 v . where F is in newtons and the speed v is in m s–1. What power must be delivered by the engine to keep the t
- June 2017, AS Paper 1, Q26(a) (2 marks): Show that the work done in towing the flag when the aeroplane travels 1 m in the line of flight is about 1.4 kJ. ����������������������������������������������
- June 2017, AS Paper 1, Q26(b) (1 mark): Calculate the power required for towing the flag. power = W [1]
- June 2017, AS Paper 2, Q8(b)(iii) (2 marks): Show that kinetic energy is definitely not conserved in this collision and suggest why this is the case. [2]
- June 2016, AS Paper 1, Q2 (1 mark): A crane is used to lift a load directly from point X to point Y. p Y q W X Z r W The weight of the load is W. p, q and r are distances between points X, Y and Z
- June 2016, AS Paper 1, Q11 (1 mark): A ball is thrown at an angle of 30° to the horizontal. The initial kinetic energy of the ball is K. Air resistance has negligible effect on the motion of the ba
- June 2016, AS Paper 1, Q12 (1 mark): Ball P has mass m. Ball Q has mass 2m. Both balls have the same kinetic energy, which is greater than zero. What is the ratio momentum of P momentum of Q ? 1 A
- June 2016, AS Paper 1, Q14 (1 mark): An electron gun is used to accelerate electrons from rest through a voltage V. The electrons emerge with a speed u. electron u path voltage – + V V . At what sp
- June 2016, AS Paper 1, Q15 (1 mark): The solar constant is the average power per square metre that the Sun provides at the surface of the Earth. The solar constant at the solar array on the Interna
- June 2016, AS Paper 1, Q27(b)(iv) (2 marks): Calculate the kinetic energy of each electron. kinetic energy = J [2]
- June 2016, AS Paper 2, Q5(a)(ii) (2 marks): The arrow, of mass 26 g, leaves the bow at 45 m s–1. Calculate its kinetic energy, and explain any difference between this value and the answer to part (a)(i).
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