KS3 Physics revision questions 2 - Forces, Motion, Pressure, The Earth and beyond
Level 5 Questions
8. Satellites can sometimes be seen in the night sky. They look like stars slowly moving across the sky.
(a) We can see stars because they are light sources. They give out their own light. Satellites do not give out their own light. Explain why satellites can be seen in the clearnight sky.
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2 marks
(b) Sometimes a satellite suddenly stops being visible. However, you can usually see it again in another part of the sky later the same night. This can happen when there are no clouds in the sky and the satellite is overhead.
Why does the satellite suddenly stop being visible?
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1 mark
(c) Give one use of satellites in orbit around the Earth.
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1 mark
Maximum 4 marks
9. (a) In 2002 a large asteroid was discovered orbiting the Sun.
It was named Quaoar.
The diagram below shows Quaoar in four positions in its orbit.
not to scale
(i) In which of the four positions, A, B, C or D, is the effect of the Sun’s
gravity on Quaoar the greatest?
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Explain your answer.
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1 mark
(ii) On the diagram above, draw arrows to show the direction of the
Sun’s gravity on Quaoar in each of the positions A, B, C and D.
1 mark
(iii) At which position, A, B, C or D, is Quaoar travelling most slowly?
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Explain your answer.
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1 mark
(b) The table below gives information about three of the planets in our
solar system.
from Sun
(millions of km) / time for one
orbit
(Earth years) / Average surface
temperature of planet
(ºC)
Saturn / 1427 / 30 / –180
Uranus / 2870 / 84 / –210
Pluto / 5900 / 248 / –230
(i) The time for one orbit of the planet Neptune is 165 Earth years.
Estimate the average distance of Neptune from the Sun.
Use information in the table to help you.
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1 mark
(ii) How does the surface temperature of these planets vary with
distance from the Sun?
Use information in the table to help you.
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1 mark
(iii) Explain why the temperature varies with distance from the Sun in
this way.
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1 mark
maximum 6 marks
10. The drawing below shows a cardboard scale called an EasyWeigh.
It can be used to estimate the mass of letters.
(a) Clare put a letter in the 20 g slot. The scale tipped as shown below.
She then put the same letter in the 40 g slot. The scale did not tip.
(i) What do these results tell you about the mass of Clare’s letter?
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1 mark
(ii) What could Clare do to this cardboard scale to weigh her letter more accurately?
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1 mark
(b) (i) Clare drew a short line to show where she thought she should cut a slot to weigh a 150 g letter. She labelled the slot Y.
Why could Clare not use a slot at Y to weigh a 150 g letter?
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1 mark
(ii) Clare wanted to cut a slot to weigh a 70 g letter.
On the diagram above, draw a short line to show where the slot should be cut.
1 mark
maximum 4 marks
11. Each of the observations shown below has one explanation.
Draw a line from each observation to the correct explanation.
maximum 4 marks
12. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun.
not to scale
(a) Name one planet which is closer than Mars to the Sun.
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1 mark
(b) A day and night on Mars lasts nearly 25 Earth hours. Explain why there is daytime and night-time on Mars.
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1 mark
(c) Like Earth, Mars has summers and winters.
Suggest why there are seasons on Mars.
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1 mark
Maximum 3 marks
13. Joe saw two types of swing in the park.
He noticed that the time for one complete swing, forward and back, was different for the two types of swing.
He did not know whether the length of the chains or the mass of the person affected the time for one complete swing.
He made model swings and measured how long it took for 10 complete swings in 4 investigations.
Here are his results.
investigationA / B / C / D
length of string, in cm / 25 / 25 / 50 / 75
mass of plasticine, in g / 100 / 50 / 100 / 100
time for 10 complete swings, in s / 10.0 / 10.0 / 14.2 / 17.4
Here is Joe's conclusion:
(a) Which two of his investigations, A, B, C or D, provided evidence to support his conclusion?
………………….. and …………………….
1 mark
(b) Look at the results table.
(i) Describe how the length of the string affects the time for 10 complete swings.
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1 mark
(ii) Which three of his investigations are best evidence for this?
………………….. and …………………….and …………………….
1 mark
(c) Use his previous table of results to predict the times for 10 complete swings in two further investigations, E and F.
Write your answers in the table below.
E / F
length of string, in cm / 25 / 100
mass of plasticine, in g / 25 / 100
time for 10 complete swings, in s / ...... / ......
1 mark
Maximum 4 marks
14. The table below gives information about the planets of the Solar System.
They are listed in alphabetical order.
diameter
in km / time for
one orbit round the Sun / time for
one rotation
on its axis
in hours / temperature on surface of planet in °C
Earth / 150 / 13 000 / 365 days / 24 / +22
Jupiter / 780 / 140 000 / 12 years / 9.8 / –150
Mars / 230 / 6800 / 687 days / 25 / –23
Mercury / 58 / 4900 / 88 days / 1400 / +350
Neptune / 4500 / 51 000 / 165 years / 16 / –220
Pluto / 5900 / 2300 / 248 years / 150 / –220
Saturn / 1400 / 120 000 / 29 years / 10.2 / –180
Uranus / 2900 / 51 000 / 84 years / 17 / –210
Venus / 110 / 12 000 / 225 days / 5800 / +480
(Data obtained from The Guinness Book of Astronomy, Patrick Moore; published by Guinness 1992)
(a) Explain why Neptune and Pluto are the coldest planets.
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1 mark
(b) Explain why there could be no liquid water on the surface of:
(i) Mars ......
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1 mark
(ii) Venus ......
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1 mark
(c) On which planet would the time between sunrise and sunset be shortest?
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1 mark
(d) Which planet has the shortest year?’
1 mark
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(e) Give the name of the force which keeps the planets in their orbits.
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1 mark
Maximum 6 marks
15. The picture shows a man called Aristotle. He lived in Greece over 2000 years ago.
Aristotle said that the heavier an object is, the faster it will fall to the ground.
(a) The drawings below show a bowling ball, a cricket ball and a ping-pong ball.
Lila dropped them all at the same time from the same height.
bowling ball cricket ball ping-pong
mass=5 000 g mass=160 g mass=2.5 g
If Aristotle was correct, which of the three balls would you expect to reach the ground first?
Give the reason for your answer.
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1 mark
(b) Joe said that it would be a fairer test if Lila had only used a cricket ball and a hollow plastic ball as shown below.
cricket ball hollow plastic ball
mass = 160 g mass=56 g
Why was Joe correct?
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1 mark
(c) About 400 years ago in Italy, a man called Galileo had a different idea. He said that all objects dropped from the same height would reach the ground at the same time.
(i) Lila dropped a hammer and a feather at the same time from the same height.
If Galileo was correct, which, if either, would reach the ground first?
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1 mark
(ii) Gravity acts on both the hammer and the feather as they fall. Give the name of one other force which acts on them as they fall.
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1 mark
(iii) An astronaut on the moon dropped a hammer and a feather at the same time from the same height.
How would the results of the astronaut’s experiment on the Moon be different from Lila’s experiment on the Earth?
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Explain your answer.
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2 marks
Maximum 6 marks
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