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IGCSE PHYSICS
GRADE 9
Alternative to Practical

Name Date
Class Remark
Mark / 29

INSTRUCTIONS
● Answer all questions.
● Use a black or dark blue pen. You may use an HB pencil for any diagrams or graphs.
● Do not use an erasable pen or correction fluid.
● You may use a calculator.
● You should show all your working and use appropriate units.
INFORMATION
● The total mark for this paper is 29.
● The number of marks for each question or part question is shown in brackets [ ].
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1 A student investigates the cooling of water under different conditions.

Fig. 1.1 shows the set-up.

Fig. 1.1
(a) The thermometer in Fig. 1.2 shows the room temperature θR at the beginning of the
experiment. Record θR.

Fig. 1.2
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θR = ........................................................... [1]
(b) The student pours 200 cm3 of hot water into the beaker.

She records the temperature θ of the hot water at time t = 0. She immediately starts a
stop-watch.
She continues recording the temperature at 30 s intervals. The temperature readings are
shown in Table 1.1.

(i) Complete the column headings in Table 1.1. [1]

(ii) Complete the first column of Table 1.1.

Table 1.1
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30
60

90
120
150

180

[1]
(c) (i) Calculate the decrease in temperature Δθ between t = 0 and t = 180 s.
25
92-67=25 Δθ = ........................................................... [1]

∆𝜃
(ii) Calculate the average rate of cooling R of the water using the equation 𝑅 = , where Δt = 180 s.
∆𝑡
Include the unit.
25/180= .14 0.14
R = ........................................................... [2]

(d) A student states that the average rate of cooling of the water decreases as the temperature
comes nearer to room temperature.

(i) Suggest one change to the experiment that you could make to test the statement.
You can decrease or increase the room temperature which will show since if the room temp is higher the
………….................................................................................................................................................
cooling rate will decrease quicker than normal and vice versa
…………............................................................................................................................................ [1]

(ii) Suggest how to display the results to make it easier to see the trend in the rate of cooling.
In a line graph with separate color lines
………….................................................................................................................................................

………….................................................................................................................................................

…………............................................................................................................................................ [2]

(e) Explain briefly why it is good practice to read the thermometer scale at right angles.
You have to read it at eye sight level to make sure the angle you are looking at it will not affect the reading
.......................................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................................. [1]

(f) The student uses a measuring cylinder to measure 200 cm3 of hot water. She reads the scale
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at right angles.

Suggest another precaution to obtain an accurate reading of the volume of the water.
a measuring cylinder
.......................................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................................. [1]

[Total: 11]

2 A student investigates the cooling of hot water in surroundings with different temperatures.
He uses the apparatus shown in Fig. 2.1.

Fig. 2.1

(a) The student pours 100 cm3 of cold water into beaker B and places the thermometer in the
water.

Measure, and record in the appropriate column heading of Table 2.1, the temperature θ1 of
the water, as shown in Fig. 2.2.

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Fig. 2.2
[1]

(b) The student places beaker A inside beaker B as shown in Fig. 2.3 so that the water in beaker B
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rises between the sides of the two beakers.

Fig. 2.3

He removes the lid and pours 150 cm3 of hot water into beaker A. He replaces the lid and puts
the thermometer into the hot water in beaker A.
He records, in Table 2.1, the temperature θA of the water every 30 s.

Describe one precaution that can be taken to ensure that the temperature readings are as
accurate as possible.
you can have more trials during the experiment to make sure there are more opportunities to get average results
.......................................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................................. [1]

(c) The student repeats the process for water at a higher temperature θ2 in beaker B.
His readings are shown in Table 2.1.

Table 2.1

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Write a conclusion stating in what way the temperature of the water surrounding beaker A
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affects the rate of cooling of the hot water in beaker A.

Justify your answer by reference to values from the readings.

The water surrounding beaker A can affect the cooling rate of the water in beaker A, because the heat
.......................................................................................................................................................................
from beaker A gets transferred to the water in beaker B which decreases the rate of cooling, a lot or less
depending on the temperature of beaker B's water
.......................................................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................................. [2]
(d) Calculate the average cooling rate R for beaker A cooling in cold water. Use the readings for
beaker A from Table 2.1 and the equation

𝜃𝐴0 − 𝜃𝐴180
𝑅=
𝑇

where T = 180 s and θA0 and θA180 are the temperatures of the water in beaker A at t = 0 and
t = 180 s. Include the unit for the cooling rate.
16.5/180 =0.091 0.091
R = ........................................................... [2]

(e) Another student repeats this experiment at the same room temperature.

State two other variables that she controls in order to obtain readings as close as possible to
the readings in Table 2.1.
The volume of water for both beakers
1 ....................................................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................................................
A beaker that can hold the same amount of surface area
2 ....................................................................................................................................................................

......................................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(f) After 180 s, the student measures the temperature of the water surrounding beaker A in the first
experiment and finds that θ1 = 49 °C.

(i) State the reason why this can affect the results of the investigation and suggest what effect it has on
the value of cooling rate R.
The rate of cooling will be lower than the R calculated above
reason ...................................................................................................................................................

..………..................................................................................................................................................

Decrease
effect on R .............................................................................................................................................

..………...................................................................................................................................................

[2]

(ii) Suggest one change to the experiment to reduce the effect in (f)(i).
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The temperature of the room and water must be constant throughout the experiment and its trials
………....................................................................................................................................................

..………..................................................................................................................................................

..……….............................................................................................................................................. [1]

[Total: 11]

3 A student investigates the time taken for water to evaporate to dryness when heated from above.

Fig. 3.1 shows the set-up. The power of the heater is constant.

The following is also available:

• supply of water at room temperature

• metre ruler.

Fig. 3.1

Plan an experiment to investigate how one factor affects the time taken for the water to evaporate.

You do not need to write about safety precautions.

You should:

• state any additional apparatus required

• explain briefly how you would do the investigation
• state the key variables that you would keep constant
• draw a table, or tables, with column headings, to show how you would display your readings
(you are not required to enter any readings in the table)
• explain how you would use your readings to reach a conclusion.
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You could add a fan on the side of the shallow dish to achieve lower humidity through out the experiment. This
.......................................................................................................................................................................
one change in the factor of humidity can effect the rate of evaporation by decreasing it due to the lack of water
vapor in the air allowing more heat to reach the water in the dish thus increasing the rate of evaporation. If the
.......................................................................................................................................................................
fam would not be there then the rate of evaporation would be lower than if it was there due to the increase in
.......................................................................................................................................................................
humidity which decreases the amount of thermal energy the water on the dish will receive from the infrared
heater.
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