St.

Bridget’s Convent – Colombo 07

London A/L – AS / 2021 May – Unit 1 (Mechanics and Materials)
Exam style model paper - 01

SECTION A

Answer ALL questions. For questions 1–10, in Section A, select one answer from A to D and put a cross in the box.
If you change your mind, put a line through the box and then mark your new answer with a cross.

1. A moving object has uniform, non-zero acceleration. Which velocity-time graph correctly shows this?

2. The correct definition of the term center of gravity is the point at which?

all of the forces act on the body

gravity acts on body

the weight of the body may be considered to act

the weight is concerned

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3. The following arrangements all contain identical springs, shown unextended

A mass m is added to the bottom of each arrangement. Which arrangement will produce
the greatest total extension?

4. A force is applied to a length of wire. Which of the following statements is not correct for small
deformations of the wire?

As the force applied increases, the extension increases.

The force applied is directly proportional to the extension.

The force applied is directly proportional to the original length.

The stress is directly proportional to the strain

Question 5 and 6 refer to the experiment described below

A student carries out an experiment to calculate a value for g, the acceleration of free fall. A marble
is dropped fro a height of 2.0 m and the time taken for the marble to fall to the floor is recorded.

The following reading were obtained :

0.55 s 0.57s 0.49s 0.56s

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5. Which of the following times should the student use to determine their value for g ?

0.54s

0.55s

0.56s

0.57s

6. Select the equation that would, by itself, enable the student to calculate a value for g.

7. A solid cylinder of diameter 0.025 m is placed on a table. A force is applied to the cylinder, as shown,

The stress in the cylinder, in pascals, can be calculated using,

8. On a guitar two strings are tightened to the same tension. The diameter of one string is double the diameter
of the other. The stress in the thicker string is σ. What is the stress in the thinner string

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9. The flow of water in a pipe is turbulent. Which statement correctly describes turbulent flow?

Speed and direction at a point remain constant.

The layers are parallel.
The layers do not mix.
There are sudden changes in speed and direction.

10. A ball rolled along a horizontal surface. Frictional forces slow the ball to rest. The velocity –time graph for the
ball is shown,

Select the row of the table that correctly gives the corresponding displacement-time and acceleration-time
graph for ball,

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 Section B
Answer all the questions in the space provided

11. The graph shows the effective temperature on viscosity for butter,

A student wanted to spread butter on some bread.

Explain why it is easier to use butter at room temperature than straight from the fridge. (2)

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12. A small gas filled balloon was dropped from height. The displacement-time graph for the balloon is shown.
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As a displacement of the balloon from its point of release increased, gravitational potential energy was transferred
to kinetic energy and thermal energy.

(a) State why the rate of energy transfer was high at 1.20 s. (1)

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(b) By calculating the change in gravitational potential energy of the balloon between 1.05 s and 1.20 s, show
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that the average rate at which the gravitational potential energy was transferred during this time interval is
about 0.2 W.
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Mass of balloon and Air = 0.004 kg (3)
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Total for question 12 = 4 marks
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13.………………………………………………………………………………
A passenger in an airport pulls a suitcase at a constant speed with a force of 80 N at an angle of 65° to the
horizontal.

(a) (i) Show that the horizontal component of the applied force is about 30 N. (2)

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 (ii) Hence calculate the work done on the suitcase in pulling it a distance of 320 m. (2)

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Work done = ………………………………………………

(iii) Show that the vertical component of the applied force is about 70 N. (2)

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(iv) State why no work is done in a vertical direction even though there is a component of the applied
force in the vertical direction (1)

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*(b) Explain how the magnitude and angle of the applied force must change in order to make the suitcase
accelerate horizontally. (4)

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Total for question 13 = 11 marks

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 14. The ‘lead’ in a pencil consists of a graphite and clay mixture. The greater the quantity of clay in the mixture,
the greater the hardness of the pencil.

(a) State what is meant by the term hardness. (1)

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(b) Some paint manufacturers use pencils to test the hardness of paints using the equipment shown. A pencil of
known hardness is placed into a pencil tester and the tester is pushed across a surface coated in the paint
under test.

This is repeated using pencils of increasing hardness until the paint becomes scratched.

(i) State what can be deduced about the hardness of the pencil when the paint becomes scratched. (1)

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(i) Suggest two reasons why this method may not produce reliable results. (2)

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 15. A student was investigating the viscosity of an oil.

(a) She carried out a simple experiment to measure the rate of flow of the oil.

She poured the oil into a funnel and allowed it to drain into a beaker. The time t for the volume in the beaker
to reach 150 cm3 was measured using a digital stopwatch.

State how the student can determine the rate of flow of the oil in m3s-1. (2)

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(b) The method in (a) gave only a single value for the rate of flow. The student wanted to improve her experiment by
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using a graphical method to determine the rate of flow. She used the same set-up, but placed the beaker on a
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balance and recorded the mass of the beaker and the oil every 2 seconds.
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(i) State how the measurements could be used to plot a graph and obtain a value for the rate of flow of the oil in
m3s-1. Assume that the rate of flow of oil is constant. (3)

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 (ii) State one advantage and one disadvantage of using the graphical method to determine the rate of flow
of the oil compared to the method in (a). (2)
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(c) The student repeated the experiment in (b) using samples of the oil with different temperatures. Explain
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how the rate of flow of the oil will vary with temperature. (2)

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Total for question 15 = 9 marks

16. Physical quantities can be vectors or scalars.

(a) Describe what is wrong with each of the following statements. (3)

A car has a mass of 10 000 N acting vertically downwards.

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The velocity of light from the Sun is 3 x 108 ms-1.
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The car slowed down with an acceleration of 2.5 ms-2
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(b) A car has traveled 45 km due North and then 30 km due east.

(i) Calculate the total distance travelled by the car. (1)

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(ii) Calculate the displacement of the car. (3)

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Magnitude of the displacement: ………………………………………………..

Direction: ………………………………………………..

Total for question 16 = 7 marks

17.

(3)

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 (5)
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Total for question 17 = 8 marks

18. A wind turbine is used to generate electricity. When the wind speed is 10 m s−1, the power input into the
wind turbine is 3.2 kW.
Calculate the mass of air per second turning the turbine. (3)

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Mass of air per second turning the turbine=……………………………………………………………….

Total for question 18 = 3 marks

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19. An escape lane is an emergency area placed next to a steep, downhill section of a road. It allows vehicles
with brake failure to slow down and stop away from the other traffic.
One type of escape lane uses a gravity ramp. These are built with an upwards gradient to slow the vehicle.

(a) Explain how using the ramp enables a vehicle to stop. (2)

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(b) An escape lane consists of a ramp at an angle of 10° to the horizontal and is 180 m in length. A lorry
of mass 2.8 × 103 kg enters the escape lane due to brake failure.

(i) Show that the component of the weight of the lorry parallel to the ramp is about 5 × 103 N.

(3)

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(ii) The lorry uses the full length of the ramp while stopping and the frictional force of the road surface can
be assumed to be negligible.
Calculate the maximum work done on the lorry bringing it to rest. (2)

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Maximum work done on the lorry : ………………………………………………

(iii) Calculate the maximum speed of the lorry so that it could be stopped by the ramp. (2)

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Maximum speed of the lorry : ………………………………………………

(c) Another type of escape lane uses a mechanical-arrestor system. This uses a series of steel nets set up
along an escape lane to stop a vehicle. The nets are connected to the barriers at the sides of the
escape lane using long steel strips that extend beyond their elastic limit as the vehicle slows down.

(i) State one advantage of building a mechanical-arrestor escape ramp compared to a gravity ramp. (1)

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(ii) Suggest why it is necessary for the steel strips to extend beyond their elastic limit.

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Total for question 19 = 12 marks

20.

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Total for question 20 = 10 marks
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