Cambridge Assessment International Education

Cambridge International Advanced Subsidiary and Advanced Level

PHYSICS 9702/31
Paper 3 Advanced Practical Skills 1 October/November 2019
CONFIDENTIAL INSTRUCTIONS
* 7 9 3 3 7 7 9 2 5 0 *

This document gives details of how to prepare for and administer the practical exam.

The information in this document and the identity of any materials supplied by Cambridge International
are confidential and must NOT reach candidates either directly or indirectly.

The supervisor must complete the report at the end of this document and return it with the scripts.

If you have any queries regarding these confidential instructions, contact Cambridge International stating the
centre number, the syllabus and component number and the nature of the query.

email info@cambridgeinternational.org
phone +44 1223 553554
fax +44 1223 553558

This document consists of 7 printed pages and 1 blank page.

DC (ST/CB) 171577/2
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General information about practical exams

Centres must follow the guidance on science practical exams given in the Cambridge Handbook.

Safety

Supervisors must follow national and local regulations relating to safety and first aid.
Only those procedures described in the question paper should be attempted.
Supervisors must inform candidates that materials and apparatus used in the exam should be treated
with caution. Suitable eye protection should be used where necessary.

Before the exam

● The packets containing the question papers must not be opened before the exam.
● It is assumed that standard school laboratory facilities, as indicated in the Guide to Planning
Practical Science, will be available.
● Spare materials and apparatus for the tasks set must be available for candidates, if required.

During the exam

● It must be made clear to candidates at the start of the exam that they may request spare
materials and apparatus for the tasks set.
● Where specified, the supervisor must perform the experiments and record the results as
instructed. This must be done out of sight of the candidates, using the same materials and
apparatus as the candidates.
● Any assistance provided to candidates must be recorded in the supervisor’s report.
● If any materials or apparatus need to be replaced, for example, in the event of breakage or
loss, this must be recorded in the supervisor’s report.

After the exam

● The supervisor must complete a report for each practical session held and each laboratory
used.
● Each packet of scripts returned to Cambridge International must contain the following items:
● the scripts of the candidates specified on the bar code label provided
● the supervisor’s results relevant to these candidates
● the supervisor’s reports relevant to these candidates
● seating plans for each practical session, referring to each candidate by candidate number
● the attendance register.

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Specific information for this practical exam

The supervisor must be a teacher of Physics or other competent physicist. During the exam, the
supervisor (NOT the invigilator) should obtain a sample set of numerical results by following the
relevant steps in the question paper. The results should be clearly labelled ‘Supervisor’s results’ and
recorded on the supervisor’s report or on a spare copy of the question paper.

Organisation of the exam

● The number of sets of apparatus provided for each experiment should be 12 N, where N is the
number of candidates taking the exam.
● Candidates should not be provided with any additional apparatus beyond that specified in
these instructions.
● Candidates should be allowed access to the apparatus for each experiment for one hour only.
● After spending one hour on one experiment, candidates should change over to the other
experiment.
● The order in which a candidate attempts the two experiments is immaterial.

Assistance to candidates

● Candidates should be informed that, if they find themselves in real difficulty, they may ask the
supervisor for practical assistance, but that the extent of this assistance will be reported to
the Examiner, who may not award full credit for the relevant skills.
● Assistance should only be given when it is asked for by a candidate or where apparatus is
seen to have developed a fault.
● Assistance should be restricted to enabling candidates to make observations and
measurements. Observations and measurements must not be made for candidates, and no
help should be given with data analysis or evaluation.
● In cases of faulty apparatus that prevent the required measurements being taken, the
supervisor should allow extra time to give the candidate a fair opportunity to perform the
experiment as if the fault had not been present.
● Any assistance or extra time given to candidates must be recorded in the supervisor’s report.

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Materials and apparatus for Question 1 (per set of apparatus unless otherwise specified)

● 1.5 V dry cell with terminals.

● Digital voltmeter with range 0–2 V (or 0–2000 mV) reading to the nearest 0.001 V (or 1 mV).
If a digital multimeter is used, the range should be fixed and any unused terminals should be
covered.

● Resistors of resistance 10 Ω, 12 Ω, 15 Ω, 18 Ω, 22 Ω, 27 Ω, 33 Ω and 39 Ω. See Note 1.

● Two component holders for resistors. One holder should be labelled P and the other holder
should be labelled Q.

● Metre rule with a millimetre scale. See Note 2.

● 105 cm length of 36 swg (or 0.19 mm diameter) constantan wire. See Note 2 and Note 3.

● Two crocodile clips. See Note 4.

● Ten connecting leads.

● Switch.

● Small container for the resistors.

Notes

1 The resistors should have a minimum power rating of 0.25 W and a maximum tolerance of 5%
(e.g. RS Components stock number 386-468).
Each resistor should be labelled with its resistance value.

2 The wire should be attached to the metre rule as shown in Fig. 1.1.
The wire should be firmly taped and as free from kinks as possible.

tape wire metre rule

Fig. 1.1

3 If this wire is not available, other resistance wire of approximate resistance 15 Ω m−1 such as
32 swg (or 0.27 mm diameter) nichrome wire may be used.

4 The jaws of the crocodile clips should be cleaned so that they make a good electrical contact with
the resistance wire.

5 The apparatus should be laid out on the bench. If the apparatus is to be used by another candidate,
then it should be dismantled and restored to its original state.

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Materials and apparatus for Question 2 (per set of apparatus unless otherwise specified)

● Two stands each of height at least 60 cm.

● Three bosses.

● Clamp.

● Two pendulums. See Note 1.

● Rubber band with approximate circumference in the range 10–15 cm.

● Metre rule with a millimetre scale.

● Stop-watch reading to 0.1 s or better.

● Split cork.

● Two wooden rods each with approximate diameter 12 mm and approximate length 15 cm.

Notes

1 One of the pendulum bobs should be attached to a piece of string of approximate length 60 cm.

The other bob should be attached to a string of approximate length 50 cm as shown in Fig. 2.1.
This string should have a loop at the end with approximate circumference 6 cm.

� 50 cm
loop

bob string � 3 cm

Fig. 2.1 (not to scale)

2 The apparatus should be laid out on the bench. If the apparatus is to be used by another candidate,
then it should be dismantled and restored to its original state.

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BLANK PAGE

Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every
reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the
publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity.

To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge
Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download
at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series.

Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of the Cambridge Assessment Group. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of
Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which itself is a department of the University of Cambridge.

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Supervisor’s report
Syllabus and component number /

Centre number

Centre name ............................................................................................................................................

Time of the practical session ...................................................................................................................

Laboratory name/number ........................................................................................................................

Give details of any difficulties experienced by the centre or by candidates (include the relevant
candidate names and candidate numbers).

You must include:

● any difficulties experienced by the centre in the preparation of materials

● any difficulties experienced by candidates, e.g. due to faulty materials or apparatus
● any specific assistance given to candidates.

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Declaration
1 Each packet that I am returning to Cambridge International contains the following items:
the scripts of the candidates specified on the bar code label provided
the supervisor’s results relevant to these candidates
the supervisor’s reports relevant to these candidates
seating plans for each practical session, referring to each candidate by candidate number
the attendance register
2 Where the practical exam has taken place in more than one practical session, I have clearly
labelled the supervisor’s results, supervisor’s reports and seating plans with the time and
laboratory name/number for each practical session.
3 I have included details of difficulties relating to each practical session experienced by the centre
or by candidates.
4 I have reported any other adverse circumstances affecting candidates, e.g. illness, bereavement
or temporary injury, directly to Cambridge International on a special consideration form.

Signed ...................................................................................................... (supervisor)

Name (in block capitals) ...........................................................................

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