Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Physics · 4PH1 · Free · no account needed
Star Colour and Temperature — exam questions
11 original Incandio exam-style questions on Star Colour and Temperature, 26 marks, about 26 minutes of writing. Each one carries the command word, the tariff and the specification statement it assesses, exactly as a paper presents them. This is an original Incandio practice question, written to reflect the structure and demands of the qualification. It is not an official Pearson Edexcel past-paper question.
This is the practice set for Star Colour and Temperature — the lesson that teaches it. Read the lesson first if the idea is new; come here when you want to find out whether you can turn it into marks. Completely free, no account needed to read.
What these questions ask of you
8 command words run through this set, and on Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Physics each one means something precise. Answering the wrong command is the commonest way a candidate who understands the lesson still loses the mark.
- Which (1 mark)
- one option chosen from the set given
- State (1 mark)
- one precise fact or definition
- Give (1–2 marks)
- a short factual answer
- Explain (2–4 marks)
- the physics that causes it, set out as a line of reasoning Misread as: describing the change without giving the physical reason for it
- Compare (2–4 marks)
- explicit comparison naming both cases
- Suggest (1–3 marks)
- a plausible answer applying taught physics to an unfamiliar arrangement
- Identify (1–2 marks)
- the correct item selected from what is shown
- Describe (2–4 marks)
- developed, linked statements of what happens — including a named direction where one exists
Assessed on Paper 1 (4PH1/1P) and Paper 2 (4PH1/2P), against AO1, AO2, AO3.
Where these sit in the specification
Pearson Edexcel International GCSE Physics (4PH1) — statements 8.8 · 8.7. Incandio is aligned to this specification; it is not published by, endorsed by or affiliated with Pearson, and it reproduces none of Pearson's wording.
The 11 questions
Answer them on paper, then open the lesson's exam practice to have them marked. The mark scheme, the accepted and rejected answers and the annotated model answer are in Incandio and are not printed here — an answer beside its question is not practice.
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An observatory catalogued five stars visible from the northern hemisphere, recording the colour each appears to the eye and the surface temperature measured from its spectrum.
Table 1 — five catalogued stars Star Colour Surface temperature / K Rigel blue-white 11 000 Sirius white 9 900 The Sun yellow 5 800 Arcturus orange 4 300 Betelgeuse red 3 600 (a)
(1)Identify
Identify the coolest star in Table 1.
An observatory catalogued five stars visible from the northern hemisphere, recording the colour each appears to the eye and the surface temperature measured from its spectrum.
Table 1 — five catalogued stars Star Colour Surface temperature / K Rigel blue-white 11 000 Sirius white 9 900 The Sun yellow 5 800 Arcturus orange 4 300 Betelgeuse red 3 600 (b)
(2)Describe
Describe the pattern that links the appearance of a star to how hot its surface is, using Table 1.
An observatory catalogued five stars visible from the northern hemisphere, recording the colour each appears to the eye and the surface temperature measured from its spectrum.
Table 1 — five catalogued stars Star Colour Surface temperature / K Rigel blue-white 11 000 Sirius white 9 900 The Sun yellow 5 800 Arcturus orange 4 300 Betelgeuse red 3 600 (c)
(3)Suggest
Suggest the approximate surface temperature of a star that appears yellow-orange, and justify your suggestion from Table 1.
An observatory catalogued five stars visible from the northern hemisphere, recording the colour each appears to the eye and the surface temperature measured from its spectrum.
Table 1 — five catalogued stars Star Colour Surface temperature / K Rigel blue-white 11 000 Sirius white 9 900 The Sun yellow 5 800 Arcturus orange 4 300 Betelgeuse red 3 600 (Total for Question 1 = 6 marks)
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(1)Which
Which colour of star has the highest surface temperature?
Colour A red B yellow C white D blue (Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)
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(1)State
State the property of a star that can be judged from its colour.
(Total for Question 3 = 1 mark)
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(2)Give
Give the colours of the coolest and the hottest stars.
(Total for Question 4 = 2 marks)
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(3)Explain
Explain why a blue star is hotter than a red one.
(Total for Question 5 = 3 marks)
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(3)Compare
Compare a red star with a white star of the same size.
(Total for Question 6 = 3 marks)
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(3)Explain
Explain why the colour of a star is useful to astronomers who can never visit it.
(Total for Question 7 = 3 marks)
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(3)Suggest
Suggest why the star's colour changes in this way as it ages.
A star swelling with age — A yellow star like the Sun eventually swells to many times its original diameter, becoming a red giant. Its total energy output rises during this change, but the surface temperature falls from about 5800 K to about 3500 K.
(Total for Question 8 = 3 marks)
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(4)Explain
Explain how astronomers can tell the surface temperature of a star from its colour, and why a red star can still be far brighter than a blue one.
(Total for Question 9 = 4 marks)
Have them marked, then defend the answer
Practice tells you the mark; teaching it back tells you whether you understand it. On Incandio a topic counts as mastered only once you have taught it and defended it.
- Mark these questions — 11 questions, marked on Incandio against the authored scheme, with the mistake you actually made named.
- Teach it — explain Star Colour and Temperature to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — argue it against Cecilia Payne over three rounds, marked against descriptors you can read first.
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Back to the lesson
- Star Colour and Temperature — Why blue stars are the hot ones, and how a colour tells you a temperature across the whole galaxy.
- All of Incandio Physics · Incandio Exam Practice