Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Physics · 4PH1 · Free · no account needed
Charge and Current — exam questions
12 original Incandio exam-style questions on Charge and Current, 27 marks, about 27 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 Charge and Current — 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 what is meant by (1–2 marks)
- the definition
- Name (1 mark)
- the correct quantity, unit or component
- Calculate (1–5 marks)
- select the equation, substitute, evaluate — and state the unit Misread as: giving a bare number with no equation and no unit
- 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
- Suggest (1–3 marks)
- a plausible answer applying taught physics to an unfamiliar arrangement
- Give (1–2 marks)
- a short factual answer
- Determine (1–4 marks)
- a value obtained by combining a reading or gradient with a relationship
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 2.1 · 2.14 · 2.16 · 2.15. 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 12 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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A student connected a lamp to a battery and used an ammeter to measure the current. She recorded the current at intervals as the battery ran down over a long period.
Table 1 — the student's readings Time from start / minutes Current / A 0 0.50 30 0.48 60 0.45 90 0.40 120 0.30 (a)
(1)Give
Give the current at the start of the student's measurements, using Table 1.
A student connected a lamp to a battery and used an ammeter to measure the current. She recorded the current at intervals as the battery ran down over a long period.
Table 1 — the student's readings Time from start / minutes Current / A 0 0.50 30 0.48 60 0.45 90 0.40 120 0.30 current = ............................ A
(b)
(3)Calculate
Calculate the charge that passed during the first 30 minutes, assuming the current stayed at its starting value.
A student connected a lamp to a battery and used an ammeter to measure the current. She recorded the current at intervals as the battery ran down over a long period.
Table 1 — the student's readings Time from start / minutes Current / A 0 0.50 30 0.48 60 0.45 90 0.40 120 0.30 ............................ C
(c)
(2)Explain
Explain why the answer to part (b) is an overestimate, using Table 1.
A student connected a lamp to a battery and used an ammeter to measure the current. She recorded the current at intervals as the battery ran down over a long period.
Table 1 — the student's readings Time from start / minutes Current / A 0 0.50 30 0.48 60 0.45 90 0.40 120 0.30 (d)
(3)Suggest
Suggest how the student could obtain a much better estimate of the total charge that passed over the two hours.
A student connected a lamp to a battery and used an ammeter to measure the current. She recorded the current at intervals as the battery ran down over a long period.
Table 1 — the student's readings Time from start / minutes Current / A 0 0.50 30 0.48 60 0.45 90 0.40 120 0.30 (Total for Question 1 = 9 marks)
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(1)Which
Which is the correct unit for electric charge?
Unit A ampere B coulomb C volt D ohm (Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)
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(1)State what is meant by
State what is meant by an electric current.
(Total for Question 3 = 1 mark)
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(1)Name
Name the particles that carry the current in a copper wire.
(Total for Question 4 = 1 mark)
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(3)Calculate
A current of 3.0 A flows for 45 s. Calculate the charge that passes.
............................ C
(Total for Question 5 = 3 marks)
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(3)Calculate
A charge of 900 C passes through a heater in 5.0 minutes. Calculate the current.
current = ............................ A
(Total for Question 6 = 3 marks)
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(2)Explain
Explain why the electrons in a wire move in the opposite direction to the conventional current.
(Total for Question 7 = 2 marks)
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(3)Suggest
Suggest why a lamp lights up almost instantly when a switch is closed, even though individual electrons drift along a wire very slowly.
Drift speed — In a typical copper wire carrying a current, an individual electron drifts along the wire at less than a millimetre per second. The wire already contains free electrons along its whole length before the switch is closed.
(Total for Question 8 = 3 marks)
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(4)Determine
A torch bulb passes 72 C of charge in 3.0 minutes. Determine the current in the bulb.
current = ............................ A
(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 — 12 questions, marked on Incandio against the authored scheme, with the mistake you actually made named.
- Teach it — explain Charge and Current to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — argue it against J. J. Thomson over three rounds, marked against descriptors you can read first.
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Back to the lesson
- Charge and Current — What is actually moving in a wire, how fast it is really going, and why the arrows on every circuit diagram point the wrong way.
- All of Incandio Physics · Incandio Exam Practice