Pearson Edexcel International GCSE in Physics · 4PH1 · Free · no account needed
Particles and Changes of State — exam questions
10 original Incandio exam-style questions on Particles and Changes of State, 25 marks, about 25 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 Particles and Changes of State — 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
- Name (1 mark)
- the correct quantity, unit or component
- Describe (2–4 marks)
- developed, linked statements of what happens — including a named direction where one exists
- 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
- Give (1–2 marks)
- a short factual answer
- Identify (1–2 marks)
- the correct item selected from what is shown
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 5.10 · 5.9 · 5.8 · 5.11. 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 10 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 heated a beaker of crushed ice with an electric immersion heater of constant power, stirring gently and recording the temperature every minute until the water had been boiling for a while.
Table 1 — the student's temperature readings Time / min Temperature / °C 0 -8 2 0 4 0 6 0 8 22 12 68 16 100 20 100 (a)
(1)Give
Give the temperature recorded at 12 minutes, using Table 1.
A student heated a beaker of crushed ice with an electric immersion heater of constant power, stirring gently and recording the temperature every minute until the water had been boiling for a while.
Table 1 — the student's temperature readings Time / min Temperature / °C 0 -8 2 0 4 0 6 0 8 22 12 68 16 100 20 100 temperature recorded = ............................ °C
(b)
(2)Identify
Identify the two changes of state shown in Table 1 and the temperature at which each happens.
A student heated a beaker of crushed ice with an electric immersion heater of constant power, stirring gently and recording the temperature every minute until the water had been boiling for a while.
Table 1 — the student's temperature readings Time / min Temperature / °C 0 -8 2 0 4 0 6 0 8 22 12 68 16 100 20 100 (c)
(4)Explain
Explain the shape of the graph the student would draw from Table 1.
A student heated a beaker of crushed ice with an electric immersion heater of constant power, stirring gently and recording the temperature every minute until the water had been boiling for a while.
Table 1 — the student's temperature readings Time / min Temperature / °C 0 -8 2 0 4 0 6 0 8 22 12 68 16 100 20 100 (Total for Question 1 = 7 marks)
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(1)Which
Which row describes the particles in a gas?
Arrangement Motion A regular and close together vibrating about fixed positions B close together but disordered sliding past one another C far apart and disordered moving quickly in all directions D far apart and regular fixed in place (Total for Question 2 = 1 mark)
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(1)Name
Name the process by which a liquid becomes a gas at its surface, below its boiling point.
(Total for Question 3 = 1 mark)
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(3)Describe
Describe how the arrangement of the particles explains why a gas can be squashed into a smaller volume but a liquid can barely be squashed at all.
Figure 1 — particles in the three states (Total for Question 4 = 3 marks)
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(3)Explain
Explain why the temperature of a beaker of melting ice stays at 0 °C while it is still being heated.
(Total for Question 5 = 3 marks)
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(3)Compare
Compare evaporation with boiling.
(Total for Question 6 = 3 marks)
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(4)Describe
Describe how to obtain a temperature–time graph showing a substance melting.
(Total for Question 7 = 4 marks)
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(3)Suggest
Suggest why the flask can freeze the water inside it.
A flask that makes its own ice — A shallow dish of water at room temperature is placed in a sealed flask, and a pump removes the air until almost none is left. The water boils vigorously at room temperature and, after a while, the water remaining in the dish freezes solid. Nothing is cooled from outside.
(Total for Question 8 = 3 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 — 10 questions, marked on Incandio against the authored scheme, with the mistake you actually made named.
- Teach it — explain Particles and Changes of State to Ember, an AI pupil who does not have it yet and asks the awkward question.
- Defend it — argue it against Joseph Black over three rounds, marked against descriptors you can read first.
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Back to the lesson
- Particles and Changes of State — What the particles are doing in each state — and why a boiling pan stays at 100 °C however hard you heat it.
- All of Incandio Physics · Incandio Exam Practice