Exam practice

Exam questions

Write your answer. Then open the mark scheme and tick each point you made.

  1. Question 1 of 102 marks

    State the unit of mass and the unit of weight.

    Mark scheme
    • Mass: kilogram (accept: kg)
    • Weight: newton (accept: N)
  2. Question 2 of 102 marks

    Describe the difference between mass and weight.

    Mark scheme
    • Mass is the amount of matter in an object
    • Weight is the force of gravity on the object (accept: the pull of gravity on it)
  3. Question 3 of 102 marks

    A dog has a mass of 20 kg. The gravitational field strength on the Earth is 10 N/kg. Calculate the weight of the dog. Give the unit.

    Mark scheme
    • 20 × 10 = 200
    • Unit: N (accept: newtons)
  4. Question 4 of 104 marks

    An astronaut has a mass of 70 kg. She travels from the Earth to the Moon, where the gravitational field strength is 1.6 N/kg.
    (a) State her mass on the Moon.
    (b) Calculate her weight on the Moon.
    (c) Explain why she weighs less on the Moon than on the Earth.

    Mark scheme
    • (a) 70 kg
    • (b) 70 × 1.6
    • (b) 112 N
    • (c) The Moon has less mass than the Earth, so its gravity is weaker (accept: the gravitational field strength is smaller on the Moon)
  5. Question 5 of 102 marks

    The size of the force of gravity between two objects depends on two things. State both.

    Mark scheme
    • The masses of the objects
    • The distance between them
  6. Question 6 of 102 marks

    Explain why the Moon stays in orbit around the Earth.

    Mark scheme
    • The Earth’s gravity pulls the Moon towards the Earth
    • Without this force the Moon would move away in a straight line (accept: the pull keeps bending the Moon’s path into an orbit)
  7. Question 7 of 101 mark

    Write these in order of size, starting with the smallest: galaxy, planet, universe, solar system.

    Mark scheme
    • Planet, solar system, galaxy, universe
  8. Question 8 of 102 marks

    Explain why we have day and night.

    Mark scheme
    • The Earth spins on its axis (accept: the Earth turns once every 24 hours)
    • The half that faces the Sun has day, and the half that faces away has night
  9. Question 9 of 103 marks

    The diagram shows the Earth at two points in its orbit, A and B. It is not to scale. N marks the North Pole.NANBSun(a) At which point, A or B, is it summer in the UK?
    (b) Give two reasons why the UK is warmer in summer than in winter.

    Mark scheme
    • (a) A
    • (b) The Sun is higher in the sky, so its light is more concentrated (accept: the sunlight is more direct, or it is spread over a smaller area)
    • (b) The days are longer, so there are more hours of sunlight

    Do not accept “the Earth is closer to the Sun”. The Earth is closest to the Sun in January.

  10. Question 10 of 102 marks

    (a) State what a light year is.
    (b) Explain why astronomers measure the distances to stars in light years and not in kilometres.

    Mark scheme
    • (a) The distance that light travels in one year
    • (b) The distances are so big that the numbers in kilometres would be too large to work with easily
These questions and their mark scheme (PDF)