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In igcse physics 1.1, you will not be introduced to a lot of formulas so most of the questions are based on logic and your understanding. This topic talks about the different measuring devices, scalar and vector, and calculating with vectors. Instead of going into detail on something you can find in your textbooks, we’re just going to be analyzing some questions from past papers and how to answer them.
IGCSE Physics 1.1 Exam MCQ Questions
Here are some questions you might find in the multiple choice section of an igcse physics 1.1:
1. A measuring cylinder is used to measure the volume of a quantity of water. Which measuring technique would not improve the accuracy of the measurement?
A. making sure her eye is level with the water surface
B. making sure the cylinder is vertical
C. reading the bottom of the meniscus
D. using the largest measuring cylinder possible
Answer: D.
First of all, when analyzing the question, you have to carefully read what it’s asking. This question asks for what would *not* improve the accuracy of the measurement. From this alone, you know that 3 of the choices will improve the accuracy and only 1 will decrease the accuracy. The next thing to understand is the definition of ‘accuracy’. Accuracy in physics means how close the measurement is with the actual value.
Now to find the answer all we have to use is the process of elimination. We can eliminate A and B and C since they are definitely going to improve the accuracy. For D, increasing the size of the measuring cylinder does not increase the accuracy of measurement, it actually decreases the size of a measuring cylinder would decrease the accuracy of measurement. Thinner cylinders increase the accuracy, since it is able to measure smaller values such as 1.55 ml, while a large cylinder would make it harder to measure accurately. In conclusion, we know that D is more suited for the answer.
2. The diameter of a copper wire is thought to be approximately 0.3mm. Which instrument should be used to obtain a more accurate measurement of the diameter of the wire?
A measuring tape
B metre rule
C micrometer
D ruler
Answer: C.
This question is related to measuring devices. This question can also use process of elimination. The question asks this time for which one can be used to obtain a more accurate measurement. The key components of the sentence before the question would be “0.3mm”. By looking at the number that needs to be measured, we can eliminate A, B and D because they do not have enough accuracy to measure 0.3mm. That leaves us with C, an instrument that can be used to measure circular objects and also have a large accuracy of 0.01mm.
IGCSE Physics 1.1 Open Ended Questions
Next is an open ended question:
1.
| Speed | Scalar |
| Velocity | Vector |
| Distance | Scalar |
| Force | Vector |
| Kinetic energy | Scalar |
This is a common question in IGCSE physics where they ask you to determine if the quantity is a scalar or vector. The easiest way to remember the difference is that vector has direction while scalar does not. Say for example velocity. Velocity is considered a vector quantity because it can either be positive or negative. Positive or negative determines the direction in which the object is moving. So it can either go forward or backward, left or right, up or down, and basically an indication of direction.
Another thing to understand is that anything that has a vector quantity in its formula is definitely a vector quantity. For example, in order to get acceleration, the formula is: change in velocity / time. Since velocity is a vector quantity, acceleration is also a vector quantity. The last thing to remember is that every type of energy is considered a scalar quantity. To recap, scalar has magnitude but has no direction, while vector has direction and magnitude.
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