GCSE PhysicsAQA, Edexcel and OCR
24 physics questions on particle model of matter. Pick your answer, then tap to see if you were right and why. Every answer comes from the Show Working science bank, checked against the GCSE content every board in England teaches.
01 / Quiz yourselfTry it, then tap to check
Choose your answer before you open it. Then read why, so it sticks.
01 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: A Mass per unit volume
Density tells you how much mass is packed into each cubic metre of a material. It is mass divided by volume, so its unit is kilograms per metre cubed, kg/m³.
Checked against AQA GCSE Physics 8463 specification, 4.3.1.1 Density of materials
02 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: B density = mass ÷ volume
Density = mass ÷ volume. With the mass fixed, doubling the volume spreads the same mass through twice the space, so the density halves.
Checked against OCR Gateway Physics A J249 specification, P1.1d to f The particle model
03 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: D Close together in a regular pattern, vibrating
In a solid the particles are close together in a regular pattern and vibrate about fixed positions. In a liquid they are still close but can move past each other. In a gas they are far apart and move quickly in random directions.
Checked against Pearson Edexcel GCSE Physics 1PH0 specification, Topic 14 Particle model, 14.1
04 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: C Its particles are much further apart
The particles themselves do not change size or mass when the state changes. In a gas they are much further apart, so there is far less mass in each cubic metre. In solids and liquids they are close together, so the densities are similar.
Checked against AQA GCSE Physics 8463 specification, 4.3.1.1 Density of materials
05 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: C Measure the water it displaces
To find a density you need a mass and a volume. Mass is measured on a balance. A regular block’s volume is length × width × height; an irregular object’s volume is the volume of water it pushes aside when lowered in, for example in a eureka can.
Checked against AQA GCSE Physics 8463 specification, Required practical activity 5, density
06 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: A Sublimation
Melting is solid to liquid and freezing is liquid to solid. Evaporating or boiling is liquid to gas, and condensing is gas to liquid. Sublimating is a solid turning straight into a gas without becoming a liquid first.
Checked against AQA GCSE Physics 8463 specification, 4.3.1.2 Changes of state
07 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: B It stays the same
When a substance melts, freezes, evaporates, condenses or sublimates, no particles are made or lost. They are only arranged differently and move differently, so the mass stays the same.
Checked against AQA GCSE Physics 8463 specification, 4.3.1.2 Changes of state
08 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: D Reversing it gives back the original material
A change of state is a physical change. If you reverse it, for example by freezing melted ice, the material gets back its original properties. A chemical change makes new substances.
Checked against AQA GCSE Physics 8463 specification, 4.3.1.2 Changes of state
09 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: D The total kinetic and potential energy of its particles
Internal energy is the energy stored by all the particles of a system: their kinetic energy plus their potential energy. Heating increases it. That either raises the temperature or changes the state, so the temperature does not always rise.
Checked against AQA GCSE Physics 8463 specification, 4.3.2.1 Internal energy
10 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: C It is changing state
During a change of state the energy supplied separates the particles, raising their potential energy. Their average kinetic energy does not rise, so the temperature stays the same. This is the flat part of a heating graph.
Checked against AQA GCSE Physics 8463 specification, 4.3.2.3 Changes of state and specific latent heat
11 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: B Temperature
Temperature is not the same as internal energy. Temperature depends on the average kinetic energy of the particles. Internal energy is the total energy of all the particles, so at the same temperature a bigger block of the same material has more.
Checked against AQA GCSE Physics 8463 specification, 4.3.3.1 Particle motion in gases
12 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: C The 1 kg of water
The temperature rise depends on the mass heated, what the material is (its specific heat capacity) and the energy supplied. The same energy spread over twice the mass gives half the temperature rise.
Checked against AQA GCSE Physics 8463 specification, 4.3.2.2 Temperature changes in a system and specific heat capacity
13 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: B Energy needed to raise 1 kg of a substance by 1 °C
Specific heat capacity is the energy needed to raise the temperature of one kilogram of a substance by one degree Celsius. It is measured in joules per kilogram per degree Celsius, J/kg °C.
Checked against AQA GCSE Physics 8463 specification, 4.3.2.2 Temperature changes in a system and specific heat capacity
14 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: B Energy to change the state of 1 kg with no temperature change
Specific latent heat is the energy needed to change the state of one kilogram of a substance without changing its temperature. It is measured in joules per kilogram, J/kg. There is no °C in the unit because the temperature does not change.
Checked against AQA GCSE Physics 8463 specification, 4.3.2.3 Changes of state and specific latent heat
15 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: B Solid to liquid
Fusion is melting: the latent heat of fusion is for solid to liquid, and the same energy is given out on freezing. Vaporisation is liquid to gas: the latent heat of vaporisation is for boiling, and the same energy is given out on condensing.
Checked against OCR Gateway Physics A J249 specification, P1.2d Changes of state
16 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: C mass × specific latent heat
Use specific heat capacity when the temperature changes and there is no change of state: energy = mass × specific heat capacity × temperature change. Use specific latent heat for a change of state at a steady temperature: energy = mass × specific latent heat. Either way, twice the mass needs twice the energy.
Checked against AQA GCSE Physics 8463 specification, 4.3.2.3 Changes of state and specific latent heat
17 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: B Block A warms up less
A high specific heat capacity means a lot of energy is needed for each degree of temperature rise. So with the same mass and the same energy, the material with the higher specific heat capacity has the smaller temperature rise.
Checked against AQA GCSE Physics 8463 specification, 4.3.2.2 Temperature changes in a system and specific heat capacity
18 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: A Particles colliding with the walls
Gas molecules move about constantly in random directions. Each time one hits a wall of the container it pushes on it. All these collisions together cause the pressure of the gas. Collisions between the particles themselves do not cause pressure on the walls.
Checked against AQA GCSE Physics 8463 specification, 4.3.3.1 Particle motion in gases
19 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: A They move faster on average
The temperature of a gas goes with the average kinetic energy of its molecules. Heating a gas makes its molecules move faster on average. Gas particles are not held in place, so they do not just vibrate more.
Checked against AQA GCSE Physics 8463 specification, 4.3.3.1 Particle motion in gases
20 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers
Answer: D It increases
Heating makes the particles move faster. In a fixed volume they hit the walls more often each second and with more force, so the pressure goes up. Cooling the gas does the opposite.
Checked against Pearson Edexcel GCSE Physics 1PH0 specification, Topic 14 Particle model, 14.12 to 14.20P
21 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers · separate only
Answer: B Its particles are far apart
There is a lot of space between gas particles, so a gas can be compressed or expanded by changing the pressure. The gas pushes on any surface it touches with a net force at right angles to that surface.
Checked against AQA GCSE Physics 8463 specification, 4.3.3.2 Pressure in gases
22 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers · separate only
Answer: B It decreases
At constant temperature the particles keep the same average speed. In a bigger volume they travel further between hits and spread over more wall, so each part of the wall is hit less often each second. The pressure falls.
Checked against AQA GCSE Physics 8463 specification, 4.3.3.2 Pressure in gases
23 / Particle model of matterBoth tiers · separate only
Answer: B pressure × volume
For a fixed mass of gas kept at the same temperature, pressure × volume stays the same. So halving the volume doubles the pressure, and doubling the volume halves it.
Checked against OCR Twenty First Century Physics B J259 specification, P6.4 Pressure in fluids
24 / Particle model of matterHigher only · separate only
Answer: B Work done on the gas raises its internal energy
Work is energy transferred by a force. Pushing a piston into a gas does work on it. Particles bounce off the moving piston faster, so the internal energy and the temperature of the gas rise. That is why a bicycle pump warms up.
Checked against AQA GCSE Physics 8463 specification, 4.3.3.3 Increasing the pressure of a gas
02 / Longer answersMarked by levels
Write your answer first, on paper. Then open it and tick off the points you made. How 6-mark questions are marked.
6 marks / Heating a gas in a sealed canBoth tiers
A sealed metal can full of air is heated. The volume of the can does not change.
The air in the can is made of particles that are in constant random motion. As they move, they collide with the inside walls of the can, and each collision exerts a small force on the wall. The pressure of the air is the total force of all these collisions acting on each unit area of the walls. When the can is heated, the temperature of the air rises, and a higher temperature means the average kinetic energy of the particles is greater, so they move faster on average. Because the particles are moving faster, they hit the walls more often, so there are more collisions each second. Each collision is also harder, so it exerts a greater force on the wall. Both of these increase the total force on the walls. The can is sealed and its volume does not change, so the area of the walls stays the same, and a greater force on the same area means the pressure of the air increases.
Pressure comes from particles hitting the walls of the container, not from particles colliding with each other. Say “more collisions each second”, not just “more collisions”, and say the particles move faster, not that they vibrate more.
6 marks / Heating ice until it boilsBoth tiers
Some ice at −20 °C is heated at a steady rate until it has all turned to steam. A graph of temperature against time rises, stays flat at 0 °C, rises again, and then stays flat at 100 °C.
Heating the ice increases its internal energy, which is the total kinetic and potential energy of all its particles. On the first sloping part of the graph, the energy supplied increases the kinetic energy of the particles in the ice, so its temperature rises. At 0 °C the ice melts. The temperature stays the same while it melts, even though energy is still being supplied, because the energy is used to overcome the forces of attraction between the particles, increasing their potential energy rather than their kinetic energy. The energy needed to melt 1 kg with no change in temperature is the specific latent heat of fusion. Once all the ice has melted, the temperature of the water rises again, and this slope has a different gradient because water has a different specific heat capacity from ice. The specific heat capacity is the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 kg by 1 °C. At 100 °C the water boils and the temperature stays constant again while the energy separates the particles completely. This flat part is longer because the specific latent heat of vaporisation is much larger than the specific latent heat of fusion.
Specific heat capacity and specific latent heat are often mixed up. Specific heat capacity is about changing the temperature; specific latent heat is about changing state with no change in temperature.
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