Physics Paper 2 Practicals

June 2023

1 Force & Extension

AIM: Determine the correlation between the mass placed on a spring and the spring’s extension,
by measuring resultant spring lengths.
—
1. Set up clamp stand holding spring, ensuring stand is secured to table.
2. Use bosses to secure ruler and spring to stand & make sure ruler is perpendicular to table.
3. Measure initial length of spring without any weights attached.
4. Add a 100g mass to base of spring & record new length of spring.
5. Repeat & continue to add masses, ensuring spring doesn’t oscillate after each weight is added.
6. Calculate extension of spring for each mass (new length - initial length).
7. Convert all masses to weights using the equation:

Weight (N ) = Mass (kg) · 9.81(N/kg)

8. Plot the graph of force (weight) (x-axis) against extension (y-axis). Gradient = k.
 2 Acceleration
AIMS:
A) Investigate the effect of varying force on acceleration of an object of constant mass.
B) Investigate the effect of varying mass of an object on acceleration produced by a constant
force.
—
1. Use ruler to measure intervals on bench & draw straight lines on bench at intervals.
2. Attach bench pulley to end of bench.
3. Tie a length of string to toy car/ trolley. Pass string over pulley & attach weight stack to
other end of string.
4. Ensure string is horizontal & is in line with toy car/ trolley.
5. Hold toy car/ trolley at start point.
6. Attach full weight stack (1.0N ) to end of string.
7. Release toy car/ trolley at same time as you start stopwatch, press stop watch (lap mode) at
each measured interval on bench & for final time at 100cm.
8. Record results in table.
9. Repeat steps 5-8 for decreasing weights on stack (e.g 0.8 N, 0.6 N, 0.4 N...).
Ensure you place masses that you remove from weight stack onto top of car each time you
decrease weight - this keeps the mass of the experiment constant.
Result: Acceleration is directly proportional to Force (a · m = F ).
—
To investigate part B), repeat the experiment, only this time:

• Keep mass on end of string constant.

• Vary mass attached to car (e.g 200g, 300g, 400g...)

Result: Acceleration is inversely proportional to mass (a = F/m).

 Figure 1: Equipment

3 Waves
AIM(s):
A) Use a ripple tank to measure wavelength, frequency & speed of water waves.
B) Measure wavelength, frequency & speed of particles in a solid.
—
1. Set up ripple tank as shown above.
2. Pour water to depth of ∼ 5mm into tank.
3. Adjust height of rod so it just touches surface of water
4. Switch on overhead lamp & electric motor.
5. Adjust v of motor to produce low f water waves.
6. Adjust height of lamp so pattern of waves can be clearly seen on the white card.
7. Place metre ruler ⊥ to waves shown on card. Measure across as many waves as possible. Then
divide by number of waves measured.
This gives λ of the waves. Record in table below.
8. Count number of waves passing a point in the pattern over given time (say 10 seconds). Then
divide number of waves counted by that time (10). This gives f of waves. Record in table.
9. Calculate v of waves using the equation:

v =f ·λ

10. Record values in table.

—
Frequency (Hz) Wavelength (m) Speed(s)
 Figure 2: Equipment

For part B):

—
1. Set up apparatus as shown in diagram.
2. Switch on vibration generator. The string should start to vibrate.
3. To see a clear wave pattern, move wooden bridge to adjust length of string. The waves should
look like they are not moving (they are ’standing waves’).
4. Use metre ruler to measure across as many half wavelengths as possible (a half wavelength is
one loop). Then divide length by number of half waves & multiply by 2 to get λ.
5. The f of wave is f of signal generator (power supply).
6. Calculate v of wave using the equation:

v =f ·λ

7. Repeat steps 2-6 for different frequencies.

—
Frequency (Hz) Wavelength (m) Speed(s)
 4 Light
AIM: Investigate the reflection of light by different types of surfaces and the refraction of light by
different substances.
1. Place ruler near middle of paper & draw a straight line.
2. Use the protractor to draw a second line ⊥ to this line.
3. Label this line with an ‘N’ for ‘normal’.
4. Place block onto paper so it lines up with ruler line & trace around it.
5. Set up ray box & slit so narrow ray of light is produced.
6. Direct ray of light at point where normal meets block (at an angle).
7. Trace the incident, transmitted & reflected rays, connecting across area covered by the block
& labelling.
8. Use protractor to measure angles of incidence, reflection & refraction. 9. Repeat for another
material of block.
 Figure 3: Setup

5 Radiation and absorption

AIM: Use a Leslie cube and infrared detector to compare the amount of infrared radiated from
different surfaces.
—
1. Put Leslie cube onto heat-proof mat.
2. Fill cube with very hot water & put lid on cube. Point infrared detector at one side.
3. Use detector to measure amount of infrared radiated from each surface at regular intervals for
5 minutes. Ensure detector is same distance from each surface & replace hot water each time.
4. Plot temperature against time for each surface.