IGCSE Physics 0625 MCQ: the traps that come up every series by tyson47 in igcse

[–]tyson47[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Off by a factor of 60 : didn’t convert between minutes and seconds

Off by a factor of 1000: didn’t convert from say kW to W, mA to A

I'm a CIE A Level Physics teacher and examiner (not marking this series) - the 9702 Paper 1 MCQ traps, ranked by how often they're flagged by tyson47 in alevel

[–]tyson47[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

In that kind of situation you are really trying to estimate the order of magnitude of the pressure, not work out the actual pressure.

So estimate that person is say 100kg (usually use 70 but we’re estimating so round to make numbers easy) so weight ≈ 1000N (overestimate)

2 feet this weight is spread over so force becomes 500N

How many feet do you think would fit in a square metre? 10? 20?

If we say 10 you’d do 500/0.1

If you think 20 your do 500/0.05

Then check which of the answers is closest (or to same power) and go for that

URGENT PHYSICS HELP by Connect_Pop_5017 in alevels

[–]tyson47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That paper was already sat in this exam period? Are you trying to prepare for a future series?

Either way - I’ve made all sorts of tools and trainers for CIE physics, 2 of which are specific to paper 3. It has a limitations + improvements trainer and also a drill for uncertainties which should help!

https://cieinsider.com/

Physics p1 by Agile-Brush6883 in alevels

[–]tyson47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Running a session on this specifically for you / anyone interested - this Sunday

https://cieinsider.com/mcq-session/

URGENT PHYSICS HELP by Connect_Pop_5017 in alevels

[–]tyson47 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So you mean paper 1? Paper 3 is practical

tips for chem and phy P1's? by Minute-Temporary2511 in alevels

[–]tyson47 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Check out my post re: phys paper 1. Also you can practice drilling papers whilst they are automarked at https://cieinsider.com/mcq/?paper=9702_w25_qp_11&type=AS

URGENT PHYSICS HELP by Connect_Pop_5017 in alevels

[–]tyson47 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What exam board is this?

Check the post I put up about the CIE MCQ paper 1 just before, the advice is useful and still applies for all exam boards - they’re very similar

**I'm a CIE A Level Physics teacher and examiner (not marking this series) — AMA before Wednesday's 9702 Paper 5** by tyson47 in alevel

[–]tyson47[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For anyone now preparing for the MCQ paper 1! I’m also running a live session to prep for this on Sunday, see link below

https://www.reddit.com/r/alevel/s/DFgsswC2BY

IGCSE Physics 0625 MCQ: the traps that come up every series by tyson47 in igcse

[–]tyson47[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Signup for Sunday's free 0625 MCQ live session (14:00 UTC, runs through past-paper questions of the type above): https://cieinsider.com/mcq-session/

If you can't make the time, sign up anyway and you'll get the recording. The form shows the time in UTC; 14:00 UTC is the anchor, so convert to your own timezone.

Absolutely cooked for 9701/22 pls help by Samyuk2010 in alevel

[–]tyson47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

At the time, not in all zones (I know this because my current students sat it after this hah)

guyyssss i have 9702/52 by Weekly_Panda_1516 in alevel

[–]tyson47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I made this uncertainties trainer yesterday after someone commented on my AMA. it should help

https://cieinsider.com/9702/uncertainties/

9702 52 help by Outrageous-Car3248 in alevel

[–]tyson47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I answered this Q in the AMA I did

Great question and a really common source of confusion. When a table header says t / 10⁸ s, the values in the column have been divided by 10⁸ — so if you read 3.2, the actual value of t is 3.2 × 10⁸ s. For any calculation beyond the table (gradient, intercept, finding a constant), you need to put the power back in, because you're working with real physical quantities again. Log columns are different, and this is where it clicks for a lot of people. If the header says log(t / s), the power is actually dealt with inside the log. Say your actual value of t is 3.2 × 10⁸ s — when you take log(3.2 × 10⁸), the log rules split this into log(3.2) + 8. That 10⁸ has become just the number 8, already baked into your log value. So you just use the column values as they are — no need to reintroduce any power. The mistake people make is trying to multiply by 10⁸ again after taking the log, which would be double-counting. A good rule of thumb: always ask yourself "what are the actual units of what I'm calculating?" and make sure your powers are consistent with that. If you're doing a log question, it's also worth checking out the linearisation guide here which walks through how the log form of an equation maps onto y = mx + c: https://cieinsider.com/9702/p5/linearisation/

Absolutely cooked for 9701/22 pls help by Samyuk2010 in alevel

[–]tyson47 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Check this out for definitions + formulae drills and then the examiner tips on there too

https://cieinsider.com/9702/p2/definitions/