Circular motion: past paper questions
Real questions on circular motion
The newest 20 of 43 written questions. Open one to see it on the real paper.
- 9231/31 · October/November 2025 · Q2[4]
4-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9231/31 · October/November 2025 · Q6a[2]
2-mark question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9231/32 · October/November 2025 · Q6[8]
8-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9231/33 · October/November 2025 · Q2[4]
4-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9231/31 · May/June 2025 · Q3b[5]
5-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9231/32 · May/June 2025 · Q3b[5]
5-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9231/33 · May/June 2025 · Q1[3]
3-mark question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9231/31 · October/November 2024 · Q2[5]
5-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9231/33 · October/November 2024 · Q2[5]
5-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9231/32 · October/November 2023 · Q1[4]
4-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9231/33 · May/June 2023 · Q1[4]
4-mark question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9231/31 · October/November 2022 · Q1[3]
3-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9231/31 · October/November 2022 · Q5b[4]
4-mark question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9231/33 · October/November 2022 · Q1[3]
3-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9231/33 · October/November 2022 · Q2b[2]
2-mark question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9231/33 · October/November 2022 · Q5a[4]
4-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9231/33 · October/November 2022 · Q5b[4]
4-mark question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9231/31 · May/June 2022 · Q2[5]
5-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9231/31 · May/June 2022 · Q5[7]
7-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper → - 9231/32 · May/June 2022 · Q2[5]
5-mark “Find” question — its maths and diagrams are best seen on the paper.
See it on the paper →
What examiners said
Please note that due to a series-specific issue with question 1, full marks have been awarded to all candidates for this question to make sure that no candidates were disadvantaged.
— Examiner report, October/November 2023, 9231/32 Q1 (Cambridge)
Many good responses were seen to this question on motion in a vertical circle. As is usual in questions on this topic, candidates need to write down an energy equation and a Newton’s second law equation. Those candidates who drew a diagram labelled with all the given information almost always followed with accurate equations. A common error was to assume that the particle was at rest when the stri...
— Examiner report, May/June 2023, 9231/33 Q1 (Cambridge)
Most candidates were able to work out the correct expression for the angular velocity. Stronger candidates then used the angular velocity to obtain the correct answer, without determining the period of revolution. A common mistake was to omit the multiplication by 60, therefore obtaining the number of revolutions per second.
— Examiner report, October/November 2022, 9231/31 Q1 (Cambridge)
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