O Level Physics 5054 · Topic 6

Space physics: past paper questions

66 real questionsasked in 6 of the last 10 exam series2020–2025usually: State, Describe, Explain, Calculate, Complete

Real questions on space physics

The newest 20 of 43 written questions, plus 23 multiple-choice. Open one to see it on the real paper.

5054/21 · October/November 2025 · Q9b(i)[1]
State why a force must act on Venus to keep it following an approximately circular orbit. (i)
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5054/21 · October/November 2025 · Q9b(ii)[3]
State what causes this force, and state the direction of the force. cause (ii)
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5054/21 · October/November 2025 · Q9b(iii)[2]
The average radius of the orbit of Venus is 1.1 × 10 11 m. It takes Venus 5400 hours to complete one orbit of the Sun. Calculate the average orbital speed of Venus around the Sun. speed = m / s
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5054/21 · October/November 2025 · Q9b(iv)[2]
Planet X is closer to the Sun than Venus. State the name of planet X and state how its orbital speed around the Sun compares with the orbital speed of Venus. name speed
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5054/22 · October/November 2025 · Q9a(i)[2]
Determine the distance from the Sun to the centre of the Milky Way in kilometres (km). distance = km
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5054/22 · October/November 2025 · Q9a(ii)[2]
It takes the Sun 2.3 × 10 8 years to complete one orbit around the centre of the Milky Way. Calculate the speed v. v = m / s
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5054/22 · October/November 2025 · Q9b(i)[2]
Near the end of its life, a massive star becomes a red supergiant. Describe what happens inside the star as it becomes a red supergiant.
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5054/22 · October/November 2025 · Q9b(ii)[3]
Describe how a red supergiant produces a black hole.
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5054/22 · October/November 2025 · Q9b(iii)[1]
Describe how the heaviest elements are produced.
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5054/21 · May/June 2025 · Q9a[2]
The life cycle of a star begins with a large cloud of dust and gas which collapses. Five later stages of the life cycle of a very massive star are: black hole protostar red supergiant stable star supernova Place these stages in Table 9.1 in the order in which they occur. Table 9.1 earlier time cloud of dust and gas
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5054/21 · May/June 2025 · Q9b(ii)[1]
Further collapse is prevented by an outward force. The Sun will remain in the stable stage of its life cycle for a few billion years. Describe what causes the outward force.
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5054/21 · May/June 2025 · Q9c(i)[1]
State what is meant by a ‘light-year’.
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5054/21 · May/June 2025 · Q9c(ii)[1]
State the time that passed between the explosion that formed SN185 and the electromagnetic radiation from the explosion reaching Earth.
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5054/21 · May/June 2025 · Q9c(iii)[2]
A recently observed supernova is SN2014J. The remnants of SN2014J are 12 million light-years from Earth, outside the Milky Way. There is no redshift seen in the electromagnetic radiation from the remnants of SN185 but a large redshift is seen in the electromagnetic radiation from the remnants of SN2014J. Explain this d...
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5054/21 · May/June 2025 · Q9d[2]
Most of the atoms found in the early Universe were hydrogen and helium. The Universe now contains atoms of heavier elements. Explain how the heavier elements are formed.
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5054/22 · May/June 2025 · Q9a[2]
On Fig. 9.1, draw the orbits of Mercury and Mars. Label each orbit.
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5054/22 · May/June 2025 · Q9b[1]
Explain why the comet at position 3 cannot be seen from Earth when Earth is at position 5.
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5054/22 · May/June 2025 · Q9c(i)[1]
State the name of the force that acts on the comet.
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5054/22 · May/June 2025 · Q9c(ii)[1]
Four positions of the comet are shown in Fig. 9.1. On Fig. 9.1, mark the direction of the force that acts on the comet at each of the four positions shown.
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5054/22 · May/June 2025 · Q9c(iii)[2]
Describe how the strength of the force that acts on the comet changes as the comet moves from position 1 through position 3 to position 4. Explain your answer. description explanation
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What examiners said

This question related to the part of a star’s life cycle between the original cloud of dust and gas and the formation of the protostar. There were some good answers and many candidates gained partial credit. Many candidates gave explanations that went far beyond the demands of the question and other candidates only gave explanations that referred to other parts of the stellar life cycle.
— Examiner report, October/November 2023, 5054/22 Q9(a) (Cambridge)

The expected answer here was the ‘supernova explosion stage’ but the simple answer ‘supernova’ also gained the credit. Only a minority of candidates supplied this answer and some of those who did, also supplied other answers which in many cases were incorrect.
— Examiner report, October/November 2023, 5054/22 Q9(c) (Cambridge)

The order of the planets in the solar system was well known with only a few candidates confusing Jupiter and Uranus or introducing Pluto (which is now classified as a dwarf planet).
— Examiner report, May/June 2023, 5054/21 Q11(a) (Cambridge)

Practise this topic

Answer these questions online and get each one marked against the official mark scheme, with what you missed and how to fix it.

Practise space physics

In the syllabus

6.1 Earth and the Solar System

Know that: (a) the Earth is a planet that orbits the Sun once in approximately 365 days (b) the orbit of the Earth around the Sun is an ellipse which is approximately circular (c) the Earth rotates on its axis, which is tilted, once in approximately 24 hours (d) it takes approximately one month for the Moon to orbit the Earth (e) it takes approximately 500 s for light from the Sun to reach the Earth
Define average orbital speed from the equation 2π r v= T where r is the average radius of the orbit and T is the orbital period; recall and use this equation

6.1 Earth and the Solar System continued

Describe the Solar System as containing: (a) one star, the Sun (b) the eight named planets and know their order from the Sun (c) minor planets that orbit the Sun, including dwarf planets such as Pluto and asteroids in the asteroid belt (d) moons, that orbit the planets (e) smaller Solar System bodies, including comets and natural satellites
Analyse and interpret planetary data about orbital distance, orbital period, density, surface temperature and uniform gravitational field strength at the planet’s surface
Know that the strength of the gravitational field: (a) at the surface of a planet depends on the mass of the planet (b) around a planet decreases as the distance from the planet increases
Know that the Sun contains most of the mass of the Solar System and that the strength of the gravitational field at the surface of the Sun is greater than the strength of the gravitational field at the surface of the planets
Know that the force that keeps an object in orbit around the Sun is the gravitational attraction of the Sun
Know that the strength of the Sun’s gravitational field decreases and that the orbital speeds of the planets decrease as the distance from the Sun increases

6.2 Stars and the Universe

Know that the Sun is a star of medium size, consisting mostly of hydrogen and helium, and that it radiates most of its energy in the infrared, visible and ultraviolet regions of the electromagnetic spectrum
Know that stars are powered by nuclear reactions that release energy and that in stable stars the nuclear reactions involve the fusion of hydrogen into helium

6.2 Stars and the Universe continued

State that: (a) galaxies are each made up of many billions of stars (b) the Sun is a star in the galaxy known as the Milky Way (c) other stars that make up the Milky Way are much further away from the Earth than the Sun is from the Earth (d) astronomical distances can be measured in light-years, where one light-year is the distance travelled in a vacuum by light in one year
Describe the life cycle of a star: (a) a star is formed from interstellar clouds of gas and dust that contain hydrogen (b) a protostar is an interstellar cloud collapsing and increasing in temperature as a result of its internal gravitational attraction (c) a protostar becomes a stable star when the inward force of gravitational attraction is balanced by an outward force due to the high temperature in the centre of the star (d) all stars eventually run out of hydrogen as fuel for the nuclear reaction (e) most stars expand to form red giants and more massive stars expand to form red supergiants when most of the hydrogen in the centre of the star has been converted to helium (f) a red giant from a less massive star forms a planetary nebula with a white dwarf at its centre (g) a red supergiant explodes as a supernova, forming a nebula containing hydrogen and new heavier elements, leaving behind a neutron star or a black hole at its centre (h) the nebula from a supernova may form new stars with orbiting planets Know that the Milky Way is one of many billions of galaxies making up the Universe and that the diameter of the Milky Way is approximately 100 000 light-years Describe redshift as an increase in the observed wavelength of electromagnetic radiation emitted from receding stars and galaxies
Know that the light from distant galaxies shows redshift and that the further away the galaxy, the greater the observed redshift and the faster the galaxy’s speed away from the Earth
Describe, qualitatively, how redshift provides evidence for the Big Bang theory

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