(a) Draw a line from each electrical circuit to the correct circuit diagram.

1. Draw only four lines.

electrical circuit circuit diagram

2 marks

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 1 of 23

(b) In each circuit below, bulb 1 breaks and goes off.

Under each circuit diagram below, tick the correct boxes to show if bulb 2 and
bulb 3 are on or off.

circuit A circuit B

2 marks

(c) Give the name of the part that provides energy for each circuit.

battery
........................................................
1 mark

(d) Why is copper used for wires in a circuit?

Tick the correct box.

1 mark
maximum 6 marks

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 2 of 23

 (a) The diagram below shows a circuit with a two-way switch, S.
2.
Rosie puts the switch in the position shown below.

Complete the table below to show if the bulbs are on or off.

Write on or off for each bulb.

bulb on or off

R
1 mark

(b) Give the name of the part that provides energy for the circuit.

battery
.............................................................
1 mark

(c) The diagrams below show a light-bulb over a staircase of a model house.

There is a two-way switch at the bottom of the stairs and another two-way switch
at the top.

Under each diagram, tick one box to show if the bulb is on or off. The first one
has been done for you.

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 3 of 23

 2 marks
maximum 4 marks

3. Ben makes a series circuit using two

identical cells, a bulb and a switch to
turn the bulb on and off.

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 4 of 23

(a) Draw a circuit diagram of Ben’s circuit. Use the correct symbols.

The cells have been drawn for you.

3 marks

(b) Which part of the circuit supplies the energy?

the battery
......................................................................................................................
1 mark

(c) Ben adds another identical bulb to the circuit in series.

How does the brightness of the first bulb change?

decrease
......................................................................................................................
1 mark

(d) How will the brightness of the bulbs change when the cells shown below are placed into
Ben’s circuit?

(i)

.............................................
1 mark

(ii)

.............................................
1 mark
maximum 7 marks

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 5 of 23

 (a) Draw a line from each circuit symbol below to the correct name.
4. Draw only four lines.

circuit symbol name

3 marks

(b) Fred made circuit 1 as shown below.

Give the name of the part that is the energy source for the circuit.

battery
.........................................................
1 mark

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 6 of 23

 (c) Fred then made circuit 2 as shown below.

In the table below, tick a box to show whether circuit 1 and circuit 2 are series or parallel
circuits.
Tick only two boxes.

series parallel

circuit 1

circuit 2
1 mark

(d) What metal is usually used for wires in electric circuits?

copper
...........................................................
1 mark
maximum 6 marks

The back window of this car contains a heating element.

5.
The heating element is part of an electrical circuit connected to the battery of the car.

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 7 of 23

The diagrams below show two ways of connecting the circuit of a heating element.

(a) Give the name of each type of circuit:

series
circuit A ...................................................................

parallel
circuit B ...................................................................
1 mark

(b) A wire gets broken at point X on circuit A and at point Y on circuit B.

When the switch is closed, how does the broken wire affect the heating
element in:

(i) circuit A? ............................................................................................

...........................................................................................................
1 mark

(ii) circuit B? .............................................................................................

.............................................................................................................
1 mark

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 8 of 23

 (c) In very cold weather, ice may form on the back window of the car.
When the heating element is switched on, the ice will disappear and the surface of the
window will become clear and dry.

(i) Fill the gap below to show the energy transfer that takes place.

When the heater is switched on, ........................................ energy is transferred from

the wires to the ice.
1 mark

(ii) As the window becomes clear and dry, physical changes take place in the ice.
Fill the gaps below to show the physical changes which take place.

from ............................. to ............................. to .............................

1 mark
Maximum 5 marks

(a) Max built circuit 1 as shown below.

6.

circuit 1

He closed the switch, S, and all the bulbs came on.

One of the bulbs then broke and all the bulbs went off.

Which bulb must have broken?

Give the letter.

...............
1 mark

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 9 of 23

(b) Max built circuit 2 as shown below.
He connected a plastic comb and a metal key in different parts of the circuit.

circuit 2

Look carefully at circuit 2.

Complete the table below to show which bulbs in circuit 2 will be on or off when
different switches are open or closed.
Write on or off in the boxes below.

switch 1 switch 2 bulb P bulb Q bulb R

open open off off off

open closed

closed open
2 marks

(c) Max built circuit 3 using a battery, two bulbs and three ammeters.

circuit 3

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 10 of 23

 The current reading on ammeter A1 was 0.8 amps.
What would be the reading on ammeters A2 and A3?
Place one tick in the table by the correct pair of readings.

readingon reading on correct pair

ammeter A2 (amps) ammeter A3 (amps) of readings

0.8 0.8

0.8 0.4

0.4 0.8

0.4 0.4

1 mark
maximum 4 marks

The drawing shows a hairdryer.

7.

Ben drew the diagram below to show the circuit of the hairdryer.

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 11 of 23

 (a) Which of the switches must be closed for the heater to work? Tick the correct box.

switch switch switches neither switch

1 only 2 only 1 and 2 1 nor 2

1 mark

(b) With this circuit, is it possible to have the heater on when the motor is switched off?

… … … …

Explain your answer.

… … … … … . . … … … … … … … … … … … … . … … … … … … … . . … … … … … …

… … … … … . . … … … … … … … … … … … … . … … … … … … … . . … … … … … …
1 mark

(c) The motor and the heater are both on.

The motor blows air through the hairdryer. If the motor breaks, what would happen to
the temperature of the hairdryer?

… … … … … . . … … … … … … … … … … … … . … … … … … … … . . … … … … … …
1 mark

(d) The motor and the heater are both on. Suddenly the wire in the heater breaks.
What effect, if any, will this have on the motor?

… … … … … . . … … … … … … … … … … … … . … … … … … … … . . … … … … … …
1 mark
Maximum 4 marks

Peter measured the current through each of three similar bulbs in a parallel circuit.
8.

He had only one ammeter and he placed it first at A1, then A2, then A3, in order to measure the
currents.

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 12 of 23

The table shows his results.

position of ammeter current, in amps

A1 0.14

A2 0.16

A3 0.15

(a) He expected the current readings to be the same for each bulb but found they were
different.

Suggest two reasons why the readings were different.

1. ................................................................................................................

2. ................................................................................................................
2 marks

(b) Peter then measured the current at A4 and recorded it as 0.45 A. He concluded
that the current at A4 could be calculated by adding together the currents
through each of the bulbs at positions A1, A2 and A3.

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 13 of 23

He added two more similar bulbs to his circuit, in parallel. The current through
each bulb was 0.15 A.
Use Peter's conclusion to predict the current at A4 with the 5 bulbs in the circuit.

................ A

1 mark

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 14 of 23

 (c) Peter left the circuit connected overnight. He used a datalogger to measure the current at
position A4 at regular intervals of time. The next morning the bulbs were dim.

Using the axes below, sketch (do not plot) how the current at position A4 might
change with time.

Indicate on the graph:

(i) The correct labels for each axis, including the correct units.

(ii) The shape of the graph you would expect to obtain.

2 marks
Maximum 5 marks

(a) Electrical circuits often contain resistors.

9.
The diagram shows two resistors joined in series.

Calculate the total resistance of the two resistors.

........................................................................................................................

Total resistance = .................................................. Ω

(1)

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 15 of 23

(b) A circuit was set up as shown in the diagram. The three resistors are identical.

(i) Calculate the reading on the voltmeter.

...............................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................

Reading on voltmeter = .................................................. V

(2)

(ii) The same circuit has now been set up with two ammeters.

Draw a ring around the correct answer in the box to complete the sentence.

smaller than

The reading on ammeter A2 will be equal to the reading on ammeter A1.

greater than

(1)
(Total 4 marks)

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 16 of 23

 (a) The diagram shows the circuit used to investigate the resistance of a sample of a material.
10. The diagram is not complete; the ammeter and voltmeter are missing.

(i) Draw the symbols for the ammeter and voltmeter on the diagram in the correct
places.
(2)

(ii) How can the current through the material be changed?

...............................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................
(1)

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 17 of 23

(b) The material, called conducting putty, is rolled into cylinders of different lengths but with
equal thickness.

Graph 1 shows how the resistance changes with length.

Length in centimetres

(i) The current through a 25 cm length of conducting putty was 0.15 A.

Use Graph 1 to find the resistance of a 25 cm length of conducting putty.

Resistance = .................................................. ohms

(1)

(ii) Use your answer to (b) (i) and the equation in the box to calculate the potential
difference across a 25 cm length of conducting putty.

potential difference = current x resistance

Show clearly how you work out your answer.

...............................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................

Potential difference = .................................................. volts

(2)

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 18 of 23

(c) A second set of data was obtained using thicker pieces of conducting putty. Both sets of
results are shown in Graph 2.

Length in centimetres

(i) What is the relationship between the resistance and the thickness of the conducting
putty?

...............................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................
(1)

(ii) Name one error that may have reduced the accuracy of the results.

...............................................................................................................
(1)

(iii) How could the reliability of the data have been improved?

...............................................................................................................

...............................................................................................................
(1)
(Total 9 marks)

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 19 of 23

 A set of Christmas tree lights is made from twenty identical lamps connected in series.
11.

(a) Each lamp is designed to take a current of 0.25 A. The set plugs directly into the 230 V
mains electricity supply.

(i) Write down the equation that links current, potential difference and resistance.

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________
(1)

(ii) Calculate the resistance of one of the lamps. Show clearly how you work out your
final answer and give the unit.

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

Resistance = ......................................................................
(4)

(iii) What is the total resistance of the set of lights?

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

Total resistance = ........................................................

(1)

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 20 of 23

 (b) How does the resistance of a filament lamp change as the temperature of the filament
changes?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________
(1)
(Total 7 marks)

Imran built a puzzle circuit with three identical bulbs and a 3V battery.
12. He covered the connections to the bulbs with a piece of card as shown below.
The bulbs could be seen through holes in the card.

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 21 of 23

All the bulbs were on but their brightness was different.

Lucy removed bulbs A, B and C in turn. Before connecting each bulb back into the circuit she
observed the effect on the other two bulbs.
She recorded her observations in the table below.

bulb removed observations

A B and C stayed on

C went off
B
A stayed on

B went off
C
A stayed on

(a) Complete the circuit diagram below to show how the three bulbs could be connected.
Use your knowledge of series and parallel circuits, and the observations in the table to help
you.

2 marks

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 22 of 23

(b) Imran used three identical bulbs but their brightness was different.

Which bulb was the brightest? Give the letter.

...............

Give the reason for your choice.

.....................................................................................................................

.....................................................................................................................
1 mark

(c) Imran added a switch to the circuit so that he could turn all three bulbs
on and off at the same time.

Place a letter S on your circuit diagram where this switch could be placed.
1 mark
maximum 4 marks

Vinschool Central Park Primary & Secondary Page 23 of 23