Physics

Higher level
Paper 1

A3: Gas Laws - Exam

13th March 2025

30 minutes. Candidate’s Name: ……………………...……………………………….

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Instructions to candidates:

• Write your name in the box above.

• Do not open this examination paper until instructed to do so.
• A calculator is required for this paper.
• Answer all questions.
• A clean copy of the physics data booklet is required for this paper.
• The exam consists of two sections:
o Section A: MCQ questions: 10Marks.
o Section B:
▪ Part (1): Short-answer and extended-response question.
Answers must be written within the answer boxes provided.
▪ Part (2): (Data-based question)
Answers must be written within the answer boxes provided.
• The number of pages for this examination paper is 6 pages.
• The maximum mark for this examination paper is 20 marks.
Section (A):

1. In a parallel universe, the following relation holds between the temperature (measured in Celsius) of an
ideal gas and its pressure.

𝑝 = 12𝑇 + 3

What is the value of the absolute zero temperature in this universe?

A. −0.25℃ B. −3℃ C. −4℃ D. −36℃

2. Gas is enclosed in a container. The gas has volume V, pressure p and temperature T. Which of these could
be the volume, pressure and temperature of the gas at a later stage?

Volume Pressure Temperature

A. 𝑉 2𝑝 2T
2

B. V p 𝑇
2

C. 2V 4p 8T

D. 2V 2p 2T

3. There are two ideal gases A and B. Which of the following will ensure that the temperature of A and B are different?

A. The internal energies of A and B are different.

B. The mass of the particles that form A and B are different.
C. The average speed of the particles of A and B are different.
D. The average kinetic energy of the particles of A and B are different.

𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑠 𝑖𝑛 20𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑁𝑒𝑜𝑛−20

4. What is the 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑚𝑠 𝑖𝑛 40𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝐾𝑟𝑦𝑝𝑡𝑜𝑛−80
1 1
A. B. C. 2 D. 4
4 2

5. For a fixed mass of an ideal gas the pressure is proportional to:

A. density and volume B. density and absolute temperature

C. absolute temperature and volume. D. absolute temperature only.

6. A syringe is filled with an ideal gas. The syringe is sealed so that no gas can come in or out of it. The
syringe is moved a distance x as the image shows.

Which of the following graphs shows the behaviour of the pressure inside the syringe as x grows?

A. B.

C. D.

7. An enclosed gas is originally at 27°C at a certain pressure. The gas volume is then doubled as shown

In order to restore the pressure to its original value, to what value must the temperature now be adjusted, at
this new volume?

A. -123°C B. 13.5°C C. 54°C D. 327°C

 8. An airtight syringe contains a specific amount of air at constant temperature, 25 °C. Volume-pressure data
for the air are graphed in the figure shown:

Pressure-Volume Graph
45
40
35
Pressure / kPa

30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25
Volume-1 / mL-1

What is the number of moles of the air inside the syringe? (knowing that: Liter = 10-3 m3)

A. 5.7 × 10−4 B. 8.1 × 10−5 C. 5.7 × 10−7 D. 8.1 × 10−7

9. The atomic mass number of helium is 4 while that of neon is 20, and both are monatomic gases. When
both gases are at the same temperature, the ratio of the average speeds of helium atoms to neon atoms will
be
A. 1 ∶ 1 B. √5 ∶ 1 C. 5 ∶ 1 D. 25 ∶ 1

10. The behaviour of a monatomic gas such as helium will be approximate to that of an ideal gas when it is
kept at
A. A temperature close B. low pressure C. very high pressure D. very high temperature
to absolute zero.
Section (B):

Part (1): Ideal gases

An ideal gas is made out of hydrogen molecules. The molar mass of the hydrogen molecules is 0.002 kg mol-1

(a) Calculate the mass of a molecule of hydrogen. [2]

(b) The gas is contained in a spherical container of volume 0.1 m3 that contains 2 moles of molecules. The
pressure inside the container is 105 Pa.
i) Calculate the density of the gas. [2]

ii) Show that the average kinetic energy of a molecule of gas is approximately 1.25 × 10-20 J [2]
Part (2): Data-based question

The graph shows the variation of atmospheric pressure P with height h above the earth’s surface. The error bar
for h = 3.0 km is not shown.

(a) State the atmospheric pressure at the surface, in the form (𝑃 ± ∆𝑃). [1]

(b) Draw the error bar for the data point with h = 3.0 km. [1]
(c) Determine the percentage uncertainty in P for h = 3.0 km. [2]

 Best of Luck  – Mr. Mohamed Abdelghaffar ☺

 Markscheme
Section (A):
(1) A (2) C (3) D (4) C (5) B (6) C
(7) D (8) B (9) B (10) B

Section (B): part (1)

𝑁 1
(a) 𝑚 = 𝑁 × 𝑀𝑜𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑀𝑎𝑠𝑠 = 6.02×1023 × 0.002 ✓ [2]
𝐴

= 3.32 × 10−27 𝑘𝑔 ✓

𝑀×𝑛 0.002×2
(b) (i) 𝜌 = = ✓ [2]
𝑉 0.1

= 0.04𝑘𝑔 𝑚−3 ✓
3
(ii) ̅̅̅
𝐸𝑘 = 2 𝑘𝐵 𝑇 [2]
𝑃𝑉 105 ×0.1
𝑇= = = 602 𝐾 ✓
𝑛𝑅 2×8.31
3
̅̅̅
𝐸𝑘 = 2 × 1.38 × 10−23 × 602 = 1.25 × 10−20 𝐽 ✓

Part (2):