Admissions Test Preparation · Practice Set 13
ESAT Physics Mock Module 1 of 2
27 a full 27-question module, the same length and shape as one sitting of the real test. Electricity and magnetism, forces and motion, energy, thermal physics, matter and pressure, waves and optics, and radioactivity. Every question states the specification sub-topic it was written against.
How to use this set
Every question carries a target time, and no question needs a calculator. Attempt each one against the clock with the solution collapsed. If you are still setting up algebra when the target time passes, stop and open the solution: the shortcut is what the question is testing, and the arithmetic is not.
Read the Key Idea before the full breakdown. If the key idea alone lets you redo the question in under a minute, the method has landed and you can move on. If it does not, work the step-by-step breakdown and then return to the question a day later.
The Common Mistake section on each question is the slower route that still reaches the right answer. Under exam conditions that route is usually the difference between finishing the module and running out of time.
Modules in this set
Select a module below to view the questions and their step-by-step worked solutions:
Physics
27 questions, 40 minutes in the real test. Electricity and magnetism, forces and motion, energy, thermal physics, matter and pressure, waves and optics, and radioactivity. 27 worked solutions.
Shortcut index
Use this as a revision checklist. If you can state the shortcut before opening the question, you already have the mark.
Physics
| # | Topic | Shortcut rehearsed |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Counting the electrons transferred | Charge divided by the electron charge counts the electrons |
| Q2 | Reducing a mixed resistor network | Collapse the parallel pair first, then add in series |
| Q3 | The potential divider | In series, voltage splits in the ratio of the resistances |
| Q4 | Choosing a power formula | Pick the power formula that uses what you already have |
| Q5 | The cost of running an appliance | Kilowatts times hours gives kilowatt-hours directly |
| Q6 | Turns on a step-down transformer | Turns ratio equals voltage ratio |
| Q7 | Current in the secondary coil | An ideal transformer conserves power, so voltage down means current up |
| Q8 | Force on a current-carrying wire | F = BIL, and all three must be at right angles |
| Q9 | Increasing an induced voltage | Induction needs change: faster change means bigger voltage |
| Q10 | Scalars and vectors | A vector needs a direction to be fully stated |
| Q11 | Time to fall a given height | Pick the suvat equation that omits what you neither have nor want |
| Q12 | Braking distance | No time mentioned means use v² = u² + 2as |
| Q13 | Acceleration from a resultant force | Resultant force first, then divide by the mass |
| Q14 | Resultant of two perpendicular forces | Perpendicular forces combine by Pythagoras, not by adding |
| Q15 | Identifying a Newton's third law pair | A third-law pair acts on two different bodies |
| Q16 | Mass and weight on the Moon | Mass travels unchanged; weight follows the local g |
| Q17 | Hooke's law | Find the spring constant once, then use it for every load |
| Q18 | A collision in which the bodies stick together | Total momentum before equals total momentum after |
| Q19 | Impulse | Impulse Ft is the change in momentum |
| Q20 | Work and power | Work first, then divide by the time |
| Q21 | Kinetic energy converted to height | Equate the energies and the mass cancels |
| Q22 | Efficiency of a machine | Useful out over total in, as a percentage |
| Q23 | Specific heat capacity | A temperature change costs mcΔθ |
| Q24 | Latent heat of fusion | A change of state costs mL, at no temperature change at all |
| Q25 | How a room is heated | Name the transfer mechanism before explaining anything |
| Q26 | Emitters and absorbers of radiation | Matt black is the best at both emitting and absorbing |
| Q27 | The particle model | Spacing explains density; motion explains shape and pressure |