Physics 9702 · syllabus 2
Cambridge A Level Physics 9702 — Kinematics topical past papers
Describing motion in straight lines and in two dimensions: displacement, velocity and acceleration, their graphs, the equations of motion and projectiles.
- Questions
- 433
- Years
- 2009–2026
- With mark scheme
- 100%
- Questions 2022–2026
- 142
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What Kinematics covers
Kinematics describes motion without asking what causes it. Distance and speed are scalars; displacement and velocity are vectors and carry a direction. Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity, so an object moving at constant speed around a bend is still accelerating. Graphs carry much of the topic: the gradient of a displacement–time graph gives velocity, the gradient of a velocity–time graph gives acceleration, and the area under a velocity–time graph gives displacement.
For constant acceleration in a straight line, the definitions of velocity and acceleration lead to the equations of motion, which you should be able to derive as well as use. Free fall without air resistance is the standard case, with an acceleration of g = 9.81 m s⁻² downwards, and describing an experiment to measure g with a falling object belongs here too.
Projectiles combine the two ideas: a constant horizontal velocity and a constant vertical acceleration, treated separately and linked by the time of flight. Kinematics is AS content, examined on Papers 1 and 2, and it feeds directly into dynamics, energy and, at A Level, the motion of charged particles between charged plates, where an electron follows the same kind of path as a thrown ball.
In the syllabus
The headings this topic has in the Cambridge International 2025–2027 syllabus, as the board prints them.
- 2 Kinematics
- 2.1 Equations of motion
What you should be able to do
- Derive the equations of uniformly accelerated motion from the definitions of velocity and acceleration
- Find velocity and acceleration from gradients, and displacement from the area under a velocity–time graph
- Solve straight-line problems with constant acceleration, including free fall, using a stated sign convention
- Resolve a projectile's initial velocity and treat its horizontal and vertical motion separately
- Describe an experiment to measure the acceleration of free fall, such as timing a falling object between light gates
- Sketch and interpret displacement–time and velocity–time graphs for thrown and bouncing objects
Key ideas
- v = u + at, s = ut + ½at², v² = u² + 2as and s = ½(u + v)t, valid only for constant acceleration
- Velocity = gradient of a displacement–time graph; acceleration = gradient of a velocity–time graph (m s⁻²)
- Displacement = area under a velocity–time graph, with area below the time axis counting as negative
- Projectile without air resistance: the horizontal velocity u cos θ stays constant; the vertical acceleration is g = 9.81 m s⁻² downwards
How Kinematics has been examined
From 2022 to 2026, Kinematics was on Paper 2 · AS Level Structured Questions in 10 of 11 exam series, worth about 16% of that paper’s marks.
| Paper | Questions | Share of marks | Series |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 · Multiple Choice | 110 | 9% | 11 of 11 |
| Paper 2 · AS Level Structured Questions | 31 | 16% | 10 of 11 |
| Paper 4 · A Level Structured Questions | 1 | 1% | 1 of 11 |
Momentum’s own count, over the questions in its bank for these years: a series is one exam session, every zone included, and a question filed under two chapters counts in both. Median marks per question: 1.
Filed in Momentum under: Kinematics.
A worked example
A ball is kicked from level ground at 20.0 m s⁻¹ at 30.0° above the horizontal. Ignoring air resistance, find its time of flight and the horizontal distance it travels before landing.
- Resolve: horizontal component 20.0 cos 30.0° = 17.3 m s⁻¹; vertical component 20.0 sin 30.0° = 10.0 m s⁻¹
- Vertically, taking upwards as positive: s = ut − ½gt², and s = 0 when the ball lands
- 0 = 10.0t − 4.905t², so t = 10.0 / 4.905 = 2.04 s
- Horizontally the velocity is constant: distance = 17.32 × 2.039 = 35.3 m
Answer: Time of flight 2.04 s; horizontal distance 35.3 m
Written by Momentum for this page, with its own numbers; it is not taken from a past paper.
Mistakes that cost marks
- Mixing signs in one equation — taking upwards as positive for u but using g = +9.81 m s⁻² gives a ball that speeds up as it rises; choose one positive direction and keep it
- Using the equations of motion when the acceleration changes, as for a falling object with air resistance — they hold only for constant acceleration
- Putting the full launch speed into the vertical equations of a projectile — only the vertical component u sin θ belongs there
- Adding the areas above and below the time axis when asked for displacement — the area below the axis is displacement in the opposite direction, so it subtracts
- Assuming the velocity is zero at the top of a projectile's path — only the vertical component is zero; the horizontal component is unchanged
Exam technique
- State a sign convention at the start of the working, such as 'taking upwards as positive', and keep it to the end
- List s, u, v, a and t with the values you know before choosing an equation; pick the one that leaves out the quantity you neither know nor need
- When reading a gradient from a graph, draw a large triangle covering at least half the line and show the readings you used
- For 'derive' questions, start from a = (v − u)/t and displacement = average velocity × time, and show every algebraic step
Practising in Momentum
- Every question in a chapter as one list, from every paper and year in the bank, newest first or shuffled.
- Each question turns over to its own part of the mark scheme, where the board published one.
- Narrow by paper, year, session, zone and marks, and star the questions worth keeping.
- Pick chapters, a number of questions and a time, and the exam builder draws a mock to sit and mark.
Past-paper questions and mark schemes are the copyright of Cambridge International. Momentum shows them to signed-in learners for revision and does not publish them on these pages.