AQA GCSE Physics Physics Paper 2 (Foundation), June 2024: Question 1

✅ Correct Answer

Milky Way

💡 Key Knowledge

• Our solar system is located within a barred spiral galaxy known as the Milky Way.

✅ Correct Answer

Dust and gas (nebula)

💡 Key Knowledge

• Stars form from giant clouds of dust and gas in space called nebulae.

✅ Correct Answer

Gravitational force

💡 Key Knowledge

• Gravity pulls the dust and gas together to form a protostar. As it collapses, it gets hotter and denser.

✅ Correct Answer

fusion (nuclear fusion)

💡 Key Knowledge

• Main sequence stars produce energy by fusing hydrogen nuclei together to form helium nuclei.

✅ Correct Answer

Visible light takes the same time as infrared radiation

💡 Key Knowledge

• All electromagnetic waves travel at the same speed in a vacuum (the speed of light, approximately 3 × 10⁸ m/s ). Since they travel the exact same distance from the Sun to Earth, they take the same amount of time.

❌ Common Errors

Students often incorrectly assume that because infrared and visible light have different wavelengths/frequencies, they travel at different speeds.

✅ Correct Answer

greater

💡 Key Knowledge

• Wave speed equation: v = f × λ (speed = frequency × wavelength).
• Since all EM waves travel at the same speed ( v is constant), frequency ( f ) and wavelength ( λ ) are inversely proportional.
• Infrared has a longer wavelength than visible light, therefore infrared must have a smaller frequency, meaning visible light has a greater frequency.

✅ Correct Answer

Tick: Greater rate than the Earth

Reason: The Sun is at a higher temperature (allow: the Sun has a greater surface area).

🧠 Exam Technique

• This is a dependent two-part question. If you tick the wrong box, you cannot score the mark for the reason.
• Always link thermal radiation emission rate directly to temperature (and surface area). Hotter objects emit infrared radiation at a much greater rate.