# 9702/21 October/November 2016

> 9702/21 October/November 2016: 7 questions, 60 marks. Difficulty 0.28, deviation 0.12, algebraic 0.28, text density 0.39. CIE IAL Physics 9702 P2.

- Canonical HTML: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/2016-october-november-9702-21/
- Markdown mirror: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/2016-october-november-9702-21/index.md

---

CIE IAL · Physics · 2016 October/November

This Physics 9702 Paper 2 (AS Structured) paper contains 7 questions worth 60 marks. The profile below reports five mark-weighted difficulty and complexity measures, and every question row repeats them. Full question text and mark scheme open in the Interactive Practice Hub.

- CIE IAL
- 9702 P2
- 7 questions
- 60 marks
- Free paper
- [Practise this paper](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=ba8b9591-95e3-48e7-81ce-47b0877513da)
- [All 9702 P2 papers](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/)

Core finding

**9702/21 October/November 2016 is a past paper for CIE IAL Physics 9702 Paper 2 (AS Structured), with 7 questions worth 60 marks.** Its mark-weighted Difficulty Measure is 0.28 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.12 and a mark split of 66.7% Easy, 33.3% Medium and 0.0% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.28; text density and modelling average 0.39. All five measures use 33 part-level tags, not candidate results. Every question row below repeats them and opens the Interactive Practice Hub for that question.

## Difficulty & complexity profile

All five measures are mark-weighted and calculated from 33 parts carrying 60 part marks. Difficulty tags cover 33 parts, algebraic tags 33 and text-density tags 33. Tags are internal metadata, not official exam-board ratings.

- **Difficulty Measure**: 0.28 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Easy
- **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.12 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed
- **Difficulty Ratio**: 66.7 / 33.3 / 0.0 — % Easy / Medium / Hard
- **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.28 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Low
- **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.39 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium

Scale: Easy 0.20 · Medium 0.45 · Hard 0.75, and Low 0.20 · Medium 0.45 · High 0.75 for the two complexity measures. [How each band is defined and how the values are calculated →](https://www.examsci.com/guides/difficulty-and-complexity-measures/)

### Definitions and calculation

| Measure | Paper value | Formula |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Difficulty Measure** | 0.28 | Σ(d_i × w_i) / Σw_i, with d = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Difficulty Deviation** | 0.12 | √(Σw_i(d_i − μ)^2 / Σw_i) |
| **Difficulty Ratio** | 66.7% Easy / 33.3% Medium / 0.0% Hard | marks in band / all tagged marks |
| **Algebraic Complexity Measure** | 0.28 | Σ(c_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with c = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Text Density and Modelling Measure** | 0.39 | Σ(t_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with t = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |

w_i equals the part marks, except for a Hard part worth 4 or more marks, where w_i = marks^0.75 to offset the accessible starter steps inside long structured questions.

## Question list

Each measure is recalculated from the parts of that question and uses the same weights as the paper profile.

| Question | Topic | Marks | Difficulty Measure | Algebraic Complexity Measure | Text Density and Modelling Measure | Practice |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Q1** FRQ | [5.4 Density and pressure](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/density-and-pressure/) | 5 | 0.35 Medium | 0.35 Medium | 0.40 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=ba8b9591-95e3-48e7-81ce-47b0877513da&question_id=03df0210-65cd-4f9b-bd73-e437dcf6567d&source_detail=9702%2F21+October%2FNovember+2016) |
| **Q2** FRQ | [17.1 Concept of an electric field](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/) | 12 | 0.26 Easy | 0.26 Low | 0.43 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=ba8b9591-95e3-48e7-81ce-47b0877513da&question_id=a11add90-18a0-4eca-b463-61bb12874f4c&source_detail=9702%2F21+October%2FNovember+2016) |
| **Q3** FRQ | [9.1 Stress and strain](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/stress-and-strain/) | 12 | 0.26 Easy | 0.26 Low | 0.43 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=ba8b9591-95e3-48e7-81ce-47b0877513da&question_id=ca21d02a-dbb6-429b-9f24-bf2f8c5b25b4&source_detail=9702%2F21+October%2FNovember+2016) |
| **Q4** FRQ | [14.1 Progressive waves](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/progressive-waves/) | 8 | 0.26 Easy | 0.26 Low | 0.39 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=ba8b9591-95e3-48e7-81ce-47b0877513da&question_id=4d778c6f-34a8-4178-8e72-1e91b0cfd0cd&source_detail=9702%2F21+October%2FNovember+2016) |
| **Q5** FRQ | [15.2 Diffraction](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/diffraction/) | 7 | 0.38 Medium | 0.31 Low | 0.38 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=ba8b9591-95e3-48e7-81ce-47b0877513da&question_id=10a3a07a-f8a4-45ae-939f-851f1ffe0633&source_detail=9702%2F21+October%2FNovember+2016) |
| **Q6** FRQ | [19.2 Potential difference and power](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/potential-difference-and-power/) | 9 | 0.31 Easy | 0.31 Low | 0.42 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=ba8b9591-95e3-48e7-81ce-47b0877513da&question_id=bf9887be-9c1f-4085-bf87-a63bc31681ff&source_detail=9702%2F21+October%2FNovember+2016) |
| **Q7** FRQ | [26.2 Fundamental particles](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/fundamental-particles/) | 7 | 0.20 Easy | 0.20 Low | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=ba8b9591-95e3-48e7-81ce-47b0877513da&question_id=96d19fd2-d74c-427b-941f-257c4d719a81&source_detail=9702%2F21+October%2FNovember+2016) |

## Topics in this paper

- [5.4 Density and pressure](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/density-and-pressure/)
- [2.2 Errors and uncertainties](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/errors-and-uncertainties/)
- [17.1 Concept of an electric field](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/)
- [3.1 Equations of motion](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/equations-of-motion/)
- [17.2 Uniform electric fields](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/)
- [9.1 Stress and strain](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/stress-and-strain/)
- [9.2 Elastic and plastic behaviour](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/elastic-and-plastic-behaviour/)
- [6.3 Potential energy and kinetic energy](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/)
- [6.2 Work and efficiency](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/)
- [14.1 Progressive waves](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/progressive-waves/)
- [14.3 Determination of frequency and wavelength of sound waves](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/)
- [14.4 Doppler effect](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/)

## Related papers

- [9702/22](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/2016-october-november-9702-22/) — October/November 2016 — 6 questions · 60 marks — Free
- [9702/23](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/2016-october-november-9702-23/) — October/November 2016 — 7 questions · 60 marks — Free
- [9702/21](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/2016-may-june-9702-21/) — May/June 2016 — 7 questions · 60 marks — Free
- [9702/22](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/2016-may-june-9702-22/) — May/June 2016 — 8 questions · 60 marks — Free
- [9702/23](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/2016-may-june-9702-23/) — May/June 2016 — 8 questions · 60 marks — Free
- [9702/22](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/2016-march-9702-22/) — March 2016 — 6 questions · 60 marks — Free

## Paper FAQ

**How are the difficulty and complexity measures calculated?**

Each part is weighted by its official marks. Difficulty uses Easy 0.20, Medium 0.45 and Hard 0.75; algebraic complexity and text density and modelling use Low 0.20, Medium 0.45 and High 0.75. A Hard part worth 4 or more marks is down-weighted to marks^0.75, so the accessible starter steps inside a long structured question do not inflate the difficulty result. This paper's Difficulty Measure is 0.28 from 33 parts.

**What does the Difficulty Deviation show?**

It is the mark-weighted standard deviation of the part difficulty values around the paper mean. A value of 0 would mean every tagged part has the same difficulty; this paper's deviation is 0.12, so its parts are more mixed than a single-level paper.

**Is the Difficulty Ratio based on question counts or marks?**

It is based on official marks, not question counts. This paper's shares are 66.7% Easy, 33.3% Medium and 0.0% Hard; the three shares sum to 100% before rounding.

**Are these official difficulty ratings?**

No. They are derived from the platform's part-level difficulty and static-question-profile tags. They are not exam-board grade boundaries and are not calculated from candidate outcomes. Use them to compare the demand profile of papers, not to predict a grade.

**Why does each question row show its own measures?**

Each row recalculates the same mark-weighted formula from that question's parts. A single-part MCQ therefore shows the tag value directly, while a multi-part structured question blends the tags of its parts using the same Hard-part decay as the paper profile.

---

Full page with native tables, bar charts and Practice Hub links: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/2016-october-november-9702-21/