# 9702/21 May/June 2019

> 9702/21 May/June 2019: 7 questions, 60 marks. Difficulty 0.31, deviation 0.15, algebraic 0.21, text density 0.30. CIE IAL Physics 9702 P2.

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CIE IAL · Physics · 2019 May/June

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=cdcf8492-99a9-4a7b-a93f-2b1b07178daf)
- [All 9702 P2 papers](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/)

Core finding

**9702/21 May/June 2019 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 0.31 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.15 and a mark split of 61.7% Easy, 33.3% Medium and 5.0% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.21; text density and modelling average 0.30. All five measures use 37 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 37 parts carrying 60 part marks. Difficulty tags cover 37 parts, algebraic tags 37 and text-density tags 37. Tags are internal metadata, not official exam-board ratings.

- **Difficulty Measure**: 0.31 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Easy
- **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.15 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed
- **Difficulty Ratio**: 61.7 / 33.3 / 5.0 — % Easy / Medium / Hard
- **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.21 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Low
- **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.30 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Low

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** | 0.31 | Σ(d_i × w_i) / Σw_i, with d = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Difficulty Deviation** | 0.15 | √(Σw_i(d_i − μ)^2 / Σw_i) |
| **Difficulty Ratio** | 61.7% Easy / 33.3% Medium / 5.0% Hard | marks in band / all tagged marks |
| **Algebraic Complexity Measure** | 0.21 | Σ(c_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with c = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Text Density and Modelling Measure** | 0.30 | 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 | [3.1 Equations of motion](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/equations-of-motion/) | 6 | 0.33 Medium | 0.33 Medium | 0.41 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=cdcf8492-99a9-4a7b-a93f-2b1b07178daf&question_id=fcb3279a-43fe-4fd0-ac1b-458009ff960d&source_detail=9702%2F21+May%2FJune+2019) |
| **Q2** FRQ | [4.1 Momentum and Newton’s laws of motion](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/momentum-and-newton-s-laws-of-motion/) | 9 | 0.44 Medium | 0.20 Low | 0.28 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=cdcf8492-99a9-4a7b-a93f-2b1b07178daf&question_id=b828f824-e6ff-4dd8-94d1-2ccd24def450&source_detail=9702%2F21+May%2FJune+2019) |
| **Q3** FRQ | [9.2 Elastic and plastic behaviour](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/elastic-and-plastic-behaviour/) | 7 | 0.31 Easy | 0.20 Low | 0.38 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=cdcf8492-99a9-4a7b-a93f-2b1b07178daf&question_id=1a2c14f6-1244-4058-a29e-22c9df2b8c72&source_detail=9702%2F21+May%2FJune+2019) |
| **Q4** FRQ | [5.4 Density and pressure](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/density-and-pressure/) | 14 | 0.25 Easy | 0.20 Low | 0.29 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=cdcf8492-99a9-4a7b-a93f-2b1b07178daf&question_id=cbc0cd34-7f98-42ef-8c62-33e11afe2924&source_detail=9702%2F21+May%2FJune+2019) |
| **Q5** FRQ | [14.1 Progressive waves](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/progressive-waves/) | 9 | 0.31 Easy | 0.20 Low | 0.26 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=cdcf8492-99a9-4a7b-a93f-2b1b07178daf&question_id=623ac008-a882-4ee0-af01-01924be3fd60&source_detail=9702%2F21+May%2FJune+2019) |
| **Q6** FRQ | [20.1 Practical circuits](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/practical-circuits/) | 10 | 0.33 Medium | 0.20 Low | 0.28 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=cdcf8492-99a9-4a7b-a93f-2b1b07178daf&question_id=0fd577af-1d34-480a-af4e-89470876540a&source_detail=9702%2F21+May%2FJune+2019) |
| **Q7** FRQ | [26.1 Atoms, nuclei and radiation](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/atoms-nuclei-and-radiation/) | 5 | 0.20 Easy | 0.20 Low | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=cdcf8492-99a9-4a7b-a93f-2b1b07178daf&question_id=2fd5355e-6aa1-406f-831d-a91e130ffdc6&source_detail=9702%2F21+May%2FJune+2019) |

## Topics in this paper

- [3.1 Equations of motion](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/equations-of-motion/)
- [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/)
- [4.1 Momentum and Newton’s laws of motion](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/momentum-and-newton-s-laws-of-motion/)
- [4.3 Linear momentum and its conservation](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/linear-momentum-and-its-conservation/)
- [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/)
- [6.1 Energy conversion and conservation](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/)
- [19.1 Electric current](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/electric-current/)
- [17.2 Uniform electric fields](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/)
- [5.3 Equilibrium of forces](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/equilibrium-of-forces/)
- [5.1 Types of force](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/)

## Related papers

- [9702/21](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/2019-october-november-9702-21/) — October/November 2019 — 7 questions · 60 marks — Free
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- [9702/22](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/2019-may-june-9702-22/) — May/June 2019 — 6 questions · 60 marks — Free
- [9702/23](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/2019-may-june-9702-23/) — May/June 2019 — 7 questions · 60 marks — Free
- [9702/22](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/2019-march-9702-22/) — March 2019 — 7 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 0.31 from 37 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 0.15, 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 61.7% Easy, 33.3% Medium and 5.0% 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.

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Full page with native tables, bar charts and Practice Hub links: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-2/2019-may-june-9702-21/