# 9702/42 March 2016 > 9702/42 March 2016: 13 questions, 100 marks. Difficulty 0.35, deviation 0.12, algebraic 0.30, text density 0.40. CIE IAL Physics 9702 P4. - Canonical HTML: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2016-march-9702-42/ - Markdown mirror: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2016-march-9702-42/index.md --- CIE IAL · Physics · 2016 March This Physics 9702 Paper 4 (A Level Structured) paper contains 13 questions worth 100 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 P4 - 13 questions - 100 marks - Free paper - [Practise this paper](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=4b7182f7-1828-4768-8850-bada84cd33fe) - [All 9702 P4 papers](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) Core finding **9702/42 March 2016 is a past paper for CIE IAL Physics 9702 Paper 4 (A Level Structured), with 13 questions worth 100 marks.** Its mark-weighted Difficulty Measure is 0.35 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.12 and a mark split of 39.0% Easy, 61.0% Medium and 0.0% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.30; text density and modelling average 0.40. All five measures use 53 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 53 parts carrying 100 part marks. Difficulty tags cover 53 parts, algebraic tags 53 and text-density tags 53. Tags are internal metadata, not official exam-board ratings. - **Difficulty Measure**: 0.35 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium - **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.12 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed - **Difficulty Ratio**: 39.0 / 61.0 / 0.0 — % Easy / Medium / Hard - **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.30 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Low - **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.40 — 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** | 0.35 | 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** | 39.0% Easy / 61.0% Medium / 0.0% Hard | marks in band / all tagged marks | | **Algebraic Complexity Measure** | 0.30 | Σ(c_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with c = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 | | **Text Density and Modelling Measure** | 0.40 | 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 | [8.2 Gravitational force between point masses](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/gravitational-force-between-point-masses/) | 11 | 0.40 Medium | 0.36 Medium | 0.34 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=4b7182f7-1828-4768-8850-bada84cd33fe&question_id=88d8861d-553c-4ea8-9b9f-3b7a5b6c7631&source_detail=9702%2F42+March+2016) | | **Q2** FRQ | [12.2 Internal energy and the first law of thermodynamics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 11 | 0.27 Easy | 0.27 Low | 0.36 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=4b7182f7-1828-4768-8850-bada84cd33fe&question_id=1dfce6ab-72e7-4e85-81b2-03bfb24ddaca&source_detail=9702%2F42+March+2016) | | **Q3** FRQ | [12.1 Specific heat capacity and specific latent heat](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/specific-heat-capacity-and-specific-latent-heat/) | 9 | 0.39 Medium | 0.37 Medium | 0.43 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=4b7182f7-1828-4768-8850-bada84cd33fe&question_id=785893be-cd60-4312-a959-bee92dbfb219&source_detail=9702%2F42+March+2016) | | **Q4** FRQ | [13.1 Simple harmonic oscillations](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/simple-harmonic-oscillations/) | 4 | 0.39 Medium | 0.39 Medium | 0.39 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=4b7182f7-1828-4768-8850-bada84cd33fe&question_id=c1487fa4-7328-489f-ad66-4ee3a269b969&source_detail=9702%2F42+March+2016) | | **Q5** FRQ | [16.3 Digital communication](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 4 | 0.20 Easy | 0.20 Low | 0.33 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=4b7182f7-1828-4768-8850-bada84cd33fe&question_id=b677b9c0-a73a-4206-893b-327ed48fe012&source_detail=9702%2F42+March+2016) | | **Q6** FRQ | [14.6 Production and use of ultrasound in diagnosis](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 8 | 0.42 Medium | 0.36 Medium | 0.56 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=4b7182f7-1828-4768-8850-bada84cd33fe&question_id=399b65a7-9d81-4789-9a73-654f576ecbc1&source_detail=9702%2F42+March+2016) | | **Q7** FRQ | [18.1 Capacitors and capacitance](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/capacitors-and-capacitance/) | 9 | 0.34 Medium | 0.28 Low | 0.37 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=4b7182f7-1828-4768-8850-bada84cd33fe&question_id=45feb2d2-b1ad-4373-ad07-1befc069f075&source_detail=9702%2F42+March+2016) | | **Q8** FRQ | [21.2 Operational amplifier circuits](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 8 | 0.33 Medium | 0.26 Low | 0.33 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=4b7182f7-1828-4768-8850-bada84cd33fe&question_id=30be277a-d6ac-45ee-b225-d00311fcdbbb&source_detail=9702%2F42+March+2016) | | **Q9** FRQ | [22.3 Force on a moving charge](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/force-on-a-moving-charge/) | 11 | 0.31 Easy | 0.27 Low | 0.43 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=4b7182f7-1828-4768-8850-bada84cd33fe&question_id=5e16ad10-85b9-4d98-99aa-2c557d239810&source_detail=9702%2F42+March+2016) | | **Q10** FRQ | [23.1 Laws of electromagnetic induction](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 5 | 0.40 Medium | 0.30 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=4b7182f7-1828-4768-8850-bada84cd33fe&question_id=50063aa4-7c5c-4802-9f7b-08c8e4808ac0&source_detail=9702%2F42+March+2016) | | **Q11** FRQ | [25.2 Photoelectric emission of electrons](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 10 | 0.38 Medium | 0.25 Low | 0.47 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=4b7182f7-1828-4768-8850-bada84cd33fe&question_id=5e73c6e1-556f-4e2b-8825-dd86898686af&source_detail=9702%2F42+March+2016) | | **Q12** FRQ | [25.6 Production and use of X-rays](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/production-and-use-of-x-rays/) | 4 | 0.33 Medium | 0.20 Low | 0.33 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=4b7182f7-1828-4768-8850-bada84cd33fe&question_id=ab32b667-4364-4fe3-9061-c755348b1782&source_detail=9702%2F42+March+2016) | | **Q13** FRQ | [26.4 Radioactive decay](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/radioactive-decay/) | 6 | 0.41 Medium | 0.41 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=4b7182f7-1828-4768-8850-bada84cd33fe&question_id=2e974a74-9219-44b4-b72f-cdb7e50cf218&source_detail=9702%2F42+March+2016) | ## Topics in this paper - [8.2 Gravitational force between point masses](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/gravitational-force-between-point-masses/) - [7.2 Centripetal acceleration and centripetal force](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) - [7.1 Kinematics of uniform circular motion](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/kinematics-of-uniform-circular-motion/) - [12.2 Internal energy and the first law of thermodynamics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) - [10.2 Kinetic theory of gases](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/kinetic-theory-of-gases/) - [10.3 Kinetic energy of a molecule](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) - [11.2 Temperature scales](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/temperature-scales/) - [1.3 The Avogadro constant](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) - [12.1 Specific heat capacity and specific latent heat](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/specific-heat-capacity-and-specific-latent-heat/) - [24.1 Characteristics of alternating currents](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/characteristics-of-alternating-currents/) - [13.1 Simple harmonic oscillations](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/simple-harmonic-oscillations/) - [13.2 Energy in simple harmonic motion](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/energy-in-simple-harmonic-motion/) ## Related papers - [9702/41](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2016-october-november-9702-41/) — October/November 2016 — 12 questions · 100 marks — Free - [9702/42](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2016-october-november-9702-42/) — October/November 2016 — 14 questions · 100 marks — Free - [9702/43](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2016-october-november-9702-43/) — October/November 2016 — 12 questions · 100 marks — Free - [9702/41](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2016-may-june-9702-41/) — May/June 2016 — 13 questions · 100 marks — Free - [9702/42](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2016-may-june-9702-42/) — May/June 2016 — 13 questions · 100 marks — Free - [9702/43](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2016-may-june-9702-43/) — May/June 2016 — 13 questions · 100 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 0.35 from 53 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 39.0% Easy, 61.0% 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-4/2016-march-9702-42/