# 9702/43 May/June 2018 > 9702/43 May/June 2018: 13 questions, 100 marks. Difficulty 0.40, deviation 0.18, algebraic 0.27, text density 0.41. CIE IAL Physics 9702 P4. - Canonical HTML: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2018-may-june-9702-43/ - Markdown mirror: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2018-may-june-9702-43/index.md --- CIE IAL · Physics · 2018 May/June 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=dd989c97-e7f0-4d13-ae79-f5c5dc964bea) - [All 9702 P4 papers](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) Core finding **9702/43 May/June 2018 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 0.40 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.18 and a mark split of 35.0% Easy, 46.0% Medium and 19.0% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.27; text density and modelling average 0.41. All five measures use 47 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 47 parts carrying 100 part marks. Difficulty tags cover 47 parts, algebraic tags 47 and text-density tags 47. Tags are internal metadata, not official exam-board ratings. - **Difficulty Measure**: 0.40 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium - **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.18 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed - **Difficulty Ratio**: 35.0 / 46.0 / 19.0 — % Easy / Medium / Hard - **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.27 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Low - **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.41 — 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** | 0.40 | Σ(d_i × w_i) / Σw_i, with d = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 | | **Difficulty Deviation** | 0.18 | √(Σw_i(d_i − μ)^2 / Σw_i) | | **Difficulty Ratio** | 35.0% Easy / 46.0% Medium / 19.0% Hard | marks in band / all tagged marks | | **Algebraic Complexity Measure** | 0.27 | Σ(c_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with c = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 | | **Text Density and Modelling Measure** | 0.41 | 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/) | 9 | 0.37 Medium | 0.37 Medium | 0.39 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=dd989c97-e7f0-4d13-ae79-f5c5dc964bea&question_id=c31dbbd8-3204-4a7f-80f2-309cbe7b0a48&source_detail=9702%2F43+May%2FJune+2018) | | **Q2** FRQ | [13.1 Simple harmonic oscillations](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/simple-harmonic-oscillations/) | 8 | 0.39 Medium | 0.36 Medium | 0.39 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=dd989c97-e7f0-4d13-ae79-f5c5dc964bea&question_id=93f8bd8d-541d-4d37-b6aa-006eddeb5456&source_detail=9702%2F43+May%2FJune+2018) | | **Q3** FRQ | [12.2 Internal energy and the first law of thermodynamics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 8 | 0.39 Medium | 0.29 Low | 0.39 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=dd989c97-e7f0-4d13-ae79-f5c5dc964bea&question_id=4427bc59-19f8-4722-bd3f-2213c0099d17&source_detail=9702%2F43+May%2FJune+2018) | | **Q4** FRQ | [19.4 Sensing devices](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 7 | 0.64 Hard | 0.20 Low | 0.67 High | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=dd989c97-e7f0-4d13-ae79-f5c5dc964bea&question_id=3a787554-406d-4855-b943-f20b122e607d&source_detail=9702%2F43+May%2FJune+2018) | | **Q5** FRQ | [8.2 Gravitational force between point masses](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/gravitational-force-between-point-masses/) | 8 | 0.36 Medium | 0.29 Low | 0.36 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=dd989c97-e7f0-4d13-ae79-f5c5dc964bea&question_id=ab0aa16f-c866-4a5b-9cfc-a5acead1ec22&source_detail=9702%2F43+May%2FJune+2018) | | **Q6** FRQ | [17.4 Electric field of a point charge](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/electric-field-of-a-point-charge/) | 5 | 0.40 Medium | 0.40 Medium | 0.40 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=dd989c97-e7f0-4d13-ae79-f5c5dc964bea&question_id=db99d1e2-3a77-4320-8f98-07dfb048dc1e&source_detail=9702%2F43+May%2FJune+2018) | | **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 | 0.20 Low | 0.31 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=dd989c97-e7f0-4d13-ae79-f5c5dc964bea&question_id=d6485b5e-c5fc-47d4-8d79-315a9d0e9fc4&source_detail=9702%2F43+May%2FJune+2018) | | **Q8** FRQ | [21.2 Operational amplifier circuits](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 9 | 0.28 Easy | 0.20 Low | 0.28 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=dd989c97-e7f0-4d13-ae79-f5c5dc964bea&question_id=442cd1fe-93d5-402b-b7d7-58d0ebec58f2&source_detail=9702%2F43+May%2FJune+2018) | | **Q9** FRQ | [22.2 Force on a current-carrying conductor](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/force-on-a-current-carrying-conductor/) | 8 | 0.39 Medium | 0.29 Low | 0.39 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=dd989c97-e7f0-4d13-ae79-f5c5dc964bea&question_id=bb52f6ba-0cb1-4e01-9fa2-c3440f27155e&source_detail=9702%2F43+May%2FJune+2018) | | **Q10** FRQ | [23.1 Laws of electromagnetic induction](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 6 | 0.52 Medium | 0.20 Low | 0.57 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=dd989c97-e7f0-4d13-ae79-f5c5dc964bea&question_id=c92ab125-404f-4ef7-81d2-60cdc4af8713&source_detail=9702%2F43+May%2FJune+2018) | | **Q11** FRQ | [25.1 Energy of a photon](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 8 | 0.53 Medium | 0.20 Low | 0.57 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=dd989c97-e7f0-4d13-ae79-f5c5dc964bea&question_id=a0aebf04-888d-49d8-a856-f3d902a6a2d8&source_detail=9702%2F43+May%2FJune+2018) | | **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/) | 7 | 0.27 Easy | 0.27 Low | 0.34 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=dd989c97-e7f0-4d13-ae79-f5c5dc964bea&question_id=298267ef-7f4a-4062-aaf8-57a1832e6b13&source_detail=9702%2F43+May%2FJune+2018) | | **Q13** FRQ | [26.4 Radioactive decay](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/radioactive-decay/) | 8 | 0.50 Medium | 0.33 Medium | 0.33 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=dd989c97-e7f0-4d13-ae79-f5c5dc964bea&question_id=5c27bd10-3665-4a25-b5ae-bd52e8b35ef1&source_detail=9702%2F43+May%2FJune+2018) | ## 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/) - [13.1 Simple harmonic oscillations](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/simple-harmonic-oscillations/) - [12.2 Internal energy and the first law of thermodynamics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) - [10.3 Kinetic energy of a molecule](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) - [10.1 Equation of state](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/equation-of-state/) - [19.4 Sensing devices](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) - [14.6 Production and use of ultrasound in diagnosis](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) - [16.4 Relative merits of channels of communication](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) - [16.2 Modulation](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) - [16.5 Attenuation](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) - [17.4 Electric field of a point charge](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/electric-field-of-a-point-charge/) ## Related papers - [9702/41](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2018-october-november-9702-41/) — October/November 2018 — 12 questions · 100 marks — Free - [9702/42](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2018-october-november-9702-42/) — October/November 2018 — 12 questions · 100 marks — Free - [9702/43](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2018-october-november-9702-43/) — October/November 2018 — 12 questions · 100 marks — Free - [9702/41](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2018-may-june-9702-41/) — May/June 2018 — 13 questions · 100 marks — Free - [9702/42](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2018-may-june-9702-42/) — May/June 2018 — 12 questions · 100 marks — Free - [9702/42](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2018-march-9702-42/) — March 2018 — 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 0.40 from 47 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 0.18, 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 35.0% Easy, 46.0% Medium and 19.0% 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-4/2018-may-june-9702-43/