# 9702/42 May/June 2020 > 9702/42 May/June 2020: 12 questions, 100 marks. Difficulty 0.39, deviation 0.14, algebraic 0.27, text density 0.39. CIE IAL Physics 9702 P4. - Canonical HTML: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2020-may-june-9702-42/ - Markdown mirror: https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2020-may-june-9702-42/index.md --- CIE IAL · Physics · 2020 May/June This Physics 9702 Paper 4 (A Level Structured) paper contains 12 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 - 12 questions - 100 marks - Free paper - [Practise this paper](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=21877241-1192-46ec-b369-d31f5f1e95c6) - [All 9702 P4 papers](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) Core finding **9702/42 May/June 2020 is a past paper for CIE IAL Physics 9702 Paper 4 (A Level Structured), with 12 questions worth 100 marks.** Its mark-weighted Difficulty Measure is 0.39 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.14 and a mark split of 29.0% Easy, 64.0% Medium and 7.0% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.27; text density and modelling average 0.39. All five measures use 42 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 42 parts carrying 100 part marks. Difficulty tags cover 42 parts, algebraic tags 42 and text-density tags 42. Tags are internal metadata, not official exam-board ratings. - **Difficulty Measure**: 0.39 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium - **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.14 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed - **Difficulty Ratio**: 29.0 / 64.0 / 7.0 — % Easy / Medium / Hard - **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.27 — 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** | 0.39 | Σ(d_i × w_i) / Σw_i, with d = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 | | **Difficulty Deviation** | 0.14 | √(Σw_i(d_i − μ)^2 / Σw_i) | | **Difficulty Ratio** | 29.0% Easy / 64.0% Medium / 7.0% 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** | 0.39 | 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 | [8.4 Gravitational potential](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/gravitational-potential/) | 10 | 0.35 Medium | 0.28 Low | 0.40 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=21877241-1192-46ec-b369-d31f5f1e95c6&question_id=93cafc29-855b-45f2-a929-cda2616e60ab&source_detail=9702%2F42+May%2FJune+2020) | | **Q2** FRQ | [10.2 Kinetic theory of gases](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/kinetic-theory-of-gases/) | 8 | 0.45 Medium | 0.33 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=21877241-1192-46ec-b369-d31f5f1e95c6&question_id=8fd6c2ff-3f6e-471b-a211-4707a8db5597&source_detail=9702%2F42+May%2FJune+2020) | | **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/) | 6 | 0.45 Medium | 0.20 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=21877241-1192-46ec-b369-d31f5f1e95c6&question_id=5fa47c6c-f0d2-47b7-92ce-49af5df75d22&source_detail=9702%2F42+May%2FJune+2020) | | **Q4** FRQ | [13.1 Simple harmonic oscillations](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/simple-harmonic-oscillations/) | 8 | 0.29 Easy | 0.20 Low | 0.33 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=21877241-1192-46ec-b369-d31f5f1e95c6&question_id=defae76a-dc70-4be3-8458-d1eb02b54616&source_detail=9702%2F42+May%2FJune+2020) | | **Q5** FRQ | [14.6 Production and use of ultrasound in diagnosis](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 7 | 0.45 Medium | 0.20 Low | 0.31 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=21877241-1192-46ec-b369-d31f5f1e95c6&question_id=02958247-22c7-4bbb-81a0-7607787d0ba0&source_detail=9702%2F42+May%2FJune+2020) | | **Q6** FRQ | [16.4 Relative merits of channels of communication](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 7 | 0.34 Medium | 0.34 Medium | 0.34 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=21877241-1192-46ec-b369-d31f5f1e95c6&question_id=19afe555-c725-4e6d-bc76-e63e383ec895&source_detail=9702%2F42+May%2FJune+2020) | | **Q7** 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/) | 10 | 0.40 Medium | 0.35 Medium | 0.40 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=21877241-1192-46ec-b369-d31f5f1e95c6&question_id=a99bc621-e6a7-4439-93cc-1bf0391eecf5&source_detail=9702%2F42+May%2FJune+2020) | | **Q8** FRQ | [21.1 The ideal operational amplifier](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 11 | 0.36 Medium | 0.25 Low | 0.40 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=21877241-1192-46ec-b369-d31f5f1e95c6&question_id=ace5b3d1-bcb2-4cf1-96ff-0cf787dc173f&source_detail=9702%2F42+May%2FJune+2020) | | **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/) | 10 | 0.38 Medium | 0.28 Low | 0.40 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=21877241-1192-46ec-b369-d31f5f1e95c6&question_id=fa29fc00-eabb-415f-82ae-a7925014b75b&source_detail=9702%2F42+May%2FJune+2020) | | **Q10** FRQ | [23.1 Laws of electromagnetic induction](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 7 | 0.44 Medium | 0.20 Low | 0.31 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=21877241-1192-46ec-b369-d31f5f1e95c6&question_id=8e154388-16e4-47a6-85df-ff5fe9884716&source_detail=9702%2F42+May%2FJune+2020) | | **Q11** FRQ | [25.5 Band theory](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 8 | 0.57 Medium | 0.33 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=21877241-1192-46ec-b369-d31f5f1e95c6&question_id=5a9ccdb1-e280-4aa4-88f5-052cedb6f163&source_detail=9702%2F42+May%2FJune+2020) | | **Q12** FRQ | [26.3 Mass defect and nuclear binding energy](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/mass-defect-and-nuclear-binding-energy/) | 8 | 0.33 Medium | 0.26 Low | 0.39 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=21877241-1192-46ec-b369-d31f5f1e95c6&question_id=34aad525-5f30-4fce-883b-cfc56160de06&source_detail=9702%2F42+May%2FJune+2020) | ## Topics in this paper - [8.4 Gravitational potential](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/gravitational-potential/) - [10.2 Kinetic theory of gases](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/kinetic-theory-of-gases/) - [10.1 Equation of state](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/equation-of-state/) - [10.3 Kinetic energy of a molecule](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/) - [12.2 Internal energy and the first law of thermodynamics](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/) - [13.3 Damped and forced oscillations, resonance](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/damped-and-forced-oscillations-resonance/) - [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/) - [16.5 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-4/2020-october-november-9702-41/) — October/November 2020 — 12 questions · 100 marks — Free - [9702/42](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2020-october-november-9702-42/) — October/November 2020 — 12 questions · 100 marks — Free - [9702/43](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2020-october-november-9702-43/) — October/November 2020 — 12 questions · 100 marks — Free - [9702/41](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2020-may-june-9702-41/) — May/June 2020 — 12 questions · 100 marks — Free - [9702/43](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2020-may-june-9702-43/) — May/June 2020 — 12 questions · 100 marks — Free - [9702/42](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/2020-march-9702-42/) — March 2020 — 12 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 0.39 from 42 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 0.14, 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 29.0% Easy, 64.0% Medium and 7.0% 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-4/2020-may-june-9702-42/