# 9702/41 October/November 2020

> 9702/41 October/November 2020: 12 questions, 100 marks. Difficulty 0.33, deviation 0.14, algebraic 0.26, text density 0.40. CIE IAL Physics 9702 P4.

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CIE IAL · Physics · 2020 October/November

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=82910241-2679-414a-a29d-617d70cea55b)
- [All 9702 P4 papers](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/)

Core finding

**9702/41 October/November 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 0.33 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.14 and a mark split of 50.0% Easy, 46.0% Medium and 4.0% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.26; text density and modelling average 0.40. All five measures use 44 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 44 parts carrying 100 part marks. Difficulty tags cover 44 parts, algebraic tags 44 and text-density tags 44. Tags are internal metadata, not official exam-board ratings.

- **Difficulty Measure**: 0.33 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.14 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed
- **Difficulty Ratio**: 50.0 / 46.0 / 4.0 — % Easy / Medium / Hard
- **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.26 — 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** | 0.33 | 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** | 50.0% Easy / 46.0% Medium / 4.0% Hard | marks in band / all tagged marks |
| **Algebraic Complexity Measure** | 0.26 | 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 | [8.1 Gravitational field](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/gravitational-field/) | 9 | 0.28 Easy | 0.28 Low | 0.37 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=82910241-2679-414a-a29d-617d70cea55b&question_id=03113c5e-81c7-451d-ac8a-b1d85aa5fd5a&source_detail=9702%2F41+October%2FNovember+2020) |
| **Q2** FRQ | [12.2 Internal energy and the first law of thermodynamics](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 9 | 0.31 Easy | 0.31 Low | 0.39 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=82910241-2679-414a-a29d-617d70cea55b&question_id=3222b200-a7a4-49f4-b73b-60716e2e7cb4&source_detail=9702%2F41+October%2FNovember+2020) |
| **Q3** FRQ | [13.1 Simple harmonic oscillations](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/simple-harmonic-oscillations/) | 9 | 0.34 Medium | 0.28 Low | 0.39 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=82910241-2679-414a-a29d-617d70cea55b&question_id=889cfef3-6152-4980-80ec-27e06e33662d&source_detail=9702%2F41+October%2FNovember+2020) |
| **Q4** FRQ | [14.6 Production and use of ultrasound in diagnosis](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 8 | 0.45 Medium | 0.33 Medium | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=82910241-2679-414a-a29d-617d70cea55b&question_id=898f5db2-c0d4-4142-b2bc-498669b2c6c7&source_detail=9702%2F41+October%2FNovember+2020) |
| **Q5** FRQ | [17.5 Electric potential](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/electric-potential/) | 9 | 0.37 Medium | 0.37 Medium | 0.39 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=82910241-2679-414a-a29d-617d70cea55b&question_id=6ff75f8f-a982-4410-90e2-ce424910d0db&source_detail=9702%2F41+October%2FNovember+2020) |
| **Q6** FRQ | [18.1 Capacitors and capacitance](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/capacitors-and-capacitance/) | 7 | 0.20 Easy | 0.20 Low | 0.27 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=82910241-2679-414a-a29d-617d70cea55b&question_id=a418b165-6517-4693-9617-c0d830fa1478&source_detail=9702%2F41+October%2FNovember+2020) |
| **Q7** FRQ | [19.4 Sensing devices](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 6 | 0.63 Hard | 0.20 Low | 0.65 High | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=82910241-2679-414a-a29d-617d70cea55b&question_id=686ec40e-e1f6-4bcf-9dfe-273ffb991d7e&source_detail=9702%2F41+October%2FNovember+2020) |
| **Q8** FRQ | [22.3 Force on a moving charge](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/force-on-a-moving-charge/) | 8 | 0.26 Easy | 0.20 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=82910241-2679-414a-a29d-617d70cea55b&question_id=7f5a9132-01f8-4914-b672-9b6b3efe5a30&source_detail=9702%2F41+October%2FNovember+2020) |
| **Q9** FRQ | [23.1 Laws of electromagnetic induction](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=82910241-2679-414a-a29d-617d70cea55b&question_id=ef58abb8-2321-482e-b8fc-0167a950a181&source_detail=9702%2F41+October%2FNovember+2020) |
| **Q10** 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/) | 8 | 0.45 Medium | 0.29 Low | 0.45 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=82910241-2679-414a-a29d-617d70cea55b&question_id=16833f61-75f7-45a8-9249-16d028b72141&source_detail=9702%2F41+October%2FNovember+2020) |
| **Q11** FRQ | [25.1 Energy of a photon](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 9 | 0.26 Easy | 0.20 Low | 0.39 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=82910241-2679-414a-a29d-617d70cea55b&question_id=53c9fcb3-a393-4fa4-862c-3a262a35c023&source_detail=9702%2F41+October%2FNovember+2020) |
| **Q12** FRQ | [26.4 Radioactive decay](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/radioactive-decay/) | 9 | 0.28 Easy | 0.28 Low | 0.34 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=82910241-2679-414a-a29d-617d70cea55b&question_id=bb31c54b-2f52-471d-bd1b-46227125a3d9&source_detail=9702%2F41+October%2FNovember+2020) |

## Topics in this paper

- [8.1 Gravitational field](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/gravitational-field/)
- [8.3 Gravitational field of a point mass](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/gravitational-field-of-a-point-mass/)
- [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/)
- [14.6 Production and use of ultrasound in diagnosis](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/)
- [17.5 Electric potential](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/electric-potential/)
- [18.1 Capacitors and capacitance](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/capacitors-and-capacitance/)
- [18.2 Energy stored in a capacitor](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/energy-stored-in-a-capacitor/)
- [19.4 Sensing devices](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/)
- [21.2 Operational amplifier circuits](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/)
- [22.3 Force on a moving charge](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/force-on-a-moving-charge/)

## Related papers

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## 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 0.33 from 44 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 50.0% Easy, 46.0% Medium and 4.0% 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-4/2020-october-november-9702-41/