# 9702/43 October/November 2020

> 9702/43 October/November 2020: 12 questions, 100 marks. Difficulty 0.36, deviation 0.16, algebraic 0.28, text density 0.36. 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=9fccc3fe-9ce8-45c1-9bcd-b1e1fe9ceeba)
- [All 9702 P4 papers](https://www.examsci.com/past-papers/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/)

Core finding

**9702/43 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 0.36 on a 0.20–0.75 scale, with a Difficulty Deviation of 0.16 and a mark split of 43.0% Easy, 50.0% Medium and 7.0% Hard. Algebraic complexity averages 0.28; text density and modelling average 0.36. 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**: 0.36 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Medium
- **Difficulty Deviation**: 0.16 — 0 = uniform; higher = more mixed
- **Difficulty Ratio**: 43.0 / 50.0 / 7.0 — % Easy / Medium / Hard
- **Algebraic Complexity Measure**: 0.28 — 0.20–0.75 · nearer Low
- **Text Density and Modelling Measure**: 0.36 — 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** | 0.36 | Σ(d_i × w_i) / Σw_i, with d = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Difficulty Deviation** | 0.16 | √(Σw_i(d_i − μ)^2 / Σw_i) |
| **Difficulty Ratio** | 43.0% Easy / 50.0% Medium / 7.0% Hard | marks in band / all tagged marks |
| **Algebraic Complexity Measure** | 0.28 | Σ(c_i × marks_i) / Σmarks_i, with c = 0.20 / 0.45 / 0.75 |
| **Text Density and Modelling Measure** | 0.36 | 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=9fccc3fe-9ce8-45c1-9bcd-b1e1fe9ceeba&question_id=b60afa3a-0d2b-4db8-be8f-37f0435b63ca&source_detail=9702%2F43+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 | 0.37 Medium | 0.31 Low | 0.39 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=9fccc3fe-9ce8-45c1-9bcd-b1e1fe9ceeba&question_id=ea5270ec-572f-473a-a2a4-b2ebffd83b6f&source_detail=9702%2F43+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 | 0.34 Medium | 0.34 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=9fccc3fe-9ce8-45c1-9bcd-b1e1fe9ceeba&question_id=8df73229-9fe2-4f49-aa4a-d63cb799d06f&source_detail=9702%2F43+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=9fccc3fe-9ce8-45c1-9bcd-b1e1fe9ceeba&question_id=4d9bc5a1-2602-4a87-a7dc-f222e070a824&source_detail=9702%2F43+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 | 0.37 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=9fccc3fe-9ce8-45c1-9bcd-b1e1fe9ceeba&question_id=101c3e98-2831-46bd-8f4d-9f8921f27cb2&source_detail=9702%2F43+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 | 0.20 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=9fccc3fe-9ce8-45c1-9bcd-b1e1fe9ceeba&question_id=b1e72be3-e90d-4675-9d5a-8d62e87b3ebb&source_detail=9702%2F43+October%2FNovember+2020) |
| **Q7** FRQ | [19.4 Sensing devices](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 6 | 0.63 Hard | 0.37 Medium | 0.65 High | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=9fccc3fe-9ce8-45c1-9bcd-b1e1fe9ceeba&question_id=92ed48a0-244f-49ae-a3dd-e27151e2e9a6&source_detail=9702%2F43+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 | 0.39 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=9fccc3fe-9ce8-45c1-9bcd-b1e1fe9ceeba&question_id=96b608c6-1318-4bfc-becb-e9ca0316aaa8&source_detail=9702%2F43+October%2FNovember+2020) |
| **Q9** FRQ | [23.1 Laws of electromagnetic induction](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 9 | 0.34 Medium | 0.20 Low | 0.34 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=9fccc3fe-9ce8-45c1-9bcd-b1e1fe9ceeba&question_id=be2874ee-46be-4c69-b4c2-d5bb6cc83bd5&source_detail=9702%2F43+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 | 0.56 Medium | 0.29 Low | 0.29 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=9fccc3fe-9ce8-45c1-9bcd-b1e1fe9ceeba&question_id=df33e879-c803-4e67-97c6-29c335d1a7d2&source_detail=9702%2F43+October%2FNovember+2020) |
| **Q11** FRQ | [25.1 Energy of a photon](https://www.examsci.com/topics/cie-ial/physics/9702-paper-4/) | 9 | 0.34 Medium | 0.26 Low | 0.34 Medium | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=9fccc3fe-9ce8-45c1-9bcd-b1e1fe9ceeba&question_id=6e13a5e7-ff4a-469e-9358-c53faae9ca14&source_detail=9702%2F43+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 | 0.28 Low | [Go to Practice Hub](https://www.examsci.com/practice?set_id=9fccc3fe-9ce8-45c1-9bcd-b1e1fe9ceeba&question_id=e9795829-f6e2-4bed-bdce-a9bc59101aad&source_detail=9702%2F43+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

- [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
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- [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 0.36 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 0.16, 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 43.0% Easy, 50.0% 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.

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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-9702-43/