OCR A GCSE Physics Paper 3 Higher, June 2025: question 11

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PrepWise guide: OCR A GCSE Physics Paper 3 HigherQuestion 1111 of 24

A sealed rigid container holds gas that is warmed up. Figure 5 offers four graphs, A to D, of pressure against temperature in degrees Celsius.

Figure 5
Four small graphs in a two by two grid, each with Pressure on the vertical axis and Temperature in degrees Celsius on the horizontal axis, with 0 marked where the two axes cross. Graph A: a straight line rising from left to right that cuts the pressure axis above zero. Graph B: a straight line falling from the upper left to the temperature axis on the right of zero. Graph C: a smooth bell-shaped curve that peaks on the pressure axis at 0 and falls to nearly zero on both sides. Graph D: a straight line rising from the point where the two axes cross.
11[1 mark]

Pick the graph in Figure 5 that shows how the gas pressure changes with temperature.

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Graph A
Graph B
Graph C
Graph D
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When the gas is warmed, its particles move faster and hit the container walls harder and more often, so pressure rises steadily, giving a straight line sloping upwards. The gas still has pressure at 0 degrees Celsius, so the line cuts the pressure axis above zero. That is graph A. Graph D also rises, but it starts at the origin, which would mean zero pressure at 0 degrees Celsius. A line through the origin only happens if temperature is measured from absolute zero, on the kelvin scale. Graph B shows pressure falling as the gas heats, and graph C has pressure highest at 0 degrees Celsius and falling either side, so neither matches the particle model.

1 mark

How the marks are earned

  1. Choose graph A: pressure rises steadily as temperature rises, giving a rising straight line that does not pass through the origin because the axis is in degrees Celsius.
  2. One answer only: two answers earn nothing, and a circled or underlined right option counts if the box is blank.
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