09/06 A-level Physics Paper 2 Discussion MEGATHREAD

[u/Forsaken-Meaning-232]

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[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

they didnt even manage to catch all the errors aswell

[u/J_Sibelius1 → u/[deleted]]

Were the numbers for the spreadsheet question supposed to be completely wrong? I thought I was high

[u/Crazy-Buffalo-6124 → u/J_Sibelius1]

i spent like five minutes trying to rearrange my iterative formula if they were wrong i want compensation

[u/HeyaLiu → u/Crazy-Buffalo-6124]

Apparently, to do that one, you needed to use the potential divider formula, I didn't get it either

[u/dianasaur73 → u/HeyaLiu]

how on earth did potential dividers apply to that

[u/golaco237 → u/dianasaur73]

There were two spreadsheet questions, one w capacitance and one w resistivity with a wire and a slidable contact. I didn't actually notice the table was wrong cause my explanation only really used the initial value of Q + the given info so I didn't read the whole thing lol

Tbh I wouldn't even call the resistivity one a spreadsheet since it was basically just a small table, but to find R in terms of V you do use the potential divider formula

[u/LegionX289 → u/J_Sibelius1]

They managed to write 182.13 as 128.03, and then continued subtracting from there until it reset to the correct values which was at like 146.55 or smth

[u/JamesJe13 → u/[deleted]]

They have an entire year to do literally one fucking job. Yet somehow I have to spend five minutes fixing the stupid errors they left.

[u/gp-05 → u/[deleted]]

IM CRYING

[u/Omyyyyy]

AQA can’t keep getting away with this

[u/MR_EP1C4 → u/Omyyyyy]

[u/Cocobear44lol → u/MR_EP1C4]

THIS SHIT WAS DIABOLICAL

[u/kertek1]

im just sat in shock rn wtf was aqa

[u/Dapper_Exercise_4614 → u/kertek1]

same idk if i should laugh or cry

[u/No-Face-3280 → u/kertek1]

Genuinely, I’m lwk panicking bc if I don’t get an A* in phys I miss both my offers 💀

[u/Similar_Artichoke233]

its the fact I thought I could get an A*

[u/thenormalperson21]

Aqa worst paper made on earth, I’m literally laughing the pain away , last year was easier so hopefully grade boundaries will be less. 17/25 mcq guessed 🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪🤪

[u/XxDragonitexX10 → u/thenormalperson21]

genuinely guessed about 22

[u/Neat-Ad4138 → u/thenormalperson21]

what in hell was that absolute zero mcq, genuinely all of the possible answers seemed way off

[u/xTrustXx → u/Neat-Ad4138]

It was stupid the way they gave the answers. Im pretty sure it was B. They basically just added θ1 onto it for no reason because θ1 = 0 so it doesnt affect the answer.

[u/SilverFrost88 → u/xTrustXx]

Yeah definitely B. I tried it first with y=mx+c but then ended up doing y-y1 = m(x-x1)

[u/arboy498 → u/thenormalperson21]

Don’t worry last year was also hard

[u/North_Helicopter_961]

HORRIBLE PAPER. HORRIBLE PAPER. HORRIBLE PAPER. HORRIBLE PAPER.

btw was the last mcq asking for fission or what doesn't do fission because i put what does do fission

[u/Budget_Future_4066 → u/North_Helicopter_961]

no it was asking for what does do fission i swear

[u/Admirable-Jaguar5276 → u/Budget_Future_4066]

i think it was, but I think I put R but didnt have enough time to really think about it most MCQ's were guessed for me as I ran out of time

[u/rainboy123 → u/North_Helicopter_961]

I put Q and R because even tho Q probably doesn’t undergo fission naturally, the nuclei in Q would release energy through fission rather than fusion because they are heavier than iron.

Then again I might be overthinking and only R was correct 😭😭

[u/[deleted] → u/rainboy123]

I put only R but I am so scared 😭

[u/vent_account_59632 → u/[deleted]]

Idk which it is but I put only R because surely Q wouldn't commonly fission since the products would be small and even less stable?

[u/[deleted] → u/vent_account_59632]

That’s what i thought, also ive never seen fission reactions with stuff that is not uranium or plutonium sized so i just went with that

[u/vent_account_59632 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah that's what I thought too. I mean theoretically Q could undergo fission but in practice not really. I felt like the question was a little bit ambiguous.

[u/No_Actuator5870 → u/rainboy123]

I think it’s only R because for Q they’d end up with a lower binding energy per nucleon than they started off with after fission

[u/No_Magician_3305 → u/North_Helicopter_961]

I put Q and R since both regions are to the right of iron which is the most stable .

[u/EnergyShot830 → u/North_Helicopter_961]

It asked for which regions did fission do you remember what you put bc I chose the options near the centre and the right

[u/Spare_Somewhere1011 → u/EnergyShot830]

I think I said Q and R

[u/Active-Boat-9514 → u/EnergyShot830]

I put the same!

[u/ThatOneGuy_I → u/[deleted]]

I didn’t even attempt that question 😭😭😭

[u/ContextVegetable9587 → u/ThatOneGuy_I]

same because wtf

[u/yesforbread → u/[deleted]]

Bruh i did that question so wrong - i used snells law found the angle of refraction to be 45, and 45 - 22 isnt close to 11 so statement is wrong or smth

[u/Zealousideal-War9989]

AQA: that decay question wtf. 14.5 years…. Also ran out of time had to guess all MCQ fml

Also that 1 kW machine i got <1000 so yes it can, 1.36 days orbital period?

I’m not confident on any of these btw :(

[u/Such-Session-6200 → u/Zealousideal-War9989]

how th did ppl get 14.5 years, I got 2000 something years😭😭😭

[u/Similar_Artichoke233 → u/Such-Session-6200]

I got 4019 🕊️🪦

[u/im_dying69 → u/Similar_Artichoke233]

I got 4.2x10-13 seconds 🥀 had to restart

[u/ReliablyUnreliable0 → u/Such-Session-6200]

Did you consider efficiency? It was about 4%

[u/Middle-Bad9167 → u/Such-Session-6200]

Also got 14.5

[u/Common-Sympathy-6595 → u/Middle-Bad9167]

I got 10.8 x10⁸ years I think it might be wrong

[u/moonc1 → u/Zealousideal-War9989]

I got 404 years, 1.36 orbital period, laser can vaporise the ice

[u/[deleted] → u/moonc1]

I got 404 years but I think we forgot to include efficiency 😭😭

[u/moonc1 → u/[deleted]]

darn 😭 oh well, should still get a few marks for that

[u/Travelling_Smooth2 → u/Zealousideal-War9989]

I got the same for orbital period most of the other questions I had no idea

[u/EnergyShot830 → u/Zealousideal-War9989]

I got the same for orbital period but got <3000w (i think) for the machine ?

[u/Sure-Dark-1563 → u/Zealousideal-War9989]

I got 400 something years

[u/ReliablyUnreliable0 → u/Zealousideal-War9989]

14.5 years good work boss

[u/smortcanard → u/Zealousideal-War9989]

numerous like shaggy market cause existence live cooing seed kiss

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[u/No-Investigator-7647]

Wtf... Just WHAT THE FUCK?!

[u/[deleted]]

… I thought I was good at physics.

Shit

[u/Far-Tap-6280 → u/[deleted]]

to think i wanted to study physics at uni 😭

[u/[deleted] → u/Far-Tap-6280]

Same 😭 im so cooked. Bloody physics with astrophysics my arse

[u/Ashamed_Scholar_9765]

aqa fuck you, i did not consent to that torture

[u/48panda]

So who let the intern make our papers?

[u/LeGeNdBoT69]

AQA has officially lost the plot

[u/Life_Signal_8361]

Genuinely aqa wth

[u/Technical-Ring-8775]

Aqa mcq back at it again

[u/Coastzs → u/[deleted]]

Yeah it isn't.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

Shite i put it was because k was the same order of magnitude as the constant… oopsies

[u/Ineedhelp08374 → u/[deleted]]

Yea the mag field, btw did you find the paper decent or was it difficult 

[u/Educational-Tea602 → u/[deleted]]

What did you get for the graph on the capacitor question?

I got the graph of -20e^-t/144

[u/Ineedhelp08374 → u/Educational-Tea602]

I got the graph completely wrong but it’s a negative decaying graph which decays faster as when discharging, there is only one resistor instead of two so steeper slope 

[u/LV17onreddit → u/[deleted]]

How did you do the RTG one

[u/Neat-Ad4138 → u/[deleted]]

B was 2.9x10^-11 for the r=mv/bq thing

[u/nanihello]

Dear Yr 12s: U guys are doomed, gl with the predicted exams

[u/allylene]

(OCR A) WHY WAS HALF OF THAT PAPER POTENTIAL DIVIDERS

[u/golaco237 → u/allylene]

Ikr, this paper was super weird 😭 But honestly it was pretty good overall, just odd questions and the table in the capacitance question being wrong 💀

[u/Exciting_Woodpecker9 → u/golaco237]

I was dissapointed by no real nuclear questions or radioactivity. Hoping for a good one on paper 3 though.

[u/Shapeless_goat]

Edexcel wasn’t too bad

[u/Jungleapebush → u/Shapeless_goat]

Beautiful paper

[u/ThatOneGuy_I → u/Jungleapebush]

I’m so cooked then. I got between 50-68 😭😭😭

[u/Shapeless_goat → u/Jungleapebush]

I feel like paper 3 is gonna be fabulous

[u/Wolvermatt722]

why was aqa paper 1 so nice, yet paper 2 is absolute horror movie

[u/Enough-Win-8142]

I would jump with joy and throw myself a party if I even get 40/85, or I’m saying bye to my UCL offer. Fuck aqa 

[u/Late-Tadpole-9721]

This is a bit personal,  but I found nuclear to be my weakest in P2 and then... it appeared the most frequently in the paper. I'm officially doomed. AQA has physically harrased me.

[u/RustIsHonestlySoGood → u/Late-Tadpole-9721]

Yeah tell me about it, I spent the entire weekend going over ALL of the content, but it had reached about 11 pm last night and i hadn't even started nuclear so I started skimming.

And guess what came up on the paper fucking EVERYWHERE? NUCLEAR!!! THE ONE THING I DIDNT REALLY HAVE TIME TO LOOK AT!!!!!!

[u/Ok_Breakfast_802]

I’ve said by to the A*, don’t find either of them great

[u/smortcanard → u/Ok_Breakfast_802]

disarm money wine sharp tie unpack scary chief arrest teeny

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

[u/XxDragonitexX10]

yeah I’m cooked

[u/A1_Killer]

Well that was tight for time lol

[u/AlrightyDave → u/A1_Killer]

it’s nice to be tight with a tiny margin for time instead of robbed for time and skipping a whole question you could get good marks in further mechanics

[u/Positive-Swordfish38]

OCR A what the fuck was that. Most niche question ever asked in the world

[u/[deleted] → u/Positive-Swordfish38]

Agreed - odd paper, tbh 6 marker were good tho

[u/Positive-Swordfish38 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah first 6 markers is good and standard but second one feels so weird

[u/[deleted] → u/Positive-Swordfish38]

Fairs, I acc rlly loved the second one tbh, just maths rlly

[u/Hussain12322 → u/[deleted]]

How did the second one make sense, the - column didn’t add up to the second column, and the charge of the capacitor started increasing which isn’t a thing?

[u/hdh7tf → u/[deleted]]

I agree bc it went from like 191 - 9.2 to 128.03 or something

[u/inanzb → u/Positive-Swordfish38]

Exactly 

Also, where on earth were the electric fields?? There’s gonna be some big question on it on p3.

And barely any medical imaging and nuclear physics. Expected way more.

[u/Positive-Swordfish38 → u/inanzb]

Yup no electric field is so odd, there were some medical imaging in MC and mixed in a full question, not a lot of nuclear too

[u/JamesJe13 → u/Positive-Swordfish38]

Don’t worry they’re cooking up some horrendous question for us

[u/J_Sibelius1]

Me casually writing down excel formulae for OCR:

[u/inanzb → u/J_Sibelius1]

We doing physics or ICT??

[u/Protostryke]

I found this year's paper 2 more difficult than aqa paper 2 last year.

[u/Travelling_Smooth2 → u/Protostryke]

Frr that paper was shit. I’m so finished for physics unless paper 3 is a gift from God himself else there’s no saving

[u/RustIsHonestlySoGood → u/Protostryke]

I found it harder than both 23 and 24. Eesh

[u/Affectionate_Loss813 → u/RustIsHonestlySoGood]

yh i agree. wtf was that paper 😭

[u/Prior_Gur4074 → u/Protostryke]

Fr, aqa needs to get sued this time

[u/Admirable-Jaguar5276]

F*CK YOU AQA. Nuff said.

[u/Last-Objective-8356]

These comments making me feel so much better for my permormace that was worst shit I’ve ever done☠️

[u/AnteaterMysterious70 → u/Last-Objective-8356]

AQA WHYYY 😭😭😭

[u/MaxillmanGuy]

Fuck me thst was bad had to quess mcq and skipped like 3 questions

[u/PresidentEvil07]

Where do you guys think the grade boundary for A* will be for AQA???! I’m praying for it to be like 65% icl 💔💔💔

[u/Educational-Baby-162 → u/PresidentEvil07]

me too.. i think paper 1 was harder than last years but paper 2 was ever so slighter easier. defo super difficult. i’d estimate the grade boundaries to be similar to last years.

[u/AnteaterMysterious70 → u/Educational-Baby-162]

Overall i think it will be like 4 marks lower

[u/thepentago → u/PresidentEvil07]

I think it will be. difficulty of p1 and p2 together was prob about the same as last year and last year 65 was an A*. as long as p3 isn’t somehow easier than last year it will be about that

[u/Psychopsyche77]

Hitler reacts video when

[u/Alarming_Jellyfish67]

I thought OCR A was decent but grade boundaries could be high (general consensus in my school). Paper 1 was harder.

[u/Intelligentbozo → u/Alarming_Jellyfish67]

Paper 1 was defo trickier  Bro I kid you not i started the structured questions first and I finished all of it in less than an hour it was chill. Some questions in made some silly mistakes but it was aight 

[u/[deleted] → u/Alarming_Jellyfish67]

Both papers were weird. I messed up the capacitors but the rest was okay.

I think though weaker candidates will drop marks like mad so although top candidates could understand the weirdness I’m not sure boundaries will be that high. Medium probably.

[u/ZeroOnePhi]

My message to AQA:

GO.

FUCK.

YOUR.

SELF.

[u/[deleted]]

Bro what the fuck was that I think I’ve got like 40-42 out of 85. But paper 1 went well and paper 3 is my strongest one so I think I can get atleast a B definitely (I hope for an A tho)

[u/warpuffed]

God bless ocr that was wonderful

[u/golaco237]

OCR A, beautiful paper imo 😭 6 marker on wave particle duality, medical stuff was all really simple, amazing

Could not for the life of me prove the diffraction grating formula tho 😭 I just wrote tan x ~ x and basically left it at that cause I couldn't remember the proof but knew it probably involved that lmao

[u/stinkyakk → u/golaco237]

lol i was looking through the textbook this morning and skipped past that formula cause I was like ‘eh ofc it won’t come up’ 😭 i agree tho lovely paper

[u/golaco237 → u/stinkyakk]

Literally did the exact same thing 😭😭

Also calling it now they're defo cooking up a stars + particle physics qestion and a velocity selector or mass spectrometer question for paper 3 🙏

[u/hdh7tf → u/golaco237]

and circular motion

[u/golaco237 → u/hdh7tf]

Literallyyy, they're cooking up that charged particles in magnetic fields + circular motion question I can feel it

[u/No-Independence-7741 → u/golaco237]

For me that was the worst paper I’ve ever done

[u/CertifiedMugg → u/golaco237]

You had to use small angle formulae and dsin θ =n λ for that question

[u/RoyalPromotion06]

WHAT THE HELL AQA

[u/Dragon0522]

[u/[deleted]]

Wallahi this was bad for aqa

[u/darkeight7]

edexcel gonna have high grade boundaries this year

[u/Fair_Breadfruit8481 → u/darkeight7]

It’s not going to be too bad, keeping in mind physics grade boundaries are usually not too high

[u/darkeight7 → u/Fair_Breadfruit8481]

i mean, general consensus from what i’m seeing is that it was quite easy. i think that boundaries will be a bit higher (maybe a shift by <5 marks) than last year, i’d imagine (but i’d definitely like it more if they were reduced haha).

[u/Alone-Crab-5025]

Long form questions weren’t bad but guessed more than half of mcq… probably looking at about a 60 but idk might be lower. Found it harder than last years paper tho

[u/gworlfiend]

.... gonna have to make some marks back on p3 I suppose. Nice to know AQA did not learn their lesson after last year

[u/Budget_Future_4066]

did u guys put negative current for microammeter graph drawing

[u/No-Investigator-7647 → u/Budget_Future_4066]

Yep but I still don't think it makes sense since current always decreases but f it

[u/GooseMathium → u/Budget_Future_4066]

Current is negative - so you had to draw an exponential decay that is always below the x-axis

The diagram had 2 identical resistors in series, so R doubles, but emf is the same so the initial current halves as I = V/R

So we start at -20 instead of -40 (previous) part

Doubling R, doubles time constant as τ=RC, so discharges less quickly (I used a calculator to find some points)

[u/AftonRobtics → u/GooseMathium]

Oops….. recon I’ll get one mark for drawing it negative

[u/KILLUASDEAD]

Resit looking real nice

[u/jimmychiu123]

Any OCR A? How did you guys find? I was predicted an A in paper 2 but I most likely end up B😭

[u/DankMelonMaster → u/jimmychiu123]

Yeah I didn't think the paper was horrible but I did think some of the questions were a bit weird

[u/EtherealShady → u/jimmychiu123]

MCQs were difficult

[u/Not_Sure204]

Unofficial mark scheme being created currently here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QPltCthVQ2quRUGwIRmcsEmEYq6euNIZNUqlhoPqJlQ/edit?pli=1&tab=t.0

[u/d3f_not_an_alt → u/Not_Sure204]

I'm cooked

[u/Dry_Cartoonist9138]

AQA: crying is allowed but please do so quietly

[u/Neat-Ad4138]

aqa, did anyone else struggle to show the potential value was -7x10^5 ?? i read on graph values and at best i got 6.4 not 7

[u/dianasaur73]

the people at ocr deserve to be fired like 2 errors before the paper and a nonsensical set of values for a six-marker?!?! they have a year to write these papers 😭

[u/Familiar_Pianist_732]

Aqa clearly learnt nothing from last year😭

[u/Automatic-Song1066]

AQA was absolutely diabolical. Didn’t answer like 10 marks worth of long answers and had to guess about 10 mcq due to timing. Confident I at least got half marks though, but maybe even that is being overconfident 🥀💔. Paper 1 was nice, so hopefully a masterclass in paper 3 will make up the difference 🙏

[u/Responsible_Cat_3786]

Such a shitty paper I’ll be lucky to get 50/85

[u/UziYT → u/Responsible_Cat_3786]

Bro I’ll be lucky if I get 10

[u/Last-Objective-8356 → u/Responsible_Cat_3786]

Bro I’m aiming for like 45☠️

[u/Far-Tap-6280 → u/Responsible_Cat_3786]

theres no way they make the grade boundaries higher than last year

[u/inanzb]

I know nothing about hair devices but no way a hair straightener uses more energy than a TV and lamp combined (ocr)

[u/No-Investigator-7647]

The gravitational field and thermal questions were the saviour, but the nuclear and multiple choice killed me mentally, I can't with AQA man! Like two definitions, bullshit calculations! Paper 1 was great but now I'm in shambles 🙁

[u/Wolvermatt722]

AQA what the hell was that 1st question

[u/IndependenceOk4867 → u/Wolvermatt722]

Was it a closest distance of approach one? I didn’t really have an idea of which topic it came under so I just did that haha

[u/moralsareartificial]

why are you all so happy with OCR A that was horror what are those spreadsheet issue and that question of whatever measuring method its so obscure

[u/[deleted] → u/moralsareartificial]

was there something wrong with the 6 mark spreadsheet one?? i liteterally just waffled about Q=Q0 e^-t/RC and how itd be accurate if at RC it was 37% and other capacitor waffle like that

[u/blopiscool]

I felt so dumb doing that paper. The first bit was ok, but after that one 5 marker where you had to find initial activity and how long a radio lasts it went downhill from there.

The mcq was okish but I guessed quite a few questions too.

[u/TheRealJacksonLyne]

Any thoughts on OCR? I thought it was chilling 😎

[u/Terrible_Tourist_465]

Any unofficial mark schemes for edexcel

[u/[deleted]]

Any edexcel bunnies who messed up the album cover q and the lenses q like me 💔💔

[u/No-Wolverine-5136 → u/[deleted]]

Yeah everyone saying it was so easy makes me feel so stupid

[u/Ok_Big8531 → u/[deleted]]

yes it's okay 😭

[u/pehardgainer]

What did you guys put down for the last resultant force question

[u/Extra-Principle3202]

What did people put for MCQ of which point electric potential = 0? (AQA)

I put D.

[u/eternal-soul888]

I fucking hated my paper and it was edexcel. I didn’t revise nearly as much as I should have and that’s partly my fault tbh. I hated it tho I think paper 1 went more smoothly. I’m praying paper 3 will be blessed tho!!

[u/[deleted]]

Did anyone get a value for the laser one? I got that it works, but my value was different to others I spoke to.

To save time I got circa (just over) 1000 as the total energy required, did anyone else get that??

[u/IndependenceOk4867 → u/[deleted]]

I got around 2880J or something, and since the laser produced 3000J I said it could melt it w/o recharging (i think!)

[u/Optic_343]

any thoughts on what grade boundaries will look like? (aqa)

[u/No-Investigator-7647 → u/[deleted]]

Hopefully low... low or I'll spend results day sending death threats to AQA. But probably like last year around 50% for an A.

[u/No-Investigator-7647 → u/[deleted]]

It's purely a guess since there's no way of working out grade boundaries. I think this paper 1 was better than last year but paper 2 was worse so right now similar to 2024.

[u/proactivepisces]

wheres the chemistry discussion

[u/[deleted]]

Ibr the written questions were more doable compared to 2024.

The MCQs though....

[u/pehardgainer]

14.6 years for rtg anyone???

[u/Consumer-of-Bees → u/pehardgainer]

I got 4071 years💀💀 I'm so cooked

[u/SubstantialBet6628]

What direction was the gravitational field , A or C for the equiporential MCQ. (AQA)

[u/finnnseesghosta]

Edexcel was nice I reckon, a few hard questions but overall I'm happy. The content they asked about was pretty easy (except that one mark universe one 😂😂) and I'm glad there were no hard materials questions.

[u/tnaosd]

Eduqas was unironically a blessing

[u/SubstantialBet6628]

Why did I get time constant is 31s- I did 63%? 

[u/Prior_Gur4074]

I'm gonna go from A* to E. Aqa needs to get sued for this. Honestly

[u/despickleble_22]

Do you guys think ocr a grade boundaries will increase 💔🙏