Cambridge International AS & A Level Physics 9702 syllabus for 2022, 2023 and 2024.

  Practical assessment

Paper 5 Planning, Analysis and Evaluation

Paper 5 will be a timetabled written paper, focusing on the higher-order experimental skills of planning, analysis
and evaluation.

This examination will not require laboratory facilities.

To prepare candidates for this exam, it should be emphasised that candidates will need extensive experience of
laboratory work of A Level standard. In particular, learners cannot be taught to plan experiments effectively unless,
on a number of occasions, they are required to:
• plan an experiment
• perform the experiment according to their plan
• evaluate what they have done.

This requires many hours of laboratory-based work and careful supervision from teachers to ensure that
experiments are performed safely.

Paper 5 will consist of two questions each of 15 marks.

Question 1 will be a planning question, in which candidates will be required to design an experimental investigation
of a given problem. The question will not be highly structured: candidates will be expected to answer with a
diagram and an extended piece of writing.

Question 2 will be an analysis, conclusions and evaluation question, in which candidates will be given an equation
and some experimental data. From these they will be required to find the value of a constant. This question will
be structured but candidates will be expected to decide for themselves what they need to do in order to reach an
answer. They will also be required to estimate the uncertainty in their answer.

Some questions on this paper may be set in areas of physics that are difficult to investigate experimentally in
school laboratories, either because of the cost of equipment or because of restrictions on the availability of
materials (e.g. radioactive materials). No question will require knowledge of theory or equipment that is beyond
the syllabus. Candidates will be given the necessary information for questions set on topics that do not form part of
the syllabus.

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Mark allocations for Paper 5

Marks will be allocated for Paper 5 according to the table below. The expectations for each skill are listed in the
sections that follow.

Question 1
Skill Breakdown of skills Mark
allocation
Defining the problem
Methods of data collection
Planning 15 marks
Method of analysis
Additional detail including safety considerations

Question 2
Skill Breakdown of skills Mark
allocation
Data analysis
Table of results
Analysis, conclusions and
Graph 15 marks
evaluation
Conclusion
Treatment of uncertainties

Expectations for each skill (Paper 5)

Planning

Defining the problem

Candidates should be able to:
• identify the independent variable in the experiment
• identify the dependent variable in the experiment
• identify the variables that are to be kept constant.

Methods of data collection

Candidates should be able to:
• describe the method to be used to vary the independent variable
• describe how the independent and dependent variables are to be measured
• describe how other variables are to be kept constant
• describe, with the aid of a clear labelled diagram, the arrangement of apparatus for the experiment and the
procedures to be followed.

For full credit to be awarded in this section, the overall arrangement must be workable, that is, it should be possible
to collect the data required without undue difficulty if the apparatus were assembled as described. The measuring

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Cambridge International AS & A Level Physics 9702 syllabus for 2022, 2023 and 2024.  Practical assessment

instruments chosen should be fit for purpose, in that they should measure the correct physical quantity to a
suitable precision for the experiment.

Method of analysis
Candidates should be able to:
• describe how the data should be used in order to reach a conclusion, including details of derived quantities to
be calculated from graphs.

Additional detail including safety considerations

Marks will be available for additional relevant detail including safety precautions.

How these marks are awarded will depend on the experiment that is to be planned, but they might, for example,
include marks for describing how additional variables are to be kept constant, or for a diagram of a circuit needed
to make a particular measurement or a description of initial experiments or an explanation of how to obtain
calibration curves.

For safety considerations, candidates should be able to:

• assess the risks of their experiment
• describe precautions that should be taken to keep risks to a minimum.

Candidates should be able to:

• describe the use of an oscilloscope (or storage oscilloscope) to measure voltage, current, time and frequency
• describe how to use light gates connected to a data logger to determine time, velocity and acceleration
• describe how other sensors can be used with a data logger, e.g. motion sensor.

Analysis, conclusions and evaluation

Data analysis
Candidates should be able to:
• rearrange expressions into the forms y = mx + c, y = axn and y = aekx
• understand how a graph of y against x is used to find the constants m and c in an equation of the form
y = mx + c
• understand how a graph of log y against log x is used to find the constants a and n in an equation of the form
y = axn
• understand how a graph of ln y against x is used to find the constants a and k in an equation of the form
y = aekx
• decide what derived quantities to calculate from raw data in order to enable an appropriate graph to be
plotted.

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Table of results
Candidates should be able to:
• complete a table of results following the conventions required for Paper 3
• calculate other quantities from raw data and record them in a table
• use the correct number of significant figures for calculated quantities following the conventions required for
Paper 3.

Where logarithms are required, units should be shown with the quantity whose logarithm is being taken,
e.g. ln (d / cm). The logarithm itself does not have a unit.

For logarithmic quantities, the number of decimal places should correspond to the number of significant figures.
For example, if L / cm is 76.5 (3 sf), then lg (L / cm) should be either 1.884 (3 dp) or 1.8837 (4 dp).

Graph
Candidates should be able to:
• plot a graph following the conventions required for Paper 3
• show error bars, in both directions where appropriate, for each point on the graph
• draw a straight line of best fit and a worst acceptable straight line through the points on the graph.

The worst acceptable line should be either the steepest possible line or the shallowest possible line that passes
through the error bars of all the data points. It should be distinguished from the line of best fit either by being
drawn as a broken line or by being clearly labelled.

Conclusion
Candidates should be able to:
• determine the gradient and y-intercept of a straight-line graph
• derive expressions that equate to the gradient or the y-intercept of their straight lines of best fit
• draw the required conclusions, with correct units and appropriate number of significant figures, from these
expressions.

Treatment of uncertainties
Candidates should be able to:
• convert absolute uncertainty estimates into fractional or percentage uncertainty estimates and vice versa
• show uncertainty estimates, in absolute terms, beside every value in a table of results
• calculate uncertainty estimates in derived quantities
• estimate the absolute uncertainty in the gradient of a graph by recalling that
absolute uncertainty = gradient of line of best fit – gradient of worst acceptable line
• estimate the absolute uncertainty in the y-intercept of a graph by recalling that
absolute uncertainty = y-intercept of line of best fit – y-intercept of worst acceptable line
• express a quantity as a value, an uncertainty estimate and a unit.

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