Physics · Oct / Nov 2021 · Paper 62 · Question 4

A student investigates the strengths of wires made from different metals by measuring the force required to break the wires. The apparatus is shown in Fig. 4.1. A wire is held by a clamp at one end and a load is suspended from the other end. The load is increased until the wire breaks. The student takes all the necessary safety precautions. load wire clamp Fig. 4.1 Plan an experiment to investigate the force required to break wires made from different metals. The following apparatus is available: clamps and stands a selection of masses with a suitable hanger metre rule a selection of wires made from different metals. You can also use other apparatus and materials that are usually available in a school laboratory. In your plan, you should: • write a list of suitable metals for the wires you would investigate • explain briefly how you would do the investigation • state the key variables that you would keep constant • draw a table, or tables, with column headings, to show how you would display your readings (you are not required to enter any readings in the table) • explain how you would use the results to reach a conclusion.

Read automatically from the paper; the printed page above is exact.