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AQA
Centre Number Candidate Number
Surname
Forename
Signature
A LEVEL
PHYSICS
Paper 3
Section 3A
Practice Paper - Alpha ≈ 70 minutes
• This is not a predicted paper, but it has questions that
are similar to the style of questions used in AQA Paper
3A exams.
• Write in black and use your pencil, ruler, calculator and
the data book - just like you would in your real exam.
• Have a go at this paper under exam conditions.
Question Mark
• The maximum mark is 45.
1
• This edition of the paper is for individual personal use
only (not for use schools). 2
• Good luck. 3
Total
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2
1 A student is carrying out an investigation to determine the resistivity of a
metal. They have been given a length of wire to use in their investigation.
ALevelPhysicsOnline.com/practicepapers
They initially use a micrometer to record values of the diameter, d, of the wire
at different positions along its length. Their results are shown in Table 1 below.
Table 1
d / mm 0.72 0.69 0.70 0.79 0.73
1.1 State the precision of the micrometer used to make these measurements.
1 mark
1.2 Calculate the value for the diameter using these results and the percentage
uncertainty in this value.
For Individual Personal Use Only
d= mm
percentage uncertainty = %
2 marks
1.3 Explain why repeat readings are likely to produce a more accurate value for
the diameter compared to a single reading.
2 marks
aqa-a-level-physics-paper-3a-practice-paper-alpha-solutions.pdf 3/7/2026 aqa-a-level-physics-paper-3a-practice-paper-alpha-solutions.pdf
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AQA
Centre Number Candidate Number
Surname
Forename
Signature
A LEVEL
PHYSICS
Paper 3
Section 3A
Practice Paper - Alpha ≈ 70 minutes
• This is not a predicted paper, but it has questions that
are similar to the style of questions used in AQA Paper
3A exams.
• Write in black and use your pencil, ruler, calculator and
the data book - just like you would in your real exam.
• Have a go at this paper under exam conditions.
Question Mark
• The maximum mark is 45.
1
• This edition of the paper is for individual personal use
only (not for use schools). 2
• Good luck. 3
Total
aqa-a-level-physics-paper-3a-practice-paper-alpha-solutions.pdf 3/7/2026 aqa-a-level-physics-paper-3a-practice-paper-alpha-solutions.pdf
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2
1 A student is carrying out an investigation to determine the resistivity of a
metal. They have been given a length of wire to use in their investigation.
ALevelPhysicsOnline.com/practicepapers
They initially use a micrometer to record values of the diameter, d, of the wire
at different positions along its length. Their results are shown in Table 1 below.
Table 1
d / mm 0.72 0.69 0.70 0.79 0.73
1.1 State the precision of the micrometer used to make these measurements.
1 mark
1.2 Calculate the value for the diameter using these results and the percentage
uncertainty in this value.
For Individual Personal Use Only
d= mm
percentage uncertainty = %
2 marks
1.3 Explain why repeat readings are likely to produce a more accurate value for
the diameter compared to a single reading.
2 marks
aqa-a-level-physics-paper-3a-practice-paper-alpha-solutions.pdf 3/7/2026 aqa-a-level-physics-paper-3a-practice-paper-alpha-solutions.pdf
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