OCR SUMMER 2026
PREDICTED PAPER
A Level Physics B (Advancing Physics)
H557/02 Scientific literacy in physics
Time allowed: 2 hours 15 minutes
INSTRUCTIONS
• Do not send this Advance Notice Article for marking. Keep it in the centre or recycle it.
INFORMATION
• This is a clean copy of the Advance Notice Article you have already seen.
• This document has 8 pages
Turn over
for more: tyrionpapers,com
, 2
Gravitational Wave Astronomy: A New Window on the Universe
For most of human history, our knowledge of the universe has come almost entirely from
electromagnetic radiation — visible light, radio waves, X-rays and gamma rays collected by
telescopes of various kinds. Each part of the electromagnetic spectrum reveals different features of
5 astronomical objects, from the cool dust clouds seen in infrared to the violent jets of matter around
black holes visible in X-rays. However, there are regions and events in the universe that emit little or
no electromagnetic radiation at all, and these have remained largely invisible to astronomers for
centuries. The study of the universe through light alone imposes fundamental limits on what can be
observed, particularly when sources are hidden behind dense clouds of gas and dust, or when the
10 objects involved — such as black holes — emit no light whatsoever. For much of the twentieth
century, physicists accepted that these limitations might never be overcome.
In September 2015, that changed forever. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory
(LIGO) made the first direct detection of gravitational waves, confirming a century-old prediction of
Einstein's general theory of relativity and opening an entirely new branch of observational
15 astronomy. Einstein had predicted in 1916 that accelerating masses would disturb the fabric of
spacetime, sending ripples outward at the speed of light in a manner loosely analogous to the
ripples produced when a stone is dropped into still water. Despite being one of the most celebrated
predictions in the history of physics, direct detection proved extraordinarily difficult, and for decades
many physicists doubted it would ever be achieved. The signal detected in September 2015 was
20 produced by the merger of two black holes approximately 1.3 billion light years from Earth — an
event so violent that, for a fraction of a second, it radiated more power than all the stars in the
observable universe combined.
Figure 1: Schematic of gravitational wave detector using laser interferometry.
for more: tyrionpapers,com
PREDICTED PAPER
A Level Physics B (Advancing Physics)
H557/02 Scientific literacy in physics
Time allowed: 2 hours 15 minutes
INSTRUCTIONS
• Do not send this Advance Notice Article for marking. Keep it in the centre or recycle it.
INFORMATION
• This is a clean copy of the Advance Notice Article you have already seen.
• This document has 8 pages
Turn over
for more: tyrionpapers,com
, 2
Gravitational Wave Astronomy: A New Window on the Universe
For most of human history, our knowledge of the universe has come almost entirely from
electromagnetic radiation — visible light, radio waves, X-rays and gamma rays collected by
telescopes of various kinds. Each part of the electromagnetic spectrum reveals different features of
5 astronomical objects, from the cool dust clouds seen in infrared to the violent jets of matter around
black holes visible in X-rays. However, there are regions and events in the universe that emit little or
no electromagnetic radiation at all, and these have remained largely invisible to astronomers for
centuries. The study of the universe through light alone imposes fundamental limits on what can be
observed, particularly when sources are hidden behind dense clouds of gas and dust, or when the
10 objects involved — such as black holes — emit no light whatsoever. For much of the twentieth
century, physicists accepted that these limitations might never be overcome.
In September 2015, that changed forever. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory
(LIGO) made the first direct detection of gravitational waves, confirming a century-old prediction of
Einstein's general theory of relativity and opening an entirely new branch of observational
15 astronomy. Einstein had predicted in 1916 that accelerating masses would disturb the fabric of
spacetime, sending ripples outward at the speed of light in a manner loosely analogous to the
ripples produced when a stone is dropped into still water. Despite being one of the most celebrated
predictions in the history of physics, direct detection proved extraordinarily difficult, and for decades
many physicists doubted it would ever be achieved. The signal detected in September 2015 was
20 produced by the merger of two black holes approximately 1.3 billion light years from Earth — an
event so violent that, for a fraction of a second, it radiated more power than all the stars in the
observable universe combined.
Figure 1: Schematic of gravitational wave detector using laser interferometry.
for more: tyrionpapers,com
