"Explain" questions — IB DP Physics Higher Level (2023 syllabus)

110 questions · physics · View as Markdown

How to answer

WHAT + WHY. Every point paired with a because. Structure: X happens because Y. This causes Z because … Assessment Objective: AO2. Every "explain" answer on this spec is marked against exactly this pattern.

Sample questions

  1. Explain why a straight conducting rod moving at constant velocity through a uniform magnetic field develops an electromo…
  2. Explain why a proton moving in a circular path in a uniform magnetic field does not gain kinetic energy, even though a m…
  3. Explain, using the kinetic model of an ideal gas, why the pressure of a fixed mass of gas increases when its temperature…
  4. Explain how the restoring force acting on a mass–spring system gives rise to simple harmonic motion, and state the condi…
  5. Explain why a uniform solid cylinder and a uniform hollow cylinder of the same mass and outer radius, released simultane…
  6. Explain why electrons in an atom can only occupy discrete energy levels rather than a continuous range of energies, and …
  7. Explain why evaporation from the surface of a liquid causes the temperature of the remaining liquid to decrease.
  8. Explain how the Lorentz transformation for time differs from the Galilean transformation for time, and describe the phys…

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