Key Stage 3 Science Book 1 Assessments
Forces and their Effects (Purple level)
1. What two pieces of information does a force arrow on a force diagram represent? [1 mark]
a) Whether a force is a contact or non-contact force
b) The relative size of a force
c) The direction the force acts
d) The exact point on an object where a force acts
2. What is the unit of measurement for force? [1 mark]
a) Pound
b) Newton
c) Kilogram
d) Tonne
3. What is the unit of measurement for moments? [1 mark]
a) Newton
b) Metre
c) Newton metres
d) Newtons per metre
e) Newtons per square metre
4. Look at the table of data about the Earth, Moon and Mars. It shows what Mary’s mass and weight are
on the Earth and the Moon.
What would Mary’s mass be on Mars? [1 mark]
a) 19 kg
b) 25 kg
c) 50 kg
d) 190 kg
© HarperCollinsPublishers 2014
Key Stage 3 Science Book 1 Assessments
5. Look at the table of data about the Earth, Moon and Mars. It shows what Mary’s mass and weight are
on the Earth and the Moon.
What would Mary’s weight be on Mars? [1 mark]
a) 50 N
b) 190 N
c) 400 N
d) 19 N
6. The picture shows a skydiver falling at terminal velocity, and the two forces acting on him.
Which of these statements best describes the two forces acting on him? [1 mark]
a) The weight force is larger than the air resistance force
b) The weight force is the same size as the air resistance force
c) The weight force is smaller than the air resistance force
d) It is not possible to say
7. Why is it important that a glider is streamlined? [1 mark]
a) So it looks good
b) To reduce the weight of the glider
c) To reduce air resistance
d) To increase the lift force
© HarperCollinsPublishers 2014
Key Stage 3 Science Book 1 Assessments
8. Look at the three forces acting on the glider. These forces are balanced.
What can you say about how the glider flies? [1 mark]
a) The glider flies horizontally at a steady speed in a straight line
b) The glider flies at a steady speed in a straight line but loses height slowly
c) The glider flies horizontally but gradually slows down
d) It is not possible to say
9. Look at the picture of the tower crane. The crane has a counterweight to balance the load.
When is it important for the counterweight to move further from the tower? [1 mark]
a) When the crane is lifting a small load
b) When the crane is lifting a load close to the tower
c) When the crane is turning
d) When the crane is lifting a heavy load
© HarperCollinsPublishers 2014
Key Stage 3 Science Book 1 Assessments
10. How is speed calculated? [1 mark]
a) distance x time
b) time x distance
c) distance ÷ time
d) time ÷ distance
11. Describe the forces that act on an arrow when it is in the air. How do these forces affect the
movement of the arrow? [4 marks]
12. A passenger aircraft flies 5550 kilometres from London to New York in seven and a half hours.
Calculate its average speed. [2 marks]
© HarperCollinsPublishers 2014
Key Stage 3 Science Book 1 Assessments
13. Two pupils investigated the force needed to slide a wooden block across a surface. They added an
additional load on top of the wooden block to find out how this changed the friction force. They plotted
their results on this graph.
Explain what their results show about the friction force. [2 marks]
14. Two pupils investigated the force needed to slide a wooden block across a surface. They added an
additional load on top of the wooden block to find out how this changed the friction force. They plotted
their results on this graph.
The students then repeated the experiment on the same surface but with a shallow uphill slope. How
would their results be different from those shown in the graph? [2 marks]
© HarperCollinsPublishers 2014
Key Stage 3 Science Book 1 Assessments
15. Look at the picture of Alan and Becky on a see-saw.
Becky and Alan are sitting on a see-saw. State the law of moments and show how it explains why this
see-saw isn’t balanced. [4 marks]
16. Look at the picture of the Alan and Becky on a see-saw.
Becky weighs 200 Newtons. Alan weighs 300 Newtons. Where should Alan sit to balance the see-saw? [2
marks]
17. State Hooke’s law and explain what is meant by the elastic limit. [2 marks]
© HarperCollinsPublishers 2014
Key Stage 3 Science Book 1 Assessments
18. James and his group are trying to measure the speed of cross country runners as they run past. The
group has a tape measure and a stop watch. What would they need to measure in order to calculate
the speed? [2 marks]
© HarperCollinsPublishers 2014