HSC Physics Module 8: From the Universe to the Atom Questions

Browse 11 selected questions from the 2023 and 2024 HSC exams. Choose a skill, open the question’s page in NESA’s PDF and check your work with the marking guidelines in NESA’s marking guide.

These papers were set under the 2017 syllabus. The first HSC exam for the replacement Physics syllabus is in 2028. NESA syllabus and implementation dates.

Module 8: From the Universe to the Atom

Origins of the Elements

2024 Q22 · 5 marks. Interpret a Hubble-style recessional velocity vs distance graph and describe how galaxy recessional velocities were determined. Paper (PDF) · Marking guidelines
2023 Q20 · 1 mark. Multiple choice: select the velocity-distance graph consistent with an accelerating universe expansion. Paper (PDF) · Marking guidelines
2023 Q21 · 5 marks. Identify variables determining stellar luminosity and compare two stars' properties on a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. Paper (PDF) · Marking guidelines
2023 Q27 · 8 marks. Explain how stellar spectra reveal composition and temperature, then explain and sketch how a spectral line changes due to stellar rotation (Doppler broadening). Paper (PDF) · Marking guidelines

Structure of the Atom

2024 Q23 · 9 marks. Explain the role of paraffin in Chadwick's neutron-discovery experiment, how it changed the atomic model, and how de Broglie's hypothesis addressed limitations of the Bohr-Rutherford model. Paper (PDF) · Marking guidelines

Properties of the Nucleus

2024 Q7 · 1 mark. Multiple choice: find the ratio of parent to daughter isotope atoms after two half-lives of alpha decay. Paper (PDF) · Marking guidelines
2023 Q4 · 1 mark. Multiple choice: calculate remaining mass of a radioactive sample after three half-lives. Paper (PDF) · Marking guidelines
2023 Q26 · 3 marks. Mass-defect calculation to find energy released in a given nuclear fusion/transmutation reaction. Paper (PDF) · Marking guidelines

Deep Inside the Atom

2024 Q3 · 1 mark. Multiple choice: identify a fundamental particle in the Standard Model of matter. Paper (PDF) · Marking guidelines
2024 Q27 · 7 marks. Identify quark composition of pions produced in a proton-antiproton annihilation, calculate energy released per pion, and resolve a superluminal-velocity prediction using relativistic mechanics. Paper (PDF) · Marking guidelines
2023 Q33 · 9 marks. Extended response justifying how subatomic particle-field and particle-particle interactions have advanced understanding of matter, citing relevant experiments. Paper (PDF) · Marking guidelines