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Year 9 Physics revision questions

Year 9 is the awkward bridge year: still Key Stage 3 in school life, but already starting GCSE habits. This page gives free Year 9 Physics practice from GradeNinja's own bank - 58 auto-marked questions across 2 Year 9 topic sets.

What Year 9 revision should do

The aim is not to cram GCSE papers early. It is to make the first GCSE topics feel normal: short retrieval practice, clear corrections, and enough repetition that classwork sticks before Year 10 gets busy.

Use these as ten-minute checks after a lesson or before homework. If you miss one, read the explanation, then come back tomorrow and answer it cold.

How GradeNinja pitches it

Year 9 questions are pulled from late Key Stage 3 and foundation GCSE bridge material. They should feel harder than Year 8, but they are not meant to be full Year 11 exam questions.

Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix53 questions
Year 9 (Starting GCSE)27 questions

Best way to use this page

Answer first, then reveal. The useful bit is the retrieval attempt, not reading the answer. If a topic keeps going wrong, paste the homework or Google Classroom text into GradeNinja's Classroom import tool and turn it into a focused pack.

Year 9 Physics practice questions

Real questions from GradeNinja's own bank, with the answer and the explanation the app gives. Tap to reveal.

Question 1 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
Ohm's Law is expressed as:
  1. V = I/R
  2. V = IR
  3. V = R/I
  4. I = VR
Show the answer

V = IR

Ohm's Law: V = IR, where V = voltage (volts), I = current (amperes), R = resistance (ohms).

Question 2 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
A car travels 150 m in 10 s. Its average speed is:
  1. 15 m/s
  2. 1500 m/s
  3. 1.5 m/s
  4. 150 m/s
Show the answer

15 m/s

Speed = distance / time = 150 / 10 = 15 m/s.

Question 3 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
Which of the following is a store of energy?
  1. Heating
  2. Radiation
  3. Chemical
  4. Electricity
Show the answer

Chemical

Chemical, kinetic, gravitational potential, thermal, and elastic are all energy stores. Heating, radiation, and electricity are ways energy is transferred, not stored.

Question 4 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
Which type of wave requires a medium to travel through?
  1. Light waves
  2. Sound waves
  3. Radio waves
  4. X-rays
Show the answer

Sound waves

Sound waves are mechanical waves that need a medium (solid, liquid or gas) to travel through. They cannot travel through a vacuum, unlike electromagnetic waves.

Question 5 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
What is the unit of electrical current?
  1. Volt (V)
  2. Ohm (Ω)
  3. Ampere (A)
  4. Watt (W)
Show the answer

Ampere (A)

Current is measured in amperes (A), often called 'amps'. It measures the rate of flow of electric charge.

Question 6 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
A resultant force of 30 N acts on a 6 kg object. What is its acceleration?
  1. 5 m/s²
  2. 180 m/s²
  3. 0.2 m/s²
  4. 24 m/s²
Show the answer

5 m/s²

F = ma, so a = F/m = 30/6 = 5 m/s². Newton's second law relates the resultant (net) force to mass and acceleration. If the resultant force is zero (balanced forces), acceleration is zero and the object moves at constant velocity or stays at rest — Newton's first law.

Question 7 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
What is the SI unit of electric current?
  1. volt
  2. ampere
  3. ohm
  4. watt
Show the answer

ampere

The SI unit of electric current is the ampere, often abbreviated as 'A'. Understanding this unit is fundamental in studying electricity and circuits, as it measures the flow of electric charge.

Question 8 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE)
Which circuit diagram symbol represents a fuse?
  1. A rectangle with a straight line through the middle
  2. A circle with an arrow through it
  3. A zig-zag line
  4. Two parallel lines of different lengths
Show the answer

A rectangle with a straight line through the middle

The standard circuit symbol for a fuse is a rectangle with a straight line running through its centre, representing the thin wire that melts if current gets too high.

Question 9 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE)
In a series circuit with one lamp removed, what happens?
  1. The other lamps get brighter
  2. The circuit is broken and all lamps go off
  3. Current doubles
  4. Voltage becomes zero everywhere
Show the answer

The circuit is broken and all lamps go off

A series circuit has only one loop. Removing one component breaks the loop, so current stops everywhere.

Question 10 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
What is the current through a 12 Ω resistor when a potential difference of 6 V is applied?
  1. 0.5 A
  2. 2 A
  3. 72 A
  4. 6 A
Show the answer

0.5 A

Using Ohm's law: V = IR, so I = V/R = 6/12 = 0.5 A. The triangle trick: cover what you want — cover I to see V/R. If voltage doubles and resistance stays constant, current doubles. If resistance doubles and voltage stays constant, current halves.

Question 11 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE)
A cyclist travels 120 m in 20 s. What is the cyclist’s speed?
  1. 4 m/s
  2. 6 m/s
  3. 20 m/s
  4. 140 m/s
Show the answer

6 m/s

Speed = distance divided by time. 120 ÷ 20 = 6 m/s.

Question 12 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
What is the name of the galaxy that contains our Solar System?
  1. Andromeda
  2. The Milky Way
  3. Triangulum
  4. The Magellanic Cloud
Show the answer

The Milky Way

The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our Solar System, characterized by its spiral shape and vast number of stars. It is important to remember that our Solar System is located within this galaxy, which is one of billions in the universe.

Question 13 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
A force of 30 N acts on an area of 0.5 m². What is the pressure?
  1. 15 Pa
  2. 60 Pa
  3. 0.017 Pa
  4. 30 Pa
Show the answer

60 Pa

Pressure = force / area = 30 / 0.5 = 60 Pa.

Question 14 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
What happens to the angle of reflection compared to the angle of incidence when light bounces off a mirror?
  1. They are equal
  2. The angle of reflection is larger
  3. The angle of reflection is smaller
  4. The reflected ray goes straight back the way it came
Show the answer

They are equal

The law of reflection: angle of incidence = angle of reflection. Both angles are measured from the normal (a line perpendicular to the mirror surface). The incident ray, reflected ray, and normal all lie in the same plane. This law applies to all smooth, reflective surfaces.

Question 15 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE)
The wave equation is v = fλ. If a wave has frequency 200 Hz and wavelength 1.5 m, what is its speed?
  1. 300 m/s
  2. 133 m/s
  3. 201.5 m/s
  4. 200 m/s
Show the answer

300 m/s

v = f × λ = 200 × 1.5 = 300 m/s. v = wave speed (m/s), f = frequency (Hz), λ = wavelength (m). This applies to all waves. All electromagnetic waves travel at 3 × 10⁸ m/s in a vacuum (the speed of light).

Question 16 · Year 9 (Starting GCSE) - Practice Mix
Static electricity builds up when:
  1. Electrons are transferred between two insulating materials by friction
  2. Protons flow through a wire
  3. A circuit is completed
  4. Current flows through a resistor
Show the answer

Electrons are transferred between two insulating materials by friction

Rubbing two insulating materials together transfers electrons from one to the other, leaving one positively charged and the other negatively charged.

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Common questions

Are these Year 9 Physics questions GCSE level?

They are bridge questions: harder than early Key Stage 3, but not pitched as full Year 11 GCSE exam papers. The point is to prepare the habits and core knowledge early.

Can I use Google Classroom homework with GradeNinja?

Yes. Use Classroom import in the app: paste the Google Classroom post, homework email or assignment brief and it turns the topics into practice questions and flashcards.

How often should a Year 9 revise Physics?

Short and often. Ten minutes after a lesson or a few times a week is more useful than one long session before a test.

Is GradeNinja free for Year 9?

Yes, signing up is free. GradeNinja has Year 9 bridge content plus the wider question bank across 28 subjects.

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