What this topic covers

Thermodynamics is topic 16 of the Cambridge 9702 syllabus (2025–2027), covering internal energy and the first law of thermodynamics. It is A Level content, examined in Paper 4 (A Level Structured Questions), which carries 38.5% of the A Level. The central difficulty is the sign convention: the syllabus uses ΔU = q + W, where q is the energy transferred to the system by heating and W is the work done on the system. Students frequently confuse work done on the gas with work done by the gas, particularly in expansion. Internal energy must be described as the sum of the random kinetic and potential energies of the molecules, and its link to temperature for an ideal gas must be explained clearly. Tabulated questions on cycles of changes reward methodical, step-by-step reasoning.

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Questions in this topic

• 9702/41/O/N/24 Q3 — ideal gases and thermodynamics · 8 marks
• 9702/43/O/N/24 Q3 — ideal gases and thermodynamics · 8 marks
• 9702/42/M/J/24 Q3 — internal energy · 8 marks
• 9702/43/M/J/24 Q3 — ideal gases and kinetic theory · 12 marks
• 9702/41/O/N/23 Q2 — specific heat capacity and thermodynamics · 12 marks
• 9702/42/O/N/23 Q3 — internal energy and first law of thermodynamics · 8 marks
• 9702/43/O/N/23 Q2 — specific heat capacity and thermodynamics · 12 marks
• 9702/41/M/J/23 Q4 — kinetic theory of gases · 12 marks
• 9702/42/M/J/23 Q3 — First law of thermodynamics · 9 marks
• 9702/43/M/J/23 Q4 — kinetic theory of gases · 12 marks
• 9702/42/F/M/23 Q2 — ideal gases and thermodynamics · 12 marks
• 9702/41/O/N/22 Q2 — thermodynamics and temperature · 10 marks
• 9702/42/O/N/22 Q2 — specific heat capacity and thermodynamics · 7 marks
• 9702/43/O/N/22 Q2 — thermodynamics and temperature · 10 marks
• 9702/41/M/J/22 Q3 — ideal gas processes · 11 marks
• 9702/42/M/J/22 Q3 — specific latent heat of vaporisation · 12 marks
• 9702/43/M/J/22 Q3 — ideal gas processes · 11 marks
• 9702/42/F/M/22 Q2 — ideal gas cycle and thermodynamics · 10 marks
• 9702/41/O/N/21 Q3 — specific heat capacity and kinetic theory · 13 marks
• 9702/43/O/N/21 Q3 — specific heat capacity and kinetic theory · 13 marks
• 9702/41/M/J/21 Q2 — ideal gas and kinetic theory · 10 marks
• 9702/42/M/J/21 Q2 — ideal gas expansion · 9 marks
• 9702/43/M/J/21 Q2 — ideal gas and kinetic theory · 10 marks
• 9702/41/O/N/20 Q2 — First law of thermodynamics · 9 marks
• 9702/42/O/N/20 Q2 — internal energy and ideal gases · 10 marks
• 9702/43/O/N/20 Q2 — First law of thermodynamics · 9 marks
• 9702/41/M/J/20 Q2 — internal energy · 7 marks
• 9702/42/M/J/20 Q3 — first law of thermodynamics · 6 marks
• 9702/43/M/J/20 Q2 — internal energy · 7 marks
• 9702/42/O/N/19 Q2 — Brownian motion and ideal gases · 11 marks

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