Physics question insights
What 11 years of ICSE Class 10 Physics papers actually asked — by chapter, question length, type, difficulty and diagrams. Every figure is computed from the 767 questions in this bank.
These are descriptive statistics of past papers, not predictions. A chapter appearing often historically does not guarantee it will appear again.
Which chapters carry the most weight
A prominence index combining how many papers a chapter appeared in and its share of total marks.
Chapter prominence index (0–100)
- Calorimetry100/100Appeared in 100% of papers (11/11) · 13.5% of all marks (135) · 86 Qs
- Sound98/100Appeared in 100% of papers (11/11) · 12.8% of all marks (128) · 100 Qs
- Refraction of Light at Plane Surfaces88/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 11.3% of all marks (113) · 82 Qs
- Radioactivity85/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 10.3% of all marks (103) · 84 Qs
- Current Electricity83/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 9.5% of all marks (95) · 72 Qs
- Electromagnetism77/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 7.5% of all marks (75) · 62 Qs
- Machines76/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 7.1% of all marks (71) · 56 Qs
- Refraction through a Lens74/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 6.4% of all marks (64) · 45 Qs
- Force73/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 6.1% of all marks (61) · 52 Qs
- Work, Energy and Power68/100Appeared in 82% of papers (9/11) · 6.4% of all marks (64) · 53 Qs
- Household Circuits68/100Appeared in 91% of papers (10/11) · 4.7% of all marks (47) · 39 Qs
- Spectrum62/100Appeared in 82% of papers (9/11) · 4.4% of all marks (44) · 36 Qs
Index = 60% appearance frequency + 40% marks share, across all available papers. Historical, not predictive.
Calorimetry leads: it appears in 100% of papers (11 of 11) and carries 13.5% of all marks (135) across 86 questions.
Most questions asked
Share of all questions, by chapter.
Percentages are of the full 767-question bank.
Most marks asked
Share of total marks, by chapter.
Percentages are of the 1,000 marks across all papers.
Short vs long questions
Short = less than 2 marks (recall / one-liners). Long = 2 marks or more (explanations, diagrams, reasoning).
Overall split
- Short (<2 marks)586(76%)
- Long (≥2 marks)181(24%)
Short vs long by chapter
How each chapter's questions divide between short and long.
- Short (<2 marks)
- Long (≥2 marks)
- Sound76% short (76) · 24% long (24)
- Calorimetry64% short (55) · 36% long (31)
- Radioactivity77% short (65) · 23% long (19)
- Refraction of Light at Plane Surfaces70% short (57) · 30% long (25)
- Current Electricity74% short (53) · 26% long (19)
- Electromagnetism82% short (51) · 18% long (11)
- Machines80% short (45) · 20% long (11)
- Work, Energy and Power83% short (44) · 17% long (9)
- Force87% short (45) · 13% long (7)
- Refraction through a Lens73% short (33) · 27% long (12)
- Household Circuits79% short (31) · 21% long (8)
- Spectrum86% short (31) · 14% long (5)
Most short-answer-heavy chapters
Best for quick recall and one-mark practice.
Most long-answer-heavy chapters
Where higher-mark, explanation-type questions cluster.
How questions are framed
Question types
Share of all questions, by format.
- Short answer47%358
- MCQ14%110
- Numerical12%92
- Reasoning7.8%60
- Diagram7.3%56
- Identification5.3%41
- Definition2.6%20
- Fill in the blank2.1%16
- True/False1.6%12
- Difference0.3%2
By marks
Share of all questions, by weight.
- 1 mark73%562
- 1.5 marks3.1%24
- 2 marks19%147
- 3 marks3.7%28
- 4 marks0.8%6
By difficulty
Share of all questions, by rating.
- Easy72%556
- Moderate28%211
Diagram load
Chapters where diagram-based questions are most concentrated.
Most diagram-heavy chapters
Share of the chapter's questions that include a diagram.
Year-by-year trends
Shown as a share of each paper, so years stay comparable even though 2021 and 2022 used the reduced semester format with fewer questions.
Short-answer share by year
Percentage of the paper's questions worth less than 2 marks.
Diagram share by year
Percentage of the paper's questions that include a diagram.
Chapter coverage by year
How many questions each chapter contributed to each paper. Darker = more questions.
Chapter × year heatmap
| Chapter | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calorimetry | 9 | 7 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 10 |
| Current Electricity | 10 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 9 | |
| Electromagnetism | 2 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 5 | |
| Force | 5 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 6 | |
| Household Circuits | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 6 | |
| Machines | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 7 | |
| Radioactivity | 12 | 10 | 11 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 8 | 7 | |
| Refraction of Light at Plane Surfaces | 5 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 11 | |
| Refraction through a Lens | 2 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |
| Sound | 13 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 9 |
| Spectrum | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 3 | ||
| Work, Energy and Power | 2 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 7 |
Most frequently tested topics
Recurring topics across chapters.