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Date November 2013 Marks available 5 Reference code 13N.3.HL.TZ0.14
Level Higher level Paper Paper 3 Time zone Time zone 0
Command term Define and Outline Question number 14 Adapted from N/A

Question

Describe what is meant by spacetime.

[2]
a.

Outline how the concept of spacetime accounts for the

(i) orbiting of Earth about the Sun.

(ii) nature of a black hole.

[5]
b.

Markscheme

spacetime is a (4 dimensional) coordinate system/a coordinate system used to locate events;
consisting of three space coordinates and one time coordinate;

a.

(i) the mass of the Sun causes the spacetime around it to be warped;
objects follow the shortest path/geodesic between points in spacetime;
for the Earth this an elliptical/circular path about the Sun;

(ii) black holes produce a region of spacetime with extreme curvature; } (must indicate the curvature is very large for this mark)
such that not even radiation can escape from the influence of a black hole;

b.

Examiners report

[N/A]
a.
[N/A]
b.

Syllabus sections

Option A: Relativity » Option A: Relativity (Additional higher level option topics) » A.5 – General relativity (HL only)
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