BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE PILANI - K K BIRLA GOA CAMPUS

FIRST SEMESTER 2015 – 2016

Comprehensive Exam Closed book PHY F110 (Physics Laboratory)
Maximum marks: 66 Maximum time: 1 hour Date: 30.11.2015
Instructions: (i) There are 22 questions in this paper. Answer all the questions. (ii) Write the correct answer
in pen (not pencil) in the given space only, no overwriting is allowed. (iii) Each question carries 3 marks.
(iv) There is no negative or partial marking. (v) Calculator is allowed, sharing of calculator is not allowed.

Name ________________________________ Id No. ____________________________ Section _________

Write the correct answer in following boxes :

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Total marks obtained___________________________(to be filled by the grader)

Recheck Request

1. [Error Analysis] Suppose you have measured the radius (using a Vernier calipers) and circumference
(using a meter scale and thread) of a disc to be respectively r = 10.12 cm and C = 63.6 cm. Using these values,
you would report the value of the constant  as
(A) 3.14 ± 0.008 (B) 3.14 ± 0.001 (C) 3.14 ± 0.01 (D) 3.14 ± 1.0

2. [Error Analysis] Suppose in an experiment you are finding the value of a quantity, A=(x*y/z)-w, where
the measured values are:
x = 65.362 y = 2.1 z = 25.45 w = 1.26
The correct way of reporting the value of A is
(A) 4.133 (B) 4.1 (C) 4.13 (D) 4.0

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3. [Kater’s Pendulum] Assume that the Kater's pendulum shown in the figure is in the right configuration (i.e
T1 - T2 ≈ 0.001 s), where T1 & T2 are the time periods for K1 & K2 knife edges respectively. Now, if you
double both the masses, keeping rest of the configuration unchanged, T1 - T2 will now be (in s)

(A) 0.004 (B) 0.001 (C) 0.5

(D) None of these

4. [Kater’s Pendulum] In the adjacent figure, the Kater's pendulum is oscillating

with respect to K1 edge. If the time period (T1) with respect to K1 edge is given by

I c  Ml12
T1  2 ,
Mgl1

where Ic is the moment of inertia about CM and l1 is the distance of CM from K1.
M is then equal to (assume masses of knife edges and rod are negligible compared to
m1 and m2)

m1m2
(A) m1 (B) m2 (C) m1 + m2 (D)
m1  m2

5. [Angular momentum] Moment of inertia of the rotating platform is experimentally determined from the
(A) rotation imparted by the projectile launched by the projectile launcher
(B) rotation imparted by the descending mass over a certain height
(C) rotation imparted by the 300 g square mass during the leveling procedure
(D) time of flight of the projectile

6. [Angular momentum] In this experiment, the muzzle velocity is determined using two methods. If a ball
of 10 g is used in method I and a ball of 20 g is used in method II, the muzzle velocity determined
(A) in method I will be greater in comparison to method II
(B) in method II will be greater in comparison to method I
(C) will be same in both cases
(D) cannot be determined for unequal masses

7. [Melde’s Experiment] If we double both the length of the string and the hanging mass for a fixed number
of antinodes n, the new frequency in terms of the original frequency fn will be
(A) fn / 2 (B) 2 fn (C) fn (D) fn
None of the answers is correct, everybody is awarded marks for this.

8. [Melde’s Experiment] For a given string of length L vibrating with frequency f, if the number of antinodes
increases, then the wave velocity will
(A) increase (B) decrease (C) remain same
(D) not be determinable from the given data

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9. [Gyroscope] Let T1, T2, T3 be the precession time periods of a gyroscope, spinning with a fixed spin
frequency ω, due to the torque by hanging masses m1, m2, m3 respectively at a fixed distance d from the pivot
point. If m1 › m2 › m3, then which one of the following is correct?
(A) T1 ˃ T2 ˃ T3 (B) T1 ˂ T2 ˂ T3 (C) T1 = T2 = T3 (D) None of the above

10. [Gyroscope] What is the order of magnitude of moment of inertia for the given fly-wheel in the lab (in SI
units)
(A) 0.8 (B) 0.008 (C) 80 (D) 8

11. [Coupled Pendulum] If the coupling length is doubled, then the beat frequency (ωb) will be
(A) 2ωb (B) ωb/2 (C) 4 ωb (D) unchanged

12. [Coupled Pendulum] In this experiment, if three coupling lengths l1, l2 and l3 are such that l1 > l2 >l3, then
the corresponding normal mode frequencies , , and , for in-phase mode will be
(A)      (B)      (C)     
(D) depending on the viscosity of the medium

13. [Maxwell’s wheel] In Part-B of this experiment, you are measuring a time interval for determining the
kinetic energy of the Maxwell’s’ wheel. This is the approximate time taken by the
(A) center of mass of the Maxwell’s wheel to travel a distance h between the position markers
(B) spindle to pass the lower position marker
(C) Maxwell’s wheel to pass the light barrier width
(D) center of mass of Maxwell’s wheel to pass the light barrier width

14. [Maxwell’s wheel] Moment of inertia of the Maxwell’s wheel is determined from the y-intercept of the plot
of ln (h) vs ln (t) where h is the distance between the knife edges. In this experiment
(A) it is important to release the wheel from a distance h above the lower position marker
(B) the height from where you release is not important
(C) one has to release the wheel from a point above the upper position marker
(D) one has to release the wheel from a point below the lower position marker

15. [Forced damped oscillator] The voltage applied to the motor in the third part of the experiment is to vary
the
(A) frequency of forcing (B) amplitude of forcing
(C) phase of forcing relative to the oscillator (D) both phase and amplitude

16. [Forced damped oscillator] The purpose of the electromagnet in the experiment is to
(A) drive the oscillator (B) stabilize the oscillator
(C) damp the oscillator (D) create resonance

17. [Collisions] Which of the following will NOT contribute to systematic errors in the experiment:
(A) unleveled track
(B) unaccounted rotational kinetic energy carried by the wheels
(C) spread in the time recorded by the timer, for identical trials
(D) there can be no systematic errors; only random errors are present in this experiment

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18. [Collisions] Several trials with a single cart passing through two fixed photogates, in which no collisions
occur, are performed. Let T1, T2 be the two times measured when the cart travels from left to right and T1 ,
T2 be the times measured when it travels from right to left. If T1  T2  T1  T2  0 , which of the following is
a definite conclusion?
(A) the track is leveled (B) the track is not leveled,
(C) friction is negligible (D) friction is not negligible

19. [Fourier analysis] For the wave-pattern given below, the fundamental frequency in Hz, is (assume sampling
rate to be 12 kHz)

(A) cannot be determined (B) 200 (C) 2000 (D) 100

20. [Fourier analysis] For a given note played on violin and a sitar, the difference in quality of the sound arises
from the fact that they have
(A) different relative weights for the harmonics present
(B) same relative weights for the harmonics present
(C) same fundamental frequency
(D) different fundamental frequency

21. [e/m of electron] A Helmholtz-coil-setup is used in the experiment to

(A) get a uniform magnetic field in the region between the two coils.
(B) get a uniform gradient of the magnetic field in the region between the two coils.
(C) cancel the Earth’s magnetic field.
(D) balance the force exerted by the electric field

22. [e/m of electron] In this experiment, which of these statements about the effect of Earth’s magnetic field is
correct
(A) it can be neglected because it’s order is same as that of the field due to the coils.
(B) it can be neglected because it’s order is 10 times lesser than the field due to the coils.
(C) it cannot be neglected and is accounted for in the experiment.
(D) it’s effect is nullified by properly orienting the apparatus.