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2015 PDF
2015 PDF
2015 PDF
_______________
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TIME: 3 HOURS
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Answer three questions from Section A and five questions from Section B.
_______________
N.B. Relevant data are listed in the Formulae and Tables booklet, which is
available from the Superintendent.
Page 1 of 9
SECTION A (120 marks)
1. In an experiment to investigate the relationship between the acceleration of a body and the
force applied to it, a student recorded the following data.
Describe the procedure involved in measuring the acceleration of the body. (12)
Using the data above, plot a graph showing the relationship between the acceleration of the
body and the force applied to it. (16)
After completing this experiment, a student found that the graph did not go through the origin.
Suggest a possible reason for this and describe how the apparatus should be adjusted so that
the graph would go through the origin. (6)
2nd image to the 1st image to the Centre image 1st image to the 2nd image to the
left of centre left of centre right of centre right of centre
θ (°) 30 14 0 14.5 31
Describe, with the aid of a diagram, how the data above was obtained.
Using the data, calculate the wavelength of the monochromatic light.
Based on your results, what source of monochromatic light was used? (24)
What effect would each of the following changes have on the bright images formed?
Page 2 of 9
3. In an experiment to measure the specific latent heat of vaporisation of water, a student used
a copper calorimeter containing water and a sensitive thermometer. The water was cooled
below room temperature before adding dry steam to it.
Using the data, calculate the specific latent heat of vaporisation of water. (16)
(specific heat capacity of water = 4180 J kg–1 K–1; specific heat capacity of copper = 390 J kg–1 K–1)
4. The following is part of a student’s report on an experiment to investigate the variation of the
current I with potential difference V for a semiconductor diode.
“I set up the apparatus as shown in the circuit diagram. I measured the current flowing
through the diode for different values of the potential difference. I recorded the following
data.”
Page 3 of 9
SECTION B (280 marks)
5. Answer any eight of the following parts (a), (b), (c), etc.
(a) What are the two conditions for the equilibrium of a set of co-planar forces?
(b) What is the critical angle of a sample of glass whose refractive index is 1.5?
(c) Name the parts labelled A and B of the spectrometer shown in the diagram.
A B
(d) Explain why snow is slow to melt as the air temperature rises above 0 °C.
(f) Name the two optical phenomena that occur when white light passes through a prism.
(h) The peak voltage of an A.C. supply is 300 V. Calculate its rms voltage.
(i) Draw a ray diagram to show the formation of an image in a convex mirror.
or
(8 × 7)
Page 4 of 9
6. On 16 August, 1960, Joseph Kittinger established a record for the highest altitude parachute
jump. Kittinger jumped from a height of 31 km. In 2012, at the age of 84, he participated
in the Red Bull Stratos project as capsule communicator, directing Felix Baumgartner on his
record-breaking 39-kilometre (24 miles) freefall from Earth’s stratosphere. The total jump,
from leaving the capsule to landing on the ground, lasted approximately ten minutes.
Calculate the acceleration due to gravity at a height of 39 km above the surface of the earth.
(14)
What was the downward force exerted on Felix and his equipment at 39 km, taking their total
mass to be 200 kg? (8)
What was his average speed during the remaining 9 minutes and 50 seconds? (11)
Calculate the upthrust that acted on Felix when he reached constant velocity in the last stage
of his descent (assume g = 9.81 m s–2 during this stage). (9)
The equation F = – ks, where k is a constant, describes a law that governs the motion of a
body.
Name this law and give its definition. (9)
Give the name for this type of motion and describe the motion. (9)
A mass at the end of a spring is an example of a system that obeys this law.
Give two other examples of systems that obey this law. (6)
The springs of a mountain bike are compressed vertically by 5 mm when a cyclist of mass
80 kg sits on it. When the cyclist rides the bike over a bump on a track, the frame of the
bike and the cyclist oscillate up and down.
Using the formula F = – ks, calculate the value of k, the constant for the springs of the bike.
(6)
The total mass of the frame of the bike and the cyclist is 100 kg.
Calculate (i) the period of oscillation of the cyclist and (ii) the number of oscillations of the
cyclist per second. (20)
Page 5 of 9
8. (a) A straight wire carrying a current is surrounded by a magnetic field.
How can this magnetic field be detected? Sketch the shape of this magnetic field.
The figure shows a circuit with a 10 Ω resistor and a 5 Ω resistor in series connected to
a battery. The current in the circuit is 0.4 A.
0.4 A
10 Ω 5
Calculate (i) the effective resistance of the two resistors and (ii) the voltage
(potential difference) across the 5 Ω resistor. (14)
Define electric field strength and state the unit in which it is measured. (6)
Use Coulomb’s law to derive an expression for the electric field strength at a
distance r from a point charge Q. (9)
Calculate the magnitude of the electric field strength at a point which is 5 cm from
a positive charge of 2 μC. (7)
What are X-rays and how do they differ from light rays?
Give two uses of X-rays. (18)
When electrons hit the target in an X-ray tube, only a small percentage of their energy is
converted into X-rays. What happens to the rest of their energy and how does this influence
the type of target used? (9)
Page 6 of 9
10. Answer either part (a) or part (b).
(a) In 1932 the English physicist, John Cockroft and the Irish physicist, Ernest Walton,
bombarded lithium with protons.
How were the protons accelerated? How were the alpha particles detected? (8)
Write a nuclear equation to represent the splitting of a lithium nucleus by a proton. (12)
Most of the accelerated protons did not split a lithium nucleus. Explain why. (6)
What is the maximum net mass of the new particles created per collision? (9)
What is the advantage of using circular particle accelerators in particle physics? (6)
(mass of alpha particle = 6.6447 × 10–27 kg; mass of proton = 1.6726 × 10–27 kg; mass
of lithium nucleus = 1.1646 × 10–26 kg; speed of light = 2.9979 × 108 m s–1; charge on
electron = 1.6022 × 10–19 C)
If the motor jammed, a larger current than normal would flow through the motor.
Explain why.
What changes can be made to a D.C. motor to convert it to an A.C. generator? (6)
Give two ways in which the output voltage from an A.C. generator can be increased. (5)
Page 7 of 9
11. Read the following extract and answer the accompanying questions.
Under the right circumstances, light can be used to push electrons, freeing them from
the surface of a solid. This process is called the photoelectric effect. The photoelectric
effect was first observed in 1887 by Heinrich Hertz (1857–1894) during experiments
with a spark-gap generator — the earliest form of radio receiver.
However it was not until 1905 that Albert Einstein published a paper that explained
experimental data from the photoelectric effect as being the result of light energy being
carried in discrete quantized packets. This discovery led to the quantum revolution.
Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921 for “his discovery of the law of the
photoelectric effect”.
(The Project Physics Course, Halt, Rinechant and Wilson, New York)
(c) Explain with the aid of a diagram, how X-ray production is the inverse of the
photoelectric effect. (6)
Current is moving electrons. An investigation was carried out into the relationship between
current flowing in a metal and the frequency of light shining on it. The graph below illustrates
this relationship. Current starts flowing when the frequency of light is 4 × 1014 Hz.
Current
4 × 1014 Hz Frequency
Page 8 of 9
12. Answer any two of the following parts (a), (b), (c), (d).
1 2 3 4 5 6
Time seconds
15
10
0
0 5 10 15 20
Time (mins)
Using the graph, calculate the distance travelled by the cyclist and the average speed for
the journey. (14)