First Year University Physics Exam

Time: 3 Hours

Instructions:

 Answer all questions.

 Show all workings for full credit.
 Use a separate answer booklet for each section.

Section A: Mechanics

Question 1: (10 marks)

A car accelerates uniformly from rest to a speed of 20 m/s20 \, \text{m/s}20m/s in 5 seconds.
Calculate the acceleration and the distance traveled by the car during this time.

Question 2: (15 marks)

A projectile is launched with an initial velocity of 30 m/s30 \, \text{m/s}30m/s at an angle of
45∘45^\circ45∘ to the horizontal. Calculate the maximum height reached by the projectile and its
range.

Question 3: (20 marks)

A block of mass 5 kg5 \, \text{kg}5kg is placed on a frictionless inclined plane that makes an
angle of 30∘30^\circ30∘ with the horizontal. Calculate the acceleration of the block and the
normal force acting on it.

Question 4: (25 marks)

A particle of mass 0.2 kg0.2 \, \text{kg}0.2kg is moving in a circular path of radius 0.5 m0.5 \, \
text{m}0.5m with a constant speed of 2 m/s2 \, \text{m/s}2m/s. Calculate the centripetal force
acting on the particle and the period of the motion.

Section B: Electromagnetism

Question 5: (10 marks)

Calculate the electric field at a point PPP located 0.1 m0.1 \, \text{m}0.1m from a point charge
of 2×10−6 C2 \times 10^{-6} \, \text{C}2×10−6C.

Question 6: (15 marks)

A capacitor of capacitance 10 μF10 \, \mu\text{F}10μF is connected to a 12 V12 \, \text{V}12V
battery. Calculate the charge stored in the capacitor and the energy stored in the electric field.
Question 7: (20 marks)
Two parallel wires 0.5 m0.5 \, \text{m}0.5m apart carry currents of 10 A10 \, \text{A}10A and
15 A15 \, \text{A}15A in opposite directions. Calculate the force per unit length between the
wires.

Question 8: (25 marks)

A circular loop of radius 0.1 m0.1 \, \text{m}0.1m carrying a current of 5 A5 \, \text{A}5A is
placed in a uniform magnetic field of 0.2 T0.2 \, \text{T}0.2T. Calculate the magnetic moment of
the loop and the torque acting on it if the plane of the loop makes an angle of 30∘30^\circ30∘
with the magnetic field.

Section C: Thermodynamics

Question 9: (10 marks)

A gas expands isothermally at 300 K300 \, \text{K}300K from a volume of 1 m31 \, \
text{m}^31m3 to 2 m32 \, \text{m}^32m3. Calculate the work done by the gas.

Question 10: (15 marks)

Calculate the change in internal energy and the heat added to a system if 500 J500 \, \text{J}500J
of work is done on the system and 300 J300 \, \text{J}300J of heat is transferred out of the
system.

Question 11: (20 marks)

A Carnot engine operates between temperatures of 500 K500 \, \text{K}500K and 300 K300 \, \
text{K}300K. If the engine absorbs 600 J600 \, \text{J}600J of heat from the hot reservoir,
calculate the work done by the engine and the heat rejected to the cold reservoir.

Question 12: (25 marks)

A 1 kg1 \, \text{kg}1kg block of aluminum (specific heat capacity 900 J/kg\cdotpK900 \, \
text{J/kg·K}900J/kg\cdotpK) is heated from 20∘C20^\circ\text{C}20∘C to 100∘C100^\circ\
text{C}100∘C. Calculate the heat absorbed by the block and the entropy change of the block.

Section D: Waves and Oscillations

Question 13: (10 marks)

A string of length 1 m1 \, \text{m}1m is fixed at both ends and vibrates in its fundamental mode
with a frequency of 100 Hz100 \, \text{Hz}100Hz. Calculate the speed of the wave on the string
and the wavelength.

Question 14: (15 marks)

A sound wave in air has a frequency of 500 Hz500 \, \text{Hz}500Hz and a wavelength of 0.68
m0.68 \, \text{m}0.68m. Calculate the speed of sound in air and the period of the wave.
Question 15: (20 marks)
A light wave has a wavelength of 600 nm600 \, \text{nm}600nm in air. Calculate its frequency
and speed in a medium with a refractive index of 1.51.51.5.

Question 16: (25 marks)

A mass-spring system oscillates with a period of 2 s2 \, \text{s}2s and an amplitude of 0.1
m0.1 \, \text{m}0.1m. Calculate the maximum speed and maximum acceleration of the mass.

End of Exam

Solutions

(Note: Detailed step-by-step solutions would be provided to help students understand the
approach and methodology to solve each problem. Here is an outline of the solutions.)

Section A: Mechanics

Solution 1:

 Acceleration a=20 m/s5 s=4 m/s2a = \frac{20 \, \text{m/s}}{5 \, \text{s}} = 4 \,

\text{m/s}^2a=5s20m/s=4m/s2
 Distance s=12at2=12×4×52=50 ms = \frac{1}{2}at^2 = \frac{1}{2} \times 4 \times 5^2
= 50 \, \text{m}s=21at2=21×4×52=50m

Solution 2:

 v0x=30cos⁡(45∘)=21.2 m/sv_{0x} = 30 \cos(45^\circ) = 21.2 \, \text{m/s}v0x

=30cos(45∘)=21.2m/s
 v0y=30sin⁡(45∘)=21.2 m/sv_{0y} = 30 \sin(45^\circ) = 21.2 \, \text{m/s}v0y
=30sin(45∘)=21.2m/s
 Maximum height h=v0y22g=22.9 mh = \frac{v_{0y}^2}{2g} = 22.9 \, \
text{m}h=2gv0y2=22.9m
 Range R=v02sin⁡(2θ)g=91.8 mR = \frac{v_0^2 \sin(2\theta)}{g} = 91.8 \, \
text{m}R=gv02sin(2θ)=91.8m

Solution 3:

 a=gsin⁡(30∘)=4.9 m/s2a = g \sin(30^\circ) = 4.9 \, \text{m/s}^2a=gsin(30∘)=4.9m/s2

 Normal force N=mgcos⁡(30∘)=42.4 NN = mg \cos(30^\circ) = 42.4 \, \
text{N}N=mgcos(30∘)=42.4N
Solution 4:

 Centripetal force Fc=mv2r=1.6 NF_c = m \frac{v^2}{r} = 1.6 \, \text{N}Fc=mrv2=1.6N

 Period T=2πrv=1.57 sT = \frac{2\pi r}{v} = 1.57 \, \text{s}T=v2πr=1.57s

Section B: Electromagnetism

Solution 5:

 E=kQr2=1.8×106 N/CE = \frac{kQ}{r^2} = 1.8 \times 10^6 \, \text{N/C}E=r2kQ

=1.8×106N/C

Solution 6:

 Q=CV=1.2×10−4 CQ = CV = 1.2 \times 10^{-4} \, \text{C}Q=CV=1.2×10−4C

 U=12CV2=7.2×10−4 JU = \frac{1}{2}CV^2 = 7.2 \times 10^{-4} \, \text{J}U=21
CV2=7.2×10−4J

Solution 7:

 Force per unit length F/L=μ0I1I22πd=6×10−6 N/mF/L = \frac{\mu_0 I_1 I_2}{2\pi d} =

6 \times 10^{-6} \, \text{N/m}F/L=2πdμ0I1I2=6×10−6N/m

Solution 8:

 Magnetic moment m=IA=0.016 A\cdotpm2m = IA = 0.016 \, \

text{A·m}^2m=IA=0.016A\cdotpm2
 Torque τ=mBsin⁡(30∘)=0.0016 N\cdotpm\tau = mB \sin(30^\circ) = 0.0016 \, \
text{N·m}τ=mBsin(30∘)=0.0016N\cdotpm

Section C: Thermodynamics

Solution 9:

 W=nRTln⁡(VfVi)=207 JW = nRT \ln\left(\frac{V_f}{V_i}\right) = 207 \, \

text{J}W=nRTln(ViVf)=207J

Solution 10:

 ΔU=Q+W=−200 J\Delta U = Q + W = -200 \, \text{J}ΔU=Q+W=−200J

Solution 11:
  Efficiency η=1−TcTh=0.4\eta = 1 - \frac{T_c}{T_h} = 0.4η=1−ThTc=0.4
 Work W=ηQh=240 JW = \eta Q_h = 240 \, \text{J}W=ηQh=240J
 Heat rejected Qc=Qh−W=360 JQ_c = Q_h - W = 360 \, \text{J}Qc=Qh−W=360J

Solution 12:

 Heat Q=mcΔT=72,000 JQ = mc\Delta T = 72,000 \, \text{J}Q=mcΔT=72,000J

 Entropy change ΔS=QT=240 J/K\Delta S = \frac{Q}{T} = 240 \, \text{J/K}ΔS=TQ
=240J/K

Section D: Waves and Oscillations

Solution 13:

 Speed v=fλ=100×2=200 m/sv = f \lambda = 100 \times 2 = 200 \,

\text{m/s}v=fλ=100×2=200m/s
 Wavelength (\lambda = \frac{2L}{n} = 2