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ZIMSEC A Level · J2009

Physics Paper 1 June 2009

Questions
38 of 40
Time allowed
60 min

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Questions
38
Pass mark
23
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Answer every question in the printed order, get marked at the end, then see the answers.

The questions

Question 1

physical quantities and units
Which quantity is not a base quantity?
  1. Atemperature
  2. Belectric charge
  3. Celectric current
  4. Damount of substance

Question 2

units and dimensions
The base units of Planck's constant are
  1. Akg m s−2kg\,m\,s^{-2}
  2. Bkg m−1 s−2kg\,m^{-1}\,s^{-2}
  3. Ckg m2 s−1kg\,m^2\,s^{-1}
  4. Dkg s m−1kg\,s\,m^{-1}

Question 3

dynamics
Which statement is correct about the resultant force acting on a mass undergoing uniform acceleration?
  1. AIt increases uniformly with respect to time.
  2. BIt is constant but not zero.
  3. CIt is proportional to the displacement from a fixed point.
  4. DIt is proportional to the velocity.

Question 4

free fall
Which quantity remains constant for an orange falling from a tree?
  1. Avelocity
  2. Bdisplacement
  3. Cacceleration
  4. Dspeed

Question 5

equilibrium
Which one is not a condition for static equilibrium?
  1. AForces form a closed system.
  2. BAlgebraic sum of moments is zero.
  3. CResultant force is the hypotenuse of a right angled triangle.
  4. DAlgebraic sum of the resolved components of force is zero.

Question 6

gravitation and orbits
Which quantity increases when a satellite moves to a higher orbit?
  1. Aangular velocity
  2. Bcentripetal acceleration
  3. Cgravitational potential energy
  4. Dlinear speed

Question 7

kinematics
Which graph shows variation of height h with time t for a dislodged brick falling from a tall building?
  1. AGraph A
  2. BGraph B
  3. CGraph C
  4. DGraph D

Question 8

momentum and collisions
A 1 tonne car travelling at 30 ms⁻¹ East, collides with a 2 tonne truck travelling at 20 ms⁻¹ West. What is their speed after collision if they move off together?
  1. A23.8 ms⁻¹
  2. B23.3 ms⁻¹
  3. C10 ms⁻¹
  4. D3.3 ms⁻¹

Question 9

resonance
When a 320 Hz key of a piano is struck the 640 Hz and 960 Hz will also vibrate. This is because they
  1. Aare in phase.
  2. Bresonate.
  3. Care parallel.
  4. Dneed damping.

Question 10

gravitational field strength
The diagram shows two particles P and Q of mass m and 4m respectively in a gravitational field. What ratio of xy\frac{x}{y} would make the gravitational field strength at R due to the two masses equal?
  1. A14\frac{1}{4}
  2. B12\frac{1}{2}
  3. C22
  4. D44

Question 11

wave properties
Which process is not associated with sound waves?
  1. APolarisation.
  2. BDiffraction.
  3. CInterference.
  4. DReflection.

Question 12

wave types
An example of a longitudinal wave is
  1. Aa light wave travelling through air.
  2. Ba radio wave from a broadcasting station.
  3. Ca ripple on the surface of water.
  4. Da sound wave travelling through air.

Question 13

progressive waves
In a progressive wave
  1. Aneighbouring points are in phase.
  2. Bneighbouring points have different amplitudes.
  3. Cenergy is not transferred along the direction of propagation.
  4. Dthe wave profile moves in the direction of propagation.

Question 15

electromagnetic spectrum
Which list of waves is in order of decreasing frequency?
  1. Agamma rays, visible light, infrared radiation
  2. Bradio waves, X rays, gamma rays
  3. Cinfrared radiation, radio waves, gamma rays
  4. Dgamma rays, visible light, ultra violet radiation

Question 16

interference (Young's slits)
Fringes of separation y are observed on a screen 1.20 m from a Young's slit array that is illuminated by yellow light of wavelength 600 nm. At what distance from the slits would fringes of the same separation y be observed using blue light of wavelength 400 nm?
  1. A0.56 m
  2. B0.80 m
  3. C1.25 m
  4. D1.80 m

Question 17

coherence
Which statement is true for two coherent monochromatic light waves incident at a point on a screen?
  1. AThey have a constant phase difference.
  2. BThey have the same optical path.
  3. CThey have almost the same amplitude.
  4. DThey produce constructive interference.

Question 18

power transmission
A generator produces 100 kW of power at a potential difference of 10 kV. The power is transmitted through cables of total resistance 5 Ω. What is the power loss in the cable?
  1. A0.05 W.
  2. B20 W.
  3. C500 W.
  4. D2×1072 \times 10^7 W.

Question 20

resistor networks
The diagram shows a network of identical resistors. What is the effective resistance between the points X and Y?
  1. A27R\frac{2}{7}R
  2. B15R\frac{1}{5}R
  3. C58R\frac{5}{8}R
  4. DRR

Question 21

electrostatic induction
The diagram shows an earthed conducting sphere held close to a negatively charged dome. What are the charge and potential of the conducting sphere?
  1. Acharge negative, potential zero
  2. Bcharge negative, potential negative
  3. Ccharge positive, potential zero
  4. Dcharge positive, potential negative

Question 22

potential divider
What is the p.d between P and Q if the 6 V battery is of negligible internal resistance?
  1. A1 V
  2. B2 V
  3. C3 V
  4. D6 V

Question 23

electric potential
15 J of energy are needed to move a 3 C charge from infinity to a point X in an electric field. The potential at X is
  1. A45 V.
  2. B22.5 V.
  3. C15 V.
  4. D5 V.

Question 24

force on moving charge
Hot air from a hair-dryer contains many positively charged ions. The hot air is directed between the poles of a strong magnet as shown. The ions are deflected
  1. Atowards the north pole.
  2. Btowards the south pole.
  3. Cdownwards.
  4. Dupwards.

Question 25

electromagnetic induction
The emf induced when a coil of wire rotates in a magnetic field does not depend on
  1. Aangular speed of rotation.
  2. Bthe area of the coil.
  3. Cthe number of turns in the coil.
  4. Dthe resistance of the coil.

Question 26

a.c. power
The graph shows the variation with time of a.c through a resistor. Which graph shows the approximate variation with time of power dissipated in the resistor with time?
  1. AGraph A
  2. BGraph B
  3. CGraph C
  4. DGraph D

Question 27

operational amplifiers
An ideal operational amplifier does not have
  1. Ahigh output impedance.
  2. Bhigh gain.
  3. Cinfinite bandwidth.
  4. Dhigh slew rate.

Question 28

logic gates
The logic gate circuit shown in the diagram is equivalent to (truth table given: A=0011, B=0101, C=1100, D=1010, E=0111, F=1000)
  1. ANOT gate.
  2. BNOR gate.
  3. CNAND gate.
  4. DEX OR gate.

Question 29

elastic hysteresis
The graph shows the variation of extension with force for a catapult. Which area represents the energy recovered during releasing?
  1. AP
  2. BQ
  3. CR
  4. DP + Q

Question 30

Hooke's law
In an experiment to verify Hooke's law a student plotted the graph below (force against extension, a straight line not passing through the origin). Which conclusion can be made from the graph?
  1. Athe force constant is unity
  2. Bforce varies directly with extension
  3. Cforce varies linearly with extension
  4. Dforce is equal to extension

Question 31

thermometry
The graph below shows the variation of volume of water with temperature. Why is the volume of water not suitable for use as a thermometric property in this region?
  1. Avolume of water does not vary linearly with temperature
  2. Bvolume of water does not vary proportionally with temperature
  3. Cvolume of water does not vary monotonically with temperature
  4. Dvolume of water is not zero at 0°C

Question 32

first law of thermodynamics
The first law of thermodynamics can be stated in the form ΔU=ΔQ+PΔV\Delta U = \Delta Q + P\Delta V where the symbols have their usual meanings. Which quantity is zero when an ideal gas undergoes a change at constant temperature?
  1. AΔU\Delta U
  2. BΔQ\Delta Q
  3. CΔV\Delta V
  4. DPP

Question 33

kinetic theory
The pressure of a fixed mass of gas at constant volume is greater at a higher temperature. One reason for this is
  1. Athe size of each individual molecule increases.
  2. Bthe number of intermolecular collisions increases.
  3. Cthe mean free path of molecules increases.
  4. Dthe molecules collide with the container walls more frequently.

Question 34

Bernoulli / fluid dynamics
The diagram shows an aerofoil in flight. The air moves
  1. Afaster at M.
  2. Bfaster at N.
  3. Cat the same speed at M and N
  4. Daerofoil downwards

Question 35

charged particle in magnetic field
How long does it take an electron of mass m and charge e to complete one orbit if it moves in a circular path in a magnetic field of flux density B?
  1. A2meBπ\frac{2me}{B\pi}
  2. B2πmBe\frac{2\pi m}{Be}
  3. C2Bmeπ\frac{2B}{me\pi}
  4. DBe2πm\frac{Be}{2\pi m}

Question 36

atomic energy levels
What is the wavelength of the radiation emitted when an atom is excited from its ground state energy level EoE_o to an energy level E1E_1?
  1. AE1−Eohc\frac{E_1 - E_o}{hc}
  2. BE1−Eoh\frac{E_1 - E_o}{h}
  3. ChE1−Eo\frac{h}{E_1 - E_o}
  4. DhcE1−Eo\frac{hc}{E_1 - E_o}

Question 37

photoelectric effect
What happens if the wavelength of the incident radiation is reduced during photoemission?
  1. AThe average kinetic energy of the photoelectrons is increased
  2. BThe maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons increases
  3. CThe minimum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons decreases
  4. DThe average kinetic energy of the photoelectrons is reduced

Question 38

isotopes
Isotopes of strontium have the same
  1. Anucleon number
  2. Bproton number
  3. Cneutron number
  4. Dhalf-life

Question 39

radioactive decay
An isotope is said to have a half-life of 6 years. This means that
  1. Aafter 1 year ½ of the isotope has decayed.
  2. Bafter 1 year ½ of the isotope remains undecayed.
  3. Cafter 12 years ¼ of the isotope has decayed.
  4. Dafter 12 years ¼ of the isotope remains undecayed.

Question 40

radioactivity
Which statement is not correct about α-particles?
  1. AThey are deflected by electric and magnetic fields.
  2. BThey are stopped only by a few mm of aluminium.
  3. CThey have the highest ionizing power.
  4. DThey are helium nuclei.

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