Engineering Physics Question Bank

T
AF
DR

Dr. Neetha S.
The Department of Physics
The National Institute of Engineering
Mysore–570 008
INDIA.
Engineering Physics

UNIT I
MODERN PHYSICS
1. What are the properties of matter waves? Derive the expression for de Broglie wave length
using the concept of group velocity. (10) May 2018
2. The position and momentum of 1 keV electrons are simultaneously determined. If its position
is located within 0.1 nm, what is the percentage of uncertainty in its momentum. (5) May
2018
3. What are matter waves? Verify de-Broglie hypothesis of matter waves by Davisson and
Germer experiment. (10) D2017

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4. Compare the energy of a photon with that of a neutron when both are associated with
wavelength 0.1 nm, given neutron mass is 1.67 × 10−27 kg. (5) D2017
5. Derive an expression for the de Broglie wavelength in terms of the accelerating potential.
(5) July 2017

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6. Compute the relation between group velocity an phase velocity. (5) July 2017
7. Calculate the momentum of an electron and de Broglie wavelength associated with it, if its
kinetic energy is 1.5keV. (5) July 2017
8. Show that group velocity of the wave group is same as particle velocity. (6), M2017
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9. Mention properties of matter waves. (4), M2017
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10. The position and momentum of 1 keV electrons are simultaneously determined. If its position
is located to within 0.1 nm. What is the percentage of uncertainty in its momentum. (5),
M2017
11. State and explain Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. Based on this principle, show that
electrons cannot exist in the nucleus of an atom. (6), D2016
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12. Deduce the relation between group velocity and phase velocity. (4), D2016
13. Estimate the potential difference through which a proton is need to be accelerated, so that
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its deBroglie wavelength becomes equal to 1Å. Given mass of proto is 1.673 × 10−27 kg. (5),
D2016
14. What are matter waves. Describe Davisson-Germer experiment to establish the wave nature
of electrons. (10), MJ2016

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15. A particle of mass 0.65 MeV/C 2 has a kinetic energy 80 eV. Find the de-Broglie wavelength,
group velocity and phase velocity of the de-Broglie wave. (5), MJ2016

16. What are matter waves. Describe Davisson-Germer experiment for confirmation of wave
nature of electrons. (10), D2015

17. Compare the energy of photon with that of neutron when both are associated with wave-
length 02. nm. Given neutron mass mn = 1.678 × 10−27 kg. (5), D2015

18. Explain group velocity. Derive the expression for deBroglie wavelength using the concept of
group velocity. (10), D2015

19. An electron has a speed of 6×105 m/s with an inaccuracy of 0.01%. With what fundamental

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accuracy we can locate the position of th electron. (5), D2015

20. Explain group velocity. (4), J2015

21. Show that group velocity is equal to particle velocity. (6), J2015

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22. An electron has de-Broglie wavelength 0.12 nm. Find the free energy, particle velocity and
phase velocity. (5), J2015
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UNIT II
QUANTUM MECHANICS
1. Explain the significance of wave function and setup time independent Schrödinger’s wave
equation for one dimensional motion. (10) May 2018

2. Show that occupation probability at E = EF + ∆E is equal to non-occupation probability

at E = EF − ∆E. (5) May 2018

3. Explain density of states. Derive an expression for number of allowed energy states per unit
volume of a solid. (10) May 2018

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4. A quantum particle confined to one dimensional potential well of width ‘a’ is in its first
excited state. What is the probability of finding the particle over an interval of a2 marked at
the first half of the potential well. (5) May 2018

5. Explain properties of wave function and hence setup time independent Schrödinger’s wave
equation. (10) D 2017

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6. Evaluate the temperature at which there is 1.0% probability that a state with energy 0.5 eV
above fermi energy will be occupied. (5) D2017

7. Explain density of states. Derive an expression number of allowed states for a unit volume
of solid. (10) D 2017
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8. An electron is bound in one dimensional potential well of width 0.12 nm. Find the energy
values and de-Broglie wavelengths for ground state and the first excited state. (5) D2017
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9. Derive the time independent schrödinger wave equation in one dimension and discuss the
case of a free particle. (10) July2017

10. Fermi level in silver is 5.5eV at 0K. Calcualte the number of free electrons per unit volume
and the probability of occupation for electrons with energy 5.6eV in silver at the same
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temperature. (5)July2017

11. Derive the expression for density of energy states for electrons in metal. (10)July2017
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12. An electron is confined to move between two rigid walls separated by 20Å. Find the de
Broglie wavelength representing the first three allowed energy states of the electron and the
corresponding energies. Assume the potential to be zero. (5)July2017

13. Explain physical significance of wave function. (5), M2017

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14. Show that occupation probability at E = EF + ∆E is equal to non-occupational probability

at E = EF − ∆E. (5), M2017

15. A quantum particle confined to one dimensional potential well of width ’a’ is in its first
excited state. What is the probability of finding the particle over an interval of a2 marked at
the first half of the potential well. (5), M2017

16. Derive the expression for density of states for free electrons in a metal. (5), M2017

17. At what temperature we can expect 10% probability that electrons in silver have energy
which is 1% above fermi level. (Given fermi energy, EF = 5.5 eV. (5), M2017

18. Set up time independent Schrödinger’s wave equation and discuss the case of a free particle.

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(10), D2016

19. An electron is bound in one dimensional potential wee of width 0.12 nm. Find the energy
values in the ground state and also the first two excited states. (5), D2016

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20. Describe how quantum free electron theory has been successful in overcoming the failures of
classical free electron theory. (5), D2016

21. Give the physical significance of wave function. (5), D2016

22. Explain the temperature dependence of fermi factor and its effect with occupancy of energy
levels. (5), D2016
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23. Assuming the time independent schrödinger wave equation, discuss the solution for a particle
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in one dimensional potential well of infinite height. Hence obtain the normalized wave
function. (10) MJ2016

24. Find the temperature at which there is 1% probability that a state with an energy 0.5 eV
above fermi energy is occupied. (5), MJ2016
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25. Explain fermi energy and fermi factor. Discuss the probability of occupation of various
energy states by electrons at T = 0K and T > 0K on the basis of fermi factor. (10), MJ2016

26. Discuss the failures of classical free electron theory. (5), MJ2016
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27. Set the Schrödinger’s time independent wave equation for one dimensional motion. (5),
D2015

28. Explain merits of quantum free electron theory. (5), D2015

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29. Find the temperature at which there is 10% probability that a state with energy 0.5 eV
above fermi energy will be occupied. (5), D2015

30. Derive the expression for eigen value and eigen function for a particle in one dimensional
potential well. (10), J2015

31. An electron is bound in one dimensional box of width 4 × 10−10 m. Compute the energy and
de-Broglie wavelength of first two allowed energy states. (5), J2015

32. Define density of energy state. Derive the expression for density of energy states for free
electrons in metals. (10), J2015

33. Aluminium is a fcc crystal with a lattice constant 4.05Å. The metal has three valence electron

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per atom. Calculate fermi energy. (5), J2015

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UNIT III
THEORY OF VIBRATION AND SPECIAL
THEORY OF RELATIVITY
1. Discuss the theory of forced vibration and arrive the condition for amplitude resonance. (10)
May 2018

2. Estimate the percentage contraction produced in length of a moving rod with a velocity 0.8c
in the direction of its length. (5) May 2018

3. Explain the theory of forced vibration and hence deduce the expression for amplitude reso-
nance. (10) D2017

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4. Find the velocity of the particle at which the mass of a particle is three times its rest mass.
(5) D2017

5. Set up the differential equation of motion for a damped vibration. (5) July2017

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6. Deduce Einstein’s mass energy equivalence relation by considering the variation of mass with
velocity. (5)July2017

7. A rocket measures 90m in length on the ground. During the flight its length is measured to
be 88m by an observer on the ground. Calculate the speed of the socket. (5)July2017
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8. Set up the differential equation for damped vibration and discuss under damped condition.
(6), M2017
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9. Explain Lorentz transformation equations. (4), M2017

10. An electron moving with a speed of 0.99c has mass 64.5 × 10−3 kg. Find the ratio of
Newtonian kinetic energy to relativistic kinetic energy. (5), M2017

11. Define forced vibration. Derive an expression for amplitude of a body executing forced
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vibrations. (10), D2016

12. An electron of rest mass 9.1 × 10−31 kg is moving with speed 0.99c. What is its total energy.
(5), D2016
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13. What are forced vibration. Explain theory of vibration. (10), MJ2016

14. Explain in terms length contraction and time dilation. At what speed must a particle move
for its mass to be four times its rest mass. (5), MJ2016

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Engineering Physics

15. What are forced vibrations. Deduce the expression for amplitude under forced vibration and
hence deduce the condition for resonance. (10), D2015

16. Compute relativistic mass and speed of an electron having kinetic energy 1.5 MeV. (5),
D2015

17. Setup the equation for damped vibration and discuss the case of under damped condition.
(6), J2015

18. Derive the expression for velocity addition theorem. (5), J2015

19. Find the percentage of contraction produced in the length of moving scale with a speed of
0.8c in the direction of its length. (4), J2015

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 Engineering Physics

UNIT IV
LASER AND OPTICAL FIBER
1. Explain the terms stimulated emission and population inversion. Describe the construction
and working of a ruby laser. (10) May 2018
2. Calculate the number of modes that can be propagated inside the optical fiber if core radius
is 50 µm and wavelength of light is 1 µm. Given ncore = 1.53 and nclad = 1.5. (5) May 2018
3. Discuss the different types of optical fibers with diagrams. Derive an expression for numerical
aperture in terms of refractive indices of core and cladding. (10) May 2018
4. A laser beam is emitting an average power of 4.5 µm with 10 nano second pulse duration.

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Find the number of photons emitted per second by the laser. The wavelength of the emitted
radiation is 630 nm. (5) May 2018
5. Explain the requisites of laser system and describe the construction and working of a ruby
laser (10) D2017

remains after 1 km and after 3 km. (5) D2017

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6. The attenuation of an optical fiber is 3.6 dB/km. What is the fraction of light intensity that

7. Explain the terms Acceptance angle and Attenuation in optical fiber. Describe different
types of optical fibers with diagrams. (10) D2017
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8. Evaluate the ratio of population of two energy levels out of which one corresponds to meta
stable state, if wavelength of light emitted at 330 K is 633 nm (5) D2017
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9. Explain stimulated emission and active medium. Explain the construction and working of
He-Ne laser system with neat energy level diagram. (10) July 2017
10. A communication system uses 10km length fiber having a fiber loss of 2.5dB/km. What is
the input power of the signal if the output power is 1.265µW. (5) July 2017
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11. Derive an equation for numerical aperture in terms of the refractive indices of core and
cladding and hence obtain the constitution for ray propagation. (5) July 2017
12. Distinguish between step-index multimode and graded index multimode optical fibers with
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neat figures.(5) July 2017

13. A laser beam emitted is having an average power of 5mW. How many number of photons
are emitted per second by the laser, if the wavelength of the emitted radiation is 632.8nm.
(5) July 2017

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14. Define resonant cavity and induced absorption. Derive the expression for energy density of
radiaton in terms of Einstein’s A and B co-efficients. (10), M2017

15. What is Holography? Explain the principle of recording of 3D image. (5), M2017

16. With neat diagram explain the construction and working of Ruby laser. (7), M2017

17. With neat block diagram, explain a typical optical fiber communication system. (5), M2017

18. Find the attenuation in optical fiber of length 500m, when a light signal of power 100mW
emerges out of the fiber with a power 90mW. (5), M2017

19. Explain the requisites of a laser system. Explain the construction and working of ruby laser

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with neat diagram. (10), M2017

20. A pulsed laser emits photons of wavelength 780 nm with 20mW average power per pulse.
Calculate the number of photons contained in each pulse if the pulse duration is 10 ns. (5),
D2016

aperture of an optical fiber. (6), D2016

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21. Define the angle of acceptance and numerical aperture. Obtain an expression for numerical

22. Explain point to point communication in optical fiber. (5), D2016

23. The ratio of population of two energy levels is 1.059 × 10−30 . Find the wavelength of light
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emitted at 300K. (4), D2016

24. With neat diagram explain acceptance angle and numerical aperture. Describe different
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types of optical fibers along with the typical core and cladding diameter, refractive index
profiles and modes of propagation sketches. (10), MJ2016

25. What is Holography. Explain the principle of recording of 3D images. (5), MJ2016
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26. Explain principle, construction and working of Ruby laser. Discuss any two applications of
laser. (10), MJ2016

27. The attenuation of light in an optical fiber is .3.6 dB/km. What fractional intensity remain
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after 1 km and 3 km. (5), MJ2016

28. Explain the terms stimulated emission and population inversion. Obtain an expression for
energy density of radiation under equilibrium condition in terms of Einstein’s coefficients.
(10), D2015

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29. What is attenuation in an optical fiber. Find attenuating in optical fiber of length 500m,
when a light signal of power 100 mW emerges out of fiber with 90 mW. (5), D2015

30. Discuss different types of optical fibers. (6), D2015

31. Explain recording and reconstruction mechanism in hologram. (6), D2015

32. The power of He-Ne laser is 1 mW. Calculate the number of photons emitted per second,
given the wavelength as 633 nm. (3), D2015

33. Define resonant cavity, induced absorption and population inversion. (3), J2015

34. With neat diagram explain construction and working of Nd:YAG laser. (7), J2015

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35. A laser medium at thermal equilibrium temperature 300K has two energy levels with a
wavelength separation of 1µm. Find the ratio of population densities of upper level to lower
level. (5), J2015

36. Derive the expression for numerical aperture. (5), J2015

37. Explain types of opticla fibers. (6), J2015

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38. Find attenuation in optical fiber of length 500 m, when a light signal of power 100 mW
emerges out of fiber with 90 mW. (4), J2015
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Engineering Physics

UNIT V
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE
1. Explain the emission of continuous x-ray spectrum. Describe NaCl crystal structure. (10)
May 2018

2. Calculate the glancing angle on the cube (132) of NaCl, having lattice spacing 0.381 nm
corresponding to the second order diffraction for x-rays of wavelength 0.58Å. (5) May 2018

3. Explain the emission of continuous x-ray spectrum. Describe NaCl crystal structure. (10)
D2017

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4. Calculate the glancing angle for (132) of CsCl having lattice spacing 0.381 nm corresponding
to second order diffraction maximum for x-rays of wavelength 0.58 nm. (5) D2017

5. Derive an expression for interplanar spacing in terms of miller indices for a cubic crystal.
(5) July2017

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6. Distinguish between continuous and characteristic x-rays with relevant spectrum. (5) July2017

7. A monochromatic beam of electrons with kinetic energy 250eV undergo first order bragg
diffraction in a crystal at a glancing angle of 9.21◦ . Calculate the interplanar spacing. (5)
July2017

8. Derive the expression for inter-planar spacing in terms of Miller indices for cubic crystal.
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(4) M(2017)
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9. Explain the crystal structure of NaCl. (6), M2017

10. Calculate the glancing angle at which 2nd order Bragg reflection from (111) plane was ob-
served with x-rays of wavelength 1.5Åfor iron which crystallizes in bcc structure. Given
Atomic weight, A = 55.85, Avogadro number N = 6.026 × 1026 atoms/k − mol, Density
ρ = 7860 kg/m3 .(5), 2017
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11. Derive the expression for interplanar spacing in terms of Miller indices for a cubic crystal.
(5), 2016
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12. Explain the structure of CsCl. (5), 2016

13. Monochromatic x-rays of wavelength 0.82Åundergo first order Bragg reflection from a crystal
of cubic lattice with lattice constant 3Å, at a glancing angle of 7.855◦ . Identify the possible
planes which give rise to this reflection in terms of their Miller indices. (5), 2016

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14. Explain the procedure followed to specify the crystal planes using Miller indices. Derive an
expression for inter planar spacing of a crystal in terms of miller indices in a cubic structure.
(10), MJ2016

15. Calculate the glancing angle for incidence of x-rays of wavelength 0.58Åon the plane (132)
of NaCl which results in second order diffraction maxima taking taking the lattice spacing
as 3.81Å. (5), MJ2016

16. Derive the expression for interplanar distance in terms of miller indices. (5), D2015

17. Explain continuous and characteristic x-rays. (5), D2015

18. X-rays are diffracted in the first order from (110) plane of calcite crystal with lattice constant

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3.036Åat glancing angle of 9.6◦ . Calculate the wavelength of x-rays. (5), D2015

19. Define co-ordination number and packing factor. Calculate packing factor for simple cubic,
FCC and BCC structure. (10), J2015

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20. An x-ray beam of waveelngth 0.7Åundergoes first order Bragg reflection from plane (302) of
cubic crystal at a glancing angle 35◦ . Calculate the lattice constant. (5), J2015
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UNIT VI
DIELECTRICS, SUPERCONDUCTORS, NANO MATERIALS
1. Discuss Type-I and Type -II superconductors. Explain the properties and applications of
carbon nanotubes. (10) May 2018

2. The dielectric constant of a material is 3.4. Assuming a cubic lattice for its structure calculate
the electronic polarizability of the material. Given density is 2.07 g/ cm3 and atomic weight
is 32.07. (5) May 2018

3. Discuss briefly BCS theory of superconductors. Explain the properties of carbon nanotube.
(10) D2017

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4. An elemental solid dielectric has density 3.08 × 1028 atoms/m3 and its relative permittivity
is 4. Evaluate electronic polarizability. (5) D2017

5. Assuming the expression for radial and tangential electric fields (Er andEθ ), derive an ex-

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pression for the internal field in case of one dimensional array of atoms in dielectric solid.
(5) July2017

6. What are nanomaterials. Write a note on carbon nanotubes. (5) July2017

7. A super conducting sample has critical fields of 3.8 × 105 A/m and 1.2 × 105 A/m at 2K and
12K temperatures respectively . Caluclate the transition tempertaure. (5) July2017
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8. Explain the properties and applications of carbon nanotubes. (5), M2017
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9. Explain Type-I and Type-II superconductors. (5), M2017

10. An elemental solid dielectric has polarizability 7 × 10−40 F − m2 . Assuming the internal field
to be a Lorentz field, calculate the dielectric constant for the material, if the material has
3 × 1028 atoma/m3 . (5), M2017
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11. Derive an expression for internal field in the case of one dimensional array of atoms in
dielectric solids. (7), D2016

12. A superconducting tim has a critical fiels of 306 gauss at 0K and 217 gauss at 2K, find the
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critical temperature of superconducting tin. (4), D2016

13. Write a note on carbon nanotubes.(4), D2016

14. Describe electronic and ionic polarization mechanisms. (5), MJ2016

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15. Explain Type -I and Type-II superconductors. (5), MJ2016

16. The dielectric constant of sulfur is 3.4. Assuming a cubic lattice for its structure calculate
the electronic polarizabillity of sulphur. Given : For sulfur, density = 2.07g/cc and atomic
weight = 32.07. (5), MJ2016

17. Derive Clausius-Mossotti relation for a dielectric solid. (5), D2015

18. Explain briefly Type I and Type II superconductors. (5), D2015

19. Explain properties and application of carbon nanotube. (5), D2015

20. Explain hysteresis on the basis of domain theory. (5), J2015

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21. Explain SQUIDS. (5), J2015

22. A solid elemental dielectric has density 3.08 × 1028 atom/m3 and relative permittivity is 4.
Calculate electronic polarizability. (5), J2015

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