O-Level Physics Numerical and Conceptual Questions PDF

O-LEVEL
PHYSICS BANK QUESTIONS, 2019
INSTRUCTIONS:
This paper consists of several questions.
Designed as Bank Questions for O-level Physics
For comments and suggestions;
Phone: +255756988016
+255679380244
E-mail: ahmedmukhtar318@gmail.com
PART A; Numerical Questions:
1. (a) (i) The relative density of brass is 8.5. What does this statement mean?
(ii) Describe or give a theoretical argument in support of the Principle of Archimedes. OR
(iii) How can you verify the Archimedes principle? Briefly explain.
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(b) A cube of glass, of 5cm side and of mass 306g, has a cavity inside it. If the density of glass is 2.55g/cm , what is the
volume of the cavity?
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(c) A buoy of volume 40 litres and mass 10kg is held in position in sea water of density 1.04g/cm (1.04kg/litre) by a
light cable fixed to the bottom so that ¾ of the volume of the buoy is below the surface of the sea water.
(i) Name the three forces that keep the buoy in equilibrium and state the direction in which each acts.
(ii) Determine the tension in the cable.
(d) A block of wood of mass 100g floats in water. What volume of it is below the surface? If this volume is half the
volume of the wood, what is the density of the wood?
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Answers; 50cm , 212N, 100cm , 0.5g/cm
2. (a) Explain the significance of the following features of common liquids in thermometer
i. the thin walled bulk
ii. a very fine bore
iii. thick walled stem with a bulge in glass down one side
(b) Which part of electromagnetic wave spectrum would you use for the following purpose?
i. Making a piece of toast
ii. Getting a good suntan
iii. Treating cancer
iv. Finding out if you have a broken leg.
(c) Explain briefly the effects that would happen if:
i. A tall house in areas of much thunderstorms wire not installed with lighting conductor.
ii. A large capacitor was not there in an induction coil.
3. (a) (i) Explain as far as you can the difference between heat and temperature
(ii) State two properties of matter which could enable it to be used for measuring temperatures.
(b) Give the reasons for the following features of a clinical thermometer,
i. the bulb is small,
ii. it is a long cylinder and not spherical,
iii. the bulb is made of thin glass,
iv. the capillary is of very small cross-section area,
v. there is a constriction in the capillary.
(c) (i) State one advantage and one disadvantage of using alcohol and mercury for thermometers. Give three reasons
why water is unsuitable as a thermometric liquid.
(ii) Give three reasons why mercury is a suitable liquid for use in a thermometer.
(iii) Suggest one way in which the design of a thermometer may be modified so as to increase its sensitivity.
4. (a) (i) Explain briefly the principle of the simple mercury barometer.
(ii) Describe how you would use a simple barometer to measure the atmospheric pressure.
(iii) What are the objections to the use of water as the barometric liquid?
(b) If the reading of a mercury barometer is 75.58cm at the base of a mountain and 66.37cm at the summit, what is
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the height of the mountain? (Given, density of mercury = 13600kg/m , average density of air = 1.25kg/m )
Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 1

(c) (i) What is meant by the term pressure? Explain the fact that when someone uses his thumb to push a drawing-pin
into a block of wood, the pressure on the wood is greater than the pressure on the thumb.
(ii) How would the flow of liquid differ if the bottle had contained mercury in place of water? Give reasons.
(d) A uniform vertical tube, 40cm long sealed at the upper end, is lowered into mercury until the length of the
enclosed air column is 35cm. find the depth of immersion of the tube if the atmospheric pressure is 77cm of
mercury.
Answers; 1000m, 16cm
5. (a) (i) Define the volt, the watt and the kilowatt-hour.
(ii) Explain how a fuse wire inserted in an electrical circuit protects the rest of the circuit against excessive current.
(iii) Name one desirable property of the material used for the filament of a lamp and indicate the reason.
(b) If 100cm of wire were used in the heating element of a 12V, 60W heater, what length of wire of the same material
having double the cross-sectional area would be required for a 24V, 60W heating element, assuming that
the final temperature is the same? Answer; 800cm
(c) A hot water tank containing 40kg of water is heated by an electric immersion heater rated at 3 kilowatt, 240V.
Calculate;
(i) The current in the heating element,
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(ii) The time required to raise the temperature of the water from 20 C to 60 C assuming that 80% of the
heat supplied is retained by the water. (Specific heat capacity of water = 4200J/KgK)
Answers; 12.5A, 2800s
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6. (a) A pan contains 2.0kg of water at 0 c. A jet of steam at 100 c is passed through the water. What will be the
temperature of the water when 0.1kg of steam has condensed in it (assume no heat is lost or absorbed by
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the pan, use: Lv=2.27×10 J/kg)
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Answer; 30.5 C
(b) (i) state the factors which determine the rate of heat production in a resistance due to the passage through it of a
steady electric current.
(ii) Why a fuse is often included in an electrical circuit?
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(c) The heating element of an electric kettle, containing 1 litre of water, initially at a temperature of 20 C, is
connected to a 250V d.c supply and the water commences to boil in 9 min. if the current through the heating
element is 4A, calculate
(i) The thermal capacity of the kettle.
(ii) The cost involved when the price of electrical energy is Tsh.6 per kilowatt-hour. Neglect heat losses.
Answers; 2550J/K, Tsh.0.9
7. (a) (i) what is a bimetal strip? Describe with the diagram, the action of a practical device which uses a bimetal to work.
(ii) A compound strip of brass and iron is straight at room temperature. Give a labelled diagram to show its
appearance when it is cooled.
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(b) A compound strip of brass and iron 10cm long at 20 C is held horizontally with the iron uppermost. When heated
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from below with a Bunsen burner the temperature of the brass is 820 C and of the iron 770 C. Calculate the
difference in lengths of the iron and the brass. (Given, αb = 0.000019/K and αi = 0.000012/K)
(c) The temperature of the air in contact with a thin layer of ice which has formed on the surface of a pond is just
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below 0 C, why will it take a long time for the pond to freeze even if the air temperature falls well below
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0 C?
(d) How does the volume of a given mass of water change,
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i. As the water is cooled from 10 C to 0 C
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ii. When the water is frozen to ice at 0 C? Sketch a volume-temperature graph for the range between +10 C
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and -10 C
Answer; 0.062cm
8. (a) (i) What are the uses of transistors, mention three.
(ii) With the aid of a diagram, explain why in forward bias, the depletion layer is narrowed and resistance is
reduced.
(b) By stating the function of each component, draw the diagram of a fully stabilized common emitter amplifier.
(c) (i) Briefly explain why a bat can fly in the dark without hitting objects?

(ii) Why is it true that an operating motor is also a generator?
(d) (i) Describe and explain how you would charge a leaf electroscope negatively using a positively charged insulating
rod.
(ii) The negatively charged electroscope is then connected by a wire to an uncharged metal can which stands on an
insulating support. Describe what you would see and explain your observations in terms of the charge,
potential and capacitance of the system.
9. (a) (i) What is meant by magnetic material? Give two examples.

(ii) State the law of magnets.
(b) (i) Explain with an illustration how one can locate the position of a north-pole of a bar magnet.
(ii) Explain with an illustration how to magnetize a steel bar using electric current.
(c) (i) What is meant in magnetism by line of forces and by neutral point?
(ii) Why can iron filings be used to plot the lines of force in a strong magnetic field, but are unsuitable if the field
is weak?
(iii) Explain why one end of a bar of unmagnetised soft iron may attract either end of a compass needle
(d) Explain the following:
(i) The sound is louder when the stem of a vibrating turning fork is held against the top of a table,
(ii) The pitch of the note from a sounding organ pipe changes as the temperature rises,
(iii) The same note has a different quality when produced by different musical instruments.
10. (a) (i) What is the velocity ratio of the pulley system?
(ii) If in fact, the pulley system is only 80% efficient, how much work is needed to raise the crate through the 2m,
using the pulley system?
(iii) Give two reasons why the pulley system is not 100% efficient.
(b) (i) What is meant by the components of a force? Draw a diagram to illustrate your answer.
(ii) A small trolley is set in motion on a horizontal surface by a force of 250 newtons applied by means of a rope
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inclined at an angle of 20 to the horizontal. What horizontal force may be used instead?
(c) What is meant by,
(i) The resultant of a number of forces acting at a point,
(ii) The component of a force in a given direction?
(d) An electric lamp, of mass 900g hangs on a flex, which is pulled aside by a horizontal string until the flex makes an
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angle of 30 with the vertical. Find the tension in the string and in the flex.
Answers; 1250J, 235J, 5.2N, 10.4N
11. (a) Explain clearly with the diagrams, the difference between a transverse and a longitudinal wave. State four ways in
which light waves differ from sound waves.
(b) Use the fact that light waves travel more slowly in an optically denser-medium to explain, with the aid of diagram,
the refraction of light on entering glass.
(c) (i) Explain in terms of sound waves, why a piano can be distinguished from a violin even when they are playing
notes of the same pitch.
(ii) State three ways in which two musical notes may differ from each other. Name and explain the physical factors
which cause these differences.
(iii) Explain why more than one echo may be heard from a sound made inside a large room.
12. (a) What do you understand by convection? Describe how you would demonstrate the formation of convection
currents in a liquid.
(b) State briefly how heat transfer by radiation differs from heat transfer by conduction and convection, respectively.
(c) A thermometer having blackened bulb records a higher temperature than an ordinary thermometer when they
are both held at an equal distance from a fire. Explain this.
(b) Explain the following;
(i) Cork is packed between the double walls of refrigerating chambers.
(ii) Most cooking pots are made of aluminium.
(iii) Ice blocks are wrapped in paper when they are stored.

(iv) Water tanks in the tropics are painted white.
(v) White clothes are worn in the Arctic in preference to dark ones.
13. (a)(i) Explain what is meant by magnetic field and by magnetic induction.
(ii) Describe an experiment to plot the magnetic field inside and outside of a solenoid carrying a direct current, in a
plane containing its axis.
(b) Give a diagram of the lines of forces of the magnetic field in the immediate vicinity of a straight conductor and
show clearly the directions of the current and the lines of forces.
(c) Draw diagrams to show the magnetic field due to;
(i) a current in a long, straight wire
(ii) a current in a single circular turn
Indicate clearly the direction of current and magnetic field in each instance
(d) (i) Explain with the aid of a diagram, the action of an electric bell.
(ii) Describe with the aid of a diagram, the structure of an electromagnet and state clearly those features of its
design and use which affect its attractive force.
(e) Draw a diagram of the magnetic field produced by a current flowing in a long straight wire in a plane at right
angles to the wire. State a rule which gives the relation between the direction of the current and that of the field.
14. (a) (i) The specific heat capacity of acetic acid is approximately one-half times that of water. Equal masses of water at
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20 C and acetic acid at 80 C are mixed together in an insulated cup. What will the temperature of the
mixture be at thermal equilibrium?
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(ii) An insulated container holds 0.15kg of water at 85 C. How much water at 22 C must be poured into the water
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to cool it to a temperature of 60 C?
(b) Simply show that a liquid expands more than glass when its temperature is similarly increased.
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(c) An iron rod is 600cm long at 0 C. It is mounted alongside a copper rod and both are always maintained at the
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same temperature. When they are heated to 100 C it is found that the difference in their lengths is the
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same as it was at 0 C. Find the length of the copper rod at 0 C. (Given, αi = 0.0000109/K and αc = 0.0000168/K.)
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Answers; 40 C, 0.046kg, 389.3cm
15. (a) Draw a diagram to represent the structure of a neutral helium atom, clearly label the components.
(b) The half-life for the β-decay of Thorium-234 is 24 days. The Physics department of the particular University College
5 5
bought a sample of this Thorium from somewhere, on the day of despatch its activity was 4×10 Bq ( i.e 4×10
disintegrations per second).
(i) What was the activity of the source when it arrived there in 72 days later?
(ii) What safety precautions should the suppliers have taken to ensure that none of the dock-workers could
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be harmed? (4 points) Answer; 5×10 Bq
(c) (i) The half-life of a certain radioactive substance is 57 days. Explain the meaning of this statement.
(ii) Describe an apparatus for detecting alpha-particles and explain how it works.
(iii) When alpha-particles strike a thin metal foil they are scattered. Draw a sketch of a simplified experimental
arrangement to observe such scattering.
16. (a) (i) Define electrical resistance and resistivity.

(ii) How would you determine the resistance of an electrical lamp while it is in use?
(b) Calculate the resistance of a 5.46m length of lead strip, 0.450cm wide and 1.25mm thick. What length of similar
strip, but made of copper, would have to be put in parallel with the lead strip for the effective resistance of
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the combination to be 0.100Ω? (Resistivity of lead = 20.6×10 Ωm; of copper = 1.72×10 Ωm.)
Answers: 0.20Ω, 65.40m
17. (a) (i) Naming its components , give a diagram showing the structure of a Leclanché cell.
(ii) State one advantage and one disadvantage of the cell and explain on what factors its internal resistance
depends.
(b) Two identical cells, each of e.m.f Ev and internal resistance rΩ are joined;

(i) In series
(ii) In parallel
What are the e.m.f and the internal resistance of the arrangement in each case?
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(c) It is required to raise the temperature of 20 litres of water from 15 C to 75 C in 30 min by means of an electric
heater. What must be the power of the heater and what current will it take if it is designed for use on 240V
mains? Explain why, in practice, the power must be greater than that calculated above.
Answer; 2.8kW, 11.7A
(d) (i) Explain what is meant by polarisation. Show how depolarisation is achieved in the Leclanché cell.
(ii) Draw a labelled diagram of a common dry cell and describe what takes place inside it when it is producing a
current.
18. a) Define latent heat and heat capacity

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b) Dry steam is passed into a well-logged copper can of mass 250g containing 400g of water and 50g of ice at 0 C.
The mixture is well stirred and the steam supply cut off when the temperature of the can and its contents
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reaches 20 C, neglecting heat losses, find the mass of the steam condensed.
(Given, S.H.C of water 4.2J/gK, and copper 0.4J/gK, and S.L.H of steam 2260J/g, ice 336J/g)
c) Explain briefly how the molecules of air exert a pressure on the walls of a closed container and why the pressure
increases when the volume of gas in the container is decreased while its temperature remains constant.
d) A sealed flask contains a gas;
(i) Describe the motion of the gas molecules,
(ii) Explain how the motion of the gas molecules results in a pressure exerted by the gas on the walls of
the flask.
19. (a) Draw a simple diagram to show the construction of vacuum flask. Explain how the use of a vacuum flask reduces
heat transfer by conduction, convection and radiation.
(b) Describe an experiment you would carry out in order to demonstrate convection taking place in a liquid. Describe
what you would hope to observe.
(c) (i) Suggest why several layers of thin clothing provide better insulation than a single thick layer.
(ii) It is possible to light a flame on top of wire gauze held a few centimetres above the barrel of a Bunsen burner
without the gas beneath the gauze igniting. Explain.
(iv) Explain briefly how you would demonstrate experimentally that water is a poor conductor of heat.
(v) Is the specific heat capacity of the land higher or lower than that of water? Describe and explain how sea and
land breezes are produced.
20. (a) Explain the meaning of specific heat capacity, temperature, and quantity of heat and state how they are related.
(b) Based on conservation of electrical energy, describe an experiment to show that the specific heat capacity of
water is about 4.2J per g per K (4200J/kg K).
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(c) 2kg of lead at 100 C is dropped into a copper vessel containing 0.3kg of water at 0 C and rapidly stirred. The final
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temperature reached by the vessel and its contents is 16 C. Taking the specific heat capacity of lead as
130J/kg K, calculate the heat capacity of the copper vessel.
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(d) An electric heater of 50 watt is used to heat a metal block of mass 5kg in 10 minutes, a temperature rise of 12 C is
produced.
(i) How much heat is produced by the heater in 10 minutes?
(ii) Calculate the specific heat capacity of the metal.
Answers; 105J/K, 30000J, 0.5J/g K (500J/kg K)
21. (a) Describe how you would demonstrate that white light is composed of a number of colours. Explain why blue and
yellow paints (pigments), when mixed, produce a shade of green.
(b) (i) Name the three primary colours (not pigments) and state why they are called primary.
(ii) What is the complementary colour to yellow? State why.
(iii) Why do coloured objects often appear slightly different in colour when viewed in artificial white light?
(c) With the help of a well-labelled diagram, describe how a pure spectrum may be obtained from white light using
such a prism and any other necessary apparatus.

22. (a) State the two laws of electromagnetic induction.
(b) Explain why alternating current cannot be used for electroplating by electrolysis and why it is capable of being
used for transforming voltages by means of a transformer
(c) A transformer is designed to work from 240V a.c mains and to give a supply at 8V to ring house bells. The primary
coil has 4800 turns.
(i) Would you expect the secondary coil to be of thicker or of thinner wire than the primary?
(ii) About how many turns would you expect it to have?
(iii) Why is the iron core made of laminations (or sheets) of iron instead of being in one solid piece?
(iv) Do you think the primary current will increase or decrease when a bell is being rung?
(vi) What would happen if the transformer were connected to 240V d.c mains?
Give reasons for your answers.
Answers; thicker, 600 turns, eddy current losses, increase, burn out.
23. (a) (i) Describe with the aid of a labelled diagram, the structure of a simple d.c motor. Explain how the motor
operates.
(ii) State two features that a practical d.c motor might possess to make it work more efficiently.
(b) Describe an experiment to show that a straight conducting wire carrying a current experiences a mechanical force
when placed in, and perpendicular to, a magnetic field. State a rule to determine the direction of the force.
(c) (i) Draw a diagram to show the magnetic field set up by a current flowing down a vertical wire
(ii) Describe an experiment to show that a straight conductor carrying a current and placed in a magnetic field
experiences a mechanical force. State a rule to determine the direction of the force.
(iii) Name two practical applications of this principle.
24. (a) (i) Describe the structure and mode of action of a simple d.c generator.
(ii) What alterations would you make in the simple generator in order to convert it into one of higher e.m.f?
(iii) Explain the source of the electrical energy supplied by the generator.
(b) State the essential condition for the production of an induced e.m.f in a conductor. What determines its
magnitude?
(c) Give an account, with a diagram of the structure and mode of action of a transformer which supplies 12V when
connected to 240V mains. If this transformer takes 0.55A from the mains when used to light five 12V, 24W
lamps in parallel, find;
(i) Its efficiency
(ii) The cost of using it for 10h, at Tsh.6 per kWh.
Answers; 91%, Tsh.7.9
25. (a) What is pure spectrum? In the formation of the spectrum of white light by a prism;
(i) Which colour is deviated least?
(ii) Which colour is deviated most?
(b) Describe how a pure spectrum from a white-light source may be formed on a screen. How would you show that
the colours of the spectrum can be recombined to give white light?
(c) Explain why a mixture of blue and yellow pigments appears green when illuminated by white light. What is the
appearance of the mixture if viewed through a sheet of red glass?
(d) Why does the colour of a body vary with the colour of the light it is viewed?
26. (a) (i) Explain stable, neutral and unstable equilibrium and give one example of each.
(ii) Define the centre of gravity of a body, and explain how you would determine the weight of a closed umbrella if
you were given a metre rule, a straight edge and a 50g mass.
(b) Explain what is meant by centre of gravity, stable equilibrium. State and explain, with the aid of diagrams, why the
base of a Bunsen burner is heavily weighted and of large area.
(c) A uniform rod 1m long of mass 50g is supported horizontally on two knife edges placed 10cm from its ends. What
will be the reactions at these supports when a 100g mass is suspended 10cm from the mid-point of the rod?
Answers; 0.625N, 0.875N

27. (a) Draw a labelled diagram of a simple step-up transformer. What would be the effect of passing alternating current
through acidulated water in a water voltammeter?
(b) A copper disc is rotated by an electric motor. Explain why the disc comes to rest more quickly when the current is
cut off if the disc rotates between the poles of a horse-shoe magnet.
(c) A rectangular coil of wire, attached to a commutator, rotates between the poles of a permanent magnet to form a
dynamo.
(i) What is the position of the coil when the e.m.f is greatest?
(ii) What is the function of the commutator?
28. (a) What is meant by the term latent heat of fusion of a solid?
(b) Thermal energy is supplied to a melting solid at a constant rate of 2000W. Calculate the mass of the solid changed
to liquid in two minutes, assume that the specific latent heat of fusion of the solid is 95000 J/kg, and that
heat exchange with the surrounding may be neglected.
(c) A refrigerator may be described as a heat pump since it must continuously remove heat. Explain how the liquid
which is used as a refrigerator is enabled to do this.
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(d) When heat is supplied at the constant rate of 32000 J/min, it takes 5.0 min to melt 0.5kg of ice at 0 C to water at
the same temperature. Calculate a value for the specific latent heat of ice.
(e) Explain the following observations;
(i) A pressure cooker will cook its contents faster than an open saucepan.
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(ii) It is better to use ice at 0 C than an equal mass of water at 0 C to cool warm water.
Answers; 2.5kg, 320,000 J/ kg
29. (a) Explain the terms vector and scalar.

(b) A ball of mass 100g falls from a height of 3m on to a horizontal surface and rebounds to a height of 2m. Calculate
the change in;
(i) In momentum
(ii) In kinetic energy, of the ball when it strikes the surface.
(c) (i) Describe briefly the changes in the potential and kinetic energies of the bob of a simple pendulum as it goes
from one side of its swing to the other.
(ii) A body of mass 4kg is acted on by a constant force of 12N for 2 seconds. Calculate the kinetic energy gained by
the body at the end of the time.
(d) Two identical free-running trolleys are on a smooth horizontal runway. One trolley is at rest and other approaches
it at a constant speed of 20cm/s. after impact the two trolleys together move at 10cm/s. explain this result,
stating the physical principle involved.
Answers; 1.4Ns, 1J, 72J
30. (a) (i) State one advantage to be gained if the driving mirror of a car is convex.
(ii) State one example of the use of a convex mirror and indicate why it is preferred to a plain mirror.
(b) Define principal focus of a convex mirror. A concave mirror is used to form an image of an object pin. Where the
object must be placed to obtain:
(i) An upright, enlarged image
(ii) An image the same size as the object?
(c) Give, with brief explanations, one practical application of a concave mirror in which a real image is used and one in
which a virtual image is used.
31. Define the specific latent heat of fusion.

(a) The kettle contains 1.6 kg of water, is left switched on. After starting to boil, how much heat energy will be
used in turning all the water to steams, and how long will it take for the 2.5 kW kettle to boil dry?
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(Given, Specific latent heat of vaporisation of water = 2.310 J/kg, Boiling point of water = 100 C and
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Specific heat capacity of water = 4200J/Kg C ).
(b) State what changes if any, take place in the following;
(i) Melting point of ice when salt is added to the ice

(ii) The volume if it changes into ice
(iii) The boiling point of a liquid when the pressure on the liquid is reduced.
(c) A 50 watt heater is immersed in a 2kg block of aluminium which also holds a thermometer. The temperature
of the block rises by 8K in 5 minutes. Neglect heat loss; calculate specific heat capacity of aluminium.
6
Answers; 4.352×10 J, 1741sec, 937.5J/kg K
32. (a) Define the term Volcanicity.

(b) Draw a cross section of the earth’s interior region and on it show, the crust, the mantle, the inner core and the
outer core.
(c) Explain how volcanoes occur and describe three effects of volcanic activity
(d) (i) Mention any four (4) hazards associated with earthquakes.
(ii) What are the sources of greenhouse effect?
33. (a) Explain briefly how thermionic emissions occur.

(b) Describe an apparatus by means of which x-rays may be produced. How does the anode potential affect the
wavelength and therefore the penetrating power of the x-rays?
(c) Why is it necessary to use an evacuated tube rather than one which contains air at atmospheric pressure?
(d) The filament must be heated if electrons are to leave its surface. Show on the diagram how this would be
achieved
34. (a) What is meant by the following terms as used in Geophysics.

(i) Tsunami
(ii) Magma
(b) (i) With at least two examples briefly explain what is constellation?
(ii) Briefly explain the cause of ocean tides.
(c) (i) List down the various layers of the atmosphere starting from the earth’s surface.
(ii) Which layer in (b) above is nearest to the earth? Explain two importance of it.
(iii) By giving out three features, prove that the Earth is one of the planets in the solar system.
35. (a) (i) Explain what is meant by Bimetallic strip.

(ii) Explain why a compound metal bar made up of two strips, one of iron and another of brass, bends when
heated.
(b) (i) Define “coefficient of linear expansion”.
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(ii) A copper pipe which is 0.5 metre long at 24 C increase in length by 0.25% when carrying steam at 100 C. Find
the coefficient of linear expansion of copper.
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Answer; 3.289×10 / C
36. (a) Define density and relative density of a substance.

(b) An empty relative density bottle has a mass of 23.5g. Its mass is 39.0g when it is completely filled with water.
What will be its mass if it is completely filled with an acid of relative density 1.25?
3
(c) The level of water in a burette is 25cm . Fifty spherical balls, each of radius 4mm are immersed in the water.
Assume that, the balls do not absorb any water. Determine the new reading of the burette.
2
(d) A box has a 6cm square base and contains water to a height of 7cm;
(i) When a stone is lowered into the water so that it is completely immersed, the water rises to a height of
9cm. What is the volume of the stone?
(ii) What is the density of the stone given that, its mass is 200g?
3 3 3
Answers; 42.9g, 11.6cm , 72.0cm , 2.78g/cm
37. (a) What do you understand by the moment of a force?

(b) A candle is lit and placed on a level bench. State and explain the changes in the stability of the candle as it
continues to burn.
(c) Explain how;
(i) A steel needle is made to float on water.
(ii) Capillary rise or fall in a thin tube occurs.

(d) State the observations below;
(i) Necessary conditions for a body to be in equilibrium.
(ii) Ways of reducing surface tension in water.
(e) The figure 01 below shows a non-uniform bar of length 1.0m in equlibrium. The bar is pivoted at point P and is
under the action of a single force of 10N. if the mass of the bar is 2.5kg, determine the position of its centre of
gravity. Answer; 22cm
38. (a) Define the term pressure and state its SI unit.
(b) Explain each of the following observations.
(i) The sinking of the wheels of a lorry into soft sand may be prevented by letting off some air from the
tyres.
(ii) Trucks which carry heavy loads have many wheels.
(iii) Ducks are able to walk over swampy grounds without sinking.
2
(c) A rod of mass 120g and a cross-sectional area of 6.0cm is made to float upright in water. Determine the length
3
of the rod under water. (Given, density of water = 1g/cm )
(d) A flat-base test tube of uniform cross-sectional area is filled with mercury until it floats upright in brine with
4.5cm of its length submerged. When placed in water, it floats with 5.0cm of its length immersed. Determine the
-3 3
density of the brine. (Given, density of water = 1.0×10 kg/m )
-3 3
Answer; 20cm, 1.1×10 kg/m
39. (a) Explain what a lever is, and give the essential features of a lever.
(b) Trace the energy transfers which take place when a mass hanging from a spring vibrates, and explain why the
vibrations eventually stop.
(c) List down the energy transformations that occur when a bullet is shot from a gun vertically upwards
(d) Write down the energy changes in the following activities;
(i) A smoker striking a match.
(ii) A carpenter using a hammer to drive in a nail.
(e) A stone of mass m is dropped from a window 50m above the ground. Find the velocity of the stone as it reaches
the ground. Answer; 31.6 m/s
40. (a) Define the terms displacement, speed and velocity.

(b) A body starting from rest and accelerating uniformly travels 18m in the third second. What is its velocity at the
end of the fifth second?
(c) A gun of mass 10kg fires a bullet of mass 30g at a speed of 500m/s. what is the recoil velocity of the gun?
(d) An iron nail of mass 3g is partially sunk in a block of wood. When a hummer of mass 3kg moving at a velocity of
50m/s strikes the nail, the nail sinks 0.5cm into the wood. Determine;
(i) The initial velocity of the nail immediately the hammer strikes.
(ii) The force resisting the entry of the nail into the wood.
8
Answers; 36m/s, 1.5m/s, 50000m/s, 7.5×10 N
41. (a) With the aid of diagram state Boyle’s law and deduce the Ideal gas equation.
(b) Describe the evidence that shows that molecules in gases are in a state of motion.
(c) Why is it impossible to reduce the pressure of a gas to zero by cooling? And, state two basic assumptions of
kinetic theory of gases.
(d) Show that the density of a fixed mass of a gas is directly proportional to pressure at constant temperature.
( Hints, use Boyle’s law and density relation/ formula)
(e) A gas in a container has a volume V1, and pressure P1 and temperature T1. Find the new pressure if the gas is
emptied into a container four times the volume of the original and is cooled to half the initial temperature.
Answer; P1/8

42. (a) States Hooke’s law and explain the term ‘elastic limit’
(b) The figure below shows a body of mass m hanging from the edge of a bench and connected to a rigid support
through a spring
(i) If m=350g and the spring extends by 0.05m when the mass is hung, determine the constant of the
spring. Assume that the spring has not reached its elastic limit.
(ii) State and explain how the position of the body would be affected by a change in temperature of the
spring. Answer; 70N/m
43. (a) State what is meant by diffusion and explain how it is affected by heating.
(b) Using the kinetic theory of gases, explain why the pressure of a gas increases when the gas is heated at constant
volume.
(c) A narrow uniform glass tube contains air enclosed by a 10 cm thread of mercury. When the tube is held
vertically, the air column is 600 mm long. When put in a horizontal position, the air column is 679 mm long. The
temperature is the same in both cases.
(i) Give the reason for the differences in length of the air column for the two positions.
-3
(ii) Determine the atmospheric pressure at the place. Given, density of mercury is 13.6 g cm .
5
Answer; 1.03×10 Pa
44. (a) Define the term temperature and state its SI Unit.
(b) Give three reasons why mercury is preferred to water for use in thermometers, and then state the factors
affecting the conduction of heat through solids.
(c) Explain the following observations;
(i) A piece of thick glass removed from hot water and dipped into cold water will crack while thin glass
does not crack.
(ii) In order to ventilate a room well, it is advisable to have some ventilations close to the ceiling and some
close to the floor.
(iii) A metallic seat feels hotter on a day and colder during the night than a wooden seat under the same
conditions.
o
(d) An electric heater rated at 60W is used to heat a metal block of mass 6kg. A temperature rise of 15 C is produced
in the metal in 10minutes;
(i) How much heat is produced by the heater in the 10 minutes?
(ii) Determine the specific heat capacity of the metal.
Answer; 36000J, 400J/kg K
45. (a) State the triangle and parallelogram laws of vector addition.
(b) A river is flowing at a velocity of 4m/s due to north. A person in a boat wants to move across the river at 16m/s.
(i) In which direction should the person move?
(ii) At what velocity should the person move the boat?
(c) (i) What is the difference between absolute velocity and relative velocity
(ii) A man is walking inside a bus which is travelling at 56km/h. If the speed of man relative to the ground is
55km/h, is he walking towards the front or the back?
46. (a) Explain what is meant by regular reflection and diffuse reflection.
(b) (i) Explain why enlarging the pinhole in a pinhole camera causes the image to be blurred.
(ii) Describe, with the aid of a labelled diagram a simple experiment to show that light travels in a straight line.

(c) Two mirrored walls stand at an angle to each other. A student standing in the room counts nine image of himself
in the mirrors. Determine the angle between the walls.
(d) A pinhole camera whose screen is 10cm behind the pinhole forms an image of an object placed in front of the
camera. The height of the image is 0.1 times the height of the object. Determine the object distance.
(e) The figure below shows a room arrangement in which a mirror, 1m wide is placed on one wall.
A girl standing at point P, a distance x from the mirror, and facing the mirror sees the image of the whole wall
behind her. Determine the value of x.
o
Answers; 36 , 1m, 0.8m
47. (a) Define the term refractive index of a substance, and state the laws of refraction.
(b) A pin is placed close to one face of a rectangular block of glass and is viewed normally through the opposite face.
If the block is 27cm long, how far will the pin appear to be from the front face of the block, given that the
material of the block has a refractive index of 1.5?
(c) State the necessary conditions for total internal reflection to take place, and then give out three applications of
total internal reflection.
(d) Using a ray diagram, show how short-sightedness in the human eye can be corrected.
o
(e) A ray of monochromatic light is incident normally on one face of a 30 triangular glass prism. Calculate;
(i) The angle at which the ray strikes the second face.
(ii) The angle of emergence from the prism. (refractive index of a glass is 1.5)
o o
Answers; 18cm, 30 , 48.6
48. (a) Define the term line of force as applied to magnetic fields, and name two paramagnetic substances.
(b) State two factors that affects the strength of an electromagnet, and then suggests two improvements that can
be made on the motor to improve its efficiency.
(c) In a practical motor, the coil is usually wound on a laminated soft iron core.
(i) State one advantage of a soft iron core
(ii) State one problem that arises as the coil rotates in the magnetic fields.
(d) A heater rated 4W, 12V is connected to the secondary circuit of a transformer with 600 turns in the primary
circuit. If the primary circuit of the transformer is connected to 240V mains, determine the number of turns in
the secondary circuit and the current in the primary circuit.
Answer; 30 turns, 0.01665A
49. (a) Explain why sparks are sometimes seen when a nylon garment rubs against the body as one undresses.
(b) You are provided with a positively-charged electroscope, a glass rod and silk duster. State and explain what is
observed when:
(i) The glass rod is rubbed with the duster and then brought near the cap of the electroscope.
(ii) The duster and the rod are rubbed together then brought near the cap.
(c) Explain the following observations;
(i) An uncharged metal rod causes the leaf of an electroscope to fall whether the electroscope is charged
positively or negatively.
(ii) When a negatively-charged rod is brought near the cap of a lightly charged electroscope, it is noted
that the leaf starts to collapse but when the rod is brought much closer, the leaf starts to rise.
50. (a) State the factors that determine the capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor.
-5
(b) A charge of 2.0×10 C is stored in a parallel plate capacitor. If the capacitance of the capacitor is 30µF, what is the
p.d of the plates?

(c) The plates shown in the diagram below were first charged and then a dielectric material inserted between them
as shown;
State how each of the following is affected by the insertion of the material;
(i) The p.d across the plates
(ii) The charge across the plates
(iii) The electric field across the plates
(iv) The capacitance of the set-up
Answer; 0.67V
51. (a) Define the terms electric current, potential difference and terminal voltage.
(b) An electric circuit consists of a lamp, a battery, an ammeter, a switch and connecting wires. Draw a circuit
diagram to show how these components are connected.
(c) Explain why a fuse is always connected to the live wire in an electrical appliance.
(d) When an electric heater immersed in a water tank is connected to a 240V main supply, a current of 25A flows
o
through it. If the tank contains 60kg of water at 22 C, calculate the temperature of the water after half an hour.
3
Given, specific heat capacity of water is 4.2×10 J/ kg K. Ignore the heat absorbed by the tank.
(e) The following appliances are operated in a home for the time indicated every day;
One 500W freezer_10 hrs
Three 75W bulbs_3 hrs
One 1000W television_5 hrs
Four 60W bulbs_30 min, calculate;
(i) The total power used by the appliances every day.
(ii) The total electrical power consumed in 30 days in kWh.
o
Answers; 64.9 , 10.795kWh, 323.85kWh
52. (a) Define the terms wavelength and frequency of a wave.

(b) A spring is made to vibrate, such that it generates longitudinal waves with a velocity of 60cm/s. calculate the
distance between successive rarefactions if the spring vibrates 4 times every second.
(c) A vibrator is used to produce water waves in a ripple tank. The distance between the first and the fifth crests is
200mm. The waves travel 300mm in 1.5s, determine;
(i) The wavelength of the waves.
(ii) The frequency of the vibrator
4
(d) A fishing boat uses ultrasound of frequency 6.0×10 Hz to detect fish directly below it. Two echoes of the
ultrasound are received, one after 0.09s coming from the shoal of fish and the other after 0.12s, coming from the
seabed. If the seabed is 84m below the ultrasound transceiver, calculate;
(i) The speed of the ultrasound waves in water
(ii) The wavelength of the ultrasound waves in water
(iii) The depth of the shoal of fish below the boat.
-2
Answers; 15cm, 50mm, 4Hz, 1400m/s, 2.3×10 m, 63.0m
53. (a) Explain the difference between transverse waves and longitudinal waves
(b) Why are echoes not heard in a small room?
(c) A lightning flash is seen, followed by thunder 3 seconds later. How far is the storm from the observer?
(d) A student standing between two walls, as shown in the diagram below, shouts once. She notices that the time
interval between hearing the first and the second echo is 0.2 seconds. What is the speed of sound in air?

Answers; 1020m, 336m/s
54. (a) Name three radiations in the electromagnetic spectrum, and state three properties that are common to all
electromagnetic waves.
(b) Explain the following observations;
(i) Television reception in a place surrounded by hills is poor.
(ii) Tungsten is used as target material in x-ray tubes.
(iii) Television and FM radio waves have a shorter range than medium waves (MW)
(c) In a certain x-ray tube, the cathode current is 12mA and the anode is connected to a p.d of 8kV. Determine;
(i) The number of electrons produced by the cathode per second.
(ii) The energy with which the electrons reach the target.
16 -15
Answers; 7.5×10 electrons, 1.28×10 J
55. (a) A tube television can produce x-rays, explain how this is possible.
(b) Describe briefly the production of x-rays in an x-ray tube, starting from the time electrons are produced at the
cathode.
(c) State the differences between sound waves and electromagnetic waves in terms of:
(i) The origin of the waves
(ii) The speed of the waves
(iii) The transmitting media
(d) A radar signal sent out from a station is reflected by a distant aircraft. If the reflected signal is received on the
-3
radar screen 1.2×10 s later, how far is the aircraft from the station?
Answer; 180 km
56. (a) What property of cathode rays shows that they are particles and not waves?
(b) The Y-plates in a CRO create an electric field to make the beam move or down. What would be the direction of
the magnetic field that would produce a similar effect?
(c) Explain;
(i) How electrons are produced in a cathode ray tube.
(ii) How the grid in a cathode ray tube controls the brightness of the spot on the screen.
(iii) Why ultraviolet light causes a negatively-charged electroscope to discharge, but not a positively-
charged one.
(iv) Why it is necessary to earth the screen of a cathode ray oscilloscope.
57. (a) Why is it necessary to evacuate the CRO tube?

(b) State how the kinetic energy of photoelectrons is affected by;
(i) The intensity of incident radiation.
(ii) The frequency of incident radiation.
(iii) The work function of the surface.
(c) State two factors that determine whether a radiation will cause photoelectric effect on a certain surface.
(d) Determine the energy in electron volts gained by a particle having a charge of 2 electrons and falling through a
potential difference of 3.3 Volts.
Answer; 6.6 eV
58. (a) State what is meant by junction voltage and explain how it is formed in a p-n junction.
(b) Explain;
(i) How an n-type semiconductor is made from a pure semiconductor.
(ii) Why a diode conducts easily in forward bias and not in reverse bias.
(iii) How a capacitor reduces the ripples in a rectified d.c output.

(c) A student connected a circuit as shown below, hoping to produce a rectified output.
(i) Sketch the graph of the output as seen on the CRO screen.
(ii) Explain how this output is produced.
59. (a) State how to determine the direction of an electric field.

(b) Describe one experiment to show how an induced e.m.f can be produced and the factors on which its direction
and magnitude depends.
(c) While supported with two proper laws, explain how attractive forces can be developed by two parallel current-
carrying conductors.
(d) (i) Three resistors R1, R2 and R3 are connected in parallel in a circuit. Derive a formula for the combined
resistance.
(ii) In the figure above, what is the equivalent capacitance between the points A and B?
60. (a) No boiling without evaporation, justify.

(b) (i) Draw a sketch graph of s.v.p against temperature for Naphthalene.
(ii) 0.5kg of Naphthalene contained in an aluminium can of mass 0.4kg is melted in a water bath and then
o
raised to a temperature of 100 C. Calculate the total heat given out when the can and its contents are
o
allowed to cool to room temperature of 20 C. Neglect heat losses by evaporation during the heating
process.
(b) (i) What peculiar property does the effort has in all classes of levers?
(ii) A metre rule is pivoted at its mid-point. If two objects of weights 1.0N and 2.0N are suspended at 30cm and
90cm mark respectively from one end, calculate the position where an upward force of 3.0N must be applied in
order for the metre rule to balance horizontally.
61. (a) Explain how find the specific heat capacity of calorimeter
o o
(b) M1 kg of lead at A C is dropped into a coper vessel containing M2 kg of water at B C and rapidly stirred. The final
o
temperature reached by the vessel and its contents is C C. Taking the specific heat capacity of lead as LJ/ kgK,
calculate the heat capacity of copper vessel.
(c) Why does a solid body weigh more in air than when immersed in a liquid?
(d) An ordinary hydrometer of mass 27g floats with 4cm of its stem out of water. If the cross-sectional area is
0.75cm, calculate:
(i) The total volume of the stem just under the surface of liquid of the liquid.
(ii) The relative density of the liquid.
62. (a) what do you understand by the following terms;

(i) Newton
(ii) Inertia
(iii) Linear momentum
(b) Two stones are thrown vertically upwards from the same point with the same velocity of 20m/s but at an interval
of 2 seconds. When they meet, the second stone is rising at 10m/s. calculate;
(i) The time taken by the second stone in air before they meet.
(ii) The velocity of the second stone when they meet.

(c) A stationary bomb of mass 5kg exploded into one part A of mass 2kg flying off with a velocity of 60m/s and
another part B of mass 3kg flying off with a certain velocity in the opposite direction. Calculate the;
(i) Velocity of B.
(ii) Total kinetic energy produced by the explosion.
63. (a) State the principle of moments.

(b) Use the figure below to calculate the pressure of steam in the cylinder which would just raise the valve if the
2 5 2
area of the valve in contact with the steam is 2cm . Atmospheric pressure is 10 N/m .
(c) (i) State Boyle’s law.

(ii) A uniform tube 96cm long sealed at the end, is lowered vertically with its open end downwards into
mercury until the length of the enclosed air column is 84cm. With the aid of diagram, find the depth of
immersion of the tube in the mercury if the atmospheric pressure is 77cm of mercury.
64. (a) State the laws of refraction

(i) What is a critical angle?
(ii) Find the critical angle for a glass of refractive index of 1∙5
(b) With the means of diagram explain why a stick, partly immersed in water and placed obliquely to the surface,
appears bent at the surface.
(c) Explain why a gardener may find that it is easier to pull a lawn roller across the lawn than it is to push the same
lawn roller across the lawn.
(d) A diagram below shows the path of a ray of light through one corner of a cube ice. Find:
i) The angle of incidence as the face AB

ii) The angle of refraction at this face.
A 20° B
131°
ice
Air
65. (a) What do you understand by the Electromotive force (e.m.f) and internal resistance of a cell?
(b) (i) State Ohm’s law.
(ii) List the laboratory apparatus required to verify the Ohm’s law
(c) (i) Why does the potential differences across the terminals of a cell fall when it is delivering a current?
(ii) Why should a voltmeter have a high resistance?
(d) A resistor of 2Ω and another of 7Ω are connected in series, and a 3Ω resistor is connected in parallel across the
other pair. If the total current through the network is 2A, find the potential difference (p.d) across the 7Ω
resistor. Answer; 3.5V
66. In the electric circuit below, the resistances of the ammeters may be ignored. Explain each of the following
observations.

(i) When the switch S is closed, the current through ammeter A1 is less than that through ammeter A2.
(ii) When switch S is opened, the current through ammeter A2 falls.
(iii) When S is open, the current through each ammeter is the same.
Calculate the current flowing in the circuit and the effective resistance between points X and Y when S is closed.
67. (a) A bar magnet is moved into a coil with many turns as shown in the figure below.
State and explain what happens to the galvanometer needle when the magnet;
(i) Slowly enters the coil.
(ii) Remains at rest inside the coil.
(iii) Is rapidly withdrawn from the coil.
(b) The following figure shows three capacitors connected to a 10 V battery.
Determine;
(i) The combined capacitance of the three capacitors.
(ii) The charge on the 5.0 µF capacitor.
-5
Answers; 5.2 µF, 2.2×10 C
68. (a) Define the term “angular magnification” as applied in a microscope.

(b) The diagram below shows the arrangement of lenses and eye position in a compound microscope.
F1, F1 and F2, F2 are the principal foci of lenses L1 and L2 respectively.
(i) What names are given to the lenses L1 and L2?
(ii) An object O is placed on the principal axis just beyond F1 as shown. Sketch rays to show the image
formed by the lens system as seen by the eye. Show both the first and the second images.
(c) Determine the position and nature of the image of an object placed 40cm in front of a diverging lens of focal
length 20cm.
Answers; The image is Virtual, 13.3cm in front of the lens.
69. (a) Determine the ammeter reading in the following circuit when the switch is closed. The battery has negligible
internal resistance.

(b) The figure below shows ultraviolet light striking a polished zinc plate placed on a negatively charged gold-leaf
electroscope.
(i) Explain why the leaf of the electroscope falls.

(ii) When the same experiment is repeated using a positively charged electroscope, the leaf does not fall.
Explain
Answer; 1.0 A
70. (a) Define the following terms.

(i) Galaxy
(ii) Solar system
(b) (i) Differentiate between star and planet.
(ii) Give the name one of the star closest to the earth.
(c) (i) Name the largest planet in the solar system.
(ii) Name two brightest planets in the solar system
71. (a) Define the term “diffraction” as applied in waves.

(b) When a metre rule was placed in a ripple tank where straight waves were being produced by a vibrator, it was
noted that the distance between 12 successive dark lines (crest) was 30cm. The frequency of the vibrator was
20Hz. Determine;
(i) The wavelength of the waves in the ripple tank.
(ii) The periodic time of the waves.
(iii) The velocity of the waves over the water surface.
Answers; 2.5cm, 0.05s, 0.5m/s
PART B; Conceptual Questions:
1. What causes dust particles and tiny grains of soot to move with Brownian motion?
 It is due to their collision/bombardment with the fast-moving atoms or molecules of the gas (air molecules) or
liquid.
2. Describe the evidence that shows that molecules in gases are in a state of motion.
 By observing smoke particles in random motion (Brownian motion) in a smoke cell, we can conclude that air
particles are in random motion since they collide with the smoke particles, resulting in the random motion of the
smoke particles.
3. (a) The smell from rotting garbage is more noticeable during the day when it is hot than when it is cold in the morning.
Explain this observation. OR
(b) The bad smell from a rotten substance is more noticeable on a hot day than on a cold day. Explain this observation in
terms of movement of particles.
 Diffusion increases with increase in temperature. The particles gain higher kinetic energy at higher temperatures.
4. Why is it impossible to reduce the pressure of a gas to zero by cooling? Explain this.
 It is because the gas liquefies before reaching zero pressure.
5. Explain why racing cars should have wide wheel tracks?

 Racing cars have wide wheel tracks resulting to a low centre of gravity for stability (more stable) in going round
bends.
6. State why a bus carrying standing passengers has a higher chance of overturning than one carrying seated passengers.
 With standing passengers, the bus is less stable because the centre of gravity is higher, hence can easily
overturn.

7. A person standing in a boat moving at a uniform speed throws a heavy stone in the water, in the direction in which the
boat is moving. State the reason why the boat slows down.
 The reaction to the force of throwing the stone acts against the motion of the boat, thus decelerating it.
8. A trolley moving at a uniform speed on a horizontal bench slows down when a lump of plasticine dropped vertically sticks
to it. Explain why the trolley slows down.
 Momentum is conserved. The lump of plasticine increases the mass of the trolley, but has no momentum in the
direction of the trolley. The momentum mv, remains constant, and since mass has increased the velocity
reduces.
9. Explain how a metal gauze, placed between a Bunsen burner and a glass vessel prevents the glass vessel from breaking
during heating.
 The gauze spreads heat to all parts of the vessel. This makes expansion to be more uniform.
10. Why car speed is not termed as car velocity?

 Since speed is how fast something moves, may be the same at different points but the velocity will be different
in those points because of different directions.
11. (a) Why is high voltage used for commercial transmission of electrical energy? OR
(b) Explain why power transmission over long distances is done at high voltages.
 At high voltage, power loss in transmission lines is reduced.
12. Explain why it is not advisable to fix the switch of a light bulb inside a bathroom.
 Water splashing in the bathroom can reach the switch and conduct current which can lead to shock if one gets in
contact with it.
13. Why should a mechanic choose a long spanner to undo a tight nut?
 It is easier to undo a tight nut with longer spanner because, longer spanner (longer moment arm)
produce/provides a great force.
14. Explain why a feather and a coin released from the same height in an evacuated tube will reach the bottom of the tube at
the same time.
 Both the feather and the coin accelerate towards the ground at the same rate, which is independent of their
masses.
15. A hole at the bottom of a ship is more dangerous than one near the surface. Explain why?
 Because pressure is greater at the bottom than at the surface.
16. Explain why hitting an inflated balloon with a hammer will not cause it to burst, but sticking it with a pin will.
 It is because of high pressure exerted by the pin.
17. Why are dams constructed thicker at the bottom than at the top?
 So as to withstand the greater pressure exerted; the greater pressure is at the bottom of the dam than at the
top.
18. Explain why it would not be practical to make a Fortin type barometer with water instead of mercury.
 Water has low density as compared to mercury. The liquid column would be too tall since atmospheric pressure
pushes water to a height of about 10m.
19. A sharp needle was brought close to the cap of a charged gold-leaf electroscope. Explain why the leaf collapsed.
 The leaf collapsed because the sharp needle has charges opposite to those of the gold-leaf electroscope.
20. It is more difficult to balance a nail on its tip than on its base. Explain
 Because the tip area is too small and the base area is large. Thus, large base area increase stability hence it is
more difficult to balance a nail on its tip.
21. Does an object have to be at rest to be in a state of equilibrium? Explain your answer.
 Not necessary, because equilibrium is a state of balance of a body.
22. Why a cyclist does often drives in zigzag motion when going up a hill?

 So as to use less effort since the angle of incline will be smaller hence it is easier to go up the hill.
23. The efficiency of a simple machine is never 100%. Why?

 Because some of the energy is transformed into heat due to friction in the moving parts.
24. (a) A ship is made of steel and it is expected to sink in water, but it doesn’t. Explain OR
(b) A submarine is made of steel and other dense material but steal floats in water. OR
(c) Why a large ship floats in seas, while the coin sinks into water?
 This is because water displaced by its immersed portion (of a ship/submarine) equal to its weight.
25. Why an iron ball sinks in water?

 This is because it displaces less water than its own weight.
26. Why solid chunks of iron sink in water but floats in mercury?
 This is because density of iron is more than water but less than mercury.
27. Explain how polarization is reduced in a Leclanché cell.

 Manganese dioxide (MnO2) acts as a depolarizer and oxidizes hydrogen to water.
28. State two ways in which polarization reduces the p.d across a simple cell.
 These are;
- By increasing resistance in the cell.
- By creating another cell between the hydrogen and the zinc in which the current flow is in the opposite
direction to that between zinc and copper.
29. Explain why Leclanché cell is not suitable for use as a continuous source of energy.
 This is because cannot be recharged once it loses its electrical power.
30. Explain how a body becomes positively charged.

 A body becomes positively charged when some of the electrons are removed or taken from it and the net charge
is positive.
31. Explain how a body becomes negatively charged.

 A body becomes negatively charged when some of the electrons are attached to it and the net charge of the
body is negative.
32. Explain briefly why cables in a lighting circuit are different from those in a power circuit.
 A light circuit usually uses less power, therefore less current flow than a power circuit, so the wire diameter is
smaller and cheaper.
33. Explain why a fuse is always connected to the live wire in an electrical appliance.
 A fuse is fitted on the live cable or wire so that in case an electrical fault develops, the fuse cuts off the circuit
and the live wire ceases to be live (no current flows).
34. How does a fuse in the lighting circuit differ from that used in the heating or power circuit?
 A fuse in the light circuit is made of a piece of metal that melts when overheated, while that of power circuit
have internal switch mechanism that can be tripped by an unsafe surge of electricity.
35. Explain why resistance cannot be accurately measured using a voltmeter and an ammeter.
 Because they draw some currents from the circuit.
36. Why is ice slippery?

 Because ice is less dense than liquid water, its melting point is lowered under high pressure.
37. Explain why the bulb of hydrometer is weighed with mercury or lead shots?
 Hydrometer containing mercury or lead shots that keep it upright when it floats.
38. (a) Why a stem of the hydrometer is made thin? OR

(b) Briefly explain why hydrometer is made up by cylindrical stem which is graduated and a glass bulb at its end?
 Stem is thin so that small changes in density (height) give large differences in reading, while the glass bulb used
to prevent soaking of the liquid.

39. (a) Why is it easier to balance a moving bicycle or motorcycle but nearly impossible to do the same when it is on rest? OR
(b) Why does a bicycle remain balanced when riding, and fall when at a stop? OR
(c) Why a person in motorcycle is stable when in motion, but unstable when he is not moving?
 The moving wheels of the bicycle create a force that leads to stability when in motion and help keep it upright.
40. What property is considered when selecting the liquid used as the refrigerant?
 Ability to vaporize easily (volatile).
41. With a reason, give one material that would be suitable for putting between the double walls.
 Foam, to reduce loss of heat by conduction. Foam is a bad conductor of heat.
42. If you stand near the back of a refrigerator, you feel warm. Explain.
 The heat from the volatile liquid is lost to the cooling fins causing heating.
43. Explain how a steel needle is made to float on water.

 The needle is placed gently on the water surface in a horizontal position. Surface tension of the water makes it
float.
44. Explain how capillary rise in a thin tube occurs.

 When adhesive forces between a container and liquid molecules exceed cohesive force between liquid
molecules, the liquid is attracted more to the surface of the container, causing a rise.
45. Droplets of water sprinkled on a greasy glass plate form spherical shapes. Explain.
 The cohesive forces between the molecules of water are greater than the adhesive forces between the
molecules of water and those of grease.
46. Explain how a person is able to draw milk from a glass using a straw.
 When one sucks from the straw, the pressure inside the straw becomes lower than the pressure outside. The
atmospheric pressure on the surface of the milk pushes the milk up the straw and into the mouth.
47. A candle is lit and placed on a level bench. State and explain the changes in the stability of the candle as it continues to
burn.
 As the candle burns, its height reduces so that its centre of gravity is lowered. The stability therefore keeps on
increasing.
48. Why is water used as a coolant in a car engines? Explain.

 Because it has got high specific heat capacity compared to the other liquids in the engine.
49. Why a loaded test tube floats upright in the fluid?

 A load in a test is at the bottom that lowers centre of gravity of a test tube. This raises stability of the test tube
causing it to float upright. OR
 Because it is balanced by having a heavy base.
50. Why the skies appear blue?

 Because the blue colour has short wavelengths, instead of penetrating they are scattered.
51. Why does the sky appear blue while being observed from the earth and black when you are on the moon?
 Because of the scattering of the sun’s light when it enters the earth’s atmosphere. The blue light is scattered
more than other colours due to the difference in their wavelength. While on the moon, the sky appears black
because the moon has no atmosphere to scatter sunlight.
52. Explain why nylon cloths crackle as you undress.

 This is due to accumulation of excess charges which creates an electric force between the nylon cloth and the
human body.
53. (a) Why does a nylon bag produce a cracking sound when it is touched? OR
(b) Explain why sparks are sometimes seen when a nylon garment rubs against the body as one undresses. OR
(c) Why do you think cracking sound is heard while taking off nylon clothes?
 Due to friction, nylon develops static charges (electrons) on them. These charges move in streams between
nylon and our body (i.e electric discharge takes place). This result in cracking sound and sparks of lightning.

54. Explain why petrol road tankers usually have a length of metal chain hanging down touching the ground.
 The chain is for earthing, means used to allow the escape of excess charges (electrons) to the ground.
55. After walking across a carpeted floor you sometimes get a mild electric shock when you touch a metal door knob. Explain
how this happens.
 As you walk across a carpet your feet rub electrons off the carpet, leaving you with slightly negative static
charge. When you reach for a doorknob you get a shock as electrons jump from you to the knob, which conducts
electricity. OR
 While walking on a carpet, you are sort of insulated hence high electrons accumulation. On the other hand, the
door has excess of the opposite charges. This results in a mild electric shock.
56. A balloon rubbed against your hair could be attracted to a sheet of small piece of paper, explain how.
 When the balloon is rubbed against the hair it acquires negative charges. When brought close to pieces of paper,
the papers tend to be attracted by the negatively charged balloon.
57. A rod rubbed with a duster is observed to attract tiny pieces of paper. However, as soon as the papers touch the rod, they
are repelled. Explain this observation.
 Initially, the papers are uncharged and are attracted to the charged rod. On touching the rod, they acquire a
charge similar to that on the rod and are thus repelled.
58. How is the electroscope used for testing the types of charges?
 Testing for negative charge, the electroscope must be positively charged. Hence the leaf collapses if the
negatively charged material is brought near the cap of the electroscope. Testing for positive charge, the
electroscope must be negatively charged. Hence the leaf collapses if the positively charged material is brought
near the cap of the electroscope
59. Charging by rubbing create charges on an object but after some time the charges seems like do not exist, where do they
go? Explain.
 Seems like do not exist, since they are being neutralized by the opposite charges (of different nature i.e protons)
on the surface.
60. Explain why an uncharged metal rod causes the leaf of an electroscope to fall whether the electroscope is charged
positively or negatively.
 The charges on the metal rod are free to move. On being brought near a charged electroscope, the charges
opposite to those on the electroscope move near thus neutralizing the charge on the electroscope.
61. When a negatively-charged rod is brought near the cap of a lightly charged electroscope, it is noted that the leaf starts to
collapse but when the rod is brought much closer, the leaf starts to rise. Explain this observation.
 The electroscope is positively charged. Initially, the negative charge on the rod repels negative charges to the
leaf causing the leaf to collapse. When brought very close to the cap, more negative charges move to the leaf
causing divergence since the rod has a greater charge.
62. When a candle flame is brought near the cap of a charged electroscope, the electroscope discharges. Explain this
observation.
 The flame ionizes air, producing positive and negative ions. These are attracted to the cap of the electroscope,
thus causing a discharge.
63. An object is dropped and falls to the ground. Is any work done while it is falling? If so, what force did the work? Was the
work done on or by the object?
 Yes, work is done. It is a gravitational force. The work is done on the object.
64. Explain why a wonder wheel which was rotating becomes hot after a sudden stop.
 It is because of transformation of kinetic energy to heat energy.
65. Why television screens are dusty after a while? Discuss.

 Because the dust particles are attracted by the charged television screens.
66. A negatively charged object attracts a piece of paper, why?

 A negatively charged object attracts a piece of paper because it repels electrons away from the surface of the
paper.

67. (a) Explain why an elephant walk over a soft ground or muddy soil without much sinking in the ground? OR
(b) Explain briefly why it is easy to cut meat using a sharp knife than to use a blunt knife?
 Since pressure increase with the decrease of an area, then sharp knife provides greater pressure than the blunt
knife to cut the meat.
68. Explain briefly why people are able to walk and hold objects.
 It is because of friction between two surfaces.
69. The sinking of the wheels of a lorry into soft sand may be prevented by letting off some air from the tyres. Explain this
observation.
 This increase the area of contact with the ground and in effect reduces the pressure exerted by the tyres on the
ground.
70. Explain why trucks which carry heavy loads have many wheels.
 The load is distributed to all the tyres. This means that the pressure exerted on the road by each tyre is
drastically reduced.
71. Ducks are able to walk over swampy grounds without sinking. Explain why.
 Ducks have webbed feet. The area of contact with the ground is very large compared to the weight of the ducks.
This reduces the pressure they exert on the ground thus preventing sinking.
72. Why warm soup is tasty?

 Due to its low surface tension.
73. Explain briefly why insects can walk on water.

 It is because of stretching membrane (surface tension) on the surface of water.
74. Explain how oil can float on water.

 Oil can float on water because of cohesion and adhesion forces.
75. (a) A needle floats on pure water, but sinks when a detergent is added to the water. Explain this observation. OR
(b) Why additions of detergents or soap increase the cleaning ability of water?
 Because detergents or soap decrease the surface tension of water.
76. Explain how adding soap to the water would cause the oil and water to mix.
 Because soap is a surfactant, it breaks the skin cover of the water; that is why oil and water mix after addition of
soap.
77. A metal pin was observed to float on the surface of pure water. Explain why the pin would sink if a few drops of a soap
were added to the water.
 The addition of soap solution reduces the surface tension of the water. This reduces the strength of the ‘skin’
that was preventing the pin from sinking, and so it sinks.
78. State conditions for a body to float.

 Conditions for floating are:
i. The object’s submerged volume must be large enough so as to displace a lot of fluid.
ii. The density of the body must be less than the density of the surrounding fluid.
iii. The upthrust due to the liquid must be equal to the total weight of the object.
79. When a mass hanging from a spring vibrates, explain why the vibrations eventually stop.
 The vibrations stop because energy is used in overcoming air resistance; also
 The vibrations stop because energy is used in overcoming forces opposing relative motion of the parts of the
spring.
80. Why towel soaks water from the body?

 It is due to capillary action of cotton in towel.
81. Why the soil is loosened and split into pieces by the farmers?
 Soil is loosened and split into pieces so as to prevent water loss by capillary action.

82. Why spirit poured on the skin feels much colder than the water at the same temperature? Explain this.
 It is because the spirit evaporates quickly (volatile) taking latent heat of vaporization from the skin, thus cooling
the skin.
83. Explain why the temperature of methylated spirit decreases when air is blown over it.
 Blowing air increase the rate of evaporation. The latent heat of vaporization required is taken from the
methylated spirit, this causes cooling.
84. Explain briefly the effect that would happen if a tall house in areas of many thunderstorms is not installed with conductor.
 The tall house will be striken by the lightning
85. Explain what would happen if the thick copper strip is replaced with a steel strip in a lightning conductor.
 The strip would heat and melt because steel has a higher resistance.
86. Explain why when the bulbs are installed parallel to each other are brighter than when they are in series.
 Bulbs connected in parallel are brighter because the total resistance decrease, but in series the total resistance
increase.
87. Explain briefly the effect that would happen if a proof plane is inserted in a hollow sphere and tested for charge.
 No charge will be detected.
88. Why excess of mosquitoes floating on water surface die due to sinking when kerosene oil is sprinkled on water?
 This is due to decrease in surface tension of water.
89. Explain how temperature affects surface tension of a liquid?

 The surface tension decreases with temperature increase.
90. Explain why aluminium is a suitable metal in making motor engines pistons and cylinders.
 Because aluminium has low density and high thermal conductivity (means heat is easily transferred away from
engine)
91. Explain why most vehicles have their engines directly over the drive wheels.
 This is the way of increasing frictional force between two surfaces. Therefore, this increases the normal force on
the wheels.
92. Explain why a gardener may find that it is easier to pull a lawn roller across the lawn than it is to push the same lawn roller
across the lawn.

93. Explain why, when using a magnifying glass, the image distance should be approximately 25cm from the eye for the object
to be viewed clearly.
 This is because you cannot clearly see anything that is closer than 25cm to your eye. A lens with a short focal
length makes a powerful magnifying glass. With a short focal length, your eye gets closer to the object that is to
be magnified.
94. Explain why the image of an object formed by a plane mirror is called a virtual image?
 This is because cannot be focused onto a screen; the rays only appear to originate from a common point behind
the mirror.
95. (a) Briefly explain why a Wilson Cloud Chamber is considered the true radioactive detector. OR
(b) State an advantage of Diffusion Cloud Chamber over a charged electroscope.
 Because it can detect alpha, beta and gamma radiations unlike a charged electroscope which can only detect
alpha and beta particles.
96. Explain how radiation entering the Geiger-Muller tube through the mica window is detected in the tube.
 Ions flow between the terminals, producing small electric currents. The currents are passed to the scaler, which
counts the pulse and register them as particles on the counter.
97. Explain why alpha particles are more ionizing than beta particles.
 Alpha particles are more massive than beta particles and easily knock off electrons from other atoms. Alpha
particles are also slow and easy to capture.

98. (a) As waves pass by a duck floating on a lake or a pond, the duck bobs up and down but remains in one place. Explain why
the duck is not carried along by the wave motion? OR
(b) Explain why a duck remains floating at the same place as a wave passes by the water in a lake.
 This is because waves move energy through a medium but do not transfer particles. So when the waves pass by
duck floating on a lake, the duck just bobs up and down, but remains in its place.
99. State a reason why glass prisms are preferred to plane mirrors for use in periscopes.
 Reasons;
- Glass prisms do not tarnish with time unlike plane mirrors.
- There is also no loss of light intensity in glass prisms.
100. Most materials become less dense as their temperature is increased, give a reason.
 This is because when a substance is heated, the molecules move faster causing the molecule to push outward
making them further apart from each other.
101. (a) Why are the latent heat of fusion and latent heat of vaporization said to be hidden? OR
(b) Latent heat of fusion and latent heat of vaporization are “hidden”. Explain this.
 Are hidden because substance change phases while the temperature remains the same, which cannot be
measured by the thermometer.
102. Explain, on a molecular level, how the condensation of water vapour on a bathroom mirror warms the bathroom.
 Condensation on a bathroom mirror warms the bathroom because every drop of water vapour that condense on
your mirror release latent heat of vaporization for water (i.e 540.0 cal/g).
103. Briefly explain how buoyant force exerted by a fluid arises.

 A buoyant force arise from the fact that, pressure in the fluid increase with the increase in depth. Therefore,
upward pressure on the bottom surface of the immersed body is greater than the downward pressure on its top
surface. The resultant force is then directed up.
104. (a) State and explain with the aid of diagram, why the base of a Bunsen burner is heavily weighted and of large base? OR
(b) Why do Bunsen burners have a broad and heavy base?
 Have a broad and heavy base so as to make them more stable.
105. Explain how the image of an object is formed in the human eye.
 When light from an object enters the eye, it passes through the cornea and the aqueous humour. It is then
focused by the lens to form an inverted image on the retina.
106. A lid on a metal can be unscrewed easily if the can is immersed in hot water for a few minutes. Explain
 The lid expands more than the metal at the same temperature. This means that, there is unequal expansion of
materials.
107. State the reason why electricity transmission cables are left sagging between the pylons.
 To allow for contraction and expansion of the cables.
108. Why solids have a fixed shape?

 It is due to maximum cohesive force.
109. Explain how fish and other aquatic life are able to survive in a frozen lake.
 Ice being less dense than water, floats on the water. This insulates water below against heat loss to the cold air
above. Water at 4°C being dense remains at the bottom of the lake. This enables fish and other aquatic life to
survive in the water below the ice.
110. Account for the fact that, a distant lightning flash is seen before the thunder is heard.
 Lightning flash propagates with the speed of light whereas the thunder propagates with the speed of sound
wave which is less than that of light.
111. (a) Why does the steam cause more severe burns than boiling water? OR
(b) Explain why the steam from boiling water gives more harm on the skin than the water at the same temperature.
 Because steam has more heat energy than water due to its latent heat of vaporization.
112. Explain why corrugated iron-sheet roofs make cracking noises on a night preceded by a hot day.

 At night the corrugated iron-sheets do contracts due to expansion which has happened during a hot day.
113. It is difficult to unscrew wheel nuts in the morning, while it is relatively easy to unscrew them on a hot day.
 Iron contracts in the morning due to low temperature. This makes the nut to hold tightly onto the wheels. The
reverse happens on a hot day.
114. (a) Briefly explain why a ship sinks deeper in fresh water than in sea water? OR
(b) Why a ship raises a bit when it enters in a saline sea from a river?
 This is because of higher density of saline sea water.
115. (a) Why a carpeted floor does feels warmer to bare feet? OR
(b) Why bare feet feel warmer on the carpet than on the floor early in the morning?
 The floor (colder) is a good conductor of heat and it moves heat rapidly away from your feet, while the carpet
(acts as insulator) slows down the flow of the heat which would make feel warm.
116. Why does a transformer work with alternating current (a.c) only? Explain this.
 A transformer requires an a.c that forms a changing magnetic fields, this also includes a varying voltage in a coil.
Therefore, d.c currents won’t work at all because constant fields will be produced.
117. Why a fat person will quickly learn swimming as compared to a slim person?
 This is because fat person will displace more water, so more balanced.
118. A glass test tube was heated over a Bunsen burner flame. Cold water was then quickly poured into the test tube. Explain
why the test tube would break when cold water is poured in.
 When the test tube is heated it expands, when cold water is quickly poured in the test tube it breaks due to
sudden contraction which is as result of unequal contraction between the surfaces of the tube.
119. (a) A glass tumbler breaks when hot liquid is poured into it, explain. OR
(b) A piece of thick glass removed from hot water and dipped into cold water will crack while thin glass does not crack.
Explain this observation. OR
(c) Explain why a glass container with thick walls is more likely to crack than one with thin walls when a very hot liquid is
poured into each of the glasses.
 This is because the temperature is not evenly distributed between inside and outside of a glass container with
thick walls. As a result it is more likely to crack the glass container with thin walls.
120. (a) Using the kinetic theory of gases, explain why the pressure of a gas increases when the gas is heated at constant
volume. OR
(b) Using the kinetic theory of gases, explain how a rise in the temperature of a gas causes a rise in the pressure of the gas
when the volume is held constant.
 As the temperature increase the gas molecules gain kinetic energy and their random motion increase. As a result
the force exerted by these molecules increase which cause increase in pressure.
121. Explain why in general, good conductors of electricity are also good conductors of heat.
 Good conductors of electricity contain delocalized (free) electrons which carry charge. Heat is transferred to the
lattice atoms by free electrons. This makes good conductors of electricity to be good conductors of heat too.
122. Why are gases poor conductors of heat?

 Molecules of a gas are very far apart from each other so heat conduction is difficult.
123. Why are cooking vessels made of aluminium and not iron? Explain
 Aluminium has high thermal conductivity compared to the iron.
124. Why is it not possible for heat transfer by convection to take place in solids? Explain this.
 Heat transfer by convection involves movement of matter (molecules) while in solids there is no movement of
molecules from one place to another.
125. How would you determine the fixed points on a thermometer?

 The upper fixed point would be determined when the water starts boiling. The lower fixed point would be at the
temperature when the water starts freezing or turning to ice.
126. (a) Give the reason why ventilators are situated near the ceiling in a room. OR

(b) In order to ventilate a room well, it is advisable to have some ventilations close to the ceiling and some close to the
floor. Explain
 Warm air escapes from the top, while the denser cooler air comes in at the bottom.
127. (a) A metal bench feels colder than a wooden one when one sits on it on a cold morning even though both are at the same
temperature. Explain this observation. OR
(b) A metallic seat feels hotter on a hot day and colder during the night than a wooden seat under the same conditions.
Explain this observation.
 The metal seat becomes hot during a hot day. On touching the seat, most of its heat is conducted to the body
making one feel hot. A wooden seat would only transfer heat at the point of touching because it is a poor
conductor of heat. At night, the metal seat conducts much heat away from the body, making one feel cold, while
the wooden seat will only conduct very little heat away from the body.
128. A stone floor feels cold to the feet, but a woolen carpet on the same floor feels warm. Explain this.
 The woolen carpet has air pockets which make it a poor conductor of heat. Less heat will therefore be conducted
from the body by the carpet as compared to the stone floor.
129. During cold weather, birds normally fluff up their feathers. Explain this.
 When the feathers are fluffed, air is trapped between them. Being a poor conductor, air prevents loss of heat,
thus helping to keep the birds warm.
130. State the reason why one feels warmer in woolen clothing than in nylon clothing.
 Wool is hairy and thus traps air between its hairs. This makes it a poorer conductor of heat than nylon.
131. A car battery is 12V, eight dry cells of 1.5V connected in series can give 12V but such cells are not suitable in starting a car.
Why? Reflected by the ionosphere
 To start a car, a very high current is required. When eight dry cells are joined in series the internal resistance of
the combination of the cells becomes very high. Due to high value of internal resistance, the current that can be
drawn from the cells is very small to start the car.
132. Why are stadium seats made of plastic and not steel? Explain
 This is because they are bad conductors of heat.
133. Explain, in terms of particulate nature of matter, why metals are good conductors of heat.
 Metals have free electrons in their structure that move from one atom to the other. When the solid is heated,
these electrons carry energy to other parts of the solid.
134. Using the particulate nature of matter, explain why a solid expands when heated.
 On heating, the molecules gain kinetic energy, vibrating more vigorously and so they tend to occupy more space.
135. Explain how the heat from the sun reaches the land and the sea surfaces.
 By radiation, the land has a lower specific heat capacity than the sea water. Water masses are also moved by
winds thus mixing with other cold water masses.
136. Why does the land become hotter than the sea on a hot day and colder at night?
 The land surface is generally dull and rough and thus a good absorber of heat energy. It is also a good emitter of
radiant heat and therefore loses heat faster.
137. What would be observed on the sea and land breezes on a cold day followed by a cold night?
 The breezes will be almost negligible.
138. Explain how the efficiency of the vacuum flask would be affected if the double-walled glass bottle was replaced with a
double-walled metal bottle.
 It would be less efficient. This is because the metal would conduct heat from inside the bottle to the outside
through the contact edge.
139. What is the function of the anti-shock pads in the vacuum flask?
 To prevent the walls from crushing into each other.
140. What do you understand by the term “absolute zero temperature”?

 It is the lowest temperature theoretically attainable.

141. State the reason why television and FM radio waves have a shorter range than medium waves (MW).
 Television and FM radio waves have shorter wavelengths and are not easily reflected by the ionosphere. They
are therefore lost in space. Medium waves have longer wavelengths and are reflected by the ionosphere,
thereby increasing their range.
142. Explain why television reception in a place surrounded by hills is poor.

 Television waves are shorter and so not easily diffracted by hills.
143. State how the pitch of a sound wave is affected by the frequency.
 The pitch increase with increase in frequency.
144. Radiant heat entering through the glass in a greenhouse is unable to escape through the same glass. Explain why.
 After radiation enters the greenhouse, some of its energy is absorbed by the plants inside. The reflected
radiations have a longer wavelength due to reduced energy. The increased wavelength cannot pass through the
same glass.
145. (a) Explain how electrons are produced in a cathode ray tube. OR
(b) Describe briefly the production of x-rays in an x-ray tube, starting from the time electrons are produced at the
cathode.
 The electrons are accelerated towards the target by the high potential difference (p.d) between the anode and
the cathode. On striking the target, some of their kinetic energy is converted to x-rays.
146. (a) The target of an x-ray tube is made of metals of high melting point such as tungsten. Give a reason for this. OR
(b) Explain why tungsten is used as target material in x-ray tubes.
 Tungsten has a high melting point and does not melt due to the massive amount of heat produced at the target.
147. State a reason why colour televisions have higher power rating than black-and-white televisions.
 Colour televisions have three electron guns compared to one electron gun in black-and-white televisions.
148. Explain the behaviour of cathode rays when subjected to a magnetic field.
 When subjected to a magnetic field, they are deflected in a circular path because the force is perpendicular to
the path.
149. A tube television can produce x-rays. Explain how this is possible.
 In the cathode ray tube of television, electrons are accelerated to high speeds. When they strike the screen, it is
possible for some of their kinetic energy to change to x-rays.
150. State a reason why x-rays have a higher penetrating power than visible light.
 X-rays are more energetic than visible light.
151. What property of cathode rays shows that they are particles and not waves?
 These are;
- They are affected by electric and magnetic fields.
- They travel in straight lines.
- They are negatively-charged particles.
152. (a) The control grid in a cathode ray oscilloscope is used to control the brightness of the beam on the screen. How is this
achieved? OR
(b) Explain how the grid in a cathode ray tube controls the brightness of the spot on the screen.
 Since the grid is negative with respect to the cathode, it repels the electrons and thus reduces the number of
electrons passing to the screen.
153. Explain why ultraviolet light causes a negatively-charged electroscope to discharge, but not a positively-charged one.
 When electrons are ejected from the negatively-charged electroscope, they escape, but in a positively-charged
electroscope they are attracted back by the positive charge on the plate.
154. The electron beam in the CRO is directed on the screen. Why is there no accumulation of charge on the screen? Explain.
 The inside of the screen has graphic paint covering. This is connected to the anode and conducts the charge
away.

155. Explain why it is necessary to earth the screen of a cathode ray oscilloscope.
 So that the electrons that strikes the screen are conducted to the ground and therefore no accumulation of
charge occurs.
156. In an x-ray tube, it is observed that the intensity of x-ray increase when the heating voltage at the filament is increased.
Explain this observation.
 The intensity of x-rays depends on the number of electrons striking the anode. Increasing the heating voltage at
the filament increases the intensity (quantity) of electrons produced, which in turn increases the quantity of x-
rays without affecting their penetrating power.
157. Why does heat transfer by radiation not require a medium? Explain
 Because it involves the electromagnetic waves.
158. A good cooking vessel should be black on the outside and not shiny white. Explain
 Because by being black it is a good absorber of heat. Shiny white material reflects the heat instead of absorbing
it for cooking food, they are also poor heat emitters.
159. (a) Explain how the pressure cooker can cook food faster than an ordinary cooking utensil with a loose-fitting lid. OR
(b) Is it the boiling of water or the higher temperature of water that cooks food faster in a pressure cooker? OR
(c) What is the mode of action of the pressure cooker? Explain.
 Ina a pressure cooker the air pressure is increased to about 2atm. The pressure cooker work by expelling air
(vapour) from the vessel, and trapping the steam produced from the boiling liquid inside. This raises the internal
pressure and permits high cooking temperature.
160. What is the working principle of pressure cooker?

 As the pressure rises, the temperature of water and steam inside the sealed pot (the pressure cooker) also rises
above the normal boiling point temperature.
161. (a) Is it possible to boil water without heating? OR

(b) How can water be brought to a boil without heating it?
 It is possible if the pressure is quickly reduced. This is because boiling is about pressure, not just temperature.
162. Explain why it would take longer to cook potatoes at the high mountain than at the sea level.
 The boiling point of water is lower at the top of a mountain than at the sea level.
163. Why do liquids lack linear and superficial expansion? Explain.

 Liquids do not expand linearly and superficially because liquids take the shape of the vessel they are in so it is
difficult for a liquid to be determined the expansion in a real and linear that is no fixed length or surface area.
164. Why does water show abnormal behavior? Explain this.

 Water shows abnormal behavior because the volume of water decrease instead of increasing as the temperature
is raised from 0°C to 4°C.
165. Give the reason why gases expand more than liquids or solids when all are equally heated.
 Gas molecules have very weak forces of attraction between each other. Addition of heat causes greater change
of speed and they therefore, expand and spread more compared to liquids and solids.
166. (a) What is the effect of making the pinhole larger in a pinhole camera? OR
(b) Explain why enlarging the pinhole in a pinhole camera causes the image to be blurred.
 Having a large pinhole is like having many pinholes at the same place. Since each forms its own image, the
images overlap causing the image seen to be blurred.
167. Why a semiconductor damaged by a strong current? Explain this.

 A strong current when passes through a semiconductor heats up the semiconductor and the covalent bonds
break up. It results in a large number of free electrons. The material then behaves just as a conductor. As now
the semiconductor no longer possesses the property of low conduction, it is said to be damaged.
168. Explain how an n-type semiconductor is made from a pure semiconductor.

 Pentavalent impurities like phosphorus are added to a germanium or silicon crystal. In the bonding, one
phosphorus electron is left unpaired and so acts as a “free” electron which conducts electricity.

169. State what is meant by junction voltage (potential barrier) and explain how it is formed in a p-n junction.
 Junction voltage is the p.d across the p-n junction that is not biased. It is created by movement of holes and
electrons across the junction when the junction is made.
170. Explain why a diode conducts easily in forward bias and not in reverse bias.
 In forward bias, the depletion layer is reduced making it easy for charge to cross the barrier. In reverse bias, the
depletion layer is widened so that it requires a much higher p.d to cause charge to cross the junction.
171. Explain how a capacitor reduces the ripples in a rectified d.c output.
 When the diode is conducting, the capacitor gets charged and stores charge. When the p.d reverses so that the
diode does not conduct, the capacitor discharge through the output resistor creating a p.d so that the output
does not go to zero.
172. Why are echoes not heard in a small room? Explain

 The sound produced in the room will strikes a wall and lose some of its energy on each impact, that is, the sound
dies away very fast. OR
 The echoes would arrive at the ear within very short time intervals. As a result the ear is unable to distinguish
one echo from the other.
173. Explain why it is not advisable for soldiers to march across a bridge in rhythm.
 At the certain point, the bridge would start oscillating to the same rhythm as that of the marching steps. This
oscillation would reach a maximum peak when the bridge can no longer sustain its own strength and hence
collapses.
174. A bat can fly in the dark during the night without hitting an obstacle. Explain
 A bat can fly in the dark during the night because it produce sound once is reflected back and, hence it uses echo
for navigation.
175. Evaporation is a cooling process. Explain

 During evaporation, hot molecules of a liquid escapes from the surface of the liquid leaving molecules with low
temperature, hence cools.
176. Explain briefly why a person who climbs a high mountain may bleed at the nose and mouth.
 At the high mountain pressure is reduced compared to the body pressure, hence body fluids tries to come out to
counterbalance the pressure of the surrounding resulting to bleeding.
177. Give reason why is it necessary to evacuate the CRO tube?

 To minimize air/electric resistance in order to make electrons travel without colliding with other particles.
178. A comb may become more dust. Briefly explain why.

 When a comb is rubbed it gets electrically charged exerting an electric force on the tiny dust particles and
attracts them.
179. Explain why it takes less time to boil vegetables in covered pan than one which is opened.
 It is because the covered pan reduces the amount of evaporation resulting to high boiling of water, hence takes
less time to boil vegetables.
180. Explain why the inner core of the earth is solid while the outer core is liquid even though the temperature is high.
 It is because the pressure, produced by the weight of the overlying rocks is strong enough to crowd the atoms
tightly together and prevents the liquid state.
181. Explain, using domain theory of magnetism, how magnetization is achieved by hammering an iron bar when it is pointing
in the N-S direction.
 Hammering causes vibration of atoms and hence domains. If the bar is facing N-S direction, some of the domains
will settle facing N-S due to earth’s magnetic field. This causes the bar to get lightly magnetized.
182. Explain, using domain theory of magnetism, how an iron bar can be magnetized to saturation level by placing it in a
magnetic field whose strength can be varied.
 When the iron bar is placed in the magnetic field, some of the domains rotate to face the direction of the field.
As the intensity of the field is increased, more and more domains align in the direction of the field, increasing the
magnetization of the bar. At a certain value of intensity, all the domain becomes oriented in the direction of the
field so that further increase in intensity has no effect on the magnetic strength of the bar.

183. Using the domain theory of magnetism, explain how heating a magnet weakens the magnet.
 Heating causes an increase in vibrations of particles of a solid and hence the domains. The domains change their
direction of alignment, thus reducing magnetism.
184. Explain how the speech current from the microphone is converted into sound in the receiver.
 Speech current causes the strength of the magnet to vary. This causes the diaphragm to vibrate. Since the
current is in the frequency of the speech, the diaphragm reproduces the speech.
185. Explain why the coil in an electric motor is usually wound on a laminated soft iron core.
 Reasons;
- Iron causes the magnetic field to be concentrated, thus increasing the force.
- Lamination reduces the effect of eddy currents.
186. Give a reason why the solenoids are wound in opposite directions around the soft iron pole pieces.
 So that opposite poles that will not repel each other are created.
187. Give reasons why soft iron is used as core of the coil in an electric bell.
 Reasons;
- It makes stronger magnets.
- It concentrates the magnetic flux.
- It is temporarily magnetized.
188. The coil in the ammeter (moving coil ammeter) is wound on a soft iron cylinder that is not laminated. Explain why the
cylinder is not laminated.
 When the source of current is disconnected, the coil would oscillate in the field. The eddy currents in the
unlaminated core would damp these oscillations.
189. When a piece of metal, whether magnetic or non-magnetic, is placed inside a solenoid and an alternating current is passed
through the solenoid, the metal gets hot although the solenoid remains cool. Explain this observation.
 The alternating current creates a changing magnetic flux through the conductor, which induces eddy currents.
Heat is produced because of the resistance of the piece of metal to the eddy currents.
190. (a) Briefly explain how simple a.c dynamo can be converted to simple d.c dynamo. OR
(b) Explain the changes that should be made in the alternating current (a.c) generator for it to produce a direct current
(d.c).
 Replacing the slip rings with split rings. The electromotive force (e.m.f) produced at the brushes, although
varying in value will not change in direction.
191. Explain why the conductivity of a metallic conductor decreases with increase in temperature, while that of a
semiconductor increases with increase in temperature.
 In a conductor, a rise in temperature increases the vibrations of the atoms, which interferes with electrons flow.
In a semiconductor, a rise in temperature increase the chance of an electron moving from the valence band to
the conduction band, thus enhancing conductivity.
192. In which part of a fridge or a microwave oven do we have magnetic strips installed? Why?
 Are fitted on the doors of a microwave ovens or a fridge, used to keep away cold.
193. Explain how an a.c potential across the primary coil in a transformer causes a potential difference across the secondary
coli.
 An a.c potential creates a flux change in the core which is linked to the primary core. This changing flux creates
an a.c voltage across the secondary coil.
194. Give a reason why the caps of the cells of a lead-acid accumulator are opened when charging the battery.
 To allow gases to escape from the battery.
“Believe in Yourself, Struggle till the End”

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A
Physics Department - 2019

O-Level Physics Numerical and Conceptual Questions PDF

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O-LEVEL

PHYSICS BANK QUESTIONS, 2019

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 1

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 2

9. (a) (i) What is meant by magnetic material? Give two examples.

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 3

16. (a) (i) Define electrical resistance and resistivity.

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 4

18. a) Define latent heat and heat capacity

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 5

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 6

29. (a) Explain the terms vector and scalar.

31. Define the specific latent heat of fusion.

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 7

32. (a) Define the term Volcanicity.

33. (a) Explain briefly how thermionic emissions occur.

34. (a) What is meant by the following terms as used in Geophysics.

35. (a) (i) Explain what is meant by Bimetallic strip.

36. (a) Define density and relative density of a substance.

37. (a) What do you understand by the moment of a force?

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 8

40. (a) Define the terms displacement, speed and velocity.

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 9

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 10

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 11

52. (a) Define the terms wavelength and frequency of a wave.

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 12

57. (a) Why is it necessary to evacuate the CRO tube?

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 13

59. (a) State how to determine the direction of an electric field.

60. (a) No boiling without evaporation, justify.

62. (a) what do you understand by the following terms;

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 14

63. (a) State the principle of moments.

(c) (i) State Boyle’s law.

64. (a) State the laws of refraction

i) The angle of incidence as the face AB

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 15

68. (a) Define the term “angular magnification” as applied in a microscope.

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 16

(i) Explain why the leaf of the electroscope falls.

70. (a) Define the following terms.

71. (a) Define the term “diffraction” as applied in waves.

PART B; Conceptual Questions:

5. Explain why racing cars should have wide wheel tracks?

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 17

10. Why car speed is not termed as car velocity?

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 18

23. The efficiency of a simple machine is never 100%. Why?

25. Why an iron ball sinks in water?

27. Explain how polarization is reduced in a Leclanché cell.

30. Explain how a body becomes positively charged.

31. Explain how a body becomes negatively charged.

36. Why is ice slippery?

38. (a) Why a stem of the hydrometer is made thin? OR

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 19

43. Explain how a steel needle is made to float on water.

44. Explain how capillary rise in a thin tube occurs.

48. Why is water used as a coolant in a car engines? Explain.

49. Why a loaded test tube floats upright in the fluid?

50. Why the skies appear blue?

52. Explain why nylon cloths crackle as you undress.

Mwl. Mukhtar Y.A O-level Physics Bank Questions, 2019 20