Multiple-Choice Questions 1981

Where necessary, take g = 10 m/s2.

1. A square uniform board of weight 10 N is pivoted vertically at its centre O. The board is in
equilibrium under the action of two forces, each of magnitude 20 N, acting in the directions as
shown in the figure below.

20N

20N

The total force acting on the pivot is

A. 0 N B. 30 N C. 36 N
D. 50 N E. 1300 N

2. Two masses m1 and m2 (m1 > m2) are hung over a smooth pulley as shown.

m2
m1

If the system is released from rest, what is the kinetic energy of the system after the mass m1
has descended through a distance h ?
A. zero B. m1gh C. m2gh
D. (m1 - m2) gh E. (m1 + m2)gh
3. A body of mass M rests in equilibrium on a plane inclined at an angle θ to the horizontal.
M

What is the frictional force acting on the body ?

A. zero B. Mg C. Mg tan θ
D. Mg sin θ E. Mg cos θ

4. A trolley of mass 1 kg placed on a smooth horizontal table is connected by two light strings to
blocks A and B of masses 0.75 kg and 0.25 kg respectively, as shown in the figure below. X
and Y are frictionless pulleys.

Tolley

smooth horizontal
table
B
A

When the system is released, what will be its acceleration ?

A. 0 m/s2 B. 1.0 m/s2 C. 2.5 m/s2
D. 5.0 m/s2 E. 10 m/s2

5. A particle released from rest at O falls freely under gravity and passes A and B, as shown in
the figure below (not drawn to scale). If the particle takes 4 s to move from A to B, where
AB = 100 m, how long does it take to fall from O to A ?
O
A. 0.5 s
B. 1.0 s
C. 2.0 s A
D. 4.0 s B
E. 10.0 s
6. Five blocks of equal mass A, B, C, D and E are connected by four identical strings, S1,S2, S3
and S4 as shown in the figure below.

S1 S2 S3 S4
F A B C D E

They are made to slide on a smooth horizontal surface by a steadily increasing force F applied
to block A.
Which of the strings is most likely to break first ?
A. S1 B. S2 C. S3 D. S4
E. S1, S2, S3, S4 will break at the same time

7. A vehicle moves up a road inclined at an angle θ to the horizontal with a constant velocity of
10 m/s. If the forces resisting the movement of the vehicle are uniform, the power developed
by the vehicle engine is
A. constant
B. increasing uniformly
C. decreasing uniformly
D. increasing, but not uniformly
E. decreasing, but not uniformly

8. Which of the following statements concerning the motion of a body is/are correct ?
(1) A body has no acceleration when it is moving with a uniform velocity.
(2) A body can have zero velocity but also be accelerating.
(3) A body can have a constant speed but a varying velocity.

A. (1) only B. (3) only C. (1) and (2) only

D. (2) and (3) only E. (1), (2) and (3)
9. An object is projected up a smooth inclined plane with an initial velocity u.

Which of the following graphs best represents the variation of the displacement s of the
object along the plane with time t ?

A. B. C.
s s s

0 t 0 t 0 t

D. E.
s s

0 t 0 t

10. The diagram below shows a model of a hydro-electric power station. It is known that the
system has an efficiency of 75 % and the power flows through the generator at a rate of 0.2
kg/s.

tap
tank

generator
1.5 W
lamp
In order to operate the 1.5 W lamp at full power, what should be the height of the water level
in the tank above the generator ?
A. 0.50 m B. 0.75 m C. 1.00 m
D. 1.50 m E. 2.00 m
11. A constant volume gas thermometer is considered a much more accurate thermometer than a
mercury-in-glass thermometer.
Which of the following explain(s) this ?
(1) Gas thermometers are more sensitive.
(2) The expansion of gases is more regular.
(3) Gas thermometers can be used over a wider range of temperatures.
A. (1) only B. (3) only C. (1) and (2) only
D. (2) and (3) only E. (1), (2) and (3)

12. In the figure below, a column of dry air is trapped by a pellet of mercury, 50mm long, in a
capillary tube sealed at one end. If the tube were inverted vertically, what would be the
length of the air column ? Assume the atmospheric pressure is 750 mm Hg.

A. 50.0 mm 50mm
B. 87.5 mm
C. 114 mm 100mm
D. 124 mm
E. 150 mm

13. A small bubble is situated at the centre of a glass cube of side 2 cm and refractive index 1.5 .
Identical circular opaque discs are glued to the six cube faces, as shown in the figure below.

To prevent the bubble from being seen, what is the minimum radius for these discs ? Neglect
images formed by internal reflections.
A. 1.00 cm B. 0.89 cm C. 0.75 cm
D. 0.67 cm E. 0.45 cm

14. A liquid placed inside an insulated vessel is kept boiling by a heating coil immersed in it.
When the power supplied to the coil is 42 W, the liquid boils away at a rate of 10-4 kg/s.
What is the specific latent heat of vaporation of the liquid ?
A. 42 x 103 J/kg B. 21 x 104 J/kg C. 42 x 104 J/kg
D. 21 x 105 J/kg E. 42 x 105 J/kg
15. 0.01 g of steam at 100°C is mixed with 0.10 g of ice at 0°C. No heat is lost to surroundings.
Which of the following describes the final mixture ?
(Specific heat capacity of water = 4200 J/kg/k ,
Specific latent heat of ice = 336000 J/kg,
Specific latent heat of steam = 2268000 J/kg)
A. A mixture of ice and water at 0°C
B. Water at 0°C
C. Water at 50°C
D. Water at 100°C
E. A mixture of water and steam at 100°C

16. An inexpansible vessel contains 1.2 kg of a gas at 300K. What is the mass of gas expelled
from the vessel if it is heated from 300K to 400K under constant pressure ?
A. 0.9 kg B. 0.75 kg C. 0.6 kg
D. 0.3 kg E. 0.25 kg

17. A ray of light AB falls on a triangular prism as shown below.

1

A
2
3

Three rays of light are found to emerge from the prism. The rays listed in ascending order of
their intensities will be
A. 1, 2, 3 B. 1, 3, 2 C. 2, 3, 1
D. 3, 1, 2 E. 3, 2, 1

18. A ray of light falls on a convex lens as shown in the figure below. F is the principal focus of
the lens.

I
II
III
F
IV
V

Which of the following represents the path of the emerging ray ?

A. I B. II C. III D. IV E. V
19. An object is placed anywhere on the principal axis of a convex mirror. Which of the
following statements concerning the image formed is/are correct ?
The image must be
(1) somewhere behind the mirror, between the focus and the pole.
(2) virtual and erect.
(3) diminished.

A. (1) only B. (3) only C. (1) and (2) only

D. (2) and (3) only E. (1), (2) and (3)

20. An object placed 0.15 m in front of a concave mirror produced a real image twice as large as
the object. The object was then moved to another position and a virtual image twice as
large as the object was produced. The object must have moved through a distance of
A. 0.05 m B. 0.10 m C. 0.15 m
D. 0.20 m E. 0.25 m

21. The original frequency of the tone emitted from a tuning fork is fo. When a piece of wax is
stuck on to one arm of the fork at the point A, as shown in the diagram, it emits another tone
with frequency f1. When the wax is stuck to a point B (above A) , the fork emits a tone with
frequency f2.
Which of the following is correct ?
B
A. fo > f1 > f2
A
B. fo > f2 > f1
C. f1 > fo > f2
D. f2 > fo > f1
E. f2 > f1 . fo

22. Which of the following statements is/are correct ?

(1) Sound waves cannot be diffracted.
(2) A louder sound travels faster in air.
(3) Sound travels faster in water than in air.

A. (1) only B. (3) only C. (1) and (2) only

D. (2) and (3) only E. (1), (2) and (3)
23. A loudspeaker emits sound waves of frequency 400 Hz towards a solid wall. On moving a
microphone between the loudspeaker and the wall, it is found that there are positions of
maximum loudness at regularly spaced intervals of 0.4 m.
Which of the following statements is/are correct ?

(1) The distance between positions of maximum loudness will still be 0.4 m when the
frequency of the sound increases.
(2) The wavelength of the sound wave is 0.4 m.
(3) Positions of maximum loudness will not change when the loudness of the sound
increases.

A. (1) only B. (3) only C. (1) and (2) only

D. (2) and (3) only E. (1), (2) and (3)

24. Eleven wave crests are observed on a screen placed below a ripple tank. The total distance
between the first and last wave crest is 33 cm. When an object of length 10 cm is placed in
the ripple tank, it casts a shadow of length 20 cm on the screen. What is the wavelength of
the water waves ?
A. 1.50 cm B. 1.65 cm C. 3.00 cm
D. 3.30 cm E. 6.00 cm

25. Given the following types of electromagnetic waves :

(1) radio waves,
(2) yellow light,
(3) green light.
The waves listed in ascending order of their wavelengths are

A. (1), (2), (3)

B. (1), (3), (2)
C. (2), (1), (3)
D. (3), (1), (2)
E. (3), (2), (1)

26. It is dangerous to use a copper wire as a fuse in a household circuit because

A. the rate of radiation by copper is too high
B. the thermal conductivity of copper is too high
C. the melting point of copper is too high
D. the specific heat capacity of copper is too high
E. the density of copper is too high
32. Two light conducting spheres are suspended from two threads as shown. If they are found to
attract one another, which of the following conclusions is/are correct ?
(1) They carry similar charges
(2) They carry opposite charges
(3) Only one of them is charged

A. (1) only
B. (2) only
C. (3) only
D. (1) and (3) only
E. (2) and (3) only

33. The diagram shows a network of resistors, where the resistance of each resistor is 2 ohms.
What are the equivalent resistances across AB and AD respectively ?
C 2Ω 2Ω D
AB AD
A. 1.67 ohms 1.00 ohms
2Ω
B. 1.67 ohms 1.67 ohms
C. 1.67 ohms 3.67 ohms
D. 2.50 ohms 1.00 ohm A 2Ω 2Ω B
E. 2.50 ohms 1.67 ohms

34. In the circuit below, ammeter A1 reads 2 mA and ammeter A2 reads 8 mA. What is the
potential difference across AB ?
R1

R2

A1

A2 5000Ω

A. 10 V B. 40 V C. 50 V
D. 100 V E. 500 V
35. In the circuit below, what is the power dissipated in the 4- ohm resistor ?

2V 4Ω 4Ω

A. 0.5 W B. 1.0 W C. 1.5 W

D. 2.0 W E. 3.0 W

36. Which of the following arrangements can be used to convert a galvanometer into an
ammeter ?

(1) low resistance (3) high resistance

G G

(2) high resistance

low resistance

A. (1) only B. (2) only C. (3) only

D. (1) and (3) only E. (2) and (3) only

37. Suppose that it takes 8 minutes to boil a kettle of water. If the heating coil of the kettle is
shortened to half its original length and the supply voltage remains unchanged, then to boil
the same amount of water it will take
A. 30 min. B. 16 min. C. 8 min.
D. 4 min. E. 2 min.
38. The figure below shows two iron rods A and B suspended by two light strings so that they are
close together. Their lower ends are inside a solenoid, what will happen to A and B ?

A B

A B
A. Moves to the left. Moves to the right.
B. Moves to the right. Moves to the left.
C. Moves to the right. Moves to the right.
D. Moves to the left. Moves to the left.
E. Remains stationary. Remains stationary.

39. Which of the following will be deflected by a magnetic field ?

(1) Electromagnetic waves
(2) Cathode rays
(3) A beam of protons

A. (1) only B. (3) only C. (1) and (2) only

D. (2) and (3) only E. (1), (2) and (3)

40. Which of the following statements concerning the generator shown below is/are correct ?

N S

A R B

(1) The direction of the current through the resistor R reverses periodically.
(2) The maximum magnitude of the current depends on the speed of rotational of the coil.
(3) The maximum magnitude of current depends on the resistance R.

A. (1) only B. (3) only C. (1) and (2) only

D. (2) and (3) only E. (1), (2) and (3)
41. If the three kinds of radiations α, β, and γ are arranged in ascending order of their ionization
power, their order is
A. α, β, γ
B. α, γ, β
C. β, α, γ
D. β, γ, α
E. γ, β, α

42. Which of the following statements concerning the isotopes of an element is/are correct ?

(1) They have the same number of neutrons.

(2) They have the same chemical and physical properties.
(3) They have the same atomic number but different mass numbers.

A. (1) only B. (3) only C. (1) and (2) only

D. (2) and (3) only E. (1), (2) and (3)

43. Which of the following represent(s) an alpha decay ?

(1) 92U238 90Th234

(2) 85Tl210 82Pb

210

(3) 81Tl210 82Pb210

A. (1) only B. (3) only C. (1) and (2) only

D. (2) and (3) only E. (1), (2) and (3)

44. The half-life of a radioactive isotope is 1 day. The time taken for the rate of disintegration of
the isotope to decrease to 10-6 of its initial value is roughly
A. 6 days B. 20 days C. 103 days
D. 5 x 105 days E. 106 days
45. high voltage

ando cathode

to vacuum pump

A high d.c. voltage is applied across a discharge tube containing air. A vacuum pump
gradually exhausts air from the discharge tube. Which of the following will possible
happen ?
(1) positive ions move towards the anode.
(2) some air molecules are ionized.
(3) X - rays come out from the anode.

A. (2) only B. (3) only C. (1) and (2) only

D. (2) and (3) only E. (1), (2) and (3)

END OF PAPER