Physics Questions: Practice Questions and Essays

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Physics Practice Questions and Answers

Distinguish between density and relative density of a substance. A ship of mass 1300 tonnes floats on sea water:What volume of sea water is displaced (Density of sea water is 1025kg/m3). Describe an experiment to verify the law of flotation What is Relative Density?A bathroom shower has 200 holes each 2.5mm² in area. Water flows from a pipe of cross-section area of 15cm² at 5m/s to the shower. Determine the speed of the spray.A piece of metal N of mass 2kg weighs 18N in water and 12N in liquid M. Determine the density of: The metal N. The liquid M.A measuring cylinder contains 50cm3 of light oil at 0°C. When a lump of dried ice is placed in the oil, the total volume is 72cm³. Determine the density of the ice.The figure below shows a balloon carrying hydrogen gas 3m³ of density 0.09kgm-3. The mass of the balloon fabric is 2kg and the density of air is 1.25kgm-3. Determine the tension in the string. If the string is suddenly cut, calculate the acceleration of the balloon upwards. What is the maximum mass of the equipment the balloon can lift at a constant velocity A block of mass 5kg rests on an inclined surface as shown in the diagram below. Determine the static friction on the block.State any factors that would raise the boiling point of a liquid.Why Does Water Wets Glass While Mercury Does Not?The graph below shows the variation between force and distance for a boy pushing a concrete block of mass 25kg through a vertically height of 12m. Determine the total work done by the boy within 70m. How much energy is wasted? Give an account for the energy wasted.State the Principle of Moments What Factors Affect the Earth's Gravitational Force?The figure below shows a wire loop with a string that has been dipped into soap solution. Sketch a similar diagram to show the observed effect if the soap film is punctured at X. Explain the observations made in (i) above The diagram below shows a steel ball bearing gently dipped in a viscous liquid contained in a tall cylinder. Name, giving their directions, the forces acting on the ball bearing as it moves down the cylinder.Explain why it is easier to ride a bicycle round a bend on a road if the surface is dry than when it is wet. Use the kinetic theory of gases to explain why; the pressure of a gas increases with temperature increase; The pressure of a gas decreases as volume increases Explain Why Mercury on a Clean Glass Slide Collects Into Small Spherical Balls The figure below shows two blocks of masses M1=1.5 kg and M2 = 2.0 kg which are in contact on a frictionless table. A force F=7N acts on the bodies, determine the force on mass M2.State the Definition of Atmospheric Pressure A small nail may pierce an inflated car tyre and remain there without pressure reduction in the tyre. Explain the observation What is the density of alcohol?A person's lung pressure as recorded by a mercury manometer is 90 mm Hg. Express this pressure in SI units.The barometric height at sea level is 76cm of mercury while at a point on a highland it is 74cm of mercury. What is the ... The figure below shows a measuring cylinder of height 30cm filled to a height of 20cm with water and the rest occupied ...State Pascal's principle of transmission of pressure.A helical spring extends by 1 cm when a force of 1.5 N is applied to it. Find the elastic potential energy stored in it.Give a reason why heat transfer by radiation is faster than heat transfer by conduction.In smoke cell experiment explain why is smoke is preferred.Explain why a river, even on a horizontal ground is faster in some places and slower in others.A meter rule of mass 60g is balanced by masses of 24g and 16g suspended from its ends find the position of its pivot ...The height of mercury column in a barometer at a place is 64cm what would be the height of a column of paraffin in ...State three effects of force.Which of the two empty flask placed on a bench is most stable. Give a reason for your choice. ...Give a reason why a drop of methylated spirit placed at the back of the hand feels colder than a drop of water at the ...A car moving initially at 10m/s decelerates at 2.5m/s². Determine: i) its velocity after 1.5 s ii) the distance ...A lead ball is placed on the surface of viscous oil and released. i) State the three forces acting on the ball as it ...A car of mass 2000kg is moving at 20m/s. calculate the force needed to reduce the speed to 10m/s over a distance of 20m.Water of mass 3 kg initially at 20°C is heated in an electric kettle rated 3.0KW. the water is heated until it boils Explain why it's advisable to use pressure cooker at high attitudes.Using the kinetic theory of gases explain how a raise in temperature of a gas causes a raise in the volume of the gas if A certain mass of nitrogen gas occupies a volume of 3.6m³ at a pressure of 2.0 x 10⁵pascals and temperature ...Explain how polarization in a simple cell can be minimized.Recharging is one of the practices of maintenance of accumulators. State one measurement which used to be taken to help The figure below shows one ray of light incident normally on face PQ of a glass prism, whose critical angle is 42° ...The figure below shows a wave form. State the amplitude of the wave. Calculate the frequency of the wave produced. The figure below shows two magnets X and Y with steel pins attached freely. Indicate the poles of magnet X.Give the difference between hard and soft magnetic materials. Give an example of each. Explain what happens when a positively charged electroscope is touched with a finger. Why are theatre halls covered with spongy materials?. State and explain the effect of enlarging the hole of a pin-hole camera on the image formed. The figure below shows a ray of light incident on a plane mirror, M. State the angle of reflection.A 10Ω resistor is connected to a battery of e.m.f 8 volts and negligible internal resistance. Calculate the power ...The figure below shows a battery with resistor connected across its terminals. The e.m.f of the battery is 6.0V ...i) Give one difference between transverse and longitudinal waves ii) A radio station transmits waves at a frequency of 1 i) The refractive index of water is ³/₄. Determine the speed of light in water given that speed of The figure below shows a circuit where a battery of 4.5volts, switches A and B, two capacitors C₁ = 3µf ...Define focal length and radius of curvature as applied in concave mirrors . The figure below shows a set up used to determine the focal length of a concave mirror by method of no parallax. ...The figure below shows the variation of ¹/_u against ¹/_v for an experiment The figure below shows a transverse wave travelling in water in a tray from shallow end to deep end. ...The figure below shows plane waves incident on a slits. Complete the diagram to show how the waves appear past the slits ...Distinguish between mass and weight of a body stating the S.I units for each. The figure below shows part of scale of vernier calipers. What is the reading indicated on the scale?1800cm³ of fresh water of density 1000kg/m³ is mixed with 2200cm³ of sea water of density 1025kg/m³ Explain why fish can survive under water when the surface is already frozen Two inflated balloons are at the same level while suspended from threads a short distance apart as shown below; ...State one advantage of an alkaline battery over a lead acid battery. The diagram below shows a permanent magnet suspended by a spring. State with reason the behaviour of the magnet when the Convection and diffusion both involve motion of fluids. Distinguish between the two. A negatively, charged rod is brought close to (but not touching ) an uncharged sphere. If the sphere is momentarily earthed...An object weighs 1200N on a certain planet. What is the gravitational field strength of this planet if the object is 60kg.State two properties of a thermometric liquid. Define pressure and give its S.I units. The diagram below represents a motor car hydraulic braking system; State two properties of the liquid used as a brake fluid ...Give reasons why it is necessary to leave the caps of the cells open when charging an accumulator. Define current and state its SI unit A charge of 120 coulombs flow through a lamp every minute. Calculate the current flowing through the lamp. What do you understand by open and closed circuits. State the polarities of A and B. Name the chemical substances in the parts labeled C and D. State the basic law of electrostatics. Explain how you would use an electroscope to distinguish between a conductor and an insulator. What is the name given to the method of charging an electroscope where it requires an opposite charge to the one of the ...Distinguish between a basic physical quantity and a derived physical quantity giving an example of each. State any two ways by which frictional force between two surfaces can be reduced. Explain why large mercury drops form oral ball on a glass slide. Explain why a man using a parachute falls through air slowly while a stone falls through air very fast. What is the reading on the micrometer screw gauge shown below with an error of +0.5mm?In a ball and ring experiment, the ball goes through the rings at room temperature. When it is heated it does not go through ...In the study of free fall, it is assumed that the force F acting on a given body of mass, m, is gravitational, given by ...In the set up shown below, it is observed that the level of the water initially drops before starting to rise. Distinguish between speed and velocity.State how the pressure in a moving fluid varies with speed of the fluid.A piece of metal weighs 3N in air and 2N when totally immersed in water. Calculate the volume of the metal. Explain how a person is able to drink a soda using a drinking straw.Give a reason why air is not commonly used as the fluid in a hydraulic lift.State one assumption made when estimating the size of an oil molecule in the oil drop experiment.The figure below shows a swinging pendulum. State the energy conservation taking place as the pendulum moves from A to B and B to C.The identical springs of spring constant 3N/cm are used to support a load of 30N as shown. Determine the extension on each spring.In a vacuum flask, the walls enclosing the vacuum are silvered on the inside. State the reason for this.State the features that govern the strength of a spiral spring of a given material.Sketch velocity-time graph of a body moving down a viscous fluid.State the principle of conservation of linear momentum.Calculate the recoil velocity of a gun of mass 0.4kg which fires a bullet of mass 0.0045kg at a velocity of ...State two factors which affect frictional force of a body.Suggest ways in which friction can be minimized.State three advantages of friction.Answer the questions that follow: The figure below shows a cylindrical can filled with a liquid of density 0.8 g...State the principle of moments Use the figure below to answer the questions that follow A metre rule whose centre of gravity is at the 50cm mark ...For a body moving with a constant acceleration, a , show that: V = u + at where v and u are the final and initial velocity.For a body moving with a constant acceleration, a , show that: S = ut + ½at² where S is the distance ...A car of mass 1200kg moving at 90km/h is brought to rest over a distance of 20m. Calculate the braking force.An object is projected vertically upwards with a velocity of 200m/s. Calculate: i. Its velocity after 5 seconds ii. The The figure below shows a uniform cardboard in the shape of a parallelogram. Locate the centre of gravity of the cardboard.Two samples of bromine vapour are allowed to diffuse separately under different conditions, one in a vacuum and the ...State two factors affecting stability of body The figure below shows a metal plate 2 m long, 1M wide and negligible thickness. A horizontal force of 50 N applied at p A ray of light now travels through a transparent medium into the Perspex as shown in the figure below: Calculate the critical angle What is the length of the block in the diagram below. Define the following term: Basic physical quantity Define the following term: Derived quantity

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