CAPE PHYSICS MULTIPLE CHOICE

UNIT 2
MODULE 1
ELECTROSTATICS, ELECTRICITY, ELECTORMAGNETISM

(1) A pair of parallel plates has a potential difference of 12V

across them and is 15cm apart. What is the electric field strength
between the plates?
[A] 0.8V/m
[B] 180V/m
[C] 1.8V/m
[D] 80V/m

(2) An LDR has a function of 50K in the dark and 10K in the
light. What will the voltmeter reading be when in the dark?
Assume the voltmeter is ideal.
[A] 10V
[B] 6V
[C] 2V
[D] 3V

(3) Kirchoffs first law is as a consequence of the conservation of?

[A] Mass
[B] Power
[C] Charge
[D] Energy

(4) What is the effective resistance between points X and Y in the

following diagram?

[A] 9.0
[B] 0.9
[C] 5.2
[D] 3.7

(5) Which of the following diagrams best represents the electric

field due to a point positive charge?

(6) An electron is placed at rest in an electric field of fluid strength

3

10 V
1.2 X
. What is the initial force on this electron?
m

16
[A] 1.92 X 10 N
16
[B] 1.33 X 10 N
22
[C] 1.92 X 10 N
22
[D] 1.33 X 10 N

(7) Kirchoffs second law is as a consequence of the conservation

of?
[A] Energy
[B] Charge
[C] Mass
[D] Power

(8) A length of wire 1m long and 1mm in diameter is used in a

potential circuit. If the resistance of the wire is 6.5, find the
resistivity of the wire.
5
[A] 2.04 X 10 .m

[B] 5.1 . m
6
[C] 5.1 X 10 . m

[D] 2.04 . m

(9) Which of the following diagrams best represents the magnetic

field around a straight wire carrying a current into the page?

(10) A student wishes to make a capacitor with a capacitance of

2 2
1000F. If the area of the plates is 5.65 X 10 m and the space

between the plates is air, what must be the separation of the

plates?
[A] 0.5 mm
[B] 5.0 mm
[C] 1.0 mm
[D] 2.5 mm

(11) A capacitor has a capacitance of 10000F. How much energy

is stored in the capacitor when a potential difference of 12V is
applied across the plates?
[A] 0.06J
[B] 1.44J

[C] 14.4J
[D] 0.072J

(12) The diagram shows a piece of wire 0.5m long and moving
1
with a speed of 3.0 m s
perpendicular to a magnetic field of field

strength 1.5m T. What is the e.m.f induced across the ends of the
wire?

3
[A] 4.5 X 10 V
3
[B] 2.25 X 10 V
3
[C] 7.5 X 10 V

[D] 2250 V

(13) A flat circular coil has a radius of 4.0cm and 150 turns. If a
current of 3.0A is passed through the coil, what is the magnetic
field strength at the centre of the coil?
[A] 7.07 mT
[B] 707 mT

[C] 0.56 mT
[D] 56 mT

(14) A wire of length 30cm is in a magnetic field of strength

3.5 mT

and makes an angle of 60 with the field. If the wire is

carrying a current of 2.5A, what is the magnetic force on the wire?

3
[A] 1.31 X 10 N

[B] 2.27 N
3
[C] 2.27 X 10 N

[D] 1.31 N

(15) A wire of diameter 1.0mm is carrying a current of 1.5A. If the

charge of carriers are electrons and the net drift velocity of the
1
electrons is o .5 m s , what is the number of conduction electrons

per unit volume in the conductor?

25
[A] 9.52 X 10

25
[B] 2.38 X 10
23
[C] 6.02 X 10
23
[D] 9.52 X 10

MODULE 2
ELECTRONICS
(16) Which of the following is NOT a property of an ideal op-amp?
[A] It has a very high open-loop voltage gain.
[B] It has very high input impedance.
[C] It takes at least 0.1A from the input current in order to
function.
[D] It has very low output impedance.

(17) The diagram shows an inverting amplifier with negative

feedback.

If V 3 = 9V, what is the value of V O ?

[A] 9V
[B] 5V
[C] 2.5V
[D] 12V

(18) The following diagram shows a non-inverting amplifier with

negative feedback.

Which of the following formulas represents the gain of the

amplifier?
[A]

1+

[B]

Rf
Ri

Rf
Ri

[C]

Ri
R i+ R f

[D]

Rf
Ri

(19) Which of the following is NOT an advantage of using negative

feedback in an op-amp?
[A] The gain is predictable and constant.
[B] Feedback reduces distortion of the output.
[C] Stability in increased.
[D] Feedback increases the gain.

(20) An op-amp operating with negative feedback has a gain of

103

3
and a band width of 10 Hz . What is the band width when

the gain is reduced to 10?

3
[A] 10 Hz
5
[B] 10 Hz
7
[C] 10 Hz

[D] 10 HZ

(21) All the logic gates can be made by a combination of NAND

gates only. Which gate is equivalent to the following diagram?
That is, giving the same truth table.

[A] NOR
[B] AND
[C] NOT
[D] OR

(22) All logic gates can be made using a combination of NAND

gates only. Which signal gate is equivalent to the following
diagram?

[A] EX-OR
[B] OR

[C] AND
[D] NOT

(23) The following is a diagram of a half-adder. If the A=1 and

B=0, what is the value of the sum and the value of the carry?

[A] Sum=0, Carry=0

[B] Sum=1, Carry=1
[C] Sum=1, Carry=0
[D] Sum=o, Carry=1
(24) The majority charge carriers is an n-type material is:
[A] Protons
[B] Electrons
[C] Holes
[D] Neutrons

(25) Which of the following diagrams best represents the

depletion layer at a p-n junction?

(A)
represents holes

Note:

represents electrons

(B)

( C)

(D)

(26) Which of the following graphs represents a half wave rectified

sinusoidal a.c using a diode?

(27) A sinusoidal signal has a peak voltage of 5.0V. What is the

r.m.s value of this signal?
[A] 6.25V

[B] 7.07V
[C] 2.50V
[D] 3.54V

(28) One advantage of transmitting electrical energy at high

voltages is:
(A) Less energy is lost in the transmission lines
(B) It is difficult for anyone to steal current from these high
tension wires
( C) It can be stepped down easily
(D) Thinner cables can be used.

(29) An ideal transformer has 600 turns in the primary windings

and 40 turns in the secondary windings. If the current in the
primary is 5.0 A and the voltage across the primary is 120 V, what
is the current in the secondary and the voltage across the
secondary?

A
B
C
D

Current in
Secondary/A
1
60
8
75

Voltage across
secondary/V
15
8
75
8

(30) Which of the following graphs represents the I-V

characteristics of a p-n junction diode?

(A)
(B)
I

V
V

( C)
(D)

V
V

UNIT 2
MODULE 3
Atomic Structure and Nuclear Physics
(31) Which of the following best describes "work function" in
relation to the photoelectric effect?
(A) The energy of a photon
(B) The maximum kinetic energy of the electrons
(C) Minimum energy required to just remove electrons from a
surface
(D) The energy provided be the stopping potential

(32) Electromagnetic radiation of wavelength 200 nm strikes a

surface. What is the energy of one photon of this radiation?
(A) 9.95 x 10-19 J
(B) 1.99 x 10-18 J
(C) 3.32 x 10-19 J
(D) 9.95 x 10-33 J
(33) With respect to the photo electric effect, which of the
following best defines "cut-off wavelength" ?
(A) Minimum wavelength for photoelectrons to be emitted
(B) The wavelength of the incident radiation
(C) The wavelength that gives the maximum K.E to the electrons
(D) Maximum wavelength for which photoelectrons are emitted

(34) The diagram below shows the x-ray spectrum obtained when
a potential difference V is applied across the anode /cathode of an
x-ray tube, showing the K and K wavelengths positions. The
horizontal units are relative units.

I
K

Which of the following graphs best represents the spectrum when

the P.D applied is 2 x V ( ie the voltage is doubled)
(A)

K
K

2 V
1

(B)
I

K
K

2V

V
1

(C)

K
K
2V
V
1

(D)

K
2V

V
1

(35) Which of the following BEST describes the conclusion arrived

at from Millikan's oil drop experiment?
(A) An oil drop can be made to attain terminal velocity
(B) The charge of an electron is 1.6 x 10-19 C
(C) Charge is quantized
(D) Oil drops can be charged
(36) The Helium atom has a mass of 4.0026 u. Its constituents
consist of two neutrons, each of mass 1.0087 u and two protons,

each of mass 1.0078 u. What is the binding energy of helium?

(Take 1 u 931 Mev )
(A) 28.3 Mev
(B) 30.0 Mev
(C) 26.6 Mev
(D) 27.9 Mev
(37)When a radium atom disintegrates emitting an - particle, its
mass decreases by 8.6 x 10-30 Kg. What is the energy equivalent
of this mass loss?
(A) 4.84 x 10-13 J
(B) 9.31 x 10-13 J
(C) 8.00 x 10-19 J
(D) 7.74 x 10-13 J

(38) Which of the following graphs BEST represents the

relationship between binding energy per nucleon and nucleon
number? The vertical axis is "Binding energy per nucleon in Mev"
and the horizontal axis is "Nucleon number".
(A)
20

80

20

40

60

20

40

60

20

40

60

100

(B)
20

80

100

(C)
9

80

100

(D)
9

20
80

40

60

100

(39) A Radioactive source has an activity of 8.0 x 10 6 Bq at 6:00

am on a particular day when the temperature is 20 0 C. If the
source has a half life of 8 hours, what would be the activity at
2:pm the next day (32 hours after), when the temperature rises to
300 C ?
(A) 2.0 x 106 Bq
(B) 5.0 x 105 Bq
(C) 1.0 x 106 Bq
(D) 4.0 x 106 Bq.
(40) At a certain time a radioactive source has an activity of 4.5 x
106 Bq and the number of atoms present is 9.0 x 10 10 atoms.
What is the half-life of the source?
(A) 1.39 x 104 S
(B) 3.47 x 10-5 S
(C) 5.00 x 10-5 S
(D) 2.00 x 104 S

(41) A photosensitive surface has a threshold wavelength of 650

nm. It is radiated with e.m. radiation of wavelength 400nm. What
is the stopping potential for this incident radiation?
(A) 4.8 V
(B) 2.5 V

(C) 3.8 V
(D) 1.2 V
(42) What does the observation of a line emission spectrum
suggest about the atom?
(A) Energy can be radiated from an atom when electrons move
from a higher to a lower energy level
(B) The atom has protons, neutrons and electrons
(C) The atom is capable of absorbing energy as well
(D) The existence of discrete electron energy levels within the
atom
(43) Which of the following suggests that a beam of electrons can
also behave as a wave ?
(A) The electrons can be reflected on hitting a surface
(B) The beam of electrons produces a diffraction pattern when it
passes through a suitable diffraction grating.
(C) The electron beam can be polarized
(D) The electron beam can be stopped by 2 cm of lead.

(44) Which of the following suggests that electromagnetic

radiation can behave like a particle?
(A) The radiation can display an interference pattern when passed
through Young's double slit
(B) The e. m. radiation can be polarized

(C) The radiation can cause pressure on a surface

(D) Any frequency of an e. m radiation can produce the
photoelectric effect.
(45) Which of the following pairs of atoms are Isotopes, given the
14
7

atoms are as follows:

(A)

14
7

A, and

(B)

14

A and

15

(C)

15
7

X and

15
9

(D)

15
9

14
8

Y and

14

A,

14
8

B,

15

X,

15
9

Y?

B,

(46) A radioactive source has a half-life of 2 years . What would be

the ratio of the number of atoms present after 5 years to the
number of atoms originally present?
(A) 0.177
(B) 0.167
(C) 0.082
(D) 0.368

(47) The P.D. across an X-ray tube is maintained at 100 KV. If an

electron gives up all its kinetic energy in a single encounter with a
target atom so that all the energy is converted into X-rays, what is
the minimum wavelength of the X-rays?
(A) 1.24 x 10-10 m

(B) 1.98 x 10-11 m

(C) 1.24 x 10-11 m
(D) 1.98 x 10-10 m
(48) A sodium ion is represented by the symbol 2411 Na+ . Which of
the following best describes the composition of the atom?
It has :
(A) 11 protons, 11 electrons and 13 neutrons
(B) 11 protons, 10 electrons and 13 neutrons
(C) 13 protons, 12 electrons and 11 neutrons
(D) 13 protons, 11 electrons and 11 neutrons
(49) Which of the following is the best reason why - particles
radiation is the most dangerous radiation to living cells?
(A) They are strong ionizers
(B) They have the greatest mass
(C) They travel in thick straight lines
(D) They cannot penetrate the living cells

(50) A G.M. tube can be used to detect radiation from a

radioactive source. The tube contains Argon and Bromine gases at
low pressure. Which of the following best describes the role
played by each of these gases?

A
B
C
D

Argon
Acts as a quenching agent
Ionize to produce ion - pairs
Acts as a quenching agent
Ionize to produce ion - pairs

Bromine
Ionize to produce ion - pairs
Ionize to produce ion - pairs
Acts as a quenching agent
Acts as a quenching agent