MURANG’A HIGH SCHOOL

NOVE/DEC PHYSICS HOLIDAY ASSIGNMENT – 2024

FORM 2
SET 1
SECTION A (50 MARKS)
1. Define the term Relative density (1 mk)
2. The mass of a 35cm 3 of a metal was found to be 0.086 kg. Calculate the density of
the metal in SI Units. (3 mks)
3. A rectangular brick of weight 24 N, measures 60 cm × 20 cm × 30 cm. calculate the values of
(i) The maximum pressures which the block exerts when resting on a horizontal table. (3mks)
(ii) Minimum pressures which the block exerts when resting on a horizontal table. (3mks)
4. a. State Hookes law. (1mk)
b. A spiral spring stretches by 0.6 cm when a mass of 300g is suspended on it. What is the
spring constant? (3mks)
5. Fig 1 shows the displacement – time graph for a certain wave displacement

(cm)

0 3.5 7.0 time×10 -3(s)

Determine the frequency of the wave (3mks)

6. A pupil blows a current of air over the surface of a sheet of paper held close to its mouth. State
and explain what happens to the paper. (2mks)
7. Water flows along a horizontal pipe of cross-sectional area 30cm2. The speed of the water is 4m/s
but it reaches 7.5m/s in a constriction in the pipe. Calculate the area of the constriction
(3mks)

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8. Distinguish between a primary cell and a secondary cell. (2mks)
9. Stating the specific parts in the flask explain how heat loss is reduced through: (6mks)
(i) Conduction
(ii) Convection
(iii) Radiation
10. A building standing 100m from a pinhole camera produces on the screen of the camera an
image 5 cm high and 10 cm behind the pinhole. Determine the actual height of the building.
(3 marks)
11. a. Distinguish between a potential difference and electromotive force. (2mks)
b. A current of 0.08A passes in a circuit for 2.5 minutes. How much charge passes through a
point in the circuit. (3mks)

12. You are provided with two iron bars, X and Y, one is magnetized and the other is not. Explain
how you would identify the magnetized bar without using a magnet (3mks)

13. An oil drop of average diameter 0.7mm spreading out into a roughly circular patch of diameter
75mm on the surface of water in a trough.
(i) Calculate the average diameter of a molecule of oil. (3mks)
(ii) State two assumptions to be made in (i) above when calculating the diameter. (2mks)

14. a) State the principle of moments (2mks)

b) The diagram below shows a uniform bar of lengths 6m. If the weight of the bar is 15N,
determine x. (3mks)
x

30N

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 SECTION B (50MARKS)
15. Figure below shows a velocity-time graph for the motion of a body of mass 2 kg.

(a) Use the graph to determine the:

(i) Displacement of the body after 8 seconds. (3 marks)

(ii) Acceleration after point B; (3 marks)

(iii) Force acting on the body in part (a) (ii). (3 marks)

(b) Sketch a displacement -time graph for the motion from point A to C. (2mks)

16. (a) Figure below shows a simple electric bell circuit.

(i) Name the parts labelled:

(I) D (1 mark)

(II) E (1 mark)

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(ii) When the switch is closed, the hammer hits the gong repeatedly. Explain why:

(I) the hammer hits the gong. (2 marks)

(II) the hammer hits the gong repeatedly. (3 marks)
(III) the soft iron is used and not any other material (2mks)

17. (a) State Newton’s first law of motion. (1 mark)

(b) A wooden block resting on a horizontal bench is given an initial velocity

u so that it slides on the bench for a distance x before it stops.

Various values of x are measured for different values of the initial velocity.
Figure 9 below shows a graph of u 2 against x.

(i) Determine the slope S of the graph. (3 marks)

(ii) Determine the value of k given that u 2 = 20kx where k is a frictional

constant for the surface. (3 marks)

(iii) State with a reason what happens to the value of k when the roughness of
the bench surface is reduced. (2 marks)

(c) An object is thrown vertically upwards with an initial velocity of 30 ms -2 .

Determine its maximum height (acceleration due to gravity g is 10 m s- 2 ).
(3 marks)

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18. a) State Pascal’s principle of transmission of pressure in liquids. (1mk)

(b) Figure shows heights of two immiscible liquids X and Y in a U -tube (drawn to
scale).

(i) State with a reason which of the two liquids X and Y has a higher density.
(2 marks)

(ii) Determine the value of h. (3 marks)

(iii) Given that the density of liquid Y is p, write down an expression for the
density d of liquid x in terms of p. (2 marks)

(c) (i) With the aid of a diagram, describe how a liquid may be siphoned from one
container to another using a flexible tu be. (3 marks)

(iii) State one application of the siphon. (1 mark)

19.(a) Figure below shows a ray of light travelling from glass to air.

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 Determine the:

(i) Critical angle of the glass — air interface. (1 mark)

(ii) Refractive index of glass (3marks)

(b) A piece of metal is embedded at the Centre of an ice block 15 cm from the surface
of the ice. Given that the refractive index of ice is 1.32, determine how far from the
surface of the ice block the metal appears to be. (3 marks)

SET 2
1. Distinguish between the terms ‘uniform velocity ‘and ‘uniform acceleration.’ (2mks)
2. A body initially moving at 72km/h accelerates uniformly to a velocity of 180km/h in 3seconds.
Calculate its acceleration. (3mk)

3. The dots below were made by a ten tick- timer of 100Hz. Determine the acceleration of the body

45cm
25cm

4. A stone is released from a height h, if the acceleration due to gravity is g, show that the velocity is
V=√𝟐𝐠𝐡 just before hitting the ground (2mks)

5. A bullet is fired horizontally at a velocity of 400m/s from a cliff which is 50m tall as shown below.

Bullet

50m
Cliff

i. On the diagram draw the trajectory of the bullet until it comes to rest. (1mk)
ii. Find the time taken for the bullet to hit the ground. (2mks)
iii. Find the range. (2mk)

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6. The figure below shows a velocity – time graph for a motor-cycle

150
Velocity (m/s)

A 2 6 8
4 10

Time (s)

-100

Determine the distance covered in the first nine seconds

7. Define the term
(i) Momentum (1mk)
(ii) Inelastic collisions (1mk)
(iii) Elastic collisions (1mk)

8. A bullet of mass 0.006kg is fired from a gun of mass 0.5kg. If the muzzle velocity of the bullet is
300m/s. calculate the recoil velocity of the gun. 3mk
9. A minibus of mass 1200kg travelling at a constant velocity of 15m/s collides with a stationary car
of mass 600kg. The impact takes 1.5 seconds before the two move together at a constant velocity for
25 seconds. Calculate.
i) The common velocity (2mks)
ii) Distance moved after impact (2mks)
iii) The impulsive force (2mks)
iv) The change in kinetic energy (2mks)
10. A Carton of mass 50kg is attached to the hook of a spring balance from the roof of a lift. What is
the reading on the spring balance when the lift is
(i) Accelerating downwards at 1m/s2 (2mks)
(ii) Accelerating upwards at 8m/s2 (2mks)
(iii) The lift breaks down and is under free fall. (2mks)

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11. A ball bearing is released from rest just below the surface of lubricant contained in a tall
measuring cylinder.
i. State any one force acting on the ball bearing (1mk)
ii. Sketch a velocity time graph for the motion briefly explain the nature of your graph. (2mks)

12. Define the term

i. refraction of light. (1mk)
ii. refractive index of a substance. (2mks)

13. Light is incident on an air-glass boundary at an angle of incidence of 400. If the refractive index
of the glass is 1.7, determine the angle of refraction. (2mk)

14. A ray of light makes a glancing angle of incidence i = 60o with a flat glass surface as shown in
figure

i Air

Glass
r

Given that the critical angle for glass is 42o determine;

(i) The refractive index of glass (2mks)
(ii) The angle of refraction r (2mks)
(iii) Given that the speed of light in air 3.0 x 108 m/s, find the speed of light in glass
(2mks)
15. What is dispersion of light? (1mk)

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16. Fig below shows white light falling on a prism.

X
White light
Y
a) Name the color at X and Y (1 mk)
b) Explain why a prism disperses white light into its component colours. (1 mk)

SET 3
SECTION A (40MARKS)

1. Figure 1 below shows a measuring cylinder containing some water. A student added 200 drops
of water into the measuring cylinder. The Fig 2 shows the measuring cylinder after the addition
of the drops

Fig 1 fig 2
a). State.
(i). The volume of the water added. (2mks)

(ii). Average volume of one drop of water.

(2mks)
2. State two ways of increasing the surface tension of a liquid (2 Marks)

3. The figure below shows the transverse section of a water dam.

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(a). Explain why engineers prefer this shape. (2 marks)

(b). Given that pressure at the deepest point is 400000N/m2. Determine the depth of this point given
that density of water is 1000kg/m3. (3mks)

4. (a) Give a reason why the weight of a body on earth is greater than the weight of the same body
on the moon. (2mks)

b). An astronaut weighs 720N on the earth’s surface. On a certain planet he weighs 540N.
Determine the gravitational acceleration on this planet. (Take g for earth = 10N/kg) (3mks)

5 a). State two properties of a good thermometric liquid (2 marks)

b) The figure below shows a clinical thermometer. State the purpose of the constriction.
(1 mark)

6. State Pascal’s principle of transmission of pressure in fluids. (1 mark)

7. 1600cm3 of fresh water of density 1 g/cm3 is mixed with 1400cm3 of sea water of density 1.25
g/cm3. Determine;
a) The total mass of the mixture (2mks)

b) The density of the mixture (2 marks)

8. Name two types of forces which can act between objects which are not in contact. (2 marks)

9. State the kinetic theory of gases (1mark)

10. State one advantage of frictional force (1 mark)

11. A stop watch started 0.5s after the start button was pressed. The time recorded using the stop
watch for a ball falling through a liquid was 2.53s. Determine the time of fall. (1mk)

12. State 2 properties of magnets.

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13. Explain why it is easier to loosen a nut using a spanner with a long handle than a spanner with a
short handle. (2mks)

14. State 2 ways in which the stability of a body can be increased. (2mks)

15. State one advantage and one disadvantage of using a convex mirror as driving mirror. (2mks)

16. A pipe of radius 6mm is connected to another pipe of radius 9mm . If water flows in the
wider pipe at speed of 2m/s, what is the speed in the narrower pipe. (2mks)

17. A spring stretches by 10mm when supporting a load of 4N. Determine how much it would
stretch when supporting a load of 12N. (3mks)

SECTION B 60 MARKS

18. (a) What is anomalous expansion of water (1mk)

(b) Convert -123° c to temperature to kelvin (2mks)

(c) State the functions of the following features of a common thermometer

i. Bulb (1mk)
ii. Capillary bore (1mk)
iii. Glass stem (1mk)

19. (a) Differentiate between temperature and heat. (2mks)

(b) Why are liquids poor conductors of heat than solids (1mk)
(c) Define convection (1mk)

(d) A lighted candle is placed inside a transparent box with two chimneys and a smoldering
straw on one chimney as shown

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 a. State and indicate what is observed in the box. (1mk)
b. Explain your observation. (2mks)

20. (a) State two properties of a magnet. (2mks)

(b) State the basic law of magnetism. (1mk)
(c) Define magnetic field. (1mk)
(d) Draw the resultant, magnetic field pattern between two south poles below (2mks)

(e) The following diagram represent one method of making a magnet

a. State the rule used to determine the poles of the attained magnet after the steel is
magnetized. (1mk)
b. Use the rule to determine the polarity of A and B. (1mk)

21. (a) The following diagram shows a current flowing in a straight conductor as shown. Draw
the magnetic field pattern showing its direction (2mks)

(b) (i) State one factor on which the magnetic strength of an electromagnet depends on
showing how each factor relates to strength. (1mk)

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 (ii) How does the factor you have stated above in b (i) affect the magnetic strength of an
electromagnet (1mk)
(c) A straight current carrying conductor is placed between two poles of bar magnets as
shown below.

i. Draw the resultant field lines after interaction of the magnetic fields of the poles and
those of the conductor. (2mks)

ii. Indicate the direction of the force acting on the conductor (1mk)

22. (a) Define the following terms:

a. Transverse waves (1mk)

b. Longitudinal waves (1mk)

(b) A water wave travels 12m in 4s. If the frequency of the waves is 2Hz, calculate
i. The speed of the wave (2mks)
ii. The wavelength of the wave (3mks)

23. (a) The prongs of a tuning fork are made to vibrate by striking them against a hard surface
and vibrate
a. Draw the waves produced (2mks)

b. Name the type of wave drawn (1mk)

(b) State two factors which affect velocity of sound in air (2mks)

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 (c) Two boys stood 200m from a wall. One banged two pieces of wood together while the
second one started a stop watch and stopped it when he heard the echo. If the time
shown on the stop watch was 1.2 seconds. Calculate the speed of sound in air. (3mks)

24. (a) A form 2 student used a vernier calipers to measure the diameter of a ball bearing.
Determine the reading shown (2mks)

(b) An oil drop of diameter 0.5 mm spreads on the surface of water to form an oil patch of
diameter 0.2m. Estimate the thickness of the oil patch .(3mks)

25. (a) Define the following terms as applied in curved mirrors

a. The pole (1mk)
b. Center of curvature (1mk)

(b) An object pin of height 2cm is placed 4cm in front of a concave mirror of focal length
3cm. construct a ray diagram by scale drawing to find the position of the image (3mks)

From your diagram, determine

c. The image distance (1mk)
d. Magnification of the image (2mks)
26. (a) State the principle of moments (1mk)

(b) A uniform wooden bar, 100cm long balances at 70 cm mark when a mass of m kg is
attached at 100cm mark as shown below.

If the mass of the wooden bar is 200 g, find the mass, m which balances the wooden bar (g =
10N/kg) (3mks)

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SET 4
1. State the reason why electricity transmission cables are left sagging between the pylons.
(1 mk)

2. The air pressure at the base of the mountain is 75.0cm of mercury while at the top it is
60.0cm.given that the average density of air is 1.25kgm-3 and the density of mercury is
13600kg/m3.calculatre the height of the mountain. (3mks)

3. State two factors that would raise the boiling point of water. (2 mks)

4. The level of water in a burette is 2.5cm3. 40 drops each of volume 0.05cm3 are added to
the Burette. What would be its new reading? (2 mks)

5. Explain how the efficiency of a vacuum flask is affected if the double-walled glass
surface is replaced with a double walled metal surface. (2 mks)

6. A body moving at 50m/s decelerates uniformly at 2/ms2 until it comes to rest. What
distance does it cover from the time it starts to decelerate to the time it comes to rest.
(3 mks)
7. Sketch a graph of displacement vs time for a body moving with variable velocity
(3 mks)

8. Three identical springs A, B and C are used to support 25.5N weight in which A and B
are in series which is parallel to C. The bar is in between A, B and C and also is in between
C and the weight.

The weight of the horizontal bar is 2.5N, determine the extension on each spring given
that 6N causes an extension of 2cm. (2 mks)

9. State the two laws of refraction (2 mks)

10. Define the following terms:-

(a) Displacement - (1 mk
(b) Speed – (1 mk)
(c) Distance – (1 mk)
(d) Velocity (1 mk)

11. State two factors that affect surface tension of a liquid. (2 mks)

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SECTION B:

12. A stone is projected vertically upwards with a velocity of 30ms-1 from the ground.
Calculate:-
(a) The time it takes to reach the maximum height. (2 mks)

(b) The time of flight. (2 mks)

(c) The maximum height reached. (2 mks)

(d) The velocity with which it lands on the ground (Take g = 10ms-1) (2 mks)

13. Define the following terms:-

a(i) Critical angle (1 mk)

(ii) Refractive index (1 mk)

b(i) Calculate the critical angle of a metal given that its refractive index is 2.42

(ii) If the critical angle for a liquid is 48.6o. Calculate the refractive index of the
liquid. (2 mks)

(iii) Determine the critical angle for glass-water interface (refractive indices of glass
and water are 3/2 and 4/3 respectively) (3 mks)

14. (a) State the Newton’s second law of motion. (2 mks)

(b) Determine the change in momentum produced when a force of 3.5 x 103 acts on a
body which is at rest for 0.02 seconds. (2 mks)

(c) What velocity will be given to the body if it has a mass of 20kg. (3 mks)

15. (a) State any three laws of friction. (3 mks)

(b) A wooden box of mass 60kg rests on a rough floor. The coefficient of friction
between the floor and the box is 0.6.
(i) Determine the force required to just move the box. (3 mks)

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 (ii) If a force of 400N is applied to the box, with what acceleration will it move?
(Take g = 10m/s) (3 mks)

16. (a) Define the term mass. (1 mk)

(b) The density of mercury is 13.6gcm-3. Find the volume of 2720g of mercury in m3.
(3 mks)

17. How does temperature affect Brownian motion? (2 mks)

18. An object of height 5m is placed 10m away from a pinhole camera. Calculate:
(a) The size of the image if its magnification is 0.01 (3 mks)

(b) The length of the pinhole camera. (3 mks)

19. State four methods of magnetizing a magnetic material. (2 mks)

20. (a) State the principle of moments. (2 mks)

(b) A uniform metre rule pivoted at the centre is balanced by a force of 4.8N at 20cm
mark and other two forces F and 2.0N at the 66cm and 90cm marks respectively.
Calculate the force F. (4 mks)

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