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GENDIA HIGH SCHOOL

Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education
2024 END TERM 3 EXAMINATION
232/1 PHYSICS
Paper 1
FORM 3 OCTOBER Time:
2Hrs
Name: ………………………………….…….……………Adm. No: ……………
121/1 Physics Paper 1
Stream:………….…..Signature:…………….......
Tuesday, 10th October, 2024
__________________________________________________ Mid-morning
Time: 11.00 - 1.00pm
Instructions to candidates

• This paper consists of two sections A and B.

• Answer all the questions in the two sections in the spaces provided after each question
• All working must be clearly shown.
• Electronic calculators, mathematical tables may be used.
• All numerical answers should be expressed in the decimal notations.
• You may use ‘g’ as 10m/s2

For Examiner use only

SECTION QUESTION MAX MARKS CANDIDATE’S SCORE

A 1 – 13 25
B 14 14
15 09
16 12
17 12
18 08

TOTAL 80

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This paper consists of 11 printed pages. Candidates should check to ascertain that all pages are
printed as indicated and that no questions are missing.
SECTION (I): (25 MARKS)
Answer all questions in this section in the spaces provided below
1. Figure 1 shows a vernier caliper of zero error +0.02cm being used for measuring the diameter of
a cylindrical container of height 10cm. The scale reading of the vernier is as shown alongside.

cm
0 5 10

Figure 1
a) Determine the diameter of the container. (2 marks)

b) Estimate the volume of a liquid which can completely fill the container. (2 marks)

2. State one factor that affect the turning effect of a force on a body. (1 mark)

3. Figure 2 shows some air trapped by mercury in a glass tube. The tube is inverted in a dish
containing mercury.

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Figure 2
Given that the atmospheric pressure is 760 mmHg and the height of mercury column in the
tube is 600mm, determine the pressure of the air trapped in the tube in mmHg. (2 marks)

4. Figure 3 shows drops of mercury and water on a glass surface, Explain the difference in the
shapes of the drops. (2 marks)
Mercurywater
Glass surface

Figure 3

5. A ball is thrown from the top of a cliff 20m high with a horizontal velocity of 10ms -1. Determine
the distance from the foot of the cliff to where the ball strikes the ground. (3 marks)

6. Explain one advantage of mercury over alcohol as a thermometric liquid. (1 mark)

7. A body of mass M is allowed to slide down an inclined plane. State two factors that affect its
final velocity at the bottom of the inclined plane. (2 marks)

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8. A stopwatch reads 08:10:84 and 09:10: 90 before and after an experiment respectively.
Determine the duration of the event in SI units. (2 marks)

9. a. State the Hooke’s Law. (1 mark)

b. Figure 4 shows identical spiral springs supporting a load of 90N. Each spring has a spring
constant k = 200N/m. Determine the total extension of the system (take the weight of the
cross bars and springs to be negligible) (2 marks)

Figure 4

10. A wooden bench feels neither warm nor cold when touched by your bare hands. Explain this
observation. (2 marks)

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11. Figure 5 shows a rectangular loop with a thin thread loosely tied and dipped into a soap solution.
Draw on the space provided what is observed when point A is punctured. (1 mark)

thread
B

Figure 5

12. Explain the meaning of thermodynamics as a branch of physics. (1 mark)

13. Figure 6 shows two horizontal strings attached to a block resting on a frictionless surface.

F
100 N
Support
Figure 6
A force of 100N pulls on one string. The block does not move. Find the value of the force, F on the
other string. (1 mark)

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SECTION B: (55 MARKS)

Answer all questions in this section in the spaces provided
14. a. State the principle of conservation of linear momentum (1 mark)

b. A bullet of mass 60g is fired horizontally with a velocity of 200 m/s into a suspended
stationary wooden block of mass 2940g. Determine:
i. Common velocity of both the bullet and the block, if the bullet embedded into the
block. (2 marks)

ii. Height to which the block rises. (2 marks)

c. The section of the tape shown below was produced when a tape running down an incline
plane was attached to a ticker-tape timer of frequency 50Hz.

4cm 28cm

i. Indicate the direction in which the trolley was moving. (1 mark)

ii. What type of current was used to operate the ticker timer? (1 mark)

iii. Determine the initial velocity of the trolley. (2 marks)

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iv. Determine the final velocity of the trolley. (2 marks)

v. Find the acceleration of the trolley in SI units. (3 marks)

15. a. State the evidence to show that matter is made up of very small particles. (1 mark)

b. State the reason why it is easier to separate water into drops than to separate a solid into
smaller pieces. (1 mark)

c. Brownian motion of smoke particles can be studied by using the apparatus shown below. To
observe the motion, some smoke is enclosed in the smoke cell and then observed through the
microscope.

Microscope
Lens
Source of
light Smoke
particles
Smoke cell

i. State and explain the observation made. (2 marks)

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ii. State what will be observed if the temperature surrounding the smoke cell is
increased. (1 mark)

iii. What is the function of the following in the experiment above

I. Microscope (1 mark)

II. The Lens (1 mark)

d. State two factors that affect the rate of diffusion (2 marks)

16. a. State two factors that affect the boiling point of a liquid (2 marks)

b. The graph in figure 7 shows the variation of the temperature of the liquid with time. 100g of
a liquid at a temperature of 100 C is poured into a well lagged calorimeter. An electric heater
rated 50W is used to heat the liquid. From the graph;

Figure 7

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i. determine the boiling point of the liquid (1 mark)

ii. determine the heat given out the by the heater between the times t = 0.5 minutes
and t = 5.0 minutes (3 marks)

iii. determine the temperature change between the times t = 0.5 minutes and t = 5.0
minutes, hence determine the specific heat capacity of the liquid (3 marks)

iv. 1.8 g of vapour was collected from above the liquid between the times t= 3.5
minutes and t= 4.5 minutes. Determine the specific latent heat of vaporization of
the liquid (3 marks)

17. Figure 8 shows a graph of pressure against volume for a fixed mass of a gas at constant
temperature. In the space provided;
1
a) sketch a graph of pressure, p against (1 mark)
v
Pressure, p

Volume, v

Figure 8
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b) Explain the pressure law using the kinetic theory of matter (3 marks)

c) If 20cm3 of a gas exerts a pressure of 760mmHg at 25 0C, determine the temperature of

the gas when the pressure increases to 900mmHg and the volume decreases to 15 cm 3. (3
marks)

d) Air is trapped inside a glass tube by a thread of mercury 240mm long. When the tube is
held horizontally, the length of the air column is 200mm.

Atmospheric pressure =760

mmHg
200 mm 240 mm
Given that the atmospheric pressure is 760mmHg and the temperature is kept constant,
calculate the length of air column when the tube is held;
i. Vertical with the open end up (3 marks)

ii. Vertical with the open end down (inverted) (2 marks)

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18. a. Define the term velocity ratio of a machine (1 mark)

b. Figure 9 below shows part of the hydraulic lift system. State any one property of the liquid
under which the hydraulic system works (1 mark)

Figure 9
c. The hydraulic lift machine above has velocity ratio 45 and it overcomes a load of 4500 N
when an effort of 135 N is applied. Determine:
i. The mechanical advantage of the machine (2 marks)

ii. Efficiency of the machine (3 marks)

iii. The percentage of work that goes to waste (1 mark)

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