OLLSCOIL NA hÉIREANN, CORCAIGH

THE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, CORK

COLÁISTE NA hOLLSCOILE, CORCAIGH

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, CORK

Examination Session Summer 2019

and Year
Module Code PY1010

Module Title Physics for Biological and Chemical Sciences

Paper Number 1
External Examiner Professor C. Ford
The Head of the Professor J. McInerney
Department
Internal Examiners Prof. Paul Callanan
Dr. Masoud Seifikar
Mr. David Rea

Instructions to Six questions are given as either/or choices. Students are required to answer
Candidates each of the six questions, choosing one of the given choices. Answer all the
parts of the elected option. Marks will not be awarded for completing two
choices of the same question.

Duration of Paper 3 hours

Special CANDIDATES ARE ALLOWED 15 MINUTES READING TIME
Requirements The use of non-programmable electronic calculators is permitted in this
examination. Use of programmable calculators is not permitted. Use of any
such calculators is a serious breach of discipline.

PLEASE DO NOT TURN THIS PAGE UNTIL INSTRUCTED TO DO SO

THEN ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE THE CORRECT EXAM PAPER

Page 1 of 9
USEFUL DATA – (not all of these may be needed for this exam):
Acceleration due to gravity (g) = 9.81 m s-2
Gravitational constant (G) = 6.674 × 10-11 m3 kg-1 s-2
Universal Gas Constant (R) = 8.314 J mol-1 K-1
= 8.314 m3 Pa K-1 mol-1
Avogadro’s Constant (NA) = 6.022×1023 mol-1
Planck’s Constant (h) = 6.626×10-34 J s
Boltzmann’s Constant (kB) = 1.381×10-23 J K-1 (= 0.695 cm-1 K-1)
Speed of light (c) = 2.998×108 m s-1
Permittivity in a Vacuum (eo) = 8.854×10-12 C2 J-1 m-1
Permeability of Vacuum (µ0) = 4π ×10-7 T m A-1
Constant in Coulomb’s law (k) = (4πε0)-1 = 8.99 × 109 N m2 C-2
One Faraday (F) = 96485 C mol-1
Electron elementary charge (e–) = 1.602×10-19 C
Electron mass (me) = 9.11×10-31 kg
Proton mass (mp) = 1.67×10-27 kg
1 atomic unit (a.u.) = 1.66×10-27 kg
1 atm = 760 torr = 1.013×105 N m-2 = 1.013×105 Pa
1 bar = 1×105 Pa
1 eV = 1.602×10-19 J
Density of water (rwater) = 103 kg m-3

Page 2 of 9
QUESTION ONE: EITHER

1(A) Answer all parts.

In 1905, the largest diamond in the world, the Cullinan Diamond, was found in South Africa,
weighing 621 g. Today, the various pieces of the diamond are worth ~2 billion dollars in total.
Assume this is equivalent to a value today of the original diamond of 1.8x109 euro.

(a) If each person in Cork were given an equal amount of the original diamond, how many
kg would each person receive? The population of County Cork is ~500,000 people.
[1 mark]
(b) How much would each piece be worth (in euro) ? [1 mark]

(c) If the density of diamond is 3.5 times that of water, what would be the volume,
in mm3, of each piece of diamond? [3 marks]

(d) Diamond is a form of crystallized carbon (C). How many C atoms were in the original
Cullinan diamond ? The C atom has 12 nucleons, each of mass 1.67x10-27 kg.
[2 marks]
(e) The cores of some “dead” stars (which have exhausted all their fuel) is made entirely of
C, which crystallises to form huge diamonds. If the mass of such a diamond core is the
same at that of the Sun (2x1030 kg), how much is it worth (in euro)? [3 marks]

QUESTION ONE: OR

1(B) Answer all parts.

(a) Define and give the SI units for (i) speed (ii) velocity. [2 marks]

(b) A cyclist, travelling at a steady speed of 12 m s-1, passes a point A on a straight, level
road and continues for 10 s reaching a point B. She then decelerates (at a constant rate),
coming to rest at a point C, 4 s later.

(i) Sketch a v-t graph of the motion of the cyclist between the points A, B and C
putting time on the horizontal axis. [2 marks]

(ii) Use this graph to calculate the deceleration between B and C. [1 mark]

(iii) Find in metres the total distance from A to C. [2 marks]

(iv) What was her overall average speed between A and C? [2 marks]

(v) What was the kinetic energy of the cyclist at the point B if her mass is 68 kg?
[1 mark]

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QUESTION TWO: EITHER

2(A) Answer all parts.

(a) Write down Newton's three laws of motion. [3 marks]

(b) In 2008, at the “Penn National Racecourse” in Pennsylvania, the racehorse Winning
Brew reached a cruising speed of 70 km hr-1. The mass of the horse was 570 kg and,
starting from rest, it reached its cruising speed over a time of 2 s.

(i) What is the value of the cruising speed in m s-1 ? [1 mark]

(ii) Calculate the acceleration, assumed constant, of the horse over the 2 s. [1 mark]

(iii) What is the accelerating force produced by Winning Brew while accelerating?
[2 marks]
(iv) What is the kinetic energy of the horse while cruising? [1 mark]

(v) Due to a misjudgement, while moving horizontally at 70 km hr-1, the horse crashes
into a thick brushwood barrier and is brought to rest over a horizontal distance of
1 m. Calculate the average stopping force exerted by the barrier on the horse.
[2 marks]

QUESTION TWO: OR

2(B) Answer all parts.

(a) An object resting on a horizontal surface experiences a horizontal force F = 10 N

towards the North. The object remains stationary. Write down the magnitude and
direction of the frictional force. If F increases, but the object remains stationary, what
must happen to the frictional force ? [3 marks]

(b) A driver suddenly applies the brakes of his car, and notices that its deceleration is
7 m s-2. Calculate the coefficient of friction (µ) between the tyres of the car and the
road. [3 marks]

(c) Calculate the maximum speed of a car as it circles a roundabout of radius 50 m. Use the
value of µ you have calculated from (b). [4 marks]

Remember that the expression for the centripetal force is mv2/r, where the symbols have
their usual meanings.

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QUESTION THREE: EITHER

3(A) Answer all parts.

(a) Write down the three temperature scales, and describe how they are defined, in terms of
the ice and steam points of water. [3 marks]

(b) Write down an expression for the linear expansivity of a material, and give the SI unit
for the appropriate coefficient of expansion. [1 mark]

(c) The Spire in Dublin has a height of 120 m, measured at a temperature of 20°C. It is
made of stainless steel, with a linear thermal expansion coefficient of 1.5x10-5 (in the
appropriate units). What is the height of the Spire on a very cold winter day at a
temperature of -10 °C ? [3 marks]

(d) Putting temperature on the horizontal axis, draw a rough graph to show how density
varies with temperature for (i) most liquids (ii) water, in the range between 0°C and
10°C. [2 marks]

(e) Using the second graph in Question (d) above, explain why, during a cold winter, ponds
freeze from the top down and not from the bottom up. [1 mark]

QUESTION THREE: OR

3(B) Answer all parts.

(a) Describe the process of heat transfer via convection, including the role played by
Archimedes’ Principle. Write down two other means of heat transfer. [3 marks]

(b) Define (i) Specific Heat Capacity and (ii) Heat of fusion, giving the appropriate SI units
for each. [2 marks]

(c) A layer of ice forms on the windscreen of a car on a cold morning. The area of ice is
0.8 m2, and its thickness 2 mm. The heat of fusion and density of ice are 3.3x105 (in the
appropriate units) and 920 kg m-3 respectively.

(i) If the ice is already at 0°C, how much energy is required to just melt it?
[3 marks]
(ii) If the ice receives energy from the early morning sun at a rate of 200 W, how
long will it take to melt? [2 marks]

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QUESTION FOUR: EITHER

4(A) Answer all parts.

(a) What is the magnitude of the electric field produced by a charge of magnitude 4.50 mC at
a distance of 3 m? [3 marks]

(b) Two electric charges are separated by a finite distance. Somewhere between the charges,
on the line connecting them, the net electric field they produce is zero. Do the charges have
the same or opposite signs? Explain. [2 marks]

(c) Consider the three charges in the figure below, where Q1 = 60 nC, Q2 = −80 nC, and
q = 36 nC. 1 nC (nano Coulomb) = 1×10-9 C. The separation of Q1 and q (distance a in the
figure) is 3.0 mm, and between q and Q2 (distance b in the figure) is 4.0 mm

Q1 q Q2

a b

(i) What is the direction of the net electrostatic force exerted on charge 𝑞? [1 mark]

(ii) What is the magnitude of the net electrostatic force on q? [4 marks]

QUESTION FOUR: OR
4(B) Answer all parts.
(a) State and explain briefly the connection between the electric field and the electric potential.
[2 marks]
(b) The electric potential at a location 1.6 m from a point charge q is 3.8×104 V. What is the
value of q? [2 marks]

(c) A uniform electrical field is established by connecting the plates of a parallel-plate

capacitor to a 12 V battery. The plates are separated by a distance d = 5 mm.

(i) What is the magnitude of the electric field in the parallel-plate capacitor? [2 marks]

(ii) A charge of +5 µC moves from the positive to the negative plate. What is the
change in electric potential energy for this charge? [2 marks]

(iii) Points A and B in the figure above are 4 mm apart. What is the electric potential
difference between point A and B? [2 marks]
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QUESTION FIVE: EITHER

5(A) Answer all parts.

(a) What is the resistance of 1000 m of 4 mm diameter copper wire? (Electrical resistivity of
copper is 𝜌#$ = 1.7 × 10+, W × m ) [2 marks]

(b) A portable CD player operates with a current of 18 mA at a potential difference of 4.3 V.

What is the power usage of the player? [2 marks]
(c) The current in a 120 V reading lamp is 2.6 A. If the cost of electrical energy is €0.075 per
kilowatt-hour, how much does it cost to operate the light for an hour? [2 marks]

(d) Find the equivalent resistance between points A and B for the group of resistors shown in
figure below.

[2 marks]
(e) A 9 V battery is connected across the terminals A and B for the group of resistors shown in
figure above. What is the current passing through 45 Ω resistor? [2 marks]

QUESTION FIVE: OR
5(B) Answer all parts.
(a) State and explain the formula to calculate the magnitude of the Lorentz force acting on an
electric charge moving through a magnetic field. State the SI units of all quantities
occurring in this formula. [2 marks]
(b) A particle with positive charge q travels at a velocity v along the x-axis (see Figure). It is
acted upon by a magnetic field B along the y-axis, and an electric field E along the z-
axis. All three directions are perpendicular to each other.
Take q = 1 mC and v = 300 m s-1.
(i) If E = 103 V m-1, what is the magnitude of the electric
force exerted on the particle? What is the direction of
this force? [3 marks]
(ii) If B = 2 T, what is the magnitude of the magnetic
force exerted on the particle? What is the direction of
this force? [3 marks]
(iii) Find the magnitude of the net force acting on the
particle. [2 marks]

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QUESTION SIX: EITHER

6(A) Answer all parts

(a) (i) How is the refractive index of a medium related to the speed of light in a vacuum and
in the medium? [1 mark]

(ii) State and explain Snell’s Law of refraction. [1 mark]

(iii) What is the “critical angle” θc in connection with Snell’s law of refraction? [1 mark]

(b) For a ray of light making the transition from sapphire to air, the critical angle θc is 33.75o.

(i) Calculate the refractive index of sapphire. [2 marks]

(ii) Calculate the speed of light in sapphire. [1 mark]

(c) An object with a height of 19.5 cm is standing at a distance of 15 cm in front of a planar
mirror. What is the height of the image of the object in the mirror? [1 mark]

(d) A man is standing in front of a planar mirror as shown in the figure below. He is 1.8 m
tall and his eyes are 1.6 m above the floor. The size of the mirror (length from top to
bottom) is such that he can see just his feet as well as the top of his head. How far is the
bottom of the mirror above the floor (y in the Figure below), and what is the vertical
length of the mirror Δy? Explain your answer using the law of reflection. [3 marks]

Page 8 of 9
QUESTION SIX: OR

6 (B) Answer all parts.

(a) What is the difference between transverse waves and longitudinal waves? Give also an
example of each type. [2 marks]
(b) Write down the expression that connects speed, wavelength and frequency for a wave,
giving the SI units of each physical quantity. [2 marks]
(c) Two friends try to communicate with a string tied between two tin cans. The string is
l = 9 m long, has a mass of 50 g, and is pulled taut with a tension of 11 N. Calculate the
time for a wave to travel along the whole string from one person to another. [3 marks]

(d) A seismic wave is generated by an earthquake beneath the earth’s surface. The wave travels
along a straight line through rock to a geologist who measures the wave to have a frequency
of 10 Hz and a wavelength of 500 m.

(i) What is the velocity of the seismic wave? [2 marks]

(ii) If the wave took a time of 200 s to travel from the earthquake to the geologist, how far
away from the geologist was the earthquake? [1 mark]

Page 9 of 9
PLEASE DO NOT TURN THIS PAGE
UNTIL INSTRUCTED TO DO SO

THEN ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE

THE CORRECT EXAM PAPER

Page 10 of 9