Scribd
Upload
8 views3 pages

PHYS 281_resit 2023

This document is an examination paper for PHYS 281: Introduction to Material Science at Chuka University, intended for Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Education Science students. It includes instructions for the exam, a variety of questions covering topics such as atomic structure, bonding energy, and fluid dynamics, and specifies the time and date of the exam. Students are required to answer Question One and any two additional questions, with a focus on theoretical and calculation-based problems.

Uploaded by

matungaadrian
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
8 views3 pages

PHYS 281_resit 2023

This document is an examination paper for PHYS 281: Introduction to Material Science at Chuka University, intended for Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Education Science students. It includes instructions for the exam, a variety of questions covering topics such as atomic structure, bonding energy, and fluid dynamics, and specifies the time and date of the exam. Students are required to answer Question One and any two additional questions, with a focus on theoretical and calculation-based problems.

Uploaded by

matungaadrian
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

PHYS 281

CHUKA UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS

EXAMINATION FOR THE AWARD OF DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE


AND BACHELOR OF EDUCATION SCIENCE

PHYS 281: INTRODUCTION TO MATERIAL SCIENCE

STREAMS: BED (SCI) & BSC TIME: 2 HOURS

DAY/DATE: TUESDAY 29/08/2023 2.30 P.M. – 4.30


P.M

INSTRUCTIONS:
 Answer Question One and any other Two Questions
 Do not write anything on the question paper
 This is a closed book exam, No reference materials are allowed in the examination room
 There will be No use of mobile phones or any other unauthorized materials
 Write your answers legibly and use your time wisely
 You may use the generic integrals;
∞

∫ x 2 n+1 e−a x dx= 2 n!


n

n +1
( a>0 )and
0 a

√
∞
1.3 .5 … … ..(2 n−1) π
∫ x 2 n e−a x dx=
2

n+1 n
0 2 a a

QUESTION ONE

a. State and briefly describe the five different bonds that are encountered in matter (5 marks)
b. Differentiate a solid from a fluid. (2 marks)
c. What are `Miller Indices`` (2 marks)
d. Calculate the radius of an iridium atom given that Ir has an FCC crystal structure, a density
of 22.4 g/cm3, and an atomic weight of 192.2 g/mol. (5 marks)
e. Calculate the interplanar distances of (234) family of planes in simple cubic structure of
copper with lattice spacing of 455.176 Å (2 marks)
f. Sketch a general pV against T (kelvin temperature) graph for an ideal gas. (3 marks)

Page 1 of 3
PHYS 281

g. Calculate the most probable, the mean, and the root mean square velocities of a molecule
of a gas whose density under standard atmospheric pressure (1.013 x 105 ¿ is equal to ρ =
1.00 g/1. (6 marks)
h. Water leaves the jet of a horizontal hose (of uniform cross-section at a speed of 20 m/s . If
the velocity of the water within the hose is 0.6 m/s, calculate using Bernoulli’s theorem
the pressure P within the hose. Take the density of water to be 1000 Kg/m 3 and the
atmospheric pressure to be 100, 000 N/m2. (5 marks)

QUESTION TWO

a. The net potential energy between two adjacent ions, EN, may be represented as,
−A B
EN= +
r rn
Calculate the bonding energy E0 in terms of the parameters A, B, and n (8 marks)
b. Determine the Miller indices for the planes shown in the following unit cell (6 marks)

c. For BCC iron, compute :


i. The interplanar spacing, and (2 ½ marks)
ii. The diffraction angle for the (220) set of planes. The lattice parameter for Fe is
0.2866 nm (2.866 Å). Also, assume that monochromatic radiation having a
wavelength of 0.1790 nm (1.790 Å) is used, and the order of reflection is 1.
(3 ½ marks)

Page 2 of 3
PHYS 281

QUESTION THREE

a. Show for the body-centered cubic crystal structure that the unit cell edge length a and
the atomic radius R are related through a=4 R / √ 3 (7 marks)
b. Show that the atomic packing factor for BCC is 0.68. (6 marks)
c. Iron has a BCC crystal structure, an atomic radius of 0.124 nm, and an atomic weight
of 55.85 g/mol. Compute and compare its density with the experimental value of 7874
kg/m3 (Use atomic weight of Iron, AFe = 55.85 g/mol and NA = Avogadro’s number
(6.023 x 10 23 atoms/mol) (7 marks)

QUESTION FOUR

a. The Maxwell distribution of molecular speeds in an ideal gas is given by:

( )
3
M 2
2 −M V / 2 RT
P ( v ) dv=4 π 2
V e dv
2 πRT

Where v is the speed of a molecule (from 0 to infinity), and P ( v ) dv is the fraction of


molecules with speeds between v and v+ dv . Starting with the above equation,

i. The average speed Vavg(7 marks)


ii. The Vr.m.s(5 marks)
iii. Find an expression for Vp, the most probably speed of a molecule in a gas. HINT: the
most probably speed corresponds to the peak in a plot of number of molecules vs
speed. (4 marks)
b. Atomic weight of Chlorine is 35.5. Find the root means square velocity of chlorine
molecules at 0 ℃ R=8.31 J mole−1 K −1 (4 marks)

QUESTION FIVE

a. What is meant by the term `liquid crystal`? (2 mark)


b. State and explain three phases of liquid crystals (3 marks)
c. Define or explain surface tension with due regard to liquids (1 marks)
d. Derive Bernoulli’s theorem for fluid flow (9 marks)
e. Calculate the work done in sprying a drop of mercury 1 mm in radius into one million
identical droplets all of them the same size. Take the surface tension of mercury to be 550
dynes per cm where 1 dyne=1.0 x 10−5 N ∧1 erg=1.0 x 10−7 J (5 marks)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Page 3 of 3

You might also like