Candidate number: Desk number:

King’s College London

UNIVERSITY OF LONDON

This paper is part of an examination of the College counting towards the award
of a degree. Examinations are governed by the College Regulations under the
authority of the Academic Board.
For examiner’s
B.Sc. EXAMINATION use only

4CCP1500 Fields, Waves and Matter - Part 1 1.1

1.2
Examiners:
1.3
Summer 2013 1.4
1.5
Time allowed: TWO hours
1.6
Candidates may answer as many parts as they wish 2
from SECTION A, but the total mark for this section
3
will be capped at 20.
Total
Candidates should answer no more than ONE question
from SECTION B. No credit will be given for answering
a further question from this section.

The approximate mark for each part of a question is

indicated in square brackets.

You may use a College-approved calculator for this paper.

The approved calculators are the Casio fx83 and Casio fx85.

DO NOT REMOVE THIS EXAM PAPER

FROM THE EXAMINATION ROOM

TURN OVER WHEN INSTRUCTED

2013 c King’s College London

1
 4CCP1500

Physical Constants
Permittivity of free space ǫ0 = 8.854 ×10−12 F m−1
Speed of light in free space c = 2.998 ×108 m s−1
Gravitational constant G = 6.673 ×10−11 N m2 kg−2
Elementary charge e = 1.602 ×10−19 C
Electron rest mass me = 9.109 ×10−31 kg
Proton rest mass mp = 1.673 ×10−27 kg
Planck’s constant h = 6.626 ×10−34 Js
Boltzmann constant kB = 1.381×10−23 J K−1

2
 4CCP1500

SECTION A
Answer SECTION A on the question paper in the space below each question.
If you require more space, use an answer book.
Answer as many parts of this section as you wish.
The final mark for this section will be capped at 20.

1.1) An object is placed at a distance u = 10 cm from a thin converging lens of focal

length f = 20 cm. (i) Sketch a ray diagram to show where the image is formed. (ii) Is the
image real or virtual? (iii) Is the image upright or inverted? (iv) Is the image magnified
or reduced in size?
[5 Marks]

SEE NEXT PAGE

3
 4CCP1500

1.2) An electric dipole with dipole moment µ is placed at an angle θ with respect to a
uniform electric field E. Derive an expression for the torque acting on the dipole. What is
the total force acting on the dipole?
[5 Marks]

SEE NEXT PAGE

4
 4CCP1500

1.3) A 12 volt battery is connected to a network of capacitors as shown below. Calculate

the total energy stored in the capacitors.
[5 Marks]

12 V

1 pF
2 pF

4 pF

1 pF

SEE NEXT PAGE

5
 4CCP1500

1.4) The Moon completes a single orbit around the Earth in approximately 27.5 days.
Estimate the distance between the centre of the Moon and the centre of the Earth. The
mass of the Earth is 5.97 × 1024 kg. You may neglect the influence of the Sun.
[5 Marks]

SEE NEXT PAGE

6
 4CCP1500

1.5) A current carrying wire of length 10 cm is placed in a perpendicular magnetic field of

strength B = 2 T. The wire carries a current of 5 mA. Calculate the total force acting on
the wire. What would be the force on the wire if it was parallel to the magnetic field?
[5 Marks]

SEE NEXT PAGE

7
 4CCP1500

1.6) A red laser beam is incident upon a glass block at an angle of 30◦ with respect to the
normal. Within the glass the beam makes an angle of 19.4◦ with respect to the normal.

(i) What is the refractive index of the glass for this colour of light?

(ii) How fast does the light travel in the glass?

[5 Marks]

SEE NEXT PAGE

8
 4CCP1500

SECTION B - Answer ONE question

Answer section B in an answer book

2 (a) State Gauss’s law for electrostatics, explaining the meaning of all the symbols used.
[6 Marks]

(b) A solid metal sphere of radius R carries a total charge Q. Calculate the electric field
strength as a function of the radial distance r from the centre of the sphere. Consider the
cases (i) r < R and (ii) r > R separately and explain your reasoning. (iii) Sketch a graph
of the electric field strength versus r.
[6 Marks]

(c) The solid metal sphere in part (b) has radius R = 1 cm and is placed in air. Although
air is normally an excellent insulator, it begins to conduct electricity when subjected to
electric field strengths greater than 3 × 106 Vm−1 . What is the maximum potential that
can be applied to the sphere? How might this maximum potential be increased, e.g. for
use in a particle accelerator? You may take the zero of potential to be at infinity.
[8 Marks]

(d) The solid metal sphere in part (b) is surrounded by a metal shell of radius 2R
carrying a charge −Q. What is the capacitance of the arrangement? How would the result
change if a dielectric with permittivity ǫr = 2 was placed between the spheres?
[5 Marks]

(e) A charge of −2 nC is placed at the centre of a hollow metal sphere. A charge of

+5 nC is placed on the metal sphere. What is the charge distribution on the metal sphere?
Support your answer with a labelled diagram and explain your reasoning. You may assume
that the hollow sphere has a non-negligible thickness.
[5 Marks]

SEE NEXT PAGE

9
 4CCP1500

3 (a) Explain what is meant by the term diffraction.

[2 Marks]

(b) Light of wavelength λ is incident upon a rectangular aperature of width a. Show

that minima in the transmitted intensity occur at angles θ, measured from the straight
through direction, where
mλ
sin θ = , m = 0, ±1, ±2, . . .
a
Support you answer with a clearly labelled diagram.
[6 Marks]

(c) In the experiment described in part (b), the light has wavelength λ = 600 nm and the
slit has width a = 1 µm. The diffraction pattern is observed on a screen placed L = 50 cm
away from the aperature. Where is the first minimum relative to the central bright spot?
[4 Marks]

(d) Discuss how diffraction limits the resolution of a lens. How can the resolution be
increased?
[5 Marks]

(e) X-rays of wavelength 1.54 Å are incident upon a crystal. The first bright peak in the
resulting interference pattern is observed at an angle θ = 39.5◦ with respect to the surface
of the crystal. Determine the separation between the layers of the crystal. Support your
answer with a clearly labelled diagram and a discussion of any formulae used.
[5 Marks]

(f ) Waves play an important role in many different contexts, including the behaviour of
electronic circuits. A 100 Ω resistor, a 2 µF capacitor and a 0.5 H inductor are connected
in series to an alternating power supply with a peak voltage of 3 V.
(i) At what angular frequency is the amplitude of the current greatest?
[6 Marks]
(ii) What is the phase difference between the current and the voltage for the resonant
frequency determined in part (i)?
[2 Marks]
FINAL PAGE

10