UGANDA CERTIFICATE OF EDUCTAION

PHYSICS THEORY
PAPER ONE
2 HOURS 30 MINUTES
INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES:
• This paper consists of two sections A and B it has seven items.
• Section A has three compulsory items
• Section B has two parts; I and II. Answer one item from each part
• Any additional items answered will not be scored.
• Begin each item on a new page.

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 SECTION A
Item 1
During swimming competitions in a certain school, John who watched the game as it progressed
got excited upon seeing his friend winning the competitions. As he was celebrating for the victory
his phone incidentally fell in the swimming pool and screamed loudly. He tried to bend down so
that he could remove it from the swimming pool unfortunately his hand could not reach it. He
wondered why he could it picked the phone yet it looked to be nearer to the water surface. He
again got confused when he heard himself twice after 0.2s.
Hint
Speed of sound in air is 330ms-1
Task:
As a learner of physics help John:
a) To understand why the hand did not reach the phone
b) Explain to him why he heard himself twice and what could be done to avoid such
incidences in cinema halls
c) To estimate how far are the washrooms from where he was while screaming loudly
assuming there were no other buildings nearby.
Item 2
The national water and sewerage cooperation is faced with a challenge that the volume of water
received at the distribution substation is less than that which is pumped from the main station. This
is indicative of a leakage. The water is transported via underground water pipes and this problem
has to be solved as fast as possible, otherwise there would be a water shortage and breakdown of
equipment at the substation. One of the students suggested that the leakage can be located by use
of a radioisotope. The radioisotope has an activity of 3800 counts per minute at the start and a half-
life of 2 hours. The water is safe for use to human life if the activity is less than 240 counts per
minute.
Task;
As a student of physics;
(a) Explain how the leakage can be located.
(b) Explain why precautions must be taken while working with the radioisotopes
(c) Find out whether the water would be safe for use after 16 hours.
(d) State the precautions which must be undertaken while handling the radioisotopes.
Item 3
In a certain country, a Television (TV) reporter was reporting live near the ocean about the high
tides during night time. Viewers in another country were watching the live broadcast of the news
bulletin during day time. The viewers wondered how it could be day and night at the same time,
and how the event in one country could be watched live on TV in another country. In the same

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broadcast, the reporter also commented on the relevancy of the International Space Stations to the
world and encouraged countries in the world to participate in building them.

Task
Using your knowledge of physics, help the viewers to understand;
(a) The possibility of it being day in one place and night in another place.
(b) The occurrence of high ocean tides.
(c) How an event in one place can be broadcast live in another country.
(d) Why government of your country should build an international space station.
SECTION B
PART I
Answer one item from this part
Item 4:
A tour guide was tasked to direct tourists through the game park and he was to be paid Ugx. 22,000
per kilometer. He decided to make use of the tourist van which he started from the reception and
headed into the game park. He accelerated to a speed of 15ms-1 in 30 seconds. He maintained the
speed for 120 seconds. As he was driving, he then noticed that one of the tourists had opened the
roof top and brought the van to a rest in 10 seconds at a rate of 1.5 ms-2. He found him taking a
look at elephants that were walking in a swampy area. Another tourist saw antelopes running on
the other side of the swamp and they were seen struggling to cross through unlike the elephants.
The tourist was puzzled and turned to inquire from the guide.
Later, the guide drove off towards the camping site at a constant speed of 20ms-1 for 20 seconds.
They had to prepare a meal for their lunch. The guide provided them with food in a saucepan all
of which weigh 0.32kg and have an average specific heat capacity of 2500Jkg-1K-1. A heater rated
250W is used to warm the saucepan and its contents at 15°C. They were supposed to serve the
food at a temperature of 48°C so as to reduce the time spent at the camp.
Task;
As a physics learner help;
a) The guide to explain to the tourists why it was very easy for the elephants to walk through
the swampy area than the antelopes.
b) The guide to determine how much he was to be paid for a single route from the reception
to the camping site.
c) The tourists to know whether they will be able to serve the food within 2 minutes.

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ITEM 5:
At LEARN high school, the door to the school library has a handle which is at a point B, 0.6m
away from the hinge line as shown below.

The librarian complains that opening the door requires a lot of effort /force, but the school engineer
has kept a deaf ear.
Inside the library there are book shelves which on several occasions topple over when books are
loaded in the upper sections. The librarian has also decided to decorate the library hall with black
balloons, but she chose to hang them at a point that is always hit by direct sunshine. The prefect in
charge of science and innovation says these balloons should not be put at that point.
TASK:
As a physics student,
i. Help the librarian understand the suitable position of the handle so that the librarian
can use minimal/ little effort to open and close the door.
ii. Determine the resulting moment of force/turning effect if the librarian has been using
an effort of 0.70N to open/close this door.
iii. Explain to the school carpenter why those bookshelves topple when books are loaded
to the upper section.
iv. Convince the librarian to change the position of the balloons.

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PART II
Answer one item from this part
Item 6
A house hold with various appliances (a 3000W cooker used for 4hours a day, ten light bulbs each
of rating 40W used for 8hours a day, a 2000W heater used for 30minutes a day) are connected to
a 240V mains supply. The owner struggles to estimate the monthly budget and is uncertain about
the compatibility of a 13A plug with the 240V mains.
The same home has got various complaints from the visitors who come to this home that they take
so long knocking at the gate without immediate response from the people inside the house and this
is because the house is a bit far from the main gate.
Hint: Each unit of electric power costs shs.600/=.
Task
a) Determine if 300,000/= will be enough for the monthly electricity bill.
b) Recommend whether the appliances should be connected in parallel or series for better
functionality.
c) Determine if the cooker can utilize the mentioned 13A plug with the 240V mains supply.
d) Design an electromagnetic device that can be used in this home to solve the issue of visitors
delaying at the gate.
Item 7
A community has started a project to generate electricity from a nearby water fall. They have
installed a generator that produces 50,000 W of a.c. electricity at 500 V. They hope to transmit this
electricity to the village that is 10 km away. They have erected the poles and connected the
necessary wires all the way from the water fall to the village. The wires have a total resistance of
4W. The appliances the community hope to use work on 240 V. An engineer has advised the leaders
in the project not to connect this power to the users directly because it will cause problems. The
leaders have disagreed with the engineer, saying that he is using this as a trick to get more money
from them, else they need clear explanations.
Task: Help the engineer to convince the leaders by;
(a) Explaining the problems that will arise if the electricity is used as it is directly from the
generator.
(b) Determining the percentage power loss that is likely to occur along the way, when the
power is transmitted directly as it is.
(c) Explaining the working of the device that must be installed in the distribution line to
enable the community to use their appliances.
(d) Giving the advantages that the community is to attain by generating a.c. instead of d.c.
END