ASHANTI REGIONAL MEGA NSMQ TRIAL : FRIDAY - APRIL 11 , 2025TH
CONTEST 3
ROUND 1
MATHS
Set 1
Preamble: Find the value of in the following . . .
1.
Answer:
2.
Answer:
3.
Answer:
4.
Answer:
Set 2
Preamble: Resolve the following into partial fraction . . .
1.
Answer :
2.
Answer :
3.
Answer :
4.
Answer :
1
BIOLOGY
Set 1
1. What is the function of RuBisCO in the Calvin cycle?
Answer: It catalyzes carbon fixation by combining CO₂ with RuBP (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate).
2. Why is RuBisCO considered inefficient?
Answer: It can bind O₂ instead of CO₂ (photorespiration), and hence wasting energy.
(Accep; It has low catalytic turnover rate as it can only fix about 3 CO2 molecules per second)
3. Which enzyme converts 3-PGA into G3P in the Calvin cycle?
Answer: Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH).
4. What enzyme regenerates RuBP to keep the Calvin cycle running?
Answer : Phosphoribulokinase (PRK).
Set 2
Preamble: Give the total number of chromosomes in each of the following organisms or species
1. Rice Ans : 24
2. Corn Ans : 20
3. Baker’s yeast Ans : 32
4. Dog Ans : 78
CHEMSISTRY
Set 1
1. A compound contains 2.0 g of X, 4.8 g of Y, and 0.6 g of Z. Find the empirical formula.
Elements X (10 g/mol), Y (16 g/mol), Z (1 g/mol) Ans : X2Y3Z6
2. A compound contains 3.6 g of A, 12.8 g of B, and 2.8 g of C. Determine the empirical
formula. Elements A (12 g/mol), B (32 g/mol), C (14 g/mol) Ans : A3B4C2
3. A compound contains 6.2 g of P, 4.8 g of Q, and 2.4 g of R. Find the empirical formula.
Elements P (31 g/mol), Q (16 g/mol), R (24 g/mol) Ans : P2Q3R
4. A compound contains 1.0 g of D, 3.55 g of E, and 2.3 g of F. Determine the empirical
formula. Elements D (20 g/mol), E (35.5 g/mol), F (23 g/mol) Ans : DE2F2
2
Set 2
Preamble: Calculate the percentage by mass of hydrogen in the following amino acids. Give
answers to 3 significant figures.
1. Glycine (C2H5NO2) Ans : 6.67%
2. Alanine (C3H7NO2) Ans : 7.87%
3. Serine (C3H7NO3) Ans : 6.67%
4. Threonine (C4H9NO3) Ans : 7.56%
PHYSICS
Set 1
Preamble: determine the reactance of an inductor in an RLC circuit with the given values of
impedance , Z , capacitive reactance , and resistive reactance , R.
1. Z = 130 ohm , = 10 ohm , R = 120 ohm . Ans : 60 Ohm
2. Z = 250 ohm , = 13 ohm , R = 240 ohm. Ans: 83 Ohm
3. Z = 61 ohm, = 14 ohm , R = 11 ohm. Ans: 74 Ohm
4. Z = 150 ohm, = 16 ohm, R = 90 ohm. Ans: 136 Ohm
Set 2
1. Calculate the torque on a uniform solid sphere of mass 5.0 kg and radius 2.0 m spinning
with angular acceleration 3.2 rad/s2. Ans : 26 Nm
2. Calculate the torque on a uniform solid sphere of mass 15 kg and radius 2.0 m spinning
with angular acceleration 1.5 rad/s2. Ans : 36 Nm
3. Calculate the angular acceleration of a uniform solid sphere of mass 12.5 kg and radius
2.00 m spinning with torque 16.0 Nm. Ans : 0.800 rad/s2
4. Calculate the angular acceleration of a uniform solid sphere of mass 17.5 kg and radius
2.00 m spinning with torque 70.0 Nm. Ans : 2.50 rad/s2
3
ROUND 2 : SPEED RACE
PHYSICS ( 30 seconds)
1. Determine the output bit sequence of a two input XOR logic gate with inputs A and B
where A = 100110 and B = 111000.
Ans : 011110
2. Determine the radius of the second excited state of a Bohr hydrogen atom.
Ans: 4.76 x 10-10 m (or 476 pm , accept 476.1 pm)
Next : 10 Seconds
3. Give the ice point on the thermodynamic scale.
Ans:
BIOLOGY
1. How do C₄ plants minimize photorespiration?
Answer: They use PEP carboxylase (in mesophyll cells) to initially fix CO₂, bypassing RuBisCO’s
O₂ issue.
2. Name the world’s largest spider by mass Ans : Goliath birdeater tarantula
(Theraphosa blondi) or Goliath bird-eating spider
3. What was the prevailing theory of heredity before Mendel's work, which suggested that
traits from parents "averaged out" in offspring?
Answer: Blending inheritance (or blended heredity or blending theory).
CHEMISTRY
1. Name the covalent binary compound with the formula: N2O5 Ans: Dinitrogen Pentoxide
(do not accept pentaoxide)
Next : 30 Seconds
2. Calculate the relative molecular mass of 2,2,3-trimethylhexane Ans : 128 g/mol
3. Calculate the solubility product constant of lead(II) bromide given that the molar
solubility of bromide ion is 0.01 mol/dm3 Ans : 5 x 10-7
MATHS
1. If , find . Ans : 10
2. The distance from the center of a circle to the chord of the same circle is 3cm. If the
radius of the circle is 5cm, find the area of the triangle formed by the chord and the radii.
Ans :
1. Find the number of triangles that can be formed in a regular Octagon. Ans :
4
ROUND 3 : TRUE OR FALSE
Preamble : In the common collector BJT transistor configuration . . .
1. Current gain is the ratio of the emitter current to the base current. Ans : True
2. The input voltage is applied between base and emitter terminal. Ans : False
3. The output is obtained between emitter and collector terminal. Ans : True
4. The input voltage is applied between base and collector terminal. Ans : True
Preamble: In the standard model of the atom . . .
5. A proton is a fundamental particle. Ans : False
6. A proton is a lepton . Ans : False
7. A proton is a baryon. Ans : True
8. A proton is a hadron. Ans : True
9. The production of gas bubbles during a reaction is definitive proof of a chemical change.
Answer: False (Gas bubbles can also form from physical changes, like boiling water).
10. A color change in a reaction mixture always indicates a chemical change.
Answer: False (Color changes can occur due to physical mixing or dilution).
11. Chemical changes are always reversible under standard conditions.
Answer: False (Many chemical changes, like combustion, are irreversible).
12. A chemical change always results in the formation of a new substance with different
chemical properties.
Answer: True
13. Dissolving salt in water is a chemical change because the ionic bonds in NaCl are broken.
Answer: False (Dissolution is physical; ions separate but remain chemically unchanged)
14. The solubility of a solid in water always increases with temperature.
Answer: False (Some solids, like CaSO₄, become less soluble at higher temperatures).
15. All solids dissolve exothermically in water, releasing heat.
Answer: False (Some processes, like dissolving NH₄NO₃, are endothermic).
16. A saturated solution cannot dissolve more solute, even if the temperature changes.
Answer: False (Saturation depends on temperature; heating can dissolve more solute).
5
17. All herbaceous plants are annuals and die after one growing season.
False (Some are biennials or perennials, like hostas.)
18. Herbaceous plants lack woody stems.
True (Their stems are soft and green, not lignified.)
19. Banana trees are herbaceous plants.
True (Despite their size, they’re technically giant herbs, not trees.)
20. Herbaceous plants cannot survive in cold climates.
False (Many perennials, like peonies, survive winter by dying back to roots.)
21. Saturated DNA has no double-stranded breaks.
False ("Saturation" refers to maximum binding of dyes/probes, not strand integrity.)
22. In DNA hybridization, saturation means all complementary strands are paired. True
23. Saturated DNA is always denatured.
False (Saturation can occur in double-stranded DNA, e.g., with ethidium bromide.)
24. DNA saturation is used to measure genome complexity. True
Preamble: For any two finite sets and ...
1.
Ans : True
2.
Ans : False (null set)
3.
Ans : True
4.
Ans : True
Preamble : Given .. .
1. The third term is
Ans : True
2. The fourth term is
Ans : False
3. The fifth term is
Ans : False
4. The first term is
Ans : False
6
ROUND 4: RIDDLES
1. I am an effect named after my discoverer.
2. I have everything to do with a colloids such as a sol.
3. I was discovered in the 19th century by an Irish physicist during the study of the
intensities of scattered radiations.
4. I account for phenomena such as the blue tinge in smoke from the exhaust of vehicles.
5. If I am an effect of the scattering of white light. Who am I?
Ans : Tyndall Effect
1. I am an interaction between atoms or molecules.
2. My attractions do not result from a chemical electronic bond.
3. I am very susceptible to disturbance.
4. I quickly vanish at longer distances between the interacting molecules.
5. I was named after a Dutch physicist.
6. If I am a weaker force compared to Ionic and Covalent bonds, then who am I?
Ans : Van der Waals force
1. You may consider me as a vegetable
2. Or as a fodder crop
3. I am a pod plant
4. Each of my pods contains several seeds
5. I am an annual plant with a life cycle of one year
6. My seeds can be used in making soup and even porridge
7. My name in Latin is pisum. So who am I?
Ans : Pea (accept Garden Pea)
1. I am 4-digit palindromic even number
2. Some biblical literalists calculated this as Earth’s creation date (per Archbishop Ussher’s
chronology).
3. My binary form is 111110100100
4. My second and third digits are the additive identity
5. My first digit is the only single digit even square
6. If the sum of my digits is 8, then, Who am I?
Ans : Four thousand and four (4,004)
7
TIE-BREAKER QUESTIONS
(One tie-breaker question answered correctly automatically produces the winner of the contest;
read the questions below one after the other until a School answers one correctly, that
automatically ends the contest)
1. Propene is completely reacted with elemental bromine followed by excess aqueous
Sodium hydroxide. What is the final product of this two-step reaction?
Ans : Propane-1, 2-diol
2. How do Botanists call the female reproductive organ of the Moss plant ? Ans : Archegonia
3. Calculate the angular frequency of an oscillator whose period of oscillation is 0.5 s.
Ans : 4 rad/s or 12.6 rad/s
4. Relative to an origin O, the position vectors of the points A and B are 2i – 3j and 11i + 42j
respectively, give an expression for the vector, AB. Ans : 9 i + 4 5 j
