Notre Dame Academy

PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION
SUBJECT – PHYSICS
Class X Time: 2 hours
Date: Max. Mark: 80
Answers to this paper must be written on the paper provided separately.
You will not be allowed to write during the first 15 minutes.
This time is to be spent in reading the question paper.
The time given at the head of this paper is the time allowed for writing the answers.
Section I (40 Marks) (Attempt all
questions in this section)

Question 1
a) A uniform metre scale of weight W is kept in equilibrium when supported at the
60 cm mark and a mass M is suspended at the 90 cm mark as shown in the
diagram.

State with reasons, whether the weight W of the scale is greater than, less than
or equal to the weight of mass M. [2]
b) (i) Define the term ‘centre of gravity’ of a body.
(ii) Where is the centre of gravity of a triangular lamina located? [2]
c) What do you mean by degradation of energy? Give an example. [2]
d) (i) Define the SI unit of power.
(ii) How is the SI unit of power related to horse power? [2]
e) Write the meaning of the following statements:
(i) The efficiency of a machine is 90%.
(ii) The velocity ratio of a pulley system is 4. [2]

Question 2
a) Name the colour of white light which is deviated (i) the most, and (ii) the least,
on passing through a prism. [2]

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 b) Draw a ray diagram showing the lateral displacement of a ray of light when it
passes through a parallel sided glass slab. [2]
c) For a concave lens, focal length is 25 cm. What is the power of the lens? [2]
d) The magnification by a lens is -2. Name the lens and state how are u and v
related? [2]
e) Calculate the frequency of violet light of wavelength 400 nm. The speed of light
is 3 x 108 ms-1. [2]

Question 3
a) The earthing of an electric appliance is useful only if the fuse is in the live wire.
Give reason. [2]
b) (i) What happens to the resistivity of semi-conductors with the increase in
temperature?
(ii) An electric heater has a rating 220 V- 1000 W. What does it mean? [2]
c) (i) Why is a copper wire unsuitable for use as a fuse wire?
(ii) Name the material which is used as a fuse wire. [2]
d) Define specific resistance. State its S.I. unit. [2]
e) State one difference between:
(i) heat and temperature
(ii) heat capacity and specific heat capacity. [2]

Question 4
a) (i) A certain amount of heat Q will warm 1 g of material X by 3°C and 1 g of
material Y by 4°C. Which material has a higher specific heat capacity?
(ii) Write the formula that states how heat capacity of a body is related to its
specific heat capacity. [2]
b) A man standing 48 m away from a wall fires a gun. Calculate the time after
which an echo is heard. The speed of sound in air is 320 ms-1. [2]
c) Draw a graph showing displacement against time for a body executing damped
vibrations. [2]
d) The natural frequency of an air column in a pipe fixed at one end, of length
17 cm is 500 Hz. At what length of air column, a tuning fork of frequency 250
Hz will resonate with it? [2]
e) State one use each of radio isotopes in the following fields. Also mention the
name of the radio isotopes for the use mentioned by you.
(i) Medicine (ii) Industry [2]

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 Section II (40 Marks)
(Attempt any four questions in this section)

Question 5
a) A uniform meter scale can be balanced at the 30 cm mark when a mass of 30 g
is suspended at 10 cm mark.
i) Draw a diagram of the arrangement.
ii) Find the mass of the meter scale.
iii) Where should an additional weight of 20 gf be placed on the scale to balance
it, if 30 g mass on the scale is shifted to 5 cm mark? [3]
b) i) How does centripetal force differ from centrifugal force with reference to the
direction in which they act?
ii) Why is the centrifugal force not the force of reaction of the centripetal force?
iii) Compare the magnitudes of centripetal and centrifugal force. [3]
c) Study the diagram given below and answer the questions:

i) Name the type of pulley.

ii) What is the velocity ratio of this pulley?
iii) What is the value of the load, if the efficiency of this pulley is 75% and an
effort of 200 kgf is applied to lift the load? [4]

Question 6
a) A body of mass 25 kg is dropped from a height of 6 m from the ground.
(i) What is the total mechanical energy possessed by the body at any instant
during its fall?
(ii) What is the velocity with which it hits the surface of a table of height 1 m?
(iii) What is the assumption made by you to arrive at your answers?
(Take g = 10 ms-2) [3]

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 b) A block and tackle system has velocity ratio 3.
(i) Draw a neat labelled diagram of the system showing the direction of load
(L), effort (E) and tension (T).
(ii) In the above pulley system, tension in how many segments of the string
supports the load? [3]
c) (i) Refractive index of water is 4/3. Calculate the speed of light in water.
Speed of light in vacuum is 3 x 108 ms-1.
(ii) A glass slab of thickness 18 cm and refractive index 3/2 is placed on a
printed matter. Calculate the shift of the printed matter. [4]

Question 7
a) A pump is used to lift 1000 litres of water from a well 90 m deep in 20 s.
Calculate:
(i) Work done by the pump
(ii) Rate at which work is done by the pump
(iii) Rate at which the energy is supplied to the pump if its efficiency is 90%.
(Given density of water = 1 kg/litre and g= 10 m/s2) [3]
b) A concave lens of focal length 15 cm forms an image at 10 cm from the lens.
How far is the object placed from the lens? Also find magnification. [3]
c) A lens forms an erect, magnified and virtual image of an object.
(i) Name the kind of lens.
(ii) Where is the object placed in relation to the lens?
(iii) Draw the ray diagram to show the formation of image. [4]

Question 8
a) (i) What do you understand by the term ‘spectrum’?
(ii) State one harmful effect of infrared radiations.
(iii) Mention one use of ultraviolet radiations. [3]
b) In the figure given below, a ray of light PQ is incident normally on the
hypotenuse of an isosceles right angle prism ABC.

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 (i) Complete the path of the ray PQ until it emerges from the prism. Mark in
the diagram the angles wherever necessary.
(ii) What is the angle of deviation of the ray PQ?
(iii) Name a device in which this action is used. [3]
c) A radioactive source emits three types of radiations.
(i) Name the radiation of zero mass.
(ii) What is the nature of radiation which has the maximum ionization power?
(iii) Which radiation shows the maximum deflection in an electric field?
(iv) What change occurs in the nucleus of a radioactive element when it emits
radiation mentioned in part (i)? [4]

Question 9
a) Of the three connecting wires in a household circuit:
(i) Which two of the three wires are at the same potential?
(ii) What is the potential of those two wires?
(iii) In which of the three wires should the switch be connected? [3]
b) (i) Two waves of the same pitch have amplitudes in the ratio 1:3. What will be
the ratio of their loudness?
(ii) Draw a graph to show the wave pattern of high pitch note and a low pitch
note, but of the same loudness. [3]
c) In the figure given below, the ammeter A reads 0.3A.

Calculate:
(i) The total resistance of the circuit.
(ii) The value of R.
(iii) The current flowing through R. [4]

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Question 10
a) The relationship between the potential difference and the current in the
conductor is stated in the form of a law.
(i) Name the law.
(ii) What does the slope of V-I graph for a conductor represent?
(iii) Name the material used for making the connecting wire. [3]
b) Give reason for the following:
(i) The surrounding becomes pleasantly warm when water in a lake starts
freezing in cold countries.
(ii) The heat supplied to a substance during its change of state does not cause
any rise in its temperature. [3]
c) In a laboratory experiment to measure specific heat capacity of copper, 20 g of
water at 70°C was poured into copper calorimeter with a stirrer of mass 160 g
initially at 15°C. After stirring, the final temperature reached 45°C.
Specific heat capacity of water is taken as 4.2 J/g °C.
(i) What is the quantity of heat released per kg of water per 1°C fall in
temperature?
(ii) Calculate the heat energy released by water in the experiment in cooling
from 70°C to 45°C.
(iii) Assuming that the heat released by water is entirely used to raise the
temperature of calorimeter from 15°C to 45°C, calculate the specific heat
capacity of copper. [4]

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