PRESIDENT’S OFFICE

REGIONAL ADMINISTRATION AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

BERACHAH VALLEY SECONARY MIDTERM – 2025
FORM FOUR

TIME: 𝟑: 𝟎𝟎HOURS PHYSICS March, 2025

Instructions
 This paper consists of section A, B and C with a total of Eleven (11) questions.
 Answer ALL questions in section A and B and Two (2) questions from section C.
 Section A carries Sixteen (16) marks, section B Fifty four (54) marks and section C carries Thirty (30) marks
 Non-programmable calculators may be used.
 Cellular phones and any unauthorized materials are NOT allowed in the examination room.
 Where necessary, the following constant may be used:
a) Acceleration due to gravity, g = 10 m/s2 or 10 N/kg.
b) Atmospheric pressure Pa = 102,000 N/m2.
c) Density of water, 𝜌w = 1 g/cm3 or 1,000 kg/m3.
d) Density of mercury, 𝜌Hg = 13.6 g/cm3 or 13,600 kg/m3.
e) Specific heat capacity of water, CW = 4,200 J/kg K
f) Speed of sound in air, v = 340 m/s.
g) Pie, 𝜋 = 3.14

FOR EXAMINER’S USE ONLY

QUESTION NO. SCORE MARKER’S INITIAL
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11

TOTAL

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 SECTION A (16 Marks)
Answer ALL questions in this section

1. For each of the items (i) – (x), choose the correct answer among the given alternatives and write its letter besides the
item number in the answer sheet provided.

(i) Which of the following scientific statements needs to be proved through scientific research?
A. Hypothesis B. Principle C. Conclusion D. Proposal E. Measurement.
3
(ii) A piece of cork of volume 100 cm is floating on the surface of water. If the density of the
cork is 0.25 g/cm3, what volume of the cork is immersed in the water?
A. 100 cm3. B. 0.25 cm3. C. 25 cm3.
D. 100.25 cm3. E. 0.025 cm3.
(iii) A layer of colorless water floating on a blue copper (II) sulphate solution becomes blue after
sometime. Which physical process supports the observation made?
A. Diffusion. B. Cohesive. C. Surface tension. D. Adhesive. E. Osmosis
(iv) Which factors influence friction between tyres of a car moving with constant speed and
surface of the road?
A. Weight and speed.
B. Speed and nature of the surface.
C. Nature of the surface and weight.
D. Surface area of the tires and speed.
E. Acceleration and nature of the surface.
(v) The device which operates under the principle of total internal reflection of light is
called
A. magnifying lens. B. plan mirror. C. telescope.
D. optical fibre. E. pin-hole camera.
(vi) What will be the resistivity of a wire 2 metres long with a cross-sectional area of
0.50 mm2 and a resistance of 2.20 Ω
A. 5.5 × 10− 7 Ωm. B. 6.5 × 10− 7 Ωm. C. 2.3 × 10− 7 Ωm.
D. 1.1 × 10− 6 Ωm. E. 5.5 × 10− 6 Ωm.
(vii) Which of the following electromagnetic waves have largest wavelength?
A. Ultraviolet. B. Infrared. C. Gamma rays.
D. Radio waves. E. X-rays
(viii) The pressure of a liquid contained in a jar depends on:
A. Density of a liquid.
B. Depth of a liquid in a jar.
C. Acceleration due to gravity
D. Both density and depth of a liquid in a jar.
E. Density of a liquid and acceleration due to gravity.
(ix) What happen when a ray of light from air enters a denser medium?
A. Bends away from the normal
B. Bends towards the normal
C. Goes un deviated
D. Is reflected back
E. Is diffracted

(x) On a frostily day the metal handlebars of the bicycle feel colder than the rubber grips because

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 A. The rubber is a better absorber of radiation than a metal.
B. The metal is colder than the rubber.
C. The rubber has a higher heat capacity than metal
D. The metal is a better conductor of heat than rubber
E. The expansion of rubber is higher than the metal handlebars

2. Match the items in List A with responses in List B by writing the letter of the correct response beside the item
number in the answer booklet provided.
LIST A LIST B
A. Radio waves
i) Electromagnetic radiations which are used B. Microwaves
to increase the rate of growth of chickens C. Infra-red
ii) Electromagnetic radiations which are D. Visible light
used by the Global Positioning Satellite E. Ultra-violet
F. X-rays
(GPS) to precisely pin point the location of G. Gamma ray
the targets.
iii) Electromagnetic radiations which are
used for satellite communications or
telecommunications.
iv) Electromagnetic radiations which are
used as painkillers.
v) Electromagnetic radiations which are
used in CD and DVD players to read the
content of the disks.

SECTION B (54 Marks)

Answer ALL questions in this section
3. (a) A women 1.60 m tall stands in front of a plane mirror. Assume her eyes are 10 cm below the top of her head.
By drawing the appropriate ray diagram, find the minimum size of the mirror if the women needs to see her full
image? (5 marks)

(b) Give:
(i) two advantages of having two eyes. (2 marks)
(ii) two ways in which lens cameras differ from the human eye. (2 marks)
4. (a) Find the height h of water column from figure 2. (5 marks)

Water
4cm

Mercury
(b) Two workers in timber industry, Patrick and Peter carry a uniform
beam of weight 1200 N and a length of 4 m on their shoulders. If
Page 3 of 5 (4 marks)
 Patrick is 100 cm from one end of the beam and Peter is 50 cm from the other end, what is the reacting
force on each one.
5. (a) Explain the following:
(i) a person falling on a cemented floor gets more hurt than a person falling on a sand floor. (3 marks)
(ii) a hunter move abruptly backwards on firing a bullet of 1 kg from his bullet of 10 kg. (2 marks)

(b) A hydraulic press consists of a pump, load and two cylinders in which the larger cylinder is eight times
the diameter of a smaller one. Use a well labelled cross-sectional diagram of a hydraulic press to
determine the value of mechanical advantage of this machine if it is working with efficiency of 90%.
(4 marks)
6. (a) A men who is a native tourist observed that it takes more time to cook a food at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro
than at its lowest level, but he did not know the reason behind. Briefly explain how you could help the tourist to
know the reason. (4 marks)
(b) A simple heater for a cup of water consists of an insulated resistive coil that plugs directly into a 120 V
electrical outlet. The heater is placed into a coffee mug that contains 0.55 kg of water and heats it from room
temperature to a boiling point in 180 s. What is the resistance of the coil of the heater? State any assumption you
have made in your calculation. (5 marks)
7. (a) Describe the variation of water vapour in air over plane surface of pure water with temperature. (4 marks)
(b) A machine weighing 1500 N is supported by two chains attached to some point on the machine. One of these
chains goes to a nail in the wall and is inclined at 30° to the horizontal and other goes to the hook in ceiling and is
inclined at 45° to the horizontal. Find the tensions in the two chains. (5 marks)
8. a) Explain why in rainy season, the sound of whistle of a train is heard more than in summer. (2 marks)
(b) A closed pipe has a fundamental frequency of 400 Hz. Calculate:
(i)The frequency of the first overtone. (2 marks)
(ii)The fundamental frequency of an open pipe of the same length. (5 marks)

SECTION C (30 Marks)

Answer only TWO (2) questions in this section
9. (a) A Sonometer wire of length 40cm between two bridges produces a note of 512Hz when plucked at the midpoint.
Calculate the length of the wire that would produce a note of 256Hz with the same tension
(b) Identify three characteristics of sound which distinguish one note from another. Hence state the physical factors which
correspondingly define the mention characteristics
(c) A resonance tube whose one end is closed and other open, resonance to a note of frequency 560Hz when the length of
the air column is 15cm. determine the wave length of this sound in air. What is the shortest length of the air column which
resonates in similar conditions to a note of frequency 1000Hz?
10. (a) (i) Define the term astronomy and asteroids
(ii) Is scorpion a galaxy or constellations? Give reason(s) for your answer
(b) Distinguish between
i. Planet and star
ii. Comet and meteor
(c) Which planet in the solar system is
i. Closest to the sun?
ii. Furthest from the sun?
iii. Closest to the earth?
iv. Surrounded by ring?
v. The second largest planet?

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 (d) Figure 4 below shows a profile of how altitude (height) varies with
temperature.

(i) What does the profile represent? (1 mark)

(ii) Give the name of the layers represented by A, B, C, and D.
(2 marks)
(iii) What is the name given to the zone separating layer A and layer
B? (1 mark)
(iv) Give one importance for each of layer A, B and D. (3 marks)

11. (a) (i) Define the term earthquake

(ii) Mention any five signs observed before the occurrence of earthquake
(b) Briefly explain the meaning of the following terms as used on earthquake
i. Hypocenter
ii. Epicenter
(c) (i) What is global warming?
(ii) Name four gases that contribute to global warming and give one source of each
(iii) Briefly explain the effects of global warming

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