SENIOR PHYSICS CHALLENGE

(Year 12)

4th MARCH 2022

This question paper must not be taken out of the exam room

Name:

School:

Total Mark /50

Time Allowed: One hour

• Attempt as many questions as you can.

• Write your answers on this question paper. Draw diagrams.

• Marks allocated for each question are shown in brackets on the right.

• Calculators: Any standard calculator may be used, but calculators cannot be

programmable and must not have symbolic algebra capability.

• You may use any public examination formula booklet.

• Scribbled or unclear working will not gain marks.

This paper is about problem solving. It is designed to be a challenge for the top Y12
physicists in the country. If you find the questions hard, they are. Do not be put off. The
only way to overcome them is to struggle through and learn from them.
Good Luck.
 Important Constants

Constant Symbol Value

Speed of light in free space c 3.00 × 108 m s−1

Elementary charge e 1.60 × 10−19 C

Planck constant h 6.63 × 10−34 J s

Mass of electron me 9.11 × 10−31 kg

Mass of proton mp 1.67 × 10−27 kg

Acceleration of free fall at Earth’s surface g 9.81 m s−2

Avogadro constant NA 6.02 × 1023 mol−1

Radius of Earth RE 6.37 × 106 m

Radius of Earth’s orbit R0 1.496 × 1011 m

T(K) = T(◦ C) + 273

4
Volume of a sphere = πr3
3

Surface area of a sphere = 4πr2

v 2 = u2 + 2as v = u + at

s = ut + 21 at2 s = 12 (u + v)t
ρℓ
E = hf R=
A
P = Fv P = E/t

P =VI V = IR

v = fλ
1 1 1
R = R1 + R2 = +
R R1 R2
PV
P V = const. = const.
T
Qus. 1-5 Circle the best answer.
1. Estimate the mass of the Earth.

A. 1020 kg B. 1022 kg C. 1024 kg D. 1026 kg E. 1028 kg

[1]

2. A block of mass m remains stationary on a rough slope as shown in Fig. 1. Which of the
following could be equal to the magnitude of the frictional force Ff on the block?

A. N cos θ2 B. N sin θ2 C. mg cos θ2 D. mg sin θ2 E. mg sin θ3

Figure 1

[1]
3. Energies in particle accelerators are measured in eV. What is the kinetic energy to an order
of magnitude, in eV, of a snail of mass 1 g which crawls along at a rate of 1 cm in 10 s?

A. 1 eV B. 1 keV C. 1 MeV D. 1 GeV E. 1 TeV

[1]

4. In a modern electric car, the most important reason the batteries are lithium ion rather
than lead acid is

A. lithium cells are easier to recycle

B. lithium is much cheaper than lead

C. lithium is less dense so the batteries are much lighter

D. the energy density of the lithium battery is much greater

E. lead batteries are full of dangerous acid

[1]

1
5. A source of high frequency sound from a sonar under the ocean surface sends a 60 kHz
sound towards the surface. What is the wavelength of sound in the air above?
The speed of sound in air is 330 m s−1

A. 0.18 m B. 0.18 mm C. 5.5 m D. 5.5 mm E. 19.8 m

[1]

6. (a) A small ball of mass m is attached to a point by a light string of length ℓ and hangs
down under gravity, shown in Fig. 2. The point of attachment is accelerated to the right
with a constant acceleration a, so that the string hangs at an angle θ to the vertical,
with a tension T in the string.

Figure 2: Ball on a light string which is Figure 3: U-tube containing water.

accelerated to the right.

i. Write expressions for the horizontal and vertical components of the force on the
ball, in terms of m, g, T, a and θ.

[2]
ii. Obtain an expression for the angle of the string to the vertical, θ, in terms of a
and g

[1]

2
 (b) In the U-tube half filled with water of Fig. 3, the tube has a cross-sectional area A.
The U-tube has a horizontal acceleration, a, to the right and in the plane of the U-tube.
This will cause a height difference h in the levels of the water.
i. Sketch the U-tube with the water levels in the tube, showing the water surface on
each side.

[3]

ii. The arms of the tube are a distance L apart, By considering the forces on a thin
disc of water in the tube or otherwise, deduce an equation relating h to a, g and
L.

[2]

7. In an experiment to measure the length of an oil molecule that has a hydrophilic end (one
end of the long molecule sticks in a water surface), a drop of the oil of volume 0.1 mm3 is
touched on to the surface of some water in a tank. The oil spreads out to give a circular
patch of area 1000 cm2 . What is the length of the oil molecule?

[2]

3
8. One end of a uniform beam, of weight W is placed on a smooth horizontal plane. The
other end, to which a light string is attached, rests against another smooth plane inclined
at an angle α to the horizontal. The string, passing over a frictionless pulley at the top of
the inclined plane, hangs vertically, and supports a weight, P .

Sketch a diagram of the beam and the planes, marking on it the forces acting on the beam
and on P . (There is no calculation required.)
[4]

9. Gamma radiation such as that from a Co-60 source is a penetrating radiation which requires
shielding for safety purposes. The radiation is reduced in intensity when it passes through
a material by a factor
x
S = 2− a
where x is the distance travelled through the material and a is a constant which depends on
the material and gamma ray energy.
th
What thickness x of lead will reduce the intensity of the same gamma rays to 18 that of
concrete of thickness y = 1.0 m?
For gamma rays produced by cobalt-60:
alead for lead is 12 mm
aconcrete for concrete is 60 mm

[3]

4
10. (a) A battery is connected to a lamp, a moving coil ammeter (illustrated in Fig. 4) and a
switch, all in series. The needle of the ammeter hits the end stop when the switch is
first closed, but then returns to read the normal value for the
particular lamp. A thermistor is then included in series in the
circuit. The lamp again runs at almost normal brightness when
the switch is closed, but the needle of the ammeter no longer hits
the end stop. Explain why.
Figure 4

[3]

(b) A filament lamp has a resistance which we can assume is proportional to its
temperature in kelvin. A 50 W bulb operates on 230 V at a temperature of 2250 K.
What is the resistance of the bulb at room temperature of 27 ◦ C?

[3]

A circuit of two resistors R and RC in series is connected to a supply as shown in Fig. 5.

The potentials at three points are marked as 0 V, VA , VB . The current I in the circuit
depends upon the value of RC .

Figure 5

(c) i. Obtain a relation between VA , VB , I and R.

5
 ii. Sketch a graph of the current I (y−axis) against the potential VB (x−axis). Mark
on values where the line crosses each axis, and the gradient.

iii. RC is now replaced by a filament light bulb. On your sketch graph above, add
another line with an arrow that shows how I and VB vary from the moment the
bulb is switched on until its steady illumination.

[5]

(d) A relay is an electro-mechanical device in which a small current flowing through a

coil magnetically operates a switch. A relay is illustrated in Fig. 6. With no current
in the coil, the switch is open. In the circuit shown in Fig. 7, a small current flowing
through the coil will close the switch and light the bulb.

Figure 6 Figure 7

A potential divider circuit is made using a resistor, a cell and light dependent resistor
(LDR). The resistor is in parallel with the coil.
i. In version A of the circuit, shown in Fig. 8, explain what would happen if light
was shone on the LDR.

[2]

6
 Figure 8: Potential divider arrangement connected to a relay. Version A.

ii. In version B of the circuit, the LDR and resistor are interchanged. The bulb is
now placed physically over the LDR, and the light bulb starts flashing on and
off. The light of the bulb affects the LDR which switches the relay. A very
simple estimate can be made of the flashing rate by calculating the time taken
for the filament to heat up, and assuming it cools down instantaneously.

The bulb is 24 W, 12 V with a filament length of 12 cm. The temperature rise is

from 300 K to 2300 K and the specific heat capacity of tungsten is
134 J kg−1 K−1 . The density of tungsten is 19 300 kg m−3 and the resistivity can
be taken as 66 × 10−8 Ω m.
Calculate the time taken for the filament to heat up to estimate the flashing
frequency. Ignore any heat loss.
Show intermediate steps in your calculation.

[4]

7
11. A linear electron accelerator consists of a series of hollow copper (drift) tubes of increasing
lengths ℓ1 , ℓ2 , ℓ3 , . . . along the beam and with a fixed small separation d between each tube.
The tubes are connected to a high voltage, constant radio frequency AC supply where the
peak voltage of the AC is V0 . Adjacent tubes are connected so that they will always have
opposite polarities, as shown in Fig. 9. When an electron of charge e and mass me is
passing through the inside of a tube, its two ends are at the same potential and so the
electron feels no force and is not accelerated. So it “drifts” through the tube. It passes
through a large potential difference between the tubes and, if the charged particle’s motion
is in sync with the AC supply, when it leaves a tube the polarities have been reversed and
the charge is accelerated into the next drift tube. A schematic diagram is shown in Fig. 10

Figure 9 Figure 10

(a) i. Preliminary: a resistor has a potential difference of 5 V across it and a single

electron flows through it. What is the thermal energy generated?

ii. To generate 2 W, how many electrons flow through in a second?

[2]
(b) i. Sketch a graph of the AC voltage against time for two cycles of the AC.

ii. What is the maximum potential difference between adjacent tubes connected to
the AC supply as shown?

8
 iii. The frequency of the AC is f . State in terms of f , the shortest time T that the
electron should take drifting through a tube in order that it experiences this
maximum potential between tubes.

[3]
(c) i. The electrons leave the electron source in bunches starting with zero velocity, and
are accelerated towards the first drift tube by the AC potential difference. In terms
of e, V0 and me , what is the maximum speed v1 that the electron bunch can enter
the first tube?

ii. Using your drift time from (b) iii and the speed from (c) i, obtain an expression
for the length of the first drift tube, ℓ1 in terms of e, V0 , me and f .

[3]
(d) i. The electron emerges from the end of the first tube with the same speed as it
entered. What would be the speed of the electron as it leaves the second drift
tube?

9
ii. What are the lengths of the drift tubes, ℓ2 , ℓ3 in terms of the length of ℓ1 ?

[3]

END OF PAPER

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