Name: ………………………………………………………… Index No………….…………….
Date………………Candidate’s Signature: ……….……. stream ....................Adm.no..................
PHYSICS
THEORY
Time: 2 hours
April 2024
Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education
PHYSICS
FORM 4 TERM 1
Instructions to Candidates
Write your name, admission number, class and signature in the spaces provided at the top of
the page. This paper consists of two sections; A and B.
Answer ALL the questions in the spaces provided.
Mathematical tables and electronic calculator may be used.
All working MUST be clearly shown.
This paper consists of 13 printed pages.
Candidates should answer the questions in English and check to ensure that no question(s) is
missing.
FOR EXAMINER’S USE ONLY
SECTION QUESTIONS MAXIMUM SCORE CANDIDATE’S SCORE
A 1 – 12 25
13 11
14 12
B 15 11
16 11
17 10
TOTAL SCORE
80
This paper consists of 13 printed pages. Candidates should check and ascertain that all
questions are printed as indicated and that no questions are missing.
TURN OVER
SECTION A (25 MARKS)
1
Answer all the questions in this section in the spaces provided.
1. Figure 1 shows an object placed in front of a pin-hole camera whose length X is
adjustable.
Figure 1
a.) State the effect of increasing length X. (1 mark)
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b.) The pinhole size was also made smaller; what observation was made on the screen?
(1 mark)
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2. Figure 2 shows the printing system of an inkjet printer.
Figure 2
Identify the type of charge on the charged ink drops. (1 mark)
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3. When does a lead acid accumulator need to be charged? (2 mark)
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4. A magnetic material was heated and then cooled in a magnetic field. After cooling, it was
found to be magnetized. Explain this using domain theory. (2 marks)
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5. Complete the ray diagram in figure 3 to illustrate how a concave mirror can be used as a
shaving mirror. (2 marks)
Figure 3
6. Figure 4 shows a conductor carrying current placed in the magnetic field as shown and
moves in the direction shown
Figure 4
Identify the polarities of X and Y. (1 mark)
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b) State one adjustment that can be made on the diagram to increase the magnitude of
the force on the conductor carrying current. (1 mark)
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7. Figure 5 shows a longitudinal wave that takes 0.5s to move from point A to B and at a
speed of 36 m/s.
Figure 5
Calculate;
(a) The frequency of the wave. (1 mark)
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(b) The wavelength of the wave. (2 marks)
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8. A student standing some distance from a wall blows a whistle and hears its echo 1800ms
later. How far is the wall from the student. (Speed of sound in air = 320 m/s). (2 marks)
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9. A pin is placed at the bottom of a beaker filled with water to a height of 13 cm. When
observed from above the water it appeared to be 10 cm deep. Determine the refractive
index of water. (3 marks)
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10. An optician in Nairobi Hospital examined an eye of a patient and made the following
observations: Eye ball too long and the focal length of the eye lens too short.
(a) State the eye defect the patient could be having. (1 mark)
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(b) Use a diagram to describe how the defect could be corrected. (2 marks)
11. The table below shows the arrangement of electromagnetic waves in the order of increasing
energy of radiation.
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Figure 6
Identify the wave marked C and State one of its uses. (2 marks)
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12. Figure 7 shows a connection to a three-pin plug.
Figure 7
Give one reason why the earth pin is normally longer than the other pins. (1 mark)
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SECTION B (55 MARKS)
Answer all the questions in this section in the spaces provided
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13. a) (i) Define principal axis as used in diverging lenses. (1mark)
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(ii) The figure 8 below shows an object in front of a lens.
Figure 8
Using rays locate the image of the object. (3 marks)
b) In an experiment to determine the focal length of a converging lens, the following
graph of magnification M against image distance V (cm) was drawn.
Figure 9
From the graph, calculate the focal length of the lens. (3marks)
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c) A lens has focal length of 12.5cm. Determine its power. (2mks)
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d) State two differences between the camera and the human eye. (2 marks)
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14. (a) (i)On axes provided, sketch a graph of capacitance against distance of separation of
the plates of a parallel-plate capacitor. (1 mark)
Figure 10
(ii)Figure 11 shows a charged parallel-plate capacitor with one plate connected to the cap of a
gold leaf electroscope and the other plate earthed.
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Figure 11
State and explain how the divergence of the leaf of the gold leaf electroscope changes when the
distance of separation of the plates decreases. (3 marks)
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(b) Figure 12 shows three capacitors of capacitance 1.0μ F, 4.0μ F and 6.0μ F, connected in a
circuit containing a battery of 6.0V.
Figure 12
Determine the:
(i) Effective capacitance of the circuit. (3 marks)
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(ii) Total charge stored in the capacitors. (2 marks)
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(iii) Voltage across the 4.0μF capacitor. (3 marks)
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15. (a) (i) Define the term interference as used in waves. (1 mark)
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(ii) State the necessary conditions for interference to occur when waves from two
sources overlap. (2 marks)
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(b) In figure 13, sound waves from a loudspeaker are shown as waveforms on the screen
of a C.R.O.
Figure 13
The scale is set at 1 millisecond per centimeter. (i)Determine the: (I) frequency of the
waves. (3 marks)
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(II) Wavelength of the waves. (Take speed of sound = 340 m s−1) (2 marks)
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(ii)Explain how sound is converted to electrical signals by the microphone. (3 marks)
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16. (a)(i) State what is meant by e.m.f. of a cell. (1 mark)
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(ii) You are provided with three identical cells, each e.m.f E, an ammeter A, a
voltmeter V, a resistor R and a switch S.
(I) Sketch a circuit diagram to show how the cells should be connected together to give
an e.m.f. equal to E, across the resistor. (2 marks)
(II) When the switch is closed the voltmeter gives a reading which less than E. Give a
reason for this observation. (1 mark)
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(b) The battery in the circuit in figure 14 has an e.m.f of 4.5V and negligible internal
resistance. Two resistors P and Q of resistances 3.5Ω and R respectively are connected
in series with the battery. A current of 0.5A flows in the circuit.
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Figure 14
(i) Calculate: (I) The effective resistance of the circuit. (2 marks)
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(II) The value of R. (3 marks)
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(ii) The student now connected the resistors in figure 14 in parallel. State how the effective
resistance and current in the circuit change. (2 marks)
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17. (a) State Snell’s law. (1mark)
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(b) One of the conditions for total internal reflection to occur is that the angle of
incidence must be greater than the critical angle of the medium. State the other
condition. (1mark)
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(c) A ray of light makes a glancing angle of incidencei=60 ° with a flat glass surface
as shown in figure 15 below.
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Figure 15
Given that the critical angle for glass is 42 ° determine;
(i) The refractive index of glass. (2marks)
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(ii) The angle of refraction r. (2marks)
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(iii) Given that the speed of light in air 3.0 x 108 m/s, find the speed of light in glass. (2marks)
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(d) Kenya launched the use of optical fibers in communication recently. State two reasons why
optical fibers are preferred to ordinary cables. (2 marks)
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