CONTEST1

ROUND 1

1. Express 25ten as a number in base3

ANSWER: 221three

2. Express 25ten as a number in base two.

ANSWER: 11001two

3. Express 52ten as a number in base 5

ANSWER: 202five

4. Which of the following is a fundamental quantity: mass, weight, time, length, frequency?

ANSWER: Length, time and mass

5. Which of the following is a derived SI unit: kilogram, newton, metre, joule?

ANSWER: Newton and joule

6. Which of the following units is accepted for use in the SI system: steradian, kilogram-force,
pound, radian?

ANSWER: Steradian and radian

7. Which element is most abundant in the universe?

ANSWER: Hydrogen ≈ ¾ of the mass of Universe and 90% of all atoms.

8. Which element is most abundant in the earth’s crust?

ANSWER: Oxygen approx. 49% by mass.

9. Which metal is most abundant in the earth’s crust?

ANSWER: Aluminum approx. 8.1% by mass.

10. What name is given the mass of fungal filaments?

ANSWER: Mycelium

11. Name the slender filaments that make up the body of fungus.

ANSWER: Hyphae

1
 12. A mushroom is a complex structure of dikaryotic hyphae called

ANSWER: Basidiocarp

Preamble: Complete as appropriate

13. Two sets having the same number of elements are said to be . . .

ANSWER: Equivalent

14. A set containing all elements under discussion is called a . . .

ANSWER: Universal set

15. Two sets are said to be equal if they have . . .

ANSWER: the same elements or same members

16. Arrange the following substances in increasing order of strength of inter-particle forces at
room temperature and pressure: neon, sulphur, mercury.

ANSWER: Neon, mercury, sulphur

17. Under what condition will a long circular cylinder placed on a horizontal surface be in
neutral equilibrium?

ANSWER: When it lies on its curved surface

18. Two ballsare released at the top of a smooth inclined plane at the same time.The mass
of one ball is three times the mass of other ball. Which of the balls arrives at the bottom of
the inclined plane first?

ANSWER: They arrive at the same time

19. Name the major inter-unit forces in neon gas.

ANSWER: Induced dipole – induced dipole

20. Name the major inter-unit forces in solid KOH.

ANSWER: Electrostatic

21. Name the major inter-unit forces in liquid 2-butanone.

ANSWER: Dipole – dipole.

2
 22. What name is given to the non-reproductive cells of organisms?

ANSWER: Somatic cells

23. Name the stage in mitosis where sister chromatids move towards opposite poles of
dividing cells.

ANSWER: Anaphase

24. How many copies of each chromosome are found in a diploid somatic cell that has
not undergone DNA Replication?

ANSWER: Two

Factorise the expression completely

25. 5xy3 + 15x2y

ANSWER: 5xy(y2 + 3x)

26. 2x(x + y) - 4xy

ANSWER: 2x(x – y)

27. 48x2 – 147y2

ANSWER: 3(16x2 – 49y2) = 3(4x + 7y)(4x – 7y)

28. A bus leaves a station, travels 20 km and returns after 1 h. What is the displacement of the
bus?

ANSWER: 0 km

29. A 10 kg ball is projected upward with speed . What is the kinetic energy of the ball
at the highest point of its trajectory?

ANSWER: 0 J
At the highest point speed is zero.

30. What is the average velocity of a mass oscillating at the end of a vertical spring?

ANSWER: 0

31. What is the hybridization of carbon in methanol?

ANSWER: sp2

3
 32. How does the carbon – carbon bond length in ethane differ from that in ethane?

ANSWER: C – C bond length longer in ethane than in ethane.

33. Give one method by which bond lengths are measured.

ANSWER: X-ray diffraction.

34. The ability of one gene to modify the phenotypic expression of another is called.

ANSWER: Epistasis

35. In a cross between two heterozygous individuals, what percentage of the progeny
receive recessive trait.

ANSWER: 25%

36. What general name is given to chemicals that are capable of damaging the DNA?

ANSWER: Mutagens

Simplify

37. (-3x3 +2x2 + 7x+ 5) – (6x3 -5x – 7)

ANSWER: -9x3 + 2x2 + 12x + 12

38. (-3x4 + 2x2 + 7x – 6) + (8x3 – 3x2 – 8x + 7)

ANSWER: -3x4 + 8x3 – x2 – x+ 1

39. (4x6 – 2x + 7) – (- 3x6 – 2x + 7)

ANSWER: 7x6

40. What is the angular frequency of a simple pendulum of length in a region where the
acceleration due to gravity is ?

ANSWER:

41. What will be the period of a 49 m long simple pendulum on a planet where the acceleration
due to gravity is ?

4
ANSWER:

42. Martian gravity is 0.4 times terrestrial gravity. What is the length of a Martian simple
pendulum with the same period as a terrestrial pendulum?

ANSWER: 0.4 times the length of the terrestrial pendulum

so if , then

43. A pesticide solution contains 0.4g of the active substance in 8 dm3. What is the
concentration in ppm (parts per million)?

ANSWER: 1mg in 1 dm3 of solution ≡ 1ppm

0.4g ≡ 400 mg. This is in 8 dm3. Hence mg in 1 dm3 is 50

Hence conc is 50ppm

44. Explain how you would prepare a solution of 6 ppm concentration from a stock
solution of 50 ppm.

ANSWER: Dilution factor is 6 in 50 or 1 in 8.33

Hence measure 6cm3 and dilute to 50cm3 or any such proportions eg 12

cm3 to 100 cm3. (If 1 cm3 diluted to 8.33 cm3 award only 1 mark)

45. Carbon IV oxide can be obtained from the burning of carbon. What mass of CO2 can
be obtained from 30 g of carbon? [C = 12; O = 16]

ANSWER: C + O2 = CO2

12g → 44g

Therefore 30g → 30/12 x 44

= 110g of CO2

46. Name the principal nutrient-conducting tissue in vascular plants.

ANSWER: Phloem

5
47. What name is given the large pores that are found in some areas of the sieve tube
members?

ANSWER: Sieve Plate

48. Name the specialized parenchyma cells that occur regularly in association with sieve
tube members.

ANSWER: Companion Cell

PROBLEM OF THE DAY

In a family, there are three children. Assume the birth of a boy and that of a girl are
equally likely.
a) List the set of all possible sequence of births in terms of the gender of the children
(Sample Space)
Find the probability of the family having
b) two boys
c) two girls
d) two boys given that the first child is a girl
e) at least two boys given that the middle child is a boy

SOLUTION:
a) S = {BBB, BBG, BGB, GBB, GGB, GBG, BGG,GGG}
(2 Marks)
b) Two boys A = {BBG, BGB, GBB} n(A) = 3, P(C) = n(A)/n(S) = 3/8
c) Two girls C ={BGG, GBG, GGB}, n(C) = 3,P(C) = n(C)/n(S) = 3/8
e) Two boys given the first child is a girl
S  {GBB, GBG, GGB, GGG} reduced sample space

A = {GBB}, P(A) = ¼
f) At least two boys given the middle child is a boy
S  {GBB, BBG, GBG, BBB} reduced sample space

C = {GBB, BBG, BBB} P(C) = ¾

6
ROUND 3 – True or False

49. The quadratic equation x2 – 3x + 5 = 0, has no real roots

ANSWER: True (b2 – 4ac = 9 – 20 = - 11 < 0, hence no real roots)

50. The equation x2 – 4 = 0, has two positive roots

ANSWER: False, (The roots are 2, and -2)

51. The quadratic equation x2 –(a + b)x + ab = 0 has roots a and b.

ANSWER: True ( (x – a)(x – b) = 0 )

52. The volume of a pyramid is given by ‘a half base area x height’

ANSWER: False ( ‘a third base area x height’)

53. Volume of a solid of uniform cross-section is ‘ base area x height’

ANSWER: True

54. The total surface area of a circular cylinder is given by where r is the base

radius and h the height.

ANSWER: True

55. The radius of carbon-14 is bigger than that of carbon-12.

ANSWER: False (These are isotopes and therefore have the same size.)

56. Carbon -12 will react with oxygen faster than carbon-13.

ANSWER: False (Reactions involve valence electrons. They are identical in both.)

57. The atomic radius of the elements in the second period of the Periodic Table increases
smoothly from lithium to fluorine.

ANSWER: False (Atomic radius decreases due to increasing nuclear charge.)

58. It will require more than 1 Faraday of charge to discharge Na+ in aqueous solution
than in the molten state.

ANSWER: False (Both carry only one charge.)

7
59. Electrolysis of concentrated and dilute sodium chloride solutions gives different
products.

ANSWER: True (Dilute gives H2 and O2 whereas the conc. gives H2 and Cl2.)

60. In the electrolysis of alumina on commercial scale carbon is used both as the anode
and the cathode.

ANSWER: True (Anode is a mixture of pitch and coke, cathode is graphite.)

61. Lack of vitamin B3 results in symptom known as Pellagra

ANSWER: True
62. Lack of vitamin K results in Rickets
ANSWER: False (vitamin D)
63. Lack of vitamin A results in scurvy
ANSWER: False
64. Growth in thickness of a plant involves the activity of lateral meristems
ANSWER: True
65. Vascular cambium is an apical meristem
ANSWER: False
66. Cork cambium is a lateral meristem,
ANSWER: True
67. A particle moving with constant speed in a circle has constant acceleration.

ANSWER: False (The direction of acceleration is not constant.)

68. When two objects collide and stick together, energy is conserved.

ANSWER: False

69. The change in momentum of an object in a collision with a rigid wall equals the impulse of
the force on the object?

ANSWER: True

70. Linear momentum is only conserved when net force is zero.

ANSWER: True

71. The magnitude of acceleration in uniform circular motion is inversely proportional to speed.

8
 ANSWER: False

72. Tangential acceleration in uniform circular motion is zero.

ANSWER: True

ROUND 4 – Riddles
Riddle #1
1. I am a unicellular free living organism.
2. I belong to the phylum Rhizopoda
3. I am a freshwater organism found in ponds and pools.
4. My body keeps on changing in shape as I move
5. Scientists therefore describe my body as irregular,
6. I moved by using round tipped structures known as pseudopodia.
Who Am I? –
ANSWER:Amoeba
Riddle #2
1. I am a particle.
2. I have charge.
3. I am heavy, so I am called baryon.
4. My charge is positive.
5. When I am paired with an electron, I form hydrogen.
6. You find me along with neutrons in the nucleus of an atom.
Who am I?
ANSWER: Proton

Riddle #3
1. We are the first born of our family
2. We are twins, identical for that matter
3. We are always together and you can only use force to separate us
4. We are very sociable and I can say we or one of us can be found almost every part
of the universe
5. We have identical weight, which is not much

9
 6. In fact among the family we individually have the lightest weight
7. We form an explosive mixture with oxygen gas
Who are we?
ANSWER: H2/hydrogen (gas)
Riddle #4
1. I am a two digit odd number.
2. I have exactly two prime factors.
3. The sum of my prime factors is 18 and their difference is 4.
4. My digits form an identical pair.
5. Remember the seven times table or the eleven times table and you should get me.

Who am I?

ANSWER: 77

10