CONTEST THREE
ROUND 1
CHEMISTRY
SET ONE
1. Calculate the volume of oxygen gas in dm3 at STP that will be produced in electrolysis of
molten aluminium oxide after passing a charge of 1.50 F. Ans: 8.40 dm3
2. What mass of copper is deposited in the electrolysis of copper (II) sulphate using copper
electrodes if a charge of 2.50F is passed through the cell? Ans: 80.0g
3. Calculate the quantity of electricity in faradays required to fully electrolyze 3.40g of
alumina. Ans: 0.200F
SET TWO
1. What is the pH of a 0.00100 mol/ dm3 sample of ammonia? Take the pKb of ammonia as
4.74. Ans: 10.1
2. The pH of a 0.010 mol/dm3 sample of a certain weak acid is 3.52. What is the pKa of this
acid? Ans: 5.0
3. What is the pH of a 0.0100 mol/dm3 sample of CH3COOH? [pKa = 4.76] Ans: 3.38
PHYSICS
SET ONE
1. A boy stands 3.0m in front of a convex mirror whose radius of curvature is 12m. Where
must his image be formed?
Ans: 2.0m behind the mirror
2. A real image of an object 12cm in front of a concave mirror is formed if the radius of
curvature of the mirror is 16cm. Where will the image be formed?
Ans: 24cm in front of the mirror
3. A concave mirror produces an image which is four times as large as the object. If the
radius of curvature is 48cm and a real image is formed, what is the object’s distance?
Ans: 30cm
SET TWO
1. Two springs each of spring constant 250 N m−1 are connected in parallel. Find the
extension produced by a 40 N force applied to the parallel springs.
Ans: 𝟎. 𝟎𝟖𝟎 𝐦
2. A spring of spring constant 450 N m−1 is connected in parallel with a spring of spring
constant 350 N m−1 . Find the extension produced by a 200 N force applied to the parallel
springs.
Ans: 𝟎. 𝟐𝟓𝟎 𝐦
3. A spring of spring constant 450 N m−1 is connected in parallel with a spring of spring
constant 750 N m−1 . Find the extension produced by a 24 N force applied to the parallel
springs.
Ans: 𝟎. 𝟎𝟐𝟎 𝐦
MATHS
SET ONE
1. Find the image of the point (2, -3) under the transformation (x, y) → (2x – y, -3x)
Ans: (7, -6)
2. Find the image of the point (4, 2) under the transformation (x, y) → (x + y, x – 2y)
Ans: (6, 0)
3. Find the image of the point (-2, 5) under the transformation (x, y) → (3x + 2, 2y – 5)
Ans: (-4, 5)
SET TWO
1. Given the vectors a = 3i + 2j and b = 2i – 3j, find 3a – 2b.
Ans: 5i + 12j
2. Given the vectors a = -4i + 2j and b = 3i – 4j, find 2a + 4b.
Ans: 4i – 12j
3. Given the vectors a = -5i + 2j and b = 3i – 5j, find 2a – 3b.
Ans: -19i + 19j
BIOLOGY
SET ONE
Preamble: You are provided with a list of means used by the fruit to disperse the seeds
contained within the fruit. Which one of the means listed suitably applies to the following
descriptions of fruit.
List: Animal digestive tract, Water currents, Gravity and terrain, Air currents, Animal skin, fur
or feathers.
1. The fruit is made of material of high in calories.
Ans: Animal digestive tract
2. The fruit has a heavy weight and spheroidal shape.
Ans: Gravity and terrain
3. The fruit has light, fibrous plumes or puffs
Ans: Air currents
SET TWO
1. If during protein starvation, the osmotic pressure on the venous side of capillary beds
drops below the hydrostatic pressure, what happens?
Ans: Fluids will tend to accumulate in the surrounding tissues, typical of oedema.
2. What would be the long-term effect if the lymphatic vessels associated with a capillary
bed were to become blocked?
Ans: Fluid would accumulate in the interstitial areas (also typical of oedema), leading to
swelling.
3. What can be expected to happen to the blood pressure of a healthy individual during
inhalation?
Ans: There will be a transient decrease in the blood pressure.
ROUND TWO
SPEED RACE
1. Both phosphorus and nitrogen belong to the same group of the periodic table. However,
phosphorus forms pentahalides but nitrogen does not. Why?
Ans: Although Nitrogen and Phosphorus belong to the same group, Phosphorus has
unfilled d- orbitals, but Nitrogen does not. As a result, the electrons in Phosphorus can be
promoted to the d- orbitals in the formation of molecules like PCl5.
2. A vessel contains 1.20 moles of oxygen gas, 1.40 moles of Argon gas and 2.40 moles of
Neon gas at a total pressure of 40.0 kPa. What mass of nitrogen gas must be added to this
vessel at the same temperature to increase the total pressure to 45.0 kPa?
Ans: 17.5g
3. What is the atomic number of the element in period 5 and group 17 of the periodic table?
Ans: 53.
4. For what values of k will the equation 2x2 + (k – 2) x + 8 = 0 have exactly one solution?
Ans: k = 10 or k= - 6
5. Find the area of the triangle with sides 15 cm and 8 cm and the included angle of 45°
Ans:30√2 cm2
6. Find the solution set of the inequality |5x – 15| < 30
Ans: {x: -3<x<9}
7. If a bacterial cell that has a generation time of 20 minutes is placed in a suitable sterile
nutrient broth at time 0hr: what will be the total number of new cells that will be present
after 3 hours of incubation?
Ans: 511 (New cells so initial cell is excluded; 512 – 1 = 511)
8. A water molecule could move all the way through a plant from soil to root to leaf to air
and pass through a living cell only once. This living cell would be a part which of these
structures?
a. the casparian strip d. the endodermis
b. a guard cell e. the root cortex
c. the root epidermis
Ans: D. the endodermis
9. What name is given to the system of response employed when baroreceptors of the
juxtaglomerular apparatus detect an increase in systemic blood pressure?
Ans: Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System (answer should be in the correct order)
10. Name the type of lens used for the correction of astigmatism.
Ans: Cylindrical lens
11. An object is placed 15 cm from a convex spherical mirror of focal length −25 cm. How
far is the image from the vertex of the mirror?
Ans: 𝟗. 𝟒 𝐜𝐦
12. Find the magnitude of the force on each of two 5.0 μC point charges in vacuum which
are 3.0 m apart.
Ans: 𝟎. 𝟎𝟐𝟓 𝐍 = 𝟐𝟓 𝐦𝐍
ROUND FOUR
TRUE / FALSE
CHEMISTRY
SET ONE.
1. Neutron rich nuclides undergo beta decay to convert neutrons to protons to decrease
neutron-to-proton ratio. Ans: True
2. Proton rich nuclides undergo beta decay to convert neutrons to protons to increase
neutron-to-proton ratio. Ans: False
3. Proton rich nuclides undergo electron capture to increase their neutron-to-proton ratio.
Ans: True
SET TWO
1. In a series of isoelectronic ions, size decreases with increasing atomic number.
Ans: True
2. Bond angle between bonding pairs decreases as the number of lone pairs increases in a
molecule.
Ans: True
3. As the number of shared electrons between two atoms in a molecule increases, the bond
length increases.
Ans: False
PHYSICS
SET ONE
1. The effective capacitance of two capacitors in series equals the sum of the capacitances of
the capacitors. Ans: False
2. The net capacitance of two capacitors in parallel equals the sum of the capacitances of the
capacitors. Ans: True
3. The net capacitance of two equal capacitors in series equals half the capacitance of one of
them. Ans: True
SET TWO
1. The inertia of a moving object slows down the object unless an external force acts on the
object. Ans: False
2. The inertia of a moving object is the force needed to stop the motion of the object.
Ans: False
3. The inertia of a stationary object is zero. Ans: False
BIOLOGY
SET ONE
Preamble: You are suffering from Streptococcus throat infection. State whether the following
are true or false with respect to the characteristics you share in common with the
bacterium.
1. You both belong to the same domain Ans: False
2. You are both made up of cells. Ans: True
3. You both have genetic material in your nucleus.
Ans: False (the bacteria don’t have nucleus)
SET TWO
Preamble: State if the following are true or false with respect to the observations made by
Charles Darwin.
1. Individuals in a population vary in their traits Ans: True
2. A population avoids competition by producing only as many offsprings as can successfully
reproduce on their own. Ans: False
3. Many of the traits in an individual are heritable. Ans: True
MATHS
SET ONE
1. The limit of ‘n’ approaches infinity of the fraction 7-2n/5n is -2/5. Ans: True
2. The limit of ‘n’ approaches infinity of the fraction n3-2/n2 is 0. Ans: False
3. The limit of ‘n’ approaches infinity of the fraction (-2)n . n /4+n is infinity. Ans: True
SET TWO
Preamble: Given the statement, ’If it is raining, then the streets are wet’
1. Then the converse is ‘If the streets are wet, then it is raining’. Ans: True
2. Then the inverse is ‘If it is not raining, then the streets are not wet’. Ans: True
3. Then the contrapositive is ‘If the streets are not wet, then it is not raining. Ans: True
ROUND FIVE
RIDDLES
Q1.
I am a chemical element.
I am the seventh most abundant element in the Milky way and Solar System.
Under standard conditions, I am a colourless, odourless diatomic gas.
Other elements in my group, as well as myself, are regarded as pnictogens.
I am the lightest member of group 15 on the periodic table and have an atomic number of 7.
Who am I? Ans: Nitrogen
Q2.
I am a model in physics
I am also a physical quantity
I am used to explain the influences that a massive body extends into space around itself
I can be defined with a well-known law which is used in calculating my magnitude
I represent the force per unit mass on any object at that point in space.
If I am the field where two bodies exert a force on each other as a result of their masses,
who am I? ANS: Gravitational Field
Q3.
I am named after the Greek word meaning “oval”
I am a shape, a curve, and a flattened circle’s kin
Two foci I possess, where points within the sum of distances to them remains the same.
I am often used in architecture and design
I have two axes of symmetry
My equation involves the square of x and y
My eccentricity is between 0 and 1
Who am I? Ans: An ellipse
Q4.
I am a term used widely in genetics
I am derived from a Greek word meaning reciprocal or parallel
I am not the gene though some people confuse me with it
However, I am the alternate versions of a gene
I may be dominant or recessive
Who am I? Ans: Allele
