PSSP1112

Section A
[25 marks]
Answer all questions.
1. Which physical quantity has the correct S.I. unit?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Physical quantity
Temperature
Time
Mass
Length

S.I unit
Celcius
minutes
Newton
metre

2. Which of the following is a unit for a base quantity?

A. Joule
B. Minute

C. Newton
D. Ampere

3. Energy = force x distance. The unit for force is kg ms-2 and the unit for distance is m, what is
the derived unit for energy?
A. kgms-2
B. kgm2 s-2

C. kgm2s2
D. kgm-1s-2

4. The capacity of a container is the maximum volume of liquid it can contain. The labels for
three containers are given below.
5 x 10-5 m3
5 dm3
500 cm3
Which of the following lists of capacities are arranged in ascending order?
A.
B.
C.
D.

5 x 10-5 m3, 5 dm3, 500 cm3

500 cm3, 5 dm3, 5 x 10-5 m3
5 dm3, 500 cm3 , 5 x 10-5 m3
5 x 10-5 m3, 500 cm3, 5 dm3

5. Which of the following values is equal to 470 pF?

A. 4.7 x 10-10 F
B. 4.7 x 10-7 F

C. 4.7 x 102 F
D. 4.7 x 1011 F
6. 500 micrograms is equivalent to
A.
B.
C.
D.

5 x 10-6 grams
5 x 10-5 grams
5 x 10-4 grams
5 x 10-3 grams

7. The volume of a container is 20 m3 which is the same as

A. 2 x 102 cm3
B. 2 x 106 cm3

C. 2 x 107 cm3
D. 2 x 108 cm3
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8. Which statement is correct about a scalar quantity and a vector quantity?
A.
B.
C.
D.

A scalar quantity has direction only

A vector quantity has magnitude only
A scalar quantity has magnitude and direction
A vector quantity has magnitude and direction

9. Which quantity is a vector quantity?

A. Area
B. Length

C.
D.

Distance
Displacement

10. Which of the following is a complete description of the velocity of a car?

A. 35 ms-1
B. To the North
C. 35 ms-1 to the North
11. Which measurement is the longest?
A.
B.
C.
D.

2.68 x 103 m
2.68 x 10-1 mm
2.68 x 103 cm
2.68 x 10-4 m

12. Which of the following shows the prefixes in ascending order correctly?
A.
B.
C.
D.

mega, giga, mili, micro

micro, mili, giga, mega
mega, giga, micro, mili
micro, mili, mega, giga

13. What does the prefix nano stand for?

A.
B.
C.
D.

10-12
10-9
10-6
109

14. Which measuring tool is the most sensitive?

A.

C.

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D.

B.

15. A, B, C and D show parts of four different balance scales. Which balance is the most sensitive?

16. The following are three readings P, Q and R obtained by three different measuring instruments.
P = 1.15 cm
Q = 1.89 mm
R = 4.20 cm
What measuring instrument was used to measure P, Q and R?
P
Q
A. Vernier caliper
Micrometer screw gauge
B. Micrometer screw gauge
Vernier caliper
C. Micrometer screw gauge
Metre rule
D. Vernier caliper
Metre rule
17. Diagram 1 shows a measuring instrument.

R
Metre rule
Metre rule
Vernier caliper
Metre rule

Diagram 1
The part labelled X is used for measuring the
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A.
B.
C.
D.

internal diameter of a tube

external diameter of a tube
depth of a hole
thickness of a cardboard

18. Diagram 2 shows a part of the scales on a pair of vernier callipers.

Diagram 2
What is the correct reading?
A. 6.96 cm
B. 6.97 cm

C.
D.

6.95 cm
6.98 cm

19. Diagram 3 shows the scale of a micrometer screw gauge.

Diagram 3
What is the reading of the micrometer?
A. 4.28 mm
C. 4.78 mm
B. 4.32 mm
D. 4.82 mm
20. Diagram 4 shows a micrometer screw gauge.

Diagram 4
The name and function of the part labelled Z is

A.

Name
Anvil

Function
To increase the precision of the measurement
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B.
C.
D.

Ratchet
Thimble
Sleeve

To prevent excessive pressure on the sample

To improve the accuracy of the reading
To reduce random errors in the measurement

21. Diagram 5 show a micrometer screw gauge used to measure the diameter of a glass rod.

Diagram 5
What is the diameter of the glass rod?
A. 12.25 mm
B. 12.23 mm

D.

C. 12.73 mm
12.75 mm

22. Green light travels at a speed of 300 000 000 ms-1. Express the value in standard form.
A.
B.
C.
D.

3.0 x 107 ms-1

3.0 x 108 ms-1
3.0 x 109 ms-1
3.0 x 106 ms-1

23. Diagram 6 shows the scale of a micrometer screw gauge.

Diagram 6
What is the reading of the micrometer screw gauge?
A. 6.20 mm
B. 6.30 mm

C.
D.

6.52 mm
6.53 mm
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24. In a rifle shooting competition, Dina was eliminated from the competition because her shots
were not accurate even though they were consistent. Which target board below shows the shots
made by Dina?

25. Which of the following statements about zero error is true?

A.
B.
C.
D.

Can be reduced by finding the average reading.

Exists in either positive value or negative value.
Increases when the range of the scale is larger.
Increases when the value of the reading is larger.

Section B
[40 marks]
Answer all questions.
26. Table 1 shows three quantities and their corresponding units.
Physical Quantity
Length, l
Temperature, T
Time, t
Mass, m
Volume, V
Velocity, v

Unit
metre

Unit Symbol
m

Table 1
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(a) (i)

Complete Table 1 by filling in the missing items.

[10 marks]

(ii)

What is meant by derived quantity?

__________________________________________________________________
[1 mark]

27. Diagram 7.1 shows the instance an airplane lands on a runway. The moment the airplanes
wheels touch the runway; its speed is 160 km h-1.

speed = 160 km h-1

runway
Diagram 7.1
(a)

What is the magnitude of the speed in SI unit?

[3 marks]
(b) The frequency at which a radio station broadcasts one of its programmes is 108 MHz.
Express this frequency in terms of Hz. State your answer in standard form.

[2 marks]
(c) Diagram 7.2 shows a rectangle.
12 cm
15 cm
Diagram 7.2
Determine the area of this rectangle in m2.
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[4 marks]
(d) Diagram 7.3 shows a box with dimensions 6 m x 4 m x 2 m.

Diagram 7.3
What is the volume of the box, in cm3?

[4 marks]
28. Diagram 8.1 and Diagram 8.2 show two instruments used by students in a laboratory.

Diagram 8.1

Diagram 8.2

(a) What is the sensitivity of the instrument in Diagram 8.1?

_______________________________________________________________________
[1 mark]
(b) What is the sensitivity of the instrument in Diagram 8.2?
_______________________________________________________________________
[1 mark]
(c) Based on the instruments in Diagram 8.1 and Diagram 8.2,
(i)

Which instrument is more sensitive?

___________________________________________________________________
[1 mark]
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(ii)

(d)

State one reason for your answer.

___________________________________________________________________
[1 mark]

The diameter of a cardboard was measured with a vernier caliper. The zero error
position and the reading while the pipe was being measured are shown in the diagram
below.

Diagram 8.3

Diagram 8.4

(i) What is the zero error shown in Diagram 8.3?

___________________________________________________________________
[1 mark]
(ii)
(iii)

(e)

What is the reading shown in Diagram 8.4?

___________________________________________________________________
[1 mark]
What is the diameter of a cardboard?
___________________________________________________________________
[1 mark]

The thickness of 10 pieces of paper was measured with a micrometer screw gauge. The
readings are shown in Diagram 8.5 and Diagram 8.6.

Diagram 8.5

Diagram 8.6

(i) What is the zero error in Diagram 8.5?

___________________________________________________________________
[1 mark]
(ii)

What is the reading on the micrometer scale in Diagram 8.6?

___________________________________________________________________
[1 mark]

(iii)

Determine the thickness of the 10 pieces of paper.

___________________________________________________________________
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[1 mark]
(iv)

What is the thickness of each paper?

___________________________________________________________________
[1 mark]

29. Four students each made a series of measurements of the length of book. Table 2 shows the
result they obtained.
Student
1
9.46 m
8.46 m
9.82 m
9.82 m

P
Q
R
S

Results: length (m)

2
3
9.20 m
8.98 m
8.51 m
8.42 m
10.09 m
9.87 m
9.78 m
9.85 m

4
8.77 m
8.45 m
8.93 m
9.79 m

Table 2
(a) What is meant by precise?
_______________________________________________________________________
[1 mark]
(b) If the actual value length of the book is 9.81, which student obtained a set of results that
could be described as
(i)

Precise and accurate?

___________________________________________________________________
[1 mark]
Reason
___________________________________________________________________
[1 mark]

(ii)

Precise but not accurate?

___________________________________________________________________
[1 mark]
Reason
___________________________________________________________________
[1 mark]
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END OF QUESTIONS

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