Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)

Science Department – Y4 IP Physics 2022

Name : ______________________________ ( ) Date : _______________

Class: 4.__________ Marks: _______ /

16C Further Practice DC circuits/Series and Parallel Circuits)

Section B (Optional)
1 In the circuit shown below, a 12 V battery of negligible internal resistance is
connected to a potentiometer, X, of total resistance 100 Ω. Filament lamps L1 and L2,
each marked “6.0 V, 18 W”, are connected as shown with the sliding contact
positioned so that the resistance of X is equally divided between L1 and L2.

R tot I tot ? 100 ohm

P = VI A1 When switch closed, and slider at
V? 1 middle , cal R tot.
A2 A4
I?
P? 1 Lamp and X are parallel
A3
1 R tot = ( 50 * 2.0) / (50+2.0) +
( 50 * 2.0) / (50+2.0)

3.85 ohm
a) Calculate the resistance of each lamp when operating normally. [2]

Rtot inc I tot will decreases ,

( 50 * 2.0) / (50+2.0) + 50

b) Switch, S, is closed. Explain whether you would expect lamp L1 to light with
its normal brightness. [1]

Yes. With S closed, L1 will be normally lit as there will be 6 V across its
terminals
 c) Discuss the effect on the brightness of lamp L1 of opening the switch.
[2]

Effective resistance will be increased.

As pd. across L1 reduced , L1 will be dimmer.

2 A circuit set up in Fig 2.1 was designed as a light detector. Y has resistance of
20 K. Device X has a practically infinite resistance and sounds an alarm when
the potential difference across P and Q rises above a critical value. Z is a light
dependent resistor (LDR) whose resistance R depends on the light intensity
incident on the resistor in the manner as shown in the graph in Fig 2.2.

6.0 V

X
Z

P Q
Y
20 KΩ
Fig. 2.1
R

Light intensity
Fig. 2.2

a) Explain why the effective resistance between points P and Q is effectively the
same as that of resistor Y. [2]

The resistance of X is so large that most of the current bypasses X. So when a

p.d. is applied across PQ, the current flowing through P Q is almost the same as
when X is not connected in parallel, hence is the effective resistance is
effectively that of Y.
Or
1/R = 1/Rx + 1/RY. Since 1/Rx is almost = 0, then
R is approximately = RY

b) Given that the resistance of Z is 100 K in a dark room, calculate the p.d. across
PQ. [2]
VPQ = 6.0 x [20000/(100000 + 20000)]
2
 = 1.0 V
c) The system was originally designed for the alarm to be sounded when the light
intensity falls below a certain value. Explain whether the circuit will work as
planned. [2]
As the light intensity decreases, the resistance of Z increases. This means
that the p.d. across PQ decreases and has no chance to rise beyond the value
which would cause X to trigger the alarm.
d) Suggest a simple modification for the circuit to work as planned. [1]

Connect X in parallel with Z instead

3 The figure below shows a LDR connected in circuit with 9.0 V dry cell. A voltmeter
is connected across the LDR. The value of fixed resistor is 500 k Ω.

a) Calculate the reading on the voltmeter, when

(i) When no light falls on it, resistance of LDR is 900 kΩ. [2]

(i) V=( RLDR/RLDR+ R)Vin =[ ] 9.0 = 5.8 V

[2]

(ii) When bright light is shone, resistance of LDR is 100 Ω.

V=( RLDR/RLDR+ R) =[ ]9.0 = 1.8 x 10-3 V

b) Explain one modification to the above circuit to increase the sensitivity to [1]
changes in incident light.

For maximum sensitivity, the resistance of R and the LDR should be

about the same order of magnitude. If R is much smaller or much
larger than the resistance of the LDR, the sensitivity is reduced.
Decreasing R is not an acceptable answer.

3
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