TERM 2 CHAPTER 1&2

PAST YEAR QUESTIONS (OBJECTIVE /STRUCTURE/ESSAY)

1. A hollow metallic sphere with radius R is given a positive charge. Which of the following
graphs represents the variation of the electric potential V with the distance r from the
sphere’s centre?

2. Which of the following physical quantities has a zero value on the surface of an isolated
charged conductor?
A Electric potential on the surface.
B Current flowing on the surface.
C Work done in transferring charge along the surface.
D Electric field on the surface.

3. A 4 C charge is brought from infinity to a point X in an electric field, required for this
process is 20 J. Hence, the electric potential at X is
A 5V
B 10V
C 15V
D 20V

4. A circuit consists of a 4 pF capacitor (initially uncharged), a 50 kQ resistor, a switch and

a 150 V battery connected in series. When the switch is closed, the initial current is
A0 C 2 mA
B 1 mA D 3 Ma

5. A capacitor of 240 μF capacitance is charged to a potential difference of 100 V and then

connected across a discharge tube where a current flows until the potential difference
drops to 50 V. Energy dissipated in the tube is
A 0.3 J C 0.9 J
B 0.6 J D 1.8 J
TERM 2 CHAPTER 1&2

6. A parallel plate capacitor is discharged in air. It is then separated electrically and immersed
in a liquid dielectric. Which of the following is true?
Capacitance Potential difference
A Constant Constant
B Increase Decrease
C Decrease Increase
D Increase Increase

7. A 50 μF capacitor is charged and then discharged through a 5 k𝜴 resistor. The ratio of

capacito r ' s charge after 1 second

is
capacito r ' s initial charge
1
A 0.5 C
e
B 2 D e-4
8. A 4 μF capacitor and another 8 μF capacitor which are both uncharged initially is connected
in series with a 10 V battery. What are the charges on the capacitors?
4 μF capacitor 8 μF capacitor
A 27 μC 27 μC
B 18 μC 9 μC
C 9 μC 18 μC
D 9 μC 9 μC

9. A capacitor usually consists of two conductors separated by a dielectric. The capacitance

depends on
A potential difference between the conductors
B energy stored per unit area by the capacitor
C charges on the conductor
D geometry of the capacitor and the distance between the conductors

10. Three capacitors, C 1, C2 and C3 with capacitance 2 μF, 3 μF, and 4 μF respectively are
connected with a 4.5 V battery as shown in the figure below.

C1 C2 C3
A 7 μC 3 μC 4 μC
B 4 μC 7 μC 3 μC
C 3 μC 4 μC 7 μC
D 2 μC 4 μC 6 μC
TERM 2 CHAPTER 1&2

11. The following figure represents the exponential decay for the potential difference across the plates of a capacitor as it
i§ discharged across a 1MΩ resistor. Calculate the capacitance.

A 5 μF C 15 μF
B 10 μF D 20 μF

12. In the circuit shown below, switch S is at position 1 at t= 0. At t= T, the voltmeter reading
achieves V0 and switch S is switched over to position 2 at that instant.
TERM 2 CHAPTER 1&2

13. The figure below shows 2 capacitors with capacitances C1 and C2 (C1 > C2) which are
connected in series with a resistor R with a cell of of e.m.f. E

If the voltages across C1 and C2 are V1 and V 2 respectively, which of the following statements
is true?
A V1<V2 C V1 = V2 = E

E
B V1>V2 D V 1 = V2 =
2
TERM 2 CHAPTER 1&2

14. The diagram below shows three equal charges of +10 μC placed at the corners of an
equilateral triangle ABC of sides 10 cm. Find
(a) the resultant electric field
(b) the resultant potential, at the point P.

15. An oil drop having 3 fundamental charges and of mass 1.6 x 10-12 g is held at rest between
two horizontal parallel plates. The plates are 2.0 cm apart. What is the potential difference
supplied to the plates?

16. An oil droplet of mass 3.26 x 10-15 kg is held stationary by the electric field between two
parallel
horizontal plates separated 10.0 mm apart. A potential difference of 1 000 V is supplied to
the
plates with the upper plate at a higher potential. Calculate the charge on the droplet, and state
its sign.

17. (a) What is an equipotential surface?

(b) The figure below shows a positively charged spherical conductor. Copy the diagram and
sketch the lines representing the electric field strength.

(c) The sphere has a radius 3.0 cm and stored a charge of 4.0 μC. Find the electric field
strength
and the electric potential at the surface of the charged sphere.
(d)(i) Sketch, with a dotted line in your diagram to answer (b)above, the equipotential surface at
points 5.0 cm from the centre of the sphere.
(ii) What is the work done when a charge of 1.0 μC is moved 10.0 cm along the
equipotential surface? Explain your answer.

18. Explain why it is safe to stay inside a car in a lightning storm

TERM 2 CHAPTER 1&2

19. The diagram below shows an electron with speed 3.0 x 107 m s-1 entering perpendicularly an
electric field of strength of 2.0 x 104 V m-1 between a pair of parallel plates of length 5.0 cm.
(c) Find
(i) the eletric force acting on the electron.
(ii) the acceleration of the electron.
(d) At the instant when the electron emerges from the field between the plates, find
(i) the component of the velocity of the electron perperdicular to the plates.
(ii) the magnitude and direction of the velocity of the electron

20. A beam of electrons, with K.E. 500 eV, enters mid-way into the space between two
oppositely
charged parallel plates, as in the figure below. The plate spacing is 40 mm and its length is
100
mm. A potential difference of 100 V is connected between the plates, with the upper plate at
a
lower potential. Calculate
(a) (i) the initial velocity of the electrons,
(ii) the time taken for the electrons to emerge from the electric field between the
plates,
(b) (i) the electric field strength between the plates,
(ii) the force on the electrons
(iii)the acceleration of electrons downwards
(iv)the deflection y of the electrons at the point where they emerge from the field.
TERM 2 CHAPTER 1&2

21. The graph shows the variation of the charge stored on a capacitor with potential difference across it.

Calculate
(a) the capacitance of the capacitor.
(b) the energy stored in the capacitor when it is charged to a potential difference of 10.0 V.

22. A flash gun stores energy in a 1000 μF capacitor. During discharge, the capacitor supplies an
average power of 1.5 x 102 W for 3.0 x 10-5 s.

(a) What is the energy stored in the capacitor?

(b) What is the potential difference across the capacitor before it is discharged?

23. An air capacitor is constructed with two parallel plates separated at a distance 0.1 mm. The
charge stored on each plate is 0.05 pC when a potential difference of 100 V is supplied. The
maximum electric field strength that can exist between the plates before the insulation of the
air breaks down is 1.20 x 10*' V m"1.
(a) What is the capacitance of the capacitor?
(b) What is the area of each plate?
(c) What is the maximum potential difference supplied to the capacitor without the dielectric
breaking down?

24. A capacitor of 150 pF is to be constructed from two metal plates of area 0.50 m x 0.30 m.
The
dielectric between the plates has a relative permittivity of 3.0.
(e) Find the separation between the plates.
(f) If a potential difference of 12 V is applied across the capacitor, what is the electric field
strength between the plates?
TERM 2 CHAPTER 1&2

25. The diagram shows a battery connected to a combination of three capacitors. The potential difference
across the 0.010 μF capacitor is 20 V.
(a) What is the charge stored on each capacitor?
(b) What is the e.m.f. of the battery?

26. The diagram below shows a combination of capacitors. A 20 V supply is connected to the
combination.

Calculate
(a) the charge on each of the capacitor,
(b) the energy stored in each capacitor,
(c) the potential difference across each capacitor.

27. In the circuit below, the switch S, is closed at time t = 0. After some time t v the switch S, is opened
and
the switch S2 is then closed. Sketch a graph showing the variation of the charge Q stored in the
capacitor
versus time.
TERM 2 CHAPTER 1&2

28.

The circuit above shows a battery connected to an uncharged capacitor C, a resistor R and a switch S.
From the instant the switch S is closed, sketch a graph of
(a) potential difference across the capacitor against time
(b) current in the circuit against time.
Show another graph on the same axes the effect of increasing either C or R.

29. A 20 μF capacitor is connected in series with a 10 kQ resistor, a switch and a 10.0 V battery. The
capacitor is initially uncharged. Calculate
(a) (i) the current flowing at the instant the switch is closed
(ii) the total energy- supplied by the battery in charging the capacitor.
(iii) the energy stored in the capacitor.
(b) Account for the difference between the energy supplied by the battery and the energy stored in the
capacitor.

30. A 10.0 V battery is connected in series with a capacitor C and a resistor R as shown below.
TERM 2 CHAPTER 1&2

(a) Sketch a graph of the potential difference VR across R against time.

(b) Estimate, from the graph, the time at which Vc = VR
(c) (i) What is the name given for the quantity RC in the graph of Vc against time? State its unit.
(ii) Copy a sketch of the graph above and sketch another graph to show how the Vc varies with time
when the quantity RC is increased. Label your graph.