KeMU 1st Trimester 2022

KENYA METHODIST UNIVERSITY

END OF 1ST TRIMESTER 2022 (FT) EXAMINATION
SCHOOL : SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT : PURE AND APPLIED SCIENCES
UNIT CODE : PHYS 205
UNIT TITLE : MODERN PHYSICS
TIME : 2 HOURS

INSTRUCTIONS
 Attempt Question One and any other Two Questions.

The following constants may be useful:

Speed of light c = 3.0 × 108 m/s
Planck’s constant h = 6.63 × 10-34 Js
Mass of an electron me = 9.11 × 10-31 kg
Wien’s Constant = 2.90 × 10-3 mK
1 u = 1.660559 × 10-27 Kg
Mass of 226Ra = 226.02540u
Mass of He = 4.00260u
1 electron-volt = 1.6 × 10-19 J
Mass of a proton mp = 1.67 × 10-27 kg
Mass of a neutron mn = 1.67 × 10-27 kg
Rydberg Constant, RH = 1.097 × 107 m-1
Stefan- Boltzmann constant σ = 5.67 × 10-8 Wm2K-4
Mass of 222Rn = 222.017574u

Question One - [10 Marks]

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 KeMU 1st Trimester 2022
A. Which of the following statements are characteristic of an alpha particle?
I. It is positively charged.
II. It has no mass or charge.
III. It's symbol is .
IV. It has poor penetrating ability.
A I only
B II only
C III only
D I and IV only
E II and IV only
Question Two
Which of the following statements in problem 1 are characteristic of gamma rays?
A I only
B II only
C III only
D I and IV only
E II and IV only
Question Three
Which of the following are true about beta decay?
I. It results in an atom with a smaller atomic number.
II. It results in the emission of an electron.
III. It results in an atom with one less neutron
IV. It results in an atom with one more proton.
A I only
B II only
C II and III only
D I, II, and IV only
E II, III, and IV only

Question Four
226
88 Ra undergoes alpha decay. What would be the products of this reaction?
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 KeMU 1st Trimester 2022
4 230
A He and
2 90 Th
B 42He and 222
86 Rn

C 01e and226
89 Ac

D 01e and226
87 Fr

E None of these are correct.

Question Five
234
92 U undergoes beta decay. What would be the products of this reaction?
A42He +230
92 Th

B 42He +238
96 Cm

C −10e +234
93 Np

D −10e +234
91 Pa

E None of these are correct.

Question Six
14
6 C has a half-life of 5730 years how many grams of a 4.0 g sample would be left after 3.5 half-
lives?
A 1.0 g
B 0.50 g
C 0.38 g
D 0.35 g
E None would be left.
Question Seven
Using the half-life listed above (Q 6), how many years would it take the 4.0 g sample to decay to
0.25 g?
A 4 years
B 5730 years
C 11700 years
D 17200 years
E None of these are right.

Question Eight
Compared to the parent nucleus, the daughter of a β – decay has
A. the same mass number but a greater atomic number
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 KeMU 1st Trimester 2022
B. the same mass number but a smaller atomic number
C. a smaller mass number but the same atomic number
D. a greater mass number but the same atomic number
E. None of the above
Question Nine
The reaction (Q8) is an example of what type of radioactive decay?
A. alpha
B. β–
C. β+
D. electron capture
E. gamma
Question Ten
Tungsten-176 has a half-life of 2.5 hours. After how many hours will the disintegration rate of a
tungsten-176 sample drop to its initial value?
A. 5
B. 8.3
C. 10
D. 12.5
E. 25

Question One - B - [20 Marks]

a) Compute the de-Broglie wavelength of a photon whose kinetic energy is equal to
the rest mass of an electron. Take the mass of a photon to be 1836 times the mass
of the electron. [5 Marks]
b) Calculate the Balmer series wavelength of the second member. [5 Marks]
c) 100g of radioactive Radom material is kept in store for 16.43 days. Calculate how much of
the material is remaining if its half-life is 3.8 days. [4 Marks]

d) During Rutherford’s on artificial disintegration of nitrogen by bombardment with particles,

the following reaction takes place:
14 4 17 1
7 N + 2He → 8O+ 1 H +Q

Calculate the disintegration energy Q of the process.

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14 4 17 1
(Take N =14.007515 u ; He =4.003837 u ; O=17.004533 u and H =1.008142 u)
7 2 8 1

[6 Marks]
Question Two - [20 Marks]
a) Show that radii of Bohr’s orbit are proportional to the square of the orbital n2
[5 Marks]
b) Calculate the radius of the first, second and third Bohr’s orbit radius
[15 Marks]
Question Three - [20 Marks]
a) Briefly state the observed results that truly reflect the characteristics of photoelectric effect
on a metal [4 Mark])
b) Sodium has a work function of 2.3eV. calculate:
i) Its threshold frequency [6 Marks]
ii) The maximum velocity of the photoelectrons produced when the sodium is
illuminated by light of wavelength 5x10-7m [5 Marks]
c) A sample of a radioactive material contains 10 8 atoms. The half-life of the material is 2000
days. Calculate the fraction remaining after 5000 days. [5 Marks]
Question Four – [20 Marks]
235
Calculate the energy released when 10kg of 92 u undergoes fission according to:
235 1 141 92
92 u+ 0 n→ 56 Ba+ 36 Kr+3 10 n
235 141 92
(Mass of 92 u = 235.04u, of 56 Ba =140.91u, of 36 Kr = 91.91u, of10 n =1.01u, 1u=932Mev,
NA=6.02x1023Mol-1) [20 Marks]

Question Five – [20 Marks]

a. A photon in the light of frequency 2x1015HZ falls on a material whose work function is
2.28eV. calculate
i) Energy in the photon. [2 Marks]
ii) Maximum kinetic energy of the liberated electrons. [3 Marks]
iii) The threshold frequency of the material used [3 Marks]

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 KeMU 1st Trimester 2022
iv) Stopping potential required to stop the electrons from reaching the anode
[3 Marks]
-4
b. A honeybee (mass=1.3x10 kg) is crawling at a speed of 0.020m/s. What is the de Broglie
wavelength of the bee? [4 Marks]
c. The space craft is moving past the earth at a constant speed v=0.92C. The astronant measure
the time interval between successive “ticks” of the space clock to be Δto=1.0 sec. What is the
time interval Δt that an earth observer measures between “ticks” of the astronant’s clock.
[5 Marks]

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