Physical and Mathematical Constants You May Need:

Physical constants you may need Value

Magnitude of charge on electron, e −1.60 × 10−19 C
Mass of electron, me 9.11 × 10−31 kg
Mass of proton, mp 1.67 × 10−27 kg
Mass of neutron, mn 1.67 × 10−27 kg
Speed of light in free space, c 3.00 × 108 m/s
Speed of sound in dry air at 0◦ C 331 m/s
Permittivity of free space, ϵ0 8.85 × 10−12 C2 /N·m2
Permeability of free space, µ0 4π × 10−7 T·m/A
Acceleration due to gravity at sea level, g 9.81 m/s2
Planck’s constant, h 6.626 × 10−34 J·s
Universal gravitational constant, G 6.674 × 10−11 N·m2 /kg2
Boltzmann’s constant, k 1.38 × 10−23 J/K
Stefan’s constant, σ 5.67 × 10−8 W/m2 K4
Avogadro’s number, N 6.022 × 1023 /mol

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Astronomical unit (AU) 1.496 × 1011 m
3.086 × 1016 m

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Parsec (pc)
Light year 9.461 × 1015 m

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Solar mass, M⊙ 1.989 × 1030 kg
Solar radius, R⊙ 6.96 × 108 m
Solar luminosity, L⊙
R 3.828 × 1026 W
Hubble constant, H0 70 km/s/Mpc
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Table 1: Physical constants
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 PART-A1 Learning Overland + QOTD - Yodha Test Series

MOCK OF NATIONAL STANDARD EXAMINATION IN ASTRONOMY (NSEA - 2024)

Multiple Choice Questions:

ASTRONOMY:

1. Question: The mass of a star is 10 times the mass of the Sun. What is the expected end state of
this star?
(a)White dwarf (b)Neutron star (c)Black hole (d)Red giant
2. Question: Which celestial coordinate corresponds to the angular distance from the celestial equa-
tor?
(a)Right Ascension (b)Declination (c)Ecliptic Latitude (d)Azimuth
3. Question: Which of the following planets has the shortest orbital period around the Sun?
(a)Venus (b)Venus (c)Earth (d)Mars

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4. Question: Kepler’s second law, the law of equal areas, implies that:

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(a)Planets move faster when closer to the Sun. (b)Planets move slower when closer to the Sun.
(c)The orbit is perfectly circular. (d)The distance between planets remains constant.

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5. Question: Which of these is not a dwarf planet in the Solar System?
(a)Pluto R (b)Haumea (c)Eris (d)Europa
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6. Question: In which constellation is the star Polaris located?
(a)Ursa Major (b)Ursa Minor (c)Cassiopeia (d) Orion
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7. Question: A planet’s speed at perihelion compared to its speed at aphelion is:

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(a)Greater (b)Smaller (c)The same (d)Unrelated

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8. Question: Calculate the escape velocity from the surface of Mars, given the radius RM ars =
2
3.4 × 106 m and gM ars = 3.7 m/s .
(a)5.0 km/s (b)11.2 km/s (c)6.8 km/s (d)4.9 km/s
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9. Question: The orbital speed of a satellite orbiting Earth at a distance 3RE from the center of Earth
(where RE is Earth’s radius) is approximately: √
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(a) √ 3
km/s (b)7.9 km/s (c) 7.9
3 km/s (d) 3 × 7.9 km/s

10. Question: For a telescope with an objective of diameter 1 m, what is the angular resolution in
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arcseconds if observing at a wavelength of 500 nm?

(a)0.12 arcsec (b)0.05 arcsec (c)1.22 arcsec (d)0.02 arcsec
11. Question: If the semi-major axis of a planet’s orbit is 4 AU, what is the orbital period in Earth
years according to Kepler’s third law ?
(a)2 years (b)4 years (c)8 years (d)16 years
12. Question: The retrograde motion of Mars is best explained by:
(a)Mars moving in an elliptical orbit. (b)The Earth overtaking Mars in its orbit. (c)Mars slowing
down in its orbit. (d)Gravitational perturbations from Jupiter.

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 MATHEMATICS:
13. Question: Let A be a 3x3 matrix such that A3 − 3A + 2I = 0, where I is the identity matrix. What
is the inverse of A?
(a)A2 − 3I (b)A − I (c)2A − I (d) 3A2 − 2I

14. Question:
√ letf (x) = x2 + 2x + 1.√Find the inverse function f −1
√ (x). √
(a) x − 1 (b) x + 1 (c) x − 1 (d) x + 1
R1 1
P∞ 1
15. Question: If 0 xn dx = n+1 , what is the value of n=1 n(n+1) ?
1
(a)1 (b)0.5 (c)ln(2) (d) 3

16. Question: Let z = 1 + i. Compute |z|√2 + arg(z).

(a)1 + π4 (b) 2 (c)2 (d) 12
dy
17. Question: Find the general solution of the differential equation dx + y = x2 .
−x −x
(a)y = Ce + x 2 2
(b)y = Ce + x + 2x + 2 (c)y = Ce + x2 − 2x
x
(d)y = Ce−x + 2x
18. Question: For what value of x is log2 x = 3?

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(a)8 (b)16 (c)32 (d)64

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19. Question: The area of a triangle with vertices at (0, 0), (1, 0), and (0, 1) is:

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(a)1 (b)0.5 (c)2 (d)1.5 )
20. Question: The sum of the series 1 + 2 + 3 + · · · + 100 is:
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(a)5050 (b)5000 (c)5100 (d)5150
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21. Question: If sin θ = 53 , what is cos θ?
(a) 54 (b) 35 (c) 51 9
(d) 25
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22. Question: The equation x2 + y 2 = 1 represents:
(a)A parabola (b)An ellipse (c)A circle (d)A hyperbola
23. Question: Solve for x in the equation: cos(2x) = 12 .
(a) π6 (b) π3 (c) π3 (d) π2

24. Question: The sum of the first n terms of an arithmetic series is given by Sn = 3n2 + 5n. Find the
10th term.
(a)65 (b)75 (c)85 (d)95
25. Question: Find the coefficient of x3 in the expansion of (2 + 3x)5 .
(a)270 (b)540 (c)810 (d)1080
3 12
26. Question: If sin(A) = 5 and cos(B) = 13 , find sin(A + B).
(a) 56
65 (b) 33
65
56
(c) 169 33
(d) 169
27. Question: The standard deviation of a set of data is 5. If each data point is increased by 3, what
is the new standard deviation?
(a)2 (b)5 (c)8 (d)15

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28. Question: A fair die is rolled three times. What is the probability of getting at least one 6?

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(a) 216 (b) 125
216
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(c) 1296 125
(d) 1296

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29. Question: If log10 (2) = 0.3010 and log10 (3) = 0.4771, find the value of log10 (72).
(a)1.8571 (b)1.8572 (c)1.8573 (d)1.8574
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30. Question: Evaluate the double integral 0 0 y dy dx.
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(a) 21 (b) 16 (c) 1 (d) 13
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 PHYSICS
31. Question: In an elastic collision, which of the following quantities is conserved?
(a)Kinetic energy only (b)Momentum only (c)Both momentum and kinetic energy (d)Neither
momentum nor kinetic energy

32. Question: The escape velocity of a body from Earth is approximately:

(a)11.2 km/s (b)8.9 km/s (c)5.2 km/s (d)2.9 km/s
33. Question: The angular velocity of a rotating object is related to the tangential velocity by:
(a)ω = r · v (b)v = r · ω (c)ω = vr (d)ω = 1
v·r

34. Question: For a star where the equation

 
1 d dy
x2 + yn = 0
x2 dx dx

is the governing equation for a crude model for the Lane-Emden star treated as a sphere of gas
with a polytropic equation of state. The differential equation admits exact solutions for polytropic

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index n = 0 and n = 1 as y(x) = 1 − x6 and y(x) = sinx x .

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The value of x = x0 is such that y(x0 ) = 0 defines the surface of the star.

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R = x0
R
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ρcentral 3 3 3 8 4 4
= R x0 2 2
= R  = R x0 2
= = πR−1 = πx−1
⟨ρ⟩average y x dx/x3 x0 x2 2 2 sin xx 2 dx/x3 π 3 3 0
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0 0
0
1 − 6 x dx/x0 0 0
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The ratio R−1 for n = 0, 1 are: √

3
(a) π1 (b) π6 x
(d) 8π1 2
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(c) √
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35. Question: A body of mass 2 kg is subjected to a force of 10 N. What is the acceleration produced?
(a)0.2 m/s² (b)2 m/s² (c)5 m/s² (d)10 m/s²
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36. Question: A projectile is fired at an angle of 30 degrees with an initial velocity of 50 m/s. What
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is the maximum height reached by the projectile?

(a)31.25 m (b)63.5 m (c)125 m (d)100 m
37. Question: A disc of radius R and mass M rotates with an angular velocity ω. What is the total
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kinetic energy of the disc?

(a) 21 M R2 ω 2 (b) 14 M R2 ω 2 (c) 12 Iω 2 , where I is the moment of inertia of the disc (d) 41 Iω 2
38. Question: A block of mass m is pushed up an incline with an angle θ. If the coefficient of friction
between the block and the incline is µ, what is the minimum force required to push the block
upwards?
(a)mg(sin θ + µ cos θ) (b)mg(cos θ − µ sin θ) (c)mg(sin θ − µ cos θ) (d)mg(µ sin θ + cos θ)
2
39. Question: A particle moving in a circular path has a centripetal acceleration given by ac = 4 m/s .
If the radius of the path is 2 m, what is the speed of the particle?
(a)2 m/s (b)4 m/s (c)8 m/s (d)16 m/s

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40. Question: A satellite orbits the Earth at a height where the gravitational acceleration is 4 m/s . If
the radius of the Earth is 6.4 × 106 m, what is the height of the satellite above the Earth’s surface?
(a)200 km (b)800 km (c)1600 km (d)3200 km

41. Question: A point mass is located at a distance r from the axis of a rotating body with moment of
inertia I. The rotational kinetic energy of the body is 12 Iω 2 . What is the corresponding tangential
velocity of the mass?
(a)rω (b) Ir ω (c) 12 rω 2 (d)Iω 2
42. Question: A ring of radius R and mass M is rotating about its diameter. The moment of inertia
of the ring about its diameter is:
(a)M R2 (b) 21 M R2 (c)2M R2 (d) 41 M R2
43. Question: A rotating platform has an initial angular velocity of 2 rad/s and is subjected to a
2
constant angular acceleration of 0.5 rad/s . How long will it take to reach an angular velocity of
10 rad/s?
(a)8 seconds (b)10 seconds (c)12 seconds (d)16 seconds

44. Question: A pendulum of length l has a period T when oscillating in a small angle approximation.

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If the length of the pendulum is quadrupled, how will the period change?

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(a)Increase by a factor of 2 (b)Decrease by a factor of 2 (c)Increase by a factor of 4 (d)Remain
the same

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45. Question: A capacitor of capacitance C is charged to a potential difference V . The energy stored
in the capacitor is: R
(a) 12 CV 2 (b)CV 2 (c) 12 C 2 V (d)CV
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46. Question: In a thermodynamic process, a system absorbs 500 J of heat and does 200 J of work.
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According to the first law of thermodynamics, what is the change in internal energy of the system?
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(a)300 J (b)500 J (c)200 J (d)700 J

47. Question: A parallel plate capacitor is connected to a battery of voltage V . If the distance between
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the plates is doubled and the voltage remains constant, what happens to the electric field between
the plates?
(a)Doubles (b)Halves (c)Remains the same (d)Reduces to one-quarter
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48. Question: An object moving at a constant speed of 20 m/s in a circular path has a centripetal force
acting on it. If the radius of the circle is doubled while keeping the speed constant, the required
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centripetal force will:

(a)Double (b)Be halved (c)Be quartered (d)Remain the same
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 PART-A2
ANY NUMBER OF OPTIONS (4, 3, 2 or 1) MAY BE CORRECT (6 Marks Each)
(MARKS WILL BE AWARDED ONLY IF ALL THE CORRECT OPTIONS ARE BUBBLED
AND NO INCORRECT ) .

ASTRONOMY

49. Question: Which of the following statements are true regarding black holes?
(a)The Schwarzschild radius defines the event horizon of a non-rotating black hole. (b)Inside the
event horizon, the escape velocity exceeds the speed of light. (c)Black holes can emit radiation
from within the event horizon. (d)The singularity at the center of a black hole has infinite density.
50. Question: In a binary star system, which of the following can be used to determine the masses of
the stars?
(a)The orbital period of the stars. (b)The radial velocity curves of the stars. (c)The distance to
the binary system. (d)The luminosity of the stars.

51. Question: Which of the following are characteristics of elliptical galaxies?

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(a)They have little or no star formation. (b)They often contain older, red stars. (c)They have a

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well-defined spiral structure. (d)They contain large amounts of interstellar gas and dust.

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 MATHEMATICS

52. Question: Which of the following integrals are correct?

1 x3
(a) ex dx = ex + C (d) x2 dx =
R R R R
(b) sin xdx = − cos x + C (c) x dx = ln |x| + C 3 +C

53. Question: Which of the following matrices are invertible?

(a)A square matrix with a determinant of 0. (b)A diagonal matrix with non-zero entries on the
diagonal. (c)A triangular matrix with a zero on the diagonal. (d)A matrix with linearly
independent rows and columns.

54. Question: Which of the following sequences converge?

P∞ P∞ P∞ (−1)n P∞
(a) n=1 n12 (b) n=1 n1 (c) n=1 n (d) n=1 n2
55. Question: The true statement(s) for the function
(
sin |x|
|x| , if x ̸= 0
F (x) =
0, if x = 0

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is/are:

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(a)limx→0 F (x) does exist (b)F is differentiable at x = 0 (c)limx→0 F (x) does not exist (d)F has
removable discontinuity at x = 0

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 PHYSICS

56. Question: Which of the following statements are true regarding electric fields?
(a)The electric field inside a conductor in electrostatic equilibrium is zero. (b)The electric field
between the plates of a parallel plate capacitor is uniform. (c)The electric field due to a point
charge decreases linearly with distance. (d)The electric field is conservative.

57. Question: A and B are two van-der-Waals gases. Critical temperature of gas B is double that of
gas A. Which of the following statement/ s is / are valid?
(a) If the critical volume of gas B is double that of gas A, then their critical pressures must be
equal. (b) If the volume of molecules of B is same as that of the molecules of A, then the critical
pressure of gas B is double that of gas A. (c)If the critical volume of gas B is four time that of gas
A, then the critical pressure of gas B must be double that of gas A. (d) If the critical pressure of
gas B is four times that of gas A, then the critical volume of gas B is double that of gas A.
58. Question: Two positively charged conducting spheres A and B with Q charge on each, are placed
on the x-axis at (a, 0) and (−a, 0). A very small metallic ball with charge +q is gently placed at
the origin (midway between two spheres). The small ball with charge +q, in the middle, is:

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(a) in stable equilibrium if constrained to move only along x-axis (b) in unstable equilibrium if

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constrained to move only along x-axis (c) always in unstable equilibrium if constrained to move
only perpendicular to the x-axis (d) always in neutral equilibrium

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59. Question: Which of the following statements is correct about the electrostatic field ?
(a)Field above / below a uniform positively charged large plane would be inversely proportional to
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the distance from the plane if the force were proportional to 1/r3 (b) Field inside a
uniform positively charged circular ring in the plane of the ring would be zero if the electrostatic
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force were proportional to 1/r. (c)Field in the plane of a uniform positively
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charged disc would be proportional to the distance from the centre if the force were proportional
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to 1/ t. (d)Field inside a uniform positively charged spherical shell would be directed towards the
centre if the electrostatic force were proportional to 1/r.
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60. Question: Which of the following statements are correct about the motion of a rigid body? (a)
The center of mass moves according to Newton’s second law. (b) Angular momentum is
conserved in the absence of external torques. (c) The moment of inertia depends on the axis of
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rotation. (d) Work done by internal forces can change the kinetic energy of a rigid body.
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