RARIEDA JOINT EVALUATION EXAMINATION-2024

Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education

232/3 PHYSICS (Practical) Paper 3

July 2024 – 21/2hours
_________________________________________________________________________

Name…………………………..……………Index No:………………..Sign ....................

School………………….……………………Date……….…………………………..
________________________________________________________________
INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES
o Write your name, index number, school, date and sign in the spaces provided
o Answer ALL the questions in the spaces provided in the question paper.
o You are supposed to spend the first 15 minutes of the 2 1/2 hours allowed for this paper reading the
whole paper carefully before commencing your work.
o Marks are given for clear record of observations made, their suitability, accuracy and the use made of
them.
o Candidates are advised to record their observations as soon as they are made.
o Non-programmable silent electronic calculators and KNEC mathematical table may be used.
o This paper consists of 8 printed pages. Candidates should check to ensure that all pages are printed as
indicated and no questions are missing

FOR EXAMINER’S USE ONLY

Question 1

a(iii) a(ix) a(x) a(xi) b(vi) c d e

Maximum score 4 1 1 2 4 5 1 2 TOTAL

Candidate’s score

Question 2
b c d e f g l m n
TOTAL
Maximum score 1 4 4 2 2 1 3 1 2
Candidate’s score

GRAND TOTAL

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QUESTION 1

SECTION A
(1) a) You are provided with the following apparatus
- a rectangular glass block
- a plane mirror
- 4 optical pins
- a soft board
- cello-tape ( about 15cm long)
- 2 white – plain sheets of paper
- a ruler
- a protractor
- 4 office pins
- a triangular glass prism
Proceed as follows:-
(i) Using the cello tape provided fix the plane mirror to the glass block along side as shown in figure
1. The reflecting surface to face the glass block.

Length
Plane mirror

Glass Breadth
block

Fig. 1

(ii) With the use of the office pins, secure firmly a white plain paper on the board and place the block
together with attached mirror.
(iii) Draw the outline of the glass block together with the mirror
(iv) Remove the block and the mirror and draw a normal at B somewhere a quarter- way the length of
the outline you drew in (iii) above.
(v) Draw four(4) different rays AB incident at B and extended to C. The incident rays should make
angles 10, 20, 30,and 40.
(vi) Replace the glass block together with the attached mirror so as to exactly fit the outline in(iii)
(vii) Place two object pins P1 and P2 along the 10 line. Locate the images of pinsP1 and P2 as they
appear by non-parallax (the images of the pins appear to be in a straight line when viewed through
the glass block). Place pins P3 and P4 so that the images of pins P1 and P2 are not seen.
(viii) Remove the glass block together with the attached mirror from the outline and produce the lines
joining P1 to P2 and P3 to P4 so that the they intersect at C. Measure and record the distance x in
table 1 below. It may be necessary for you to draw another outline so as to avoid congestion
of (construction) lines. (4mks)
Table 1
Angle i  10 20 30 40
Distance x(cm)

(ix) Now measure the breadth b of the glass block.

b = _______________________________________________________________(1mark)

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(x) Calculate the average Ax of the values of x in table 1.

Ax ____________________________________________________________ (1mark)

(xi) Determine the refractive index n of the glass block given that;
(2 marks)
b
n
A x

b) (i) Dismantle the apparatus and place a new plain sheet of paper on the soft board and fix it there
using the office pins provided.
(ii) Place the prism near the Centre of the paper .
Use a pencil to trace the outline of the triangular surface in contact with the paper.
Remove the prism and label the vertices of the outline A,B and C.
(iii) Mark a point N on the side AB of the diagram and draw a normal ON at this point. Draw
lines at angles i=300, 350 and 400 to the normal. See figure 2

300

350
N
400

Fig. 2

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 (iv) Replace the prism on the outline. Fix two pins, P 1 and P2 vertically on the 300 line such that
they are about 4cm apart. By viewing the images of the pins P 1 and P2 through side AC, fix two
other pins P3 and P4 in line with those images. Remove the prism.
Draw a line through the holes made by P3 and P4 and extend it into the outline. Now extend the
300 line so that the two lines cross each other. See figure 3

300
P2
P1

d
P3

P4

Fig 3.
(v) Measure and record in the table 2 below the acute angle d between the two lines.
(vi) Repeat the procedure in b(iv) and b(v) for other angles shown in the table. (You may find it
necessary to draw a separate outline for angles 550, 600, 650 and 700 at the back of the plain paper or an
extra plain paper to be provided by the school. Complete table 2. (4mks)
Table 2
Angle i degrees 30 35 40 50 55 60 65 70
Angle, d (degrees)

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(c) On the grid provided, plot a graph of d(y-axis) against i. (5mks)

(d ) From the graph, determine the minimum value, d min of d.

dmin = ……………………………………………………………………………… (1mk)
(e) Determine the constant K for the prism given that;-

K= Sin 300 + dmin

2
Sin 300 (2mks)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………

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QUESTION 2
PART A
You are provided with the following apparatus.
- Two dry cells.
- Nichrome wire 100cm mounted on a mm scale.
- An ammeter. (0A-1A)
- Cell holder.
- Voltmeter. (0V- 5V)
- 8 Connecting wires with at least 2 crocodile clips at one end
- A switch.

Proceed as follows;
a) Connect the circuit as shown in figure 4 below

V
A mm scale

L
A C
Fig.4 Nichrome wire
b) Measure the E.m.f of the cells, E.
E = ………………………………………… (1 mark)
c) Connect the ends A and C where AC is the length L of the Nichrome wire across the terminals as
shown. Close the switch and measure both current I and potential difference (V) across the wire
AC when L = 100cm.
i. Current I = ………………………………… (1 mark)
ii. P.d, V = …………………………………… (1 mark)
iii. Calculate the resistance of the wire. (2marks )

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 d) Reduce the length L (AC) to the lengths shown in table 3. In each case record the current, I, and
the corresponding P.d, V. Complete table 3.
Table 3.
Length L (cm) 100 70 60 40
I (A)
V (V)
E – V (V)
(4 marks)

e) (i). Given that S is the average of (E – V) . Calculate the value of S (1 marks)

(ii). Iaverage is the average of I(A). Calculate Iaverage. (1mk)

f) Given that S = r Iaverage, determine the internal resistance, r, of each cell. (2 marks)

PART B
2. You are provided with the following apparatus
- Complete retort stand
- Wooden wedge (knife edge)
- Two pieces of sewing thread (40 cm and 20 cm long)
- Mass Q
- Metre rule
- A single pulley
- One 10g masses
- Two 20g masses
- One 50g masses

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 Proceed as follows;-
(g) Balance the metre rule on the wedge. Note and record the point, G, where the metre
Rule balances
G = _________________________________________________ cm (1mk)
(h ) Arrange the apparatus as shown in figure 5 below

Fig. 5
(i) . Balance the metre rule at 10cm mark (point R) on the wooden wedge and 90cm mark (point P)
Points P and R should remain constant throughout the experiment.
(j) Hang the mass Q on the metre rule and 80g mass on the free end of the thread passed over the
pulley ( see figure 5). Adjust the position of mass Q until the metre rule is in equilibrium. The
thread over the pulley (connecting point P) must always be kept perpendicular to the metre
rule.
(k) Measure the distance, x, between the point of suspension of the mass, Q and the thread at P.
Record the value of x in table 4.
(l) Repeat procedure (j) and (k) for masses 70g, 90g, and 100g in place of the 80g mass. Complete
table 4.
Table 4

Mass(g) 70 80 90 100
Tension, T(N)
Distance,X(m)

(3marks)

(m) Measure L, the distance between G and the thread P.

L = _______________________________________________(m) (1marks)

(n) Find the value of y given that:- (2marks)

0.8 yL
X average 
Taverage

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