WASSCE 2019 – PHYSICS PAPER 1

1. The time rate of increase in velocity is called

A. speed.
B. force.
C. momentum.
D. acceleration.

2. Which of the following quantities is a vector?

A. Speed
B. Volume
C. Momentum
D. Energy

3. In an elastic collision, momentum is conserved as well as

A. speed.
B. velocity.
C. kinetic energy
D. potential energy.

4. The induced current in a coil always flows in a direction so as to oppose the change causing it. This
statement is known as
A. Ampere’s law.
B. Coulomb’s law.
C. Lenz’s law.
D. Faraday’s law.

5. Which of the following instruments can be used to compare the magnitudes of charges on two given
bodies?
A. Proof plane
B. Gold-leaf electroscope
C. The electrophorus
D. Ebonite rod

6. A body of mass 2kg is released from a point 100 m above the ground level. Calculate its kinetic energy 80
m from the point of release. [g = 10 m s-2]
A. 900 J
B. 1600 J
C. 200 J
D. 600 J
7. Which of the following waves is not mechanical?
A. Water waves
B. Waves in pipes
C. Sound waves
D. Radio waves

8. A loaded spring is set in simple harmonic motion. The force that tends to restore the load to its
equilibrium position is
A. elastic.
B. gravitational.
C. frictional.
D. adhesive.

9. Which of the following situations cannot produce total internal reflection? A light ray travelling from
A. water to kerosene.
B. glass to water.
C. water to air.
D. Air to water.

10. The vacuum in a thermos flask reduces heat loss resulting from
A. conduction only.
B. conduction and convection only.
C. radiation only.
D. radiation and Convection only.

11. The diagram above represents an experimental set-up for verifying

A. mirror formula.
B. lens formula.
C. laws of refraction.
D. laws of reflection
12. Which of the following statements about a moving object is correct?
A. At a steady speed, the air resistance on it must be equal to zero.
B. When accelerating, the resultant force acting on it must be equal to zero.
C. There must always be a resultant force acting on it.
D. At a steady speed, the resultant force acting on it must be equal to zero.

13. The efficiency of a transformer is 100 %. Which of the following equations would be correct?
A. IpEs = IsEp
B. NpEp = NsEs
C. NsIp = NpIs
D. NsIs = NpIp

14. A freshly demagnetized bar magnet is placid In East-West direction to ensure that,
A. it is affected by the earth’s magnetic field.
B. the magnetic domains are within the earth’s field.
C. magnetic domains remain randomly arranged.
D. magnetic domains are orderly aligned

15. Which of the following graphs correctly represents the plot of the charge Q against the potential
difference V in a capacitor?

16. A small amount of air is introduced into the vacuum above the mercury in a mercury barometer tube.
The mercury level fails because the air molecules
A. cool the mercury and make it contract.
B. heat the mercury and make it lighter.
C. increase the pressure above the mercury.
D. decrease the pressure above the mercury.
17. Calculate the quantity of heat needed to change 60 g of ice at 0.0 °C to water at 80.0 °C.
[Specific latent heat of fusion of ice = 3.36 x 105 J kg-1,
specific heat capacity of water = 4.2 x 103 J kg-1 K-1]
A. 22.17 kJ
B. 40.32 kJ
C. 4.80 kJ
D. 20.16 kJ

18. The wire of a platinum resistance thermometer has a resistance of 3.5 Ω at 0 °C and 10.5 Ω at 100 °C.
Calculate the temperature of the wire when its resistance is 7.5 Ω.
A. 57°C
B. 78°C
C. 25°C
D. 36°C

19. A transverse wave of frequency 9 Hz travels 4.5 m in 0.6 s. Calculate the wavelength of the wave.
A. 1.20m
B. 3.33m
C. 0.30m
D. 0.83m

20. The speed of sound is least in which of the following media?

A. Wood
B. Air
C. Brass
D. Water

21. Which of the following characteristics of waves can be demonstrated using a ripple tank?
I. Reflection
II. Refraction
III. Diffraction

A. I only
B. II only
C. I and II only
D. I, II and III
22. Which of the following graphs gives the correct relationship between energy and mass when mass is
converted to energy?

23. An 800 kg car moving at 80 km h-1 collides with a 1200 kg car moving at 40 km h-1 in the same
direction. If
the cars stick together, calculate their common speed.
A. 56 km h-1
B. 60 km h-1
C. 8 km h-1
D. 40 km h-1

24. The mass of an object is doubled while the force acting on it is halved. The resulting acceleration of the
object is
A. doubled.
B. quadrupled.
C. quartered.
D. halved.

25. the maximum and minimum thermometer reads the

A. maximum temperature during the day and minimum temperature at night from the time it was lest reset
B. maximum temperature at night and minimum temperature during the day from the time it was last reset.
C. maximum temperature during the day and minimum temperature at night at all times.
D. maximum temperature at night and minimum temperature during the day at all times.

26. An a.c. generator can be converted to a d.c. generator by replacing the

A. commutator with slip rings.
B. slip rings with a commutator.
C. commutator with an armature.
D. armature with a commutator.
27. Which of the following statements is the correct reason for which soft iron is used in making the
armature of an electric bell? Soft iron
A. retains it magnetism for a long time.
B. is a diamagnetic material.
C. loses its magnetism easily.
D. is not easily magnetized.

The diagram above illustrates a metre bridge circuit under balanced condition.
28. Determine the value of x.
A. 57.2cm
B. 71.4cm
C. 10.0 cm
D. 28.6cm

29. Which of the following devices is used for storing electric charge?
A. Capacitor
B. Transformer
C. Ammeter
D. Potentiometer

An electron of mass 9.1 x 10-31 kg moves with a speed of 2.0 x 106 m s-1 round the nucleus of an atom in a
circular path of radius 6.1 x 10-11 m. Use this information to answer questions 30 and 31.

30. Determine the angular speed of the electron.

A. 5.22 x1015 rad s-1
B. 3.28 x 1016 rad s-1
C. 8.55 x 103 rad s-1
D. 9.11 x 1013 rad s-1
31. Calculate the centripetal force acting on the electron.
A. 1.3 x 10-26 N
B. 7.7 x 10-47 N
C. 6.0 x 10-8 N
D. 3.0 x 10-14 N

32. A device consumes 100 W of power when connected to a 120 V source. Calculate its resistance.
A. 144 Ω
B. 1.2 Ω
C. 12000 Ω
D. 20 Ω

33. Which property of a wave remains constant When the wave travels cm one medium into another?
A. Frequency
B. Amplitude
C. Wavelength
D. Velocity

34. The anomalous expansion of water occurs in the range

A. 0 oC to 100 oC
B. 0 oC to 4 oC
C. 4 oC to 100 oC
D. -4 oC to 0 oC

35. A ray of light travelling from a rectangular glass block of refractive index 1.5 into air, strikes the block-
air boundary at an incident angle of 30o. Calculate the angle of refraction.
A. 45.0°
B. 48.6°
C. 20.0°
D. 19.5°

36. A rectangular piece of iron measuring 4 cm x 3 cm at 20°C is heated until its temperature increases by
100°C. Calculate the new area of the meatal of the metal.
[Linear expansivity of iron = 1.2 x 10-5 K-1]
A. 12.0173 cm2
B. 12.0144 cm2
C. 12.0346 cm2
D. 12.0288 cm2
37. Two bodies of masses 3.0 kg and 2.0 kg are 50 cm apart. Calculate the force of attraction between them.
[G= 6.67 x 10-11 N m2 kg-2]
A. 5.0 x 10 N
B. 1.6 x 10-9 N
C. 1.3 x 103 N
D. 2.3 x 103 N

38. The diagram above illustrates an object moving in a circular path at constant speed. Which of the arrows
correctly indicate the direction of linear velocity?
A. W
B. Z
C. X
D. Y

39. Which of the following thermometers is used to measure the temperature of the human body?
A. Platinum resistance thermometer
B. Thermocouple
C. Alcohol-in-glass thermometer
D. Gas thermometer

40. In the diagram above, the time taken to trace a wave between P and Q is
A. 1 ½ periods.
B. 2 periods.
C. 1 period.
D. 1 ¼ periods.
41. Which of the following components does not serve as a safety device in electrical circuits?
A. Earth wire
B. Connecting wires
C. Fuse
D. Switch

42. Which of the following liquids has the highest surface tension?
A. Oily water
B. Soapy water
C. Cold water
D. Hot water

43. The nucleon and proton numbers of a neutral atom of an element are 238 and 92 respectively.
Determine
the number of neutrons in the atom.
A. 146
B. 119
C. 330
D. 165

44. An instrument used to measure relative humidity is the

A. manometer.
B. hygrometer.
C. hydrometer.
D. pyrometer.

45. The area under a velocity-time graph represents

A. distance.
B. speed.
C. acceleration.
D. moment.

46. Which of the following statements about neutral atom is correct? The
A. number of protons is equal to that of electrons.
B. core is composed of electrons and protons.
C. number of electrons is equal to that of neutrons.
D. number of neutrons is equal to that of protons.
47. The property that is not exhibited by sound waves is
A. reflection
B. diffraction.
C. polarization.
D. interference.

48. When ultraviolet light is incident on the surface of certain metals, particles are emitted.
These particles are called
A. photoelectrons.
B. positrons.
C. protons.
D. photons

49. Niels Bohr drew certain conclusions about the structure of the atom. Which of the following statements
is one of those conclusions?
A. The orbit with the least energy is the farthest from the nucleus.
B. The allowed orbits contain the same number of electrons.
C. Within an atom, there are certain allowed orbits.
D. All of the orbits represent the same amount of energy.

50. The graph above illustrates the variation of temperature with time for a solid that is being heated. Which
processes take place at the segments P and Q respectively?
A. Condensation and evaporation
B. Freezing and evaporation
C. Evaporation and solidification
D. Melting and boiling