ICSE Class 10 Physics Previous Year Question Paper 2017

Question 1
 (a) A brass ball is hanging from a stiff cotton thread. Draw a neat labelled diagram showing the forces acting on the brass ball and             cotton thread.

 (b) The distance between two bodies is doubled. How is the magnitude of gravitational force between them affected?

 (c) Why is a jack screw provided with a long arm?

 (d) If the power of a motor is 100 kW, at what speed can it raise a load of 50,000 N?

 (e) Which class of lever will always have MA > 1 and why?

Question 2
 (a) Define heat capacity and state its SI unit.

 (b)Why is the base of a cooking pan generally made thick?

 (c) A solid of mass 50 g at 150 ºC is placed in 100 g of water at 11 ºC, when the final temperature recorded is 20 ºC. Find the       specific heat capacity of the solid. (specific heat capacity of water = 4.2 J/g ºC)

 (d)How is the refractive index of a material related to:
    (i) real and apparent depth?
    (ii) velocity of light in vacuum or air and the velocity of light in a given medium?

 (e)State the conditions required for total internal reflection of light to take place.

Question 3
 (a) Draw a ray diagram to show the refraction of a monochromatic ray through a prism when it suffers minimum deviation.

 (b)The human ear can detect continuous sounds in the frequency range from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. Assuming that the speed of         sound in air is 330 ms^-1 for all frequencies; calculate the wavelengths corresponding to the given extreme frequencies of the  audible range.

 (c) An enemy plane is at a distance of 300 km from a radar. In how much time the radar will be able to detect the plane? Take       velocity of radio waves as 3 × 10⁸ ms-1

 (d) How is the frequency of a stretched string related to:
    (i) it’s length?
    (ii) it’s tension?

 (e) Define specific resistance and state its SI unit.

Question 4
 (a) An electric bulb of 300Ω draws a current of 0.4 A. Calculate the power of the bulb and the potential difference at its ends.
 (b) State two causes of energy loss in a transformer.
 (c) State two characteristics of a good thermion emitter.
 (d) State two factors upon which the rate of emission of thermions depends.
 (e) When does the nucleus of an atom tend to be radioactive?

Question 5
 (a) A uniform half metre rule balances horizontally on a knife edge at 29 cm mark when a weight of 20 gf is suspended from one  end.
   (i) Draw a diagram of the arrangement
   (ii) What is the weight of the half metre rule?

(b)
  (i) A boy uses a single fixed pulley to lift a load of 50 kgf to some height. Another boy uses a single movable pulley to lift the     same load to the same height. Compare the effort applied by them. Give a reason to support your answer.
  (ii) How does uniform circular motion differ from uniform linear motion?
  (iii)Name the process used for producing electricity using nuclear energy.

(c) A pulley system with VR = 4 is used to lift a load of 175 kgf through a vertical height of 15 m. The effort required is 50 kgf in        the downward direction.  (g = 10 N kg^-1)
  Calculate
  (i) Distance moved by the effort
  (ii) Work done by the effort
  (iii) M.A. of the pulley system
  (iv) Efficiency of the pulley system

Question 6
(a)
  (i) How is the transference of heat energy by radiation prevented in a calorimeter?
  (ii) You have a choice of three metals A,B and C, of specific heat capacities
    900 Jkg^-1oC ^-1, 380 Jkg^-1oC ^-1 and 460 Jkg^-1oC ^-1 respectively, to make a calorimeter. Which material will you select? Justify            your answer.

(b) Calculate the mass of ice needed to cool 150g of water contained in a
calorimeter of mass 50 g at 32ºC such that the final temperature is 5ºC.
Specific heat capacity of calorimeter = 0.4J/gºC
Specific heat capacity of water = 4.2 J/gºC
Latent heat capacity of ice = 330 J/g

(c) 
  (i) Name the radiations which are absorbed by greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere.
  (ii) A radiation X is focused by a particular device on the bulb of a thermometer and mercury in the thermometer shows a rapid           increase. Name the radiation X.
  (iii) Name two factors on which the heat energy liberated a body depend.

Question 7
 (a) A lens forms an upright and diminished image of an object when the object is placed at the focal point of the given lens.
    (i) Name the lens.
    (ii) Draw a ray diagram to show the image formation.

(b) A ray of light travels from water to air as shown in the diagram given below:

  (i) Copy the diagram and complete the path of the way. Given the critical angle for water is 48^o.
  (ii) State the condition so that internal reflection occurs in the above diagram.

(c) The diagram below shows a point source P inside a water container. Four rays A, B, C, D starting from the source P are shown          upto the water surface.

(i) Show in the diagram the path of these rays after striking the water surface.
    The Critical Angle for water air surface is 48^o
(ii) Name the phenomenon which the rays B and D exhibit.

Question 8
 (a) Name the factor that determines:
    (i) Loudness of the sound heard.
   (ii) Quality of the note.
   (iii) Pitch of the note.

(b)
  (i) What are damped vibrations?
  (ii) Give one example of damped vibrations.
  (iii) Name the phenomenon that causes a loud sound when the stem of a vibrating tuning fork is kept pressed on the surface of a      table.

(c)
  (i) A wire of length 80 cm has a frequency of 256 Hz. Calculate the length of a similar wire under similar tension, which will have       frequency 1024 Hz.
  (ii) A certain sound has a frequency of 256 hertz and a wavelength of 1.3 m.
     1. Calculate the speed with which this sound travels
     2. What difference would be felt by a listener between the above sound and another sound travelling at the same speed, but of           wavelength 2.6 m?

Question 9
 (a)
   (i) Name the colour code of the wire which is connected to the metallic body of an appliance.
   (ii) Draw the diagram of a dual control switch when the appliance is switched ‘ON’.

 (b)
   (i) Which particles are responsible for current in conductors?
   (ii) To which wire of a cable in a power circuit should the metal case of geyser be connected.
   (iii) To which wire should the fuse be connected?

 (c)
  (i) Explain the meaning of the student ‘current rating of a fuse is 5A’.
  (ii) In the transmission of power the voltage of power generated at the generating stations is stepped up from 11kV to 132 kV            before it is transmitted. Why?

Question 10
 (a)Answer the following questions based on a hot cathode ray tube.
   (i) Name the charged particles
   (ii) State the approximate voltage used to heat the filament
   (iii) What will happen to the beam when it passes through the electric field?

(b)State three factors on which the rate of emission of electrons from a metal surface depends

(c) 
  (i) What are free electrons?
  (ii) Why do they not leave the metal surface on their own
  (iii) How can they be made to leave the metal surface? (State any two ways)

Answer 1
(a)Forces acting on the brass ball and thread:

Tension acts on the thread in the upward direction, while weight mg of the
ball acts downwards.

(b)Force of gravity:

It is given that r2 = 2r1

Therefore, the force of gravity is reduced four times.

(c) A jack screw is provided with a long arm in order to have the effort less than the load. According to the principle of moments, load × load arm = effort × effort arm. So, if the load arm is more, then the effort will be more than the load.

(d)Power is the product of force and velocity.
P=FV

(e)A Class II lever will always have MA > 1. This is because the load is between the fulcrum and the effort. So, the effort arm is always greater than the load arm. Hence, MA = E/L > 1.

 Answer 2
(a) Heat capacity of a body is the amount of heat energy required to raise its temperature by 1ºC. Its SI unit is JK^-1.

(b) By making the base of a cooking pan thick, its thermal capacity becomes large and it imparts sufficient heat energy at a low temperature to the food for proper cooking. Further, it keeps the food warm for a long time after cooking.

(c) Mass of the solid, m_s = 50 g
    Initial temperature of the solid, t_s = 150ºC
    Mass of water, m_w = 100 g
    Temperature of water, t_w = 11ºC
    Final temperature of the mixture, t = 20ºC
    According to the principle of calorimetry,
   Heat gained by water Heat lost by the solid
    m_w c_w (t -t_w) m_s c_s (t_s -t)
  100× 4.2 × (20-11) =50× C_s ×(150× 20)
      3780 =6500c_s

(d)
  (i) Ratio of real depth to apparent depth is equal to the refractive index.
   

  (ii) Refractive index is the ratio of the velocity of light in vacuum to the velocity of light in a medium.

    

(e)Conditions necessary for total internal reflection to take place are
   (i) Light must travel from a denser medium to a rarer medium.
   (ii) Angle of incidence must be greater than the critical angle for the pair of media.

 Answer 3
(a)Refraction of a monochromatic ray through a prism when it goes through minimum deviation:

(b)Audible range of hearing for a normal human ear is 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz.
Speed of sound in air, v = 330 ms^-1
Speed, wavelength and frequency are related as
v=nλ

n_lower 20 Hz

n_upper 20,000 Hz

(c) Distance between the plane and the radar, d = 300 km = 300,000 m Velocity of radio waves, c = 3 ×10⁸ ms^-1 Waves from the radar will travel to the plane and then reflect and travel back to the receiver of the radar. Hence, the total distance travelled by the waves is 2d.

(d)
   (i) Frequency of a stretched string is inversely proportional to its length.

(ii) Frequency of a stretched string is directly proportional to the square root of the tension in the string.
f T 

(e)Specific resistance or resistivity of a material is the resistance of a wire of that material of unit length and unit area of cross-section. Its SI unit is ohm metre (Ω m).

 Answer 4
(a)Current drawn by the bulb, I = 0.4 A
Resistance of the bulb, R = 300 Ω
Power of the bulb is
P= I²R

P = (0.4)² ×300 =48 W
Potential difference at the ends of the bulb is
V = IR
 V = 0.4× 300 =120 V

(b)Causes of energy loss in a transformer:
  (i) Eddy currents developed in the core.
  (ii) Hysteresis loss because of repeated magnetisation and demagnetisation of the iron core.

(c) Characteristics of a good thermion emitter:
  (i) The work function of the substance should be low so that electrons may be emitted from it even when it is not heated to a      high  temperature.
  (ii) The melting point of the substance should be high so that it may not melt when it is heated to the temperature required for       thermionic emission.

(d)Factors on which the rate of emission of thermions depend:
  (i) Nature of the metal surface: Lower the work function of the metal, greater is the rate of emission of electrons.
  (ii) Temperature of the surface: Higher the temperature of the surface, greater is the rate of emission of electrons.

(e)A nucleus tends to be radioactive when the number of neutrons inside it is more than the number of protons.

Answer 5
(a)
(i) Diagram of the arrangement mentioned in the corresponding question:

(ii)The centre of gravity of  a is uniform half meter rule is 25cm.
    The rule balances horizontally on a knife edge at 29 cm mark
    when a weight of 20 kgf suspended from one end.
    The difference in the centre of gravity and the point of balance
    = 29 - 25 = 4 cm (Y).
    The weight is suspended at one of the extremes,
    let us assume at the 50 cm end.
    Therefore, the distance from the point of knife edge to the weigh
    = 50 - 29 = 21 cm (X).

   Weight of meter rule =  Suspended weight

  Weight of meter rule = =105 gf
   Weight of the half metre rule is 105 gf.

(b)
(i)  The ratio of load to effort is called mechanical advantage.
Mechanical advantage (MA) = 
The above equation indicates that 'MA' and
'Effort' are inversely proportional.
The mechanical advantage of single fixed pulley is 1.
For, single movable pulley, MA = 2
Load on both the pulleys = 50 kgf

Therefore, the boy using a single movable pulley requires lesser effort to lift an equal load of 50 kgf when compared with the effort required by the boy using a single fixed pulley.

(ii) When a force acts on a body at rest which is free to move, the body starts moving at a constant speed in a straight path in the direction of force. This type of motion is called uniform linear or uniform translational motion. Whereas when a body or a particle moves with a constant speed in a circular path, its motion is said to be uniform circular motion.
(iii) Nuclear fission is the process used for producing electricity using nuclear energy.

(c)
(i) Displacement due to the effort is
    VR = 4
    Load (L)= 175 kgf
    Effort (E)= 50 kgf
    Load displacement (d_L )=15 m

  
   Effort displacement (d_E) 4 ×d_L =4 ×15 = 60 m
   Distance moved by the effort is 60 m.

(ii) Work done by the effort is calculated using the following formula.
     Work done by effort (W_E)= Force_Effort ×d_E
    W_E 50× 60= 30000 J

(iii) Mechanical advantage of the pulley system is calculated as
      MA of the pulley system = 

(iv) Efficiency of the pulley is the ratio of work output to the work input required by the system.
     Efficiency of the pulley system = 
     Work done by load = ForceLoad × d_L =175 ×15= 2625 kgf

Answer 6
(a)
(i) The outer and inner vessels of a calorimeter are highly polished to prevent the transference of heat energy by radiation.
(ii) Metal B with specific heat capacity 380 Jkg⁻¹⁰ C⁻¹ should be selected to make a calorimeter. By selecting this metal, the heat capacity of the calorimeter will be reduced and the amount of heat energy consumed by it from its contents to acquire their final temperature will also be negligible.

(b) Heat enegy imparted by water
= Mass_water  × Specific Heat Capacity_water × (t₁-t₂)
=150 ×4.2 (32 -5)= 17010 J
If 'm' gm is the amount of ice used,
then heat energy taken by ice to melt = m ×Latent heat capacity of ice
= 330× m=330 m
And heat energy taken by the
melted ice to raise its temperature from 0º to 5º C
= m 4.2× (5 -0 )21m
By law of conservation of energy,
Heat energy imparted by water=heat energy taken by ice and melte ice
17010 = 330 m +21m
17010 = 351m
 m 48.46 g
Amount of ice required for this process is 48.46 gm.

(c)
  (i) Infrared radiations of long wavelengths are absorbed by greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere.
  (ii) Radiation X is infrared radiation.
  (iii) Heat liberated by a body depends on the mass of the body, the specific heat capacity of that body and the change in               temperature experienced by the body.

Answer 7
(a)
(i) The given lens is a concave lens.
(ii) Ray diagram showing image formation:

(b)
(i) The image formed by the lens is virtual and between the object and the lens. Hence, the lens used is a concave lens.

(ii) The condition for the occurrence of internal reflection in the above diagram is that the angle of incidence should be greater than the given critical angle for water, i.e. i > 48º.

(c)
(i) Path of the rays after striking the water surface is shown below:

(ii) Ray ‘B’ and ray ‘D’ exhibit the phenomenon of reflection and total internal reflection (TIR), respectively.

Answer 8
(a)
   (i) Amplitude
   (ii) Waveform
   (iii) Frequency

(b)
  (i) Periodic vibrations of a body of decreasing amplitude in the presence of a resistive force are called damped vibrations.
  (ii) When a slim branch of a tree is pulled and then released, it makes damped vibrations.
 (iii) When the stem of a vibrating fork is pressed against the table top, the tuning fork forces the table top to vibrate with its own         frequency. These forced vibrations send forth a greater energy and produce large sound.
     Now, if the natural frequency of the table is equal to that of the vibrating fork, resonance occurs and a louder sound is heard.

(c)
(i) Wavelength λ= 80 cm = 0.8 m
Frequency _f1 = 256 Hz
Frequency f₂ = 1024 Hz
By the relation,
Speed = Wavelength × Frequency
→ v₁ = f₁ =λ1
→ v₁ = 0.8 = λ256
Also, v₂ = f₂ × λ₂
→ v₂ = 1024 × λ₂
Since v₁ = v₂
→0.8 × 256 = 1024 × λ₂
→2 = 0.2 m = 20 cm
 (ii)
  1. For first sound, f = 256 Hz and λ = 1.3 m
     We know that
     Speed v = f × λ = 256 × 1.3
     → v = 332.8 m s^-1
    Thus, the sound travels with a speed of 332.8 m s^-1

2. For the second case, λ = 2.6 m and v = 332.8 m s^-1

Frequency, f 
 → f 128 Hz
Frequency of the first sound is more that of the second sound.
∴The first sound will be shriller than the second sound.

Answer 9
(a)
(i) According to the old convention of colour coding, the green wire is connected to the metallic body of an appliance. However, according to the new convention, the wire connected to the metallic body of an appliance may be either green or yellow.
(ii)

(b)
   (i) Free electrons are responsible for current in conductors.
   (ii) The metal case of a geyser should be connected to the Earth wire (green wire) of a cable in a power circuit.
   (iii) The fuse is connected to the live wire.

(c)
  (i) The prescribed limit for the maximum amount of current to be passed through the given fuse connected in live wire is 5 A, i.e. its currentcarrying capacity is 5 A. Thus, if a current of more than 5 A passes through, the fuse will blow off.
  (ii) For electric power, the current becomes low at a high voltage. So, according to the relation I2RT, the loss of energy due to heating in the line wire becomes less. Thus, the alternating voltage generated is first stepped up from 11 kV to 132 kV at the generation station.

Answer 10
(a)
  (i) Electrons are charged particles.
  (ii) The filament is heated by a filament connected to a low-tension battery of about 6 V.
  (iii) When an electric field is produced between the two plates, the electron beam on entering the space between the plates gets           deflected towards the positive plate. Because the electric field is normal to the direction of motion of electrons, electrons of the  beam follow a parabolic path.

(b) Rate of emission of electrons from a metal surface depends on
  (i) Nature of the metal surface: Lower the work function of the metal, greater is the rate of emission of electrons from its surface.
  (ii) Temperature of the surface: Higher the temperature of the surface, greater is the rate of emission of electrons from the       surface.
  (iii) Surface area of the metal: Larger the surface area of the metal emitting electrons, greater is the rate of emission of electrons.

(c)
   (i) Electrons revolving in the outermost orbit of an atom which are weakly held by the nucleus are called free electrons.
   (ii) Free electrons cannot leave the metal surface on their own because they do not have sufficient kinetic energy.
   (iii) Electron emission from the metal surface can be (any two):
      a. Thermionic emission – when energy is supplied as heat.
      b. Photoelectric emission – when energy is supplied as energy.
      c. Field emission – when energy is supplied by applying an electric field to accelerate the electrons.
      d. Secondary emission – when energy is supplied from the kinetic energy of other electrons on collisions with them.