DEDAN KIMATHI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS 2013/2014 ACADEMIC YEAR
FIRST YEAR SPECIAL/SUPPLEMENTARY EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN MECHATRONICS ENGINEERING, BACHELOR OF
SCIENCE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING, BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN MECHANICAL
ENGINEERING, BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC
ENGINEERING, BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN TELECOMMUNICATION &
INFORMATION ENGINEERING, BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN GEOMATIC
ENGINEERING & GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS AND BACHELOR OF
SCIENCE IN GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION SCIENCE
SPH 2171/2174 : PHYSICS II/ PHYSICS FOR ENGINEERS II
DATE: 17TH JULY 2014 TIME: 2.00PM – 4.00PM
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Instructions: 1. Answer question one and any other two questions
2. Use SI units and standard notation only
Some useful constants:
F
(i) Electrostatic constant: 0 8.85 X 10 12
m
H
(ii) Magnetic constant: 0 4X 10 7
m
(iii) Elementary charge: e 1.6 X 10 19 C
(iv) Mass of electron: m 9.1X 10 31 kg
(v) Planck’s constant: h 6.63 X 10 34 J .s
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1) QUESTION ONE COMPULSORY 30 MARKS
(a) Define the following terms as they are used in electrostatics and SI unit of the quantity
where appropriate
(10 marks)
(i) Electrostatics
(ii) Elementary charge
(iii) One Coulomb
(iv) Electric field lines
(v) Uniform electric field
(vi) CRT, cathode ray tube
(vii) A dipole
(viii) Capacitance of conductor
(ix) Capacitor
(x) Permittivity of a dielectric
(xi) Dipole
(b) Define the following terms as they are used in electricity and magnetism and SI unit of the
quantity where appropriate
(10 marks)
(i) Current
(ii) Potential difference between two points
(iii)Resistance
(iv)Conductivity
(v) Electromotive force
(vi)Potentiometer
(vii) Resistor
(viii) Current density
(ix)Electromotive force
(x) Galvanometer
(c) Define the following terms as they are used in electromagnetism and modern physics and
give SI unit of the quantity where appropriate (10 marks)
(i) Lorentz force
(ii) Tesla
(iii)Inductance
(iv)Solenoid
(v) Permeability of a material
(vi)Photon
(vii) Neutron
(viii) Isotope
(ix)Valence electron
(x) X-ray
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QUESTION TWO 20 MARKS
(a) Give a complete and exact statement of the Coulomb’s law. Write down it for a dielectric in a
way that reflects all its aspects. Give the name and SI units of each symbol involved
(7 marks)
(b) (i) List three similarities between gravity and electric force
(ii) List two differences (3 marks)
(c) A plane-plate capacitor with horizontally placed plates is charged up to a potential difference
3000V The separation distance is 10cm . A mercury drop carrying charge 10 6 C moves up
m
between the plates with acceleration 2.2 2 . Determine the mass of the drop. (4 marks)
s
(d) In a parallel-plate capacitor the plates are separated by 0.8mm . The plates carry charges
V
60nC and there is electric field of magnitude 3 X 10 4 between the plates. Find (a) the
m
potential difference (b) the capacitance (c) the plate area (6 marks)
QUESTION THREE 20 MARKS
(a) (i) Express Ohm in base SI units.
(ii) Is Ohm’s law valid only for wires
(iii) How does a current in a metal differ from that in an electrolyte (6 marks)
(b) A 30km electrical transmission cable made of copper cable of diameter 1cm carries a current of
500 A . Find:
(i) The current density
(ii) The electric filed within the wire
(iii) The drift speed of electrons
(iv) How long it takes a given electron to travel the length of the wire (6 marks)
The free electron density is 8.5 X 10 28 m 3
(c) A transmission line 200km long has a resistance of 10 and carries a current of 1200 A . What is
the potential difference between two pylons separated by 200m (4 marks)
(d) A power station supplies 100kW to a load via cables whose resistance is 5 . Find the power
loss in the cables if the potential difference across the load is (i) 10 4 V (ii) 2 X 10 5 V (4 marks)
QUESTION FOUR 20 MARKS
N
(a) (i) Show that 1T 1 m
A
(ii) Can a magnetic field be used to speed up a charged particle? Explain why or why not
(iii) With the aid of a diagram, explain the principle of a mass-spectrometer (8 marks)
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kV
(b) An electric field of 1.5 and a magnetic field of 0.4T act on a moving electron to produce no
m
net force
(i) Calculate the minimum speed of the electron
(ii) Draw the vectors E , B and v (4 marks)
(c) A wire of length 2m carries a 25 A current in the z direction which is perpendicular to a
uniform magnetic field. The force on the wire is F 4i 6 j X 10 5 , N . Determine B (4 marks)
(d) Express in words and mathematically Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction. Give the name
and SI unit of each symbol involved (4 marks)
QUESTION FIVE 20 MARKS
(a) With the aid of a diagram, describe the photoelectric effect. Give the Einstein’s equation for the
photoelectric effect. Give the name and SI unit of each symbol involved (6 marks)
(b) What is meant by: work function , threshold frequency when it comes to photoelectric effect
(4 marks)
(c) State Bohr’s postulates (3 marks)
(d) With the aid of a diagram, describe the apparatus to produce X-rays ( 4 marks)
(e) Explain three uses of X-rays (3 marks)
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