PHYSICS MCQS IN CHAPTERS 1, 2, 3

1. Two similar spheres having +Q and -Q charges are kept at a certain distance. F
force acts between the two. If at the middle of two spheres, another similar sphere
having +Q charge is kept, then it experiences a force in magnitude and direction as
(a) zero having no direction.
(b) 8F towards +Q charge.
(c) 8F towards -Q charge.
(d) 4F towards -Q charge.

2. A charge Q is divided into two parts of q and Q – q. If the coulomb repulsion

between them when they are separated is to be maximum, the ratio of Q/q should be
(a) 2:1
(b) 1/2
(c) 4:1
(d) 1/4

3. Four equal charges q are placed at the four comers A, B, C, D of a square of length
a. The magnitude of the force on the charge at B will be

4. SI unit of permittivity of free space is

(a) Farad
(b) Weber
(c) C2N-1 m-2
(d) C2N-1 m-2

5. A charge Q is placed at the centre of the line joining two point charges +q and +q as
shown in the figure so that the system is in equilibrium. The ratio of charges Q and q
is,

(a) 4
(b) 1/4
(c) -4
(d) -1/4
6. Which of the following graphs shows the variation of electric field E due to a hollow
spherical conductor of radius R as a function of distance from the centre of the
sphere?

7. The unit of electric dipole moment is

(a) newton
(b) coulomb
(c) farad
(d) debye

8. Which of the following statements is not correct?

(a) the electric field inside a charged shell is necessarily zero.
(b) the total work done in moving a charge along a closed path is always zero.
(c) the electric field due to a dipole is inversely proportional to r3, for large r.
(d) the electric flux through a closed surface enclosing an electric dipole is positive.

9. The total flux through the cube of side “a” when a charge q is placed at corner A of
the cube is,
10. Which of the following statements is not true about Gauss’s law?
(a) Gauss’s law is true for any closed surface.
(b) The term q on the right side of Gauss’s law includes the sum of all charges
enclosed by the surface.
(c) Gauss’s law is not much useful in calculating electrostatic field when the system
has symmetry.
(d) Gauss’s law is based on the inverse square dependence on distance contained
in the coulomb’s law

11. A metallic shell having inner radius R1 and outer radii R2 has a point charge Q kept
inside the cavity. Electric field in the region R1 < r < R2 where r is the distance from
the centre is given by,
(a) depends on the value of r
(b) Zero
(c) Constant and nonzero everywhere
(d) None of the above

12. A simple pendulum consists of a small sphere of mass and positive charge q is
suspended by the string of length L. The pendulum is placed in the electric field of
strength E directed vertically downwards. Which of the following is not correct?
(a)Time period of oscillation, =2

(b) Time period of oscillation, =2

(c) Time period of oscillation will be less in the absence of electric field.
(d) Tension in the string when the pendulum is at rest, = +

13. Find the electric field inside the sphere which carries a charge density proportional to
the distance from the origin, ρ = kr,
(a) ρ/ε0
(b) ρr/ε0
(c) ρr2/ε0
(d) none of the above

14. At a point other than the middle point, on the axis of an electrical dipole,
(a) Electric field is zero
(b) Electric potential is zero
(c) Neither Electric field and electric potential is zero
(d) Electric field is directed Perpendicular to the axis

15. A positive charge Q is uniformly distributed along a circular ring of radius R. A small
test charge q is placed at the centre of the ring. The incorrect statement is,
 (a) If q > 0 and is displaced away from the centre in the plane of the ring, it will be
pushed back towards the centre.
(b) If q < 0 and is displaced away from the centre in the plane of the ring, it will never
return to the centre and will continue moving till it hits the ring.
(c) If q > 0, it will perform SHM for small displacement along the axis.
(d) q at the centre of the ring is in an unstable equilibrium within the plane of the ring
for q > 0.

16. The electric potential V at any point O (x, y, z all in metres) in space is given by V =
4x² volt. The electric field at the point (1 m, 0, 2 m) in volt/metre is,
(a) 8 along negative x-axis
(b) 8 along positive x-axis
(c) 16 along negative x-axis
(d) 16 along positive z-axis

17. The electrostatic force between the metal plates of an isolated parallel plate
capacitor C having a charge Q and area A, is
(a) proportional to the square root of the distance between the plates.
(b) linearly proportional to the distance between the plates.
(c) independent of the distance between the plates.
(d) inversely proportional to the distance between the plates.

18. A capacitor is charged by a battery. The battery is removed and another identical
uncharged capacitor is connected in parallel. The total electrostatic energy of
resulting system,
(a) increases by a factor of 4.
(b) decreases by a factor of 2.
(c) remains the same.
(d) increases by a factor of 2.

19. Figure shows the electric lines of force emerging from a charged body. If the electric
field at A and B are EA and EB respectively and if the displacement between A and
B is r then,

(a) EA > EB
(b) EA < EB
(c) EA = EB/r
(d) EA = EB /r²

20. The radii of two metallic spheres A and B are r1 and r2 respectively (r1 > r2). They are
connected by a thin wire and the system is given a certain charge. The charge will
be greater,
(a) on the surface of the sphere B.
(b) on the surface of the sphere A.
(c) equal on both.
(d) zero on both.
21. A parallel plate condenser is connected with the terminals of a battery. The distance
between the plates is 6mm. If a glass plate (dielectric constant K = 9) of 4.5 mm is
introduced between them, then the capacity will become,
(a) 2 times.
(b) the same.
(c) 3 times.
(d) 4 times.

22. Three charges Q, +q and +q are placed at the vertices of an equilateral triangle of
side l as shown in the figure. If the net electrostatic energy of the system is zero,
then Q is equal to,

(a) -q
(b) +q
(c) zero
(d) –

23. A capacitor of 4 pF is connected as shown in the circuit. The internal resistance of

the battery is 0.5 Q. The amount of charge on the capacitor plates will be,

(a) 0
(b) 4
(c) 16 μC
(d) 8 μC

24. A capacitor is charged by using a battery which is then disconnected. A dielectric

slab then slipped between the plates, which results in,
(a) reduction of charge on the plates and increase of potential difference across the
plates.
(b) increase in the potential difference across the plate, reduction in stored energy,
but no change in the charge on the plates.
(c) decrease in the potential difference across the plates, reduction in the stored
energy, but no change in the charge on the plates.
(d) none of these
25. Two spherical conductors each of capacity C are charged to potential V and -V.
These are then connected by means of a fine wire. The loss of energy is,
(a) zero
(b) CV2
(c) CV2
(d) 2 CV2

26. An electric dipole of moment is placed in a uniform electric field . Then

(i) the torque on the dipole is
(ii) the potential energy of the system is
(iii) the resultant force on the dipole is zero. Choose the correct option.
(a) (i), (ii) and (iii) are correct
(b) (i) and (iii) are correct and (ii) is wrong
(c) only (i) is correct
(d) (i) and (ii) are correct and (iii) is wrong

27. The potential energy of two negative charges of 2 C each held 1m apart in air is,
(a) 2J
(b) 2 ev
(c) 4 J
(d) 0.036 J

28. The direction of the electric field in space is:

(a) depends on the magnitude of the electric potential.
(b) in the direction of constant electric potential.
(c) in the direction of decreasing electric potential.
(d) in the direction of increasing electric potential.

29. Find the total charge in the capacitors

(a) 20 µC
(b) 25 µC
(c) 40 µC
(d) 90 µC
30. In the circuit shown, initially key K1 is closed and key K2 is open. Then K1 is opened
and K2 is closed (order is important). [Take Q1′ and Q2′ as charges on C1 and C2 and
V1 and V2 as voltage respectively.]

(a) charge on C1 gets redistributed such that V1 = V2

(b) charge on C1 gets redistributed such that Q1′ = Q2′
(c) charge on C1 gets redistributed such that C1V1 + C2V2 = C2V
(d) charge on C1 gets redistributed such that V1  V2

31. Two batteries of ε1 and ε2 (ε2 > ε1) and internal resistance r1 and r2 respectively are
connected in parallel as shown in figure. [NCERT Exemplar]

(a) The equivalent emf εeq of the two cells is between ε1 and ε2 i.e. ε1 < εeq < ε2.
(b) The equivalent emf εeq is smaller than ε1.
(c) The eeq is given by εeq= ε1 + ε2 always.
(d) zeq is independent of internal resistances r1 and r2.

32. Two cells of emf’s approximately 5 V and 10 V are to be accurately compared using
a potentiometer of length 400 cm.
(a) The battery that runs the potentiometer should have voltage of 8 V.
(b) The battery of potentiometer can have a voltage of 15 V.
(c) The first portion of 50 cm of wire itself should have a potential drop of 10 V.
(d) Potentiometer is usually used for finding internal resistance and not voltages.

33. In a meter bridge, the point D is a neutral point (figure).

(a) The meter bridge can have other neutral point for this set of resistances.
(b) When the jockey contacts a point on meter wire left of D, current flows to B from
the wire.
(c) When the jockey contacts a point on the meter wire to the right of D, current flows
from B to the wire.
(d) When R is increased, the neutral point shifts to left.
34. Which of the following is wrong? Resistivity of a conductor is,
(a) independent of temperature.
(b) inversely proportional to temperature.
(c) independent of dimensions of conductor.
(d) less than resistivity of a semiconductor.

35. For measurement of potential difference, a potentiometer is preferred over voltmeter

because,
(a) potentiometer is more sensitive than voltmeter.
(b) the resistance of potentiometer is less than voltmeter.
(c) potentiometer is cheaper than voltmeter.
(d) potentiometer does not take current from the circuit.

36. For a cell, the graph between the potential difference (V) across the terminals of the
cell and the current (I) drawn from the cell is shown in the figure.

The e.m.f. and the internal resistance of the cell are

(a) 2V, 0.5 Ω
(b) 2V, 0.4 Ω
(c) > 2V, 0.5 Ω
(d) > 2V, 0.4 Ω

37. Three resistors each of 2 ohm are connected together in a triangular shape. The
resistance between any two vertices will be,

(a) 4/3 ohm

(b) 3/4 ohm
(c) 3 ohm
(d) 6 ohm
38. From the graph between current I and voltage V shown below, identify the portion
corresponding to negative resistance.

(a) AB
(b) BC
(c) CD
(d) DE

39. AB is a wire of potentiometer with the increase in the value of resistance R, the shift
in the balance point J will be,

(a) towards B
(b) towards A
(c) remains constant
(d) first towards B then back towards A.

40. V-I graph for a metallic wire at two different temperatures T1 and T2 is shown. Then,

(a) T1 = T2
(b) T1 < T2
(c) T1 > T2
(d) data insufficient

41. Two wires A and B of equal masses and of the same metals are taken. The diameter
of the wire A is half the diameter of the wire B. If the resistance of A is 24 Ω then find
the resistance of wire B?
(a) 0.5
(b) 1
(c) 1.5
(d) 3
42. The bulbs A, B and C are connected as shown in the figure given below. The bulbs
B and C are identical. If the bulb C is fused then,

(a) Both A and B will glow more brightly

(b) Both A and B will glow less brightly
(c) A will glow less brightly and B will glow more brightly
(d) A will glow more brightly and B will glow less brightly.

43. The equivalent resistance of the infinite network is,

(a) less than 4

(b) 4
(c) 12
(d) more than 4 and less than 12

44. The current i in the circuit is,

(a) 0.5 A
(b) 1.0 A
(c) 1.5 A
(d) 2.0 A

45. The current in the given circuit is,

(a) 0.1 A
(b) 0.2 A
(c) 0.3 A
(d) 0.4 A