Secondary 3 / Grade 9

Full Name:

School: Index Number:

Instructions to Students:
1. Only Scientific Calculators are allowed during the contest.
2. The duration of this contest is 1 hour 30 minutes. You may not leave the contest venue within the
first hour of the paper.
3. This examination paper contains 25 questions and comprises of 13 printed pages.
4. Each question has only 4 possible answers: a, b, c and d. Shade your correct option on the Answer
Entry Sheet provided.
5. The total marks for this paper is 77 points:
a. Section A:
Question 1 to 10: +2 points for correct answer, 0 points for no answer and −1 point for wrong
answer.
b. Section B:
Question 11 to 20: +3 points for correct answer, 0 points for no answer or wrong answer.
Application Question
Question 21, 22 and 23: +3 points for correct answer, 0 points for wrong and no answer.
Question 24 and 25: +4 points for correct answer, 0 points for wrong and no answer.
6. You are not allowed to bring the question paper and answer script out of the contest venue.

Note:
1) You may assume that there is no air resistance throughout the contest unless stated.
2) All temperatures are in Degrees Celsius.
3) Room Temperature is 25°C at 1 atmospheric pressure.
4) Gravitational Acceleration is taken to be 9.8 𝑚/𝑠 2
Vanda 2019, Secondary 3/ Grade 9

Rough Working
Vanda 2019, Secondary 3/ Grade 9

Section A (Question 1 to 10: +2 points for correct answer, 0 point for no answer and
−1 point for wrong answer)

1. A substance Y
(i) forms amphoteric oxides;
(ii) is a good conductor of electricity;
(iii) forms colored complex compounds.

What could Y be?

a) Solid Sodium Chloride

b) Alumina
c) Lead
d) Tungsten

2. In which of the following changes does water molecules increase in volume?

a) When ice at 0°C melts to form water at 0°C.
b) When water at 0°C freezes to form ice at 0°C.
c) When the temperature of water increases from 0°C to 4°C.
d) When steam condenses to form liquid water.

3. The diagram below shows a cup of water filled to the brim and an ice cube with a
large air bubble inside is floating on top.

After the ice has melted, water in the cup will

a) overflow.
b) stay at the same level.
c) decrease in water level.
d) freeze.
Vanda 2019, Secondary 3/ Grade 9

4. Container A and container B of equal shape, size and capacity are filled with
equal amounts of water at room temperature and placed under the hot sun in an
open area. The temperature of the water in the containers is measured with a
thermometer some time later. It was observed that container A has a higher
temperature as compared to container B. What could be the possible reasons for
this observation?

i) Container A is painted black and container B is painted silver.

ii) Container A is made of plastic and container B is made of steel.
iii) Container A is covered with a lid but container B is opened on top.

a) i) and ii)
b) i) and iii)
c) ii) and iii)
d) i), ii) and iii)

5. A test cross is carried out on an organism of unknown genotype. Half of the

offspring have the same phenotype as the parent with the unknown genotype.
What can be concluded from this results?

a) The parent is homozygous dominant for the trait.

b) The parent is homozygous recessive for the trait.
c) The parent is heterozygous for the trait.
d) The trait being inherited is polygenic.

6. The complete combustion of propane, C3H8 in the presence of an excess amount

of oxygen gas, results in the formation of carbon dioxide gas and water. If 220 g
of propane fully reacted, how many grams of water were produced?

a) 200g
b) 250g
c) 320g
d) 360g
Vanda 2019, Secondary 3/ Grade 9

7. Which of the following statements about the behavior of gaseous H2 molecules in

a container at 1 atm pressure and 298 K temperature are correct?
(I) All H2 molecules are moving at the same speed.
(II) The H2 molecules are always in continuous random motion.
(III) The H2 molecules will collide more frequently with the walls of the
container at a higher temperature of 498 K.
(IV) Doubling the temperature will double the speed of the H2 molecules.

a) (I) and (II)

b) (II) and (III)
c) (I), (II) and (III)
d) (II), (III) and (IV)

8. A pendulum bob is suspended at Point O and starts swinging from point P. If the
speed of the pendulum bob at the bottom at point A is 3.65 m/s. At what angle, x
with the vertical would the velocity of the pendulum bob at point B be halved of
that at point A?
(Assume there is no air resistance. Take g = 10 m/s2)

a) 30°
b) 45°
c) 60°
d) 75°
Vanda 2019, Secondary 3/ Grade 9

9. A cannon is on a slope that is inclined 30°to the horizontal. It fires a projectile at

an angle. At what particular angle 𝜃, would the projectile have the greatest range?

a) 30°
b) 45°
c) 60°
d) 75°

10. 100 g of ice initially at - 5°C is in a glass cup. 200 ml of water at 60°C is then
poured into the glass cup such that all the ice melts. What is the final temperature
of the water? Ignore the heat gained by the glass cup.
(Take specific latent heat of ice 𝑐𝑖𝑐𝑒 = 2.00 𝑘𝐽 𝑘𝑔−1 𝑘 −1 , specific latent heat of
water 𝑐𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 = 4.187 𝑘𝐽 𝑘𝑔−1 𝑘 −1, latent heat of fusion of ice 𝑙𝑓 = 33.5 ×
104 𝐽/𝑘𝑔 )

a) 12.5°C
b) 25.1°C
c) 39.2°C
d) 40.0°C
Vanda 2019, Secondary 3/ Grade 9

Section B (Question 11 to 20: +3 points for correct answer, 0 points for no

answer or wrong answer)

11. The following equations illustrates the four reactions which take place in the blast
furnace during the extraction of iron from haematite.
C + CO2 → 2CO
CaCO3 → CaO + CO2
Fe2O3 + 3CO → 2Fe + 3CO2
SiO2 + CaO → CaSiO3

How many of the following equations have a single species that undergo both
oxidation and reduction reactions?

a) 1
b) 2
c) 3
d) 4

12. With respect to the transport of substances across membranes, which of the
following statements is true?

a) In order for a cell to reach the same water potential as its surrounding
solution, there must be no net gain or loss of water.
b) In diffusion, there is no movement of substances across the membrane
once dynamic equilibrium is reached.
c) Both diffusion and osmosis can occur in the presence of membranes and
the absence of energy.
d) Diffusion involves the movement of substances down the concentration
gradient whereas osmosis involves the movement of water molecules
against a concentration.
Vanda 2019, Secondary 3/ Grade 9

13. The electron micrograph below shows the contents of an animal cell.

Which of the following describes the potential relationship between X and Y?

a) Polypeptides synthesised in X are transported to Y for further

modification.
b) Polypeptides synthesised in Y are transported to X for further
modification.
c) ATP is synthesized in X and directed towards polymerisation of amino
acids at Y.
d) mRNA is first synthesised in X and subsequently undergoes translation at
Y.

14. The graph shows the results of an experiment investigating the effect of substrate
concentration on the rate of an enzymatic reaction. The enzyme concentration was
kept constant throughout the experiment.

Z
Y

Reaction
rate

Substrate concentration
Which statement is correct?
a) Between Y and Z, the number of enzyme molecules is limiting.
b) Between X and Y, the number of enzyme molecules is limiting.
c) Between Y and Z, the number of substrate molecules is limiting.
d) Between Y and Z, the product concentration remains the same.
Vanda 2019, Secondary 3/ Grade 9

15. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a double stranded molecule where the base
Adenine (A) pairs with Thymine (T) via complementary base pairing and Guanine
(G) pairs with Cytosine (C). In Ribonucleic acid (RNA), a single-stranded
molecule, the Thymines are replaced by Uracils. An example of a DNA molecule
is shown below.

The table below shows the percentage of bases in four samples of nucleic
acids. Identify the base which is Adenine (A).

Bases
Sample
a) b) c) d) Uracil
1 24 27 23 26 Nil
2 30 19 31 19 Nil
3 Nil 25 25 25 25
4 33 17 32 18 Nil

16. The atoms of an element 𝜑 have the electronic configuration: 2, 7.

Which of the following statements about element X is correct?
I) It reacts with Xenon to form a stable covalent compound with
chemical
formula Xe 𝜑 4.
II) It forms an ion of charge of +1.
III) It has 7 electrons in the outer shell of the atom.
IV) It only reacts with non-metals.

a) I and II b) III only

c) I and III d) I, III and IV
Vanda 2019, Secondary 3/ Grade 9

17. The addition of concentrated sulphuric acid to solid potassium iodide is usually
deemed to be unsuitable for the preparation of hydrogen iodide. Which of the
following statements are true?
I) Hydrogen iodide is not displaced by sulphuric acid.
II) The product obtained can be contaminated by other sulphur
compounds.
III) Iodide ions are oxidised to iodine.

a) I b) I and II
c) II and III d) I, II and III

18. The width of a wire is measured using a micrometer screw gauge.

The following readings were being taken:

5.21 mm 5.22 mm 5.24 mm 5.45 mm

What is the average width of the wire?

a) 5.22 mm
b) 5.23 mm
c) 5.28 mm
d) 5.33 mm

19. A car of mass 600 kg has a driving force of 2.5 kN acting on it. It has a forward
horizontal acceleration of 3.0 m/s2. (Take 𝑔 = 10 𝑚/𝑠 2 .)
The frictional force is given by 𝑓 = 𝜇𝑘 𝑁 .

What is the coefficient of the kinetic friction, 𝜇𝑘 that the car experiences?

a) 0.12
b) 0.24
c) 0.48
d) 0.64
Vanda 2019, Secondary 3/ Grade 9

20. Three food samples were tested to determine the identity of the biomolecule(s)
present in each sample. The results are shown in the table below.

Benedict's treated with dilute HCl before

Iodine Biuret solution followed Benedict's solution followed by
solution solution by heating heating
Sample
1 brown purple blue brick-red
Sample
2 brown blue brick-red brick-red
Sample blue-
3 black purple blue blue

Which of the following can be concluded from the results shown?

1 No protein is present in Sample 2.

2 No lipids are present in Samples 1, 2 and 3.
3 Sucrose is present in Sample 2.
4 When treated with amylase, Sample 3 will give the same result as Sample
1.

a) 1 is correct only
b) 1 and 3 correct only
c) 2 and 4 correct only
d) 1, 2, 3, 4 are correct
Vanda 2019, Secondary 3/ Grade 9

Section C

Question 21, 22 and 23: +𝟑 points for correct answer, 0 points for wrong and no
answer.
Question 24 and 25: +𝟒 points for correct answer, 0 points for wrong and no
answer.
Questions in this section are Application Based Questions.

21. An extremely radioactive element Francium, Fr is an extremely rare radioactive

occurring element which lies below Caesium, Cs in the Group I of the Periodic
Table. Which of the following statements of Francium is true?
I) It can form an extremely stable ionic compound with fluorine.
II) It is a very strong reducing agent.
III) It is able to float on water.

IV) It is a liquid under a hot sunny day.

a) I only b) II only
c) I and II d) I, II and IV

22. Following the given question as above, francium has never been viewed outside of
a laboratory. It is extremely unstable and has a half-life of only 22 minutes. In a
laboratory sample, 0.02 grams was present. A physicist estimated that 0.10 grams
was present at the beginning. Some of the half- life formulae are given by:
𝑁(𝑡) = 𝑁0 𝑒 −𝜆𝑡
ln 2
𝑡1 =
2 𝜆
Where N0 is the initial quantity of the substance that will decay. N(t) is the quantity
that still remains and has not yet decay after time t. λ is a positive number called
the decay constant of the decaying quantity.
How long does it take for the francium sample to decay from 0.1 grams to 0.02
grams?

a) 4.4 min
b) 48 min
c) 51 min
d) 110 min
Vanda 2019, Secondary 3/ Grade 9

23. The graph below shows the trends in melting and boiling points of the group I
elements.

It can be clearly seen that both the melting and boiling points of the elements
decreases down the group. Which of the following statements explain the
trend of the melting and boiling point of the group I elements down the group?

I) The distance between the nuclei of the atoms and the delocalized
electrons increases leading to a decrease in the strength of the metallic
bonding.
II) Additional levels of electron shells decrease the screening effect, hence
causing a decreasing rate in the decrease of the melting and boiling
point.
III) The boiling point is significantly higher than the melting point as the
atoms tries to break free from the metallic bonding that holds them
together.

a) I only b) II only
c) I and III d) I, II and III
Vanda 2019, Secondary 3/ Grade 9

24. The graph shows how the rate of carbon dioxide uptake by green algae changes
with increasing light intensity.

Which of the following is true at X?

a) Carbon dioxide concentration is a limiting factor.
b) The algae cells are photosynthesising.
c) There is insufficient light for photosynthesis to proceed.
d) The rate of photosynthesis is the same as the rate of respiration.

25. The four biomolecules shown in the pathway below form part of an enzyme-
catalysed sequence of reactions. The addition of Substance X (not shown in
pathway) results in no change in the concentration of Biomolecule A, an
accumulation of Biomolecule B, and a near absence of both Biomolecules C and
D. Further addition of Biomolecule C results in the formation of Biomolecule D.
What does this information indicate about Substance X?

a) It is an inhibitor of enzyme 2.
b) It catalyses the formation of Biomolecule B.
c) It is an inhibitor of enzyme 1.
d) It reacts with Biomolecule C.
Vanda 2019, Secondary 3/ Grade 9

Rough Working