PHYSICS – GRADE 9

SECOND SEMESTER
Instructions to candidates:
•Answer all the questions in the paper
•Write your answers in the spaces provided in this paper.
•Show your working where necessary.

NAME - ……………………………………….

1. The diagram shows the height of a stack of identical coins.

What is the thickness of one coin?

A 0.20mm B 2.0mm C 0.24cm D 2.0cm

2. A pendulum is set in motion and timed. The time measured for 20 complete swings is 30s.

What is the time for one complete swing of the pendulum?

A 0.67s B 0.75s C 1.5s D 3.0s

3. The graph shows how the distance travelled by a vehicle changes with time.

Which row describes the speed of the vehicle in each section of the graph?

Noble Vision Institute Lakshitha Wijerathne B.Sc(Hon’s)

 P to Q Q to R R to S

A constant zero constant

B constant zero decreasing

C increasing constant decreasing

D increasing zero constant

4. A car moves in a circular path as it turns a corner on a horizontal road.

The car moves at constant speed.

Which description of the forces acting on the car is correct?

A All the forces are balanced as the car is moving at constant speed.
B The forces are unbalanced and the resultant force acts away from the centre of the circle.
C The forces are unbalanced and the resultant force acts towards the centre of the circle.
D The forces are unbalanced and the resultant force is in the direction of travel of the car.
5. In a laboratory, a ball is dropped in a vacuum and falls 200cm.
Which statement describes the acceleration of the ball?

A It is greater at 10cm than at 200cm.

B It is greatest at 200cm.
C It is smaller at 50cm than at 100cm.
D It is the same value at 50cm as at 150cm.

Noble Vision Institute Lakshitha Wijerathne B.Sc(Hon’s)

 6. The diagram shows all the horizontal forces acting on a truck.

What is the size of the resultant horizontal force on the truck?

A 200 N B 300 N C 700 N D 1000 N

7. The diagrams show an empty rectangular box, and the same box filled with liquid.

The box has a mass of 60 g when empty. When filled with liquid, the total mass of the box and
the liquid is 300 g.

The density of the liquid is 1.2 g / cm3.

What is the volume of the liquid in the box?

A 50 cm3 B 200 cm3 C 250 cm3 D 300 cm3

8. A 1 kg sample of aluminium is stored in a laboratory. In a different laboratory, in the same

town, there is a 1kg sample of iron.

Which quantity must these two samples always have in common?

A the same density

B the same temperature

C the same volume

D the same weight

Noble Vision Institute Lakshitha Wijerathne B.Sc(Hon’s)

 9. The diagram shows a plank balanced on a pivot. Three forces F, P and Q act on the plank, as
shown.

The force F is increased, but continues to act at the same distance from the pivot. The plank
is no longer balanced.
Which change could make the plank balance again?
A decrease Q
B increase P
C move P further from the pivot
D move Q further from the pivot

10. A student sets up the apparatus shown in the diagram to find the centre of mass of the card.

The student makes sure that the card, the string and the bob are all at rest.
What should the student do next?
A Mark a horizontal line on the card level with the middle of the string.
B Mark the line of the string on the card.
C Pull the bob on the string to one side and release it.
D Replace the bob with a heavier bob.

Noble Vision Institute Lakshitha Wijerathne B.Sc(Hon’s)

 11. Centre of gravity and stability of an object whose stability can be increased by,

A high center of gravity and narrow base B high center of gravity and broad base

C low center of gravity and narrow base D low center of gravity and broad base

12. The diagrams show a steel spring and a graph of its length against the load applied to it.

What is the extension of the spring when a load of 20N is applied to it?

A 3.0cm B 4.5cm C 5.0cm D 8.0cm

13. An extension-load graph is plotted to show the result of increasing the load on a spring.

Which point marks the elastic limit for this spring?

Noble Vision Institute Lakshitha Wijerathne B.Sc(Hon’s)

 14. The diagrams show two mercury barometers. The right-hand diagram shows a tube of larger
diameter. There is a vacuum above the mercury in both tubes.

Which labelled position on the right-hand tube shows the mercury level in the right-hand
tube?

15. The diagram shows three vases each with the same base area. Each vase contains water of
the same depth.

Which statement about the water pressures at points P, Q and R is correct?

A The pressure at point P is the greatest.
B The pressure at point Q is the least.
C The pressure at point R is the greatest.
D The pressures at points P, Q and R are the same.

Noble Vision Institute Lakshitha Wijerathne B.Sc(Hon’s)

 16. On a hot day, the pressure of the air in a car tyre is greater than on a cold day.
Why is the pressure greater on a hot day?
A The air molecules strike each other more frequently.
B The air molecules strike each other with greater force.
C The air molecules strike the tyre walls more frequently.
D The number of air molecules in the tyre increases.

17. The box contains the names of eight different energy resources.

How many of these energy resources are renewable?

A 3 B 4 C 5 D 6

18. A 40W lamp wastes 34J of energy every second by heating its surroundings.
What is the efficiency of the lamp?
A 0.15% B 15% C 18% D 85%

19. A ball is released from point X on a rough semicircular track. It comes to rest for an instant at
point Y. The gravitational potential energy of the ball at point X is EX. The gravitational
potential energy of the ball at point Y is EY.

Which equation relates the energy of the ball at point X to its energy at point Y?
A EX= EY + work done against friction
B EX = EY – work done against friction
C EX + EY = work done against friction
D EX + EY + work done against friction = 0

Noble Vision Institute Lakshitha Wijerathne B.Sc(Hon’s)

 20. The engine of a motor vehicle develops a large amount of power.
Which statement is correct?
A The driving force acting on the vehicle must be large.
B The engine must have a very large volume.
C The engine must transfer large amounts of energy each second.
D The vehicle must be very fast.

21. A pan is made for heating water on a stove.

From which type of materials should the pan and its handle be made?

material for pan material for handle

A good thermal conductor good thermal conductor

B good thermal conductor poor thermal conductor

C poor thermal conductor good thermal conductor

D poor thermal conductor poor thermal conductor

Noble Vision Institute Lakshitha Wijerathne B.Sc(Hon’s)

 22. The diagram shows the temperature-time graph for hot water that is cooling in an uninsulated
beaker.

The beaker is now insulated. The same volume of hot water, at the same initial temperature
as before, is put into the insulated beaker. The beaker is in the same room as before.

Which is the new temperature-time graph for the water as it cools?

Noble Vision Institute Lakshitha Wijerathne B.Sc(Hon’s)

 23. Which statement about infra-red radiation is correct?
A A black surface is a poor absorber of infra-red radiation.
B A dull surface is a better emitter of infra-red radiation than a shiny surface.
C A shiny surface is a better absorber of infra-red radiation than a dull surface.
D A white surface is a poor reflector of infra-red radiation.

24. The same quantity of thermal energy is supplied to two solid objects X and Y. The
temperature increase of object X is greater than the temperature increase of object Y.

Which statement explains this?

A X has a lower melting point than Y.
B X has a lower density than Y.
C X has a lower thermal capacity than Y.
D X is a better thermal conductor than Y.

25. When a liquid evaporates, some of its molecules escape from the surface and the
temperature of the liquid changes.
Which row describes the escaping molecules and the change in temperature of the liquid?

temperature of
escaping molecules
the liquid
A less energetic goes down

B less energetic goes up

C more energetic goes down

D more energetic goes up

26. Light strikes a plane mirror and is reflected. The angle between the ray of light and the mirror
is 20°.

What is the size of the angle of reflection?

A 20° B 70° C 140° D 160°

Noble Vision Institute Lakshitha Wijerathne B.Sc(Hon’s)

 27. Waves travel more slowly on the surface of shallow water than on the surface of deep water.

Which diagram shows a wave travelling from deep water into shallower water?

28. A boy sees a fish in a lake.

Which labelled path is taken by the light travelling from the fish to the boy’s eye?

Noble Vision Institute Lakshitha Wijerathne B.Sc(Hon’s)

 29. Light has a speed of 1.24 × 108 m/s in diamond.
What is the refractive index of diamond?
(A) 0.41 (B) 1.54 (C) 2.42 (D) 3.72

30. A prism is made from transparent plastic. In this plastic, light travels at 0.80 c, where c is its
speed in air. Light enters one face of the prism at right­angles as shown.

The light just escapes from the sloping face of the prism.
What is angle θ?
(A) 37° (B) 39° (C) 51° (D) 53°

31. The diagrams represent the displacement in four different sound waves. All the diagrams are
drawn to the same scale.
Which diagram represents the sound with the highest pitch?

Noble Vision Institute Lakshitha Wijerathne B.Sc(Hon’s)

 32. A man stands 110 m from a high wall. He makes a short, sharp sound and then hears an
echo from the wall.
The speed of sound in air is 330 m / s.
How long after making the sound does the man hear the echo?
A 0.33 s B 0.67 s C 1.5 s D 3.0 s

33. Why can ultrasound not be heard by humans?

A The amplitude is too great. C The speed is too great.
B The frequency is too great. D The wavelength is too great.

34. When the volcano Krakatoa erupted in 1883, it was heard 5000km away. Which statement
about the sound from the volcano is not correct?

A If such a loud sound were to be made today, an astronaut orbiting in space (a vacuum) at
a height of 400km could hear it.

B People further from the volcano heard the sound later than people nearer to the volcano.

C The amplitude of the sound waves would have been smaller further from the volcano.

D The sound was very loud because a lot of energy was transferred to vibrations of the air.
35. Which group shows four electromagnetic waves in order, from the largest wavelength to the
smallest?

A microwaves, radio waves, X-rays, visible light

B radio waves, microwaves, visible light, X-rays
C visible light, X-rays, radio waves, microwaves
D X-rays, visible light, microwaves, radio waves

36. The diagram shows the dispersion of white light by a prism.

Which row could be correct for the colours seen at X, at Y and at Z?

colour at X colour at Y colour at Z

A red violet yellow

B red yellow violet

C violet yellow red

D yellow red violet

Noble Vision Institute Lakshitha Wijerathne B.Sc(Hon’s)

37.

38.

39.

Noble Vision Institute Lakshitha Wijerathne B.Sc(Hon’s)

40

Noble Vision Institute Lakshitha Wijerathne B.Sc(Hon’s)