1. Fundamental Quantities, Units & Measurement
1. Which of the following is the SI unit of force?
(A) Joule
(B) Pascal
(C) Newton
(D) Watt
Answer: (C) Newton
2. What is the SI unit of electric current?
(A) Ampere
(B) Volt
(C) Ohm
(D) Coulomb
Answer: (A) Ampere
3. What is the SI unit of electrical resistance?
(A) Farad
(B) Volt
(C) Ampere
(D) Ohm
Answer: (D) Ohm
4. The SI unit of frequency is:
(A) Hertz
(B) Watt
(C) Joule
(D) Newton
Answer: (A) Hertz
5. What is 1 kilocalorie approximately equal to?
(A) 4184 joules
(B) 4284 joules
(C) 4384 joules
(D) 4484 joules
Answer: (A) 4184 joules
6. Which of the following is a scalar quantity?
(A) Force
(B) Pressure
(C) Momentum
(D) Acceleration
Answer: (B) Pressure (Also, energy is a scalar, not a vector)
7. Which of the following is a vector quantity?
(A) Speed
(B) Distance
(C) Mass
(D) Velocity
Answer: (D) Velocity
8. The non-SI unit “nit” is a unit of which photometric quantity used to measure light intensity?
(A) Luminosity
(B) Luminance
(C) Luminous exposure
(D) Luminous emittance
Answer: (B) Luminance
9. Specific gravity is defined as the ratio of the density of:
(A) A substance to the density of hydrogen
(B) A substance to the density of water
(C) Water to the density of a substance
(D) Mercury to the density of a substance
Answer: (B) A substance to the density of water
2. Mechanics & Thermodynamics
10. Who formulated the laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation?
(A) Isaac Newton
(B) Albert Einstein
(C) David Gregory
(D) Galileo
Answer: (A) Sir Isaac Newton
11. The rate of change of momentum of a body is equal to the resultant:
(A) Energy
(B) Power
(C) Force
(D) Impulse
Answer: (C) Force
12. The difference between velocity and speed is:
(A) Time
(B) Direction
(C) Rate
(D) None of the above
Answer: (B) Direction
13. A moving body on Earth ordinarily comes to rest by itself because of:
(A) Law of inertia
(B) Force of friction
(C) Conservation of momentum
(D) Gravity
Answer: (B) Force of friction
14. A projectile achieves maximum horizontal range when projected at an angle of:
(A) 90°
(B) 60°
(C) 45°
(D) 30°
Answer: (C) 45°
15. A wound watch spring has ______ energy.
(A) Mechanical
(B) Kinetic
(C) Potential
(D) Light
Answer: (C) Potential
16. For a diatomic gas, the number of translational degrees of freedom is:
(A) 4
(B) 5
(C) 3
(D) 6
Answer: (C) 3
17. Woollen clothes keep us warmer than cotton clothes because wool is:
(A) A better absorber of heat
(B) A better insulator of heat
(C) A better radiator of heat
(D) Heavier than cotton
Answer: (B) A better insulator of heat
18. Food is cooked faster in a pressure cooker because:
(A) Heat cannot escape from the cooker
(B) Steam is hotter than boiling water
(C) Due to high pressure, the boiling point of water is raised
(D) High pressure crushes food grains
Answer: (C) Due to high pressure, the boiling point of water is raised
19. At what temperature are the Celsius and Fahrenheit scales equal?
(A) -40°
(B) +40°
(C) -10°
(D) +5°
Answer: (A) -40°
20. The power output of a wind turbine varies approximately:
(A) Directly with wind speed
(B) As the square of wind speed
(C) As the cube of wind speed
(D) Inversely proportional to wind speed
Answer: (C) As the cube of wind speed
3. Fluids, Waves & Acoustics
21. Bernoulli’s theorem is based on conservation of:
(A) Mass
(B) Energy
(C) Charge
(D) Momentum
Answer: (B) Energy
22. A spray bottle works mainly on the principle of:
(A) Pascal’s law
(B) Archimedes’ principle
(C) Bernoulli’s principle
(D) Stokes’ law
Answer: (C) Bernoulli’s principle
23. Two glass plates with a little water between them cannot be separated easily because of:
(A) External pressure
(B) Viscosity
(C) Surface tension
(D) None of the above
Answer: (C) Surface tension
24. A balloon filled with hydrogen will generally:
(A) Continue going upwards uninterrupted
(B) Reach a particular height and keep floating
(C) Burst after reaching some height
(D) Start going downwards
Answer: (C) Burst after reaching some height
25. When a wave travels from one place to another, it transports:
(A) Matter
(B) Energy
(C) Mass
(D) Humidity
Answer: (B) Energy
26. Which of the following is a mechanical wave?
(A) Radio waves
(B) X-rays
(C) Light waves
(D) Sound waves
Answer: (D) Sound waves (Mechanical waves cannot travel through a vacuum).
27. The pitch/frequency of sound is measured in:
(A) Hertz
(B) Decibel
(C) Ampere
(D) Joule
Answer: (A) Hertz
28. Which of the following is the unit used for measuring the amplitude/intensity level of sound?
(A) Decibel
(B) Coulomb
(C) Hum
(D) Cycles
Answer: (A) Decibel
Note: Amplitude itself is not measured in decibels; sound intensity level or sound pressure level is commonly expressed in decibels.
4. Light, Optics & Electricity
29. The sky appears blue because:
(A) It is actually blue
(B) In white light, the blue component dominates
(C) All colours interfere to produce blue
(D) The atmosphere scatters blue light more than other visible colours
Answer: (D) The atmosphere scatters blue light more than other visible colours
30. Which colour of visible light has the highest energy among the following?
(A) Blue
(B) Green
(C) Red
(D) Yellow
Answer: (A) Blue
31. The Raman Effect is associated with:
(A) Scattering of ultraviolet rays
(B) Elastic scattering of atoms
(C) Scattering of molecules only
(D) Inelastic scattering of light
Answer: (D) Inelastic scattering of light
32. A rainbow is produced due to:
(A) Dispersion only
(B) Refraction only
(C) Reflection only
(D) Dispersion, refraction and internal reflection
Answer: (D) Dispersion, refraction and internal reflection
33. Which mirror is used as a rear-view mirror in vehicles?
(A) Concave mirror
(B) Convex mirror
(C) Plane mirror
(D) Cylindrical
Answer: (B) Convex mirror
34. Which mirror is used by dentists to obtain a magnified image, and also used in vehicle headlights?
(A) Plane mirror
(B) Convex mirror
(C) Concave mirror
(D) Cylindrical
Answer: (C) Concave mirror
35. Which phenomenon explains why objects appear bent when partly immersed in water?
(A) Reflection
(B) Refraction
(C) Diffraction
(D) Polarisation
Answer: (B) Refraction
36. The blackboard appears black because it:
(A) Reflects every colour
(B) Does not reflect visible light significantly
(C) Absorbs black colour
(D) Reflects black colour
Answer: (B) Does not reflect visible light significantly
37. Which apparatus obstructs the flow of electric current?
(A) Resistor
(B) Capacitor
(C) Commutator
(D) Voltameter
Answer: (A) Resistor
38. Which device is used to store electric charge?
(A) Inductor
(B) Capacitor
(C) Resistor
(D) Transformer
Answer: (B) Capacitor
39. In our houses, we get 220 V AC. The value 220 V represents:
(A) Constant voltage
(B) Effective/RMS voltage
(C) Average voltage
(D) Peak voltage
Answer: (B) Effective/RMS voltage
40. When the current flowing through a resistance increases four times, the heat developed will increase by:
(A) Two times
(B) Four times
(C) Eight times
(D) Sixteen times
Answer: (D) Sixteen times
41. Made from a variety of materials, such as carbon, which apparatus obstructs the flow of electric current?
(A) Resistor
(B) Capacitor
(C) Commutator
(D) Voltameter
Answer: (A) Resistor
42. The filament of an electric bulb is generally made of:
(A) Copper
(B) Aluminium
(C) Lead
(D) Tungsten
Answer: (D) Tungsten
43. The electrical conductivity of an ideal superconductor is:
(A) Infinite (It offers no electrical resistance)
(B) Small
(C) Zero
(D) Large
Answer: (A) Infinite
5. Miscellaneous Physics
44. What is the correct sequence of the layers of the Earth from the outside to the inside?
(A) Crust → Core → Mantle
(B) Crust → Mantle → Core
(C) Mantle → Crust → Core
(D) Core → Mantle → Crust
Answer: (B) Crust → Mantle → Core
45. Clouds float in the atmosphere mainly because:
(A) Their velocity is low
(B) Their temperature is low
(C) Their average density is low
(D) Their pressure is low
Answer: (C) Their average density is low
46. Fog is an example of a colloidal system of:
(A) Liquid dispersed in a gas
(B) Gas dispersed in a gas
(C) Solid dispersed in a gas
(D) Solid dispersed in a liquid
Answer: (A) Liquid dispersed in a gas
47. Optic fibres are mainly used for:
(A) Communication
(B) Musical instruments
(C) Weaving
(D) Food industry
Answer: (A) Communication
48. Who discovered the neutron?
(A) James Chadwick
(B) Rutherford
(C) Niels Bohr
(D) J. J. Thomson
Answer: (A) James Chadwick
49. Which among the following is a positively charged particle emitted by a radioactive element?
(A) Beta ray
(B) Alpha ray
(C) Cathode ray
(D) Gamma ray
Answer: (B) Alpha ray