Test Code: CS (Short answer type) 2009

M.Tech. in Computer Science

The candidates for M.Tech. in Computer Science will have to take two
tests Test MIII (objective type) in the forenoon session and Test CS
(short answer type) in the afternoon session. The CS test booklet will have
two groups as follows.
GROUP A
A test for all candidates in analytical ability and mathematics at the B.Sc.
(pass) level, carrying 30 marks.
GROUP B
A test, divided into several sections, carrying equal marks of 70 in
mathematics, statistics, and physics at the B. Sc. (Hons.) level, and in
computer science, and engineering and technology at the B.Tech. level. A
candidate has to answer questions from only one of these sections
according to his/her choice.
The syllabi and sample questions for the CS test are given below.
Note: Not all questions in the sample set are of equal difficulty. They
may not carry equal marks in the test.
Syllabus
GROUP A
Elements of set theory. Permutations and combinations. Functions and
relations. Theory of equations. Inequalities.
Limits, continuity, sequences and series, differentiation and integration
with applications, maxima-minima, complex numbers and De Moivres
theorem.
Elementary Euclidean geometry and trigonometry.
Elementary number theory, divisibility, congruences, primality.
Determinants, matrices, solutions of linear equations, vector spaces, linear
independence, dimension, rank and inverse.

GROUP B
Mathematics
(B.Sc. Hons. level)
In addition to the syllabus for Mathematics in Group A, the syllabus
includes:
Calculus and real analysis real numbers, basic properties; convergence
of sequences and series; limits, continuity, uniform continuity of
functions; differentiability of functions of one or more variables and
applications. Indefinite integral, fundamental theorem of Calculus,
Riemann integration, improper integrals, double and multiple integrals and
applications. Sequences and series of functions, uniform convergence.
Linear algebra vector spaces and linear transformations; matrices and
systems of linear equations, characteristic roots and characteristic vectors,
Cayley-Hamilton theorem, canonical forms, quadratic forms.
Graph Theory connectedness, trees, vertex coloring, planar graphs,
Eulerian graphs, Hamiltonian graphs, digraphs and tournaments.
Abstract algebra groups, subgroups, cosets, Lagranges theorem; normal
subgroups and quotient groups; permutation groups; rings, subrings,
ideals, integral domains, fields, characteristics of a field, polynomial rings,
unique factorization domains, field extensions, finite fields.
Differential equations solutions of ordinary and partial differential
equations and applications.

Statistics
(B.Sc. Hons. level)
Notions of sample space and probability, combinatorial probability,
conditional probability, Bayes' theorem and independence, random
variable and expectation, moments, standard univariate discrete and
continuous distributions, sampling distribution of statistics based on
normal samples, central limit theorem, approximation of binomial to
normal. Poisson law, multinomial, bivariate normal and multivariate
normal distributions.

Descriptive statistical measures, product-moment correlation, partial and

multiple correlation; regression (simple and multiple); elementary theory
and methods of estimation (unbiasedness, minimum variance, sufficiency,
maximum likelihood method, method of moments, least squares methods).
Tests of hypotheses (basic concepts and simple applications of NeymanPearson Lemma). Confidence intervals. Tests of regression. Elements of
non-parametric inference. Contingency tables and Chi-square, ANOVA,
basic designs (CRD/RBD/LSD) and their analyses. Elements of factorial
designs. Conventional sampling techniques, ratio and regression methods
of estimation.
Physics
(B.Sc. Hons. level)
General properties of matter elasticity, surface tension, viscosity.
Classical dynamics Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulation,
symmetries and conservation laws, motion in central field of force,
planetary motion, collision and scattering, mechanics of system of
particles, small oscillation and normal modes, wave motion, special theory
of relativity.
Electrodynamics electrostatics, magnetostatics, electromagnetic
induction, self and mutual inductance, capacitance, Maxwells equation in
free space and linear isotropic media, boundary conditions of fields at
interfaces.
Nonrelativistic quantum mechanics Plancks law, photoelectric effect,
Compton effect, wave-particle duality, Heisenbergs uncertainty principle,
quantum mechanics, Schrodingers equation, and some applications.
Thermodynamics and statistical Physics laws of thermodynamics and
their consequences, thermodynamic potentials and Maxwells relations,
chemical potential, phase equilibrium, phase space, microstates and
macrostates, partition function free energy, classical and quantum
statistics.
Electronics semiconductor physics, diode as a circuit element, clipping,
clamping, rectification, Zener regulated power supply, transistor as a
circuit element, CC CB CE configuration, transistor as a switch, OR and
NOT gates feedback in amplifiers.
Operational Amplifier and its applications inverting, noninverting
amplifiers, adder, integrator, differentiator, waveform generator
comparator and Schmidt trigger.
Digital integrated circuits NAND, NOR gates as building blocks, XOR
gates, combinational circuits, half and full adder.
3

Atomic and molecular physics quantum states of an electron in an atom,

Hydrogen atom spectrum, electron spin, spinorbit coupling, fine
structure, Zeeman effect, lasers.
Condensed matter physics crystal classes, 2D and 3D lattice, reciprocal
lattice, bonding, diffraction and structure factor, point defects and
dislocations, lattice vibration, free electron theory, electron motion in
periodic potential, energy bands in metals, insulators and semiconductors,
Hall effect, thermoelectric power, electron transport in semiconductors,
dielectrics, Claussius Mossotti equation, Piezo, pyro and ferro electricity.
Nuclear and particle physics Basics of nuclear properties, nuclear forces,
nuclear structures, nuclear reactions, interaction of charged particles and
e-m rays with matter, theoretical understanding of radioactive decay,
particle physics at the elementary level.
Computer Science
(B.Tech. level)
Data structures - array, stack, queue, linked list, binary tree, heap, AVL
tree, B-tree.
Programming languages - Fundamental concepts abstract data types,
procedure call and parameter passing, languages like C and C++.
Design and analysis of algorithms Asymptotic notation, sorting,
selection, searching.
Computer organization and architecture - Number representation,
computer arithmetic, memory organization, I/O organization,
microprogramming, pipelining, instruction level parallelism.
Operating systems - Memory management, processor management,
critical section problem, deadlocks, device management, file systems.
Formal languages and automata theory - Finite automata and regular
expressions, pushdown automata, context-free grammars, Turing
machines, elements of undecidability.
Principles of Compiler Construction - Lexical analyzer, parser, syntaxdirected translation, intermediate code generation.
Database management systems - Relational model, relational algebra,
relational calculus, functional dependency, normalization (up to 3rd
normal form).
Computer networks - OSI, LAN technology - Bus/tree, Ring, Star; MAC
protocols; WAN technology - circuit switching, packet switching; data

communications - data encoding, routing, flow control, error

detection/correction, Internetworking, TCP/IP networking including IPv4.
Switching Theory and Logic Design - Boolean algebra, minimization of
Boolean functions, combinational and sequential circuits synthesis and
design.
Engineering and Technology
(B.Tech. level)
Moments of inertia, motion of a particle in two dimensions, elasticity,
friction, strength of materials, surface tension, viscosity and gravitation.
Laws of thermodynamics, and heat engines.
Electrostatics, magnetostatics and electromagnetic induction.
Magnetic properties of matter - dia, para and ferromagnetism.
Laws of electrical circuits - RC, RL and RLC circuits, measurement of
current, voltage and resistance.
D.C. generators, D.C. motors, induction motors, alternators, transformers.
p-n junction, bipolar & FET devices, transistor amplifier, oscillator, multivibrator, operational amplifier.
Digital circuits - logic gates, multiplexer, de-multiplexer, counter, A/D
and D/A converters.
Boolean algebra, minimization of switching functions, combinational and
sequential circuits.
C Programming language.

Sample Questions
GROUP A
Mathematics
A1. If 1, a1, a2,, an-1 are the n roots of unity, find the value of
(1 - a1) (1 - a2)(1 - an-1).
A2. Let
S = {( a1 , a 2 , a3 , a 4 ) : ai , i = 1, 2, 3, 4 and a1 + a 2 + a3 + a 4 = 0}
and
= {( a1 , a 2 , a3 , a 4 ) : ai , i = 1, 2 , 3, 4 and a1 a 2 + a3 a 4 = 0}.
Find a basis for S .

A3. Provide the inverse of the following matrix:

c0 c1

c 2 c3
c c
2
3
c c
0
1

c0 =

1+ 3

c2
c0
c1
c3

c3

c1
c0

c2

3+ 3
3 3
1 3
, c2=
, and c 3 =
.
4 2
4 2
4 2
2
2
2
2
(Hint: What is c0 + c1 + c 2 + c3 ?)
where

4 2

c1 =

A4. For any real number x and for any positive integer n show that

[x] + x + 1 + x + 2 + L + x + n 1 = [nx]

n
n
n

where [a] denotes the largest integer less than or equal to a.

A5. Let bqbq-1b1b0 be the binary representation of an integer b, i.e.,
q

b = 2 j b j , bj = 0 or 1, for j = 0, 1, , q.
j =0

q
Show that b is divisible by 3 if b0 b1 + b2 K +(1) bq = 0 .

A6. A sequence {xn} is defined by x1 = 2, xn+1 = 2 + x n , n =1,2,

Show that the sequence converges and find its limit.
A7. Find the following limit:
1

1
1

+
+ ... +
lim

2
n
n2 + 2
n2 + n
n +1
A8. Find the total number of English words (all of which may not have
proper English meaning) of length 10, where all ten letters in a word
are not distinct.

a1 a 2
a
+
+ ..... + n = 0, where ais are some real constants.
2
3
n +1
2
n
Prove that the equation a 0 + a 1 x + a 2 x + ... + a n x = 0 has at least one
solution in the interval (0, 1).

A9. Let a0 +

A10. Let (n) be the number of positive integers less than n and having no
common factor with n. For example, for n = 8, the numbers 1, 3, 5, 7
have no common factors with 8, and hence (8) = 4. Show that
(i) ( p ) = p 1 ,
(ii) ( pq) = ( p) (q) , where p and q are prime numbers.
A11. Let Tn be the number of strings of length n formed by the characters
a, b and c that do not contain cc as a substring.
(a) Find the value of T4.
(b) Prove that Tn 2 n +1 for n > 1.
A12. Let f be a real-valued function such that f(x+y) = f(x) + f(y)
x, y R. Define a function by (x) = c + f(x), x R, where c is a
real constant. Show that for every positive integer n,
n ( x) = (c + f (c ) + f 2 (c) + ..... + f n 1 (c)) + f n ( x);
where, for a real-valued function g, g n (x ) is defined by

g 0 ( x) = 0, g 1 ( x) = g ( x), g k +1 ( x) = g ( g k ( x)).
A13. Consider a square grazing field with each side of length 8 metres.
There is a pillar at the centre of the field (i.e. at the intersection of
the two diagonals). A cow is tied to the pillar using a rope of
8

length 3 metres. Find the area of the part of the field that the cow
is allowed to graze.
1
A14. Let f : [0,1] [-1,1] be such that f(0) = 0 and f(x) = sin x for x > 0.
Is it possible to get three sequences {an}, {bn}, {cn} satisfying all
the three properties P1, P2 and P3 stated below? If so, provide an
example sequence for each of the three sequences. Otherwise,
prove that it is impossible to get three such sequences.

P1: an > 0, bn > 0, cn > 0, for all n.

an = 0, lim bn = 0, lim cn = 0.
P2: nlim

n
n
f (an ) = 0, lim f (bn ) = 0.5, lim f (cn ) = 1.
P3: nlim

n
n
A15.

Let a1 a2 a3 ak be the decimal representation of an integer a

(ai{0,,9} for i = 1,2,,k). For example, if a = 1031, then
a1=1, a2=0, a3=3, a4=1. Show that a is divisible by 11 if and only
if

a - a
i

i odd

i even

is divisible by 11.

GROUP B
Mathematics
x n +3
, n = 1,2,3,
3x n +1
5x n +3
, n = 1,2,3,
(i) Show that xn+2 =
3x n +5

M1. Let 0 < x1 < 1. If xn+1 =

xn exists.
(ii) Hence or otherwise, show that nlim

xn .
(iii) Find nlim

M2. (a) A function f is defined over the real line as follows:

x sin x , x > 0
f ( x) =
x = 0.
0,
Show that f ( x) vanishes at infinitely many points in (0,1).
(b) Let f : [0,1] be a continuous function with f(0) = 0. Assume
that f is finite and increasing on (0,1).
f ( x)
x (0,1) . Show that g is increasing.
Let g ( x) = x
M3.

Let
( x 1) ( x 4 + 4 x + 7)
f ( x) =
4
(1 x) ( x + 4 x + 7)

if x is rational.
if x is irrational.

Find all the continuity points of f.

M4.

Let h be any fixed positive real number. Show that there is no

differentiable function f : satisfying both the following
conditions:
(a)
f (0) = 0.
(b)
f ( x) > h for all x > 0.
2
2
M5. Find the volume of the solid given by 0 y 2 x , x + y 4 and
0 z x.
9

M6. (a) Let A, B and C be 1n, nn and n1 matrices respectively. Prove

or disprove: Rank(ABC) Rank(AC).
(b) Let S be the subspace of R4 defined by
S = {(a1, a2, a3, a4) : 5a1 - 2a3 -3a4 = 0}.
Find a basis for S.
M7. (a) A rumour spreads through a population of 5000 people at a rate
proportional to the product of the number of people who have
heard it and the number who have not. Suppose that 100 people
initiate a rumour and that a total of 500 people know the rumour
after two days. How long will it take for half the people to hear
log 9 129
the rumour? [assume that
=
]
log 49 229
(b) Find the equation of the curve satisfying the differential
equation
d2y 2
dy
( x + 1) = 2 x .
2
dx
dx
M8.

(a) Let {a n : n 1} be a sequence of positive numbers. Define

bn = a 2 n 1 a 2 n for n 1 . If an is monotonic and
prove that

converges,

also converges.

(b) Let M be the set of all 3 3 matrices of the following for:

a 0 0

0 a 0
b c a

where a, b, c Z2. Show that with standard matrix addition and

multiplication (over Z2), M is a commutative ring. Find all the
idempotent elements of M.
M9.

Consider the vector space of all n x n matrices over .

10

(a) Show that there is a basis consisting of only symmetric and

skew-symmetric matrices.
(b) Find out the number of skew-symmetric matrices this basis
must contain.
M10. (a) Let G be a group. For a, b in G we say that b is conjugate to a
(written b a), if there exists g in G such that b = gag-1. Show that
is an equivalence relation on G. The equivalence classes of are
called the conjugacy classes of G. Show that a subgroup N of G is
normal in G if and only if N is a union of conjugacy classes.
(b) Let G be a group with no proper subgroups. Show that G is
finite. Hence or otherwise, show that G is cyclic.
M11. Let V denote the vector space n . Suppose Vn is a function
satisfying
f (v1 , v 2 ,..., v n ) = 0 whenever vi = v j for some i j

f (v1 ,..., vi 1 , vi , vi +1 ,..., v n ) = f (v1 ,..., vi 1 , vi , vi +1 ,..., v n )

f (v1 ,..., vi 1 , vi + u i , vi +1 ,..., v n ) = f (v1 ,..., vi 1 , vi , vi +1 ,..., v n ) +
f (v1 ,..., vi 1 , u i , vi +1 ,..., v n )u i n

f (e1 ,..., en ) = 1 where e1 = (1,0,...,0), e2 = (0,1,0,...,0),..., en = (0,...,0,1).

Show that for any n n matrix

are v1 , v 2 ,..., v n , f (v1 , v 2 ,..., v n ) = det( A).

A,

whose

columns

M12. (a) Consider the differential equation:

d2y
dy
cos x +
sin x 2 y cos 3 x = 2 cos5 x.
2
dx
dx
By a suitable transformation, reduce this equation to a second
order linear differential equation with constant coefficients.
Hence or otherwise solve the equation.
(b) Find the surfaces whose tangent planes all pass through the
origin.
M13. (a) Draw a simple graph with the degree sequence (1,1,1,1,4).
(b) Write down the adjacency matrix of the graph.
(c) Find the rank of the above matrix.
11

(d) Using definitions of characteristic root and characteristic vectors

only, find out all the characteristic roots of the matrix in (b).
M14. Let A be any n n real symmetric positive definite matrix. Let be
the largest eigenvalue of A.
(a) Show that || Ax || x, || x || 0 .
(b) Find Sup|| x|| 0

|| Ax ||
.
|| x ||

M15. Let G = (V, E) be a connected simple graph. Our objective is to

assign a direction to every edge, such that each node has in-degree
at least one.
(a) Prove that such an assignment of directions is not possible if G
is a tree.
(b) Prove that such an assignment of directions is always possible if
G is not a tree.
Statistics

S1. (a) X and Y are two independent and identically distributed random
variables with Prob[X = i] = pi, for i = 0, 1, 2, Find
Prob[X < Y] in terms of the pi values.
(b) Based on one random observation X from N(0, 2), show that
/2 |X| is an unbiased estimate of .
S2.

(a) Let X0, X1, X2, be independent and identically distributed

random variables with common probability density function f. A
random variable N is defined as
N = n if

X1 X 0 , X 2 X 0 ,

, X n1 X 0 , X n > X 0 , n = 1, 2, 3,

Find the probability of N = n .

(b) Let X and Y be independent random variables distributed
uniformly over the interval [0,1]. What is the probability that the
X
integer closest to Y is 2?
12

S3.

S4.

Let A = {1,2,3}. You are given a coin with probability of head as

p, where 0 < p < 1 and p is unknown. Suggest a procedure for
choosing a number randomly from A using the given coin, such
1
that P({1}) = P({2}) = P({3}) = . Justify your answer.
3
Suppose X1,, Xn are independent and have the same Cauchy
distribution with location parameter . The corresponding
probability density function is given by
1
f (x : ) =
, x, .
[1 + ( x ) 2 ]
Suppose we want to find the MLE of .
(a) Show that, for each i
2 log f ( X i ; ) 1
log f ( X i ; )
E
E
=
= 0,

2
(b) Write down the likelihood equation.
(c) Write down the successive iterations for if we want to solve
the likelihood equation by the Newton-Raphson method. What is
an initial choice for and why?

S5.

Suppose X1, , Xn are independent and identically distributed

random variables following N(, 1), R. Let () = P(X1 > u0),
where u0 is a known real number. Show that the uniformly
minimum variance unbiased estimate (UMVUE) of () is given
by
n

T ( X 1 ,...., X n ) = 1
(u 0 X ) ,
n 1

where () is the distribution function of the standard normal

distribution.

S6.

Consider a randomized block design with two blocks and two

treatments A and B. The following table gives the yields:
Block 1
Block 2

Treatment A
a
c

13

Treatment B
b
d

(a) How many orthogonal contrasts are possible with a, b, c and d?

Write down all of them.
(b) Identify the contrasts representing block effects, treatment effects
and error.
(c) Show that their sum of squares equals the total sum of squares.
S7. Let X be a discrete random variable having the probability mass
function
p ( x) = x(1- )1-x, x = 0, 1,
where takes values 0.5 only. Find the most powerful test, based
on 2 observations, for testing H0 : =

1
2

against H1 : =

2
3

, with

level of significance 0.05.

S8.

Let X=(X1,, Xn) be a random sample from the exponential

distribution E(, ) having unknown location parameter and
unknown scale parameter . Consider the problem of testing H0:
= 0 against H1: 0.
(a) Let X (1) X ( 2 ) ... X ( n ) be the order statistics associated
with X. Let
X (1) 0
.
T= n
( X i X (1) )
i =1

Find the null distribution of T in terms of an F-distribution, with

degrees of freedom to be obtained by you.
(b) Fix 0 < <1, Find C1, C2 with 0 < C1 < C2 such that the test
with rejection region T C1 or C2 has size .
(c) Show that for any alternative (1, ) with 1 < 0, the power of
the level- test in (b), denoted by (1 , ) , is given by
(1 , ) = 1 (1 ) exp{n( 0 1 ) / }
S9.

Let X=(X1,, Xn) be a sample from the uniform distribution on (0,

). Show the following:

14

(a) For testing H0: 0 against H1: 0, any test is UMP at level
for which E 0 ( ( X )) = , E 0 ( ( X )) for 0 , and (x) =
1 when max ( x1 ,...., x n ) > 0.
(b) For testing H0: = 0 against H1: 0, a unique UMP test
exits, and is given by (x) = 1 when max ( x1 ,...., x n ) > 0 or max
( x1 ,...., x n ) 0 1 / n and (x) = 0 otherwise.
S10.

Consider a simple random sample of n units, drawn without

replacement from a population of N units. Suppose the value of Y1
is unusually low whereas that of Yn is very high. Consider the
following estimator of Y , the population mean.
y + c, if the sample contains unit 1 but not unit N ;

Y = y c, if the sample contains unit N but not unit 1;

y , for all other samples;

where y is sample mean and c is a constant. Show that Y is

unbiased. Given that
S2

2c

(Y N Y 1 nc)
V (Y ) = (1 f )
N 1
n

where f =

1 N
n
2
(Yi Y ) 2 , comment on the choice
and S =

N 1 i =1
N

of c.
S11. Suppose X1,, Xn are i.i.d. exponential variables with locations
parameter > 0 and scale parameter 1. Let X (1) = min{ X 1 ,..., X n } .
(a) Show that the distribution function of T = X(1), denoted by F (t),
is a decreasing function of .
(b) Given (0 < < 1), use (a) to obtain a (1-) confidence interval
for .
S12. Let X1, X2,,Xn (Xi= (xi1, xi2, , xip), i=1, 2, , n) be n random
samples from a p-variate normal population with mean vector and
covariance matrix I.

15

Further, let S = ((sjk)) denote the sample sums of squares and

products matrix, namely
n
s jk = i =1 ( xij x j )( xik x k ),1 j , k p, where

1 n
xij ,1 j p.
n i =1
'
k
Obtain the distribution of l Sl where l , l 0.
xj =

S13.

Suppose X = (X1,X2,X3)T N3( , ), where

~

1
11 12 13

~
= 21 22 23
= 2 ,

3
31 32 33
Show that E(X1,X2,X3) = 1 2 3 + 1 23 + 2 31 + 3 12 .

(b) Suppose X = (X1, X2, X3, X4)T N4( 0, ), where = (( ij )).

~

Show that E(X1,X2,X3,X4) = 12 34 + 13 24 + 14 23 .

S14.

An experimenter wants to study three factors, each at two levels,

for their individual effects and interaction effects, if any. If the
experimental units are heterogeneous with respect to two factors of
classification, suggest a suitable experimental design for the study.
Give the analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the suggested design,
indicating clearly how the various sums of squares are to be
computed.

Physics

P1. (a) In a photoelectric emission experiment, a metal surface was

successively exposed to monochromatic lights of wavelength 1,
2 and 3. In each case, the maximum velocity of the emitted
photo electrons was measured and found to be , and ,
respectively. 3 was 10% higher in value than 1, whereas 2 was
10% lower in value than 1. If : = 4 : 3, then show that
: = 93 : 85.
16

A
4
(b) The nucleus BZ decays by alpha ( He2 ) emission with a half-life
T to the nucleus C ZA24 which in turn, decays by beta (electron)
T
A 4
to the nucleus DZ 1 . If at time t = 0 ,
emission with a half-life
4
the decay chain B C D had started with B0 number of B
nuclei only, then find out the time t at which the number of C
nuclei will be maximum.

P2.

(a) Consider a material that has two solid phases, a metallic phase
and an insulator phase. The phase transition takes place at the
temperature T0 which is well below the Debye temperature for
either phase. The high temperature phase is metastable all the
way down to T = 0 and the speed of sound, cs, is the same for
each phase. The contribution to the heat capacity coming from
the free electrons to the metal is
C e = e V T

= 3 2

k
4T F

where e is the number density of the free electrons, TF is the

Fermi temperature, K is the Boltzmann constant, and V is the
volume. Calculate the latent heat per unit volume required to go
from the low temperature phase to the high temperature phase at T
= T0. Which phase is the high temperature phase?
(b) Consider two hypothetical shells centred on the nucleus of a
hydrogen atom with radii r and r + dr.
(i) Find out the probability that the electrons will be between
the shells. Assume the wave function for the ground state of
the hydrogen atom as
=

a 03

r
a0

cos(t )

(ii) If the wave function for the ground state of the hydrogen
atom is given by

17

a 03

r
a0

what will be the most probable distance of the electron from

the nucleus?
P3.

(a) A particle of mass m moves under a force directed towards a

fixed point and this force depends on the distance from the fixed
point. Show that
(i) the particle will be constrained to move in a plane, and
(ii) the areal velocity of the particle is constant.
(b) If the force F varies as the inverse of the square of the distance,
show that
F = 0.
Discuss its implications.
(c) Assuming the trajectory of planets to be circular, deduce the
force law from Kepler's third law.

P4. (a) A mass m is attached to a massless spring of spring constant K via

a frictionless pulley of radius R and mass M as shown in following
figure. The mass m is pulled down through a small distance x and
released, so that it is set into simple harmonic motion. Find the
frequency of the vertical oscillation of the mass m.

(b) The Hamiltonian of a mechanical system having two degrees of

freedom is:
1
1
H(x, y; px, py) =
(px2 + py2) +
m 2(x2 + y2),
2m
2
18

where m and are constants; x, y are the generalized co-ordinates

for which px, py are the respective conjugate momenta. Show that
the expressions (x py -y px)n, n=1,2,3, are constants of motion
for this system.
P5. (a) A particle describes the curve rn = acosn under a force P towards
the pole, r, being the polar coordinates. Find the law of force.
(b) Two particles, each with speed v, move in a plane making an
angle 2 with each other as seen from the laboratory frame.
Calculate the relative speed (under the formalism of special
relativity) of one with respect to the other.
P6.

(a) A dielectric sphere of radius R and permittivity carries a

volume charge density (r) = kr (where k is a constant). Deduce an
expression for the energy of the configuration.
(b) Two spherical cavities of radii a and b are hollowed out from
the interior of a neutral conducting sphere of radius R. Two point
charges of magnitude qa and qb are now placed at the centres of the
two cavities as shown in the figure.
(ii)Calculate the surface charge densities on the surfaces of the two
spherical cavities and the sphere.
(iii)What are the magnitudes of the forces on qa and qb?

P7.

A person standing at the rear end of a train fires a bullet towards

the front of the train. The speed of the bullet and the length of the
train, as measured in the frame of the train, are 0.5c and 400m
respectively. The train is moving at 0.6c as measured by an
observer on the ground. What does the ground observer measure
for
19

(i) the length of the train,

(ii) the speed of the bullet, and
(iii) the time required for the bullet to reach the front of the train?
P8.

P9.

A particle of mass m moves along a trajectory given by

x = a ( - sin)
y = a (1 + cos)
where 0 2 and the x-axis and y-axis are in the horizontal and
vertical directions respectively, with respect to the Earth's surface.
(a)

Write the Lagrangian function of the particle.

(b)

Derive the equation of motion from the Lagrangian.

In the circuit shown below, the peak current flowing through the
different branches are indicated. Derive the value of the total
power delivered by the source.

P10. Two heavy bodies A and B , each having charge Q , are kept
rigidly fixed at a distance 2a apart. A small particle C of mass m
and charge + q ( << Q ), is placed at the midpoint of the straight
line joining the centers of A and B . C is now displaced slightly
along a direction perpendicular to the line joining A and B , and
then released. Find the period of the resultant oscillatory motion of
C , assuming its displacement y << a .
20

If instead, C is slightly displaced towards A , then find the

instantaneous velocity of C , when the distance between A and C
a
is .
2
P11.

An elementary particle called -, at rest in laboratory frame,

decays spontaneously into two other particles according to
+ n . The masses of -, - and n are M1, m1, and m2
respectively.
(a)How much kinetic energy is generated in the decay process?

(b)What are the ratios of kinetic energies and momenta of and

n?

P12.

Consider the following truth table where A, B and C are Boolean

inputs and T is the Boolean output.
A
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1

B
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
1

C
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1

T
1
0
0
1
0
1
0
1

Express T in a product-of-sum form and hence, show how T can be

implemented using NOR gates only.
P13.

(a) Find the relationship between L, C and R in the circuit shown in

the figure such that the impedance of the circuit is independent
of frequency. Find out the impedance.

21

(b) Find the value of R and the current flowing through R shown in
the figure when the current is zero through R.

P14.

P15.

B( )
where B( ) is a
V V2
function of temperature only. The gas is initially at temperature
and volume V0 and is expanded isothermally and reversibly to
volume V1 = 2V0 .
(a) Find the work done in the expansion.
(b) Find the heat absorbed in the expansion.
P
S
(Hint: Use the relation V = where the symbols have
V

their usual meaning.)

A gas obeys the equation of state P =

Consider the following circuit where the triangular symbol

represents an ideal op-amp.

(a)
Calculate the output voltage v0 for the (i) common-mode
operation and (ii) difference mode operation.
22

(b)
Also calculate the value of the common-mode rejection
ratio for R'/R = R1/R2.
P16.

(a) A particle of mass m is moving in a plane under the action of an

attractive force proportional to 1/r2, r being the radial distance of
the particle from the fixed point. Write the Lagrangian of the
system and using the Lagrangian show that the areal velocity of the
particle is conserved (Kepler's second law).
(b) A particle of mass m and charge q is moving in an electromagnetic field with velocity v.
Write the Lagrangian of the
system and hence find the expression for the generalized
momentum.
Computer Science

C1.

(a) A grammar is said to be left recursive if it has a non-terminal A

such that there is a derivation A + A for some sequence of
symbols . Is the following grammar left-recursive? If so, write
an equivalent grammar that is not left-recursive.

A Bb
B Cc
C Aa

Aa
Bb
Cc

(b) An example of a function definition in C language is given

below:
char fun (int a, float b, int c)
{ /* body */ }
Assuming that the only types allowed are char, int, float
(no arrays, no pointers, etc.), write a grammar for function
headers, i.e., the portion char fun(int a, ) in the
above example.
(c) Consider the floating point number representation in the C
programming language.
Give a regular expression for it using the following convention:
l denotes a letter, d denotes a digit, S denotes sign and p
denotes point.
23

State any assumption that you may need to make.

C2. The following functional dependencies are defined on the relation
( A, B, C , D, E , F ) :
{ A B, AB C, BC D, CD E, E A }
(a) Find the candidate keys for .
(b) Is normalized? If not, create a set of normalized relations
by decomposing using only the given set of functional
dependencies.
(c) If a new attribute F is added to to create a new relation
( A, B, C , D, E , F ) without any addition to the set of
functional dependencies, what would be the new set of
candidate keys for ?
(d) What is the new set of normalized relations that can be derived
by decomposing for the same set of functional
dependencies?
(e) If a new dependency is declared as follows:
For each value of A , attribute F can have two values,
what would be the new set of normalized relations that can be
created by decomposing ?
C3.(a) A relation R(A, B, C, D) has to be accessed under the query
B=10(R). Out of the following possible file structures, which one
should be chosen and why?
i) R is a heap file.
ii) R has a clustered hash index on B.
iii) R has an unclustered B+ tree index on (A, B).
(b) If the query is modified as A,B(B=10(R)), which one of the
three possible file structures given above should be chosen in
this case and why?
(c) Let the relation have 5000 tuples with 10 tuples/page. In case of
a hashed file, each bucket needs 10 pages. In case of B+ tree,
the index structure itself needs 2 pages. If it takes 25 msecs. to
read or write a disk page, what would be the disk access time
for answering the above queries?
(d) Relation R(A,B,C) supports the following functional
dependencies:
24

A B, B C and CA.
(i) Identify the key attributes.
(ii) Explain whether R is in BCNF.
(iii) If R is not in BCNF, decompose to create a set of
normalized relations satisfying BCNF.
(iv) If R does not support the functional dependencies B C,
but the other two are maintained, would R be in BCNF? If not,
decompose R to normalized relations satisfying BCNF.
C4.

Let A and B be two arrays, each of size n. A and B contain

numbers in sorted order. Give an O(log n) algorithm to find the
median of the combined set of 2n numbers.

C5.

(a) Consider a pipelined processor with m stages. The processing

time at every stage is the same. What is the speed-up achieved
by the pipelining?
(b) In a certain computer system with cache memory, 750 ns
(nanosec) is the access time for main memory for a cache miss
and 50 ns is the access time for a cache hit. Find the percentage
decrease in the effective access time if the hit ratio is increased
from 80% to 90%.

C6.

(a) A disk has 500 bytes/sector, 100 sectors/track, 20 heads and

1000 cylinders. The speed of rotation of the disk is 6000 rpm.
The average seek time is 10 millisecs. A file of size 50 MB is
written from the beginning of a cylinder and a new cylinder
will be allocated only after the first cylinder is totally occupied.
i) Find the maximum transfer rate.
ii) How much time will be required to transfer the file of 50
MB written on the disk? Ignore the rotational delay but not
the seek time.
(b) Consider a 4-way traffic crossing as shown in the figure.

25

Suppose that we model the crossing as follows:

- each vehicle is modeled by a process,
- the crossing is modeled as a shared data structure. Assume that
the vehicles can only move straight through the intersection (no
left or right turns). Using read-write locks (or any standard
synchronization primitive), you have to device a
synchronization scheme for the processes. Your scheme should
satisfy the following criteria:
i)
prevent collisions,
ii)
prevent deadlock, and
iii)
maximize concurrency but prevent indefinite waiting
(starvation).
Write down the algorithm that each vehicle must follow in order
to pass through the crossing. Justify that your algorithm satisfies
the given criteria.
C7.

(a) A computer on a 6 Mbps network is regulated by a token

bucket. The bucket is filled at a rate of 2 Mbps. It is initially
filled to capacity with 8 Megabits. How long can the computer
transmit at the full 6 Mbps?
(b) Sketch the Manchester encoding for the bit stream
0001110101.
(c) If delays are recorded in 8-bit numbers in a 50-router network,
and delay vectors are exchanged twice a second, how much
bandwidth per (full-duplex) line is consumed by the
distributed routing algorithm? Assume that each router has 3
lines to other routers.
(d) Consider three IP networks X, Y, and Z. Host HX in the
network X sends messages, each containing 180 bytes of
application data, to a host HZ in network Z. The TCP layer
prefixes a 20 byte header to the message. This passes through
an intermediate network Y. The maximum packet size,
including 20 byte IP header, in each network is X: 1000 bytes,
Y: 100 bytes, and Z: 1000 bytes. The networks X and Y are

26

connected through a 1 Mbps link, while Y and Z are connected

by a 512 Kbps link.
(i) Assuming that the packets are correctly delivered, how
many bytes, including headers, are delivered to the IP layer at
the destination for one application message? Consider only
data packets.
(ii) What is the rate at which application data is transferred to
host HZ? Ignore errors, acknowledgements, and other
overheads.
C8.

Consider a binary operation shuffle on two strings, that is just like

shuffling a deck of cards. For example, the operation shuffle on
strings ab and cd, denoted by ab || cd, gives the set of strings
{abcd, acbd, acdb, cabd, cadb, cdab}.
(a) Define formally by induction the shuffle operation on any two
strings x, y *.
(b) Let the shuffle of two languages A and B, denoted by A || B be
the set of all strings obtained by shuffling a string x A with a
string y B. Show that if A and B are regular, then so is A || B.

C9.

(a)

Give a method of encoding the microinstructions (given in the

table below) so that the minimum number of control bits are
used and maximum parallelism among the microinstructions
is achieved.
Microinstructions
I1

Control signals
C1 , C2 , C3 , C4 , C5 , C6 ,

I2

C1 , C3 , C4C6 ,

I3

C2 , C5 , C6 ,

I4

C4 , C5 , C8 ,

I5

C7 , C8 ,

I6

C1 , C8 , C9 ,

I7

C3 , C4 , C8 ,

I8

C1 , C2 , C9 ,

27

(b) A certain four-input gate G realizes the switching function

G(a, b, c, d) = abc + bcd.
Assuming that the input variables are available in both
complemented and uncomplemented forms:
(i) Show a realization of the function
f(u, v, w, x) = (0, 1, 6, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15)
with only three G gates and one OR gate.
(ii) Can all switching functions be realized with {G, OR}
logic set?
C10. Consider a set of n temperature readings stored in an array T.
Assume that a temperature is represented by an integer. Design an
O(n + k log n) algorithm for finding the k coldest temperatures.
C11. Assume the following characteristics of instruction execution in a
given computer:
ALU/register transfer operations need 1 clock cycle each,
each of the load/store instructions needs 3 clock cycles, and
branch instructions need 2 clock cycles each.
(a) Consider a program which consists of 40% ALU/register
transfer instructions, 30% load/store instructions, and 30%
branch instructions. If the total number of instructions in this
program is 10 billion and the clock frequency is 1 GHz, then
compute the average number of cycles per instruction (CPI),
total execution time for this program, and the corresponding
MIPS rate.
(b) If we now use an optimizing compiler which reduces the total
number of ALU/register transfer instructions by a factor of 2,
keeping the number of other instruction types unchanged, then
compute the average CPI, total time of execution and the
corresponding MIPS rate for this modified program.
C12. Consider a computer system with 1 GB main memory and 1 MB
cache memory organized in blocks of 64 bytes.
(a) What is the minimum number of bits needed for addressing a
memory location?
(b) How many bits are needed for the tag field and the index field
if the cache memory is organized in the following ways: (i) directmapped, (ii) fully associative, and (iii) 2-way set-associative?
28

(c) Suppose the memory location to be accessed is 000D0237 (in

hex). What cache block will be accessed for this memory
location in the
direct-mapped organization and what will be
the value of the tag field? If instead, the cache memory were
organized in a fully associative manner, what will be the
corresponding value of the tag field?
(d) Express the following numbers in IEEE 754-1985 single
precision floating-point format:
(i) -0 (ii) 2.5 2-130 (iii) 230 (iv) 0.875 (v) (-3)1/8.
C13. A tape S contains n records, each representing a vote in an election.
Each candidate for the election has a unique id. A vote for a
candidate is recorded as his/her id.
(i) Write an O(n) time algorithm to find the candidate who wins
the election. Comment on the main memory space required by
your algorithm.
(ii) If the number of candidates k is known a priori, can you
improve your algorithm to reduce the time and/or space
complexity?
(iii) If the number of candidates k is unknown, modify your
algorithm so that it uses only O(k) space. What is the time
complexity of your modified algorithm?
C14. (a) The order of a regular language L is the smallest integer k for
which Lk = Lk+1, if there exists such a k, and otherwise.
(i) What is the order of the regular language a + (aa)(aaa)*?
(ii) Show that the order of L is finite if and only if there is an
integer k such that Lk = L*, and that in this case the order of L
is the smallest k such that Lk = L*.
(b) Solve for T(n) given by the following recurrence relations:
T(1) = 1;
T(n) = 2T(n/2) + n log n, where n is a power of 2.
(c) An A.P. is {p + qn|n = 0, 1, . . .} for some p, q IN. Show that
if L {a}* and {n| an L} is an A.P., then L is regular.
C15. (a)

You are given an unordered sequence of n integers with many

duplications, such that the number of distinct integers in the
sequence is O(log n). Design a sorting algorithm and its
necessary data structure(s), which can sort the sequence using

29

(b)

at most O(n log(log n)) time. (You have to justify the time
complexity of your proposed algorithm.)
Let A be a real-valued matrix of order n x n already stored in
memory. Its (i, j)-th element is denoted by a[i, j]. The
elements of the matrix A satisfy the following property:
Let the largest element in row i occur in column li. Now, for
any two rows i1, i2, if i1 < i2, then li1 li2 .
2
5
4
6
3

6
3
2
4
7

4
7
10
5
6

5
2
7
9
8

3
4
8
7
12

(a)
Row I l(i)
1
2
2
3
3
3
4
4
5
5
(b)
Figure shows an example of (a) matrix A, and (b) the
corresponding values of li for each row i.
Write an algorithm for identifying the largest valued
element in matrix A which performs at most O(nlog2n)
comparisons.

30

C16. You are given the following file abc.h:

#include <stdio.h>
#define SQR(x) (x*x)
#define ADD1(x) (x=x+1)
#define BeginProgram int main(int ac,char *av[]){
#define EndProgram return 1; }

For each of the following code fragments, what will be the output?
(i) #include "abc.h"
main()
{ int y = 4; printf("%d\n", SQR(y+1)); }
(ii) #include "abc.h"
BeginProgram
int y=3; printf("%d\n", SQR(ADD1(y)));
EndProgram

Engineering and Technology

E1.

A bullet of mass M is fired with a velocity of 40 m/s at an angle

with the horizontal plane. At P, the highest point of its trajectory,
the bullet collides with a bob of mass 3M suspended freely by a
3
m. After the collision, the bullet gets
mass-less string of length
10
stuck inside the bob and the string deflects with the total mass
through an angle of 120o keeping the string taut. Find
(i) the angle , and
(ii) the height of P from the horizontal plane.
Assume, g = 10 m/s2, and friction in air is negligible.

E2.

(a) A rigid horizontal bar of negligible weight is supported by two

springs as shown in the figure below. Determine the distance x
in order that the bar remains horizontal after a load P is applied.

31

(b) A composite shaft of Aluminium and Brass is rigidly supported

at the ends A and C, as shown in the figure below. The shaft is
subjected to a shearing stress by the application of a torque T.
Calculate the ratio of lengths AB : BC if each part of the shaft is
stressed to its maximum limit (beyond which the composite shaft
will break). Assume the maximum shear stress of Brass and
Aluminium to be 560 kg/cm2 and 420 kg/cm2 respectively. Also
assume that the modulus of rigidity of Brass is twice that of
Aluminium.

E3.

Find the acceleration of the block of mass M in the situation shown

below. The coefficient of friction between the blocks is 1 and that
between the bigger block and the ground is 2.

E4.

A flywheel of mass 100 kg and radius of gyration 20 cm is mounted

on a light horizontal axle of radius 2 cm, and is free to rotate on
bearings whose friction may be neglected. A light string wound on
the axle carries at its free end a mass of 5 kg. The system is released
from rest with the 5 kg mass hanging freely. If the string slips off
the axle after the weight has descended 2 m, prove that a couple of
moment 10/2 kg.wt.cm. must be applied in order to bring the
flywheel to rest in 5 revolutions.

E5. The truss shown in the figure rotates around the pivot O in a vertical
plane at a constant angular speed . Four equal masses (m) hang from
32

the points B, C, D and E. The members of the truss are rigid,

weightless and of equal length. Find a condition on the angular speed
so that there is compression in the member OE.

E6. If the inputs A and B to the circuit shown below can be either 0 volt
or 5 volts,
(i) what would be the corresponding voltages at output Z, and
(ii) what operation is being performed by this circuit ?
Assume that the transistor and the diodes are ideal and base to
emitter saturation voltage = 0.5 volts.

E7. Two bulbs of 500 cc capacity are connected by a tube of length 20 cm

and internal radius 0.15 cm. The whole system is filled with oxygen,
the initial pressures in the bulbs before connection being 10 cm and
15 cm of Hg, respectively. Calculate the time taken for the pressures
33

to become 12 cm and 13 cm of Hg, respectively. Assume that the

coefficient of viscosity of oxygen is 0.000199 cgs unit.
300 3.6
kg/hour when the
80 4.2
external temperature is 27oC. Find the minimum power output of
the refrigerator motor, which just prevents the ice from melting.
(Latent heat of fusion of ice = 80 cal/gm.)

E8. (a) Ice in a cold storage melts at a rate of

(b) A vertical hollow cylinder contains an ideal gas with a 5 kg piston

placed over it. The cross-section of the cylinder is 510-3 m2. The
gas is heated from 300 K to 350 K and the piston rises by 0.1 m.
The piston is now clamped in this position and the gas is cooled
back to 300 K. Find the difference between the heat energy added
during heating and that released during cooling.
(1 atmospheric pressure= 105Nm-2 and g=10ms-2.)
E9. (a) A system receives 10 Kcal of heat from a reservoir to do 15 Kcal
of work. How much work must the system do to reach the initial
state by an adiabatic process?
(b) A certain volume of Helium at 15C is suddenly expanded to 8
times its volume. Calculate the change in temperature (assume
that the ratio of specific heats is 5/3).
E10. A spherical charge distribution has a volume density , which is a
function of r, the radial distance from the center of the sphere, as
given below.
A / r , A is constant for 0 r R
=
0 , for r > R
Determine the electric field as a function of r, for r R. Also deduce
the expression for the electrostatic potential energy U(r), given that
U() = 0 in the region r R.
E11. Consider the distribution of charges as shown in the figure below.
Determine the potential and field at the point p.

34

E12. A proton of velocity 107 m/s is projected at right angles to a uniform

magnetic induction field of 0.1 w/m2. How much is the path of the
particle deflected from a straight line after it has traversed a distance
of 1 cm? How long does it take for the proton to traverse a 900 arc?
E13. (a) State the two necessary conditions under which a feedback
amplifier circuit becomes an oscillator.
(b) A two-stage FET phase shift oscillator is shown in the diagram
below.

(i) Derive an expression for the feedback factor .

(ii) Find the frequency of oscillation.
(iii) Establish that the gain A must exceed 3.
E14. A circular disc of radius 10cm is rotated about its own axis in a
uniform magnetic field of 100 weber/m2, the magnetic field being
perpendicular to the plane of the disc. Will there be any voltage
developed across the disc? If so, then find the magnitude of this
voltage when the speed of rotation of the disc is 1200 rpm.
E15. A 3-phase, 50-Hz, 500-volt, 6-pole induction motor gives an output
of 50 HP at 900 rpm. The frictional and windage losses total 4 HP
and the stator losses amount to 5 HP. Determine the slip, rotor
copper loss, and efficiency for this load.
35

E16. A d.c. shunt motor running at a speed of 500rpm draws 44KW

power with a line voltage of 220V from a d.c. shunt generator. The
field resistance and the armature resistance of both the machines are
55 and 0.025 respectively. However, the voltage drop per brush
is 1.05V in the motor, and that in the generator is 0.95V. Calculate
(a) the speed of the generator in rpm, and
(b) the efficiency of the overall system ignoring losses other
than the copper-loss and the loss at the brushes.
E17. An alternator on open-circuit generates 360 V at 60 Hz when the
field current is 3.6 A. Neglecting saturation, determine the opencircuit e.m.f. when the frequency is 40 Hz and the field-current is
24A.
E18. A single phase two-winding 20 KVA transformer has 5000 primary
and 500 secondary turns. It is converted to an autotransformer
employing additive polarity mechanism. Suppose the transformer
always operates with an input voltage of 2000 V.
(i) Calculate the percentage increase in KVA capacity.
(ii) Calculate the common current in the autotransformer.
(iii) At full load of 0.9 power factor, if the efficiency of the twowinding transformer be 90%, what will be the efficiency of
the autotransformer at the same load?
E19. The hybrid parameters of a p-n-p junction transistor used as an
amplifier in the common-emitter configuration are: hie = 800, hfe =
46, hoe = 8 x 10-5 mho, hre = 55.4 x 10-4. If the load resistance is 5 k
and the effective source resistance is 500 , calculate the voltage
and current gains and the output resistance.
E20. (a) Derive the equivalent lattice network corresponding to the
bridged T network shown in the figure.

36

(b) Find the open-circuit transfer impedance of the lattice shown in

the figure below and determine the condition for having no zeros in
the right-half plane, i.e., for positive frequencies.

E21. A logic circuit operating on Binary Coded Decimal (BCD) digits has
four inputs X1, X2, X3, and X4, where X1X2X3X4 represents a BCD
digit. The circuit has two output lines Z1 and Z2. Output Z1 is 1 only
when the decimal digit corresponding to the inputs X1, X2, X3, X4 is
0 or a power of 2. Output Z2 is 1 only when the decimal digit
corresponding to the inputs is 1 or a power of 3. Find a minimum
cost realization of the above circuit using NAND gates.
E22. (a) Using the minimum number of flip-flops, design a special
purpose counter to provide the following sequence:
0110, 1100, 0011, 1001
(b) Find the currents I1 and I2 in the following circuit.

37

E23. Write a C program to generate a sequence of positive integers

between 1 and N, such that each of them has only 2 or/and 3 as
prime factors. For example, the first seven elements of the sequence
are: 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 12. Justify the steps of your algorithm.
E24. Design a circuit using the module, as shown in the figure below, to
compute a solution of the following set of equations:
3x + 6y 10 = 0
2x y 8 = 0
A module consists of an ideal OP-AMP and 3 resistors, and you may
use multiple copies of such a module. Voltage inverters and sources
may be used, if required.

38