ROUND 1

1. What laboratory apparatus is used in drying wet solid samples on a filter paper?

ANS: Oven

2. What laboratory glassware is used together with a round bottom flask for refluxing a liquid mixture?

ANS: Condenser

3. What laboratory apparatus is used to separate suspensions more accurately and faster?

ANS: Buchner Funnel

PREAMBLE = Animals require various mineral salts for metabolic activities within the body. Mention the
mineral that is needed for the following functions:

1. Forms part of DNA and RNA and also for respiration

ANS = PHOSPHORUS

2. Functioning of muscles and transmission of impulses in the nerves

ANS = POTASIUM

3. Maintenance of osmotic balance of the cells

ANS = SODIUM

PREAMBLE: Find the measure of the smaller angle between the hands of a clock at the given time

1. 3.45 am ANSWER: 22.5°

2. 12.15 pm ANSWER: 82.5°

3. 5.15 am ANSWER: 67.5°

PREAMBLE: A regular shaped object each of side 10 cm has a charge 5 μC at each of its vertices.
Calculate the potential at the centre if it is a …

1. Hexagon Ans: 2.7 x 106 V

2. Nonagon Ans: 4.05 x106 V

3. Dodecagon Ans: 5.4 x106 V

PREAMBLE: Give the electron configuration for the dipositive ions of these
elements; (10 sec)
a. Iron 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d6
b. Nickel 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d8
c. Cobalt 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d7

PREAMBLE: = NAME one protease and state the part of the alimentary
canal where it is found.

ANS =
PEPSIN……………………. STOMACH

TRYPSIN ……………………. DUODENUM

EREPSIN ……………………… ILEUM

PREAMBLE: Evaluate k given that

1. (x + 2) is a factor of f(x) = 3x3 + kx2 + 2x + 28

ANSWER: k=0 [f (- 2) = - 24 + 4k – 4+ 28 = 0, 4k =
0, k = 0]
2. (x + 1) is a factor of f(x) = 2x3 – x2 + kx - 2
ANSWER: k = -5 [f (-1) = -2 – 1 – k - 2 = 0, k = -5]
3. (x – 2) is a factor of f(x) = x3 – 5x2 + 7x + k
ANSWER -12
Question: The mattress of a water bed is 2.00m long by 2.00m wide and
30.0cm deep

1: Find the mass of the water in the mattress

Ans: 1.20 x 103kg

2. Find the weight of the water in the mattress.

Ans: 1.20 x 104N

3. Find the pressure exerted by the height on the floor when the bed rests in
its normal position.

Ans 3.0 x 103 Pa

ROUND 2 (SPEED ROUND)

1. Which structure in plants absorbs most of the water needed by the plant?
ANSWER: Root hairs
2. Name simplest form of nervous pathway which links receptors with effectors.
ANSWER: Reflex arc
3. Which abiotic factor determines the depth to which light penetrates a pond?
ANSWER: Turbidity
4. Identify the transformation in the plane given by (x, y)→ (-x, y).
ANSWER: reflection in the y-axis,
5. Find the next prime number after 173.
ANSWER: 179
6. Find the scale of a map if a distance of 15 km is represented by 3 cm on the map.
ANSWER: 1 : 500,000 [3 : 15 x 1000 x 100 = 1 : 500,000]

7. The terminals of a solenoid are connected to those of a sensitive moving coil galvanometer. What is observed
when a pole of a strong magnet is plunged into one end of the solenoid and held stationary within the
solenoid?
ANSWER: The needle of the galvanometer deflects as the pole approaches the solenoid and returns to
zero as the pole is brought to rest; it stays at zero while the magnet is not moving
8. What is the magnitude of the speed of light in vacuum to two significant figures?
ANSWER: 3.0 ×1 08 m s−1
9. A parallel plate capacitor has capacitance 20 pF . Find the change in capacitance when the distance between
the plates is decreased by 1 %
ANSWER: 0.2 pF
∂ ( ϵ 0 A /d )
δC = δd=−Cδd /d=20 pF × 0.01=0.2 pF
∂d
10. To whom do we attribute the statement; Atoms of different elements have different mass and size.
ANSWER: John Dalton
11. Complete the following statement, which is part of John Dalton’s Theory; “Atoms combine to form
compounds………………”
ANSWER: And they do so in simple whole numbers (or simple ratios)
12. Which event occurred first: The creation of the Periodic Table by Mendeleyev or the proposal of the
plum pudding model for an atom by J.J. Thompson?
ANSWER: The creation of the Periodic Table (1869) Plum pudding model (1899).

ROUND 3(TRUE OR FALSE)

1. Solid zinc oxide will dissolve in both dilute NaOH and ammonia solution.
ANSWER: True
2. Alums are double salts containing unipositive and tripositive cations.
ANSWER: True
3. The metal used in galvanizing steel is aluminium.
ANSWER: F. It is zinc
4. Many of the structures by which plants reproduce vegetatively are modified roots.
ANSWER: False
5. Bulbs, stolons and tubers are examples of modified leaves that allow plants to reproduce
vegetatively.
ANSWER: False
6. A male gametophyte of a seed plant develops into a pollen grain.
ANSWER: True
7. The maximum value of the function y = x2 + 1 is 1.
ANSWER: False
8. The maximum value of the function y = 1 – x2 is 1.
ANSWER: True
9. The function y = x3 has no maximum value.
ANSWER: True

10. If the distance between the plates of a charged parallel plate capacitor is doubled without
losing any charge, the potential difference across the capacitor remains unchanged.
ANSWER: False
11. If the distance between the plates of a charged parallel plate capacitor is doubled without
losing any charge, the potential difference across the capacitor decreases by a factor of
four.
ANSWER: False
12. If the distance between the plates of a charged parallel plate capacitor is halved without
losing any charge, the potential difference across the capacitor increases by a factor of
two.
ANSWER: False
13. In a Voltaic cell, the essence of a salt bridge is to allow the electrolytes to mix over a period of
time.
ANSWER: False Salt bridge completes the circuit to allow flow of electrons.
14. In a Voltaic cell, chemical energy is converted into light energy.
ANSWER: False Chemical energy is converted into electrical energy
15. In Voltaic cells, the electrodes always play a role in the chemical transformations.
ANSWER: False In some cases the electrodes are inert
16. The structure and spacing of gill rakers in fishes determine the size of food particles trapped,
and correlates with feeding behavior.
ANSWER: True
17. Fishes with densely spaced, elongated, comb-like gill rakers are less efficient at filtering tiny
prey.
ANSWER: False
18. Carnivorous and omnivorous fishes often have more widely spaced gill rakers with secondary
projections.
True
PREAMBLE: If set A maps into the set B, then;
 19. Some members of B are not images of A.
ANSWER: True
20. Some members of A are not members of B.
ANSWER: False
21. The mapping is not one to one.
ANSWER: False

22. When an object falls from rest, it falls the same distance in the first second as in the
following second.
ANSWER: False
23. When an object falls from rest from a high cliff, its speed changes by a smaller amount in
the first second than in the following second.
ANSWER: False
24. When an object falls vertically with a non-zero initial speed, its speed changes by the
same amount in the first second as in the following second.
ANSWER: True

ROUND 5

RIDDLES

RIDDLE 1
1. I am used to refer to the relocation of forces for the purpose of increasing survivability.
2. I may also be used to refer to the splitting up of a group of people, causing them to leave in
different directions.
3. In biology I am used to refer to the movement of individuals from their birth site to their
breeding site.
4. Or the movement from one breeding site to another.
5. I am simply the movement or transport of seeds away from the parent plant.
Who Am I?

ANSWER: Dispersal
RIDDLE 2
1. I am a number between 1 and 10.
2. Expressed as a binary number, my last digit is 0.
3. I am an exact square.
4. I am a sum of a prime with itself.
5. I am also the product of a prime with itself.
Who am I?

ANSWER: 4

RIDDLE 3
1. I am an inorganic salt, sparingly soluble in water.
2. I have 4 different elements, one metal and three non–metals in my formula.
3. In my normal form there is always a molecule of water hiding between two of my remaining
units.
4. When I am mixed with water I set to give a very hard material.
5. Paris is my favourite holiday city.
Who am I?

ANSWER: Plaster of Paris or CaSO4. ½ H2O

RIDDLE 4

1. I am a property of a material object.

2. I have the same value for a particle and its antiparticle.
3. I am a measure of the quantity of matter in an object.
4. I am to the gravitational interaction what charge is to the electromagnetic interaction.
Who am I?

ANSWER: Mass