CBSE 2017 Physics Question Paper for Class 12

About this paper

This is CBSE Class 12 Physics (Theory) question paper code 55/1, Series GBM, Set 1, from the 2017 board examination. It carries 70 marks over three hours and has 26 compulsory questions in five sections. There is no overall choice, but an internal choice is given in one two-mark question, one three-mark question and all three five-mark questions. Section D is a four-mark value-based question in which Asha explains a newspaper article about the Chernobyl disaster to her mother. A list of physical constants is printed on the paper, and the questions run from current electricity and wave optics to communication systems, including amplitude modulation and logic gates. This copy has the questions only, without answers.

Exam

CBSE Class 12

Subject

Physics

Year

2017

Paper code

55/1

Maximum marks

70

Time allowed

3 hours

Questions

26

Pages

19

Answers included

No, questions only

Paper pattern

• Section A

  5 marks

  Questions 1–5, one mark each

• Section B

  10 marks

  Questions 6–10, two marks each; internal choice in one

• Section C

  36 marks

  Questions 11–22, three marks each; internal choice in one

• Section D

  4 marks

  Question 23, one value-based question on the Chernobyl disaster, four marks

• Section E

  15 marks

  Questions 24–26, five marks each, each with an internal choice

Topics covered

• Current electricity and the heating effect
• Electrostatics and capacitors
• Moving charges and the Biot–Savart law
• Magnetism and electromagnetic induction
• Alternating current and AC generator
• Electromagnetic waves and the spectrum
• Ray optics, prisms and telescopes
• Wave optics, interference and polarisation
• Photoelectric effect
• Atoms and the hydrogen spectrum
• Nuclei
• Semiconductors and communication systems

Questions from this paper

1. Nichrome and copper wires of the same length and the same radius are connected in series. Current I is passed through them. Which wire gets heated up more? Justify your answer.
2. Name the phenomenon which shows the quantum nature of electromagnetic radiation.
3. A 12.5 eV electron beam is used to excite a gaseous hydrogen atom at room temperature. Determine the wavelengths and the corresponding series of the lines emitted.
4. The frequencies of two side bands in an AM wave are 640 kHz and 660 kHz respectively. Find the frequencies of the carrier and the modulating signal. What bandwidth is required for the amplitude modulation?
5. Monochromatic light of wavelength 589 nm is incident from air on a water surface. If the refractive index of water is 1.33, find the wavelength, frequency and speed of the refracted light.
6. Define wavefront. Use Huygens' principle to verify the laws of refraction.