ISC 2024 Physics Question Paper for Class 12

About this paper

This is ISC Class 12 Physics Paper 1 (Theory), set by CISCE for the 2024 board examination (paper code 861A). It carries 70 marks, runs for three hours plus fifteen minutes of reading time, and has 20 compulsory questions in four sections, with internal choices in two questions each in Sections B, C and D. Section A has seven multiple-choice items, one of them assertion–reason, and seven very short answers. Section C includes a question on a student's responses to an examiner during the convex-lens no-parallax experiment, and Section D ends with a passage-based question on microscopes and telescopes that mentions the Chandrayaan-3 launch. A list of useful constants is printed at the end, and a simple scientific calculator is allowed.

Exam

ISC Class 12

Subject

Physics

Year

2024

Paper code

861A

Maximum marks

70

Time allowed

3 hours + 15 min reading

Questions

20

Pages

11

Answers included

No, questions only

Paper pattern

• Section A

  14 marks

  Question 1 with 14 one-mark parts: 7 multiple-choice (one assertion–reason) and 7 very short answers

• Section B

  14 marks

  Questions 2–8, two marks each; internal choice in two questions

• Section C

  27 marks

  Questions 9–17, three marks each; internal choice in two questions

• Section D

  15 marks

  Questions 18–20, five marks each, ending with a passage-based question on optical instruments; internal choice in two questions

Topics covered

• Electric charge, flux and dipoles
• Capacitors
• Current electricity, Kirchhoff's laws and potentiometer
• Moving charges and magnetism
• Electromagnetic induction and alternating current
• Electromagnetic waves
• Ray optics and optical instruments
• Wave optics and diffraction
• Photoelectric effect
• Bohr model and nuclear physics
• Semiconductor diodes

Questions from this paper

1. Can a body be given a charge of 2.2 × 10⁻¹⁹ C? Give a reason for your answer.
2. Using the Biot–Savart law, show that the magnetic flux density at the centre of a current-carrying circular coil of radius R is B = μ₀I/2R.
3. A ray of monochromatic light is incident on the first face of an equilateral glass prism and the emergent ray grazes the adjacent face. Calculate the angle of incidence (refractive index of glass = 1.5).
4. Ultraviolet light is incident on metals P, Q and R with work functions of 8 eV, 2 eV and 4 eV respectively. Which metal has the lowest threshold frequency, and for which metal is the maximum kinetic energy of the photoelectrons the smallest?
5. When the current through a solenoid decreases from 5 A to 0 in 20 milliseconds, an emf of 500 V is induced in it. Name this phenomenon and calculate the coefficient of self-inductance of the solenoid.
6. Calculate the mass defect and binding energy of the ²⁰₁₀Ne nucleus, given: mass of ²⁰Ne = 19.992397 u, mass of ¹H = 1.007825 u and mass of a neutron = 1.008665 u.