JAMB Physics 2016 past questions

Checked by the Skolra question team · Last updated 15 October 2026

Ten questions from the 2016 JAMB Physics paper, with answers and explanations. We hold 48 questions from this paper, and the Skolra app has all of them.

JAMB Physics 2016 questions and answers

1. 1.

   What force has to be exerted on a mass 60kg to give it an acceleration of 10ms^-2 vertically upwards?

   [g = 10ms^-2

   1. A
      600N
   2. B
      60N
   3. C
      6000N
   4. D
      1200N
      Correct
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   Answer: D

   Lifting the mass and accelerating it upward both need force. The applied force must supply the weight (to support it against gravity) plus the extra force for the acceleration.

   F = m(g + a) = 60kg × (10 + 10)ms^-2 = 60 × 20 = 1200N.

   Using only F = ma without adding the weight gives the smaller, incorrect 600N.

2. 2.What happens to a water pool on a day when the humidity of the air is very low?
   1. A
      Its temperature rises above that of the surrounding air
   2. B
      It evaporates more slowly than on a humid day
   3. C
      It stops evaporating completely
   4. D
      It evaporates more quickly than on a humid day
      Correct
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   Answer: D

   Evaporation is fastest when the surrounding air is far from saturated with water vapour — that is exactly what low humidity means.

   So on a dry (low-humidity) day, the pool evaporates, and dries up, more quickly than it would on a humid day.

   High humidity is what slows evaporation down, not the other way round.

3. 3.When an athlete perspires after running, he loses heat through
   1. A
      evaporation of sweat (latent heat of vaporisation)
      Correct
   2. B
      radiation from the body surface
   3. C
      convection currents in the air
   4. D
      conduction through the skin
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   Answer: A

   As sweat evaporates from the skin, it draws the latent heat of vaporisation it needs from the body itself, cooling the athlete down.

   This is why perspiring is such an effective cooling mechanism after exercise — it is the change of state, not conduction, radiation or convection, doing the main work.

4. 4.A saturated vapour pressure of a liquid increases when the
   1. A
      temperature of the liquid increases
      Correct
   2. B
      pressure of the surrounding air decreases
   3. C
      volume of the liquid increases
   4. D
      surface area of the liquid decreases
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   Answer: A

   Saturated vapour pressure depends strongly on temperature: as the liquid gets hotter, more of its molecules have enough energy to escape into the vapour, raising the pressure the vapour exerts.

   The volume of liquid present, or its surface area, does not change the saturated vapour pressure at a given temperature — only temperature does.

5. 5.A satellite moves in a circular orbit of radius 4R round the earth. The acceleration of the satellite in terms of g is
   1. A
      g/8
   2. B
      g/16
      Correct
   3. C
      4g
   4. D
      g/4
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   Answer: B

   Gravitational acceleration falls off as the square of the distance from the earth's centre: g = GM/r².

   At the surface, g = GM/R². At a radius of 4R, the distance is 4 times bigger, so the acceleration is 4² = 16 times smaller: g' = g/16.

   Forgetting to square the factor of 4 is what gives g/4 instead.

6. 6.

   The impulse of a force is deduced from Newton's second law as

   1. A
      Ft = 1/2 mv^2 (the kinetic energy)
   2. B
      Ft = ma^2 (independent of mass change)
   3. C
      Ft = mv - mu (the change in momentum)
      Correct
   4. D
      Ft = mgh (the potential energy)
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   Answer: C

   Newton's second law gives force as the rate of change of momentum: F = (mv − mu)/t.

   Multiplying both sides by t gives the impulse, Ft = mv − mu — the impulse of a force equals the change in momentum it produces.

7. 7.

   A projectile is fired from the ground level with a velocity of 300ms^-1 at an angle of a 30^o to the horizontal.

   Calculate the time taken to reach the maximum height?

   [g = 10ms^-2]

   1. A
      26s
   2. B
      30s
   3. C
      15s
      Correct
   4. D
      7.5s
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: C

   Only the vertical component of the launch velocity, v sinθ, is slowed by gravity on the way up.

   Time to reach maximum height t = (v sinθ)/g = (300 × sin30°)/10 = (300 × 0.5)/10 = 15s.

8. 8.A satellite revolving around the earth is kept on its orbit by
   1. A
      the magnetic field of the earth
   2. B
      atmospheric pressure acting on its surface
   3. C
      the thrust of its onboard engine, firing continuously
   4. D
      the gravitational pull of the earth, providing the centripetal force
      Correct
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   Answer: D

   A satellite in a stable orbit is in continuous free-fall around the earth: the earth's gravitational pull on it supplies exactly the centripetal force needed to keep it moving in its circular (or elliptical) path.

   No continuous engine thrust is needed to maintain a stable orbit — gravity alone does the job.

9. 9.Semiconductor is a class of solid whose conductivity increases with an increase in
   1. A
      purity
   2. B
      temperature
      Correct
   3. C
      thickness
   4. D
      applied magnetic field
   Show answerHide answer

   Answer: B

   Raising the temperature of a semiconductor frees more electrons from their bonds to become charge carriers, so its conductivity increases with temperature.

   This is the opposite of what happens in a metal, whose conductivity falls as it gets hotter.

10. 10.Boiling occurs when the vapour pressure of a liquid is
    1. A
       equal to the atmospheric pressure
       Correct
    2. B
       equal to the pressure at the bottom of the liquid only
    3. C
       zero
    4. D
       less than the atmospheric pressure
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    Answer: A

    A liquid boils once its saturated vapour pressure rises to equal the atmospheric pressure pressing down on it — only then can bubbles of vapour form and grow throughout the liquid, not just at the surface.

    This is also why liquids boil at a lower temperature on a mountain top, where atmospheric pressure is lower.

The questions come from past JAMB, WAEC and NECO papers. We use software to help write the answer options and explanations, and every answer is checked twice before it goes on the site. How we check

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Practise all 48 questions we hold from the 2016 paper, on a timed CBT screen

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