First Order System

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Q.2. The transfer function of a reactor is given by

What is the transfer function of the system with two of these reactors if they are
connected in,
(A) Series
(B) Parallel GATE – 1990
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Q.3. What is the steady state output of the transfer function

for a unit slope ramp input? GATE – 1990

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Q.4. A thermometer of time constant 10 seconds, initially at 30°C, is suddenly

immersed into water at 100°C. How long it takes for the thermometer reading to
reach 90°C? GATE – 1990
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Q.6. A certain thermocouple has a specific time constant of 2s. If the process
temperature changes abruptly from 600°C to 800°C, the temperature reading in an
indicator attached to the thermocouple after 6s will be approximately,
(A) 860°C (B) 900°C (C) 890°C (D) 895°C GATE – 1991
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Q.14. A thermometer follows first-order dynamics with a time constant of 0.2

min. It is placed in a temperature bath at 100°C and is allowed to reach steady
state. It is suddenly transferred to another bath at 150°C at time t = 0 and is left
there for 0.2 min. It is immediately returned to the original bath at 100°C.
Calculate it’s reading at,
(i). t = 0.1 min. (ii). t = 0.4 min GATE – 1992
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Q.19. Derive an analytical expression for a unit impulse response of a system, whose
transfer function is given by,

GATE – 1994
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Q.30. The time constant of a first order process with resistance R and
capacitance C is –
(A) R + C
(B) R – C
(C) R C
(D) 1/RC GATE – 1995
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Q.31. Identify an unbounded input from four inputs whose functions are
given below :
(A) 1
(B) 1/s
(C) 1/s2
(D) 1/(s2 + 1) GATE – 1995
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Q.32. When a thermometer at 30 0C is placed in water bath at 90 0C, the initial

rate of rise in thermometer temperature is found to be 2 0C/sec. What is the me
constant of the thermometer, assuming it is a first order device with unity steady
state gain? What will thermometer read after one minute ? GATE – 1995
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Q.33. A first order system with transfer function Gp = Y(S)/X(s) = 1 /(s+1) is

subjected to input X(t) = t. Derive the expression for change in output Y(t) as
a function of time. What is the maximum and minimum difference between
input and output ? At what time does these difference occur ? GATE – 1995
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Q.34. A first order reaction A B is being carried out in a stirred tank

reactor. The feed stream containing reactant A at concentration CA0 is being
fed at constant rate F to the reactor. The volume and temperature of the
reactor are constant. Derive a transfer function relating concentration of A in
the product stream to concentration of A in the feed stream. GATE – 1995
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Q.38. The open loop transfer function of a control system is KR / (1 + τs),

This represents :
(A) a first order system
(B) dead me system
(C) a first order time lag
(D) a second order system GATE – 1996
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Q.41. A thermocouple junction may be approximated as a sphere of diameter 2

mm with thermal conductivity 30 W/(m. 0C), density 8600 kg/m3 and specific
heat 0.4 kJ/(kg 0C). The heat transfer coefficient between the gas stream and
the junction is 280 W/(m2 .0C). How long will it take for the thermocouple to
record 98 percent of the applied temperature difference ? GATE – 1996
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Q.43. The transfer function for a first-order process with time delay is

GATE – 1997
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Q.66. The unit step response of the transfer function

reaches its final steady state asymptotically after

(A) a montonic increase
(B) a monotonic decrease
(C) initially increasing and then decreasing
(D) initially decreasing and then increasing GATE – 2000
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Q.67. The unit step response of the transfer function

(A) has a non-zero slope at the origin

(B) has a damped oscillatory characteristic
(C) is overdamped
(D) is unstable GATE – 2000
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Q.72. The response of a thermocouple can be modelled as a first order process to

changes in the temperature of the environment. If such a thermocouple at 250C is
immersed suddenly in a fluid at 800C and held there, it is found that the
thermocouple reading (in 0C) reaches 63.2% of the final steady state value in 40
seconds. Find the time constant of the thermocouple. GATE – 2000
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Q.81. The hot junction of a thermocouple having me constant T min. initially at

room temperature of 30 0C. At time t = 0 min., it is placed in a bath held at 100 0C.
The thermocouple is connected to a recorded which has fast dynamics. At t = 2
min., the hot junction is withdrawn from the bath and held in the air which is at 30
0C. From the recorded data, the value of dT/dt at t = 2 + min. is given to you. dT/dt

= -2.5 0C/min. at t = 2 min. Is this data sufficient to calculate the time constant of
the thermocouple? If so, suggest a procedure for calculation of the me constant τ.
GATE – 2001
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Q.86. A mercury thermometer can be used to measure the body temperature by placing it
either in the mouth or in the armpit of a patient. The true body temperature can be taken
to be the temperature inside the mouth, which is usually higher than the temperature in
the armpit by 0.5 K. Assume that the true body temperature of a patient is 312 K and the
thermometer is initially at 300 K. Also assume that the thermometer behaves like a first
order system with a time constant of 40 seconds.
(a) Obtain a relation for the thermometer reading T(t) as a function of me in terms of its
initial temperature T(0), and body temperature TB.
(b) How long should the thermometer be placed in the patient’s mouth in order to
ensure that the error in the measurement is not greater than 0.05%.
(c) Since the body temperature in the armpit is less, the measurement made here using
the thermometer is corrected by adding 0.5 K. How long should the thermometer be
placed in the armpit in order to ensure that the error in the corrected measurement is
not greater than 0.05% of the true body temperature. GATE – 2002
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Q.97. Match first order system given in Group I with the appropriate me constant in
Group II.
Group I Group II
P. Thermometer 1. (mCp) / (hA)
Q. Mixing 2. q / V
3. V / q
4. (hA) / (mCp)
(A) P-4, Q-2
(B) P-4, Q-3
(C) P-1, Q-2
(D) P-1, Q-3 GATE – 2004
Q.98. The experimental response of the controlled variable y(t) for a step change of
magnitude P in the manipulated variable x(t) is shown below,

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The appropriate transfer function of the process is

GATE – 2004
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Q.102. The unit step response of a first order system with me constant τ and steady state
gain Kp is given by

GATE – 2005
Q.119. The dynamic model for a mixing tank open to atmosphere at its top as shown
below is to be written. The objective of mixing is to cool the hot water stream entering the
tank at a flow rate q2 and feed temperature of Ts with a cold water food stream entering the
tank at a flow rate q1 and feed temperature of T0 . A water stream is drawn from the tank
boom at a flow rate of q4 by a pump and the level in the tank is proposed to be controlled
by drawing another water stream at a flow rate q3 . Neglect evaporation and other heat
losses from the tank.
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GATE – 2007
Q.120. Match the transfer functions with the responses to a unit step input shown in the figure.

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(A) i-e, ii-c, iii-a, iv-d, v-b (B) i-a, ii-b, iii-c, iv-d, v-e
(C) i-b, ii-a, iii-c, iv-e, v-d (D) i-e, ii-a, iii-c, iv-b, v-d GATE – 2007
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Q.126. The unit impulse response of a first order process is given by 2e -0.5t . The
gain and me constant of the process are, respectively,
(A) 4 and 2
(B) 2 and 2
(C) 2 and 0.5
(D) 1 and 0.5 GATE – 2008
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Q.128. A tank of volume 0.25 m3 and height 1 m has water flowing in at 0.05
m3/min. The outlet flow rate is governed by the relation Fout= 0.1h , where h is the
height of the water in the tank in m and Fout is the outlet flow rate in m3/min. The
inlet flow rate changes suddenly from its nominal value of 0.05 m3/min to 0.15
m3/min and remains there. The time (in minutes) at which the tan will begin to
overflow is given by
(A) 0.28 (B) 1.01 (C) 1.73 (D) ∞ GATE – 2008
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Q.135. The inverse Laplace transform of

is
(A) e -t/2 – e -t
(B) 2e -t/2 – e -t
(C) e -t – 2e -t/2
(D) e -t – e -t/2 GATE – 2009
Q.138. For a tank of cross-sectional area 100 cm2 and inlet flow rate (Qi in cm3/s), the
outlet flow rate (Qo in cm3/s) is related to the liquid height (H in cm) as Qo = 3 √ H (see
figure below).

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Then the transfer function (overbar indicates deviation variables) of the process
around the steady-state point, Qi,s = 18 cm3/s and Hs = 36 cm, is

GATE – 2009
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Q.149. A thermometer initially at 100°C is dipped at t = 0 into an oil bath,

maintained at 150°C. If the recorded temperature is 130°C after 1 minute, then the
me constant of thermometer (in min) is
(A) 1.98 (B) 1.35 (C) 1.26 (D) 1.09 GATE – 2012
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Q.159. A unit IMPULSE response of a first order system with me constant τ and
steady state gain Kp is given by

GATE – 2014
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Q.160. Assume that an ordinary mercury-in-glass thermometer follows first order

dynamics with a me constant of 10 s. It is at a steady state temperature of 0 °C. At
time t = 0, the thermometer is suddenly immersed in a constant temperature bath at
100 °C. The time required (in s) for the thermometer to read 95 °C, approximately
is
(A) 60 (B) 40 (C) 30 (D)20 GATE – 2014
Q.165. Match the output signals as obtained from four measuring devices in response to a
unit step change in the input signal.

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P: Gas chromatograph, with a long capillary tube

Q: Venturi tube
R: Thermocouple with first order dynamics
S: Pressure transducer with second order dynamics

(A) P-IV, Q-III, R-II, S-I (B) P-III, Q-I, R-II, S-IV
(C) P-IV, Q-I, R-II, S-III (D) P-II, Q-IV, R-III, S-I GATE – 2015
Q.190. Consider two non-interacting tanks-in-series as shown in figure. Water
enters TANK 1 at q cm3 /s and drains down to TANK 2 by gravity at a rate
(cm3 /s). Similarly, water drains from TANK 2 by gravity at a rate of (cm3
/s) where h1 and h2 represent levels of TANK 1 and TANK 2, respectively (see
figure). Drain valve constant k = 4 cm2.5 /s and cross-sectional areas of the two
tanks are A1=A2=28 cm2

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At steady state operation, the water inlet flow rate is qss =16 cm3/s. The transfer
function relating the deviation variables h2 (cm) to q flow rate (cm3/s ) is

GATE – 2019
Q.191. Choose the option that correctly matches the step response curves on the left with the
appropriate transfer functions on the right. The step input change occurs at time t =0.
Step Response Transfer Function

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(A)P-III, Q-IV, R-II, S-I
(B) P-III, Q-I, R-IV, S-II
(C) P-IV, Q-III, R-II, S-I
(D) P-III, Q-II, R-IV, S-I

GATE – 2019
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Q.213. Consider a single-input-single-output (SISO) system with the transfer function

where the time constants are in minutes. The system is forced by a unit step input at
time 𝑡 = 0.

The time at which the output response reaches the maximum is __________ minutes
(rounded off to two decimal places). GATE – 2022
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Que. No. Answer Que. No. Answer Que. No. Answer Que. No. Answer
1. Subjective 14. B 27. D 40. A
2. Subjective 15. C 28. D 41. B
3. 19.46 16. B 29. D 42. B
4. D 17. 64 sec 30. D 43. A, C, D
5. Subjective 18. Subjective 31. C 44. C
6. Subjective 19. Subjective 32. C 45. A
7. C 20. D 33. 18.96 46. A
8. C 21. C 34. A 47. A
9. 81.87 deg 22. A 35. 0.54 to 0.56 48.
10. 0 (ZERO) 23. D 36. D 49.
11. Subjective 24. A 37. B 50.
12. A 25. A 38. A 51.
13. 15.64 26. C 39. A 52.