When you do somersaults, you’ll more easily rotate when your body is
A) straight with both arms above your head.
B) straight with both arms at your sides.
C) curled into a ball shape.
D) no difference
Compared to the energy it takes to separate oxygen and hydrogen from water, the
amount of energy released when they recombine is
A) slightly more.
B) slightly less.
C) much more.
D) much less.
E) the same.
In a converging lens, objects infinitely far away are focused
A) in front of the focal point.
B) at the focal point.
C) beyond the focal point.
Nellie tosses a ball upward at an angle. Neglecting air resistance, the horizontal
component of the initial velocity
A) decreases with time.
B) remains constant.
C) increases with time.
Two light bulbs are connected to a battery, one at a time. The bulb that draws more
current has the
A) lower resistance, and is brightest.
B) lower resistance, but is dimmer.
C) higher resistance, and is brightest.
D) higher resistance, but is dimmer.
E) none of the above
While Earth is experiencing a total solar eclipse, an observer on the side of the Moon
facing Earth would see
A) Earth disappear from the sky.
B) Earth dim and turn reddish.
C) nothing unusual.
D) a dark area moving across the face of Earth.
The main difference between a fog and a cloud is
A) water vapor content.
B) density of vapor.
C) seeding.
D) altitude.
E) temperature.
A 2000-kg car experiences a braking force of 10,000 N and skids to a stop in 6 seconds.
The speed of the car just before the brakes were applied was
A) 1.2 m/s.
B) 15 m/s.
C) 30 m/s.
D) 45 m/s.
E) none of the above
An atom that absorbs a certain amount of energy can then emit
A) only a photon of that energy.
B) a photon of any energy.
C) a photon of the same or higher energy.
D) a photon of the same or lower energy.
The vast numbers of electrons in a coin don’t fly off the surface because
A) mutual repulsion is incomplete.
B) they are attracted by an equal number of protons.
C) they are strongly bonded to their atoms.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above
If Earth had a pair of identical moons on opposite sides of the same circular orbit, the
center of gravity of the double-moon-Earth system would be
A) inside the Earth, but off center.
B) at the center of the Earth.
C) outside the Earth, but within the orbital path of the moons.
D) outside the Earth, but beyond the orbital path of the moons.
A lobster crawls onto a bathroom scale on the ocean floor. Its weight compared to its
weight above the surface is
A) greater.
B) less.
C) the same.
An electron and a baseball move at the same speed. Which has the longer wavelength?
A) the electron
B) the baseball
C) both the same
D) none of the above
Which jar will roll down an incline in the shortest time, an empty one or one filled with
peanut butter?
A) the empty jar
B) both reach the bottom at the same time
C) the filled jar
D) need more information
Earth’s magnetic field is
A) something we’ve learned to live with.
B) useful to pigeons but not to humans.
C) protective to life on Earth.
If a battleship sinks in a canal lock, the water level in the lock will
A) rise.
B) fall.
C) remain unchanged.
If an apple falls a distance of 2 meters in its first second of fall, then 2 meters in its next
second of fall, and again 2 meters during its third second of fall, the acceleration of the
apple is
1) 0 m/s2.
2) 2 m/s2.
3) 4 m/s2.
4) 10 m/s2.
5) actually, more than 10 m/s2.
This is because
6) no change in velocity occurs during fall.
7) the apple increases in distance by 2 meters for each successive second.
8) the average velocity is 1 m/s for each successive second.
9) its weight is counterbalanced by its inertia.
Which ball will bounce higher off a hard surface?
A) a common rubber ball
B) a steel ball
C) both the same
A geyser such as Old Faithful in Yellowstone Park is similar to a
A) vacuum bottle.
B) canteen.
C) coffee percolator.
D) teakettle.
E) vat of molten lead.
A white boat sunk in water where sunlight is dim appears
A) red.
B) yellow.
C) cyan.
D) no color”black.
A bow wave is produced when a speed boat moves
A) nearly as fast as the waves it produces.
B) as fast as the waves it produces.
C) faster than the waves it produces.
D) none of the above
If a light signal and a radio signal were emitted simultaneously from Alpha Centauri,
the first to reach Earth would be the
A) radio signal.
B) light signal.
C) both the same time
Part of a wooden ancient ship is found to be 1/3 as radioactive as wood freshly cut from
a tree. The age of the ship is likely about
A) one-third of carbon-14’s half-life.
B) three times carbon-14’s half-life.
C) more than three times carbon-14’s half-life.
D) none of the above
The conservation of energy applies to satellites in
A) circular orbit.
B) elliptical orbit.
C) both of these
D) neither of these
If no external forces act on a moving object, it will
A) continue moving at the same speed.
B) move slower and slower until it finally stops.
C) come to an abrupt halt.
D) none of the above
Which of these is affected by mass?
A) a freely-falling object
B) an object sliding down a friction-free plane
C) a pendulum
D) all of the above
E) none of the above
An 80-km/h airplane flying against a 10-km/h head wind has a groundspeed of
A) 10 km/h.
B) 70 km/h.
C) 80 km/h.
D) 90 km/h.
A red car has a head-on collision with an approaching blue car with the same magnitude
of momentum. A green car driving with the same momentum as the other cars collides
with an enormously massive wall. Which of the three cars will experience the greatest
impulse?
A) red car
B) blue car
C) green car
D) all the same
A vertical vector of 3 units combined with a horizontal vector of 4 units has a resultant
of
A) 1 unit.
B) 5 units.
C) 7 units.
Your weight as measured on your bathroom scale is
A) equal to your mass.
B) the force due to gravity on you.
C) a property of mechanical equilibrium.
D) all of the above
Which of the following elements has the most mass?
A) hydrogen
B) iron
C) lead
D) uranium
E) all have the same mass