If you drop a bar magnet in a vertical copper pipe it will fall slowly because
A) of air resistance.
B) it induces a magnetic field in the pipe that resists motion of the magnet.
C) the copper is a good conductor of both electricity and magnetism.
D) of electron repulsion.
Answer:
Consider gliders that slide friction-free along a horizontal air track. Glider A has a mass
of 1 kg, a speed of 1 m/s, and collides with glider B, which has a mass of 5 kg and is at
rest. If they stick upon collision the combined-glider speed will be
A) 1/4 m/s.
B) 1/5 m/s.
C) 1/6 m/s.
D) 1 m/s.
E) none of the above
Answer:
Which of the following is not a chemical change?
A) a rock being crushed to powder
B) grass growing
C) grape juice turning into wine
D) a loaf of bread growing mold
E) wood burning to ash
Answer:
What happens when the molecule-to-molecule attractions in the solute are comparable
to those in the solvent?
A) The solute can have infinite solubility in the solvent.
B) The solute does not dissolve in the solvent.
C) The material has only limited solubility in the solvent.
D) The solution will become saturated.
E) none of the above
Answer:
As a high-altitude balloon sinks lower and lower into the atmosphere it undergoes a
decrease in
A) volume.
B) density.
C) weight.
D) mass.
E) none of the above
Answer:
Which of the following has the greatest number of nonbonding pairs of electrons?
A) C
B) H
C) He
D) F
E) S
Answer:
The compressions and rarefactions in a longitudinal wave travel in
A) the same direction.
B) opposite directions.
C) neither of these
Answer:
Which of the following materials is most likely to act as a reducing agent?
A) Na
B) Na+
C) Cl2
D) Cl–
E) both A and B
Answer:
Which force field can both accelerate an electron and change its speed?
A) electric field.
B) magnetic field.
C) both of these
D) none of the above
Answer:
When white light goes from air into water, the color that refracts the most is
A) red.
B) orange.
C) green.
D) violet.
E) all refract the same amount.
Answer:
Does the concentration of chlorine in drinking water tend to increase or decrease as it
leaves the water treatment plant and disperses into the community? Why?
A) Increases. As the chlorine reacts with the bacteria in the water, more chlorine is
produced.
B) Increases. As the water evaporates the chlorine concentration would increase in the
remaining water.
C) Decreases. Evaporative processes and reaction with organic bacteria would decrease
the chlorine concentration.
D) Neither. The chlorine concentration in the water does not vary as the water is
dispersed into the community.
Answer:
Of the three sciences, physics, chemistry, and biology, the most complex is
A) physics because it involves many mathematical equations.
B) chemistry because there are so many possible combinations of atoms.
C) biology because it is based upon both the laws of chemistry and physics.
D) All three of these sciences are equally complex.
Answer:
In perceiving its environment, a dolphin makes use of
A) echoes.
B) the Doppler effect.
C) ultrasound.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above
Answer:
If two protons and two neutrons are removed from the nucleus of an oxygen atom, a
nucleus of which element remains?
A) nitrogen-12
B) carbon-12
C) neon-18
D) carbon-14
Answer:
Heat death refers to the universe
A) reaching the lowest energy state possible, which will mean the greatest level of
entropy.
B) ending after a massive fire.
C) reaching a state where all stars expand and merge into each other.
D) reaching the point where the process of radioactive decay is no longer possible.
Answer:
Whenever water condenses,
A) heat is absorbed.
B) heat is released.
C) frost forms.
D) temperature drops.
Answer:
Why might increasing the concentration of a set of reactants increase the rate of
reaction?
A) You have increased the chances that any two reactant molecules will collide and
react.
B) You have increased the ratio of reactants to products.
C) The concentration of reactants is unrelated to the rate of reaction.
D) The rate of reaction depends only on the mass of the atoms and therefore increases
as you increase the mass of the reactants.
E) none of the above
Answer:
As streams move downslope, channel dimension generally
A) decreases with decreased discharge.
B) increases with decreased discharge.
C) narrows.
D) widens.
Answer:
The safety fuse in an electric circuit is properly connected in
A) series with the circuit.
B) parallel to the circuit.
C) either of these
Answer:
Minerals that have the same combination of elements but have different atomic
arrangements are called
A) polymorphs.
B) polygonal.
C) tetrahedra.
D) polymers.
Answer:
An electronic game requires 6 V for operation. With a transformer it can be powered by
a 120-V outlet. If the primary has 500 turns, the secondary has
A) 4 turns.
B) 25 turns.
C) 50 turns.
D) more than 50 turns.
E) none of the above
Answer:
The silicates are the largest mineral group because silicon and oxygen are
A) the hardest elements on Earth’s surface.
B) the two most abundant elements in Earth’s crust.
C) found in the common mineral quartz.
Answer:
Which body in the solar system has the highest level of volcanic activity?
A) Jupiter
B) Earth
C) Mars
D) Io
Answer:
Which of the following is a mixture?
A) air
B) gold
C) salt
D) iron
E) helium
Answer:
When dishes remain on a table when you yank the tablecloth beneath them, you’re
demonstrating
A) friction.
B) inertia.
C) constant motion.
D) ΣF = 0.
Answer:
In science, a theory is
A) an educated guess.
B) less than a fact.
C) a synthesis of a large body of well-tested knowledge.
D) unchangeable.
Answer:
Why is recycling of aluminum better for the environment than electrolysis of bauxite
(an aluminum ore)?
A) It takes less energy to recycle aluminum.
B) Electrolysis releases harmful gases into the atmosphere.
C) The bauxite is extremely rare and there is very little aluminum in the world.
D) Electricity is extremely cheap and it is better to use cheap electricity.
E) none of the above
Answer:
Which are older, the atoms in the body of an elderly person or those in the body of a
baby?
A) a baby because this is surely a trick question
B) an elderly person because they have been around much longer
C) They are of the same age, which is appreciably older than the solar system.
D) It depends upon their diet.
Answer:
Which of the following is an example of a physical change?
A) water boiling and being converted into steam
B) water being electrolyzed and being converted in hydrogen and oxygen
C) iron metal reacting with oxygen to form rust
D) a candy bar being digested by a student
E) charcoal being converted into ash
Answer:
Ordinary hydrogen is sometimes called a perfect fuel, because of its almost unlimited
supply on Earth, and when it burns, harmless water is the product of the combustion. So
why don’t we abandon fission energy and fusion energy, not to mention fossil-fuel
energy, and just use hydrogen?
A) The oil companies have lobbied the federal government to continue fossil fuel usage
because it would mean huge profit losses for all the major oil conglomerates.
B) The conversion of current energy consuming vehicles and other machinery to
hydrogen, although simple, is going to be very costly to the consumer and difficult to
legislate.
C) The political, economic, and corporate pressures being exerted to oppose
abandoning the other energy sources are the only obstacles to moving to the use of
hydrogen as the nation’s primary energy source.
D) Hydrogen represents a viable solution for stored energy but not as a general energy
source since obtaining the hydrogen from water requires more energy than is produced
when you burn it.
Answer:
When an ice cube in a glass of water melts, the water level
A) rises.
B) falls.
C) remains the same.
Answer:
Paleomagnetism from a rock gives information on the
A) direction from the rock to the North Pole.
B) present-day magnetic field.
C) amount of iron in the rock.
D) magnetic field at the time the rock was formed.
Answer: