Kinetic energy is a scalar quantity.
An electric generator is a device that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.
After striking a concave mirror, a paraxial beam of light passes through the mirror’s
focal point.
A battery creates net electric charge.
A constant magnetic field can be used to produce an electric current.
Newton never knew the numerical value of “his” universal gravitational constant G.
The distance d through which a beam of length L is deflected when it is subjected to a
load may be described by the relationship d = R L2. What are the dimensions of the
constant R?
A) (meters)3
B) (meters)2
C) meters
D) (meters)-1
E) R is dimensionless
The primary coil of a transformer has 100 turns and its secondary coil has 400 turns. If
the ac voltage applied to the primary coil is 120 V, what voltage is present in its
secondary coil?
A) 100 V
B) 30 V
C) 70 V
D) 480 V
E) 400 V
The closest star to our solar system is Alpha Centauri, which is 4.30 light years away. A
spaceship with a constant speed of 0.800c relative to the Earth travels toward the star.
(a) How much time would elapse on a clock on board the spaceship?
(b) How much time would elapse on a clock on the Earth?
When a tube of diameter d is placed in water, the water rises to a height h. If the
diameter were half as great, how high would the water rise?
A) 4h
B) h/2
C) 2h
D) h/4
E) h
The number of significant figures a common ruler can measure is
A) zero.
B) one.
C) three.
D) five.
E) seven.
A series RC circuit has resistance of 150 Ω and capacitance of 40. μF. It is driven by a
120. V, 60. Hz source.
(a) How much power is dissipated in the resistor?
(b) How much power is dissipated in the capacitor?
A boy and a girl are balanced on a massless seesaw. The boy has a mass of 60 kg and
the girl’s mass is 50 kg. If the boy sits 1.5 m from the pivot point on one side of the
seesaw, where must the girl sit on the other side for equilibrium?
A) 3.0 m
B) 1.3 m
C) 2.5 m
D) 1.8 m
E) 1.2 m
The coefficient of linear expansion of steel is 12 x 10-6 K-1. What is the change in
length of a 25-m steel bridge span when it undergoes a temperature change of 40 K?
A) 1.2 cm
B) 1.4 cm
C) 1.6 cm
D) 1.8 cm
E) 2.0 cm
An object is thrown upwards with a speed of 13 m/s. How long does it take to reach a
height of 4.0 m above the projection point while descending?
A) 0.42 s
B) 1.2 s
C) 2.3 s
D) 3.1 s
E) 4.2 s
Suppose that you take the lenses out of a pair of polarized sunglasses and place one on
top of the other. Rotate one lens 90 with respect to the normal position of the other lens.
Early in the morning, look directly overhead at the sunlight coming down. What would
you see?
A) The lenses would look completely dark, since they would transmit no light.
B) You would see some light, and the brightness would be a function of how the lenses
were oriented with respect to the incoming light.
C) You would see light with intensity reduced to about 50% of what it would be with
one lens.
D) You would see some light, and the intensity would be the same as if you had looked
through only one lens.
E) You would see some light, and the intensity would be greater than if you looked
through only one lens.
Capacitors connected in series always have ________ total capacitance than any of the
individual capacities.
A) more
B) less
C) the same
D) Not enough information given.
Fiberscopes are based on the physical phenomena called
A) diffusion.
B) dispersion.
C) total internal reflection.
D) absorption.
E) polarization.
You can only see a rainbow if
A) the sun is behind you.
B) the sun is in front of you.
C) the sun is 90 to the side.
D) the sun is 180 to the side.
Two equal forces are applied to a door. The first force is applied at the midpoint of the
door; the second force is applied at the doorknob. Both forces are applied perpendicular
to the door. Which force exerts the greater torque?
A) the first at the midpoint
B) the second at the doorknob
C) both exert equal non-zero torques
D) both exert zero torques
E) additional information is needed
A planet of constant mass orbits the sun in an elliptical orbit. Neglecting any friction
effects, what happens to the planet’s rotational kinetic energy about the sun’s center?
A) It decreases continually.
B) It increases continually.
C) It remains constant.
D) It increases when the planet approaches the sun, and decreases when it moves farther
away.
E) It decreases when the planet approaches the sun, and increases when it moves farther
away.
The weight that will cause a wire of diameter d to stretch a given distance, for a fixed
length of wire, is
A) independent of d.
B) proportional to d.
C) proportional to d2.
D) independent of what the length of the wire is.
The distance between the object and the eyepiece of a compound microscope is 18.0
cm. The focal length of its objective lens is 0.80 cm and the eyepiece has a focal length
of 2.3 cm. The near-point distance of the person using the microscope is 25.0 cm. What
is the total magnification of the microscope?
A) -120
B) -184
C) -200
D) -360
E) -480
The main difference between conductors and insulators is in terms of
A) protons.
B) neutrons.
C) valence or conduction electrons.
D) atoms.
E) None of the other choices is correct.
One beam of coherent light travels path P1 in arriving at point Q and another coherent
beam travels path P2 in arriving at the same point. If these two beams are to interfere
destructively, the path difference P1 – P2 must be equal to
A) an odd number of half-wavelengths.
B) a whole number of wavelengths.
C) zero.
D) a whole number of half-wavelengths.
Automobile air bags reduce what during a collision?
A) speed of the automobile
B) the forces exerted upon the passenger
C) the kinetic energy transferred to the passenger
D) the impulse exerted upon the passenger
Which of the following is an accurate statement?
A) If a solid metal sphere carries a net charge, the charge will move to the sphere
surface.
B) If a solid metal sphere carries a net charge, the charge will be uniformly distributed
throughout the volume of the sphere.
C) The electric field at the surface of a conductor is not necessarily perpendicular to the
surface in all cases.
D) A conductor cannot carry a net charge.
Car J moves twice as fast as car K, and car J has half the mass of car K. The kinetic
energy of car J, compared to car K is
A) 4 to 1.
B) 2 to 1.
C) the same.
D) 42to 1.
E) 1 to 2.
The proton is believed to consist of what quark combination? (up, down, strange,
charm, top, bottom)
A) uud
B) ddu
C) uds
D) ttb
E) bbt
A can, after having been given a kick, moves up along a smooth hill of ice. It will
A) have a varying acceleration along the hill.
B) have the same acceleration, both up the hill and down the hill.
C) have a constant acceleration up the hill, but a larger constant acceleration when it
comes back down the hill.
D) have a constant acceleration up the hill, but a smaller constant acceleration when it
comes back down the hill.
E) travel at constant velocity.
How many cm2 equal a m2?
A) 10-4
B) 10-2
C) 102
D) 104
E) 106
You lift a 10. lb physics book up in the air a distance of 1 ft, at a constant velocity of 0.5
ft/s. The work done by gravity is
A) +5 ft∙lb.
B) -10 ft∙lb.
C) -5 ft∙lb.
D) zero.
E) +10 ft∙lb.
Consider a solid object which is subjected to a net torque. That object will experience
which of the following?
A) a linear acceleration and an angular acceleration
B) an angular acceleration
C) a constant angular velocity
D) a changing moment of inertia
A 2.0 mm diameter wire of length 20 m has a resistance of 0.25 Ω. What is the
resistivity of the wire?
A) 5 x 10-7 Ωm
B) 3.9 x 10-8 Ωm
C) 4 x 10-7 Ωm
D) 16 x 10-8 Ωm
E) 0.25 Ω
A charged particle moves with its velocity perpendicular to a magnetic field. The field
acts to change the particle’s
A) mass.
B) magnitude of momentum.
C) velocity.
D) energy.
E) charge.
An atomic nucleus has a charge of +40e. An electron is 10-9 m from the nucleus. What
is the force on the electron?
A) 2.9 nN
B) 1000 C
C) 3.7 nN
D) 6.8 nN
E) 9.2 nN
A muon at rest decays in 2.2 μs. Moving at 99.% the speed of light, it would be seen to
“live” for how long?
A satellite is in a low circular orbit about the Earth (i.e., it just skims the surface of the
Earth). How long does it take to make one revolution around the Earth?
A glass plate 2.5 cm long is separated from another glass plate by a strand of someone’s
hair (diameter 0.010 mm). How far apart are the adjacent interference bands when
viewed with light of wavelength 600 nm?
A child drops a toy at rest from a point 4.0 m above the ground at the same instant her
friend throws a ball upward at 6 m/s from a point 1.0 m above the ground. At what
distance above the ground do the ball and the toy cross paths?
A mixture of helium and another gas diffuses through a porous barrier. The helium
diffuses 3.16 times faster than the other type molecule. Identify the other gas.
In space there is nothing for the rocket to “push against” so how does it accelerate?
Two adjacent sources each emit a frequency of 800. Hz in air where the velocity of
sound is 340. m/s. How much farther back would the first source have to be moved so
an observer in front of the sources would hear no sound?
The magnitude of a vector is 3.1 units and its x component is 0 units. What are the
possible y components and respective angles with the x-axis of the vector?
In space, a 4.0 kg metal ball moving 30. m/s has a head-on collision with a stationary
1.0 kg second ball. After the elastic collision, what are the velocities of the balls?
In a double-slit experiment, the slit separation is 2.0 mm, and two wavelengths, 750. nm
and 900. nm, illuminate the slits. A screen is placed 2.0 m from the slits. At what
distance from the central maximum on the screen will a bright fringe from one pattern
first coincide with a bright fringe from the other?
A buoy, used to mark a harbor channel, consists of a weighted rod 2.00 m in length.
1.50 m of the rod is immersed in water and 0.500 m extends above the surface. If
sunlight is incident on the water with an angle of incidence of 40.0, what is the length
of the shadow of the buoy on the level bottom of the harbor?
One mole of Strontium-90 is decaying with a half life of 28. years. After 61. years, how
much Strontium is left and what is its activity?
A 170. pound halfback is tackled by a 245. pound guard. Each, of course, exerts a force
on the other. Which of the players exerts the LARGER force on the other?
Complete the following nuclear decay equation:
U → Th + ________
FIGURE 2-6
Fig. 2-6 shows the velocity-versus-time graph for a basketball player traveling up and
down the court in a straight-line path. Find the displacement of the player for each of
the segments A, B, C and D.
Two spaceships approach each other along a straight line at a constant velocity of
0.988c as measured by the captain of one of the ships. An observer on Earth is able to
measure the speed of only one of the ships as 0.900c. From the point of view of the
observer on Earth, what is the speed of the other ship?
To transmit power over great distances, why is HIGH VOLTAGE chosen for long
distance power lines?
Complete the following nuclear reaction:
O + n → ________ + He