According to the well-known equation E = mc2,
A) mass and energy travel at the speed of light squared.
B) energy is actually mass traveling at the speed of light squared.
C) mass and energy travel at twice the speed of light.
D) mass and energy are related.
E) none of the above
Answer:
When waves from a pair of closely-spaced slits arrive out of phase
A) a bright fringe is produced.
B) a dark fringe is produced.
C) both bright and dark fringes are produced.
D) none of the above
Answer:
A same-size iron ball and wooden ball are dropped simultaneously from a tower and
reach the ground at the same time. The iron ball has a greater
A) speed.
B) acceleration.
C) momentum.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above
Answer:
Compared to the diameter of a zirconium atom (A = 40), the diameter of a mercury
atom (A = is approximately
A) four times as large.
B) twice as large.
C) the same size.
D) one-half as large.
E) one-quarter as large.
Answer:
Assuming all the atoms exhaled by Julius Caesar in his last dying breath are still in the
atmosphere, we breathe in at least one of them each
A) single breath.
B) day.
C) month.
D) ten years.
E) can’t say for some people breathe a few of Caesar’s atoms daily, while others never.
Answer:
The source of all electromagnetic waves is
A) changes in atomic energy levels.
B) vibrating atoms and molecules.
C) accelerating electric charges.
D) crystalline fluctuations.
E) none of the above
Answer:
The speeds of the planets about the Sun depend on
A) their distances from the Sun.
B) the masses of the planets.
C) their periods of rotation.
D) none of the above
Answer:
What is the central equation of mass-energy equivalence?
A) W = Fd
B) KE = mv2
C) m = F/a
D) E = mc2
Answer:
An uncharged pith ball is suspended by a nylon fiber. When a positively-charged rubber
rod is brought nearby, the pith ball
A) moves toward the rod.
B) is unaffected.
C) moves away from the rod.
D) none of the above
Answer:
It is said that electric charge is quantized, which means that the charge on an object
A) may occur in an infinite variety of quantities.
B) is a whole-number multiple of the charge of one electron.
C) will interact with neighboring electric charges.
D) can be neither created nor destroyed.
E) is sometimes positive.
Answer:
In terms of transferring heat, red-hot wooden coals
A) conduct quite well.
B) conduct poorly.
C) radiate poorly.
D) convect poorly.
Answer:
A substance with a high thermal inertia has a high
A) temperature, in many cases.
B) heat conductivity.
C) specific heat capacity.
D) energy content.
Answer:
Which of the following can be projected onto a viewing screen?
A) a real image
B) a virtual image
C) both of these
D) neither of these
Answer:
Magnetic field strength about a magnet is strongest where magnetic field lines are
A) closer together.
B) straightest.
C) most curved.
D) more spread.
Answer:
A mixture of cyan and yellow pigments appears
A) orange.
B) green.
C) magenta.
D) blue.
E) blackish-brown.
Answer:
In the periphery of our vision, we are
A) more sensitive to low frequencies than high ones.
B) insensitive to color and movement.
C) sensitive to movement, but cannot see color.
D) sensitive to both movement and color.
E) none of the above
Answer:
The atmosphere of Jupiter is more than 1000 km thick. From Jupiter’s surface, the Sun
at noon would appear
A) white.
B) faintly white.
C) not at all.
D) none of the above
Answer:
A ball rolling down an incline has its maximum kinetic energy at
A) the top.
B) halfway down.
C) three-quarters of the way down.
D) the bottom.
Answer:
A refrigerator
A) produces cold.
B) causes internal energy to disappear.
C) transfers internal energy from inside to outside.
D) transfers heat into cold.
E) none of the above
Answer:
A ball is thrown upwards and caught when it returns. Compared with its initial speed
and in the presence of air resistance, the speed with which it is caught is always
A) less.
B) the same.
C) more.
D) can’t be determined.
Answer:
A spaceship whizzes past a planet at high speed. An observer on the planet sees a
contracted spaceship, while an observer on the spaceship sees
A) a contracted planet.
B) an expanded planet.
C) a normal planet.
D) a contracted or expanded planet depending on the direction of travel.
Answer:
Inside a freely-falling runaway elevator, your
A) acceleration is zero.
B) weight is zero.
C) gravitational interaction with Earth is zero.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above
Answer:
The safest way to view an image of the Sun is to use
A) a telescope.
B) binoculars.
C) a pinhole.
D) colored sunglasses.
Answer:
White-light LEDs employ
A) phosphors.
B) white-emitting diodes.
C) extra-high electrical barriers.
D) none of the above
Answer:
Entropy measures temperature
A) at constant pressure.
B) at constant volume.
C) as pressure increases.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above
Answer:
Atmospheric refraction makes the daylight hours a bit
A) longer.
B) shorter.
C) longer in summer but shorter in winter.
Answer:
A ball is tossed upward. Neglecting air drag, the acceleration along its path is
A) 0 g.
B) g downward.
C) g upward.
D) g upward, then g downward.
E) none of the above
Answer:
The time it takes a car to attain a speed of 30 m/s when accelerating from rest at 2 m/s2
is
A) 2 s.
B) 15 s.
C) 30 s.
D) 60 s.
E) none of the above
Answer:
An uncharged pith ball is suspended by a nylon fiber. When a negatively-charged
rubber rod is brought near the pith ball, without touching, the ball
A) becomes charged by induction.
B) becomes polarized.
C) is repelled by the rod.
D) is unaffected.
E) none of the above
Answer:
When a boxer hits a punching bag, the strength of his punch depends on how much
force the bag can
A) endure.
B) exert on the boxer’s fist.
C) soften.
Answer: