An umbrella tends to move upwards on a windy day principally because
A) trapped air under the umbrella, warms, and rises.
B) buoyancy increases with increasing wind speed.
C) air pressure is reduced over the curved top surface.
D) all of the above
A boy plays solitary seesaw by placing the seesaw’s fulcrum one-eighth the distance
from where he sits at one end. Which weighs more?
A) the boy
B) the seesaw
C) they have equal weights
D) need more information
A red apple will appear black when illuminated with
A) blue light.
B) cyan light.
C) yellow light.
D) magenta light.
E) none of the above
Compared with the mass of a uranium nucleus before splitting, the split fragments have
A) less mass.
B) the same mass.
C) more mass.
As a fluid gains speed, its internal pressure
A) increases.
B) remains unchanged.
C) decreases.
A mosquito flying at 3 m/s that encounters a breeze blowing at 3 m/s in the opposite
direction has a speed of
A) 0 m/s.
B) 3 m/s.
C) 4 m/s.
D) 6 m/s.
The dark lines in the Sun’s spectrum are due to light that is
A) absorbed by the Sun’s atmosphere.
B) emitted by the Sun.
C) reflected by the Sun.
D) none of the above
According to your textbook, popular confusion is lessened when applying Heisenberg’s
uncertainty principle by heeding the distinction between
A) momentum and energy.
B) energy and time.
C) passive observation and probing.
When a nucleus emits a positron, its atomic number
A) increases by 1.
B) decreases by 1.
C) doesn’t change.
When we apply the Lorentz factor γ to momentum, we
A) multiply by γ as with the equation for time dilation.
B) multiply by the reciprocal of γ.
C) find it does not apply.
A ball starting from rest at the top of an inclined plane gains a speed of 2 m/s for each
second it rolls. What is its acceleration down the incline?
A) 0.5 m/s2
B) 1 m/s2
C) 2 m/s2
D) 4 m/s2
If you place a pipe over the end of a wrench when trying to rotate a stubborn bolt,
effectively making the wrench handle twice as long, you’ll multiply the torque by
A) two.
B) four.
C) eight.
Compared to the photon that enters a pane of window glass, the photon that emerges is
A) the same photon.
B) an identical but different photon.
C) an altogether different photon.
D) none of the above
Compared to a single lamp connected to a battery, two identical lamps connected in
series to the same battery will carry
A) more current.
B) less current.
C) the same current.
A weight suspended from a spring bobs up and down over a distance of 1 meter in two
seconds. Its frequency is
A) 0.5 hertz.
B) 1 hertz.
C) 2 hertz.
D) none of the above
If you drop a stone into a hole drilled all the way to the other side of Earth (neglect the
molten core), the stone will
A) come to an abrupt stop at Earth’s center.
B) speed up until it gets to Earth’s center.
C) speed up until it reaches Earth’s other side.
D) slow down until it reaches Earth’s center.
A quantity of water has more entropy when it is
A) frozen ice.
B) boiling.
C) at room temperature.
Consider light energy that is momentarily absorbed in glass and then re-emitted.
Compared to the absorbed light, the frequency of the re-emitted light is
A) considerably less.
B) slightly less.
C) the same.
D) slightly more.
E) considerably more.
For every action force, there must be a reaction force that
A) acts in the same direction.
B) is slightly smaller in magnitude than the action force.
C) is slightly larger in magnitude than the action force.
D) is equal in magnitude.
A 60-vibration-per-second wave travels 30 meters in 1 second. Its frequency is
A) 30 hertz and it travels at 60 m/s.
B) 60 hertz and it travels at 30 m/s.
C) 1800 hertz and it travels at 2 m/s.
D) none of the above
An Earth satellite in close orbit circles Earth in about an hour and a half. How long
would a satellite located as far away as the Moon take to orbit Earth?
A) the same hour and a half
B) less than an hour and a half
C) about 28 days
D) need more information
E) none of the above
To say that electric charge is conserved means that no case has ever been found where
A) the total charge on an object has changed.
B) quantity of negative charge on an object exactly balances positive charge.
C) the total quantity of charge on an object has increased.
D) net charge has been created or destroyed.
E) none of the above
Compared to a 50-kg person, a 100-kg person at the beach requires
A) twice as much suntan lotion.
B) the same amount of suntan lotion.
C) less than twice as much suntan lotion.
Both Newton and Kepler considered forces on the planets. Kepler mistakenly
hypothesized the direction of the forces to be
A) along their directions of travel.
B) perpendicular to their directions of travel.
C) toward the Sun.
D) none of the above
An object at rest near the surface of a distant planet starts to fall freely. If the
acceleration there is twice that of the Earth, its speed one second later would be
A) 10 m/s.
B) 20 m/s.
C) 30 m/s.
D) 40 m/s.
Which of the following normally warms up fastest when heat is applied?
A) water
B) iron
C) glass
D) wood
E) all of the above
When two light atoms fuse together, mass
A) converts to kinetic energy.
B) converts to high-energy gamma radiation.
C) is created from energy of other forms.
D) is gained.
A blueberry will look black when illuminated with
A) red light.
B) yellow light.
C) magenta light.
D) cyan light.
E) none of the above
One liter of water has a mass of
A) 1 kilogram.
B) 14.7 grams.
C) 500 grams.
D) none of the above
The spectral lines of atomic spectra are
A) images of the slit in a spectroscope.
B) orderly, and even predictable.
C) as an identity of atoms as fingerprints are of people.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above
The vibrations of a longitudinal wave move
A) along the direction of wave travel.
B) at right angles to the direction of wave travel.
C) that changes with speed.
A 200-N weight hangs motionless from a string that is attached to the ceiling. The net
force acting on the weight is
1) zero,
2) 100 N,
3) 200 N,
and if the string breaks, the net force acting on the weight will be
4) zero.
5) 100 N.
6) 200 N.
Figure N-5
The two men compete in a tug of war. Both pull equally and the scale reads 800
newtons. Each man must pull with a force of
1) 400 N.
2) 800 N.
3) 0 N.
Consider action and reaction forces in this case: If action is the man on the left pulling
on the rope, then the reaction force is
4) the rope pulling on the man on the left.
5) the rope pulling on the man on the right.
6) the man on the right pulling on the rope.
Light passes readily through a pair of Polaroids when their axes are
1) parallel.
2) perpendicular.
3) neither of these,
and for a pair of Polaroids with axes at 45 degrees to each other
4) light will not pass.
5) light that passes is dimmer than for parallel Polaroids.
6) another Polaroid is necessary for any light to pass.
A skydiver jumps through the air from a high-flying plane. As her velocity of fall
increases, the net force acting on her
1) increases also,
2) decreases,
3) remains unchanged,
and her acceleration
4) increases.
5) decreases.
6) remains unchanged.
If all potatoes are selling at the same price per kilogram, a housewife who plans to peel
the potatoes would get more potato for her money if she bought
1) small potatoes.
2) medium potatoes.
3) large potatoes.
4) no difference.
This is because she
5) would get more potatoes per kilogram.
6) would get less potatoes per kilogram.
7) would get less peelings because of less surface area per pound.
8) buys weight, so any size per kilogram gives the same mass of potatoes.
Which eats more for its size (volume)?
1) a man
2) a mouse
3) an elephant
4) each eats approximately an amount of food in proportion to its size.
This is because
5) the smaller the animal is, the more radiating area it has proportional to its volume.
6) the larger the animal is, the more radiating area it has proportional to its volume.
7) neither of these has any bearing on the dietary behavior of living creatures.
Figure A-2
If the mass per nucleon in atomic nuclei varied as shown in the fictitious plot above,
then nuclear energy would be available from the element iron (atomic no. 26) by the
process of nuclear
1) fission.
2) fusion.
3) both.
4) neither.
Accordingly, uranium would yield energy by nuclear
5) fission.
6) fusion.
7) both.
8) neither.
A hydrogen atom consists of a single proton and a single electron. If the distance
between the proton and the electron were doubled, the electric force would be
1) 1/4 as much,
2) 1/2 as much,
3) twice as much,
4) not enough information to say,
and if instead the distance between the electron and proton were halved, the electric
force would be
5) 1/4 as much.
6) 1/2 as much.
7) twice as much.
8) four times as much.
9) not enough information to say
Figure E/M-1
Refer to the identical lamps above. If the current in lamp 1 is one ampere, then the
current in lamp 2 is
1) 1/2 ampere,
2) 1/3 ampere,
3) 1 ampere,
4) 2 amperes,
and the total current in the lamps and in the dry cell is
5) 0.
6) 1/2 ampere.
8) 1/3 ampere.
9) 1 ampere.
10) 3 amperes.
If the handle of a tuning fork is held solidly against a table, its resulting sound is
1) louder,
2) softer,
3) doesn’t change,
and as a result of this, the length of time the fork keeps vibrating
4) increases.
5) decreases.
6) doesn’t change.
A long horizontal wooden beam supported at its ends sags when you sit in the middle.
Due to bending, the top part of the beam is under
1) tension.
2) compression.
And the bottom of the beam is under
3) tension.
4) compression.
And the part of a beam where no tension or compression occurs
5) along the center of the beam.
6) along the neutral layer.
7) both of these
8) none of these
When water freezes, the surrounding air is
1) cooled,
2) warmed,
3) unchanged,
and when ice melts, the surrounding air is
4) cooled.
5) warmed.
6) unchanged.
Figure N-1
When the spool is pulled to the left, it accelerates toward the
1) right,
2) left,
which illustrates the fact that
3) for every force there is an equal and opposite reaction force.
4) net force and acceleration act in the same direction.
If the Sun collapsed to a neutron star or black hole, Earth would
1) spiral into the Sun’s core,
2) remain in its present orbit,
3) spiral away from the Sun,
4) itself undergo collapse,
for the variable that changes in Newton’s gravitational equation is
5) distance.
6) the mass of the Sun.
7) the mass of Earth.
8) all of these.
9) none of these.
The aircraft that generates a shock wave will fly at
1) half the speed of sound.
2) exactly the speed of sound.
3) twice the speed of sound.
4) all of these.
A sonic boom is produced by a missile traveling
5) near the speed of sound.
6) at the speed of sound.
7) only above the speed of sound.
8) near, at, or above the speed of sound.