The synthesis of a large collection of information that contains well-tested and verified
hypotheses about certain aspects of the world is known as a scientific
A) fact.
B) hypothesis.
C) law or principle.
D) theory.
E) none of the above
Fourier discovered that periodic waves can be represented by
A) a series of non-periodic waves.
B) the summation of a series of simple sine waves.
C) a binary code.
D) pulses of the same amplitude.
Human hearing is best in
A) infrasonic sound.
B) ultrasonic sound.
C) both of these
D) neither of these
Power is transmitted at high voltages because the corresponding current in the wires is
A) also high to deliver appreciable power to distant places.
B) low so that overheating of the wires is minimized.
C) either of these
D) neither of these
Faraday’s law underlies the operation of
A) an electric guitar.
B) a shake flashlight.
C) the changing of traffic lights.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above
Insulating materials are composed of atoms with
A) weak cohesive forces.
B) tightly bound outer electrons.
C) excess protons.
D) vastly more charge than conductors.
The unit kilowatt-hour is a unit of
A) energy.
B) momentum.
C) power.
D) time.
When mechanical work is done on a system, an increase normally occurs in its
A) internal energy.
B) temperature.
C) both of these
D) neither of these
As a parcel of air is swept upward, with no heat input or output, its temperature
A) increases.
B) decreases.
C) remains the same.
By adjusting a TV image with a remote you can
A) affect only the image.
B) participate with the action on the screen.
C) both of these
D) neither of these
Two tuning forks produce sounds of wavelengths 3.4 meters and 3.3 meters.
Approximately what beat frequency is produced?
A) 0.1 hertz
B) 1.0 hertz
C) 2.0 hertz
D) 3.0 hertz
E) 4.0 hertz
Buoyant force is greater on a submerged
A) 1-kg block of lead.
B) 1-kg block of aluminum.
C) is the same on each
In the fissioning of uranium, a chain reaction is caused by
A) the kinetic energy of the decay products.
B) ejected neutrons.
C) alpha particles.
D) none of the above
Pure elements can be transformed into entirely different elements by
A) radioactive decay.
B) transmutation.
C) both of these
D) neither of these
Because of trapped air inside, snow is a
A) good conductor.
B) good insulator.
C) both a good insulator and a poor conductor.
D) none of the above
A scale from which a rock is suspended reads 5 N when the rock is out of water and 3 N
when the rock is submerged. Buoyant force on the rock is
A) 2 N.
B) 3 N.
C) 4 N.
D) 5 N.
Two 5000-kg rail cars roll without friction (one at 1 m/s, the other at 2 m/s) toward each
other on a level track. They collide, couple, and roll together with a combined
momentum of
A) zero.
B) 5000 kg m/s.
C) 10,000 kg m/s.
D) 15,000 kg m/s.
A sandbag motionless in outer space is hit by a three-times-as massive sandbag moving
at 12 m/s. They stick together and move at a speed of
A) 3 m/s.
B) 4 m/s.
C) 6 m/s.
D) 8 m/s.
E) none of the above
Sound refraction can occur when the speed of sound
A) remains constant.
B) changes.
C) ranges below supersonic.
D) none of the above
An iron block in a furnace is heated and consequently expands, which means that its
density is
A) less.
B) the same.
C) more.
When a nucleus emits a beta particle, its atomic number
A) increases by 1.
B) decreases by 1.
C) increases by 2.
D) decreases by 2.
E) none of the above
A pair of equal-length vectors at right angles to each other have a resultant. If the angle
between the vectors is less than 90o, their resultant is
A) less.
B) the same.
C) greater.
There is a legend of a Dutch boy who bravely held back the Atlantic Ocean by plugging
a leak near the top of a dike with his finger until help arrived. Which is the more likely
scenario?
A) the huge size of the Atlantic Ocean makes this impossible
B) although the force on his finger would have been huge, the pressure would have
been small enough for this to occur
C) the force on his finger would have been less than 1 N
D) both force and pressure on his finger would have been great, but not too great for a
public-spirited Dutch lad
E) none of the above
Two identical arrows, one with twice the kinetic energy of the other, are fired into a bale
of hay. Compared with penetration of the slow arrow, the faster arrow penetrates
A) the same distance.
B) twice as far.
C) four times as far.
D) more than four times as far.
E) none of the above
The most concentrated form of energy is
A) wind.
B) fossil fuel.
C) geothermal.
D) nuclear.
A 10-unit vector at 60o from the vertical has a vertical component with a magnitude
A) less than 10 units.
B) 10 units.
C) greater than 10 units.
If the Sun were twice as massive
A) its pull on Earth would double.
B) the pull of Earth on the Sun would double.
C) both of these
D) neither of these
Science is a body of knowledge that
A) describes order in nature.
B) is an ongoing human activity.
C) condenses knowledge into testable laws.
D) all of the above
E) none of the above
As we grow older, the greatest hearing difficulty is with frequencies that are
A) low.
B) mid-range.
C) high.
Surrounding every moving electron is
A) a magnetic field.
B) an electric field.
C) both of these
D) neither of these
An astronaut of mass 70 kg weighs 700 N on Earth’s surface. His weight on the surface
of Mars, where the acceleration due to gravity is 3.7 m/s2, would be about
A) the same as on Earth.
B) 130 N.
C) 260 N.
D) 370 N.
E) none of the above
Water in a car radiator sometimes boils explosively when the radiator cap is removed,
which is due to sudden
A) rapid evaporation.
B) reduced pressure.
C) excess condensation.
D) excess vaporization.
The number of nodes in a standing wave of two wavelengths, not including the
endpoints, is
A) 2.
B) 3.
C) 4.
D) 5.
E) 6.
Light behaves primarily as a particle when it
A) travels from one place to another.
B) interacts with matter.
C) both of these
D) neither of these