Physics answers

Note:The page numbers quoted relate to the current (second) edition of the book.
Question

Answer

Page No.

Comment

When you divide two numbers in standard form, you subtract the
indexes. Here 2 (8) = 2 + 8 = +6. You are dividing a tiny
number into a larger number, so the answer must be far more than
one.The answer therefore could only be D!

21 and 14

The ruler will introduce quite a large random error, but in any
particular case it is pure chance whether that reading is a bit above
or below the true value. Systematic errors consistently make your
answer too big or too small.

2930

32 and 35

It is always the distance from the pivot which determines the

moment.The 10 N force is 5 m from the pivot.The unit is newtons
metres (Nm), not newtons divided by metres (Nm1). Giving
newton metres the name joules is only done for work and energy,
never for moments.

4344
and 2829

The increase in potential energy is given by mg.h, but the points

to notice here are firstly that the girls weight is given and not just
her mass.Thus mg is given as 250 N (so her mass must have been
about 25 kg). Secondly, h is the distance moved straight up, i.e. 3
m. (The 40 m of the slope is not directly relevant the ramp
simply offers a way of supplying that energy by exerting a force
smaller than the weight but acting over a longer distance.)

56

The pressure at a depth h is given by gh.The greatest pressure

will be the one where h (i.e. column 2 multiplied by column 3) is
the greatest.

72

The ball is on the verge of falling, and if you take velocity up as

(say) positive it is just about to start becoming negative.

7779

Kinetic energy is a scalar quantity. Suppose a body has 10 J of it,

and you provide it with another 10 J. It then has 20 J of kinetic
energy, by ordinary addition (page 76). Although the bodys velocity
has a direction, the energy associated with it does not.There is no
way that the second 10 J of energy can somehow cancel out the
first because it is in the other direction.

83,
8687,
89 and 92

If you are in the front seat of a car that stops suddenly and you
are hit by the passenger behind, it is not that you are
experiencing his forward force of motion. Rather, in the absence
of a force he will continue moving at the speed the car was going
at, until you exert a force on him to slow him down.

The quantity that matters is the extension, not the total length.
Here, a force of 40 N makes the spring stretch by 20 mm, so 100
N would give a stretch of 50 mm.

10

8485

You are not told whether there are any other forces on the body
there may be friction opposing its motion, for example, or it may
even be clamped so as to provide 100 N of opposing force, causing
it to stay at rest! If you have done the calculation by assuming that
the 100 N is the only force which acts, you should have deduced
an acceleration of a = F/m = 5 m s2 and arrived at answer C.

11

107

In case you thought B, mercury is the only metal which has already
melted at room temperature. Because it is a metal it conducts heat
well which means it can warm up quickly.

12

112113

13

114

14

116118

15

132

The behaviour of a gas is simple: if it is held at a constant pressure,

to double its volume you must double its temperature. However,
that temperature MUST BE IN KELVIN. 27 C is 273 + 27 = 300 K,
so the gas must be warmed to 600 K (600 273 = 327 C).

16

139

The energy required is = 2 3000 (35 25) = 60 000 J.

Note that although the units of c include K1, there is no need to
convert temperatures to kelvin since it is a change in temperature
which is wanted and a change of 1 K and 1 C are the same size.
100 W means the heater supplies the energy at a rate of 100 J
each second (page 51).

17

144

Latent heats relate to changes in state, from a solid to a liquid, or

from a liquid to a vapour. A lot of energy has to be supplied to
melt ice, and even more is needed to convert water at its boiling
point into steam but in both cases no rise in temperature is
involved.

18

106
(bottom),
143144,

It is true that boiling will not occur until a particular temperature

is reached, but the exact boiling point of water is very sensitive
to the pressure on its surface it happens to be at 100 C only if
the pressure is one standard atmosphere (760 mm of mercury).
You can make water boil at room temperature if you lower the
pressure on it sufficiently.

When a gas expands, it is the spaces between the molecules which

get larger not the molecules themselves.
If you put more air in the container, the spaces between those
molecules will be less (on average); this means the solid specks of
carbon will collide with one of them more often, so the speck will
travel a shorter distance before being knocked into a different
direction.With D, if all the air was removed the tiny solid pieces of
carbon will no longer encounter air resistance, so they would all
drop like a stone to the bottom (i.e., accelerate downwards at g
page 87).
The sweat emerges from the glands at body temperature, so it is
not until it evaporates that it will cool you.

19

170171,
173

The angle of incidence is measured to the normal, and must be

greater than the critical angle for all of the light to be reflected and
stay inside. It can happen only when the light is in the optically
denser medium, so B is correct. Light travels more slowly through
glass than through air at around two-thirds the speed (see 33.6,
pages 207208).

20

177

21

179180

Only the shortest wavelengths/highest frequencies can cause

ionisation (beyond the visible spectrum, from ultraviolet to gamma
rays). Radio waves cannot be detected by photography the only
ones that can are the near infrared, though visible to gamma rays.
Glass is not transparent to some infrared radiation, thus giving rise
to the glass-house effect (page 125).

22

183187,
190191

Real images are described on page 185186. A diverging lens never

forms a real image (page 192).To see how a converging lens can
produce such a real image, see the upper drawing in the fact box
on page 191.

23

195196

Accommodation is the name given to the eyes ability to change its

focal length to focus on objects at different distances.

24

198199

Speed = frequency wavelength (v = f).The amplitude is not

relevant to the calculation.

25

198199,
210212

Sound waves are longitudinal, remember: the

peaks and troughs are replaced by compressions and rarefactions
(page 201).

26

211

27

215219

If you chose A you must realise that diffraction occurs with all
waves including sound. If you chose B you are confusing
diffraction with refraction (see 35.2, page 216). C has things the
wrong way round: diffraction is most marked with wavelengths
which are long (long, that is, compared to the width of a slit or the
distance across an obstacle).

28

223228

With a pair of sound waves arriving in phase, you will get twice the
pressure rise in a compression and twice the pressure drop in a
rarefaction in other words, double the amplitude.

29

242

If you picked B, you probably assumed the current was 2 A, not 2

mA (i.e. 2 103 A). You have to wait a long time because 6 C is a
large amount of charge and 2 mA is a tiny trickle of current.

30

243

It is only those electrons in the outermost shell of the metals

atoms that can drift along: all the others are still tightly bound to
their atom which is fixed in position in the metal.

31

245

Connect plus to minus applies only to cells making up a battery, so

they will all act in the same direction.

For diffraction see Chapter 35 (starting on page 215). A diverging

lens is described on pages 181 and 192.

You should remember these values.

32

246, 252

If you chose A, you got as far as finding 1/R correctly but then
forgot to turn it upside down to get the value for R.

33

261

Notice from the fact box in the book that magnetic materials do
not have to be conductors of electricity: an example of one that
isnt is the flexible strip around the door of a refrigerator.

34

262

A is wrong because where the lines are closest, the field is

strongest. C is wrong because a magnet will not get pulled along
the line: it will simply align itself with the line, and the arrow
indicates which end the N of the magnet will be. If you thought D
was wrong, either option is in fact possible: turn to page 265 and
look at the magnetic field produced by a current. If you do not see
why the arrows in the earths field point north, remember they
show the direction the N of a magnet would point and N is
short for north-pointing or north-seeking pole.

35

261

Copper is a far better conductor of electricity than iron, though

both would work. Steel does not magnetise so readily as iron, and
when the current is turned off it stays magnetised unlike iron.

36

272

If you do not remember this one, Fig.44.6 on page 272 may help.

37

281282

When a voltmeter is connected as shown in Fig.45.1 (page 281),

you want it to draw as tiny a current as possible from the circuit
drawn in black (ideally nil, but with an analogue voltmeter that is
not possible), so as not to affect the circuits behaviour noticeably.

38

284

A is correct: P = VI, and both values can be read from the graph. B
is also correct: R = V/I, which is actually 1/(gradient). D is correct:
at larger values of V the current is less than the early part of the
graph would predict: this is because its resistance has become
greater.

39

288

Using E = QV with V = 8 V, the numerical value in both A and B is

correct. An electron carries a negative charge, remember, and it is
being moved away from the more positive end toward the more
negative end. Energy has to be supplied in order to achieve this.
The question asks how much energy is released, so the minus
answer is the one required.

40

289290

P = VI gives the power of the heater as 20 W, i.e. tells you it

supplies energy at a rate of 20 J s1. 1.0 kW is 1000 W.

41

294295,
299300

Reducing the resistance of the outside circuit

will not affect the e.m.f. the dynamo generates, but it would of
course result in an increased current being drawn from it.

42

304

The laminated iron core should be continuous with no gap.The

iron core allows itself to become magnetised much more readily
that way: free poles are a hindrance in the process, and in this case
you do not need to use the magnetised iron to pick up pins, so
free poles are not necessary.

43

311312

A is wrong: the wire must melt at a low temperature to switch off

the circuit if the current rises above its intended value. C is wrong:
the job of a fuse is to protect the wiring from overheating and
catching fire. D is wrong: if a fuse is to melt above a certain
current, then it is normal for it to be warm when a large but
permissible current is flowing, and the surroundings of the wire
must be designed to allow for that.To understand why safety
demands that all switches (including fuses) MUST be put in the live
line, look at 50.2 on pages 310311.

44

318320

Column X, which describes the output of the AND gate, is correct

in all four cases. For the OR gate, its inputs are Q and X, and B is
the only one for which output Y is correct.

45

332

46

332334

47

333

Note the shorthand way of writing such a nucleus, as given near

the foot of page 333.

48

337341

The nucleus of a hydrogen atom would be a proton; an alpha

particle is identical to a helium nucleus. In C deflected by electric
fields means that if they pass between a positive plate and a
negative plate, their + charge will cause them to be repelled from
the former and attracted to the latter. D is true: a positive charge
moving is, in effect, a tiny electric current so in the presence of a
magnet the motor effect will cause a force to act on it.

49

344348

When you subtract the counts due to the background radiation,

the count rates due to the material drop to 72 and 18 counts per
second.Thus exactly two half-lives have elapsed: from 72 to 36,
then from 36 to 18.

50

353354

Nuclear fission means that the nuclei split into two, and the special
feature of the correct isotopes of uranium and plutonium is the
possibility of a chain reaction (page 354) to make this keep
happening so as to release significant amounts of energy in total.
The opposite process is nuclear fusion, where two light nuclei are
made to join to become a single larger one, also with the release
of energy (pages 355356). Nuclear decay refers to alpha or beta
emission from unstable isotopes. Nuclear emission is not a
recognised term as such, but presumably would have a similar
meaning.

The neutron was a very difficult particle to detect. Several years

before, Rutherford had suggested such a particle must exist: it
would explain why a nucleus with two protons had more than
double the mass of a single proton.
Two isotopes must have the same number of protons, but the mass
of each nucleus differs because of a different number of neutrons
there as well.
In -emission, one of those neutrons decays into an electron
(which is expelled from the nucleus) and a proton (which stays)
see page 350.