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Physical Measurements, Units and Mechanics: Section A and B
Physical Measurements, Units and Mechanics: Section A and B
Which one of the following would NOT give rise to a systematic error in an experiment?
A A stopwatch that runs slow.
B A ruler marked only to the nearest half centimetre.
C Air resistance when you measure g by dropping an object.
D Heat loss to the room when you measure the power of a heater by finding how
quickly it will warm up some water.
A spring is 100 mm long when unstretched. A 40 N load is hung from it, and its total length
increases to 120 mm. A different load on the spring causes it to become 150 mm long. If the
spring obeys Hookes Law, this second load is:
A 50 N
B 60 N
C 80 N
D 100 N
Two separate forces are acting on a bar to cause it to rotate clockwise. One force is 20 N, at a
distance of 3 m out from the pivot; the second force, 2 m further out, is 10 N.Their combined
moment is:
A 80 Nm
B 110 Nm
C 80 Nm1
D 110 Nm1
A girl whose weight is 250 N walks up a slope 40 m long onto a platform 3 m high.
Her gain in gravitational potential energy is:
A 750 J
B 7500 J
C 10 000 J
D 100 000 J
In which one of the following four cases would the pressure be greatest?
Liquid
Density of liquid / kg m3
13 000
3 000
2 000
11
1 000
24
A boy throws a cricket ball straight up in the air. At the very top of its flight:
A the balls velocity and acceleration are both zero.
B the balls velocity is at a minimum and its acceleration is at a maximum.
C the balls velocity is about to change sign and its acceleration is g.
D the balls velocity and acceleration are both about to change sign.
10 A force of 100 N starts to act on a body of mass 20 kg which is initially at rest. After 10 s its
velocity will be:
A 20 ms1
B 25 ms1
C 50 ms1
D impossible to work out from the information given.
Section C:
Thermal physics and kinetic theory
11 The following statements describe an ordinary mercury-in-glass laboratory thermometer.Which
one of them is NOT true?
A The glass walls of the bulb are thick, so it can be used for stirring liquids.
B Mercury is a metal, which helps it to respond more quickly to changing temperatures.
C The hole up the glass stem is very thin, so the degree marks are well spaced.
D The hole up the glass stem is of uniform diameter, so the degree marks are evenly
spaced out.
12 The following statements describe the molecules in a gas at around room temperature. Which
one is NOT true?
A They are well spaced out on average.
B If the temperature rises, they expand slightly.
C They move very quickly.
D Their motion is random.
13 You look through a microscope to view the Brownian motion of smoke in a container of air.
Which one of the following statements is NOT true?
A You are seeing tiny lumps of solid being bombarded by invisible molecules of air.
B If the air pressure was increased, the specks would on average move further between
each change in direction.
C If the air was much warmer, the motion of the specks would appear more lively.
D If all the air was removed from the container, the motion of the specks would cease.
14 Sweating can help to cool the body. This cooling is achieved mainly by:
A conduction.
B convection.
C evaporation.
D radiation.
15 The air temperature on a particular day is 27 C. An air bubble trapped in a tube by a thread of
liquid is able to expand freely if it is heated. At what temperature would you expect the volume
of the air bubble to double?
A 54 C
B 127 C
C 227 C
D 327 C
16 The specific heat capacity of a particular liquid is 3000 J kg1 K1. A large beaker containing
2 kg of the liquid has to be warmed from 25 C to 35 C. A 100 W heater is used. If all the
thermal energy could be transferred to the liquid, how long would it take?
A 100 s
B 300 s
C 600 s
D 900 s
18 Boiling and evaporation both involve a liquid turning into a vapour (i.e. a gas).The following
statements relate to water.Which one is NOT true?
A Evaporation can happen only at the surface of the water.
B Boiling occurs within the main body of the water.
C Evaporation of water happens at all temperatures, but does so more rapidly when warm.
D Boiling of water can only happen at exactly 100 C.
Section D:
Light and waves
19 Which one of the following statements about light passing down an optical glass fibre is NOT
true?
A The light cannot escape from the walls of the fibre due to total internal reflection.
B The glass fibre must have a higher refractive index than the medium surrounding it.
C The light must be incident on the walls at an angle less than the critical angle.
D The light travels more slowly down the fibre than it would through air.
20 The splitting of a beam of white light into the colours which make it up is called:
A dispersion.
B deviation.
C diffraction.
D divergence.
24 A ripple travels over the surface of some water. Its wavelength is 2 m, its amplitude is 0.1 m and
its frequency is 0.5 Hz.The speed of the ripple is:
A 0.2 m s1
B 0.25 m s1
C 1 m s1
D 2 ms1
25 A loudspeaker emits a steady note. A girl sings a note which is of lower pitch but higher volume.
The sound wave she is producing has:
A a larger frequency and a larger amplitude.
B a smaller frequency and a larger amplitude.
C a larger frequency and a smaller amplitude.
D a smaller frequency and a smaller amplitude.
26 The lowest and the highest frequencies a typical young persons ear can detect are
approximately:
A 10 Hz to 100 Hz.
B 20 Hz to 20 000 Hz.
C 25 Hz to 2500 Hz.
D 50 Hz to 50 000 Hz.
28 Which one of the following statements about constructive interference is NOT true?
A It happens when two identical sets of waves reach a point in phase.
B With radio waves it would result in good reception.
C It is a consequence of the principle of superposition.
D It can happen with transverse waves but not with longitudinal ones.
30 When a metal wire carries an electric current, charges flow through it.The moving charges are:
A positive ions.
B protons.
C negative ions.
D electrons.
34 The following statements describe a magnetic field plot, showing the lines of force.Which one is
true?
A It tells you the direction of the field, but nothing about its strength.
B In a plot of the earths field, the arrows point toward the earths magnetic north.
C The arrows on the lines tell you the direction in which a magnet would move along the line.
D The lines of force must run from one magnetic pole to another, and can never go in a
closed circle.
35 What would be the best materials to use for making the coil and the core of an electromagnet?
Coil
Core
copper
steel
copper
iron
iron
steel
iron
iron
36 In Flemings Left Hand Rule describing the motor effect, the directions are:
Thumb
First finger
Second finger
force
magnetic field
current
magnetic field
force
current
magnetic field
current
force
current
force
magnetic field
40 A 10 V battery delivers a steady current of 2 A. How long will it be before 1.0 kJ of energy is
supplied to the circuit?
A 0.05 s
B 50 s
C 100 s
D 200 s
41 A dynamo connected to a circuit is being turned.Which one of the following would NOT
generate a greater e.m.f.?
A Reducing the resistance of the circuit.
B Turning the dynamo faster.
C Using stronger magnets in the dynamo.
D Increasing the number of turns in the coil of the dynamo.
42 The following statements refer to the laminated core of a transformer.Which one of them is
NOT true?
A It is made from a large number of separate flat sheets.
B It is made of iron.
C It is designed to reduce energy losses due to eddy currents generated in it.
D It is a horseshoe shape with a short gap for the poles.
44 For the combination of an AND gate and an OR gate as shown, which one of the four lines in
the table is correct?
Input P
Input Q
Output X
Output Y
Section F:
The physics of the atom
45 The existence of a neutral particle named the neutron was first confirmed experimentally by:
A Thomson
B Rutherford
C Bohr
D Chadwick
46 A certain nucleus has 12 protons and 16 neutrons.Which one of the following statements about
the nucleus is NOT true?
A If it is part of a neutral atom, the nucleus will have 12 electrons in orbit round it.
B An atom having a nucleus with 11 protons and 16 neutrons is another isotope of it.
C Two different isotopes of the same element will have identical chemical properties.
D If the original nucleus emitted a particle, it would now have 13 protons and 15 neutrons.
47 The nucleus of a carbon atom has six protons and eight neutrons.Which one of the following
describes it?
Atomic no. (Z)
14
14
49 A detector close to a sample of radioactive material records 76 counts per second (cps).
Precisely 2 days later the count rate has fallen to 22 cps.The count rate due to background
radiation, taken immediately before and after the experiment, averaged 4 cps. The half-life of the
material is:
A a little over 1 day.
B exactly 1 day.
C a little under 1 day.
D exactly 0.5 day.
50 The method by which certain uranium and plutonium nuclei can release energy in a reactor is
known as:
A nuclear fission.
B nuclear emission.
C nuclear decay.
D nuclear fusion.