Student Name

Teacher ACH MHU MCO PTE MDA

Physics Unit 2
Written Examination
November 15th 2017
Reading time: 10 minutes
Writing time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Structure of examination

Number of Number of questions Number of

Section
questions to be answered marks
A – Multiple Choice 15 15 15
B – Short Answer 12 12 65
Total 80

 Students are permitted to bring into the examination room: pens, pencils, highlighters, erasers,
sharpeners, rulers, 1 scientific calculator, 1 A4 double-sided sheet of prepared notes.
 Students are not permitted to bring into the examination room: blank sheets of paper and/or
white out liquid/tape.
Materials supplied
 This question and answer book of 19 pages with a Multiple Choice Answer Sheet on page 2
and Data Sheets on the final pages.
Instructions
 Write your name in the space provided above on this page.
 All responses must be written in English.
 Multiple Choice Answer Sheet and Data Sheets are not to be detached.
 Answer all multiple choice questions on the Multiple Choice Answer Sheet on page 2.
 All multiple Choice questions are worth 1 mark each.
 Where applicable use responses from previous questions.
 Diagrams are not to scale.

Students are NOT permitted to bring mobile phones or electronic devices that are capable of
storing, receiving or transmitting information or electronic signals, such as recorded music and
video players, organisers, dictionaries and computerised watches and/or any other unauthorised
electronic devices into the examination room.

Students must not disclose the contents of the task; to do so will be a breach of VCE guidelines
and will be dealt with according to VCAA regulations.
 2017 PHYSICS UNIT 2 EXAM 2 of 19 BALWYN HIGH SCHOOL

Multiple Choice Answer Sheet

This answer sheet must not be detached from your examination paper.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR MULTIPLE CHOICE ANSWER SHEET

Use a PENCIL for ALL entries. For each question, shade the box which indicates your answer.
Marks will NOT be deducted for incorrect answers.
NO MARK will be given if more than one answer is completed for any question.
If you make a mistake, ERASE the incorrect answer - DO NOT cross it out.

ANSWER ONE PER LINE

1 A B C D

2 A B C D

3 A B C D

4 A B C D

5 A B C D

6 A B C D

7 A B C D

8 A B C D

9 A B C D

10 A B C D

11 A B C D

12 A B C D

13 A B C D

14 A B C D

15 A B C D
BALWYN HIGH SCHOOL 3 of 19 2017 PHYSICS UNIT 2 EXAM
 2017 PHYSICS UNIT 2 EXAM 4 of 19 BALWYN HIGH SCHOOL

SECTION A – MULTIPLE CHOICE

Question 1
Which of the following is not considered as a scalar?

A. mass
B. density
C. energy
D. force

Question 2
Ava is about to launch her bottle rocket in her backyard. The rocket has a mass of 1.5kg and takes off with an
acceleration of 25ms-2. The thrust force produced by the toy rocket is closest to

A. 14.7 N
B. 22.8 N
C. 37.5 N
D. 52.2 N

The following information relates to Questions 3 and 4.

A ball is thrown directly upwards with an initial speed 35 ms-1. (Neglect air resistance)

Question 3
Which of the following best describes the maximum height of the ball and the time that it takes to return to the
ground?

A. Maximum height = 49.5 m at t = 1.8 s

B. Maximum height = 62.5 m at t = 3.6 s
C. Maximum height = 49.5 m at t = 7.2 s
D. Maximum height = 62.5 m at t = 1.8 s

Question 4
Which of the following best describes the acceleration of the ball during its flight?

A. The acceleration direction reverses halfway through the flight

B. The acceleration direction is constant throughout the flight
C. The magnitude of the acceleration decreases during the flight
D. The magnitude of the acceleration increases during the flight
 BALWYN HIGH SCHOOL 5 of 19 2017 PHYSICS UNIT 2 EXAM

The following information relates to Questions 5 to 7.

Timmy is pulling his 8kg toy tractor with a force of 70N at an angle of 300. Assume the tractor rolls with no
frictional forces acting.

Question 5
The horizontal component of the force Timmy applies is

A. 61 N
70
B. 70 N 0
N 30
C. 35 N
D. 58N

Question 6
The magnitude of the acceleration that the tractor undergoes is

A. 7.6 ms-2
B. 8.8 ms-2
C. 4.4 ms-2
D. 2.7 ms-2

Question 7
Timmy pulls the tractor for a total of 15m, the amount of work Timmy has done on the tractor is

A. 40.5 J
B. 105.6 J
C. 525.0 J
D. 903.3 J

Question 8
Which arrow (A, B, C, or D) correctly shows the direction of the light ray
after it leaves the glass – air interface?

A. Light ray A
B. Light ray B
C. Light ray C
D. Light ray D

Question 9
A piece of flint glass is measured to have a refractive index of 1.65. Light travels through the piece of flint glass at
a speed of

A. 1.88 x 108 ms-1

B. 2.00 x 108 ms-1
C. 3.00 x 108 ms-1
D. 4.95 x 108 ms-1

Question 10
Myopia (or short sightedness) is a condition occurring when

A. light rays focus in front of the retina and can be corrected with a converging lens.
B. light rays focus in front of the retina and can be corrected with a diverging lens.
C. light rays focus behind the retina and can be corrected with a converging lens.
D. light rays focus behind the retina and can be corrected with a diverging lens.
 2017 PHYSICS UNIT 2 EXAM 6 of 19 BALWYN HIGH SCHOOL

Question 11
A student is viewing a diagram in their textbook through a convex lens held at 10.5 cm from their textbook. The
image of the diagram is inverted and has a magnification of +2.5. The focal length of the lens is

A. 2.5 cm
B. 7.5 cm
C. 15.8 cm
D. 26.3 cm

Question 12
In an experimental investigation, generally, a controlled variable is one that

A. is fixed throughout a particular section of the experiment.

B. is dependent on the selected values of another variable.
C. is the least important variable to be measured.
D. the investigator controls the values for.

Question 13
A hypothesis is best understood as

A. a program of investigative research.

B. a testable scientific explanation of a phenomenon.
C. a well tested and verified scientific explanation of a phenomenon.
D. a scientific explanation of a phenomenon from a qualified scientist.

Question 14
Which of the following units are in the standard SI base unit?

A. kilograms.
B. centimetres.
C. megawatts.
D. milliamperes.

Question 15
During an experiment a student is measuring the time taken for a hockey ball to drop 10m. They are using a
stopwatch which can measure to the precision of 0.01s. From 5 trials they collected the following results:

Trial 1 2 3 4 5
Time (s) 1.44 1.46 1.39 1.42 1.40

The students could reasonably describe the measurement uncertainty of their results as

A. 0.03s
B. 0.01s
C. 0.005s
D. 1.42s
 BALWYN HIGH SCHOOL 7 of 19 2017 PHYSICS UNIT 2 EXAM

SECTION B – SHORT ANSWER

MOTION

Question 1 (10 marks)

Rhys is going mountain biking, however he realises that he needs to replace the front wheel of his bicycle. The
wheel nuts on his bicycle require a minimum torque of 345Nm to be removed. Rhys has a 32cm spanner which will
fit the wheel nuts.

a. How much force must Rhys apply to remove the wheel nuts assuming that he can apply the force at 90o to
the radius? 2 marks

Before taking it out to the mountains, Rhys wishes to test out the new tyre by riding along his street. He travels
West at a constant speed for 800m, then he stops to inspect the tyre for 2 minutes. He travels East for 1000m over a
time of 4 minutes. He then stops for a rest, 10 minutes after he began the test.

b. Draw a velocity time graph for Rhys for his 10 minute journey. Include all relevant values, label the
axis and include a scale.

3 marks
 2017 PHYSICS UNIT 2 EXAM 8 of 19 BALWYN HIGH SCHOOL

Later that day Rhys is riding up a mountain with an incline of 25o. Rhys and his bicycle have a combined mass of
80kg and the sum of frictional forces acting on him is 250N.

c. What driving force must Rhys provide to maintain a constant speed? 2 marks

Afterwards Rhys is travelling along a flat section of the mountain, with the same frictional forces of 250N.
Rhys sees a large goat on the trail 20m ahead of him. He is travelling at 25kmh-1 and needs to use his brakes.

d. What minimum frictional force must the brakes provide to ensure that Rhys stops before colliding with the
goat? 3 marks

N
 BALWYN HIGH SCHOOL 9 of 19 2017 PHYSICS UNIT 2 EXAM

Question 2 (5 marks)
A student is investigating collisions on a frictionless air-track. She slides a 2kg block so that it collides with a 1kg
block at rest. After the collision the 1kg block has a velocity of 4m/s.

a. Determine the velocity of the 2kg block after the collision. 2 marks

ms-1

It is recorded that the collision between the blocks lasted for 0.015 s.

b. Determine the average force exerted by the 2kg block. 3 marks

N
 2017 PHYSICS UNIT 2 EXAM 10 of 19 BALWYN HIGH SCHOOL

Question 3 (5 marks)

A truck is towing two large logs of mass 600kg along a dirt road. The road provides a constant friction of 400N
against the motion of each of the logs.

a. Calculate the tension in Rope 1, T1, when the truck is driving at a constant speed. 2 marks

The ropes each have a maximum Tension 3200N. The driver begins to accelerate and continues to increase the
acceleration of the truck until one of the ropes break.

b. What is the acceleration of the truck as the rope breaks? 3 marks

ms-2

Question 4 (8 marks)
Amelia is a skydiver of mass 61kg. The graph below shows the amount of air
resistance acting on Amelia after leaping out of a plane until terminal velocity has
been reached.
BALWYN HIGH SCHOOL 11 of 19 2017 PHYSICS UNIT 2 EXAM

a. In the space provided, draw a free body diagram of Amelia after she has fallen 400m, label all of the forces
involved and hence find the net force on Amelia. 2 marks

b. Calculate the acceleration of Amelia when she has fallen 100m. 2 marks

ms-2

c. Provide an estimate of the net work done by air resistance for the 400 m falling out of the plane. 2 marks
 2017 PHYSICS UNIT 2 EXAM 12 of 19 BALWYN HIGH SCHOOL

After some time Amelia, pulls her chord to activate the parachute and Amelia performs perfect landing.

d. In the space provided, draw a free-body diagram of Amelia in the seconds before her striking the ground.
Label all forces involved. 2 marks

Question 5 (2 marks)

Two brothers, Simon of mass 60kg and Justin of mass 45kg, are
trying to balance on a see-saw.

The see saw is 8m in length and the fulcrum is in the centre.

When both brothers sit at each end Justin rises above Simon.

If Justin sits at the very end of his side of the see-saw, what distance from Simon’s end should Simon sit so that
the see-saw is evenly balanced?

m
Question 6 (4 marks)

The diagram shows a spring compressed against a wall with a 1.2kg mass along a frictionless surface.
 BALWYN HIGH SCHOOL 13 of 19 2017 PHYSICS UNIT 2 EXAM

The spring is compressed by 12cm. The spring is then released with 8.1J of kinetic energy and the mass slides
along the frictionless surface with a constant speed.

a. Determine the speed of the mass as it leaves the spring. 2 marks

ms-1

b. Calculate the spring constant of the spring. 2 marks

Nm

GEOMETRIC OPTICS
 2017 PHYSICS UNIT 2 EXAM 14 of 19 BALWYN HIGH SCHOOL

Question 7 (8 marks)
A narrow beam of light is shone through a triangular prism as shown below. The light enters the prism at 45o at
side A and leaves out of side C.

a. Determine the refractive index of the glass prism. 3 marks

b. Determine the incident angle as light exits the triangular prism. 3 marks

An identical prism is stuck to the first prism using a transparent adhesive with the same refractive index as the
glass. Again the light is shone incident at 45o. This is shown below.
 BALWYN HIGH SCHOOL 15 of 19 2017 PHYSICS UNIT 2 EXAM

c. On the diagram above, draw in the path light of the light as it enters prism B and exits the prism. Find and label
the angle as it exits prism B. 2 marks

Question 8 (2 marks)
Satellite dishes used to receive radio wave signals are shaped like a large concave mirror. Explain
why this design is effective for receiving a strong signal from transmissions sent over large
distances. Use a diagram to aid your explanation.

Question 9 (2 marks)
Endoscopes are a medical imaging device used to view and take images of organs and cavities within the human
body. This is achieved by utilising a phenomenon of light called total internal reflection.

For total internal reflection to occur, what to two things must occur?

Question 10 (7 marks)
 2017 PHYSICS UNIT 2 EXAM 16 of 19 BALWYN HIGH SCHOOL

An 8 cm tall candle is placed 15 cm in front of a convex lens of focus 10cm, as shown in the diagram:

a. Use ray tracing to locate the image of the candle. 2 marks

b. Identify the nature and orientation of the image by circling the correct response 1 mark

Nature: Real or Virtual

Orientation: Upright or Inverted

c. Use calculations to determine the location of the image 2 marks

d. Use calculations to determine the height of the image. 2 marks

 BALWYN HIGH SCHOOL 17 of 19 2017 PHYSICS UNIT 2 EXAM

PRACTICAL INVESTIGATION

Question 11 (8 marks)

Students in a class are investigating how the resistance of an incandescent light globe changes with the power
supplied to the globe. They have access to the globe, a suitable ammeter and voltmeter, connecting wires and a
variable voltage supply.

a. In the space provided, draw a circuit which will enable the students to measure the resistance of the globe
at different power inputs. Clearly label all of the components within the circuit. 3 marks

b. Identify each of the independent, dependent, and controlled variable(s) in the experiment. 2 marks

Independent

Dependent

Controlled

c. Outline a procedure that they could follow to gather data for their investigation. 3 marks
 2017 PHYSICS UNIT 2 EXAM 18 of 19 BALWYN HIGH SCHOOL

Question 12 (4 marks)

A student performed an experiment to investigate the refractive index of an unknown material. The student will do
this by varying the angle of incidence of a narrow beam of light and measuring the angle of refraction as per the
diagram below.

The student collected the following raw data:

qi (deg) qr (deg)

5.0 3.5
10.0 6.5
15.0 9.5
20.0 13.0

The student has used excel to analyse their data and produced the following graph which includes their errors.

sin q i vs sin q r
0.45

0.40

0.35

0.30

0.25
sin q i

0.20

0.15

0.10

0.05

0.00
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25
sin q r

Using the graph above, find the minimum and maximum values for the refractive index of the glass. Ensure that
you show all of your working out.

Minimum:

Maximum:
END OF SECTION B
BALWYN HIGH SCHOOL 19 of 19 2017 PHYSICS UNIT 2 EXAM

DATA SHEET

u+v
s= t
2
1
s = ut + 2at 2
1 Kinematic Equations 1
s = vt − 2at 2
v = u + at
v 2 = u2 + 2as

2 Weight W = mg

3 Gravity 9.8 ms-2

4 Newton’s Second Law Fnet = ma

N = mg cos θ
5 Inclined Planes
Wx = mg sin θ

6 Momentum ⃑ = mv
p ⃑

7 Impulse I = ∆p
⃑ = m∆v
⃑ = m(v − u) = Fnet ∆t

⃑ initial = p
p ⃑ final
8 Conservation of momentum
m1 u
⃑ 1 + m2 u⃑ 2 = m1 v ⃑ 1 + m2 v
⃑2

9 Work ∆E = Fnet 𝑠

1
10 Kinetic Energy Ek = mv 2
2

11 Gravitational Potential Energy Eg = mg∆h

1
12 Elastic/Spring Potential Energy Es = kx 2
2

13 Hooke’s Law F = −k∆x

E
14 Power P=
t
energy out
15 Efficiency η=
energy in

16 Torque τ = rF⊥

17 Snell’s Law 𝑛1 sin(𝜃1 ) = 𝑛2 sin(𝜃2 )

1 1 1
18 Lens equation = +
𝑓 𝑢 𝑣
𝑐 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑣𝑎𝑐𝑢𝑢𝑚
19 Refractive index 𝑛= =
𝑣𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑢𝑚
20 Speed of light in vacuum 𝑐 = 3.0 × 108 m/s
2017 PHYSICS UNIT 2 EXAM 20 of 19 BALWYN HIGH SCHOOL

21 Refractive index of air 𝑛𝑎𝑖𝑟 = 1.00

𝑛2
22 Critical angle 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑐 =
𝑛1
𝑣 ℎ𝑖
23 Magnification 𝑀=− =
𝑢 ℎ𝑜

Prefixes

Abbreviation Prefix Value

p pico 10-12
n nano 10-9
μ micro 10-6
m milli 10-3
k kilo 103
M mega 106
G giga 109