Saint Catherine’s School

PRE – SCHOOL, ELEMENTARY, JUNIOR AND SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

PAASCU ACCREDITED – LEVEL I
Real St., Buag, Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya

PROBLEM SET #1
GENERAL PHYSICS 1

I. SIGNIFICANT FIGURES (10 points)

1. How many significant figures are there in the following quantities?
a. 55 000 = _________________
b. 0.5252 = _________________
c. 5.0103 = _________________
d. 0.1008 = _________________
e. 25.000 = _________________

2. Perform the following operations.

a. 2.15 cm + 2.2 cm
b. 3.215 g ÷ 1.022 g
c. 2.12 dm – 3 dm
d. 16.21 – 8.28
e. (1.02 x 103) ÷ 2.15
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________
= ________________

II. ESTIMATING ERRORS AND UNCERTAINTY (20 points)

1. Peter calculates the length of a metal rod as 56.2 cm. The actual length is 56.3 cm. Find
Peter’s percent error.
GIVEN SOLUTION FINAL ANSWER

2. Mary measured the mass of a copper wire as 10.9 mm. What is Mary’s percent error if the
actual mass of the copper wire was 12.3 mm?
GIVEN SOLUTION FINAL ANSWER

3. Simon measured the weight of two rocks of the same size. The first rock weighs 255 g,
while the second rock weighs 310 g. What is the percent difference between these
masses?
GIVEN SOLUTION FINAL ANSWER

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 4. You grow seven crystals from a solution and measure the length of each crystal in
millimeters. Here is your data:9, 3, 5, 4, 13, 7, 8. Calculate the sample standard deviation of
the length of the crystals.
GIVEN SOLUTION FINAL ANSWER

III. SCALARS VS VECTORS (5 points)

Classify the following quantities as scalars or vectors. Write “SCALAR” if the quantity is scalar
and “VECTOR” if it is a vector.
1. 35 mm, West _________________
2. 35 km _________________
3. 45ºC _________________
4. 5 Newtons _________________
5. 87 mL _________________

IV. ADDITION OF VECTORS (30 points)

1. Determine the sum of the following vectors.

a. Rafa and Jeremy are playing tug-of-war. Rafa exerts a force of 12 newtons to the East,
while Jeremy exerts 15 newtons to West. Calculate the resultant of the two forces. (5
points)
GIVEN SOLUTION FINAL ANSWER

b. 630 km, West + 550 km, South (5 points)

GIVEN SOLUTION FINAL ANSWER

2. Use the component method to add the following vectors. (10 points)

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 F1 = 55 Newtons, 315º
F2 = 35 Newtons, 25º N of E
F3 = 25 Newtons, 245º
Vectors X – component Y – component
F1
F2
F3
∑ x =¿ ∑y =

Use the formula below to compute the magnitude of the resultant.

❑
R = √∑ x +∑ y
2 2

R = _________________

Use the formula below to compute the direction of the resultant.

θ=tan
−1
( )
∑y
∑x

θ = _________________________

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