Sample Physics Test

UCL University Preparatory Course for Science & Engineering

Sample Physics Placement Test
Instructions

• The test must be printed off onto paper and completed in blue or black ink.
• There are 30 questions. Most of the questions are multiple-choice and you
should circle or tick the correct answer.
• You should answer as many questions as possible. Do not worry if you are not
able to answer all the questions
• You must take no longer than 60 minutes to complete this test.
• You must complete the test without help from any other person.
• You can use a dictionary to help you understand the questions, but you MUST
NOT use any physics or science textbooks or websites to help you complete
the test.
• You may assume the acceleration due to gravity: g=10ms-2

All students will be re-tested at the beginning of the UPCSE course. If the result of
this second test clearly shows that a student has not complied with the test
instructions above and the student is at a level too low for successful attendance of
the UPCSE course, the student will be asked to leave the course without any refund
of course fees.

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 Sample Physics Test
1) Which of the graphs best represents the velocity-time graph of a ball thrown vertically
upwards which returns to the thrower?

A B C D E

2) A car takes 2 seconds to accelerate uniformly from rest until it reaches a speed of 5 metres
per second. How far does it travel during the 2 seconds?
A 2m B 5m C10m D25m E50m

3) A 5kg mass is traveling with a speed of 5 m/s. It is brought to rest in 0.5s. What is the
average force acting on it to bring it to rest?
A 50 N B 25 N C10 N D 2.5 N E 0.5N

4) A car of mass 800 kg which is moving east at 50 m/s collides head-on with a van of
mass1600 kg which is moving west at 10 ms-1. What will happen if the vehicles stick
together? Will they:
A be stationary
B move east at 20 ms-1
C move west at 20 ms-1
D move east at 10 ms-1
E move west at l0 ms-1

5) 4 kg of water is tipped from a bucket at the top of a building of height 400m and forms a
stationary pool on the ground. What will be its change in energy?
A l600000 J gain
B l6000 J gain
C no change
D 16000 J loss
E 1600000 J loss

6) When a mass of 300g is hung on a spring, the length of the spring increases by 3.0 cm. By
how much would it increase in length if a mass of 200 g were hung on it?
A 2.0 cm B 3.0 cm C 4.0 cm D 4.5 cm E 6.0 cm

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 Sample Physics Test

7) Shallow water waves travel a distance of 45cm in 3s. If the distance apart of the crests is
3cm, what is frequency of the vibrator causing the waves?
A 5 Hz B 7.5 Hz C 11.25 Hz D 20 Hz E some other value

8) What happens when waves move from deep to shallow water?

A Their wavelength decreases because their velocity decreases.
B Their wavelength decreases because their velocity increases.
C Their frequency increases because their velocity increases.
D Their frequency decreases because their velocity increases.
E Their frequency decreases because their velocity decreases.

9) Two coils of wire, of resistance 2 ohms and 3 ohms respectively, are connected in series
with a 10 volt battery of negligible internal resistance as shown.

What is the current through the 2 ohm coil?

A 0.5A B 2A C 5A D 20A E 50A

10) Atoms of atomic number (proton number) 92 and mass number (nucleon number) 234 decay
to form new atoms of atomic number 90 and mass number 230. What will the emissions
consist of?
A electrons B neutrons C gamma rays D beta particles E alpha particles

11) A mass is projected horizontally from the top of a cliff with velocity 10ms-1. Assuming air
resistance to be negligible and taking the acceleration of free fall g to be l0ms-2, the value of
the speed in ms-1 after 3seconds is:
A 3.3 B 15 C 30 D 32 E 90

12) An astronaut of mass m is launched from the surface of the Earth in a capsule having an
initial vertical acceleration of 4g where g is the acceleration of free fall. The initial push of
the capsule on the astronaut is
A zero B mg C 3mg D 4mg E 5mg

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 Sample Physics Test

13) An electric lamp uses 200J of energy in 5 seconds. The power rating of the lamp is:
A 5W B 40 W C 200 W D 1000 W E 1500 W

14) Which of the following describes particles in a solid ?

A far apart and moving at random
B far apart and stationary
C close together and moving at random
D close together and stationary
E none of the above

15) A particle moves with simple harmonic motion in a straight line. Which ONE of the graphs
best represents the way in which the force F acting on the particle depends on the
displacement r? (By convention, a force acting in the direction of +r is taken as a positive
force.)

A B

C D E

16) If the pressure of a fixed mass of ideal gas is doubled at constant temperature the volume:
A doubles
B stays the same
C increases
D is halved
E none of these

17) A ball of mass 0.2 kg is thrown vertically upwards and reaches a height of 5.5m. Its initial
velocity v can be no less than
A 64 ms-1 B 11 ms-1 C 110 ms-1 D 21 ms-1 E 10.5 ms-1

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 Sample Physics Test

18) The diagram shows the interference pattern in a ripple tank when the probes P and Q are
vibrating in phase and at a frequency of 10 Hz.

The lines of the pattern are equally spaced between P and Q and are 1.0 cm apart. The
distance between the lines is half a wavelength .The speed of water waves in the ripple tank
is
A 0.025 ms-1 B 0.050 ms-1 C 0.10 ms-1 D 0.20 ms-1 E 0.40 ms-1

19) A piece of wire has a resistance of 2Ω. It is then stretched, without any change in volume,
temperature or resistivity, so that its diameter is reduced to half of the original value.
What is the new resistance of the wire, in ohms?
A2 B4 C8 D16 E 32

20) The e.m.f. of the battery in the circuit shown below. is 9.0 V. The reading on the high-
resistance voltmeter V is 7.5 V. What is the current flowing through the battery?

A 0.1A B 0.5A C 0.6A D 1.1A E 2.0A

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 Sample Physics Test

21) A 2000 µF capacitor stores 200mC of charge. The p.d. across this capacitor is:
A 8.3V B 10V C 12V D 83V E 100V

22) Two parallel metal plates are connected to a 2.5 KV power supply. The work done by the
electric field on an electron, charge -1.6 X 10-19 C, moving from the negative plate to the
positive plate is:
A 4.0 x 10-16J B 8.0 x 10-16J
C 4.0 x 10-19J D 8.0 X 10-19J E 3.2 X 10-23J.

23) The Earth maybe considered as a uniform sphere of mass M and radius r. Which one of the
following equations correct1y relates the gravitational constant G and the acceleration of
free fall g at the surface of the Earth?

G= gr 2
G = gM G = grM2
2
G=
gM r
A r2 B M C D E G=gMr2

24) A ray of monochromatic light passes from air into glass as shown:

The angle of incidence in the air is 42° and the angle of

refraction in the glass is 26°. The refractive index for the
glass for this light is:
A 0.62 B 0.65 C 1.00 D 1.53 E 1.61

25) An electric heater of 150W provides heat to a perfectly insulated beaker of water of mass
100g and specific heat capacity 4200J kg-1 K-1. The rate of temperature rise is
A 0.72Js-1 B 0.72Js-1 C 0.18Js-1 D 1.8Js-1 E 0.36Js-1

26) The number of disintegrations per second in a sample of a radioactive nuclide depends on
the:
1. number of atoms in one mole of atoms of the nuclide.
2. number of atoms in the sample.
3. half-life of the nuclide.
A 1,2,3 correct B 1,2 only C 2,3 only D 1 only E 3 only

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 Sample Physics Test

27) When an alpha particle approaches a heavy nucleus X, it may behave in various ways
depending on its initial direction of travel. The diagram below shows various paths, P, Q, R,
S and T.

Which one of the following statements is correct ?

A All of these are possible
B Neither P nor R is possible
C Both R and T are possible
D Both Q and S are possible
E None of these are possible

28) Two point charges X = +2µC and Y=-3µC are placed 100 mm apart. The electric
potential V due to the two charges (along the line between them) will be zero at a
distance, in mm, from X of
A 30 B 40 C 50 D 60 E 70

29) A block of metal of density 7.8 gcm-3 has sides of 2cm, 3 cm and 5 cm. It is placed with
one of its faces resting on a smooth table. What is the maximum pressure exerted by this
block on the table?
A 39.0Pa B 23.4Pa C 58.5Pa D l.56kPa E 3.82kPa.

30) Mars has a diameter of approximately 0.5 that of Earth, and a mass of 0.1 that of Earth.
The surface gravitational field strength on Mars compared with that on Earth is greater by
a factor of:
A x0.1 B x0.2 C x0.4 D x2.0 E xl0.0