AAPT Quiz
2008 PhysicsBowl (Part 1)
All Division I students, START HERE.
All Division II students – skip the first 10 questions, begin on #11.
1. Of the following, which quantity is a vector?
(A) Energy
(B) Mass
(C) Average speed
(D) Temperature
(E) Linear Momentum
2. In one year, there are approximately 31.5×10
6
sec. Which of the following representations using metric prefixes is equivalent to this value?
(A) 31.5 ksec
(B) 31.5 Msec
(C) 31.5 Gsec
(D) 31.5 msec
(E) 31.5 psec
3. A dog starts from rest and runs in a straight line with a constant acceleration of 2.5 m/sec
2
. How much time does it take for the dog to run a distance of 10.0 meters?
(A) 8.0 sec
(B) 4.0 sec
(C) 2.8 sec
(D) 2.0 sec
(E) 1.4 sec
4. One mole of an ideal gas has a temperature of 100 °C . If this gas fills the 10.0m3 volume of a closed container, what is the pressure of the gas?
(A) 0.821 Pa
(B) 3.06 Pa
(C) 83.1 Pa
(D) 310 Pa
(E) 1.84×10
24
Pa
5. Approximately how much would it cost to keep a 100 W light bulb lit continuously for 1 year at a rate of
$0.10/kW
.
hr ?
(A) $1
(B) $10
(C) $100
(D) $1000
(E) $100000
6. A positive point charge exerts a force of magnitude F on a negative point charge placed a distance x away. If the distance between the two point charges is halved, what is the magnitude of the new force that the positive point charge exerts on the negative point charge?
(A) 4F
(B) 2F
(C) F
(D) F/2
(E) F/4
7. Which of the following types of electromagnetic radiation has the greatest energy per photon?
(A) infrared
(B) microwave
(C) FM radio
(D) AM radio
(E) violet light
8. An object on an inclined plane has a gravitational force of magnitude 10 N acting on it from the Earth.
Which of the following gives the correct components of this gravitational force for the coordinate axes shown in the figure? The y-axis is perpendicular to the incline’s surface while the x-axis is parallel to the inclined surface.
(A)
(B)
(C)
(D)
(E)
9. When a beam of white light passes through a prism, the exiting light is seen as a spectrum of visible colors. This phenomenon is known as
(A) diffraction.
(B) dispersion.
(C) interference.
(D) polarization.
(E) reflection.
10. Which of the following could be a correct unit for pressure?
ATTENTION: All Division I students, turn page and continue through question 40.
ATTENTION: All Division II students, START HERE. Numbers 1-10 on your answer sheet should be blank. Your first answer should be for #11.
11. Which person has won a Nobel Prize in physics?
(A) Marie Curie
(B) Isaac Newton
(C) Aristotle
(D) Johannes Kepler
(E) Stephen Hawking
12. What is the average angular speed of the second hand on a clock (in rad/s)?
(A) 6.28
(B) 0.105
(C) 0.0167
(D) 1.745×10
−3
(E) 2.778×10
−4
13. What is the ideal mechanical advantage for the pulley system shown below?
(A) F/Mg
(B) Mg/F
(C) 3
(D) 4
(E) 5
Questions 14 and 15 refer to the following scenario:
A particle continuously moves in a circular path at constant speed in a counterclockwise direction. Consider a time interval during which the particle moves along this circular path from point P to point Q. Point Q is exactly half-way around the circle from Point P.
14. What is the direction of the average velocity during this time interval?
(A) →
(B) ←
(C) ↑
(D) ↓
(E) The average velocity is zero.
15. What is the direction of the average acceleration during this time interval?
(A) →
(B) ←
(C) ↑
(D) ↓
(E) The average acceleration is zero.
16. A block is connected to a light string attached to the bottom of a large container of water. The tension in the string is 3.0 N . The gravitational force from the earth on the block is 5.0 N. What is the block’s volume?
(A) 2.0 × 10
-4
m
3
(B) 3.0 × 10
-4
m
3
(C) 5.0 × 10
-4
m
3
(D) 8.0 × 10
-4
m
3
(E) 1.0 × 10
-3
m
3
17. An ideal red pigment is mixed with an ideal blue pigment. After mixing, what color pigment results?
(A) cyan
(B) magenta
(C) yellow
(D) green
(E) black
18. A car is moving to the left at 20 m/sec while a truck is moving to the right at 25 m/sec. If the truck
emits a sound of frequency 5000 Hz, what is the perceived frequency of the sound by the driver of the car? Assume the vehicles are moving directly away from each other on a 20.0°C day.
(A) 4384 Hz
(B) 4706 Hz
(C) 4932 Hz
(D) 5079 Hz
(E) 5714 Hz
19. Kepler’s Second Law about “sweeping out equal areas in equal time” can be derived most directly from which conservation law?
(A) energy
(B) angular momentum
(C) linear momentum
(D) mechanical energy
(E) mass
20. A person pushes a block of mass M = 6.0 kg with a constant speed of 5.0 m/sec straight up a flat surface inclined 30.0° above the horizontal. The coefficient of kinetic friction between the block and the surface is μ = 0.40.What is the net force acting on the block?
(A) 0 N
(B) 21 N
(C) 30 N
(D) 51 N
(E) 76 N
21. Modern telescopes use mirrors, rather than lenses, to form images. One advantage of mirrors over lenses is that the images formed by mirrors are not affected by:
(A) destructive interference
(B) constructive interference
(C) chromatic aberration
(D) spherical aberration
(E) atmospheric refraction
22. In a calorimeter, 20 grams of liquid water at 100 °C is mixed with 50 grams of water vapor at 100 °C . The system is allowed to come to equilibrium. Assuming that the calorimeter and the surroundings can be ignored, which of the following best describes the net energy exchange between the vapor and the liquid during the process of coming to equilibrium?
(A) There is no net energy exchange.
(B) Energy is transferred from the vapor to the liquid, vaporizing some of the liquid.
(C) Energy is transferred from the vapor to the liquid, increasing the liquid’s temperature.
(D) Energy is transferred from the vapor to the liquid until all of the liquid vaporizes.
(E) Energy is transferred from the liquid to the vapor, condensing some vapor.
Questions 23 and 24 refer to the following scenario:
The velocity vs. time graph for the motion of a car on a straight track is shown in the diagram. The
thick line represents the velocity. Assume that the car starts at the origin x = 0.
23. At which time is the car the greatest distance from the origin?
(A) t = 10 sec
(B) t = 6 sec
(C) t = 5 sec
(D) t = 3 sec
(E) t = 0 sec
24. What is the average speed of the car for the 10second interval?
(A) 1.20 m/sec
(B) 1.40 m/sec
(C) 3.30 m/sec
(D) 5.00 m/sec
(E) 5.40 m/sec
25. The following nuclear reaction occurs:
(A) a proton
(B) an electron
(C) a positron
(D) an alpha particle
(E) a neutron
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