MCAS Physics Exams
MCAS 2009 Session 1
Which of the following is the best example of work being done on an object?
A. holding a 50 kg barbell
B. lifting a bag of groceries
C. keeping a board in place
D. pushing on a car that will not move
The diagram below shows the forces acting on a rock.
The weight of the rock is 76 N. An upward force of 106 N is exerted on the rock. What is the net
force acting on the rock?
A. 30 N upward
B. 76 N downward
C. 106 N upward
D. 182 N downward
Which of the following statements best explains why there is no change in temperature once thermal equilibrium
between two objects in contact is reached?
A. Heat can flow between two objects in contact.
B. Heat does not flow between objects in contact at the same temperature.
C. Heat does not flow spontaneously from a cooler object to a warmer object.
D. Heat flows by conduction, convection, and radiation when the temperatures are the same.
A large spring is stretched horizontally between two people. One person wiggles the spring up and down at one
end. The up‑and‑down vibration then moves along the spring to the other person. Which of the following types of
wave is created in the spring?
A. pressure wave
B. transverse wave
C. longitudinal wave
D. non-mechanical wave
A simple circuit is shown in the diagram below.
In which of the following circuits will bulb X have the same brightness as in the circuit above, if
all batteries and all light bulbs are identical?
6 Which of the following statements best describes the visible spectrum of light as seen by the human eye?
A. The lowest frequency appears red, and the highest frequency appears violet.
B. The lowest frequency appears red, and the highest frequency appears yellow.
C. The lowest frequency appears green, and the highest frequency appears violet.
D. The lowest frequency appears green, and the highest frequency appears yellow.
To locate objects in their environments, bats in flight and porpoises under water both use ultrasound waves
with frequencies that are beyond human hearing. These animals produce an ultrasonic wave and then detect echoes
from nearby objects.
If a porpoise and a bat both produce ultrasonic waves when they are 16 m from an object, which animal would hear
its echo first and why?
A. The bat would hear its echo first because sound travels faster in air than in water.
B. The porpoise would hear its echo first because sound travels faster in water than in air.
C. The bat would hear its echo first because the amplitude of sound waves is greater in air than in water.
D. The porpoise would hear its echo first because the amplitude of sound waves is greater in water than in air.
The table below shows data from a heating experiment
Which of the following conclusions is supported by the data in the table?
A. A given mass of silver requires less heat to change its temperature 1
o
C than an equal mass of iron.
B. A given mass of silver requires less heat to change its temperature 1
o
C than an equal mass of lead.
C. A given mass of copper requires less heat to change its temperature 1
o
C than an equal mass of lead.
D. A given mass of copper requires less heat to change its temperature 1
o
C than an equal mass of silver.
Which of the following statements best explains why drops of liquid form on the outside of a glass of ice
water on a hot day?
A. Water molecules in the air are attracted to the surface of the glass.
B. Water molecules in the ice water lose energy as they transfer heat to the air.
C. Water molecules in the air lose energy as they transfer heat to the cold glass.
D. Water molecules in the ice water move through the glass pores to the outside of the glass.
Which of the following observations is a result of the Doppler effect?
A. Noise from across a lake is louder at night than during the day.
B. A person walking notices that the pitch of a car’s engine decreases as the car passes by.
C. Beats are produced when two tuning forks with different frequencies are heard together.
D. A person hears the sound from a radio more clearly in certain areas of a room than in others.
Electromagnetic waves of various frequencies reach Earth from distant parts of the universe. Which of the
following can be inferred from this?
A. The wavelengths must be very short.
B. A single material must fill all of space.
C. These waves can travel without a medium.
D. The speed of these waves is 300,000,000 m/s.
A student places four identically sized metal blocks on a hot plate at 80°C. Then the student places an identical
piece of wax on top of each block, as shown in the diagram below.
The student measures the time it takes for the piece of wax on each block to melt. Which of the following questions is being studied in this experiment?
A. What is the melting point of the wax?
B. What is the melting point of each metal?
C. Which metal radiates heat the best?
D. Which metal conducts heat the best?
A car has an oil drip. As the car moves, it drips oil at a regular rate, leaving a trail of spots on the road.
Which of the following diagrams of the car’s trail of spots shows the car continuously slowing down?
The diagrams below show a man swinging a golf club.
The kinetic energy of the golf club at point Y is more than the potential energy of the club at point X. Which of
the following statements best explains why this fact does not violate the law of conservation of energy?
A. Gravity is constant from point X to point Y.
B. Air resistance is greater at point Y than at point X.
C. Acceleration due to gravity is greater at point Y than at point X.
D. Energy is added by the man to the golf club from point X to point Y.
Which of the following is an example of a vector quantity?
A. A student walks 2.0 km north.
B. An object has a mass of 10.5 kg.
C. A 1.0 kg object moves at 18 m/s.
D. A ball has an instantaneous speed of 15 m/s.
Which of the following would be an advantage of using a 42 V battery in a car instead of a 12 V battery?
A. It would allow carmakers to use fewer circuits.
B. It would eliminate the use of generators and alternators.
C. It would produce the same amount of power using less current.
D. It would produce the same amount of power using more current.
A balloon is rubbed against a sweater. Which of the following occurs because of the rubbing?
A. destruction of charged particles on the balloon
B. release of charged particles from the air in the balloon
C. movement of negatively charged particles from one material to the other
D. movement of positively charged particles from one material to the other
A toy cart that has a weight of 10 N moves with a constant velocity of 2 m/s to the right on a horizontal
table. According to Newton’s laws of motion, which of the following statements is correct?
A. The table exerts a force of 10 N upward on the toy cart.
B. The toy cart exerts a force of 10 N upward on the table.
C. The toy cart exerts a force of 2 N downward on the table.
D. The table exerts a force of 2 N to the right on the toy cart.
The speed of sound in a particular gas is 900 m/s. A sound wave propagating in this material has a wavelength
of 15 m. What is the frequency of this sound?
A. 30 Hz
B. 60 Hz
C. 6,800 Hz
D. 13,500 Hz
Which of the following statements best describes an electromagnetic wave with a long wavelength?
A. It has a low frequency and can travel in a vacuum.
B. It has a high frequency and can travel in a vacuum.
C. It has a low frequency and can only travel in a medium.
D. It has a high frequency and can only travel in a medium.
The figure below represents water in a flask being heated by a hot plate.
Which of the following actions will slow down the rate of temperature increase of the water in the flask?
A. covering the flask with a piece of foil
B. adding more water at room temperature
C. increasing the temperature of the hot plate
D. reducing the amount of water being heated
Open-Response Questions
BE SURE TO ANSWER AND LABEL ALL PARTS OF THE QUESTION.
Show all your work (diagrams, tables, or computations) in your Student Answer Booklet.
If you do the work in your head, explain in writing how you did the work.
Refer to the following information for the next three questions.
An attractive force is responsible for keeping satellites in orbit around Earth. The table below gives the masses of seven satellites and the distances between each of these satellites and the center of Earth.
a. Identify the attractive force that holds satellites in orbit.
b. Explain why satellite 3 does not experience the same amount of attractive force as satellite 1.
c. Identify one other satellite that experiences the same amount of attractive force as satellite
4, and explain why satellite 4 and the satellite you identified experience the same attractive
force.
Refer to the following information for the next three questions.
In the diagram below, shaded circles 1, 2, and 3 represent fixed charged objects, and circle 4 represents a charged object that is free to move.
The magnitude of all the charges is equal.
a. Describe how charged objects 1, 2, and 3 will each affect object 4.
b. Compare the magnitude of the electric force between object 3 and object 4 with the magnitude of the electric force between object 2 and object 4.
c. Draw a diagram to show where object 4 will most likely move in relation to fixed objects 1, 2, and 3. Explain your answer.
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