MCAS Physics Exams
MCAS 2014 Session 1
A book weighing 18.0 N is lifted from the floor and placed on a shelf 1.5 m high. What is the minimum amount of work required to accomplish this task?
A. 12 J
B. 27 J
C. 120 J
D. 270 J
Waves rock a boat in the middle of a pond. The boat moves up and down 10 times in 20 s. What is the period of the waves?
A. 0.5 s
B. 2 s
C. 10 s
D. 20 s
What will happen when two objects with opposite electric charges are moved closer together?
A. The objects will attract each other with a greater force.
B. The objects will attract each other with a smaller force.
C. The objects will repel each other with a greater force.
D. The objects will repel each other with a smaller force.
Which of the following examples includes a vector quantity?
A. a 10.0 kg object
B. a truck that traveled 12.5 m
C. a 3.5 kg object moving at 1.5 m/s
D. a car moving northeast at 90 km/hr
Which of the following forces allow a battery-powered motor to generate mechanical energy?
A. magnetic and static
B. electric and magnetic
C. static and gravitational
C. static and gravitational
Electrostatic air cleaners installed in hospitals use static electricity to reduce dust particles in the air. The neutral dust particles are attracted to positively charged ions sprayed into the air cleaners.
Which of the following figures shows the charge distribution on the dust particle as it is attracted to the positively charged ions?
A car is parked on a flat driveway. Which of the following is a free-body diagram for this car?
A container of water with an initial temperature of 90°C is placed in a room where the temperature is 20°C. Which of the following statements describes what happens to the water over the next several hours?
The thermal energy of the water decreases, and its temperature decreases to 5°C.
B. The thermal energy of the water decreases, and its temperature decreases to 20°C.
C. The thermal energy of the water remains constant, and its temperature decreases to 55°C.
D. The thermal energy of the water remains constant, and its temperature decreases to 70°C.
Which of the following statements describes an advantage of using a wooden spoon instead of a metal spoon to stir a pot of hot soup?
A. A wooden spoon radiates heat faster than a metal spoon.
B. A wooden spoon has a lower specific heat than a metal spoon.
C. A wooden spoon does not conduct heat to its handle as quickly as a metal spoon.
D. A wooden spoon lowers the boiling point of the soup, but a metal spoon does not.
The free-body diagram below represents all the forces acting on an object.
What is the net force acting on this object?
A. 0 N up
B. 100 N down
C. 200 N right
D. 300 N right
Neglecting air resistance, which of the following statements describes the change in energy of a diver who falls downward toward a swimming pool?
A. Potential energy increases, kinetic energy increases, and total energy increases.
B. Potential energy decreases, kinetic energy decreases, and total energy decreases.
C. Potential energy decreases, kinetic energy increases, and total energy remains the same.
D. Potential energy increases, kinetic energy decreases, and total energy remains the same
The graph below shows the temperature of a sample of water as it is heated at a constant rate.
Which of the following conclusions is best supported by the information in the graph?
A. The water boils between points X and Y and condenses between points Y and Z.
B. The average kinetic energy of the water molecules increases between points X and Y and stays the same between points Y and Z.
C. The water evaporates between points X and Y and the average kinetic energy of the water molecules increases between points Y and Z.
D. The average kinetic energy of the water molecules remains the same between points X and Y and the water boils between points Y and Z.
A loud alarm attached to a metal fence begins to ring. Student X has her ear against a pole of the fence while student Y stands away from the fence, as shown below. Both students are the same distance from the alarm.
Which of the following statements explains what happens in this situation?
A. Student X hears the alarm first because sound travels faster in solids than in gases.
B. Student X hears the alarm at a higher pitch because solids are denser than gases.
C. Student Y hears the alarm first because sound travels faster in gases than in solids.
D. Student Y hears the alarm at a higher pitch because gases are denser than solids.
The power supplied to a light bulb is 100 W. How much electrical energy is used by this light bulb in 20 s?
A. 5 J
B. 100 J
C. 500 J
D. 2000 J
A sound wave with a frequency of 1,700 Hz is traveling through air at a speed of 340 m/s. What is the wavelength of this sound wave?
A. 0.2 m
B. 5.0 m
C. 2,040 m
D. 57,800 m
A toy truck powered by a battery is accelerating to the right. A string with negligible mass is attached to the truck. The diagram below shows the forces acting on the truck.
If a child pulls the string to the left, what force must the child exert to make the toy truck move to the right at a constant velocity?
A. 1.0 N
B. 1.5 N
C. 2.5 N
D. 6.0 N
Which of the following placements of two charges results in the greatest repulsive force?
Sunscreen protects skin by absorbing harmful ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. Ultraviolet radiation has which of the following properties?
A. a shorter wavelength than x-rays
B. a lower frequency than radio waves
C. a higher frequency than visible light
D. a longer wavelength than microwaves
A small object is placed in a room with a narrow mirror on the wall. Four positions in the room are labeled W, X, Y, and Z, as shown below.
At which position should a person stand to see the reflection of the object in the mirror?
A. position W
B. position X
C. position Y
D. position Z
What is the magnitude of the momentum of a 0.15 kg baseball moving at 25 m/s?
A. 3.8 kg • m/s
B. 47 kg • m/s
C. 167 kg • m/s
D. 1110 kg • m/s
The Moon was much closer to Earth 4.6 billion years ago. Which of the following statements describes the gravitational interaction of Earth and the Moon 4.6 billion years ago?
A. The gravitational force of the Moon on Earth was larger than the force is now.
B. The gravitational force of Earth on the Moon was the same as the force is now.
C. The gravitational force of the Moon on Earth was smaller than the force is now.
D. The gravitational force of Earth on the Moon was smaller than the force is now.
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 question.
A circuit diagram is shown below.
In your Student Answer Booklet, draw this circuit diagram and add four identical light bulbs (W, X, Y, and Z), two switches (S1 and S2), and two fuses (F1 and F2). Your arrangement of these components must meet the requirements listed below. Be sure to read all of the requirements before adding the electrical components.
Light bulbs W and X have the same brightness.
Light bulbs Y and Z have the same brightness and are brighter than light bulbs W and X when all switches are closed.
The first switch (S1) controls only light bulbs W and X, and the second switch (S2) controls only light bulbs Y and Z.
The first fuse (F1) protects only light bulb Z, and the second fuse (F2) protects the entire circuit.
Use the circuit components shown below. Be sure to label all of the components with the labels given.
Refer to the following information for the next three questions.
Waves can be classified as either electromagnetic or mechanical.
a. Describe two differences between electromagnetic and mechanical waves.
b. Give two examples of electromagnetic waves.
c. Give two examples of mechanical waves.
MCAS Physics Exams
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