Physics Trivia Questions for Students

A beam of monochromatic light entering a glass window pane from the air will experience a change in

• Awavelength only
• Bspeed only
• Cfrequency and wavelength
• Dspeed and wavelength

In a hydraulic press operation, the output piston cannot

• Amove farther than the input piston
• Bexceed the force input
• Cproduce increased energy
• Dexceed the input piston's speed

Which of these can NOT be deflected by electrical or magnetic means?

• AGamma rays
• BAll can
• CAlpha rays
• DBeta rays

At very high speeds, an object appears to an observer at rest to be

• Ashorter in the direction of travel.
• Bshrunken in all directions.
• Cshorter in the direction perpendicular to travel.
• Dlonger in all directions.

Hot sand cools off faster at night than does vegetation. Compared with vegetation, sand's specific heat capacity is

• Ahigher
• Babout the same
• Clower
• DCan't say

Einstein's second postulate tells us that the speed of light

• Aprovides accurate clocks.
• Bslows in a transparent medium.
• Cdepends on one's frame of reference.
• Dis a constant in all frames of reference.

Which of the following is NOT equal to one tesla?

• A1 A*N/V
• B1 N/(A*m)
• C1 J/(A*m^2)
• D1 kg/(C*s)

When red and blue light are overlapped, the color produced is

• Acyan
• Bwhite
• Cmagenta
• Dyellow

A toy car and a toy truck collide. If the toy truck's mass is double the toy car's mass, then, compared to the acceleration of the truck, the acceleration of the car during the collision will be

• Ahalf the magnitude and in the same direction
• Bdouble the magnitude and in the opposite direction
• Chalf the magnitude and in the opposite direction
• Ddouble the magnitude and in the same direction

An object carries a charge of –1 C. How many excess electrons does it contain?

• A6.25 × 10^18
• B3.20 × 10^19
• C8.00 × 10^18
• D1.60 × 10^19

The speed of sound in air depends on

• Awavelength.
• Bfrequency.
• CAll of these.
• Dair temperature.

If you travel at high speed, then compared with your friends who "stay at home," you are

• Ayounger.
• Bolder.
• Clonger.
• Dneither younger nor older.

The second law of thermodynamics tells us that heat doesn't flow from

• Acold to hot without external energy
• Bcold to hot ever
• Chot to cold without external energy
• Dhot to cold ever

The discrete orbits of electrons are best understood when modeled by

• Aphotons
• Bwaves
• Cparticles on springs
• Dhigh-speed particles

A pipe full of air is closed at one end. A standing wave is produced in the pipe, causing the pipe to sound a note. Which of the following is a correct statement about the wave's properties at the closed end of the pipe?

• AThe pressure and the particle displacement are both at antinodes.
• BThe pressure is at a node, but the particle displacement is at an antinode.
• CThe pressure is at an antinode, but the particle displacement is at a node.
• DThe pressure and the particle displacement are both at nodes.

A small cart of mass m is initially at rest. It collides elastically with a large cart of mass 4m and velocity v. The large cart loses half its kinetic energy to the little cart. The little cart now has a velocity of

• A4v
• B2v
• C1.41v
• Dv

Carbon-14 is primarily produced by cosmic radiation in the

• Afood we eat
• Bfallout of nuclear bomb tests
• CEarth's interior
• Datmosphere

When you squeeze an air-filled party balloon, you increase its

• Avolume
• Bweight
• Cmass
• Ddensity

Satellites in circular Earth orbit maintain a constant speed because gravitational force on them is

• Awithout a component of force along their circular path
• Bpractically zero
• Cappreciably weaker than at Earth's surface
• Dzero

Which of these temperatures is likely when a container of water at 20°C is mixed with water at 28°C?

• A19°C
• B30°C
• CHigher than 30°C
• D22°C

In a mixture of hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen gases at a given temperature, the fastest molecules on average are those of

• Aoxygen
• BAll have same average speed
• Cnitrogen
• Dhydrogen

A stone is thrown horizontally with an initial speed of 10 m/s from a bridge. Assuming that air resistance is negligible, how long would it take the stone to strike the water 80 m below the bridge?

• A1 s
• B4 s
• C8 s
• D2 s

A sound wave with frequency f travels through air at speed v. With what speed will a sound wave with frequency 4f travel through the air?

• Av/4
• B2v
• C4v
• Dv

The direction of natural processes is from states of

• Adisorder to equilibrium
• Bhigher order to lower order
• Clower order to higher order
• Ddisorganization to organization

A box sits on an inclined plane without sliding. As the angle of the plane (measured from the horizontal) increases, the normal force

• Adecreases linearly
• Bincreases linearly
• Cdoes not change
• Ddecreases nonlinearly

In a spring-block oscillator, the maximum speed of the block is

• Aproportional to the square of amplitude
• Binversely proportional to the square root of amplitude
• Cproportional to the square root of amplitude
• Dproportional to amplitude

When we speak of time dilation, we mean that time

• Ais a constant at all speeds.
• Bcompresses with speed.
• Cis related to space.
• Dstretches with speed.

The redness of a sunrise or sunset is due mostly to light that hasn't been

• Atransmitted
• Babsorbed
• Cscattered
• Dpolarized

A light bulb rated at 100 W is twice as bright as a bulb rated at 50 W when both are connected in parallel directly to a 100-V source. Now imagine that these bulbs are instead connected in series with each other. Which is brighter, and by how much?

• AThe 50-W bulb is twice as bright.
• BThe 100-W bulb is four times as bright.
• CThe 100-W bulb is twice as bright.
• DThe bulbs have the same brightness.

Which of the following would increase the capacitance of a parallel-plate capacitor?

• ADecreasing the voltage between the plates
• BUsing smaller plates
• CMoving the plates closer together
• DReplacing the dielectric material between the plates with one that has a smaller dielectric constant

A completely submerged object always displaces its own

• AAll of these.
• Bweight of fluid.
• Cdensity of fluid.
• Dvolume of fluid.

A simple and correct way to comprehend satellites orbiting Earth is to view them as

• Ahaving sufficient tangential velocities to fall around rather than into Earth.
• Bbalanced between gravitational and centripetal forces.
• Cin mechanical equilibrium with a net force of zero.
• Dbeyond the main pull of Earth gravity.

When an increase in speed doubles the kinetic energy of a moving body its momentum

• Adepends on factors not stated
• Bmore than doubles
• Cdoubles
• Dincreases but less than doubles

The process of boiling water tends to

• Awarm the water
• BNeither
• Ccool the water
• DBoth

The equation E = mc^2 indicates that energy

• Aand mass are closely related.
• Bequals moving mass.
• Cequals mass moving at the speed of light squared.
• Dis fundamentally different than mass.

Spectral lines of the elements are

• Ain phase
• Bordered
• Cpositioned by amplitude
• Dchaotic

Relativistic equations for time dilation length contraction and relativistic momentum and energy hold true

• Aat all speeds.
• Bat speeds near that of light.
• Cat everyday low speeds.
• Donly approximately.

The Space Shuttle orbits 300 km above Earth's surface; Earth's radius is 6,400 km. What is the gravitational acceleration experienced by the Space Shuttle?

• A4.9 m/s^2
• B9.8 m/s^2
• CZero
• D8.9 m/s^2

When wind speeds up as it blows over the top of a hill, atmospheric pressure there

• Adecreases
• Bisn't affected
• Cincreases
• Dreduces to zero

If two protons and two neutrons are removed from the nucleus of neon-20, a nucleus of which element remains?

• AOxygen-18
• BMagnesium-22
• CMagnesium-20
• DOxygen-16

When a nucleus of uranium-238 emits an alpha particle, left behind is

• Athorium-234
• Bthorium-242
• Cradium-214
• Dthorium-238

A spherical balloon filled with helium is floating in air. If the balloon is inflated until its radius is doubled, how will the buoyant force on the balloon be affected?

• AIt will increase by a factor of 4.
• BIt will not be affected.
• CIt will decrease by a factor of 4.
• DIt will increase by a factor of 8.

A car starts from rest and uniformly accelerates to a final speed of 20.0 m/s in a time of 15.0 s. How far does the car travel during this time?

• A450 m
• B150 m
• C600 m
• D300 m

Consider a ball rolling down an inclined plane. The normal force on the ball (the force perpendicular to the plane).

• Ais less than mg always
• Bis mg
• Cis greater than mg always
• Dmay be greater or less than mg

Immediately after two separated charged particles are released from rest, both increase in speed. The sign of charge of the particles is therefore

• ANeed more information
• Bopposite
• CEither of these
• Dthe same

During an isothermal expansion, a confined ideal gas does 150 J of work against its surroundings. Which of the following describes the heat transfer during this process?

• A300 J of heat was added to the gas.
• B150 J of heat was removed from the gas.
• C150 J of heat was added to the gas.
• D300 J of heat was removed from the gas.

If an iron nucleus split in two, its fission fragments would have

• Aless mass per nucleon
• Bmore mass per nucleon
• Cthe same mass per nucleon
• Deither more or less mass per nucleon

A block is dragged along a table and experiences a frictional force, f, that opposes its movement. The force exerted on the block by the table is

• Aperpendicular to the table
• Bneither parallel nor perpendicular to the table
• Cparallel to the table
• Dzero

Colors in a soap bubble result from light

• Adeflection
• Bpolarization
• Cinterference
• Dconverted to a different frequency

Above an infinitely large plane carrying charge density σ, the electric field points up and is equal to σ/2εo. What is the magnitude and direction of the electric field below the plane?

• Aσ/εo, down
• Bσ/εo, up
• Cσ/2εo, up
• Dσ/2εo, down