2004 AAPT PHYSICS OLYMPIAD

Entia non multiplicanda sunt praeter necessitatem

2004 MULTIPLE CHOICE SCREENING TEST 30 QUESTIONS - 40 MINUTES

INSTRUCTIONS

DO NOT OPEN THIS TEST UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO BEGIN

This test contains 30 multiple choice questions. Your answer to each question must be marked on the optical mark answer sheet that accompanies the test. Only the boxes preceded by numbers 1 through 30 are to be used on the answer sheet.

Select the single answer that provides the best response to each question. Please be sure to use a No.2 pencil and completely fill the box corresponding to your choice. If you change an answer, the previous mark must be completely erased.

A hand-held calculator may be used. However, any memory must be cleared of data and programs. Calculators are not to be shared.

Your score on this multiple choice test will be your number of correct answers. There is no penalty for guessing. It is to your advantage to answer every question.

The values of some possibly useful constants are given below:

mass of electron me 9.1 x 10-31 kg
Atomic mass unit u 1.7 x 10-27 kg
electronic charge e 1.6 x 10-19 C
speed of light c = 3.0 X 108 m/s
Coulomb's constant k 9.0 x 109 Nm2/C2
Planck's constant h 6.6 x 10-34 Js
permittivity constant Eo 8.9 x 10-12 C2INm2
permeability constant f-lo 4n x 10-7 Tm/A
gravitational constant G 6.7 x 10-11 Nm2/kg2
mass of Earth ME = 6.0 X 1024 kg
radius of Earth RE 6.4 x 106 m
latent heat of fusion of water Lf 3.3 x 105 J Ikg
specific heat of water c 4.2 x 103 J/kgCO
gravitational field at Earth's surface g 9.8 N/kg
speed of sound (200 C) VS 340 m/s DO NOT OPEN THIS TEST UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO BEGIN Copyright © 2004, American Association of Physics Teachers.

1. A stone is thrown straight downward with a speed of20 m/s from the top of a tall building. If the stone strikes the ground 3.0 s later, about how tall is the building? Assume air resistance is negligible.

A) 45 m B) 60 m C) 90 m D) 105 m E) 120 m

2. A coyote can run at a speed of20 m/s while a prairie dog can manage only 5.5 m/s. If a prairie dog is 45 m in front of a coyote, what is the maximum time it has to reach its hole without being caught?

A) 2.3 s B) 3.1 s C) 5.4 s D) 5.9 s E) 8.2 s

3. A model rocket accelerates upwards at 50 m/s2 for 2.0 s before its engine bums out. The rocket then coasts upward. What is the maximum height that the rocket reaches? You may assume air resistance is negligible.

A) 100 m B) 510 m C) 610 m D) 1020 m E) 1220 m

4. A hunter in a forest walks 800 m west. He then turns south and walks 400 m before turning west again and walking a final 300 m. At the end of the walk, what is the magnitude of the hunter's displacement from the beginning?

A) 640 m B) 890 m C) 1170 m D) 1390 m E) 1500 m

5. Robin Hood aims his longbow horizontally at a target's bull's eye 30 m away. If the arrow strikes the target exactly 1.0 m below the bull's eye, how fast did the arrow move as it was shot from the bow? Assume air resistance is negligible.

A) 6.0 m/s B) 13 m/s C) 33 m/s D) 67 m/s E) 150 m/s

6. It takes 250 N to pull a longbow back 0.60 m. If all the energy required to pull the bow back is delivered to the arrow, what would be the kinetic energy of the arrow when it is fired? Assume the bow behaves according to Hooke's law.

A) 75 J B) 90 J C) 150 J D) 420 J E) 22,000 J

7. Two masses of 5.0 and 7.0 kg are originally at rest on a frictionless surface. The masses

are connected by a light cord. A second cord is attached to the r=-:-1 ~

7.0 kg mass and pulled with a horizontal force of30 N. What j5kgH1kgJ 30 N •

is the tension in the cord that connects the two masses?

A) 5 N B) 7 N C) 12.5 N D) 17.5 N E) 30 N

8.

Two masses are connected by a light cord which is looped over a light frictionless pulley. If one mass is 3.0 kg and the second mass is 5.0 kg, what is the downward acceleration of the heavier mass? Assume air resistance is negligible.

A) 9.8 m/s2 B) 8.4 m/s2 C) 6.3 m/s2 D) 3.8 m/s2 E) 2.5 m/s '

9. Light with a wavelength of 500 nm in a vacuum enters a liquid with an index of refraction of 1.25 at an angle of incidence of 40°. What would be the wavelength of the light in the liquid?

A) 320 nm B) 400 nm C) 500 nm D) 625 nm E) 780 nm

2004 Physics Olympiad

1

10. Which of the following choices best explains why a certain color of light will allow the observer to see the greatest detail when using a microscope?

A) blue light because it has the shortest wavelength

B) blue light because it travels fastest through the microscope lens

C) red light because it doesn't affect night vision

D) red light because it is less likely to be scattered

E) red light because it has the longest wavelength

11. Which of the following properties of light could NOT be demonstrated by sound traveling in air?

A) reflection

B) refraction

C) diffraction

D) polarization

E) all of the above properties can be demonstrated by sound

12. When a radioactive nucleus emits a gamma ray the number of

A) protons increases by one while the number of neutrons decreases by one.

B) protons decreases by one while the number of neutrons increases by one.

C) protons and neutrons each decrease by two

D) protons and neutrons each increase by two

E) protons and neutrons remain unchanged

13. A baseball is thrown vertically into the air with a velocity, v, and reaches a maximum height, h. At what height was the baseball moving with one-half its original velocity? Assume air resistance is negligible.

A) 0.25 h B) 0.33 h C) 0.50 h D) 0.67 h E) 0.75 h

14. A heavy, uniform metal disk starts from rest and rolls down an incline plane with a height h. Assume there is no mechanical

energy lost to friction and that air resistance is negligible. T

When the disk reaches the bottom of the plane its velocity h

would be 1

A) ~2gh D) (3gh)2

B) J4~h

C) (2gh)2

E) 4gh 3

15. Two point objects each carrying charge 10Q are separated by a distance d. The force between them is F. If half the charge on one object is transferred to the other object while at the same time the distance between them is doubled, what is the new force between the two objects?

A) 0.19 F B) 0.25 F C) 0.75 F D) 4.0 F E) no change in F

2004 Physics Olympiad

2

16. A negative electrical charge is made to move clockwise in a circular path due to an external magnetic field. What would be the direction of the magnetic field?

A) toward the top of the page

B) toward the bottom of the page

C) out of the page

D) into the page

E) towards the left

17. A parallel plate capacitor is charged to a voltage, V. To double the energy stored on the capacitor, the voltage between the plates would have to become:

A) 0.25 V B) 0.50 V C) 1.4 V D) 2.0 V E) 4.0 V

THE NEXT TWO QUESTIONS REFER TO THE FOLLOWING SCENARIO

Two identical bowling balls A and B are each dropped from rest from the top of a tall tower as shown at the right. Ball A is dropped 1.0 s before ball B is dropped but both balls fall for some time before ball A strikes the ground. Air resistance can be considered negligible during the fall.

18.

At the moment ball B is released

A) ball A has fallen about 10 m

B) ball A is traveling at about 10 mls

C) its acceleration is about 10 m/s ' less than ball A

D) ball A has more mechanical energy than ball B

E) ball B has more mechanical energy than ball A

19. After ball B is dropped but before ball A strikes the ground,

A) The distance between the two balls increases

B) The distance between the two balls decreases

C) The distance between the two balls remains constant

D) The velocity of ball A increases with respect to ball B

E) The velocity of ball A decreases with respect to ball B

20.

F or the heat engine diagramed as shown, what would be its efficiency?

A) 300%

B) 133%

C) 75%

D) 33%

E) 25%

2004 Physics Olympiad

Top

• Ball B

• BallA

1---=5=00"""J'---7 Work

3

21.

22.

Two 1000 n resistors are connected in series to a 120 volt electrical source. A voltmeter with a resistance of 1000 n is connected across the last resistor as shown. What would be the reading on the voltmeter?

A) 120 V D) 40 V

B) 80 V E) 30 V

C) 60 V

Two resistors, one with resistance R and the second with resistance 4 R are placed in a circuit with a voltage V. If resistance R dissipates power P, what would be the power dissipated by the 4 R resistance?

A) 4 P D) Yz P

B) 2 P E) Y4 P

C) P

1000.0.

1000.0.

120V

L-.----II 1 111-------'

THE NEXT TWO QUESTIONS REFER TO THE FOLLOWING SCENARIO

- -

Three identical laboratory carts A, B, and C are each subject to a constant force ~, FB, and Fe·,

respectively. One or more ofthese forces may be zero. The diagram below shows the position of each cart at each second of an 8.0 s interval.

A
1,0 2 3 5 6 78
B r.=:&l
1,0 3 4 5 6 7 8
C ra=Al
1,0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 23. Which car had the greatest average velocity during the interval?

A) A D) all three average velocities were equal

B) B E) not enough information is provided

C) C

24. How does the magnitude of the force acting on each cart compare?

A) r, > FB > Fe· D) Fe· > FB > ~

B) ~ = Fe· > FB E) not enough information is provided

C) ~ = ~ > Fe·

2004 Phvsics Olvmniad

4

25.

A rectangular loop of wire in the plane of the paper, starts outside a perpendicular uniform magnetic field directed into the paper as shown. The loop is pulled with a constant velocity through the magnetic field and out the other side. Assume the resistance in the wire is large enough so that the back-emf is negligible. Which of the following graphs would best represent the electric current in the wire as it varies with time?

+

+

+

Region of'uniform magnetic field

~

x x x
c::::f4 .........
x x x . .
. .
.......
'\ x x x 1

Initial position Final position
of loop of loop +

+

A)

B)

e)

D)

E)

THE NEXT TWO QUESTIONS REFER TO THE FOLLOWING SCENARIO The diagram below shows five resistors connected to a voltage source.

20 30

=~~_Wvv_n_====s :;

+

26. Which resistor has the greatest electric current through it?

A) 1 n B) 2 n e) 3 n D) 4 n E) 5 n

27. Which resistor has the greatest potential difference across it?

A) 1 n B) 2 n e) 3 n D) 4 n E) 5 n

28. A nucleus of polonium-218 (2~:PO) emits an alpha particle (i a). The next two elements

in the radioactive decay chain each emit a beta particle (_~ {3-). What would be the resulting nucleus after these three decays have occurred?

A) 214 Pb B) 214 Po e) 214 At

~ M ~

D) 222 At

85

E) 222Rn

86

29. Two metal cubes of equal mass, one of copper (~~ Cu ) and one of gold ( 1;~ Au), are taken from a boiling water bath and placed on a large block of ice. Ifthe copper melts 100 g of ice, about how much ice could be expected to be melted by the gold?

A) 310 g B) 160 g e) 100 g D) 61 g E) 32 g

2004 Physics Olympiad

5

30. A sample of gas is caused to go through the cycle shown in the pV diagram below. What is the net work done by the gas during the cycle?

O~~~~~~~~.-~~~~~~~.--

o

2 3 4

Volume inm3

5

6

A) 12,000 J B) 8000 J

C) 6000 J

D) 4000 J

E) 2000 J

2004 Physics Olympiad

6