1 M E A S U R E M E N TS A N D U N C E R TA I N T I E S

Questions

1 Express the following units in terms of the SI 5 Write down the order of magnitude of the

fundamental units. following (you may need to do some research).

a) newton (N) a) the length of a human foot

b) watt (W) b) the mass of a y

c) pascal (Pa) c) the charge on a proton

d) coulomb (C) d) the age of the universe

e) volt (V) e) the speed of electromagnetic waves in a

vacuum
(5 marks)

(5 marks)

2 Express the following numbers to three

signicant gures. 6 a) Without using a calculator estimate to one

2π4.9
_
signicant gure the value of .
a) 257.52
480

b) 0.002 347 b) When a wire is stretched, the area

under the line of a graph of force against

c) 0.1783

extension of the wire gives the elastic

d) 7873

potential energy stored in the wire.

e) 1.997
Estimate the energy stored in the wire with

(5 marks) the following characteristic:

3 Complete the following calculations and

12

express your answers to the most appropriate

10

number of signicant gures.

N/ecrof

a) 1.34 × 3.2

2
6

1.34 × 10
_
b)
3

2.1 × 10
4

2 3

c) 1.87 × 10 + 1.97 × 10

5 4

d) (1.97 × 10 ) × (1.0 × 10 )

2 3

e) (9.47 × 10 ) × (4.0 × 10 ) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

extension/mm

(5 marks)

(4 marks)

4 Use the appropriate metric multiplier instead of

7 The grid be low sho w s o ne d a ta p oi n t and it s

a power of ten in thefollowing.

associa te d e rrorba r on a g r a p h. The x -axis is

a) 1.1 × 10 V not shown. Sta te the y-value of the data p o i nt

4 toge the r with its a b s o l ut e a nd percentage

b) 4.22 × 10 m

unce rta inty.

10

c) 8.5 × 10 W

d) 4.22 × 10 m

13 5.0
e) 3.5 × 10 C

(5 marks)

4.0

3.0

2.0

1.0

(3 marks)
24
 Q U E S T I O N S

8 A ball falls freely from rest with an acceleration g. c) p was measured to an accuracy of 5% and

The variation with time t of its displacement s V was measured to an accuracy of 2 %.

1
2

is given by s = gt . The percentage uncertainty Determine the absolute error in the value

in the value of t is ±3% and that in the value of of the constant A

g is ±2%. Calculate the percentage uncertainty

(6 marks)

in the value of s

(2 marks)

11 (IB)

An experiment was carried out to measure the

9 The volume V of a cylinder of height h and extension x of a thread of a spider’s web when

radius r is given by theexpression V = πr h. In a load F is applied to it.

a particular experiment, r is to be determined

from measurements of V and h. The percentage

9.0

thread breaks

uncertainty in V is ±5% and that in h is ±2%.

8.0

at this point

Calculate the percentage uncertainty in r 7.0

6.0

(3 marks) 2
F/10 N 5.0

4.0

3.0

2.0
10 (IB)

1.0

At high pressures, a real gas does not behave

0.0

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

as an ideal gas. For a certain range of pressures,

2
x/10 m

it is suggested that for one mole of a real gas at

constant temperature the relation between the

a) Copy the graph and draw a best-t line for

pressure p and volume V is given by the equation

the data points.

pV = A + Bp where A and B are constants.

b) The relationship between F and x is of the

form
In an experiment, 1 mole of nitrogen gas

was compressed at a constant temperature of F = kx

150 K. The volume V of the gas was measured

State and explain the graph you would plot

for different values of the pressure p. A graph

in order to determine the value n

of the product pV against p is shown in the

c) When a load is applied to a material, it is

diagram below.

said to be under stress. The magnitude p of

the stress is given by

F
13 _
p =

where A is the cross-sectional area of the

12
sample of the material.

pV/10 Nm

Use the graph and the data below to deduce

that the thread used in the experiment has

11

a greater breaking stress than steel.

9 2

Breaking stress of steel = 1.0 × 10 N m

10
6

Radius of spider web thread = 4.5 × 10 m

0 5 10 15 20

6 d) The uncertainty in the measurement of

p/ × 10 Pa

the radius of the thread is ±0.1 × 10 m.

Determine the percentage uncertainty in

a) Copy the graph and draw a line of best t

the value of the area of the thread.

for the data points.

(9 marks)
b) Use your graph to determine the values of

the constants A and B in the equation

pV = A + Bp

25
1 M E A S U R E M E N TS A N D U N C E R TA I N T I E S

12 A cyclist travels a distance of 1200 m due 14 A boat, starting on one bank of a river, heads

north before going 2000 m due east followed due south with a speed of 1.5 m s . The river

by 500 m south-west. Draw a scale diagram to ows due east at 0.8 m s

calculate the cyclist’s nal displacement from

a) Calculate the resultant velocity of the boat

her initial position.

relative to the bank of the river.

(4 marks)
b) The river is 50 m wide. Calculate the

displacement from its initial position when

the boat reaches the opposite bank.

13 The diagram shows three forces P, Q, and R in

(7 marks)
equilibrium. P acts horizontally and Q vertically.

15 A car of mass 850 kg rests on a slope at 25 °

to the horizontal. Calculate the magnitude of

R

P
the component of the car’s weight which acts

parallel to the slope.

(3 marks)
Q

When P = 5.0 N and Q = 3.0 N, calculate the

magnitude and direction of R

(3 marks)

26
D A S T R O P H YS I C S

Questions

1 (IB) b) Outline why:

(i) white dwarf stars cannot have a greater

a) The star Wolf 359 has a parallax angle of

mass than 1.4 M

0.419 arcsecond. ⊙

(ii) it is possible for a main sequence star

(i) Describe how this parallax angle is

with a mass equal to 8M to evolve into

measured. ⊙

a white dwarf. (6 marks)

(ii) Calculate the distance in light-year

from Earth to Wolf 359.

4 (IB)
(iii) State why the method of parallax can

only be used for stars at a distance less

a) Dene luminosity

than a few hundred parsecond from

b) The sketch-graph below shows the intensity

Earth.

spectrum for a black body at a temperature

b) The ratio

of 6000 K.

apparent brightness of Wolf 359

______________________ 15

is 3.7 × 10

apparent brightness of the Sun

Show that the ratio

ytisnetni
luminosity of Wolf 359
________________ 4

is 8.9 × 10 .

luminosity of the Sun

(11 marks)

2 The average intensity of the Sun’s radiation at

0
wavelength

3 2

the surface of the Earth is 1.37 × 10 Wm .

Calculate (a) the luminosity and (b) the surface On a copy of the axes, draw a sketch-graph

temperature of the Sun. showing the intensity spectrum for a black

body at 8000 K.

The mean separation of the Earth and

11
c) A sketch of a Hertzsprung Russell diagram
the Sun = 1.50 × 10 m, radius of

8
is shown below.
the Sun = 6.96 × 10 m, Stefan–Boltzmann

8 2 4

constant = 5.67 × 10 Wm K . (4 marks)

3 (IB)
ytisonimul

The diagram below is a ow chart that shows

the stages of evolution of a main sequence

star such as the Sun. (Mass of the Sun, the

solar mass = M )
⊙

main

temperature
sequence red giant planetary white

star mass
nebula nebula dwarf
Copy the diagram above and identify the:

≈ M
⊙

(i) main sequence (label this M)

a) Copy nad complete the boxes below to show (ii) red giant region (label this R)

the stages of evolution of a main sequence

(iii) white dwarf region (label this W).

star that has a mass greater than 8M

⊙

d) In a Hertzsprung–Russell diagram, luminosity

is plotted against temperature. Explain

main

why the diagram alone does not enable

sequence

the luminosity of a particular star to be

star mass

>8M determined from its temperature. (8 marks)

⊙

684
 Q U E S T I O N S

5 (IB) 7 (IB)

The diagram below shows the grid of a a) In an observation of a distant galaxy, spectral

Hertzsprung Russell (HR) diagram on which lines are recorded. Spectral lines at these

the positions of the Sun and four other stars A, wavelengths cannot be produced in the

B, C and D are shown. laboratory. Explain this phenomenon.

6
b) Describe how Hubble’s law is used to
10

A B
determine the distance from the Earth to

10 distant galaxies.

c) Explain why Hubble’s law is not used to

10
measure distances to nearby stars or nearby
)L( ytisonimul

)1 = L nuS(

galaxies (such as Andromeda). (6 marks)

Sun

8 (IB)
2

10

C
One of the most intense radio sources is the

4
Galaxy NGC5128. Long exposure photographs
10

D show it to be a giant elliptical galaxy crossed by

6
a band of dark dust. It lies about 1.5 × 10 light
10

years away from Earth.

0

0
0

a) Describe any differences between this galaxy

0

0
6

4
8

3
5

0
1
2

and the Milky Way.

surface temperature (T/K)

Hubble’s law predicts that NGC5128 is

a) Name the type of stars shown by A, B, C, moving away from Earth.

and D.
b) (i) State Hubble’s law.

b) Explain, using information from the

(ii) State and explain what experimental

HR diagram and without making any

measurements need to be taken in order

calculations, how astronomers can deduce

to determine the Hubble constant.

that star B is larger than star A.

c) A possible value for the Hubble constant is

c) Using the following data and information 1 1

68 km s Mpc . Use this value to estimate:

from the HR diagram, show that star B is at

(i) the recession speed of NGC5128

a distance of about 700 pc from Earth.

(ii) the age of the universe. (10 marks)

Apparent brightness of the Sun =

3 2

1.4 × 10 W m

9 a) Describe what is meant by a nebula

Apparent brightness of star B =

8 2 b) Explain how the Jeans criterion applies to

7.0 × 10 W m

star formation. (3 marks)

Mean distance of the Sun from Earth =

1.0 AU

10 Outline how hydrogen is fused into helium in:

1 parsec = 2.1 × 10 AU (11 marks)

a) stars of mass similar to that of the Sun

b) stars of mass greater than ten solar

6 (IB) masses. (6 marks)

a) State what is meant by cosmic microwave

background radiation

b) Describe how the cosmic microwave

background radiation provides evidence for

the expanding universe. (5 marks)

685
D A S T R O P H YS I C S

11 a) (i) Explain what is meant by neutron 15 (IB)

capture

a) Describe the observational evidence in

(ii) Write a nuclear equation to show

support of an expanding universe.

nuclide A capturing a neutron to

b) Explain what is meant by the term

become nuclide B.

critical density of the universe.

b) Outline the difference between s and r

c) Discuss the signicance of comparing

processes in nucleosynthesis. (8 marks)

the density of the universe to the critical

density when determining the future

12 Explain why the lifetimes of more massive of the universe. (6 marks)

main sequence stars are shorter than those of

less massive ones. (4 marks)

16 (IB)

a) Recent measurements suggest that the

13 Briey explain the roles of electron degeneracy,

mass density of the universe is likely to be

neutron degeneracy and the Chandrasekhar

less than the critical density. State what

limit in the evolution of a star that goes

thisobservation implies for the evolution

supernova. (6 marks)
ofthe universe in the context of the Big

Bang model.

b) (i) Outline what is meant by dark matter

14 (IB)

(ii) Give two possible examples of

a) Explain the signicance of the critical density

dark matter. (5 marks)

of matter in the universe with respect to the

possible fate of the universe.

The critical density ρ of matter in the

c

universe is given by the expression:

3H
0
_
ρ =
c

8πG

where H is the Hubble constant and G is

0

the gravitational constant.

18 1

An estimate of H is 2.7 × 10 s
0

b) (i) Calculate a value for ρ

c

(ii) Using your value for H , determine

0

the equivalent number of nucleons per

unit volume at this critical density.

(5 marks)

686