MOMENTUM The horizontal velocity of the arrow as it enters the
1 a Explain what is meant by an:
i elastic collision [1]
ii inelastic collision. [1]
b A snooker ball of mass 0.35 kg hits the side of a
snooker table at right angles and bounces off also at
right angles. Its speed before collision is 2.8 m/s
and its speed after is 2.5 m/s. Calculate the change
in the momentum of the ball. [2]
c Explain whether or not momentum is conserved in
the situation described in b. [3]
2. A car of mass 1100 kg is travelling at 24 m/s. The
driver applies the brakes and the car decelerates
uniformly and comes to rest in 20 s.
a Calculate the change in momentum of the car.
b Calculate the braking force on the car.
c Determine the braking distance of the car.
3. A marble of mass 100 g is moving at a speed of
0.40 m/s in the x-direction.
a. Calculate the marble’s momentum. [2]
The marble strikes a second, identical marble.
Each moves off at an angle of 45° to the x-
direction.
b. Use the principle of conservation of momentum
to determine the speed of each marble after the
collision. [3]
c. Show that kinetic energy is conserved in this
collision. [2]
4. A cricket bat strikes a ball of mass 0.16 kg
travelling towards it. The ball initially hits the bat
at a speed of 25 m s−1 and returns along the same
path with the same speed. The time of impact is
0.0030 s.
a. Determine the change in momentum of the
cricket ball. [2]
b. Determine the force exerted by the bat on the
ball. [2]
c. Describe how the laws of conservation of energy
and momentum apply to this impact and state
whether the impact is elastic or inelastic. [4]
5 a. State the principle of conservation of momentum
and state the conditions under which it is valid.
[2]
b. An arrow of mass 0.25 kg is fired horizontally
towards an apple of mass 0.10 kg which is
hanging on a string (Figure 6.23).
S.6 PHYSICS TRIAL QUESTIONS
apple is 30 m/s. The apple was initially at rest and the
arrow sticks in the apple.
i. Calculate the horizontal velocity of the apple and
arrow immediately after the impact. [2]
ii Calculate the change in momentum of the arrow
during the impact. [2]
iii. Calculate the change in total kinetic energy of the
arrow and apple during the impact. [2]
iv. An identical arrow is fired at the centre of a
stationary ball of mass 0.25 kg. The collision is
perfectly elastic. Describe what happens and state
the relative speed of separation of the arrow and
the ball.
WORK, ENERGY AND POWER
1. A 120 kg crate is dragged along the horizontal
ground by a 200 N force acting at an angle of
30° to the horizontal, as shown in Figure 5.21.
The crate moves along the surface with a
constant velocity of 0.5 m/s. The 200 N force is
applied for a time of 16 s.
a. Calculate the work done on the crate by:
i. the 200 N force
ii. the weight of the crate
iii. the normal contact force R.
b. Calculate the rate of work done against the
frictional force FR.
2. Starting from rest, a 5.00-kg block slides 2.50 m
down a rough 30.0° incline. The coefficient of
kinetic friction between the block and the incline
is 𝜇𝐾 = 0.436. Determine
(a) the work done by the force of gravity,
(b) the work done by the friction force between
block and incline, and
(c) the work done by the normal force.
3. A 7.00 kg bowling ball moves at 3.00 m/s. How
fast must a 2.45 g Ping-Pong ball move so that the
two balls have the same kinetic energy?
4. An outfielder throws a 0.150 kg baseball at a
speed of 40.0 m/s and an initial angle of 30.0°.
What is the kinetic energy of the ball at the
highest point of its motion?
Page 1 of 6
5. A skier of mass 70 kg is pulled up a slope by a
motor driven cable.
(a) How much work is required to pull him 60 m up
a 30° slope (assumed frictionless) at a constant
speed of 2.0 m/s?
(b) What power must a motor have to perform this
task?
CIRCULAR MOTION AND PROJECTILES
1. A stone of mass 0.40 kg is whirled round in a
horizontal circle on the end of a string 0.50 m long.
It makes three complete revolutions each second.
Calculate: a. its speed
b. its centripetal acceleration
c. the tension in the string.
2. a. Explain what is meant by a centripetal force. [2]
b. A teacher swings a bucket of water, of total mass
5.4 kg, round in a vertical circle of diameter 1.8m.
i. Calculate the minimum speed which the bucket
must be swung at so that the water remains in
the bucket at the top of the circle. [3]
ii Assuming that the speed remains constant, what
will be the force on the teacher’s hand when the
bucket is at the bottom of the circle? [2]
3. A stone is thrown upward from the top of a
building at an angle of 30.0O to the horizontal and
with an initial speed of 20.0 m/s. The point of
release is 45.0 m above the ground.
(a) How long does it take for the stone to hit the
ground?
(b) Find the stone’s speed at impact.
(c) Find the horizontal range of the stone.
4. A placekicker must kick a football from a point
36.0 m from the goal, and the ball must clear the
crossbar, which is 3.05 m high. When kicked, the
ball leaves the ground with a velocity of 20.0 m/s at
an angle of 53O to the horizontal.
(a) By how much does the ball clear or fall short of
clearing the crossbar?
(b) Does the ball approach the crossbar while still
rising or while falling?
5. A fireman 50.0 m away from a burning building
directs a stream of water from a ground-level fire
hose at an angle of 30.0O above the horizontal. If
the speed of the stream as it leaves the hose is 40.0
m/s, at what height will the stream of water strike
the building?
6. A 0.50-kg ball that is tied to the end of a 1.5-m
light cord is revolved in a horizontal plane, with the
cord making a 30O angle with the vertical.
(a) Determine the ball’s speed.
S.6 PHYSICS TRIAL QUESTIONS
(b) If, instead, the ball is revolved so that its speed
is 4.0 m/s, what angle does the cord make with
the vertical?
(c) If the cord can withstand a maximum tension of
9.8 N, what is the highest speed at which the
ball can move?
STATIC EQUILIBRIUM
1. A ladder rests inclined against a wall. Would you
feel safer climbing up the ladder if you were told
that the floor was frictionless, but the wall was
rough, or that the wall was frictionless, but the
floor was rough? Justify your answer.
2. (a) Give an example in which the net force acting
on an object is zero, yet the net torque is nonzero.
(b) Give an example in which the net torque acting
on an object is zero, yet the net force is nonzero.
3. A flagpole of mass 25 kg is held in a horizontal
position by a cable as shown in the diagram. The
centre of gravity of the flagpole is at a distance of
1.5 m from the fixed end.
(a) Determine the tension in the cable.
(b) Calculate the force exerted on the flagpole by
the wall.
4. A 15.0-m, 500-N uniform ladder rests against a
frictionless wall, making an angle of 60.0O with
the horizontal.
(a) Find the horizontal and vertical forces exerted
on the base of the ladder by the Earth when an
800-N firefighter is 4.00 m from the bottom.
(b) If the ladder is just on the verge of slipping
when the firefighter is 9.00 m up, what is the
coefficient of static friction between ladder
and ground?
5. An 8.00-m, 200-N uniform ladder rests against
a smooth wall. The coefficient of static friction
between the ladder and the ground is 0.600, and
the ladder makes a 50.0O angle with the ground.
How far up the ladder can an 800-N person
climb before the ladder begins to slip?
Page 2 of 6
 ELECTRIC CURRENT AND KIRCHHOFF’S
LAWS
1. The circuit diagram below shows a 12 V power
supply connected to some resistors.
The current in the resistor X is 2.0 A, and the
current in the 6.0 Ω resistor is 0.5 A. Calculate:
a. the current in resistor Y
b. the resistance of resistor Y
c. the resistance of resistor X.
2. Explain what is meant by the resistance of a
resistor. [1]
b. The figure shows a network of resistors
connected to a cell of e.m.f. 6.0 V.
Show that the resistance of the network of
resistors is 40 Ω.
c. Calculate the current through the 60 Ω resistor.
3. a) Explain why an ammeter is designed to have a
low resistance. [2]
A student builds the circuit in the diagram, using a
battery of negligible internal resistance. The
reading on the voltmeter is 9.0 V.
S.6 PHYSICS TRIAL QUESTIONS
b) i. The voltmeter has a resistance of 1200 Ω.
Calculate the e.m.f. of the battery. [4]
ii. The student now repeats the experiment using a
voltmeter of resistance 12 kΩ. Show that the
reading on this voltmeter would be 9.5 V. [3]
iii. Refer to your answers to i. and ii. and explain
why a voltmeter should have as high a
resistance as possible. [2]
4. A 9.0 Ω resistor and a 6.0Ω resistor are connected
in series with a power supply.
(a) The voltage drop across the 6.0Ω resistor is
measured to be 12 V. Find the voltage output
of the power supply.
(b) The two resistors are connected in parallel
across a power supply, and the current through
the 9.0Ω resistor is found to be 0.25 A. Find
the voltage setting of the power supply.
5. Find the values of I l, I 2, and I 3 for the circuit in
below.
6. What is the emf of the battery in the circuit of
figure below?
Hint: Draw currents at the junctions and Apply
Kirchhoff’s laws
7. Connecting batteries in series increases the emf
applied to a circuit. What advantage might there
be to connecting them in parallel?
Page 3 of 6
 OPTICS AND OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS
1. A converging lens has a focal length of 20.0 cm.
Locate the images for object distances of
(a) 40.0 cm, (b) 20.0 cm, and (c) 10.0 cm.
For each case, state whether the image is real or
virtual and upright or inverted, and find the
magnification.
2. Repeat question 1. If a diverging lens of focal length
20.0 cm is used instead of a converging lens.
3. A certain LCD projector contains a single thin lens.
An object 24.0 mm high is to be projected so that its
image fills a screen 1.80 m high. The object-to-
screen distance is 3.00 m.
(a) Determine the focal length of the projection lens.
(b) How far from the object should the lens of the
projector be placed in order to form the image on
the screen?
4. Two converging lenses, each of focal length 15.0 cm,
are placed 40.0 cm apart, and an object is placed 30.0
cm in front of the first lens. Where is the final image
formed, and what is the magnification of the system?
5. A 1.00-cm-high object is placed 4.00 cm to the left of
a converging lens of focal length 8.00 cm. A
diverging lens of focal length -16.00 cm is 6.00 cm
to the right of the converging lens. Find the position
and height of the final image. Is the image inverted
or upright? Real or virtual?
6. The near point of a patient’s eye is 50.0 cm.
(a) What focal length must a corrective lens have to
enable the eye to see clearly an object 25.0 cm
away?
(b) What is the power of this lens?
7. A particular nearsighted patient can’t see objects
clearly when they are beyond 25 cm (the far point of
the eye).
(a) What focal length should the prescribed contact
lens have to correct this problem?
(b) Find the power of the lens, in diopters
10. The lenses of an astronomical telescope are 92 cm
apart when adjusted for viewing a distant object
with minimum eyestrain. The angular
magnification produced by the telescope is 45.
Compute the focal length of each lens.
11. Light enters the side of an equilateral, crown glass
prism whose refractive index is 1.5 at an angle of
incidence of 35.0°. Determine the angle of
deviation for the light after it has passed through
the prism.
12. Light leaves the second interface of a crystal glass
prism of refractive index 1.52, which has an apex
angle of 60.0°, at an angle of refraction of 45°.
(a) Determine the angle of incidence for the light
as it first entered the prism.
(b) Determine the angle of deviation for the light
after it has passed through the prism.
13. Light travels from medium Y to medium X. The
angle of refraction is larger than the angle of
incidence. In which medium does the light travel
at a lower speed? Explain your logic.
14. Determine the speed of light in a solid that has an
index of refraction of 1.87.
END

8. What power lens would you prescribe for a patient

with a far point of 35.0 cm?

9. A biology student uses a simple magnifier to

examine the structural features of the wing of an
insect. The wing is held 3.50 cm in front of the lens,
and the image is formed 25.0 cm from the eye.
(a) What is the focal length of the lens?
(b) What angular magnification is achieved?

S.6 PHYSICS TRIAL QUESTIONS Page 4 of 6

 SIMPLE HARMONIC MOTION
1. A 0.40-kg object connected to a light spring with a
force constant of 19.6 N/m oscillates on a frictionless
horizontal surface. If the spring is compressed 4.0 cm
and released from rest, determine
(a) the maximum speed of the object,
(b) the speed of the object when the spring is
compressed 1.5 cm, and
(c) the speed of the object when the spring is
stretched 1.5 cm.
(d) For what value of x does the speed equal one-half
the maximum speed?
2. A man enters a tall tower, needing to know its height.
He notes that a long pendulum extends from the
ceiling almost to the floor and that its period is 15.5
s.
(a) How tall is the tower?
(b) If this pendulum is taken to the Moon, where the
free-fall acceleration is 1.67 m/s2, what is the
period there?
3. The position of a 0.30-kg object attached to a spring
is described by
𝑥 = 2.5 cos(0.4𝜋𝑡)
Find (a) the amplitude of the motion,
(b) the spring constant,
(c) the position of the object at t = 0.30 s,
and
(d) the object’s speed and acceleration at t
= 0.30 s.
(e) What is the kinetic and potential energy
of the object at t = 1 s?
1. Two charges of 1.0 µC and -2.0 µC are 0.50 m
LAWS OF THERMODYNAMICS
1. A thermodynamic system undergoes a process in
which its internal energy decreases by 500 J. If at the
same time 220 J of work is done on the system, find
the energy transferred to or from it by heat.
2. A heat engine operates between two reservoirs at
temperatures of 20OC and 300OC. What is the
maximum efficiency possible for this engine?
3. An engine absorbs 1 700 J from a hot reservoir and
expels 1200 J to a cold reservoir in each cycle.
(a) What is the engine’s efficiency?
(b) How much work is done in each cycle?
(c) What is the power output of the engine if each
cycle lasts for 0.300 s?
4. A student claims that she has constructed a heat
engine that operates between the temperatures of 200
K and 100 K with 60% efficiency. The professor
does not give her credit for the project. Why not?
S.6 PHYSICS TRIAL QUESTIONS
5. A monatomic ideal gas at a pressure 1.01 ×
105 Pa expands adiabatically from an initial
volume of 1.50 m3, doubling its volume.
5
(𝛾 = )
3
(a) Find the new pressure.
(b) If the gas above expanded isothermally,
what would be the new pressure?
(c)Sketch on the same graph the PV
diagram.
GRAVITATION
1. A 600-kg satellite is in a circular orbit about
Earth at a height above Earth equal to
Earth’s mean radius. Find
(a) the satellite’s orbital speed,
(b) the period of its revolution, and
(c) the gravitational force acting on it.
(d)What is the potential energy associated
with the satellite at this location?
2. From a telecommunications point of view,
it’s advantageous for satellites to remain at
the same location relative to a location on
the Earth. This can occur only if the
satellite’s orbital period is the same as the
Earth’s period of rotation, 24.0 h.
(a) At what distance from the center of the
Earth can this geosynchronous orbit be
found?
(b) What’s the orbital speed of the satellite?
ELECTROSTATICS
apart at two vertices of an equilateral triangle as
shown below
(a) What is the electric potential due to the 1.0
µC charge at the third vertex, point P?
(b) What is the electric potential due to the -
2.0 µC charge at P?
(c) Find the total electric potential at P.
(d) What is the work required to move a
3.0µC charge from infinity to P.
Page 5 of 6
 ATOMIC PHYSICS
1. A student claims that a heavy form of hydrogen
decays by alpha emission. How do you respond?
2. Explain the main differences between alpha, beta,
and gamma rays.
3. (a) Describe what happens to the number of protons
and neutrons in a nucleus when the nucleus
undergoes alpha decay.
(b) Repeat for beta decay.
4. Distinguish between binding energy and binding
energy per nucleon.
5. What do you understand by the term mass defect?
6. Calculate the average binding energy per nucleon of
93 197
41𝑁𝑏 and 79𝐴𝑢 .
7. (a) Define radioactivity.
(b)The half-life of Iodine is 8.04 days.
(i) Calculate the decay constant for this isotope.
(ii) Find the number of nuclei necessary to produce
a sample with an activity of 0.50 µCi.
8. Radon gas has a half-life of 3.83 days. If 3.00 g of
radon gas is present at time t = 0, what mass of radon
will remain after 1.50 days have passed?
9. A freshly prepared sample of a certain radioactive
isotope has an activity of 10.0 mCi. After 4.00 h, the
activity is 8.00 mCi.
(a) Find the decay constant and half-life of the
isotope.
(b) How many atoms of the isotope were contained
in the freshly prepared sample?
(c) What is the sample’s activity 30 h after it is
prepared?
PARTICLE PHYSICS
1. Describe the properties of baryons and mesons and
the important differences between them.
2. Two photons are produced when a proton and an
antiproton annihilate each other. What is the
minimum frequency and corresponding wavelength
of each photon?
3. What is the electrical charge of the baryons with the
quark compositions (a) 𝑢̅𝑢̅𝑑̅ and (b) 𝑢̅𝑑̅ 𝑑̅ ? What are
these baryons called?
4. Name at least one conservation law that prevents
each of the following reactions from occurring:
Note Σ + is a baryon.
SOUND
S.6 PHYSICS TRIAL QUESTIONS
1. Sketch pairs of sound waves that illustrate the
following contrasts in sound.
(a) pitch (low versus high)
(b) loudness (quiet versus loud)
2. Does sound travel faster in a gas or in a solid?
Explain why you think that this is the case.
3. As the temperature of air increases, what
happens to a sound’s (a) speed? (b) frequency?
(c) wavelength?
4. Two tuning forks of frequencies 441 Hz and
444 Hz are sounded at the same time.
(a) Describe what is heard.
(b) Calculate the beat frequency, and explain
what it is.
5. An air column, open at both ends, has a first
harmonic of 330 Hz.
(a) What are the frequencies of the second and
third harmonics?
(b) If the speed of sound in air is 344 m/s, what
is the length of the air column?
6. An air column, closed at one end, has a first
harmonic of 330 Hz. If the speed of sound in air
is 344 m/s, what is the length of the air column?
7. An air column, open at both ends, resonates
with a fundamental frequency of 256 Hz.
Determine the frequencies of its first and second
overtones.
8. At rest, a car’s horn sounds the note A (440 Hz).
The horn is sounded while the car is moving
down the street. A bicyclist moving in the same
direction with one-third the car’s speed hears a
frequency of 415 Hz. What is the speed of the
car? Is the cyclist ahead of or behind the car?
QUANTUM PHYSICS
1. When light of wavelength 350 nm falls on a
potassium surface, electrons having maximum
kinetic energy of 1.31 eV are emitted. Find (a) the
work function of potassium, (b) the cutoff
wavelength, and (c) the frequency corresponding
to the cutoff wavelength.
2. A 0.45-nm x-ray photon is deflected through a
23° angle after scattering from a free electron.
(a) What is the kinetic energy of the recoiling
electron? (b) What is its speed?
3. Potassium iodide has an interplanar spacing of
d = 0.296 nm. A monochromatic x-ray beam
shows a first-order diffraction maximum when
the grazing angle is 7.6°. Calculate the x-ray
wavelength.
Page 6 of 6