Assignment-0: Introduction to Mastering Physics

Due: 11:59pm on Saturday, October 30, 2021

To understand how points are awarded, read the Grading Policy for this assignment.

A message from your instructor...

The purpose of the following exercises is to familiarize you with the system you will be using for the rest of your course. These exercises are not
intended to teach or test your knowledge of any specific subject material. Therefore, you will not be penalized for using hints or submitting incorrect
answers.

A Welcome to Mastering!

Mastering presents homework items assigned by your instructor and works with you to answer them. Homework items typically have an introduction,
possibly figures, and one or more parts for you to answer.

The purpose of the following exercises is to familiarize you with the system you will be using for the rest of your course. These exercises are not
intended to teach or test your knowledge of any specific subject material. Therefore, you will not be penalized for using hints or submitting incorrect
answers.

Grading

In a graded homework item, each part counts equally toward your score on the overall item. You may lose a fraction of the credit for a part when you
submit an incorrect answer. Whether you do lose credit and how much you lose are set by your instructor. However, you won't lose credit for most
types of formatting mistakes or for submitting a blank answer. You can find more information about how your instructor is grading you by selecting your
instructor's Grading Policy, which can be found at the top of each assignment page. As you might expect, you will receive no credit for a part if you
use the Request Answer button. If you just can't figure out a question, there may be a way to get partial credit by using hints, as the following part will
illustrate. Also, note that for problems with hints, the option of requesting the answer is not available until you have viewed at least one hint.

Part A
What is the magic number in ? You could try to guess the magic number but you would
probably use up all your tries before getting the correct answer. Notice the View
Available Hint(s) link underneath the question statement for this part. Selecting this
link will open up a list of hints that will guide you to the correct number.

Hint 1. How to approach the problem

Notice that there are two hints for this question. You are not required to use all of the hints or to use them in order. Each hint has a tagline
that describes its contents. Based on the tagline you can decide whether or not a particular hint will be useful to you. Your instructor may
choose to give you a bonus for not using hints or to deduct a small penalty for using hints. If you are stuck, using the hints will usually
result in a higher score than simply trying to guess because you may lose fewer points for opening a hint than for getting the answer to the
main question incorrect.

To help you, the magic number is equal to 10 ⋅ x, where x is a number between 1 and 8. Now, open up the second hint to uncover the
value of x.

Hint 2. What is x?

You are told from the previous hint that the magic number is equal to 10 ⋅ x. For this problem, x is equal to 6. Use this to compute the
magic number and enter it below.

ANSWER:
 magic number = 
60

Correct
Your instructor may choose to give you a bonus for not using hints or to deduct a small penalty for using hints. If you are stuck, using the
hints will usually result in a higher score than simply trying to guess because you may lose fewer points for opening a hint than for
getting the answer to the main question incorrect. Note that you are never required to use the hints; if you want to figure the question out
on your own, go ahead! Upon completing a part though, you may go back and review the hints even if you didn't use them, as you might
want to when studying for a test. You do not lose any credit for viewing hints after completing the Part.

Part B
Multiple-choice questions have a special grading rule determined by your instructor. Assume that your instructor has decided to grade these
questions in the following way: If you submit an incorrect answer to a multiple-choice question with n options, you will lose 1/(n − 1) of the
credit for that question. Just like the similar multiple-choice penalty on most standardized tests, this rule is necessary to prevent random guessing.
If a multiple-choice question has five answer choices and you submit one wrong answer before getting the question correct, how much credit will
you lose for that part of the question?

ANSWER:

100%

50%

33%

25%

20%

Correct
Your instructor may choose not to deduct 1/(n − 1) of the credit for a multiple-choice question with n options, so refer to your
instructor's Grading Policy on your assignment page as mentioned before to see how your instructor is grading you.

Introduction to Numeric and Symbolic Answers

Grading for Numeric Answers

Tolerance

Some numeric answers to questions need to be exact. For example, the answer to the question "How many days are in a week?" must be exactly 7.

In general though, numeric answers are graded as correct if they fall within an acceptable range (or tolerance) of the official correct answer. For
example, if the answer to a numeric problem with a tolerance of 2% was 105, then entering any value between 103 and 107 would be graded as
correct, as shown in the region shaded green below. The typical grading tolerance in Mastering is 2-3%, although this value may vary (e.g. more
lenient) depending on the particular problem.

Significant Figures

While Mastering does not directly grade your answer based on the number of significant figures it contains, the tolerance mentioned above is
centered around the properly-rounded answer (as opposed to the full-precision answer). In some problems you will be explicitly told how many
significant figures your answer should contain. You may find that entering extra significant figures than required often causes your answer to still fall
within the accepted tolerance and thus graded as correct. However, there are problems where not rounding properly may cause your answer to fall
outside the accepted tolerance, so it's important to follow the general rules for significant figures, as the following example illustrates.
Suppose you are asked to find the area of a rectangle that is 3.1 cm wide and 4.4 cm long. The full-precision answer from your calculator would be
13.64 cm2 , although given the rules for significant figures, this answer should be rounded to two significant figures before being entered, or 14 cm2 . If
you were to enter 13.64 cm2 , it would not be graded as correct since this value falls outside the 2% tolerance of the properly-rounded answer of 14
cm . Instead, you would receive feedback from Mastering telling you to check the rounding of your final answer, although you would not be deducted
2

any points.

Part A
What is the area of a rectangle that is 3.1 cm wide and 4.4 cm long? Enter the full-precision answer first to see the corresponding feedback
before entering the properly-rounded answer. (You do not need to enter the units in this case since they are provided to the right of the answer
box).
ANSWER:

14 cm
2

Correct

Calculations Involving Multiple Steps

This example raises another critical point about performing calculations in science that involve multiple steps: Make sure to keep more significant
figures than required during each intermediate step and round your final answer only as the very last step! If you take the value displayed in
your calculator and round it before proceeding to the next step, you may encounter round-off error with your final answer deviating from the
correct answer. (Tip: most calculators have an answer button (e.g. "Ans") that allows you to use the full number from the previous calculation).

In Part B, you are asked to calculate the volume of a rectangular prism that has a length of 4.4 cm, a width of 3.1 cm, and a height of 6.3 cm, which
is found by multiplying the area of the base times the height. In Part A it was correct to round the result to two significant figures (14 cm2 ), since
finding the area was the final step for that problem. However, given that this result is now being used in the calculation for Part B, you should use the
full-precision value (13.64 cm2 ) and only round upon reaching the final value for the volume, which is now the final step of the calculation.

Part B
Calculate the volume of a rectangular prism with a length of 4.4 cm, a width of 3.1 cm, and a height of 6.3 cm. (As before, you do not need to
enter the units since they are provided to the right of the answer box.)

ANSWER:

86 cm
3

Correct

Numeric Answers with Units

In some problems, you will be required to enter the numerical value of your answer along with the corresponding units. You can enter only numeric
values (including scientific notation), as opposed to full calculations or algebraic expressions. The same grading, tolerance, and significant figure rules
apply as before for numeric answers.

Unless the instructions explicitly ask you to use a specific unit in your answer, you are free to enter any equivalent unit within the same unit system
given in the problem (e.g. if the answer is 1 m, you may also enter 100 cm since those quantities are equivalent). In general just be sure to use the
appropriate abbreviations and prefixes for units (for a list of recognized units in Mastering, feel free to reference Acceptable Units).

Note that for compound units, you must use explicit multiplication between the units. For instance, newton-meter can be entered as N ⋅ m or N − m ,
but not Nm.
Part C

The momentum of an object is determined to be 7.2× 10-3 kg ⋅ m/s . Express this quantity as provided or use any equivalent unit. (Note: 1 kg =
1000 g ).
ANSWER:

kg⋅m
7.2×10−3 s

Correct

Symbolic Answers

Finally, for some problems you will be required to enter a symbolic expression as your solution instead of a numeric value. The templates above the
answer box allow you to enter any special math formats or characters you may need.

In terms of grading, as long as your answer is algebraically equivalent to the correct answer, it will be graded as correct. For instance, suppose the
solution to a problem is: x(x + 3) . You may note that this can also be rewritten as x2 + 3x , so as a result entering this expression would also be
accepted.

Part D
−−−
−3
2gλ
Enter the following expression in the answer box below: √ m
, where λ is the lowercase Greek letter lambda.

ANSWER:

−−−
−3
2gλ
√
m

Correct

Significant Figures

Part A

To seven significant figures, the mass of a proton is 1.672623 × 10 −27 kg . Which of the following choices demonstrates correct rounding?
Check all that apply.

ANSWER:

−27
1.672 × 10 kg

−27
1.67 × 10 kg

−27
1.67263 × 10 kg

Correct
The number 1.672 × 10 −27 is incorrect because when we round to four significant figures we get 1.673, not 1.672. Similarly,
1.67263 × 10
−27
is incorrect because when we round to six significant figures we get 1.67262, not 1.67263.

Part B

To eight significant figures, Avogadro's constant is 6.0221367 × 10 23 mol

−1
. Which of the following choices demonstrates correct rounding?

Check all that apply.

 ANSWER:

23 −1
6.022 × 10 mol

23 −1
6.0 × 10 mol

23 −1
6.02214 × 10 mol

Correct
All these options are correct; they represent different levels of precision, even though the numerical value is the same.

Significant Figures Conceptual Question

In the parts that follow select whether the number presented in statement A is greater than, less than, or equal to the number presented in statement
B. Be sure to follow all of the rules concerning significant figures.

Part A

Statement A: 2.567 km , to two significant figures.

Statement B: 2.567 km , to three significant figures.
Determine the correct relationship between the statements.

Hint 1. Rounding and significant figures

Rounding to a different number of significant figures changes a number. For example, consider the number 3.4536. This number has five
significant figures. The following table illustrates the result of rounding this number to different numbers of significant figures:
Four significant figures ⟹ 3.454

Three significant figures ⟹ 3.45

Two significant figures ⟹ 3.5
One significant figure ⟹ 3

Notice that, when rounding 3.4536 to one significant figure, since 0.4536 is less than 0.5, the result is 3, even though if you first rounded to
two significant figures (3.5), the result would be 4.

ANSWER:

Statement A is greater than Statement B.

Statement A is less than Statement B.

Statement A is equal to Statement B.

Correct

Part B

Statement A: (2.567 km + 3.146 km ), to two significant figures.

Statement B: (2.567 km , to two significant figures) + (3.146 km , to two significant figures).

Determine the correct relationship between the statements.

ANSWER:
 Statement A is greater than Statement B.

Statement A is less than Statement B.

Statement A is equal to Statement B.

Correct
Evaluate statement A as follows: (2.567 km
+ 3.146 km
) = 5.713 km
to two significant figures is 5.7 km
. Statement B evaluates as
2.6 km
+ 3.1 km
= 5.7 km
. Therefore, the two statements are equal.

Part C

Statement A: Area of a rectangle with measured length = 2.536 m and width = 1.4 m.
Statement B: Area of a rectangle with measured length = 2.536 m and width = 1.41 m.
Since you are not told specific numbers of significant figures to round to, you must use the rules for multiplying numbers while respecting
significant figures. If you need a reminder, consult the hint.
Determine the correct relationship between the statements.

Hint 1. Significant figures and multiplication

When you multiply two numbers, the result should be rounded to the number of significant figures in the less accurate of the two numbers.
For instance, if you multiply 2.413 (four significant figures) times 3.81 (three significant figures), the result should have three significant
figures: 2.413 × 3.81 = 9.19 . Similarly, 2 × 7.664323 = 20 , when significant figures are respected (i.e., 15.328646 rounded to one
significant figure).

ANSWER:

Statement A is greater than Statement B.

Statement A is less than Statement B.

Statement A is equal to Statement B.

Correct
Evaluate statement A as follows: (2.536 m
) (1.4 m
) = 3.5504 m2
to two significant figures is 3.6 m2
. Statement B evaluates as
(2.536 m
) (1.41 m
) = 3.57576 m2
to three significant figures is 3.58 m2
. Therefore, statement A is greater than statement B.

Measurements in SI Units

Familiarity with SI units will aid your study of physics and all other sciences.

Part A
What is the approximate height of the average adult in centimeters?

Hint 1. Converting between feet and centimeters

The distance from your elbow to your fingertips is typically about 50 cm.

ANSWER:
 100 cm

200 cm

300 cm

Correct
If you're not familiar with metric units of length, you can use your body to develop intuition for them. The average height of an adult is 5
f eet 6.4 inches . The distance from elbow to fingertips on the average adult is about 50 cm. Ten mm (1 cm) is about the width of this

adult's little finger and 10 cm is about the width of the average hand.

Part B
Approximately what is the mass of the average adult in kilograms?

Hint 1. Converting between pounds and kilograms

1
Something that weighs 1 pound has a mass of about kg .
2

ANSWER:

80 kg

500 kg

1200 kg

Correct
Something that weighs 1 pound has a mass of about (1/2) kg . This is a useful conversion to keep in mind!

Introduction to Graphing Questions

This exercise is not intended to test your knowledge of any specific subject material. Therefore, on this problem you will not be penalized for using
hints or submitting incorrect answers.

Overview

When an assignment question requires that you answer by plotting a graph, you will see the following buttons:

To add a new graph, click   . You will be prompted here to select a label.

To add a straight line graph, select    (currently this is the only graph type available). Then you can add points by clicking in the
drawing area.

To stop adding points on a graph, select    or press the Escape key.

At this point, your graph may be complete, although you have the option if you wish to further edit your graph as well.

To move the points or position of your graph:

Using your mouse: To move a point, click to select the point and then drag it to the new location. Actively selected points and graphs are
highlighted. Alternatively, you may use the attributes panel on the left hand side to manually adjust the x and y coordinates of individual
points. To move the entire graph to a new location, click between points on the graph and then drag. Clicking any empty area of the
 workspace will deselect whatever is highlighted.
Using your keyboard: With a point or graph selected, press any arrow key to reposition.

To add further points: If you wish to add additional points to your graph, click your graph and select    (note that this button
toggles between add and stop adding points). Then you can add points by clicking in the drawing area as before.

To delete a selected point or graph, click   .  To delete using your keyboard, press Delete after selecting a point or selecting a
graph.
To change the graph label for the active graph, select the desired label from the drop-down menu below "Label".

To clear your current graph from the drawing area (restart), select   .

There is a brief tips tour that summarizes the above information, which you can launch by selecting   . For further help with graphing, select  

Part A
Create a graph of y = 2x − 6 .
Construct a graph corresponding to the linear equation y = 2x − 6 .

Hint 1. Identify a point to graph

You need to create a plot of y = 2x − 6 .To identify points on this graph you must solve for the values of y when x takes on different
values. What is y when x = 5 ?

Express your answer numerically.

ANSWER:

y =
 
4

ANSWER:


No elements selected
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
-1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
-2
-3
-4
-5
-6
-7
-8
-9
-10

Select the elements from the list and add them to the canvas setting the appropriate attributes. Press TAB to get to the
main menu.

Correct
Now that you have some experience with graphing task question types you can tackle harder graphs.

Introduction to Vector Notation

Some problems in MasteringPhysics require answers in the form of a single vector or an expression involving multiple vectors. This problem will show
you how to enter vector answers in MasteringPhysics.

Throughout the problem, refer to , which shows a two-dimensional coordinate system and
four vectors: A ⃗ , B⃗ , C ⃗ , and D⃗ .
Component notation

One common way of expressing vectors is in terms of their components. For example, the x component of A ⃗ , written Ax , is equal to 2.5 (since that is
its length along the x axis). Likewise, the y component of A ⃗ , written Ay , is 3 . You can express a vector in terms of its coordinates as follows:
⃗ 
A = (A x , A y ) = (2.5, 3) . What this means is that if the tail of the vector A ⃗ is at the origin, then its tip is at the coordinates (x, y) = (2.5, 3) .

When a problem in MasteringPhysics requires a vector answer in component form, the answer instructions will typically read something like "Enter
your answer as a pair of vector components, separated by a comma." In this case, you would enter your answer to the above scenario as 2.5,3.
The surrounding parentheses should not be entered.

Part A

Using component notation, enter the vector B⃗  in the answer box.

Enter your answer as a pair of vector components, separated by a comma. You should not enter any parentheses.

Hint 1. Components of B⃗ 

The x component of B⃗  is 2 , and the y component of B⃗  is −3.

ANSWER:

Bx , By
= 2,-3

Correct

Unit vectors

As the name suggests, unit vectors are vectors of unit length (1 ). It is common and often convenient to write vectors in terms of a unit vector in the x
direction (x
^ ) and a unit vector in the y direction (y
^ ). In three dimensions, there is an additional unit vector in the z direction (z
^ ). Some textbooks use

the unit vectors ^ ^ ^

i , j , and k in place of x
^ ,
y
^ , and z
^ , respectively.

For example, you can express the vector A ⃗ in terms of unit vectors as follows: A ⃗ = ^ + 3y
2.5x ^ .

When a problem in MasteringPhysics requires a vector answer in terms of unit vectors, the answer instructions will typically read something like "Enter
your answer in terms of the unit vectors x
^ and y^ ."

Part B

How would you express B⃗  using unit vectors?

Express your answers in terms of the unit vectors x

^ and y
^ . Use the

button under the

menu in the answer box to
create unit vectors.

ANSWER:

⃗ 
B
= 2x
^ − 3y
^

Correct

Regular vectors

Sometimes, instead of using components and/or unit vectors, you may need to express a vector in terms of another vector or vectors. As a simple
example, in the figure provided, D⃗  = B⃗ . If the reason for this is presently unclear, don't worry; you will learn more about vectors in class. Here we just
want to be sure you know how to enter them in MasteringPhysics.

When a problem in MasteringPhysics requires a vector answer in terms of other vectors, the answer instructions will typically read something like
"Enter your answer in terms of the vectors A ⃗ and B⃗ 
."
Part C

Enter the expression −2C ⃗ + 6D⃗  in the answer box using the notation just described.

Express your answer in terms of C ⃗ and D⃗ . Use the

button under the

menu in the answer box to create vectors.

ANSWER:

⃗ 
−2C + 6D
⃗ 

= ⃗ 
−2C + 6D
⃗ 

Correct

Introduction to Vector Drawing Questions

This exercise is not intended to test your knowledge of any specific subject material. Therefore, on this problem you will not be penalized for using
hints or submitting incorrect answers.

Overview

When an assignment question requires that you answer by drawing vectors or moments, you will see the following buttons.

To draw a new vector, click and select the label for the vector that you want to draw. You can draw the vector by clicking on the
start point and dragging your mouse to the end point.
To edit an existing vector, click to select either the vector, its start point, or its end point. Drag the selected vector or point to a new
location.
Some questions will ask you to mark moments. To mark a moment, click once to add a clockwise arrow, again to add counterclockwise
arrow, and a third time to return to a state of no moment/torque (no directional arrow).
To deselect a vector or moment, click on any empty area of the workspace.

To view the sum of all the vectors in your drawing, click . This option is not available in every problem.

To delete a selected vector or moment, click . To delete using your keyboard, press Delete or Backspace after selecting a vector
or moment.
To view the information about or change the properties of a vector or moment, select the vector or moment, which will display
properties (if they are needed for the problem) such as:

Vector properties (length, angle, and coordinates for start/end points) or moment properties (position and direction) can be edited directly
in this display. Here, you can also change a label by selecting another vector or moment.

To reset your vectors or moments to the most recently submitted answer (restart), click .

For help with drawing vectors or moments, click .

Part A
Every morning Ann walks her dog through the park, shown as a green square on the diagram below. They start at point 1, walk one block up the
street, take a turn at the corner labeled 2, and walk diagonally through the park to point 3. To return home, they walk two blocks down the street
 and turn right at the corner labeled 4. Draw the path  1→2→3→4→1 taken by Ann as she walks her dog. Represent each segment of Anna's
walk with a vector.
The vectors should start and end at the centers of the red dots located on the image.

ANSWER:

No elements selected

Select the elements from the list and add them to the canvas setting the appropriate attributes.

Correct
Besides drawing vectors by connecting two given dots, you will often have to draw vectors of a given length or at a specific angle. In
these cases, select the vector and adjust its properties in the display to the desired length or angle.

Part B
Now imagine that instead of walking along the path 1→2→3→4→1 , Ann walks 80 meters on a straight line 33∘ north of east starting at point 1.
Draw Ann's path. Represent Ann's walk with a vector of length 80 meters.

Draw the vector starting at point 1. The length given in the display is in meters.

ANSWER:


No elements selected

Select the elements from the list and add them to the canvas setting the appropriate attributes.

Correct
In addition to clicking and dragging, you can also adjust the properties of a vector by manually entering the desired values in the display.
Note that angle is measured counterclockwise with respect to the positive x axis pointing toward the right (east).

Part C
The diagram below shows a force being applied on a beam. Mark the direction of moment at the fulcrum by clicking on the dot indicated by M .

Recall that you click once to add a clockwise arrow, again to add counterclockwise arrow, and a third time to return to a state of no
moment/torque (no directional arrow).

ANSWER:


No elements selected

Select the elements from the list and add them to the canvas setting the appropriate attributes.

Correct

Getting Started: Dynamic Study Modules

Some Mastering courses include Dynamic Study Modules. To learn more, watch the video, Getting Started: Dynamic Study Modules, and answer the
questions below.

Part A
What is the primary function of Dynamic Study Modules?

ANSWER:
 Normalize student learning so the teacher knows what to focus on in lecture

Give students real-life applications of the concepts they are currently learning in class

Assess what a student already knows, and where he or she may want to focus additional study

Allow students to collaborate with each other on assignments in Mastering

Correct
Dynamic Study Modules provide personalized content to target a student's strengths and weaknesses, to improve overall scores on
class quizzes and exams. Dynamic Study Modules improve a student's areas of weak understanding by presenting relevant materials
from the text.

Part B
What is required to access Dynamic Study Modules?

ANSWER:

Enrollment in a course that uses Mastering with Dynamic Study Modules

Previously signing in from a desktop, if using DSM on the mobile app

A current Mastering username and password

All of the above

Correct

Mastering Your Mindset

Mindset is an idea proposed by Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck based on her research in motivation and development. According to
Dweck, people generally have a tendency to think with one of two different mindsets: a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. As you start this semester, it
can be useful to think about some ideas and strategies that will help you to succeed. In these materials, we will describe some ideas about motivation,
based on cutting-edge research, and offer some suggestions for how to get the most out of Mastering and your course.

Watch the following videos and answer the accompanying questions to learn more.

Do You Have a Growth Mindset?

Part A
Which of the following describes a growth mindset, as opposed to a fixed mindset?

ANSWER:
 Believing your talents, abilities, and intelligence can be developed in different ways

Challenging yourself by persisting longer with problems helps to grow your mental muscle

Learning and growing your brain through opportunities helps performance in school

All of the above phrases describe the growth mindset

Correct
Mastering presents homework items assigned by your instructor and, with the help of hints and feedback, works with you to answer
them. Homework items typically have an introduction, possibly figures, and one or more parts for you to answer. Mastering is designed
to help you become an active learner, leading to better knowledge retention and ultimately better performance on exams. 

Part B
What is neuroplasticity?

ANSWER:

The inability to change intelligence, which is fixed in the neurons in our brain from birth

Having a fixed mindset in some ways, and a growth mindset in others

The ability to make new and stronger connections between the neurons in our brain as we learn

Correct
Much of how content is created in Mastering centers around the idea of "deliberate practice." When you challenge yourself by
deliberately practicing concepts, you learn more and make new and stronger connections in your brain. Mastering is specifically
designed to vary how you learn and give you lots of opportunities to challenge yourself.

The Power of Making Mistakes

Part C
How do students with a growth mindset see their mistakes?
ANSWER:

As opportunities to learn and improve their brain

As something that shouldn't happen in proper learning

As reasons to give up and avoid further challenges

 Correct
Many questions in Mastering provide feedback when you get a question wrong to help guide your problem solving and help you to think
through the concepts. Directly addressing your mistakes and working through them will help grow your mind.

Part D
How can you use Mastering to develop a growth mindset and embrace your mistakes?

ANSWER:

Question what went wrong and use hints or provide problem feedback to develop a new strategy

Repeat the question without changing your approach and input a different answer

Correct
Follow the growth mindset in Mastering:

Mastering tells you immediately whether or not your answers are correct. Usually you will have multiple chances to arrive
at the correct answer, as set by your instructor. If you do get a question wrong, this gives you opportunity to reflect on what
part of your strategy to refine. You can use your textbook, hints, and feedback to reanalyze your work.
Hints offer suggestions to refine your approach and develop a new strategy to solve the problem if you get stuck or if you
get the question wrong. If you don't need the hints, you can always use them to review later on or refer to them while
solving other problem.
Many items offer specific feedback when you submit an incorrect answer. This feedback should help you to focus your
approach and adjust your strategy.

The Power of “Yet”

Part E
Why is the word "yet" powerful in developing a growth mindset?
ANSWER:

It encourages you to stop trying when you fail because you are not smart enough and should choose a new subject to study.

It encourages you to skip steps necessary to learn difficult concepts, and thus see results more quickly.

It encourages you to continue along your learning journey, as you have not yet reached the final destination.

Correct
In Mastering, when you make a mistake in a problem, just think "I haven't solved it yet." Use any provided feedback, hints, or your
textbook to develop a new strategy and tackle the problem again.

Part F
 Which is NOT an element in developing expertise in a field?
ANSWER:

Giving up

Trying new strategies

Asking for help

Putting forth effort

Correct
Any expert you know probably spent countless hours working hard to improve, and chances are some of that time they felt frustrated
with their progress. This is not a bad sign! In any course, working through challenging problems and learning from your mistakes is how
you improve. It's better to make mistakes in Mastering rather than on an exam.

Embracing Challenges

Part G
How do people with a growth mindset view and respond to challenges?
ANSWER:

They see challenges as a waste of effort and are embarrassed.

They see challenges as opportunities to learn and push their abilities.

They see challenges as signs their brains are getting weaker.

Correct
Mastering is designed to give you these challenging opportunities, leading to better knowledge retention and ultimately better
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Derivatives

Learning Goal:
To understand the concept of derivatives as the slope of a function graph.

There are two fundamental tools of calculus—the derivative and the integral. The derivative is a measure of the rate of change of a function. You’ll see
derivatives often throughout your study of physics because much of physics involves describing rates of change.

Part A
What does “rate of change” mean, exactly? A function describes how one quantity is related to another – how y is related to x. As an example, y
could be your height and x your age. The three graphs below show three cases of how your height could change with age.

Sort the graphs according to which best represents the graph of your height against age for the following periods:

During your childhood, as you grew up

Between age 30 and age 50
During old age, when your spine compacts a little

Drag the appropriate items to their respective bins.

Hint 1. Identify the graph that illustrates growth

Age is plotted on the horizontal axis in each graph, with age increasing from left to right. Height is plotted on the vertical axis. Think about
the childhood period, when you are growing. What kind of graph illustrates growth?
 ANSWER:

A graph that rises as you move from left to right.

A graph that is
flat as you move from left to right.

A graph that falls as you move from left to right.

ANSWER:

Reset Help

     

Childhood Age 30 to age 50 Old age

Correct
The positive (upward) slope on Graph 2 corresponds to your increasing height during childhood. Your height won’t change between
ages 30 and 50, so Graph 1 is correct: It is horizontal, and its slope is zero. And finally, your decreasing height during old age
corresponds to the negative (downward) slope on Graph 3.
These three graphs of height vs. age are three important special cases of functions:

Graph 1 shows a quantity that remains constant with respect to another quantity.
Graph 2 shows a quantity that increases with respect to another quantity.
Graph 3 shows a quantity that decreases with respect to another quantity.
These graphs also give three important special cases in our understanding of rate of change.

Part B
Graphs 4 and 5 show the same information as Graphs 2 and 3, but this time with specific information about height and age on the graph axes.
From the graphs, you can find the exact rate of change of the person’s height in each case. Find the rate of change of the height from age 8 to 16
and from age 60 to 80. Express both answers in units of cm per year, to two significant figures. Separate your answers with a comma.

Express your answers numerically to two significant figures separated by a comma.

 Hint 1. How to approach the problem

The rate of change corresponds to the slope on the graph. The slope is commonly thought of as rise/run. In terms of the x and y values on
the graph, the slope is

rise Δy
rate of change = slope = =
run Δx

Read the values of Δx and Δy from the graph, and from these compute the slope as given by the formula above. In this problem, Δx is
the change in age and Δy is the change in height.

Hint 2. Calculate the slope of Graph 4

It’s often easiest to pick points on the line that lie on the intersection of gridlines: this makes reading off the values on the axes
straightforward. On Graph 4, we have two such points: (8, 125) and (16, 175). What are the rise and run values corresponding to these
two points?
Express your answers numerically separated by a comma.

ANSWER:

rise, run = 50,8 cm, years

Hint 3. Calculate the slope of Graph 5

It’s often easiest to pick points on the line that lie on the intersection of gridlines: This makes it straightforward to read off the values on the
axes. On Graph 5, we have two such points: (60, 175) and (80, 170). What are the rise and run values corresponding to these two
points?

Express your answers numerically separated by a comma.

ANSWER:

rise, run = -5,20 cm, years

ANSWER:

6.3,-0.25 cm/yr

Correct
What you’ve just done is calculate the derivative of a function, in this case a person’s height vs. time, because the derivative measures
a function’s rate of change. The answers here illustrate that a derivative can have

a positive value, when the function is increasing;

a negative value, when the function is decreasing;
a value of zero, when the function isn’t changing.
These are the three special cases of rates of change we mentioned above.
Part C
The next graph shows a different function in . Which of the graphs below is the
derivative dy/dx of this function?

Hint 1. How to approach the problem

Notice that the slope of the graph in Part C is constant. So you’re looking for an answer graph that’s constant - that is, a graph with a
horizontal slope.

Hint 2. Narrowing down the options

Which of the two graphs with horizontal slopes is correct? To determine this, measure carefully the slope of your graph, using the numbers
provided on the axes. Then, determine the slope as you did in Part B.

ANSWER:
 Correct
The original function is increasing at a constant rate throughout the interval, so the answer must be a constant. Measuring the slope of
the graph carefully leads you to the correct answer, 0.6.

Part D
So far we have only looked at functions with a constant slope (positive, negative, or zero). But the slope of a function, and thus its derivative, can
change. Consider the next function shown in . Rank, in increasing order, the derivatives
of the function at each of the points marked A through D.

Express your answer in order of increasing slopes as a string without spaces

between points. For example, enter ABCD if you think the derivative at point A is
the smallest, B is the next larger, and so on.

Hint 1. How to approach the problem

 Look carefully at the graph’s slope at each of the four points. The slope may be positive, zero, or negative. If you are ranking in the order of
increasing slopes, then negative slopes will be listed first, then zero, and then positive slopes. For a positive slope, the more sharply the
graph slopes upward, the larger the slope.

ANSWER:

CBDA

Correct
The slope at point C is negative, so the derivative there is the smallest. At B, the graph is horizontal, so the derivative is zero. At points
A and D, the steeper slope corresponds to the larger derivative.

Part E
Functions are not all straight lines. If a function is curved, the derivative is not constant but changing. To find the derivative at any point, draw a
line tangent to the graph at that point. The slope of the tangent line is the derivative. As you move along the graph, the slope of the tangent line
changes, and so does the derivative.
The graph in shows a function x(t ). The derivative of the function at t = 1 is closest to:

Hint 1. Narrowing down the choices

The derivate at t = 1 is the slope of the curve there. Is the function increasing, decreasing, or zero at t = 1 ?
ANSWER:

decreasing

increasing

zero

Hint 2. Finding the answer

To determine the exact derivative of the function at t = 1 , draw a line tangent to the graph at that point. The slope of the tangent line tells
you the function’s derivative.

ANSWER:
 0

10

–10

–5

Correct
At t = 1 , the function is increasing, so that tells you that the derivative (the slope of the tangent line) is positive. Here, you needed to
measure the slope of the tangent line carefully to find the numerical answer.

Part F
Referring again to the graph in Part E, rank, in increasing order, the derivatives of the function at each of the points A through E. If two of the
values are equal, you may list them in either order.
Express your answer in order of increasing slopes as a string without spaces between points. For example, enter ABCDE if you think the
derivative at point A is the smallest, B is the next larger, and so on.

Hint 1. How to approach the problem

Assess the values of the derivatives by looking carefully at the graph’s slope at each of the five points. The slope may be positive, zero, or
negative. To rank the derivatives in increasing order, the negative derivatives (negative slopes) will be listed first, then zero, and then the
positive derivatives (positive slopes). For a positive slope, the more sharply the graph slopes upward, the larger the slope and hence the
larger the derivative.

ANSWER:

CDBEA

Correct
At points B and D, the tangent line is horizontal, so the derivative is zero. At point C, the tangent line slopes downward, and the
derivative is negative. Thus, point C has the smallest derivative, followed by B and D, which are equal. Measuring the two positive
derivatives (the slopes of the tangent lines at A and E) reveals that the slope (derivative) at E is smaller than at A.

In physics, x(t ) might represent an object’s position in one dimension versus time. In that case, the derivative represents velocity.
Positive and negative velocity correspond to motion in opposite directions, and zero velocity means the object is at rest. This is just one
of the important ways that derivatives are used in physics.

Integrals

Learning Goal:
To understand the concept of an integral as the area under a function graph.
There are two fundamental tools of calculus—the derivative and the integral. Just as the derivative can be understood in a visual way as the slope of a
function graph, what is called a definite integral can be understood as the area under a function graph. Definite integrals have many applications in
physics, such as finding an object’s displacement from a known velocity and finding work done by a known force. A definite integral gives you a
numerical answer. There is a second kind of integral, called the indefinite integral (or antiderivative), which is itself another function, but we won’t
discuss that kind in this tutorial.

Part A
Many practical applications require calculations of area. Some of these calculations are straightforward, but others are more difficult, and it turns
out that the idea of the definite integral can help us with the more difficult cases. Let’s start with some familiar shapes. What is the area of a
rectangle of length l and width w ?      
Express your answer in terms of l and w .
 ANSWER:

lw

Correct
The area of a rectangle is found by simply multiplying the length by the width. You also know how to find the area of a circle. But if you
didn’t already know the formula, how would you go about figuring it out? In Part B, we’ll look at one method in detail to introduce key
ideas about integrals.

Part B
Take a circle of radius R as shown in , and imagine peeling it like an apple: Cut off a
thin strip from all the way around the edge (the green strip), and straighten that strip out
to a rectangle, as shown in .
Call the tiny width of the strip
 Δr. The length of the strip
is 2πR because that’s the
circumference of the circle.
The bit of “peel” is the
circumference of the skin on
the outside of the circle.

What is the area of the green

strip?

Express your answer in

terms of π , R , and  Δr.

Hint 1. How to approach the problem

Notice that the strip in question becomes a rectangle in the figure Part B.2. From Part A, the area of a rectangle is its length times its width.

ANSWER:

2πRΔr

Correct
The area of this rectangle is its length 2πR multiplied by its width Δr.

Part C
Now, imagine peeling more and more strips of width Δr from our circle, and laying them all out as rectangles side by side, as shown in – starting
with the first (outermost) strip at the far right. As you peel more and more, the strips get
shorter and shorter because the circle is getting smaller and smaller, until you have the
smallest strip laid at far left – this strip, if Δr is really tiny, is essentially the center of the
circle!

What is the area of the circle? You’ve now chopped it into little strips, but notice that the
area of the circle is the same as the sum of the areas of all our strips. If Δr is really
small, you can see that all the strips approximate a triangle in the figure Part C (the
area under the diagonal line). So the sum of the areas of all our strips is the area of this
triangle.

What is the area of the triangle?

Express your answer in terms of π and R .
 Hint 1. The formula for the area of a triangle
Keep in mind that the area of a triangle is one half its base times its height.

ANSWER:

πRR

Correct
The area of the triangle is half the base (which is R ) times the height (which is 2πR ). The area of the triangle in the figure Part C is
πR , the formula you know for the area of a circle. We’ve proved it! We didn’t do it entirely rigorously, but the essence of our method
2

(dividing something into tiny pieces and adding those up) lies at the heart of understanding definite integrals.

Part D

Now, look at a general function f (x), as shown in .

Suppose you want to find the area under the curve, between x = a and x = b —that
is, the blue shaded area. Using our method above, we can add up the areas of lots of
skinny rectangles like the green one. Each rectangle has area f (x)Δx , and we want
to sum these areas between x = a and x = b , letting  Δx get very small.
b
Mathematically, you may recognize this sum as a definite integral: ∫a f (x) dx .

The notation may look intimidating, but just keep in mind that the f (x)dx refers to the
small rectangle areas, the ∫ sign stands, in a sense, for the S in “sum” (that’s actually
how the symbol for integration was chosen), and the a and b at the bottom and top of  
b
∫
a
give you the start and end of the region you’re interested in. Thus, the definite
b
integral ∫ f (x) dx  means the total area under the curve f (x) between x = a and
a
4
x = b . For the function f (x) shown below, find the definite integral ∫ f (x) dx .
1

Express your answer numerically.

Hint 1. How to approach the problem

4
∫
1
f (x) dx is the area under the graph between x = 1 and x = 4 . Because this function graph is horizontal between x = 1 and
x = 4 , the area you need to find is that of a rectangle.

ANSWER:

15

Correct
The area under this function curve is a rectangle, so its area is just its length times its width.

Part E
 4
For the function f (x) shown below, find the definite integral∫1 f (x) dx .

Express your answer numerically.

Hint 1. The areas below the x-axis

Again, in this part you are finding the area of a rectangle, but when the function graph is below the x-axis, the area is counted as negative.

ANSWER:

-6

Correct
Just as in Part D, the area is that of a rectangle, so it’s straightforward to find. The twist here is that the area lies below the x-axis, so
that area is counted as negative.

Part F
6
For the function f (x) shown below, find the definite integral∫0 f (x) dx .

Express your answer numerically.

Hint 1. How to approach the problem

This time you have several rectangles. Find the area of each and add them, keeping in mind that area below the x-axis is negative.

ANSWER:

8
 Correct
In this case, the net area is the sum of positive area (above the x-axis) and negative area (below the x-axis).

Part G
Find the definite integral of the function F shown in the graph below, over the limits from 0 to 3.

Express your answer numerically.

Hint 1. How to approach the problem

In this case the function F varies, but you can still find the definite integral by finding the area under the graph. That area is a triangle, so
its area is half the base multiplied by the height.

ANSWER:

18

Correct
In this case, the function F varies, but you can still find the definite integral by finding the area under the graph. That area is a triangle,
so its area is ½(base)(height) = ½(3)(12) = 18.

One application of definite integrals in physics is in calculating the work done by a force acting through a displacement. If the function F
shown in the figure represents force, then the definite integral is the work done by that force. In this example, if the force F is measured
in newtons (N ) and position x is in meters (m), then the work done, measured in joules (J), is

3
W = ∫ F dx = 18 J
0

Part H
10
For the function shown below, the definite integral ∫0 f (x) dx is closest to which of the following?
 Hint 1. How to approach the problem
This problem involves adding different kinds of area. Break the entire interval (from x = 0 to x = 10) into smaller intervals to find shapes
that you recognize. Find the area of each, and then add your results to find the net area (the definite integral).

Hint 2. What are the shapes?

As shown below, this function can be broken into rectangles (yellow) and triangles (green). The area of each rectangle is length times
width, and the area of each triangle is half its base times height. Read the lengths you need from the values on the graph.

Hint 3. The positive and negative areas

Recall that area above the x-axis is counted as positive, and area below the x-axis is negative, as shown below.

ANSWER:
 4

–8

–4

Correct
In this case, you had to break the larger interval into smaller ones to identify the different shapes and find their areas. The definite
integral always corresponds to the net area over the entire interval.

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