IB PHYSICS HL                                                            Topic I

1. Which of the following contains one fundamental and one derived unit?

A. ampere kilogram
B. ampere coulomb
C. joule newton
D. joule coulomb

2. The current, I, through a resistor is measured with a digital ammeter to be 0.10 A. The
uncertainty in the calculated value of I2 will be

A. 1 %.

B. 2 %.

C. 5 %.

D. 20 %.

3. Which of the following will reduce random errors in an experiment?

A. Using an instrument having a greater precision

B. Checking the calibration of the instrument used

C. Checking for zero error on the instrument used

D. Repeating readings

4. A body accelerates from rest with a uniform acceleration a for a time t. The uncertainty
in a is 8 % and the uncertainty in t is 4 %. The uncertainty in the speed is

A. 32 %.

B. 12 %.

C. 8 %.

D. 2 %.

5. Which of the following lists two scalar quantities?

A. emf, momentum

B. emf, weight

C. impulse, kinetic energy

D. magnetic flux, kinetic energy

IB Questionbank Physics 1
IB PHYSICS HL                                                            Topic I

6. The best estimate for the time it takes light to cross the nucleus of the hydrogen atom is

A. 10–23 s.

B. 10–20 s.

C. 10–15 s.

D. 10–7 s.

7. The length of each side of a sugar cube is measured as 10 mm with an uncertainty of ±2

mm.
Which of the following is the absolute uncertainty in the volume of the sugar cube?

A. ±6 mm3

B. ±8 mm3

C. ±400 mm3

D. ±600 mm3

8. The time taken for a stone dropped from rest to fall vertically through 16 m is 2.0 s.
Based on these measurements, what is the best estimate for the acceleration of free fall?

A. 4.0 m s–2

B. 8.0 m s–2

C. 9.8 m s–2

D. 10 m s–2

9. The current in a resistor is measured as 2.00 A ± 0.02 A. Which of the following

correctly identifies the absolute uncertainty and the percentage uncertainty in the
current?

Absolute uncertainty Percentage uncertainty

A. ± 0.02 A ±1 %
B. ± 0.01 A ± 0.5 %
C. ± 0.02 A ± 0.01 %
D. ± 0.01 A ± 0.005 %

10. Which of the following lists only two vector quantities?

A. mass, energy, work

B. momentum, work, speed

IB Questionbank Physics 2
IB PHYSICS HL                                                            Topic I

C. weight, force, acceleration

D. momentum, energy, displacement

11. Which of the following is equivalent to the joule?

A. N m2

B. N m–2

C. kg m s–2

D. kg m2 s–2

12. An object falls for a time of 0.25 s. The acceleration of free fall is 9.81 m s–2. The
displacement is calculated. Which of the following gives the correct number of
significant digits for the calculated value of the displacement of the object?

A. 1

B. 2

C. 3

D. 4

13. Two lengths, a and b, are measured to be 51±1 cm and 49±1 cm respectively. In which
of the following quantities is the percentage uncertainty the largest?

A. a+b

B. a–b

C. a×b

a
D. b

14. A volume is measured to be 52 mm3. This volume in m3 is

A. 5.2 × 103 m3.

B. 5.2 × 101 m3.

C. 5.2 × 10–1 m3.

D. 5.2 × 10–8 m3.

IB Questionbank Physics 3
IB PHYSICS HL                                                            Topic I

15. The masses and weights of different objects are independently measured. The graph is a
plot of weight versus mass that includes error bars.

These experimental results suggest that the

A. measurements show a significant systematic error but small random error.

B. measurements show a significant random error but small systematic error.

C. measurements are precise but not accurate.

D. weight of an object is proportional to its mass.

16. The magnitude of the mass of the universe is of the order of

A. 1020 kg.

B. 1030 kg.

C. 1040 kg.

D. 1050 kg.

17. Which of the following is a valid statement?

A. A measurement that is not precise can be accurate.

B. A measurement that is precise is always accurate.

C. A measurement that is not precise will always be inaccurate.

IB Questionbank Physics 4
IB PHYSICS HL                                                            Topic I

D. Repeated measurements will always increase accuracy and precision.

18. The time elapsed since the beginning of the universe is of the order of

A. 108 s.

B. 1018 s.

C. 1028 s.

D. 1038 s.

19. In an experiment to measure the acceleration of free fall at the surface of the Earth the
following results were obtained.

Acceleration of free fall / m s–2

7.69
7.70
7.69
7.68
7.70

The results are

A. accurate and precise.

B. inaccurate but precise.

C. accurate but imprecise.

D. inaccurate and imprecise.

20. Two cars, X and Y, are travelling towards a junction. The velocity of car X is VX and car
Y is VY.

Which of the following vectors represent the velocity of Y relative to X?

IB Questionbank Physics 5
IB PHYSICS HL                                                            Topic I

21. Which of the following represents a scalar and a vector quantity?

Scalar Vector
A. electric potential electric potential gradient
B. electric potential gradient electric potential
C. electric potential electric potential
difference
D. electric potential gradient electric field

22. The order of magnitude of the weight of an apple is

A. 10–4 N.

B. 10–2 N.

C. 1 N.

D. 102 N.

M
ρ
23. The density of a metal cube is given by the expression V where M is the mass and
V is the volume of the cube. The percentage uncertainties in M and V are as shown
below.

M 12 

V 4.0 

The percentage uncertainty in the calculated value of the density is

A. 3.0 .

B. 8.0 .

C. 16 .

D. 48 .
24. The volume V of a cylinder of height h and radius r is given by the expression

V = r2h.

IB Questionbank Physics 6
IB PHYSICS HL                                                            Topic I

In a particular experiment, r is to be determined from measurements of V and h. The

uncertainties in V and in h are as shown below.

V 7 

h 3 

The approximate uncertainty in r is

A. 10 .

B. 5 .

C. 4 .

D. 2 .

IB Questionbank Physics 7