1. An electrically neutral material has: A) More electrons than protons B) The same number of protons as electrons C) More protons than electrons D) No charges at all 2. When you take clothes out of a hot dryer they often cling to one another. Two identical socks, however, usually repel. Explain their repulsion. A) Identical socks are usually too close to each other when worn and don’t like the proximity B) The socks rub against each other in the dryer, and transfer charge from one sock to the other, generating a repulsive force C) The socks will both be charged the same and will repel 3. You are practicing for the marching organ pipe band and naturally your thoughts turn to examining the role of physics in life. The organ pipe you are using today has one closed end and one open end. Compared with atmospheric pressure, the pressure at the open end of the pipe is A) Lower B) Bigger C) The same 4. You are plucking on a guitar string and notice that the only sound you hear comes from the fundamental harmonic (which contains one antinode). The wavelength of the standing wave being produced is A) Twice the length of the string B) Half the length of the string C) Equal to the length of the string D) 34.67989268 times the length of the string 5. You are designing a high power electrical transmission line between a generator plant and a large city located 500 km apart. Which of the following voltages would you prefer applying to the wires, assuming that you are interested in saving the power company money? A) 110V B) 1100V C) 11000V D) 110000V 6. Which is larger? A) The force the earth exerts on you B) The force you exert on the earth C) Neither, they are both the same 7. A helium balloon floats in air. What will happen to an air filled balloon in helium? A) It goes up B) It goes down C) It stays where it is 8. When you bring the pole of a permanent magnet close to a piece of aluminum, the aluminum repels it briefly. However, this repulsion disappears after a second or two because A) the electric current that makes the aluminum magnetic loses energy and comes to a stop B) the magnetic domains in aluminum flip so that they begin to attract the permanent magnet C) the magnetic domains in the aluminum return to pointing in random directions D) the magnetization of the aluminum reverses directions 120 times per second so that there is no average attraction or repulsion 9. Many night lights and security lamps use a strip of photoconductor to tell when it’s dark enough for them to turn on. Should the light turn on when the photoconductor is behaving as a conductor or an insulator? A) Insulator B) Conductor 10. If a pendulum clock is running slow, how should the length of the pendulum be changed? A) make it shorter B) make it longer C) keep it the same length and change something else 11. Consider a child’s air balloon floating in the air. Is the pressure inside the balloon greater or less than the pressure outside the balloon? A) greater B) less C) the same 12. Consider a helium balloon floating in the air. Is the pressure of the helium inside the balloon greater or less than the pressure of the air outside the balloon? A) greater B) less C) the same 13. You accidentally miss the doorway and run into the wall. You suddenly experience a backward force that is several times larger than your weight. What’s the origin of this force? A) Halloween is near and the ghouls are getting restless B) You are applying a large force to the wall C) The wall is applying a large force to you D) Gravity 14. Why does putting sand in the trunk of a car help to keep the rear wheels from skidding on an icy road? A) Friction keeps the car on the road B) The frictional force depends on the weight of the car C) The extra weight increases the maximum static friction between the road and the wheels D) All of the above E) None of the above 15. Many grocery stores display frozen foods in freezers that are open at the top. Why doesn’t the warm air enter the freezers and melt the food? A) The density of the warm air is less than the cool air in the freezer B) The density of the warm air is greater than the cool air in the freezer C) Freezer fairies 16. The acceleration due to gravity at the moon’s surface is only about one‐sixth that at the earth’s surface. If you took a pendulum clock to the moon, would it run A) fast B) slow C) on time 17. A flagpole is a harmonic oscillator, flexing back and forth with a steady period. If you want to increase the amplitude of the pole’s motion by pushing it near its base, when should you push? A) As it flexes toward you B) As it flexes away from you 18. A steel paper clip is normally not magnetic. However, when you touch one end of the paper clip to the north pole of a permanent magnet, the paper clip becomes magnetic. Which end of the paper clip becomes a south pole? A) The end closest to the magnet B) The end furthest from the magnet 19. A hummingbird is hovering motionless in front of a flower. The net force exerted on the bird is A) zero. B) downward and slightly less than the bird’s weight. C) downward and equal to the bird’s weight. D) upward and equal in magnitude (amount) to the bird’s weight. 20. To pay your tuition this semester, you have decided to moonlight as a race car driver. It’s your first race and you’re heading full speed down a straight portion of the track. You place a small good luck charm in the middle of the dashboard and then begin turning the car toward the left. As you and your car make the left turn, the charm slides toward the right side of the dashboard. As the charm slides, the car is A) accelerating toward the left and the charm is essentially not accelerating. B) accelerating toward the left and the charm is accelerating toward the right. C) essentially not accelerating and the charm is accelerating toward the right. D) accelerating toward the right and the charm is also accelerating toward the right. 21. A log is much heavier than a stick, yet both of them float in water. Why doesn’t the log’s greater weight cause it to sink? (Remember, density is mass divided by volume) A) The density of the water under the log is greater than under the stick B) The density of the water under the log is less than under the stick C) The density of the log is still less than water D) The density of the stick is greater than that of water 22. After losing a tightly contested Tiddly‐Winks tournament at UW, several of the visiting players are driving recklessly down University Avenue at 120 kph. The police car chasing them is also traveling 120 kph. To avoid hitting a scout, who is walking an elderly person across the street to WLU, the visiting players slow their car to 110 kph. The police car overtakes the players' car and collides with its rear end. If both cars were traveling at constant velocities before the collision, the police car will A) accelerate forward during the collision because of its inertia. B) accelerate backward during the collision. C) not accelerate during the collision. D) accelerate forward during the collision because of its forward velocity. 23. Your cat has chewed the cord to your desk lamp and has created a short circuit—an electric connection from one wire to the other inside the cord. When you plug the lamp into the electric outlet, A) current will bypass the bulb and the bulb will not light up. B) current will flow alternately through the bulb and through the short circuit, so that the bulb will blink on and off rapidly. C) the current will begin to flow backward through the bulb so that it glows at half its normal brightness. D) excessive current will pass through the bulb and the bulb will glow very brightly. 24. For an appliance to receive and consume electric power, A) a current must flow through it and it must lower the voltage of that current. B) it must polarize the current with its magnetic field. C) a current must flow through it and it must raise the voltage of that current. D) it must magnetize the current with its electric field. 25. A resistor is essentially a poor conductor of electricity. When you send current through a resistor, that current always experiences a voltage drop, never a voltage rise. One way to understand this effect is that A) more current leaves a resistor than enters it, so the voltage must go down to compensate. B) it's easy to turn electric energy into thermal energy but not the other way around. C) less current leaves a resistor than enters it, so the voltage must go down as well. D) current can only flow forward through a resistor, never backward. 26. Thomas Edison's dominance in the electric power industry was struck a serious blow when his competitors, Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse, began to use transformers with their alternating current (AC) electric power systems. Edison was unable to use transformers in his direct current (DC) electric power systems because A) Tesla and Westinghouse held the U.S. patent rights to transformers and prevented Edison from using them. B) direct current electric power must flow directly from the generator to a home, without passing through any intermediate devices. C) a transformer requires changing currents in its coils in order to transfer power between those currents. D) DC electric power must flow through thicker wires than can be used efficiently in transformers. 27. You have just pulled your clothes from the dryer and find that a sock is clinging to your jeans with static electricity. You hold the jeans in one hand and the sock in the other and pull the two apart. As jeans and sock move apart, the forces between them become weaker because the A) Electric charge on each garment diminishes as they move apart. B) Electric charge on each garment increases as they move apart. C) Electric current passing through each garment diminishes as they move apart. D) Forces between electric charges become weaker with increasing distance. 28. A proton has A) a negative charge B) no charge C) a positive charge 29. A block is weighed using a hanging balance (the mass hangs off an arm of the balance). The weight of the block is 10 kilograms when it is weighed in air. The block is then placed in a bucket of water while keeping the balance in air. Compared with the original 10 kilogram weight, the newly measured weight will be A) smaller B) bigger C) the same 30. If you blow across the top of a half full bottle of soda you can produce a clear tone. If you take a drink of soda to reduce the amount of liquid in the bottle and try this again the pitch (frequency) of the sound produced will A) increase. B) stay the same. C) exactly double. D) decrease. 31. When you blow gently across the top of a particular soda bottle, it emits a tone. The column of air in the bottle is vibrating up and down in its fundamental mode. If you replace the air in the bottle with helium and then blow gently across the top of the bottle, it will emit A) a higher pitched tone. B) a tone at the same pitch as before. C) no sound at all. D) a lower pitched tone. 32. A hot air balloon is open at the bottom and the passengers in the basket beneath can see the inside of the balloon’s envelope or “skin.” Hot air doesn’t flow out of the balloon’s open bottom because A) viscous forces slow the flow of air out of the balloon. B) the balloon’s canvas envelope pulls outward, sucking air into the balloon. C) the air inside that open bottom is at atmospheric pressure. D) the flame pushes the air up into the balloon through that open bottom. 33. Pick the term that most closely matches the statement: bubbles rising in a glass of soda A) resonance B) acceleration C) longitudinal oscillation D) electron E) bouyancy 34. Pick the term that most closely matches the statement: Sound breaking a wine glass A) resonance B) acceleration C) longitudinal oscillation D) electron E) bouyancy 35. Pick the term that most closely matches the statement: Sound waves A) resonance B) acceleration C) longitudinal oscillation D) electron E) bouyancy 36. Pick the term that most closely matches the statement: Car going around a corner A) resonance B) acceleration C) longitudinal oscillation D) electron E) bouyancy 37. Pick the term that most closely matches the statement: A bullet speeding up inside the barrel of a gun A) phosphor B) acceleration C) longitudinal oscillation D) electron E) tank circuit 38. When you drop a strong magnet through the center of a copper pipe, the magnet A) descends slowly because it is attracted to the magnetic copper metal. B) descends rapidly because its motion causes currents to flow in the pipe and those currents attract the magnet. C) falls at the usual rate because copper metal is nonmagnetic. D) descends slowly because its motion causes currents to flow in the pipe and those currents repel the magnet. 39. Which of the following best protects you from electrocution when a radio falls into your bathtub? A) fuse B) circuit breaker C) ground fault interrupter D) all the above do an equal job 40. Why can't you float one permanent magnet directly above another permanent magnet indefinitely by turning their north poles toward one another? A) Two north poles attract one another and the two magnets will pull together until they touch. B) That arrangement is unstable‐the upper magnet will fall to the side or flip over. C) The repulsive forces between magnets cannot overcome the gravitational forces between them, so the upper magnet cannot float. D) Because they are stationary, the two magnets exert no forces on one another and the top magnet falls.
