Dear Parents,
Please find enclosed a Physics Quiz!
This quiz has been prepared to help students to see how much of this term’s work they understand
and also give you an idea of the work that they have covered so far. It should only take about 10-20
minutes and then students should write a comment in their exercise books detailing areas that they
have understood well and others that they need more time and/or support with.
Students should have a timeline stuck to the inside of their exercise book that has all the lessons that
they have had this term. Please let them have some time to look through this and their
books/revision guide and review the work covered. If you could find a bit of time to give them the
quiz and then go through it with them I would be very grateful. It is designed to be a fairly informal
test and the students will be examined on all of this content in their mock exams next half term. In
their exam students will be assessed on 3 assessment objectives: 50% on recall and communicating
their knowledge (similar to quiz questions 1-5), 30% on applying their knowledge (similar to quiz
questions 6-8) and 20% on analysing and making judgements (similar to quiz question 9 and 10)
Thank you for your time and support,
Bob Baker
Head of Science
The Quiz:
Define the following terms:
1
2
3
4
5
Total Internal Reflection
Ultrasound
Retina
Frequency
Refraction
Some longer questions:
6
Using Snell’s Law: n = (sin i)/(sin r). and the fact the critical angle for quartz is 40.5 and for
diamond it is 24.5; calculate the refractive index for (a) quartz and (b) diamond.
7 Draw ray diagrams for convex and concave lenses.
8 What is the magnification of a lens if the image height is 5cm and the object height is 2cm?
9 How can you make spectacles lighter and more comfortable to wear?
10 Describe how ultrasound can be used in medicine. When is it used instead of X-Rays
sometimes?
The Quiz Answers:
Define the following terms:
1
2
3
4
5
Total Internal Reflection (Answer: When a ray of light hits a boundary between glass and air
(or two other see through but different materials) and is reflected back into the glass, so
that none leaves the glass block or fibre.
Ultrasound (Answer: A sound higher in frequency than a human can hear – above 20 000Hz)
Retina (Answer: The light-sensitive cells in your eye ball that send electrical signals along the
optic nerve to your brain)
Frequency (Answer: The number of waves in one second)
Refraction (Answer: The change in direction of light as is passes from one see through
material into another)
Some longer questions:
6
7
8
Using Snell’s Law: n = (sin i)/(sin r). and the fact the critical angle for quartz is 40.5 and for
diamond it is 24.5; calculate the refractive index for (a) quartz and (b) diamond.
(answer (a) quartz = 1/(sin40.5) = 1.53. and (b) diamond = 1/(sin24.5) =2.41)
Draw ray diagrams for convex and concave lenses.
Convex:
Concave:
What is the magnification of a lens if the image height is 5cm and the object height is 2cm?
(answer: magnification = image height/object height. So 5cm/2cm = 2.5)
9 How can you make spectacles lighter and more comfortable to wear? (answer: lenses with
a high refractive index can be used. So they can be thinner while having the same effect on
the light)
10 Describe how ultrasound can be used in medicine. When is it used instead of X-Rays
sometimes? (answers like: Can be used in foetus scans to check that unborn babies are
developing correctly. Can be used to detect Kidney Stones and Cancers. Can be used to
remove Kidney Stones without operation by sending high-energy ultrasound into the body
to break it up into smaller pieces. It is used instead of X-Rays where there could be damage
to growing cells like ultrasound scans of a foetus. X-rays could damage these growing cells or
even cause cancer to develop).