Name:

A
PHYSICS 1050
Mid-term Test 2
University of Wyoming
15 November 2005
This test is open-note and open-book. This means that any reference material is
permitted during the test. Calculators also are permitted. However, no collaboration,
consultation, or communication, except with the test administrator, is allowed by any
means, including but not limited to verbal, written, or electronic methods.
If you have a question about the test, please raise your hand. If that does not get the
administrators attention, it may help to send a large carnivorous animal to bite him.
Please do not open this test booklet until everyone has received a booklet and the test
administrator has indicated for you to begin. While you are waiting, make sure that your
name is written at the top of this page.
Conversion Factors:
5280 ft = 1 mi
2.54 cm = 1 in
3.281 ft = 1 m
1 lb = 4.5 N
1 cal = 4.184 J
1 Hz = 1 cycle/s
Physical Constants:
Universal gravitational constant
G = 6.67 10
11
Nm
2
kg
2
gravitational acceleration at earths
surface: g = 9.8 m/s
2
= 9.8 N/kg
Boltzmann constant k
B
= 1.238066 10
23
J/K
freezing point of water = 0 C = 273.15 K
mean sea-level air pressure = 101325 Pa
density of water = 1000 kg/m
3
Formulas:
Acceleration from net force
r
F :
r
a =
r
F / m
Work: w =
r
F
r
d
Power: P = E t
Kinetic energy: KE =
1
2
mv
2
Gravitational potential energy: PE = mgh
Gravitational force at earths surface:

r
F = m
r
g
Universal gravitational formula: F =
Gm
1
m
2
d
2
Force exerted by a spring: x k F
r
r
=
Pressure: p = F/A
Ideal gas pressure: p = Nk
B
T/V
Pressure under a liquid: gh p =
Buoyant Force: F = Vg
Spring period k m T 2 =
Pendulum period g L T 2 =
Wave speed u = /T = f
Answer Key
A page 2 of 8
Multiple choice
20 questions, 4 points each.
Please circle the most correct answer from the choices given.
1. In general, atoms
a. have no size (are infinitely small).
b. attract each other at close distances, but repel when squeezed even closer together.
c. always stand still unless something runs into them.
d. are so far apart from each other that they never interact.
2. If I pull on a garage door spring with all my might, I can make the end pull back 2
cm. If I connect two such springs end-to-end and pull on them with the same force, I
should be able to pull the end back
a. 2 cm. b. between 2 cm and 4 cm. c. 1 cm. d. 4 cm.
3. A spring stretches 10 cm when a 20-N weight is suspended from it. If a 40-N
weight is suspended from the spring, it will stretch
a. 20 cm. b. 10 cm. c. 5 cm. d. 40 cm.
4. When a meteor enters the earths atmosphere, it encounters drag forces. The
interaction of the moving meteor with the air
a. causes the molecules of both the meteor and the air to move faster.
b. quickly cools off the meteor.
c. signals waiting aliens that it is time to attack Earth.
d. destroys the meteors kinetic energy.
A page 3 of 8
5. Applying a force over a small area gives
a. less pressure than applying the same force over a large area.
b. more pressure than applying the same force over a large area.
c. the same pressure as applying the same force over a large area.
6. If a sample of an ideal gas is heated from 300 K to 600 K while being confined to
the same volume, its pressure
a. increases by 2 . b. halves. c. doubles. d. does not change.
7. The average air pressure in Laramie is less than in Seattle because
a. the air is more humid in Seattle than in Laramie.
b. the air is warmer in Seattle than in Laramie.
c. the air in Seattle is more polluted than in Laramie.
d. there is more air above Seattle than above Laramie.
8. When air flows faster above an airplane wing than below the wing,
a. the air pressure is higher above the wing than below the wing.
b. the air pressure above the wing is equal to the air pressure below the wing.
c. the air pressure is lower above the wing than below the wing.
d. the relative air pressures above and below the wing cannot be determined from the
information given.
9. When an object is submerged under water, the magnitude of the buoyant force
acting on it is
a. equal to the volume of the water displaced by the object.
b. equal to the weight of water displaced by the object.
c. equal to the volume of the object.
d. equal to the weight of the object.
10. The water pressure at the bottom of the ocean
a. is greater than the water pressure at the surface.
b. is less than the water pressure at the surface.
c. is equal to the water pressure at the surface.
d. depends on the topography of the ocean floor.
A page 4 of 8
11. Aluminum has a specific heat capacity more than twice that of copper. Apply
heat at equal rates to equal masses of aluminum and copper, and
a. the temperature of both the aluminum and the copper will increase at the same rate.
b. the temperature of the aluminum will increase faster than the temperature of the
copper.
c. the temperature of the copper will increase faster than the temperature of the
aluminum.
d. you cannot rank the rates of temperature change from the information given.
12. The surface of the earth transfers heat energy to the atmosphere by
a. conduction.
b. convection.
c. radiation.
d. all of these.
e. none of these.
13. If there were no gravity, which heat transfer mechanism would not work?
a. Conduction would not work.
b. Convection would not work.
c. Radiation would not work.
d. All of these heat transfer mechanisms would still work.
e. None of these would work.
14. When an ice cube is placed in a bowl of hot soup, heat energy from the soup
flows into the ice cube, which melts. This increases the entropy of the universe because
a. energy is becoming more evenly spread out.
b. as the ice melts, its molecules spread throughout the soup bowl.
c. both of these.
d. none of these.
A page 5 of 8
15. A bear chases three hunters, who take refuge by climbing a tree. The frustrated
bear shakes the tree back and forth. After the hunters fall out of the tree,
a. the tree oscillates back and forth faster (with a shorter period) than when the hunters
were in it.
b. the tree oscillates back and forth slower (with a longer period) than when the hunters
were in it.
c. the trees period of oscillation does not change.
d. the bear buys the hunters a case of beer.
16. The kinetic energy of a swinging pendulum is greatest
a. when its potential energy is also greatest.
b. when its speed is also greatest.
c. when its height is also greatest.
d. all of these.
17. The pendulum of a pendulum clock oscillates with a period that is slightly too
long for it to keep the correct time. How should the pendulum be adjusted to make the
clock work properly?
a. The length of the pendulum (distance from the pivot to center of mass) should be
decreased (shortened).
b. The length of the pendulum (distance from the pivot to center of mass) should be
increased (lengthened).
c. The mass of the pendulum should be decreased.
d. The mass of the pendulum should be increased.
18. The frequency of concert A is 440 Hz. The frequency of concert G is 392 Hz.
Which of the following follows from this?
a. The wavelength of A is longer than the wavelength of G.
b. The velocity of A is faster than the velocity of G.
c. A and G have the same wavelength.
d. The wavelength of G is longer than the wavelength of A.
A page 6 of 8
19. As an ocean wave travels toward the shore, a water molecule at the surface of the
water moves
a. up and down.
b. both up and down and forward and backward, making a loop.
c. forward and backward (toward and away from the shore).
d. none of these.
20. Ocean waves approach an underwater shelf over which their velocity is slower
than in the open ocean. What will the shapes and directions of the waves be as they
travel over the shelf?
a. b. c. d.
Short answer
2 problems, 5 points each.
21. Why is the amplitude of an ocean wave greater as the wave approaches the shore
than when it is traveling through the deep ocean?
As the waves approach the shore, they slow down because water waves travel more slowly
in shallow water than in deep water. This makes the wavelength decrease. Since the waves
still move the same amount of water and energy as when they were in the deep water, the
amplitude has to increase.
A page 7 of 8
22. If a college student tidies up his dorm room, does the entropy of the universe
increase or decrease? Explain your answer in terms of how matter an energy are
distributed before and after the process.
Calculation
2 problems, 5 points each.
23. A diving board bends downward 30 cm
(0.3 m) when a 100-kg man stands on its end. What
is the spring constant k of the diving board? (Dont
forget the units!)
The entropy of the universe actually increases, even though the disorder of the dorm room
may decrease. After the tidying, the matter in the dorm room may be slightly less evenly
distributed than before (clothes put away, books on the shelf, and so on). However, the
student expends energy while doing the work of cleaning the room, changing potential
energy into heat. Thus, energy becomes more spread out in the process.
By Hookes law,
F = kx.
To find k, the spring constant, we solve the Hookes law equation to give
k = F/x
The force F is the (upward) force exerted by the board, which is the negative of the mans
(downward) weight. His weight is mg = (100 kg)(9.8 m/s
2
) = 980 N = F, so
k = (980 N)/(0.3 m) = 3267 N/m
A page 8 of 8
24. An earthquake surface wave with a period of 0.5 s travels along the ground with a
velocity of 3000 m/s. What is its wavelength? (Dont forget the units!)
Extra Credit
25. (3 points) What is wrong with the physics depicted or described in this movie
clip?
The wave completes a cycle in half a second, during which time it travels 1500 m. Its
wavelength therefore must be 1500 m.
The clip describes machines using the energy output as heat by human bodies. Presumably, this
means that the machines are somehow feeding the humans (the dead were liquefied to feed
the living). Whatever source of energy the machines used to keep the humans bodies
functioning would have given the machines much more useful energy if they used it directly
instead of having the human bodies spread the energy out as heat. So, the machines would
have much more usable energy if they had just annihilated all the humans and not gone to the
trouble of keeping them in vats and enslaving their minds with the Matrix.
Aside from that, its a pretty cool movie.