UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA

School of Electrical & Information Engineering (Applied Physics)

ENGINEERING PHYSICS
QUIZ 1 [ week 5 ]
Time: 20 minutes Marks: 20
Name .....................................................................................

QUESTIONS ( 9 MARKS ) ANSWERS

1. Which of the following is the longest?

A. 103 m C. 1 x 109 µm
B. 1,000,000 cm D. 100 nm

2. The prefix micro represents …

A. 1/100 D. 1/100,000
B. 1/1000 E. 1/1,000,000
C. 1/10,000

3. A health conscious student on a bicycle travels 12 km in 40 minutes. The average speed of the student is …
A. 0.3 km/hr C. 18 km/hr
B. 8 km/hr D. 48 km/hr

4. Which of the following has 3 significant figures?

A. 123.000 C. 1.23x1027
B. 0.123 D. 7.123

5. A stone is thrown upwards from a roof at the same time as another identical stone is dropped from the roof. The
two stones will …
A. reach the ground at the same time,
B. have the same speed when they reach the ground,
C. have the same acceleration when they reach the ground,
D. none of the above is correct.

6. If an object is thrown downward (rather than released from rest) its downward acceleration after
release (in the absence of air resistance) is
A. less than 9.8 m/ s2,
B. 9.8 m/ s2,
C. greater than 9.8 m/s2
D. insufficient information.

7. Two skydivers jump from the plane at the same instant in time. Skydiver A weighs twice as much as skydiver B and
they both forget to put on their parachutes. Neglect air resistance, then which statement below is true?
A. Ski diver A hits the ground before B,
B. Ski diver B hits the ground before A,
C. they both hit the ground at the same time,
D. there is insufficient information in this problem to enable one to determine the answer.

8. The centripetal force needed to keep the space shuttle in orbit around the earth is provided by …
A. constantly rotating the shuttle,
B. booster rockets,
C. the gravitational force between the moon and the earth,
D. the gravitational force between the shuttle and the earth.

9. In order to cause a moving object to follow a circular path, it is necessary to apply …

A. an inertial force,
B. a frictional force,
C. a gravitational force,
D. a centripetal force.
 QUESTIONS & PROBLEMS ( 12 MARKS )

Question 1 (4 marks)
It is said that if all the engines on a Jumbo Jet fail it will “glide like a rock” Briefly discuss the logic of this statement,
making sure you address/discuss the following concepts; terminal velocity, acceleration due to gravity and the forces
on the rock/jetliner.
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Problem 1 (4 marks)
The record for the ski jump is 180 m set in 1989. Assume the jumper comes off of the end of the ski jump horizontally
and falls 90 m vertically before contacting the snow. What was the initial horizontal speed of the jumper?
a) 18.4 ms-1, b) 4.28 ms-1, c) 42 ms-1 or d) 84 ms-1 Show all of your calculation and draw a
diagram to illustrate this situation.
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Problem 2 (4 marks)
If a crate of cargo is released from an aircraft during horizontal flight and its parachute does not open, how high was
the aircraft flying if the cargo crate hits the ground 16 seconds after it was released? Show all of your calculation and
draw a diagram to illustrate this situation.
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