Exam-style practice (harder): Physics multiple choice quiz

A ball is launched from level ground at 20 m/s at 30° above the horizontal. Air resistance is negligible and g = 9.8 m/s².

What is the maximum height reached by the ball?

A car drives at constant speed over the top of a rounded hill whose shape is a circular arc.

At the very top of the hill, which statement about the forces on the car is correct?

A satellite is in a circular orbit of radius r around Earth with period T. It is moved to a new circular orbit of radius 4r.

Which option gives the new period and the change in orbital speed?

The table compares four planets with Earth.

Which planet has the greatest gravitational field strength at its surface?

An electron moves from left to right across the page and enters a uniform magnetic field directed into the page.

Which statement describes the electron's motion in the field?

A power station transmits a constant 100 kW through transmission lines with a total resistance of 5.0 Ω. The transmission voltage is raised from 1.0 kV to 10 kV using a step-up transformer.

How does the power lost as heat in the lines change?

Light of different frequencies is shone on a metal surface and the maximum kinetic energy of the emitted photoelectrons is measured.

Which conclusion is supported by the data?

Muons have a mean lifetime of 2.2 μs in their own rest frame. A muon travels at 0.98c relative to Earth (c = 3.0 x 10⁸ m/s).

According to an observer on Earth, how far does the muon travel during one mean lifetime?

The spectrum of star A peaks at a wavelength of 400 nm. The spectrum of star B peaks at 600 nm. Wien's displacement constant b = 2.898 x 10⁻³ m K.

Which statement is correct?

Uranium-238 ($^{238}_{92}$U) decays through a series of alpha and beta-minus decays to the stable isotope lead-206 ($^{206}_{82}$Pb).

How many alpha and beta-minus decays occur in this series?

The activity of a radioactive sample was measured every 2 hours.

What will the activity be at 20 hours, and what fraction of the original radioactive nuclei will remain?

A student measures the force on a 5.0 cm length of wire held perpendicular to a uniform magnetic field, for five different currents.

Which method gives the most accurate value of the magnetic field strength, B?

In a double-slit experiment, laser light passes through two slits 0.25 mm apart and forms a pattern on a screen 2.0 m away. The student measures the distance from the 1st to the 11th bright fringe as 50 mm.

What is the wavelength of the laser light?

A hydrogen discharge tube emits visible light of wavelength 486 nm. Use $\frac{1}{\lambda} = R\left(\frac{1}{n_f^2} - \frac{1}{n_i^2}\right)$ with $R = 1.097 \times 10^{7}$ m⁻¹.

Which electron transition produces this spectral line?