Physics 1 Semester 2 Review

  1. What is meant by the term conservation of charge?
  2. Upon what does the force between two electric charges depend?
  3. How does the electrostatic force change when the distance between charges is doubled? When it is halved?
  4. What determines whether a material will be an electric conductor or insulator?
  5. How do like charges affect each other? What about opposite charges?
  6. How will a charged electroscope be affected by the approach of an oppositely charged rod?
  7. What is the electric field inside a charged metal sphere?
  8. What electrical quantity is the same throughout a series circuit?
  9. What electrical quantity is the same in all branches of a parallel circuit?
  10. How does the total resistance of a parallel combination of resistors compare with the individual resistance values?
  11. What is necessary for charge to flow between two points?
  12. What is the unit for current? For potential? For resistance? For power? For capacitance?
  13. What is Ohm’s law? Be prepared to use it to solve for one quantity if you are given the other two.
  14. What is alternating current?
  15. What is the source of magnetic fields?
  16. How is the magnetic field of a wire changed when it is turned into a loop?
  17. What are magnetic domains?
  18. What is the function of a transformer? a galvanometer? a generator? a motor?
  19. How does the induced voltage in a coil relate to the number of turns in the coil?
  20. If a transformer is composed of a 100-turn primary and a 50-turn secondary and is connected to 120V, what will be the secondary voltage?
  21. How are longitudinal and transverse waves different?
  22. How is wave speed calculated?
  23. How are wave frequency and the period related?
  24. What are constructive and destructive interference?
  25. What is meant by “in phase” and “out of phase”?
  26. What property of a pendulum affects its period?
  27. What are the major divisions of the electromagnetic spectrum in order of increasing frequency? How do the wavelengths of this list vary?
  28. What is the speed of the above waves?
  29. How are electromagnetic waves and sound waves different?
  30. Is the speed of light the same in all materials? If not, how does it change?
  31. What is the modern view of the nature of light?
  32. What are complimentary colors?
  33. What determines the color of light?
  34. Why is the sky blue?
  35. What is the law of reflection?
  36. What is refraction and when does it occur?
  37. What is dispersion and when does it occur?
  38. What is the cause of a rainbow?
  39. What is the meant by the critical angle of a material?
  40. What are the characteristics of real images? Of virtual images?
  41. What types of images can be produced by a single converging lens or mirror? A single diverging lens or mirror?
  42. What type of lens will correct farsighted vision? Nearsighted vision?
  43. What is chromatic aberration?
  44. What is diffraction and when does it occur?
  45. What is thin film interference and when does it occur?
  46. What is coherent light?
  47. What is the process that produces coherent light in a laser?
  48. How does the speed of sound compare with the speed of light?
  49. What types of materials transmit sound the best?
  50. What is resonance and when does it occur?
  51. What type of wave is a sound wave?
  52. Is the speed of sound in air constant? If not, upon what does it depend?
  53. What are beats, and what causes them?
  54. What wave characteristic determines the pitch of a sound?
  55. What wave characteristic determines the volume of a sound?
  56. What is the Doppler effect?
  57. What other important law of physics is closely related to the 1st law of thermodynamics?
  58. What is entropy?
  59. What does the 2nd law of thermodynamics say concerning entropy and natural systems?
  60. What is heat?
  61. What does temperature measure?