Physics 1 Semester 1 Review

For the final exam, study these questions. They are taken from old tests, so use them along with this review.

Measurement and Kinematics

  1. What are the SI units for mass, length, time, and temperature?
  2. What do the metric prefixes milli-, centi-, micro- kilo-, and mega- mean?
  3. What type of graph is produced by linear, inverse, and squared relationship between variables?
  4. What is speed? How is it different from velocity?
  5. What is acceleration?
  6. In free fall, what is the acceleration? What happens to the speed of a falling object?

Laws of Motion

  1. What is Newton’s 1st law?
  2. What is Newton’s 2nd law?
  3. What is Newton’s 3rd law?
  4. What is net force?
  5. How are acceleration and net force related?
  6. If a 20 N force and a 30 N force act in the same direction on an object, what is the net force? What if they act in opposite directions?
  7. If a heavy object and a light object of the same size and shape are dropped at the same time, which one will have the greater terminal speed?
  8. Do single, unpaired forces ever occur?
  9. How do rocket engines and the firing of rifles relate to the third law?

Vectors and Projectiles

  1. What is a vector? What is a scalar?
  2. What are component vectors and resultant vectors?
  3. What can be said about the horizontal component of a projectile motion? What about the vertical component?
  4. What launch angle gives the greatest range for a projectile?
  5. How are the vertical and horizontal components of projectile motion related?
  6. What are the vertical and horizontal components of velocity at the top of a projectile’s path? What is the acceleration?

Momentum

  1. What are two ways to increase an object’s momentum?
  2. If a moving railroad freight car collides and couples with a stationary car of the same mass, how does the speed of the combination compare with the original speed of the moving car?
  3. How is momentum defined?
  4. What are the characteristics of elastic and inelastic collisions?
  5. What is impulse? What two quantities is it equal to?

Work and Energy

  1. Define work.
  2. Define power.
  3. If you double the distance a load is lifted, how is the work done changed?
  4. What property gives an object potential energy?
  5. What property gives an object kinetic energy?
  6. How does potential energy of object in elevated position relate to kinetic energy of object just before impact if it falls from that position?
  7. If an object’s speed is doubled, how is the kinetic energy changed?
  8. What is the ratio of input force to output force in a simple machine called?
  9. How is the mechanical advantage of a pulley system determined most easily?

Center of Gravity and Rotation

  1. How do the angular and linear speed for an object near the center of a merry go round compare to one towards the edge?
  2. What is the force called which causes an object to move in a circle?
  3. If an object is traveling in a circle, what is the direction is the force acting upon it?
  4. How can you locate the center of gravity of an object?
  5. Is the center of mass always at the center of an object?
  6. How does the center of gravity affect stability?
  7. If an object is thrown, about what point will it rotate?
  8. Describe the 3 types of equilibrium.
  9. What is a torque?
  10. How are torques calculated?
  11. What is meant by rotational inertia?
  12. Why does a spinning ice skater spin faster with her arms tucked in at her side?
  13. For an object to be balanced, what must be equal on both sides of the balance point?

Gravitation

  1. Describe Newton’s thoughts on the moon and gravitation
  2. Describe the effect on the gravitational force between 2 objects when the distance between them or their masses change.
  3. What is the direction of gravitational forces?
  4. What is the difference between true weightlessness and apparent weightlessness?
  5. What was Newton’s major contribution to the study of gravitation?

Problems:

  1. In a lab experiment, a 2.5 kg cart moving at 1.2m/s to the right collides with a 1.5 kg cart moving at 1.1 m/s to the left. They stick together after the collision. What is their velocity after the collision?
  2. A 22 kg crate is pulled across a rough floor by a force of 150 N. the force of friction is 110 N. What is the acceleration of the crate?
  3. A roller coaster with a mass of 350kg is lifted up the first hill to a height of 45m. How much work has been done?
  4. A projectile is launched with a velocity of 22 m/s at and angle of 35o with level ground. Find the horizontal component of the velocity.
  5. A hiker walks 3.5 km N and then 2.4 km E. Find
  6. the magnitude of the displacement
  7. the direction of the displacement
  8. An object is thrown off a cliff and it takes 6.5 s to hit the ground. How tall was the cliff? (ignore air resistance.)