STEM SCHOOLS Physics – First Year Secondary

Midterm Examination – November 2014

Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers correctly the question.

1- The active ingredient in a medicine is 400 mg. This is equivalent to …

a) 4x10-3 g
b) 4x10 3 g
c) 4x10-4 kg
d) 4x10-6 kg

2- In an experiment to determine the acceleration due to gravity, a student recorded the values
she obtained as indicated in the opposite table. Such measurements are described as being …
a) accurate not precise
b) precise not accurate 10.52 m/s2
c) neither precise nor accurate 10.52 m/s2
d) both precise and accurate 10.53 m/s2
10.52 m/s2
3- A student has got a zero-error in his ammeter. He, repeatedly,
measured the electric current intensity in a circuit. That would
make his measurement has …
a) a systematic error
b) a random error
c) unpredictable error
d) no precision

4- A football player weighs 195 pounds has kicked the ball over 40 yards at initial speed
34 mile per hour. The units used in this description belong to …
a) The international system of units
b) The French system of units
c) The German system of units
d) The British system of units

5- The actual length of a garden is 250 m. A measuring instrument showed the length to be
254 m. The relative error in the measured length of the garden = …
a) 0.016
b) 0.04
c) 0.08

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STEM SCHOOLS Physics – First Year Secondary
Midterm Examination – November 2014

d) 0.16
6- A boy weighs exactly 36.5 kg. When weighed on a defective scale, he weighed 38 kg. His
younger sister weighs 14 kg on the same defective scale, her actual mass would be …
a) 12.5 kg
b) 13.4 kg
c) 14.6 kg
d) 15.5 kg

7- The diagram below illustrates a dartboard used to explain the concepts of precision and
accuracy. The diagram that represents high precision and low accuracy is …

a) b) c) d)
8- The relation that represents a physical quantity with dimensional formula M L2 T-2
a) mass x acceleration
b) mass x velocity
c) density x depth x free fall acceleration
d) mass x height x free fall acceleration

9- g/cm3 , and kg/m3 are units of measuring density

a) g/cm3 is a larger unit than kg/m3
b) g/cm3 is a smaller unit than kg/m3
c) g/cm3 is an equivalent unit to kg/m3
d) g/cm3 is the international unit of density

10- Sarah likes to measure the diameter of an electric wire to an accuracy that reaches 0.01mm.
What tool would she use to fulfill her aim?
a) The ruler
b) The micrometer
c) The Vernier calipers
d) The protractor

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STEM SCHOOLS Physics – First Year Secondary
Midterm Examination – November 2014

11- The length of each side of a wooden cube is measured as 10cm with an uncertainty of ± 2mm.
Which of the following is the absolute uncertainty in the volume of the wooden cube?
a) 0.06 cm3
b) 0.08 cm3
c) 60 cm3
d) 80 cm3

12- Suppose A = B x C and the dimensional formulae of A and B are MLT-2 and L2 respectively.
The dimensional formula of C is …
a) ML3T-2
b) ML2T-2
c) ML-3T-2
d) ML-1T-2

13- The nail can penetrate through the wooden block when the reaction of the
block on the nail is
a) Greater than the action of the hammer on the nail
b) Equal to the reaction of the nail on the hammer
c) Less than the action of the nail on the block
d) less than the action of the hammer on the nail

14- You are familiar with the fact that a rifle recoils when fired. The bullet pushes backwards upon
the rifle. The acceleration of the recoiling rifle is ...
a) Smaller than the acceleration of the bullet.
b) The same magnitude as the acceleration of the bullet.
c) greater than the acceleration of the bullet.
d) Zero since the rifle recoils at uniform velocity.

15- The kangaroo can jump and consequently move forward because of
Newton’s third law. The force exerted by it upon the ground is …
a) Smaller than the force exerted by the ground upon it
b) greater than the force exerted by the ground upon it
c) Equal to the force exerted by the ground upon it.
d) Nothing to do with the ground. The kangaroo jumps by its muscular
effort.

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STEM SCHOOLS Physics – First Year Secondary
Midterm Examination – November 2014

16- A couple of books are placed on a table. The net force acting on the book B is …
a) 2 N upwards 4N A
b) 6 N downwards 6N B
c) 10 N downwards
d) Zero

17- Using the previous figure, how many action and reaction forces can be identified?
a) one action force and one reaction force
b) two action forces and two reaction forces
c) three action forces and three reaction forces
d) three action forces and one reaction force

18- A metal block is suspended by your hand through a string. The reaction to the force of gravity
on the block is the force exerted by:
a) the string on the block
b) the block on the string
c) the string on your hand
d) the block on Earth

19- The action-reaction forces we encounter in Newton's Third Law

a) Always cancel each other out.
b) Always act on different objects.
c) They disappear once the object starts motion.
d) May be perpendicular to each other in some cases

20- Why can you exert greater force on the pedals of a bicycle if you pull up on the handlebars?

a) Your weight then decreases to free your muscles from the

load of your body.
b) The centre of the bicycle weight shifts forward helping to
decrease load on back wheel.
c) The reaction of the handlebars on you, pushing down on
your shoulders let you exert more force on the pedal.
d) To make peddles beyond your feet. Pushing back is stronger.

21- The reaction of the Moon to the force of Earth’s gravity …

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STEM SCHOOLS Physics – First Year Secondary
Midterm Examination – November 2014

a) Pulls upon Earth causing tides in seas and oceans.

b) Is less than the gravitational force of the Earth on the Moon.
c) Causes the Moon to rotate in an orbit around the Earth
d) Appears only in when the Moon phase is full moon.

22- A man is attempting to push a chair across the floor exerting a force of 50 N .When will the
chair exert a force of 50 N on the man?
a) only if the man and the chair are at rest
b) only if the man and the chair are accelerating
c) only if the man and the chair are moving with constant velocity
d) in all of the above cases

23- In the previous question, the man succeeded in moving the chair at constant velocity.
Then, the frictional force with the floor is …
a) Equal to 50 N
b) greater than 50 N
c) less than 50N
d) zero

24- Somewhere in the outer space an astronaut threw a rock straight

forward (neglecting the gravitational forces at such spot), …
a) The astronaut applied more force on the rock than it did on him.
b) The rock keeps moving in a straight line at constant speed.
c) The rock slows down after a while to fall down somewhere.
d) The astronaut and the rock were accelerated equally.

25- In the opposite diagram, two 10N weights are attached to a spring scale. The scale reads
a) zero Pulley Spring scale Pulley
b) 10 N
c) 20 N
d) some other reading
10 N 10 N

26- If the force on the carriage is equal and opposite of the force on the horse, how can the horse
pull the carriage?

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STEM SCHOOLS Physics – First Year Secondary
Midterm Examination – November 2014

a) The horse cannot pull the carriage because

the carriage pulls as hard on the horse as
the horse pulls on the carriage.
b) The carriage moves because the horse pulls
slightly harder on the carriage.
c) The horse pulls the carriage before it has
time to react.
d) The horse is joined to the ground by its hooves whilst the carriage rolls on wheels.

Questions: 27 – 28

The forces acting on an airplane flying in a straight line at constant speed can be represented
pictorially in the shown free body diagram. Lift

Thrust Drag

Weight

27- Which statement is true?

a) The thrust is greater than the drag but the lift equals the weight.
b) The thrust equals the drag but the lift is greater than the weight.
c) The thrust equals the drag and the lift equals the weight.
d) The thrust is greater than the drag and the lift is greater than the weight.

28- For the plane mentioned in question 28, the thrust is 40 000 N and the weight is 20 000 N. If
the plane is accelerating in a straight line at 15 m/s2 and the free fall acceleration is 10 m/s2. At
that time the drag equals …
a) 10 000 N
b) 20 000 N
c) 40 000 N
d) 60 000 N

Questions: 29 – 30

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STEM SCHOOLS Physics – First Year Secondary
Midterm Examination – November 2014

The opposite graph represents the motion of a car over a period of time. You can notice that
the graph represents four stages of motion over equal intervals of time; AB, BC, CD, and DE

v (m/s)
C D

A B
E t (s)

29- The stage in which the car motion belongs to Newton’s first law is stage …
a) BC only
b) DE only
c) AB and CD
d) BC and DE

30- The stage in which the resultant force acting on the car is the greatest …
a) AB
b) BC
c) CD
d) DE