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Physical Science
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Physics Review Questions
Period___________
Physical Science Mid-Term Review (Physics)
Chapter 1: The Nature of Science
1. What is science?
2. What is the difference between science and technology?
3. How are hypotheses tested?
4. What do you called a proposed solution to a scientific problem?
5. This is a statement about how things work in nature that seems to be true all the
time…
6. What is a theory?
7. How does a theory differ from a scientific law?
8. This is the factor that can cause a change in the results of an experiment…
9. This is the factor that changes as the independent variable changes…
10. Which of these two variables can you manipulate in an experiment?
11. Why do you need a control in an experiment?
12. What does it mean to have constants in an experiment? Give an example of an
experiment run with constants.
13. Why can’t some hypotheses be tested?
14. What are some options when experimentation is not possible?
15. Why do you need to have standards when measuring things?
16. What are the basic steps of the scientific method?
17. What is a conversion factor?
18. What is a manipulated variable?
19. What is a responding variable?
20. What kind of information is best shown in a line graph?
21. What kind of information is best shown on a circle graph?
22. You should never allow personal _______ to influence your analysis or
conclusion of an experiment.
23. Be able to convert units from Metric  English using the “+” method.
24. Be able to convert numbers into scientific notation.
25. Be able to read a graph and answer questions about that graph.
26. Be able to use a data table to create a graph.
Physical Science
Physics Review Questions
Chapter 2: Motion
27. What is frame of reference?
28. What is the most commonly used frame of reference?
29. What is motion?
30. How do we measure motion?
31. What is speed and how do you calculate the speed of an object?
32. What is the difference between constant speed and average speed?
33. What is the speed of an object at rest?
34. When an object covers equal distance in equal amounts of time, it is said to be
moving at a(n) _____________ speed.
35. Total distance divided by total time equals ___________________.
36. What is the difference between speed and velocity?
37. Velocity describes both speed and ______________.
38. Acceleration is defined as the change in velocity divided by_______________.
39. Negative acceleration is called _____________________.
40. If an object does not speed up or slow down but it does continue to change
direction, it is said to be ___________________.
41. An eagle flies 250 m in a period of 5 seconds. What is its speed?
42. A swimmer swims exactly 110 m toward the shore in 72 seconds. Calculate this
swimmer’s velocity.
43. If a cyclist travels 5 hours at an average velocity of 12 km/hr southwest, how
much distance will she cover?
44. How long would it take an Olympic skier to finish a 2.6 km race if he skied at an
average velocity of 28 m/s downhill? (Hint: Remember to convert your distances
to the same unit before plugging them into an equation!)
45. Determine the acceleration of a biker based on the following table:
Time (s)
Velocity (m/s)
0
0
1
3
2
6
3
9
4
12
46. During a race, a sprinter increases from 5 m/s to 7.5 m/s over a period of 1.25 s.
What is this sprinter’s acceleration?
47. Draw a graph of constant speed.
48. Draw a graph of average speed.
49. Draw a graph of acceleration.
50. Velocities in the same direction are__________. Velocities in opposite directions
are _______________. Give an example of each.
Physical Science
Physics Review Questions
Chapter 3: Forces
51. What is a force?
52. What is a net force?
53. What does it mean if there is a net force of zero?
54. What is a balanced force? Give an example.
55. What is an unbalanced force? Give an example.
56. Define friction.
57. In which direction does friction move?
58. List the types of friction and define each.
59. Which type of friction has the most force? The least?
60. What are some factors that could cause an object to encounter more friction?
61. What is air resistance? What causes it to increase?
62. What is Newton’s 1st Law of Motion?
63. Why is it often referred to as the law of inertia?
64. Why do infant car seats face backwards?
65. What is Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion?
66. What is the mathematical equation associated with the 2nd Law?
67. If the net force impressed on a sliding block is tripled, by how much does the
acceleration increase?
68. What is the net force that acts on a 10-N falling object that encounters 4-N of air
resistance? Or 10N of air resistance?
69. What is the acceleration of gravity?
70. What is free fall?
71. What two principal factors affect the force of air resistance on a falling object?
72. What is the acceleration of a falling object that has reached terminal velocity?
73. How does a parachute help a sky diver?
74. What is weight?
75. Is weight equal to mass?
76. What is Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion?
77. Consider hitting a baseball with a bat. If we call the force on the bat against the
ball the action force, identify the reaction force.
78. What happens to a cannon when it fires a cannon ball? What happens to the
cannon ball? Are your observations the same? If not, explain why they are
different.
79. How does Newton’s 3rd Law apply to the Space Shuttle?
Physical Science
Physics Review Questions
Chapter 4 & 5: Energy & Work and Power
80. Energy (does / doesn't) have to involve motion.
81. Energy is the ability to ______.
82. Energy is measured in _____.
83. When you ride a playground swing, your _____ energy is greatest at
the highest point.
84. As mass decreases, kinetic energy _____.
85. Lowering an object _____ its potential energy.
86. The sum of potential and kinetic energy in a system is called the ___.
87. Energy in the form of motion is ____ energy.
88. According to the law of conservation of energy, mechanical energy
can be ____ to heat energy.
89. A rock at the edge of a cliff has ____ energy because of its position.
90. When you put on the brakes of a bicycle, friction causes some of the
mechanical energy to ____ to thermal energy.
91. According to the law of conservation of energy, energy ____ be
created or destroyed.
92. Energy that is stored is ____ energy.
93. Energy stored in food you eat is ____energy
94. ____ energy is the total potential and kinetic energy in a system.
95. Energy is measured in ____.
96. ____ energy is stored in a stretched rubber band.
97. A book sitting on a shelf has ____energy.
98. Gravitational potential energy depends on the ____
99. Which of the following is an example of mechanical energy?
nuclear energy chemical energy potential energy light energy
100. The kind of energy associated with atomic bonds is ____
101. The primary source of the sun's energy is _____
102. A pendulum is swinging back and forth and has a kinetic energy of
400 J at a particular point in its path. Which of the following
statements is not true?
a) Both the kinetic and potential energy are decreasing
b) When the kinetic energy is zero, the potential energy will be 400 J
greater
c) The minimum kinetic energy is zero
d) The potential energy increases when the kinetic energy decreases
103. Which of the following statements is not true?
a) The energy of a closed system is constant
b) The energy of an open system can increase
c) If the kinetic energy of an object decreases, the non-mechanical
energy will decrease
d) Energy cannot be created or destroyed
104. The law of conservation of energy states that ____
105. Increasing the speed of an object ____ its potential energy
106. The SI unit for energy is the ____.
107. You can calculate kinetic energy by using the equation ____.
Physical Science
Physics Review Questions
108. You can calculate gravitational potential energy by using the equation ____.
109. A bus engine transfers chemical potential energy into ____ so that the bus
moves.
110. According to the law of conservation of energy, the total amount of
energy in the universe ____.
111. ___ can be defined as the ability to do work.
112. The formula for calculating kinetic energy can be written as ____.
113. ___ is the stored energy resulting from the relative positions of
objects in a system.
114. ___is the energy of a moving object due to its motion.
115. The sum of the kinetic and potential energy of large-scale objects in a
system is called ___.
116. The source of the energy when dynamite explodes is ___ energy.
117. The source of the sun's energy is ____.
118. When a system exchanges energy with the environment outside the
system, it is called a(n) ____.
119. A(n) ___ exchanges energy with the outside.
120. Energy is transferred as ____ when mechanical energy decreases and
temperature increases.
121. If an object has energy, this means that the object has the ability to
cause ____.
122. If you double the velocity of an object, you increase its kinetic energy
by a factor of _____.
123. Stored energy is called ____ energy.
124. On a swing your potential and kinetic energies change, but your ____
energy does not.
125. What is work?
126. What unit is used to measure work?
127. What is the formula used to calculate work?
128. Rotate the equation to solve for force…to solve for distance…
129. What is force measured in?
130. Which requires more work?
a. A 20,000N car being pushed off the road, but not budging
b. A 2 kg brick being lifted 2m off the floor
c. A 20N log being rolled 1m off a walking path
131. What is power?
132. What unit is used to measure power?
133. What is the formula used to calculate power?
134. Rotate the equation to solve for work…to solve for time…
135. Can you still calculate power if you are only given weight in
Newtons, time in seconds, and distance in meters?
136. What measures the rate at which work is done?
Physical Science
Physics Review Questions
Chapter 11: Waves
137. What does a wave transport?
138. What are two major categories of waves?
139. What is a medium?
140. Which category requires a medium?
141. Which category can move through a vacuum?
142. How does a transverse wave travel?
143. How does a longitudinal wave travel?
144. Define the following terms:
a. Crest
b. Trough
c. Amplitude
d. Wavelength
e. Frequency
f. Period
g. Compression
h. Rarefaction
145. What is the formula to calculate the velocity of a wave?
146. Why doesn’t a beach flood when waves crash into the shore?
147. What type of wave is light?
148. What type of wave is sound?
149. Which type of material does a light wave travel fastest in?
150. Which type of material does a sound wave travel fastest in?
151. Define the following terms:
a. Reflection
b. Refraction
c. Angle of incidence
d. Angle of reflection
e. Diffraction
f. Interference
g. Constructive interference
h. Destructive interference
i. Resonance
j. Doppler Effect
Chapter 13: Electromagnetic Waves
152. What kind of wave is an electromagnetic wave?
153. How fast can it travel in space (vacuum)?
154. Does it travel faster or slower in air?
155. What is the order of the electromagnetic spectrum?
156. Which type of wave has the longest wavelength? The shortest?
157. Which type of wave has the lowest frequency? The longest?
158. Which type of wave is used mostly for communication?
159. Which type of wave is used in medical imaging?