AAPT Quiz
PhysicsBowl 2021 (Part 1)
All Division I students, START HERE.
All Division II students – skip the first 10 questions, begin on #11.
*** Treat g = 10 m/s
2
in ALL problems, #1-#50.
1. The Joule (J) is a derived unit of energy in the International System of Units. It is equal to which of the following
2. A force, F, could be applied to a cart in a variety of directions as shown below. Which of the applications of F would result in no work being done?
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) All of them result in work being done.
3. A brick is moving at a speed of 3 m/s and a pebble is moving at a speed of 5 m/s. If both objects have the same kinetic energy, what is the ratio of the brick's mass to the pebble's mass?
A) 25:9
B) 5:3
C) 4:1
D) 3:1
E) √5: √3
4. The figure shown below shows the position-time graph of an object traveling in a straight line, starting out moving to the right (the positive x-direction). At which points is the object moving to the left?
A) B and F
B) E and F
C) A, B, and C
D) C, D, and E
E) None of the above
5. A hole with a radius of 1.0 mm develops in the bottom of a 15-m tall tank filled to the top with water. The tank is open at the top. At what rate will water initially flow out of the hole?
A) 5.4 x 10
-3
m
3
/s
B) 5.4 x 10
-4
m
3
/s
C) 5.4 x 10
-5
m
3
/s
D) 5.4 x 10
-6
m
3
/s
E) 5.4 x 10
-7
m
3
/s
6. Which of the following scientists was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1956 and again in 1972?
A) John Bardeen
B) Enrico Fermi
C) Murray Gell-Mann
D) Hans Bethe
E) Wolfgang Paul
7. Two cranes are used to lift loads vertically at constant speed from the ground to the top of a building. Crane 1 lifts an 8000-N load a height of 40 m in a time of 20 minutes. Crane 2 lifts a 6400-N load a height of 50 m in a time of 16 minutes. Which statement below correctly compares the mechanical power output of each crane?
A) The cranes have the same power because they perform the same amount of work.
B) The cranes have the same power because the ratio of force exerted to time is the same.
C) Crane 1 has a greater power because it exerts more force to lift the load.
D) Crane 1 has a greater power because it raises the load over a longer time.
E) Crane 2 has a greater power because it performs the same amount of work in less time.
8. An ice skater is rotating with her arms extended. When she pulls in her arms, her rate of rotation increases. No external torques act on the skater. Which of the following statements is true?
A) Her moment of inertia increased.
B) Her kinetic energy is conserved.
C) Her angular momentum decreased.
D) She does work when pulling in her arms.
E) Her angular momentum increased.
9. A rock that has a mass of 12 kg is sliding on a rough, horizontal surface. It has 24 J of kinetic energy and the friction force on it is a constant 0.50 N. What distance will it slide before coming to rest?
A) 2.0 m
B) 12 m
C) 24 m
D) 36m
E) 48 m
10. The average density of blood is 1.06 × 10
3
kg/m
3
. Imagine that you donate a pint of blood during a local blood drive. What mass of blood, in grams, have you donated? (1 pt = 1/2 L, 1 L = 1000 cm
3
.)
A) 530 g
B) 0.530 g
C) 5300 g
D) 5.30 × 10
5
g
E) 53 g
11. An object of mass
m
initially at rest experiences a uniform, non-zero acceleration. Which of the following statements is correct?
A) The object’s displacement is directly proportional to its time of travel.
B) The object’s velocity is directly proportional to its time of travel.
C) The object’s acceleration is directly proportional to its time of travel.
D) The object’s kinetic energy is directly proportional to its time of travel.
E) The net force acting on the object is directly proportional to its time of travel.
12. A person places some water on their fingertip and rubs the fingertip around the top surface of a water glass to produce a particular musical tone. This process is most closely associated with which of the following phenomena?
A) Diffraction
B) Dispersion
C) Doppler effect
D) Refraction
E) Resonance
13. An object is placed 20 cm in front of a converging lens with a focal length of 30 cm. What is the distance between the object and its image?
A) 8 cm
B) 32 cm
C) 40 cm
D) 60 cm
E) 80 cm
14. A person standing 5.0 m from a barking dog measures the sound intensity level to be 65 dB. What would be the intensity level at that same distance if two identical dogs very close to each other are barking?
A) 34 dB
B) 65 dB
C) 68 dB
D) 130 dB
E) 136 dB
15. In the Millikan oil-drop experiment the UPWARD force on a stationary oil drop is due to the:
A) gravitational and electric fields
B) gravitational field and the charge on the drop
C) electric field only
D) electric field and the charge on the drop
E) charge on the drop only
16. A uniform wooden block is a rectangular prism with dimensions of 10 cm x 6 cm x 2 cm. The block will be placed on a level table in one of three possible orientations with a side parallel to the tabletop. Let PL equal the largest possible pressure the block can exert on the table and PS equal the smallest possible pressure the block can exert on the table. What is the ratio PL/PS?
A) 5/3
B) 3
C) 5
D) 9
E) 25
17. Several samples of different ideal gases all have the same temperature. Which of the following graphs could show the relationship between the atomic mass of the gas and the rms speed of the gas atoms?
18. Two separate simple pendulums are swinging back and forth. It is found that pendulum A has twice the frequency of pendulum B. Which statement could account for this difference?
A) Pendulum B is twice as long as pendulum A.
B) Pendulum B was released before pendulum A.
C) Pendulum B is twice as massive as pendulum A.
D) The length of pendulum B is four times the length of pendulum A.
E) The mass of pendulum B is four times the mass of pendulum A.
19. At t = 0, Ball 1 is rolling up a ramp and Ball 2 is released from the top of the same ramp. The balls don’t collide. Which velocity vs. time graph below best represents the motion of the two balls?
A) A
B) B
C) C
D) D
E) Both A & D
20. A simple and correct way to comprehend satellites orbiting Earth is to view them as
A) balanced between gravitational and centripetal forces.
B) beyond the main pull of Earth’s gravity.
C) in mechanical equilibrium with a net force of zero.
D) having sufficient tangential velocities to fall around rather than into Earth.
E) All of the above.
21. Two balloons are charged identically and uniformly by rubbing them with wool. One is placed on a scale which is then tared. No charge is transferred to the scale. The other is then placed above it separated by 30 cm. The scale reads 0.32 grams. What is the closest estimate for the charge on each balloon?
A) 200 C
B) 200 mC
C) 200 μC
D) 200 nC
E) 200 pC
22. A fighter jet pilot is capable of tolerating an upward force that is equivalent to seven times their weight. This pilot is traveling at a speed of 250 m/s while pulling out of a vertical dive. What is the minimum radius of curvature of the plane’s dive path?
A) 4.25 m
B) 3.64 m
C) 1042 m
D) 893 m
E) 450 m
23. The mass of Mars is 6.40 × 10
23
kg. Its radius is 3395 km. What is the mean density of Mars in kg/m
3
?
A) 9.76 × 10
2
B) 1.95 × 10
3
C) 3.90 × 10
3
D) 7.81 × 10
3
E) 7.94 x 10
4
24. In a panic, you squeeze the brake handle on your bicycle, lock up the rear wheel, and skid a certain distance on a straight, level path before stopping. If you had been traveling twice as fast, what distance would you have skidded, under the same conditions?
A) You would have skidded 4 times farther.
B) You would have skidded twice as far.
C) You would have skidded 1.4 times farther.
D) You would have skidded 8 times farther.
E) It is impossible to tell from the information g
Use the following information to answer Questions #25 and #26.
Two balls, A and B, are launched simultaneously from the origin (O) on a level surface at the respective angles of 60° and 30° shown in the picture. Ball A has a launch speed v
while Ball B has a launch speed 2v. Ball A lands T seconds after launch at a horizontal distance D from the origin.
25. How many seconds after launch does Ball B land?
A) 0.50T
B) 0.87T
C) 1.15T
D) 1.73T
E) 2.00T
26. What horizontal distance separates the landing points of Ball A and Ball B?
A) 2D
B) 3D
C) 4D
D) 5D
E) 6D
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