Mechanics (Q1–Q25)

1. What is the SI unit of force?
2. A car accelerates from rest to $20\text{ m/s}$ in $5\text{ s}$. What is its average acceleration?
3. What is the displacement of an object that completes one full revolution around a circular path of radius $R$?
4. Which of Newton’s laws states that every action has an equal and opposite reaction?
5. What is the formula for kinetic energy?
6. If the mass of an object is doubled while its velocity remains constant, what happens to its momentum?
7. What is the work done on an object when a force of $10\text{ N}$ moves it $5\text{ m}$ in the direction of the force?
8. What type of collision conserves both total momentum and total kinetic energy?
9. What is the acceleration due to gravity near the surface of Earth (standard value in $\text{m/s}^2$)?
10. What force provides the necessary acceleration to keep a planet in orbit around the Sun?
11. What is the rate of doing work or transferring energy called?
12. If a project is launched at an angle of $45^\circ$, how does its range compare to other launch angles (assuming equal initial speed)?
13. What is the rotational equivalent of force?
14. An object is in static equilibrium if which two net vector quantities equal zero?
15. What physical quantity is represented by the slope of a position-versus-time graph?
16. What physical quantity is represented by the area under a force-versus-time graph?
17. State Hooke’s Law for an ideal spring.
18. Does normal force always act parallel or perpendicular to the surface of contact?
19. What is the weight of a $10\text{ kg}$ object on Earth ($g = 9.8\text{ m/s}^2$)?
20. What happens to the gravitational force between two masses if the distance between them is doubled?
21. What is the moment of inertia a measure of?
22. If no net external torque acts on a system, what quantity is conserved?
23. What is the escape velocity expression from the surface of a planet of mass $M$ and radius $R$?
24. What is the SI unit of power?
25. What form of energy depends on an object’s position within a gravitational field?

Thermodynamics & Properties of Matter (Q26–Q40)

26. What is the SI unit of absolute temperature?
27. State the First Law of Thermodynamics in equation form ($\Delta U = \dots$).
28. Which law of thermodynamics establishes the concept of entropy?
29. What is absolute zero in degrees Celsius?
30. Write the Ideal Gas Law equation.
31. What process occurs at a constant temperature?
32. What process occurs at a constant volume?
33. What process involves zero heat exchange ($Q = 0$)?
34. What mode of heat transfer occurs through direct particle-to-particle contact without mass transport?
35. What mode of heat transfer involves the movement of fluids due to density differences?
36. What mode of heat transfer does not require a material medium?
37. What physical quantity measures a substance’s resistance to flow?
38. State Archimedes’ Principle regarding buoyant force.
39. What principle states that an increase in the speed of a fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in static pressure?
40. What is the ratio of mass to volume called?

Waves, Oscillations & Optics (Q41–Q60)

41. What is the time required for one complete cycle of a periodic motion called?
42. What is the reciprocal of period?
43. What type of wave causes particles of the medium to vibrate parallel to the direction of wave propagation?
44. Are sound waves longitudinal or transverse?
45. Are light waves longitudinal or transverse?
46. What phenomenon causes a shift in observed frequency when a source moves relative to an observer?
47. What law relates the angle of incidence to the angle of refraction using refractive indices?
48. What is the speed of light in a vacuum (approximate value)?
49. What optical phenomenon causes light to bend around obstacles or through narrow apertures?
50. What condition is required for Total Internal Reflection to occur regarding indices of refraction ($n_1$ vs $n_2$)?
51. What type of lens converges parallel rays of light to a focus?
52. Is a image produced by a plane mirror real or virtual?
53. What wave property determines loudness in sound waves?
54. What wave property determines pitch in sound waves?
55. What pattern is created when two overlapping waves add together constructively and destructively?
56. What is the fundamental wavelength ($\lambda$) of a standing wave on a string of length $L$ fixed at both ends?
57. What optical device uses refraction to split white light into its component colors?
58. What term describes the distance between two consecutive crests of a wave?
59. What property of light remains unchanged when it crosses from one medium into another?
60. What is the focal length of a flat plane mirror?

Electricity & Magnetism (Q61–Q80)

61. What is the SI unit of electric charge?
62. State Coulomb’s Law for the force between two point charges $q_1$ and $q_2$.
63. What is the SI unit of electric potential (or potential difference)?
64. Write Ohm’s Law relating current ($I$), voltage ($V$), and resistance ($R$).
65. How do you find the equivalent resistance of two resistors $R_1$ and $R_2$ connected in series?
66. How do you find the equivalent resistance of two resistors $R_1$ and $R_2$ connected in parallel?
67. What instrument measures electric current in a circuit?
68. Should an ideal voltmeter have extremely high or extremely low internal resistance?
69. What is the SI unit of capacitance?
70. What is the SI unit of magnetic field strength ($B$)?
71. According to Faraday’s Law of Induction, what does a changing magnetic flux induce in a closed loop?
72. Which directional rule determines the direction of the induced current opposing the change in flux?
73. Do magnetic field lines point from North to South outside a magnet, or South to North?
74. What is the force experienced by a moving charge $q$ with velocity $v$ in a magnetic field $B$?
75. What device converts electrical energy into mechanical energy?
76. What device converts mechanical energy into electrical energy?
77. What is the SI unit of electrical resistance?
78. What component stores energy in an electric field?
79. What component stores energy in a magnetic field?
80. What property describes a material’s opposition to the flow of electric current per unit geometry?

Modern & Nuclear Physics (Q81–Q100)

81. Who proposed the equation $E = mc^2$?
82. What light interaction phenomenon provided proof for the particle nature of light?
83. What is a discrete packet of electromagnetic energy called?
84. Write the formula for the energy of a photon in terms of frequency ($f$) and Planck’s constant ($h$).
85. What model of the atom proposed quantized electron energy levels orbiting a central nucleus?
86. What principle states that it is impossible to simultaneously measure position and momentum with infinite precision?
87. What process splits a heavy atomic nucleus into lighter nuclei, releasing energy?
88. What process combines light atomic nuclei to form a heavier nucleus, releasing energy?
89. What type of nuclear decay emits a helium-4 nucleus?
90. What type of nuclear decay emits an electron or positron?
91. What is the time required for half of the radioactive nuclei in a sample to decay?
92. What fundamental force holds protons and neutrons together inside the atomic nucleus?
93. What particle carries no electric charge and is found inside the atomic nucleus?
94. What hypothesis states that matter exhibits both wave and particle characteristics ($\lambda = h/p$)?
95. What phenomenon occurs when electrons pass through double slits and create an interference pattern?
96. What is the rest mass of a photon?
97. What type of electromagnetic radiation has the highest energy and frequency?
98. What process causes a bound electron to be emitted when light shines on a metal surface?
99. What term describes the minimum energy required to eject an electron from a metal surface in the photoelectric effect?
100. What subatomic particles make up protons and neutrons?

Answer Key

1. Newton ($\text{N}$)
2. $4\text{ m/s}^2$ ($a = \Delta v / \Delta t = 20 / 5$)
3. Zero (displacement measures straight-line distance from start to end)
4. Newton’s Third Law of Motion
5. $KE = \frac{1}{2}mv^2$
6. It doubles ($p = mv$)
7. $50\text{ Joules}$ ($W = F \cdot d = 10 \times 5$)
8. An elastic collision
9. $9.8\text{ m/s}^2$ (or $9.81\text{ m/s}^2$)
10. Gravitational force
11. Power
12. It yields the maximum horizontal range
13. Torque ($\tau$)
14. Net force ($\sum \vec{F} = 0$) and net torque ($\sum \vec{\tau} = 0$)
15. Velocity
16. Impulse (or change in momentum)
17. $F = -kx$ (or $F = kx$)
18. Perpendicular
19. $98\text{ N}$ ($W = mg = 10 \times 9.8$)
20. It drops to one-fourth ($1/4$) of its original value (Inverse-Square Law)
21. Rotational inertia (resistance to changes in rotational motion)
22. Angular momentum
23. $v_e = \sqrt{\frac{2GM}{R}}$
24. Watt ($\text{W}$)
25. Gravitational potential energy
26. Kelvin ($\text{K}$)
27. $\Delta U = Q – W$ (or $\Delta U = Q + W$, depending on sign convention for work)
28. Second Law of Thermodynamics
29. $-273.15^\circ\text{C}$
30. $PV = nRT$
31. Isothermal process
32. Isochoric process (or isovolumetric)
33. Adiabatic process
34. Conduction
35. Convection
36. Radiation
37. Viscosity
38. The buoyant force equals the weight of the fluid displaced by the object.
39. Bernoulli’s Principle
40. Density ($\rho = m/V$)
41. Period ($T$)
42. Frequency ($f$)
43. Longitudinal wave
44. Longitudinal
45. Transverse
46. Doppler Effect
47. Snell’s Law ($n_1 \sin\theta_1 = n_2 \sin\theta_2$)
48. $3 \times 10^8\text{ m/s}$ ($299,792,458\text{ m/s}$)
49. Diffraction
50. Light must travel from a medium with a higher refractive index to a lower one ($n_1 > n_2$).
51. Convex lens (or converging lens)
52. Virtual
53. Amplitude
54. Frequency
55. Interference pattern
56. $\lambda = 2L$
57. Prism
58. Wavelength ($\lambda$)
59. Frequency
60. Infinite ($\infty$)
61. Coulomb ($\text{C}$)
62. $F = k \frac{\vert{}q_1 q_2\vert{}}{r^2}$
63. Volt ($\text{V}$)
64. $V = IR$
65. $R_{eq} = R_1 + R_2$
66. $\frac{1}{R_{eq}} = \frac{1}{R_1} + \frac{1}{R_2}$ (or $R_{eq} = \frac{R_1 R_2}{R_1 + R_2}$)
67. Ammeter
68. Extremely high resistance
69. Farad ($\text{F}$)
70. Tesla ($\text{T}$)
71. An electromotive force (EMF) or induced voltage/current
72. Lenz’s Law
73. North to South
74. $\vec{F} = q(\vec{v} \times \vec{B})$ (or magnitude $F = qvB\sin\theta$)
75. Electric motor
76. Electric generator (or alternator)
77. Ohm ($\Omega$)
78. Capacitor
79. Inductor
80. Resistivity ($\rho$)
81. Albert Einstein
82. Photoelectric Effect
83. Photon
84. $E = hf$ (or $E = \frac{hc}{\lambda}$)
85. Bohr Model
86. Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle
87. Nuclear fission
88. Nuclear fusion
89. Alpha decay ($\alpha$)
90. Beta decay ($\beta$)
91. Half-life ($t_{1/2}$)
92. Strong nuclear force
93. Neutron
94. De Broglie hypothesis
95. Electron diffraction (wave-particle duality)
96. Zero
97. Gamma rays
98. Photoelectric effect
99. Work function ($\Phi$)
100. Quarks (protons: 2 up, 1 down; neutrons: 1 up, 2 down)