Midterm #1 Flashcards
Sokovia is a poor nation in the Balkans. Its economy is largely agricultural, but it is just starting to industrialize. The primary energy source for Sokovia as it begins industrialization is most likely to be?
A) Solar power
B) Coal
C) Nuclear power
D) Natural gas
B) Coal
Which of the following has the largest kinetic energy?
A) A 0.15 kg baseball thrown at 40 m/s
B) A 5 kg bowling ball rolling at 8 m/s
C) A 70kg man walking at 1 m/s
B) A 5 kg bowling ball rolling at 8 m/s
What is the total energy consumption (In kilowatt-hours) of a 75 watt light bulb that is turned on 10 hours a day for the entire month of February?
A) Less than 10 kWh
B) Between 10 and 100 kWh
C) Between 100 and 1,000 kWh
D) More than 1,000 kWh
B) Between 10 and 100 kWh
The nation of Pottsylvania has been relying primarily on coal for its energy needs, but it is beginning to convert from coal to natural gas. As this conversion continues, which of the following is most likely to occur?
A) Pottsylvania’s carbon dioxide emissions will go up
B) Pottsylvannia’s air pollution will become worse
C) Pottsylvania will experience less acid rain
C) Pottsylvania will experience less acid rain
Consider these three light bulbs… Which light bulb gives off the most heat?
A) Light bulb A uses 100 W of electrical power and has an efficiency of 90%
B) Light bulb B uses 75 W of electrical power and has an efficiency of 60%
C) Light bulb C uses 40 W of electrical power and has an efficiency of 10%
C) Light bulb C uses 40 W of electrical power and has an efficiency of 10%
Petroleum is more expensive than other fossil fuels, so why do we use it?
A) It produces almost no carbon dioxide when it is burned
B) It is easily stored and transported, making it ideal to power automobiles
C) It is more abundant than coal and natural gas
B) It is easily stored and transported, making it ideal to power automobiles
My jar of Planter’s Peanuts says that it has 170 Calories per serving, and there are 16 servings in the jar. According to the textbook, a gram of gasoline has 42,000 joules of energy. How much gasoline has the same amount of energy as my jar of peanuts?
A) Less than 0.1 kg
B) Between 0.1 kg and 0.5 kg
C) Between 0.5 kg and 1.0 kg
D) More than 1 kg
B) Between 0.1 kg and 0.5 kg
One night while watching a movie, I absent-mindedly snack on the peanuts, and I end up eating half the jar. Assuming that brisk walking will consume 300 Calories per hour, how long will I need to walk to use up all of the Calories that I have just eaten?
A) Less than half an hour
B) Between half a hour and 1 hour
C) Between 1 hour and 4 hours
D) More than 4 hours
D) More than 4 hours
How many times does your heart beat in the course of our Physics 1020 lecture?
A) Less than 1,000 times
B) Between 1,000 and 10,000 times
C) More than 10,000 times
B) Between 1,000 and 10,000 times
How many breaths have you taken so far in your lifetime?
A) Fewer than 500,000
B) Between 500,000 and 5,000,000
C) Between 5,000,000 and 50,000,000
D) More than 50,000,000
D) More than 50,000,000
Estimate how many cars are currently in use in the United States?
A) Less than 5,000,000
B) Between 5,000,000 and 50,000,000
C) Between 50,000,000 and 500,000,000
D) More than 500,000,000
C) Between 50,000,000 and 500,000,000
How many hours have you slept so far in your lifetime?
A) Less than 2,000 hours
B) Between 2,000 and 20,000 hours
C) Between 20,000 hours and 200,000 hours
D) More than 200,000 hours
C) Between 20,000 hours and 200,000 hours
Estimate how many cellphones are currently in use in the United States?
A) Less than 100,000,000
B) Between 100,000,000 and 500,000,000
C) Between 500,000,000 and 1,000,000,000
D) More than 1,000,000,000
B) Between 100,000,000 and 500,000,000
How many times do you blink on an average day?
A) Less than 1,000 times
B) Between 1,000 and 100,000 times
C) More than 100,000 times
B) Between 1,000 and 100,000 times
Usually the temperature measured in degrees Fahrenheit is different from the temperature measured in degrees Celsius. However there is one temperature at which the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales give the same number. What is this temperature?
A) 40 degrees above zero
B) 10 degrees above zero
C) 10 degrees below zero
D) 40 degrees below zero
D) 40 degrees below zero
A metal pot is placed on an electric stovetop. As the coils of the stovetop heat up, the metal gets hot. How is the heat being transferred from the stovetop to the pot?
A) Convection
B) Conduction
C) Radiation
B) Conduction
A meteorite enters the Earth’s atmosphere at 10 times the speed of sound. If all the kinetic energy of the meteorite goes into heating up the meteorite, approximately how hot would it get? (Hint : Use the formula from the book that I presented in class, and remember that for high temperatures, the Kelvin and Celsius scales give roughly the same number)
A) About 300 degrees C
B) About 6,000 degrees C
C) About 30,000 degrees C
D) About 100,000 degrees C
C) About 30,000 degrees C
In a particular automobile engine, gas is heated up to a temperature of 1,200 degrees Kelvin. After the gas drives the piston, it is expelled at a temperature of 900 degrees Kelvin. What is the maximum possible efficiency of this engine?
A) 25%
B) 33.3%
C) 50%
D) 75%
A) 25%
Which of the following is equivalent to the second law of thermodynamics?
A) Efficiency is always less than 100%
B) Efficiency is always less than or equal to 100%
C) Efficiency is always equal to 100%
B) Efficiency is always greater than or equal to 100%
A) Efficiency is always less than 100%
Suppose you are working in the patent office and an inventor comes in with a new design for an automobile engine. He says that for every 1 joule of energy generated by burning gasoline, the engine produces exactly 1 joule of kinetic energy for the car. What should you do?
A) Give him a patent, because his engine obeys conservation of energy. The amount of energy going into it equals the amount of energy coming out
B) Throw him out of your office, because his engine violates the second law of thermodynamics and his claim is therefore impossible
C) There is not enough information to determine whether his engine violates any of the laws of physics
B) Throw him out of your office, because his engine violates the second law of thermodynamics and his claim is therefore impossible
Why does a spacecraft entering the Earth’s atmosphere heat up?
A) The upper atmosphere blocks very little solar radiation, and this solar radiation heats up the spacecraft
B) The temperature of the upper atmosphere is very high, and this heat is transferred to the spacecraft via conduction
C) As the spacecraft slows down, its kinetic energy is transformed into heat energy
C) As the spacecraft slows down, its kinetic energy is transformed into heat energy
Professor Snidely Whiplash gives a final exam with 100 questions to a very large class of students. The students’ final exam scores have a normal (Gaussian) distribution, with an average score of 50. If 95% of the students have exam scores between 30 and 70, then 68% of the students will have test scores.
A) Between 45 and 55
B) Between 40 and 60
C) Between 36 and 63
D) Below 50
B) Between 40 and 60
In the United States, the birth weights of babies follow a roughly normal (Gaussian) distribution, with a mean of 7.3 pounds, and a standard deviation of 1.3 pounds. Then we would expect approximately 68% of all babies born in the U.S. to have a birth weight.
A) Between 7.3 pounds and 8.6 pounds
B) Between 6.0 pounds and 8.6 pounds
C) Between 4.7 pounds and 9.9 pounds
D) More than 7.3 pounds
B) Between 6.0 pounds and 8.6 pounds
The average score on the math portion of the ACT college entrance exam in 2023 was 19. Assuming that the distribution of scores follows a normal distribution, what percentage of students scored above 19?
A) 50%
B) 68%
C) 95%
D) You cannot answer the question unless you know the standard deviation
A) 50%
John Kennedy is running for President against Richard Nixon. A political poll finds that Kennedy has 52% of the vote and Nixon has 48%, but the margin of error on the poll is plus or minus 5%. Assuming that this poll is a fair sample of the entire U.S. population, what can you conclude if the election was held today?
A) Kennedy has a 100% chance of winning the election
B) Kennedy is more likely than Nixon to win the election, but either candidate could win
C)It’s a statistical tie, so each candidate has a 50% chance of winning
B) Kennedy is more likely than Nixon to win the election, but either candidate could win
Suppose that you survey 100 people in Nashville and discover that 25% of them are left handed. Then there is 68% likelihood that the true percentage of left handed people in Nashville lies between.
A) 15% and 35%
B) 18% and 33%
C) 20% and 30%
D) 23% and 28%
C) 20% and 30%
You interview 64 Vanderbilt students and discover that 25% of them studied French in high school. You can conclude that the true percentage of Vanderbilt students who studied French in high school has a 95% likelihood of lying between….
A) 12.5% and 37.5%
B) 15% and 25%
C) 18.75% and 31.25%
D) 20% and 30%
A) 12.5% and 37.5%
A radar at the Nashville airport emits a microwave pulse. It bounces off an incoming airplane, and the radar receives the reflected pulse 4.3 microseconds after it is emitted. How far away is the plane?
A) 0.2 miles away
B) 0.4 miles away
C) 0.8 miles away
D) 1.6 miles away
B) 0.4 miles away
It is normally impossible to get sunburned while sitting inside, even on a sunny summer day. What is a plausible explanation for this fact?
A) The glass in the window reduces the amount of visible light entering the house
B) The glass in the windows blocks infrared radiation
C) The glass in the windows blocks ultraviolet radiation
D) Air conditioning keeps the temperature low enough that you don’t get sunburned
A glowing piece of steel gives off radiation that has a peak at a wavelength of 3 microns. What is the temperature of the steel?
A) 1,000 degrees K
B) 3,000 degrees K
C) 9,000 degrees K
D) 27,000 degrees K
A) 1,000 degrees K
Verizon’s 4G cell phone network operates at 700 MHz. What wavelength does this correspond to?
A) 0.023 cm
B) 0.23 cm
C) 4.3 cm
D) 43 cm
D) 43 cm
CT scanners did not become technologically possible until the 1970’s. The critical development that allowed for the invention of CT scanners in the 1970’s was….
A) The ability to take lots of X-rays from multiple different directions
B) The use of gamma rays, which carry more information than X-rays
C) The development of faster computers
D) Drugs to keep the patient immobilized during the scan
C) The development of faster computers
Verizon’s 5G network operates at 30 GHz. Can more information per second be transmitted at the 4G frequency (700 MHz) of the 5G frequency (30 GHz)?
A) More information per second can be transmitted at 700 MHz
B) More information per second can be transmitted at 30 GHz
C) The speed of all electromagnetic radiation is the same, so they will transmit the same amount of information per second
B) More information per second can be transmitted at 30 GHz
Inside a dark amusement park ride, your white shirt appears to “glow” bright white. This is because….
A) The shirt is absorbing visible light and re-emitting it as ultraviolet radiation
B) The shirt is absorbing infrared radiation and re-emitting it as visible light
C) The shirt is absorbing visible light and re-emitting it as infrared radiation
D) The shirt is absorbing ultraviolet radiation and re-emitting it as visible light
AM radio stations can often be heard over much greater distances at night than in the day. Why?
A) Because at night there are fewer man-made obstacles like cars that block the AM radio signal
B) Because at night AM radio waves can reflect off of a layer in the upper atmosphere and bounce back down to the ground
C) Because the sun transmits AM radio waves that interfere with AM reception in the daytime
D) Because AM radio stations increase their transmission power at night
