This file now contains the "correct" answers to these questions and a set of five possible essay questions which you may encounter on the exam. The actual exam will include two of these four questions, of which you can select one.
POSSIBLE ESSAY QUESTIONS
1. Examine illustration 1, which is the "fossil tracks" picture that we spent a good deal of time in class discussing. Describe what happened in this picture, using distance-time and speed-time graphs to illustrate the motion of the different creatures.
2. Your textbook states, correctly, that "energy is neither created nor destroyed; it is conserved."
Consider a situation in which your instructor drops a racquetball from head height (5 ½ feet above the floor), the ball keeps bouncing, and eventually comes to a stop on the floor. Where did the energy in the bouncing ball go to? Feel free to draw an energy chain as part of your answer.
3. Examine the six distance-time and speed-time graphs which are attached as pictures 1-6. Which of these pictures shows a situation in which there is nonzero acceleration?
4. You are observing the motion of a hockey puck as it travels down the ice towards a set of goal posts at the opposite end. It is moving at a constant speed. Once the puck is set in motion by being hit by a hockey stick, are there any unbalanced forces which continue to act on it? What would its motion be like if there were to be a continual force acting on it as it went down the rink?
The multiple choice questions have been selected from the exam which was given last year. They are similar to questions tht will appear on the exam, but they will not be identical to the questions which will actually be given on the exam.
Instructions: (Please read carefully!)
1. Fill in the following on your answer sheet:
Your name (and be sure it is gridded in).
Your student ID number (and be sure it is gridded in).
The VERSION NUMBER of this exam, given above. Different versions have the same questions, arranged in a different order, in order to make it impossible for students to cheat.
IT IS CRITICAL THAT YOU PUT THE VERSION NUMBER OF THE EXAM *ON* THE EXAM AS WELL AS GRIDDING IT IN.
2. You will need to show your I.D. and be in the right room. You may use a calculator with this exam.
IF YOU FOLLOW THE ABOVE INSTRUCTIONS CORRECTLY, (including bringing your ID to the exam), YOU RECEIVE ONE BONUS POINT IF YOU CORRECTLY ANSWER THE FIRST QUESTION ON THE EXAM (WHICH IS, "I FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS." If not, you will not receive credit for question 1.
3. Use a soft (No. 2 is recommended) pencil on the computer sheet.
4. Be sure to double check the answer sheet - see that you have listed answers for all questions which you wish to answer (which should be all questions on the test, since I don't use penalty scoring) and that all wrong answers are COMPLETELY ERASED. I cannot give credit for questions which are incorrectly answered on the answer sheet.
5. Grades will be posted by student ID number unless you tell me otherwise. By handing in your answer sheet, you are giving me permission to post your grade unless you give me explicit instructions to the contrary. You may hand in these instructions on a separate sheet of paper.
6. CHALLENGING QUESTIONS. If you think a question is ambiguous, you may challenge it. A successful challenge must make a persuasive case, and not simply be a question number. Include the version number of the exam on your challenge. Challenges can be submitted via electronic mail (harrys@udel.edu). To be considered, challenges must be submitted BY MIDNIGHT WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
7. You should write down your answers on this exam, and take the exam with you. Answer keys will be posted after the exam. Your scores will be posted as soon as they are available, and will be e-mailed as well.
In case you need them, distance = rate x time and force = mass x acceleration.
Part One. True/False Questions. Three points each. Mark true ("A") if the statement is more true than false and mark false ("B") if the statement is more false than true. These questions are worth three points each.
The next three questions deal with the following situation: An ice skater who is skating in a straight line along the canals in northern Holland skates a distance of 25 km in 50 minutes. Her speed does not change during this time interval.
1. Her average speed is 2 kilometers per minute.
2. Her acceleration is zero.
3. Her kinetic energy remains the same .
4. The speed-time graph which is shown in Picture 1 describes the same motion as the distance-time graph which is shown in Picture 2. (Sorry; I don't provide the pictures, but these pictures will be very similar to the ones shown in class.)
5. When a car moves at a constant speed, there are no unbalanced forces acting on it.
6. In order for any object to move at a constant speed, there must be a force continuously acting on it.
Multiple Choice Questions. 5 points each
The following questions deal with Picture 3, which is a distance-time graph describing the motion of a drive in a car.
7. What was the maximum speed of the car during the drive?
A. 0 km/h B. 16km/h. C. 25 km/h. D. 40 km/h.
8. What time was it when Kelly slammed on the brakes?
A. 11:13 B. 11:27 C. 11;35 D. about 10-20 seconds after 11:35.
9. At which of the following times was the acceleration of Kelly's car zero?
A. 11:13 B. 11:27 C. 11;35 D. about 10-20 seconds after 11:35.
10. A vehicle whose speed and direction is unchanging has
A. zero velocity.
B. zero acceleration.
C, zero mass.
D. no forces acting on it.
E. all of the above.
11. Suppose that Jane Jones is studying the natural world and face a situation where the evidence permits two different interpretations. Jane Jones is a scientist. What can she say to her scientific colleagues?
A. Nothing about this situation because science deals with things that must be true.
B. She would pick one interpretation, only describe it, and treat her conclusions as "only a theory."
C. She would just describe the evidence and not say anything about possible explanations.
D. She would describe both interpretations and show how each explained the evidence.
12. Suppose that someone in a group misses a group meeting. What are the consequences?
A. They are strictly spelled out in the course syllabus posted on the web by the course instructor.
B. They are determined by the group's ground rules.
C. They are determined by the group on a case by case basis.
D. There are no consequences as long as the absentee has a note from a doctor, parent, or other responsible person.
Answers to these sample questions:
1 false, 2 true, 3 true, 4 true, 5 true, 6 false, 7,8, and 9 depends on the picture; 10 B, 11 D, 12 B.