Test 1: Experimental Skills and Vectors

Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

____ 1. An object falls from rest with an acceleration g. The variation with time t of the displacement s of
the object is given by . The uncertainty in the value of the time is 6 % and the uncertainty
in the value of g is 4 %. The best estimate for the uncertainty of the position of the object is
a. 5 % b. 8% c. 10% d. 16%

____ 2. Which one of the following measurements is stated correctly to two significant digits?
a. 0.006 m b. 0.06 m c. 600 m d. 620 m
____ 3. The speed of sound v in a gas is related to the pressure P of the gas by the expression
v  kP
where k is a constant.
Which variables should be plotted in order to produce a straight-line graph with the slope equal to k?
a. against b. against P c. v against P d.
v against
____ 4. The variation with speed v of the force F acting on an object is given by the expression
,
where p and q are constants.
What quantity should be plotted on the y-axis of a graph and what should be plotted on the x-axis in order to
give a straight-line graph.
y-axis x-axis
a.

b.

c.
d.

____ 5. A student measures two lengths as follows:

T = 10.0  0.1 cm S = 20.0  0.1 cm.
The student calculates:
FT, the fractional uncertainty in T
FS, the fractional uncertainty in S
FT–S, the fractional uncertainty in (T – S)
FT+S, the fractional uncertainty in (T + S).
Which of these uncertainties has the largest magnitude?
a. b. c. d.
FT FS FT–S FT+S
____ 6. A sphere fits inside a cube.
 The length of the cube and the diameter of the sphere are 10.0 ± 0.2 cm.

What is the ratio

a. b. 1 c. 2 d. 8

____ 7. A student uses a metre rule and a set-square to measure a series of vertical heights, as shown.
set-sq u are

m etre ru le
heigh t to
be m e asured

The metre rule is not vertical. What type of error is reduced by using a set-square and what type of error is
caused because the metre rule is not vertical?
error reduced by use of set-square error caused by non-vertical ruler
a. random random
b. random systematic
c. systematic random
d. systematic systematic
____ 8. Which of the following graphs shows the best-fit line for the plotted points?
 A. B.
y y

0 0
0 x 0 x

C. D.
y y

0 0
0 x 0 x
a. A b. c. d.
B C D

____ 9. The diagram below shows two vectors, x and y.

Which of the vectors below best represents the vector c that would satisfy the relation
c = x + y?
a. c.

b. d.

____ 10. A student moves between two points P and Q as shown below.
po int P x– d irectio n

p o in t Q
y–d irectio n
The displacement from P in the x-direction is dX. The displacement from P in the y-direction is dY. The
resultant displacement from P is dR.
Which of the following diagrams shows the three displacements from point P?
 A. B.
P P

dR dR
dY dY

Q Q
dX dX

C. dX D. dX
P P
dY
dR
dR dY

Q Q
a. A b. B c. C d. D

Problem

11. A triangle has a height of 32.0 cm, and a base of 21 cm. The other sides have lengths 59.54cm, and 40. cm. Determine
to the correct number of significant figures,
a) the area [1]

b) the perimeter [1]

12. How many signficant figures does 0.000902800 have? [1]

13. Graphed data from a pendulum experiment is shown below:

 a) The student has drawn a straight line of best fit. What suggestion would you make to the student. [1]

b) What two quantities would you plot to linearize the data. [1]

c) Suggest another two quantities that could be plotted to linearize the data. [1]

d) Where would the point (L=1.5, T= 2.3) be mapped to for each of your suggestions in b) and c)? [2]

14. (a) In a simple pendulum experiment, a student measures the period T of the pendulum
many times and obtains an average value T= (2.540 0.005)s. The length L of the pendulum is measured to
be L= (1.60 0.01) m.

Calculate, using , the value of the acceleration of free fall, including its uncertainty. State the value
of the uncertainty to one significant figure. [3]

(b) In a different experiment a student investigates the dependence of the period T of a simple pendulum on

the amplitude of oscillations . The graph shows the variation of with , where To represents the period of
oscillation when the amplitude is small.
 The period may be considered to be independent of the amplitude as long as . Determine the
maximum value of for which the period is independent of the amplitude. [2]

15. A person walks three consecutive displacements. The first displacement is of 350 meters directed at 290 .
The second is of length 225 meters and is directed at 265 , and then he walks the third displacement of 225
meters directed at 160 .
a) Make a rough sketch of the path walked by the man using vectors and then estimate how far away he is
from where he started and in what direction (0-360 ). [3]

b) Write the three displacement vectors in component form. (x-component, y-component) [3]

c) Write the resultant displacement vector in component form. [1]

 d) Write the resultant displacement vector in polar form (magnitude, direction 0-360 ) [2]

16. The equipment shown in the diagram was used by a student to investigate the variation with
volume, of the pressure p of air, at constant temperature. The air was trapped in a tube of constant
cross-sectional area above a column of oil.

The pump forces oil to move up the tube decreasing the volume of the trapped air.

(a) The following graph of p versus was obtained. Error bars were negligibly small.

The equation of the line of best fit is

Determine the value of b including an appropriate unit. [3]

 (b) Outline how the results of this experiment are consistent with the equation at constant
temperature where k is a constant, p is pressure, V is the volume of air, and T is temperature.. [2]

17. A capillary tube is a tube that is open at both ends and has a very narrow bore. A capillary
tube is supported vertically with one end immersed in water. Water rises up the tube due to
a phenomenon called capillary action. The water in the bore of the tube forms a column of
height h as shown below.

(a) The height h, for a particular capillary tube was measured for different temperatures of
the water. The variation with temperature of the height h is shown below. Uncertainties
in the measurements are not shown.
 (i) On the graph above, draw a best-fit line for the data points. [1]

(ii) Determine the height h0 of the water column at temperature = 0°C. [1]

(b) Explain why the results of this experiment suggest that the relationship between the
height h and temperature is of the form h = h0(1 - k ) where k is constant. [3]

(c) Deduce that the value of k is approximately 4.8 10-3 C-1. [3]

(d) The experiment is repeated using tubes with bores of different radii r but keeping the
water temperature constant. The graph below shows the variation with of the height h
for capillary tubes of different radii r for a water temperature of 20°C. [3]

It is suggested that capillary action is one of the means by which water moves from the
roots of a tree to the leaves. A particular tree has a height of 25 m. Use the graph to estimate the
radius of the bore of the tubes that would enable water to
be raised by capillary action from ground level to the top of the tree. Comment on your
answer. [4]
Estimate:

Comment:

.
Test 1: Experimental Skills and Vectors
Answer Section

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: 4 NAT: 1.2

STA: 1.2.11 KEY: uncertainty calculation
2. ANS: D PTS: 1 STA: 1.2.9 LOC: S.M.5
3. ANS: B PTS: 1 STA: 1.2.14 LOC: S.U.8
4. ANS: A PTS: 1 STA: 1.2.14 LOC: S.U.8
5. ANS: C PTS: 1 STA: 1.2.11 LOC: S.U.3
6. ANS: B PTS: 1 REF: M16 STA: 1.2.11
LOC: S.U.2 TOP: percent uncertainty propagation
7. ANS: B PTS: 1 STA: 1.2.6 LOC: S.U.1
8. ANS: A PTS: 1 STA: 1.2.12 LOC: S.U.4
9. ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: 4 REF: IB
NAT: 1.3 STA: 1.3.2 LOC: S.V.3 TOP: vectors
KEY: vector addition
10. ANS: D PTS: 1 STA: 1.3.3 LOC: S.V.2

PROBLEM

11. ANS:

PTS: 2 DIF: 4 NAT: 1.2 STA: 1.2.11

TOP: significant figures KEY: uncertainty calculation
12. ANS:
6

PTS: 1 DIF: 3 NAT: 1.2 STA: 1.2.9

TOP: significant figures KEY: significant digits
13. ANS:
a) The data shows definite curvature. It is unlikely that the straight line would passt through all of the error
bars, and there a straight line is not suitable.
b) Period versus square root of length
c) Period squared versus length
d) (1.22, 2.3) and (1,5, 5.3)

PTS: 5 NAT: 2.1 STA: 2.1.14

14. ANS:
 PTS: 5 REF: M17 TZ2 TOP: Data Analysis Question
15. ANS:
a) Estimate should be of close to the final answer values with the drawing approximately as depicted below.
y

b) (350cos(290),225sin(265))=(120,–329)

c)

d)

PTS: 9 DIF: 5 REF: Doner NAT: 2.2 | 1.3

STA: 2.2.3 | 1.3.3 TOP: vectors KEY: vector addition | Components
MSC: 3 Displacements
16. ANS:
 PTS: 5 REF: M17 TZ1
17. ANS:
PTS: 12 NAT: 1.2 STA: 1.2.15 KEY: data based
MSC: may 06 z1