Physics 40A Final Practice

Exam time: 180 min

Conceptual Questions – 1 point each

1. Suppose that a car traveling to the west (-x direction) begins to slow down as it approaches a
traffic light. Which statement concerning its acceleration must be correct?

A. Its acceleration is zero.

B. Its acceleration is negative.
C. Its acceleration is positive.
D. Its acceleration is decreasing in magnitude as the car slows down.

2. A rock from a volcanic eruption is launched straight up into the air with no appreciable air
resistance. Which one of the following statements about this rock while it is in the air is
correct?

A. The acceleration is downward at all points in the motion.

B. Throughout the motion, the acceleration is downward, and the velocity is always in the
same direction as the acceleration.
C. On the way up, its acceleration is downward and its velocity is upward, and at the
highest point both its velocity and acceleration are zero.
D. The acceleration is downward at all points in the motion except that is zero at the
highest point.
E. On the way down, both its velocity and acceleration are downward, and at the highest
point both its velocity and acceleration are zero.

3. A 10-kg rock and a 20-kg rock are thrown upward with the same initial speed v0 and
experience no significant air resistance. If the 10-kg rock reaches a maximum height h, what
maximum height will the 20-kg ball reach?

A. h/2 B. h/4 C. h D. 4h E. 2h

4. Two objects are thrown from the top of a tall building. One is thrown up, and the other is
thrown down, both with the same initial speed. What are their speeds when they hit the
street? Neglect air resistance.

A. They are traveling at the same speed.

B. The one thrown down is traveling faster.

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C. The one thrown up is traveling faster.
D. It is impossible to tell because the height of the building is not given.

5. The graph in the figure shows the position of

an object as a function of time. The letters H-L
represent particular moments of time. At which
moment in time is the speed of the object the
greatest?

A. H B. I C. J D. K E. L

6. A person gives a shopping cart an initial push along a horizontal floor to get it moving, and
then lets go. The cart travels forward along the floor, gradually slowing as it moves. Consider
the horizontal force(s) on the cart while it is moving forward and slowing. Which of the
following statements is correct?

A. Only a backward force is acting, no forward force.

B. Only a forward force is acting, which diminishes with time.
C. Both a forward and a backward force are acting on the cart, but the forward force is
larger.
D. Both a forward and a backward force are acting on the cart, but the backward force is
larger.

7. An object is moving to the right in a straight line. The net force acting on the object is also
directed to the right, but the magnitude of the force is decreasing with time. The object will

A. continue to move to the right, with its speed increasing with time.
B. continue to move to the right, with its speed decreasing with time.
C. continue to move to the right with a constant speed.
D. stop and then begin moving to the left

8. Which, if any, of the following statements concerning the work done by a conservative force
is NOT true?

A. It is independent of the path of the body and depends only on the starting and ending
points.
B. When the starting and ending points are the same, the total work is zero.
C. It can always be expressed as the difference between the initial and final values of a
potential energy function.
D. All of the above statements are true

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E. None of the above statements are true.

9. Two friends are standing on opposite ends of a canoe. The canoe is initially at rest with
respect to the lake. The person on the right throws a very massive ball to the left, and the
person on the left catches it. After the ball is caught (ignoring friction between the canoe and
the water), the canoe is
A. moving to the right B. stationary C. moving to the left
D. not enough information to tell.

10. Bill and Susan are both standing on identical skateboards (with really good ball bearings),
initially at rest. Bill weighs three times as much as Susan. Bill pushes horizontally on Susan's
back, causing Susan to start moving away from Bill. Immediately after Bill stops pushing,

A. Susan and Bill are moving away from each other, with equal speeds.
B. Susan and Bill are moving away from each other, and Susan's speed is three times less
than that of Bill.
C. Susan is moving away from Bill, and Bill is stationary.
D. Susan and Bill are moving away from each other, and Susan's speed is three times that
of Bill.

11. A baseball is thrown vertically upward and feels no air resistance. As it is rising

A. both its momentum and its mechanical energy are conserved.

B. its momentum is not conserved, but its mechanical energy is conserved.
C. its gravitational potential energy is not conserved, buts its momentum is conserved.
D. its kinetic energy is conserved, but its momentum is not conserved.
E. both its momentum and its kinetic energy are conserved.

12. Three cars (car F, car G, and car H) are moving with the same velocity, and slam on the
brakes, locking the wheels. The most massive car is car F, and the least massive is car H.
Assuming all three cars have identical tires, which car travels the longest distance to skid to a
stop?

A. Car F. B. Car G. C. Car H.

D. They all travel the same distance in stopping.

13. When a 45-kg person steps on a scale in an elevator, the scale reads a steady 480 N. Which
of the following statements must be true?

A. The elevator is moving upward at a constant rate.

B. The elevator is moving downward at a constant rate.
C. The elevator is accelerating upward at a constant rate.
D. The elevator is accelerating downward at a constant rate.

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14. A box of mass m is pressed against (but is not attached to) an ideal spring of force constant k
and negligible mass, compressing the spring a distance x. After it is released, the box slides
up a frictionless incline as shown in the figure and eventually stops. If we repeat this
experiment but instead use a spring having force constant 2k

A. the box will go up the incline twice as high as before.

B. just as it moves free of the spring, the kinetic energy of the box will be twice as great
as before.
C. just as it moves free of the spring, the speed of the box will be √2 times as great as
before.
D. All of the above choices are correct.
E. None of the above choices is correct.

15. A merry-go-round is spinning at a fixed rate. As a person is walking toward the edge,

A. the force of static friction must increase in order for the person not to slide off.
B. the force of static friction must decrease in order for the person not to slide off.
C. the force of static friction such that the person does not slide off remains the same.
D. the force of static friction is always zero.

16. The figure shows two boxes, with m1 > m2, that are on a level frictionless surface. We can
apply a horizontal force F either toward the right on m1 or toward the left on m2. The
magnitude of the force that the boxes exert on each other is

A. zero newtons in either case.

B. larger if F is applied toward the left.
C. larger if F is applied toward the right.
D. the same in either case.

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17. A push of magnitude P acts on a box of weight W as shown in the figure. The push is
directed at an angle θ below the horizontal, and the box remains a rest. The box rests on a
horizontal surface that has some friction with the box. The friction force on the box due to
the floor is equal to

A. W + P cos θ B. 0 C. W + P
D. P cos θ E. P sin θ

18. The drag force pushes opposite your motion as you ride a bicycle. If you double your speed,
what happens to the magnitude of the drag force?
A. The drag force doubles as well.
B. The drag force goes up by a factor of 4.
C. The drag force decreases by half.
D. The drag force decreases by a factor of 4.
E. The drag force stays the same.

19. At the instant shown in the figure, the apparent weight of the car's driver is

A. less than his true weight.

B. equal to his true weight.
C. greater than his true weight.
D. It is impossible to determine.

20. Two men, Joel and Jerry, push against a car that has stalled, trying unsuccessfully to get it
moving. Jerry stops after 10 min, while Joel is able to push for 5.0 min longer. Compare the
work they do on the car.

A. Joel does 50% more work than Jerry.

B. Joel does 75% more work than Jerry.
C. Jerry does 50% more work than Joel.
D. Joel does 25% more work than Jerry.
E. Neither of them does any work.

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Quantitative Questions – 2 points each

21. You are driving home on a weekend from school at 55 mph for 110 miles. It then starts to
snow and you slow to 35 mph. You arrive home after driving 4 hours and 15 minutes. How
far is your hometown from school?

A. 170 miles B. 180 miles C. 190 miles D. 200 miles E. 210 miles

22. A cat leaps to try to catch a bird. If the cat's jump was at 60° off the ground and its initial
velocity was 2.74 m/s, what is the highest point of its trajectory, neglecting air resistance?

A. 0.19 m B. 0.29 m C. 0.38 m D. 0.58 m E. 1.16 m

23. A wheel accelerates from rest to 59 rad/s at a rate of 74 rad/s2. Through what angle (in
radians) did the wheel turn while accelerating?

A. 48 rad B. 30 rad C. 24 rad D. 19 rad E. 15 rad

24. The figure shows an acceleration-versus-force graph for a 125 g object. What should be the
value of the first tick-mark on the vertical scale?

A. 0.004 B. 0.008 C. 0.5 D. 4 E. 8

25. A 200-g hockey puck is launched at an initial speed of 16 m/s up a metal ramp that is
inclined at a 30° angle. The coefficients of static and kinetic friction between the hockey
puck and the metal ramp are µs = 0.40 and µk = 0.30, respectively. What vertical height does
the puck reach above its starting point?

A. 4.2 m B. 6.5 m C. 8.6 m D. 13 m E. 17 m

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26. The figure shows a block of mass m resting on a 20° slope. The block has coefficients of
friction μs = 0.64 and μk = 0.54 with the surface of the slope. It is connected using a very light
string over an ideal pulley to a hanging block of mass 2.0 kg. The string above the slope pulls
parallel to the surface. What is the minimum mass m so the system will remain at rest when it
is released from rest?

A. 1.3 kg B. 2.1 kg C. 2.3 kg D. 3.3 kg E. 3.6 kg

27. A fast pitch softball player does a "windmill" pitch moving her hand through a vertical
circular arc to pitch a ball at 30 mph. The 0.19 kg ball is 55 cm from the pivot point at her
shoulder. At the lowest point of the circle, the ball has reached its maximum speed. What is
the magnitude of the force her hand exerts on the ball at this point?

A. 60 N B. 62 N C. 64 N D. 310 N E. 326 N

28. A 480 kg car moving at 14.4 m/s hits from behind another car moving at 13.3 m/s in the
same direction. If the second car has a mass of 570 kg and a new speed of 17.9 m/s, what is
the velocity of the first car after the collision?

A. 8.94 m/s B. -8.94 m/s C. 10.5 m/s D. -10.5 m/s E. 19.9 m/s

29. During a collision with a wall, the velocity of a 0.200-kg ball changes from 20.0 m/s toward
the wall to 12.0 m/s away from the wall. If the time the ball was in contact with the wall was
60.0 ms, what was the magnitude of the average force applied to the ball?

A. 13.3 N B. 16.7 N C. 26.7 N D. 40.0 N E. 107 N

30. A block of mass m = 4.4 kg, moving on frictionless surface with a speed vi = 9.2 m/s makes a
sudden perfectly elastic collision with a second block of mass M, as shown in the figure. The
second block is originally at rest. Just after the collision, the 4.4-kg block recoils with a speed
of vf = 2.5 m/s. What is the mass M of the second block?

A. 5.6 kg B. 21 kg C. 12 kg D. 4.4 kg E. 7.7 kg

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31. A graph of the force on an object as a function of its position is shown in the figure.
Determine the amount of work done by this force on an object that moves from x = 0 m to x
= 6.0 m. (Assume an accuracy of 2 significant figures for the numbers on the graph.)

A. 22 J B. 26 J C. 27 J D. 29 J E. 35 J

32. A Tesla Model 3 is capable of accelerating from 0 to 60 mph (miles per hour) in just 3.2
seconds. It weighs about 4072 lbs. Which of the following is closest to the average power
that this car can put out (express it in unit of horsepower, 1 horsepower or 1 hp = 745.7 W)?

A. 37 hp B. 278 hp C. 334 hp D. 650 hp E. 1409 hp

33. In the figure, a constant external force P = 160 N is applied to a 20.0-kg box, which is on a
rough horizontal surface. While the force pushes the box a distance of 8.00 m, the speed
changes from 0.500 m/s to 2.60 m/s. The work done by friction during this process is closest
to

A. -1170 J. B. +1040 J. C. -1040 J. D. +1110 J. E. +1170 J.

34. A string is wound tightly around a fixed pulley having a radius of 5.0 cm. As the string is
pulled, the pulley rotates without any slipping of the string. What is the angular speed of the
pulley when the string is moving at 5.0 m/s?
A. 10 rad/s B. 100 rad/s C. 50 rad/s D. 20 rad/s E. 25 rad/s

35. An object attached to an ideal massless spring is pulled across a frictionless surface. If the
spring constant is 45 N/m and the spring is stretched by 0.88 m when the object is
accelerating at 2.0 m/s2, what is the mass of the object?
A. 26 kg B. 22 kg C. 17 kg D. 20 kg E. 15 kg

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36. In a police ballistics test, a 10.0-g bullet moving at 300 m/s is fired into a 1.00-kg block at
rest. The bullet goes through the block almost instantaneously and emerges with 50.0% of its
original speed. What is the speed of the block just after the bullet emerges?
A. 3.00 m/s B. 1.50 m/s C. 2.97 m/s D. 273 m/s E. 0.75 m/s

37. The graph in the figure shows the x component F of the net force that acts for 10 s on a 100-
kg crate. What is the change in the momentum of the crate during the 10 s that this force
acts?

A. -25 kg ∙ m/s B. 25 kg ∙ m/s C. -100 kg ∙ m/s D. 75 kg ∙ m/s E. -75 kg ∙ m/s

38. An 8.0-g bullet is shot into a 4.0-kg block, at rest on a frictionless horizontal surface (see the
figure). The bullet remains lodged in the block. The block moves into an ideal massless
spring and compresses it by 8.7 cm. The spring constant of the spring is 2400 N/m. The
initial velocity of the bullet is closest to

A. 900 m/s. B. 1000 m/s. C. 1200 m/s. D. 1300 m/s. E. 1100 m/s.

39. A 1.86 -kg block is held in place against the spring by a 81-N horizontal external force (see
the figure). The external force is removed, and the block is projected with a velocity v1 = 1.2
m/s upon separation from the spring. The block descends a ramp and has a velocity v2 = 1.9
m/s at the bottom. The track is frictionless between points A and B. The block enters a rough
section at B, extending to E. The coefficient of kinetic friction over this section is 0.28. The
velocity of the block is v3 = 1.4 m/s at C. The block moves on to D, where it stops. The
height of the ramp, h, is closest to

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A. 7.3 cm B. 11 cm C. 15 cm D. 17 cm E. 18 cm

40. A 4-m long, 150-kg steel beam is attached to a wall with one end connected to a hinge that
allows the beam to rotate up and down. The other end of the beam is held in a horizontal
position with a cable that makes a 27° angle with the beam and is attached to the wall. A
mass of 75 kg is hung from the beam 3 meters away from the hinge. What is the tension force
that keeps this beam in static equilibrium?

A. 405 N B. 1210 N C. 1440 N D. 1620 N E. 2830 N

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