Mechanics
What is the difference between a scalar and a vector quantity
BONUS (+200): name 3 scalar and vector
A scalar has magnitude only and a vector has both magnitude and direction
BONUS: Scalar= time, speed, distance
Vector= velocity, accelecration, displacement
What is the difference between a transverse wave and a longitudinal wave?
Transverse waves vibrate perpendicular to direction of motion; longitudinal waves vibrate parallel.
What is temperature a measure of?
: The average kinetic energy of particles.
OR
how hot something is
What is gravity?
A force of attraction between masses
OR
the bending of spacetime due to mass and enegry
Who proposed the laws of planetary motion?
Johannes Kepler.
Why does an object continue moving at constant velocity when no forces act on it?
An object maintains its state of motion unless acted upon by a net force. (Newton's 1st law, law of intertia)
Why can sound not travel in a vacuum?
Sound requires a medium; there are no particles in a vacuum to transmit vibrations.
What is the difference between heat and temperature?
Heat is energy transfer; temperature measures how hot something is.
Why do objects fall toward Earth?
Because Earth exerts a gravitational force pulling them toward its center.
OR
Objects fall toward Earth because mass causes spacetime to curve, and objects move along this curvature. This results in what we observe as a gravitational force pulling objects toward Earth.
What does relativity say about time for objects moving at very high speeds?
Time slows down relative to an observer (time dilation).
Explain why heavier objects do NOT fall faster than lighter ones in a vacuum
All objects experience the same accelectation due to gravity in a vaccum
Explain what happens during reflection of a wave.
The wave bounces off a surface, changing direction but staying in the same medium.
Why do metals feel colder than wood at the same temperature?
Metals conduct heat away from the skin faster.
Why is the gravitational pull weaker on the Moon than on Earth?
The Moon has much less mass, so its gravitational field is weaker.
: What is meant by wave-particle duality?
Particles can exhibit both wave-like and particle-like properties.
Why do passengers lurch forward when a car suddenly stops?
Due to inertia, their bodies continue moving forward while the car stops (non-interal observer)
Why does light slow down when it enters glass from air?
Because it interacts with particles in the denser medium, reducing its speed.
Why does a gas expand when heated at constant pressure?
The particles gain kinetic energy and move further apart, increasing volume while pressure remains constant.
Why do satellites stay in orbit instead of falling straight down to Earth?
They are moving forward fast enough that they continuously fall around Earth rather than into it.
Why can nothing travel faster than the speed of light?
It would require infinite energy as mass effectively increases with speed
Explain the difference between mass and weight, and why astronauts feel “weightless” in orbit.
Mass is the amount of matter; weight is the gravitational force on an object. Astronauts feel weightless because they are in continuous free fall around Earth.
Explain how interference patterns are formed when two waves meet.
Waves superpose, causing constructive interference (amplitudes add) and destructive interference (amplitudes cancel).
Why does increasing temperature generally increase the pressure of a gas?
Particles move faster, causing more frequent and forceful collisions with container walls
Why does gravitational strength decrease as distance from a planet increases?
Because gravitational force spreads out with distance (inverse-square relationship), so it weakens as objects move farther away.
What is meant by a probability distribution in physics?
A probability distribution describes the likelihood of a physical quantity having different possible values, rather than a single definite value.