Kinematics and Dynamics
State Newton's 3rd Law of Motion
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
Who dropped spheres from the Leaning Tower of Pisa to test gravity?
Galileo Galilei.
State Ohm’s Law.
V=IR
What is the photoelectric effect?
The emission of electrons from a metal surface when light above a threshold frequency shines on it.
Why does metal feel colder than wood at the same temperature?
Metal conducts heat away from your skin faster
What is a light-year?
The distance light travels in one year (~9.46 × 10^12 km)
In Back to the Future, what type of car was used as the time machine?
A DeLorean
What mammal is known to lay eggs
The platypus (and echidna)
What is the frequency of a wave with a period of 0.02 s?
f = 1/T
f = 1/0.02
f = 50 Hz
What gets wetter the more it dries?
A towel
A car accelerates from rest to 20 m/s in 5 s. What is its acceleration?
a = v / t
a = 20/5
a = 4m/s/s
What did Rutherford’s gold foil experiment discover?
The atom has a small, dense, positively charged nucleus.
What is the function of a commutator in a DC motor?
It reverses current direction every half turn to maintain torque in one direction.
Name the scientist who proposed
E=mc^2
Albert Einstein
What is the main gas responsible for bread rising?
Carbon Dioxide
Name the force that prevents a star from collapsing under its own gravity
Thermal pressure from nuclear fusion (or degeneracy pressure in later stages)
In The Martian, what science skill did Mark Watney use to grow potatoes on Mars?
Botany (using Martian soil, water, and his own waste as fertiliser).
What is the highest male singing voice called?
Tenor
Explain why we see a rainbow when light passes through water droplets.
Dispersion and refraction cause different wavelengths to bend at different angles, separating colours.
You see a boat filled with people. It hasn’t sunk, but when you look again you don’t see a single person on board. Why?
They’re all married (no “single” people)
Define impulse and give its formula.
Impulse is the change in momentum.
Formula: J = Ft = Delta p
Which scientist boiled broth to disprove spontaneous generation?
Louis Pasteur.
A 12 V battery supplies a current of 2 A. How much power is delivered?
P=VI
P=12 x 2
P=24W
Explain why atomic spectra support quantised energy levels
Only discrete wavelengths are emitted/absorbed, matching specific electron energy transitions.
Why do we add salt to icy roads?
Salt lowers the freezing point of water, melting the ice.
Explain cosmic redshift and what it tells us about the universe.
Light from distant galaxies is shifted to longer wavelengths, showing the universe is expanding.
In Jurassic Park, dinosaurs were cloned using DNA extracted from what?
Fossilised mosquitoes trapped in amber.
What fruit has varieties called Cavendish and Lady Finger?
Banana
State Young’s double-slit experiment result and its significance.
It produced an interference pattern, showing that light behaves as a wave.
You’re in a room with three light switches and a closed door. One switch controls a bulb in the next room. You may flip switches and open the door once. How do you determine which switch controls the bulb?
Turn on Switch A for a few minutes, then turn it off and turn on Switch B. Go in: if the bulb is on → B; if off but warm → A; if off and cold → C.
Why does a ball follow a parabolic trajectory when thrown?
Horizontal velocity is constant, while vertical motion is accelerated by gravity, combining to form a parabola.
Explain how Millikan measured the charge of the electron.
Using the oil drop experiment to balance gravitational and electric forces.
Explain Faraday’s Law of electromagnetic induction.
An EMF is induced in a conductor when the magnetic flux through it changes.
State Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.
It is impossible to simultaneously know both the exact position and momentum of a particle.
How does sunscreen protect the skin from UV radiation?
It absorbs and/or reflects harmful UV rays, preventing DNA damage.
Explain how the discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) supports the Big Bang theory
The CMBR is residual radiation from the hot, dense early universe, now cooled to ~2.7 K. Its uniform presence across space provides strong evidence that the universe began from a hot, dense state and has been expanding ever since
In Interstellar, the characters travel near a black hole. What effect makes time pass slower for them than on Earth?
Time dilation due to extreme gravity (general relativity)
Which country has the longest coastline in the world?
Canada
A ray of light enters from air (n=1) into glass (n=1.5) at 30°. What is the angle of refraction?
By Snell’s Law,
n1 x sin (theta_1) = n2 x sin (theta_2)
1 x sin 30 = 1.5 x sin theta_2
→ sin (theta_2) = 0.333.
theta_2 = 19.5°.
You face two doors: one leads to safety, the other to danger. Each has a guard—one always tells the truth, the other always lies. You can ask one question to one guard. What do you ask?
“Which door would the other guard say leads to safety?” Then take the other door.
A 2 kg block slides down a frictionless incline of 30°. Calculate its acceleration.
a = g sin(theta)
a = 9.8 x 0.5
a = 4.9 m/s/s
What did Rosalind Franklin contribute to the discovery of DNA?
Her X-ray diffraction images revealed DNA’s double helix structure.
Describe the magnetic field around a solenoid.
Field lines inside are uniform and parallel; outside, they resemble a bar magnet with N and S poles.
Compare the standard model particles: leptons vs quarks
Quarks combine to form hadrons (e.g., protons, neutrons), while leptons (e.g., electrons, neutrinos) do not experience the strong nuclear force
Explain how microwave ovens heat food
Microwaves excite water molecules, generating heat through molecular vibration.
Explain how the abundance of light elements (hydrogen, helium, lithium) in the universe provides evidence for the Big Bang model
According to Big Bang nucleosynthesis, the early universe (first few minutes) was hot and dense enough for nuclear fusion, producing about 75% hydrogen, 25% helium, and trace amounts of lithium. These predicted ratios closely match observed cosmic abundances, supporting the Big Bang model over steady-state or other alternatives
In Avengers: Endgame, the heroes use what subatomic concept to travel through time?
The quantum realm/quantum mechanics
The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I?
Footsteps
Describe how diffraction gratings are used to measure the wavelength of light.
By measuring the angles of constructive interference using
d sin theta = m\lambda.
Three boxes are labeled Apples, Oranges, and Mixed, but every label is wrong. You may take one fruit from onebox. How can you correctly label all three boxes?
Draw from the Mixed-labeled box (it must be single-type). Whatever you draw is that box’s true contents. Use that info to deduce the remaining two so none keep their original (wrong) labels.