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PHYSICS GENERAL QUIZ

Total questions: 62

Worksheet time: 31mins

Name
Class
Date
1.

Which is the weakest force in nature?

a)

Gravity

b)

electromagnetic force

c)

strong force

d)

weak force

2.

Pierre Gassendi, a French philosopher-scientist, observed gunfire from a distance in order to measure which natural phenomenon?

a)

The speed of sound

b)

the speed of light

c)

atmospheric interference

d)

gravity

3.

Who among these men was the first scientist to conduct a controlled nuclear chain reaction experiment?

a)

Arthur Holly Compton

b)

Enrico Fermi

c)

Albert Einstein

d)

Richard P. Feynman

4.

Physicist J.J. Thomson's atomic model, sometimes called the plum-pudding model, describes the atom as taking which configuration?

a)

a dense, positively charged nucleus orbited by negatively charged electrons

b)

negative electrons occupying specific shells extending outward from a dense, positive nucleus

c)

a dense, positive nucleus surrounded by electrons revolving in a set number of specific orbits

d)

positively charged matter in which negatively charged electrons are embedded

5.

What did physicist J.J. Thomson discover in the 1890s when he analyzed cathode rays and concluded that they were made up of charged “corpuscles”?

a)

radioactivity

b)

photons

c)

ions

d)

electrons

6.

What is the phenomenon of Raman scattering, named after Indian physicist C.V. Raman?

 

a)

effects of cloud layers on radio emissions

b)

change of wavelength of deflected light

c)

motion of atoms in ionized gas

d)

statistical distribution of meteorite impacts

7.

What reaction involving atomic nuclei is the source of the Sun’s energy?

a)

ionization

b)

nuclear fusion

c)

nuclear fission

d)

chemical combustion

8.

In the early 18th century, what startling conclusion did John Dalton reach regarding the “ultimate particles,” or atoms, of each of the chemical elements?

a)

all atoms bear either a positive or a negative charge

b)

all atoms of all elements are fundamentally alike

c)

each element is made up of its own unique atom

d)

all atoms can be divided into even smaller particles

9.

What is the name of the theoretical explanation of the behaviour of subatomic particles offered by British physicist P.A.M. Dirac in the 1920s?

a)

atomism

b)

quantum field theory

c)

superstring theory

d)

electron theory

10.

Whose work in quantum physics was referred to by Albert Einstein as “the highest form of musicality in the sphere of thought”?

a)

Niels Bohr

b)

Carl David Anderson

c)

P.A.M. Dirac

d)

Max Born

11.

Which wave phenomenon results from the interference or superimposition of waves moving in opposite directions?

a)

sinusoidal waves

b)

harmonic waves

c)

light

d)

standing waves

12.

What is the unit of measure for cycles per second?

a)

ohm

b)

decibel

c)

hertz

d)

ampere

13.

A transverse wave oscillates along paths at what angle to the direction of the wave's propagation?

a)

right angles

b)

acute angles

c)

reflex angles

d)

obtuse angles

14.

What is the SI unit of an electric charge?

a)

ampere

b)

second

c)

coulomb

d)

kelvin

15.

Which type of electromagnetic radiation has the shortest wavelength?

a)

microwave

b)

X-ray

c)

radio wave

d)

gamma ray

16.

For what discovery were Owen Chamberlain and Emilio Segrè awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1959?

a)

baryons

b)

muoniums

c)

antiprotons

d)

antimatter

17.

What is the capacitance of a capacitor when one coulomb of electricity changes the potential between the plates by one volt?

a)

one erg

b)

one henry

c)

one watt

d)

one farad

18.

What is tribology?

a)

study of interactions of various types of matter

b)

study of interaction of volume temperature and gas pressure

c)

study of interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter

d)

study of interaction of sliding surfaces

19.

Who discovered the rotating magnetic field?

a)

Paul Langevin

b)

Georgy Flerov

c)

Nikola Tesla

d)

Pierre Curie

20.

What term defines work done per unit of time?

a)

angular momentum

b)

power

c)

magnetic flux

d)

electric current

21.

What term refers to the change of velocity with time?

a)

distance

b)

gravity

c)

acceleration

d)

motion

22.

Arthur Eddington is known for investigating which type of celestial body?

a)

planet

b)

asteroid

c)

comet

d)

star

23.

What is the flow of electric charge that periodically reverses direction?

a)

electric current

b)

alternating current

c)

eddy current

d)

displacement current

24.

Which law states that the magnetic fields are related to the electric current produced in them?

a)

Ampere's law

b)

Avogadro’s law

c)

Ohm's law

d)

Boyle's law

25.

The thought experiment known as Schrödinger’s cat postulates that a cat can be in two states at the same time. What are those two states?

a)

awake and asleep

b)

alive and dead

c)

kitten and adult

d)

moving and stationary

26.

What is the internal force per unit area of a body that arises from externally applied forces?

a)

displacement

b)

moment

c)

stress

d)

action

27.

What is vaporization of dry ice an example of?

a)

cavitation

b)

evaporation

c)

sublimation

d)

condensation

28.

A candela is the SI unit for what?

a)

inductance

b)

radioactivity

c)

luminous intensity

d)

amount of a substance

29.

What is the unit of magnetic induction?

a)

joule

b)

mole

c)

tesla

d)

newton

30.

What is the formula for density?

a)

d = M+V

b)

d = MV

c)

d = M/V

d)

d=M-V

31.

For which invention did Akasaki Isamu win the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2014?

a)

holography

b)

blue LEDs

c)

automatic sun valves

d)

integrated circuits

32.

Who is best known for the rediscovery of “fixed air”?

a)

Henry Cavendish

b)

Joseph Black

c)

Vilhelm Bjerknes

d)

David Gross

33.

With whom did Ferdinand Braun share the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909 for the development of wireless telegraphy?

a)

Alexander Stepanovich Popov

b)

Guglielmo Marconi

c)

Alexander Graham Bell

d)

Gabriel Lippmann

34.

Why was Ernest Orlando Lawrence awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1939?

a)

invention of hydrogen bomb

b)

invention of the cyclotron

c)

discovery of neptunium

d)

discovery of the multiverse

35.

What is used to measure wind speed?

a)

barometer

b)

dynamometer

c)

altimeter

d)

anemometer

36.

Who formulated the second law of thermodynamics?

a)

Rudolf Clausius

b)

Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot

c)

Ernst Mach

d)

Ludwig Boltzmann

37.

What is the rate of acceleration of gravity at the Earth’s surface?

a)

9.8m/s/s (32 feet/s/s)

b)

6.7m/s/s (22 feet/s/s)

c)

7.8m/s/s (25.6 feet/s/s)

d)

11.2m/s/s (36.7 feet/s/s)

38.

Which of the following is not a scalar quantity?

a)

force

b)

volume

c)

energy

d)

mass

39.

What law applies to the working of hydraulic brakes in automobiles?

a)

Newton's second law

b)

Coulomb's law

c)

Hooke's law

d)

Pascal's law

40.

What is Newton's first law of motion about?

a)

torque

b)

work

c)

inertia

d)

momentum

41.

Ohm's law describes the relationship between what?

a)

current and drift velocity

b)

frequency, wavelength, and velocity

c)

kinetic energy and momentum

d)

current, voltage, and resistance

42.

The first law of thermodynamics is also known by what name?

a)

conservation of linear momentum

b)

conservation of mass

c)

conservation of charge

d)

conservation of energy

43.

What phenomenon scatters a light beam by suspended particles in a gas or liquid?

a)

Tyndall effect

b)

Zeeman effect

c)

Schwinger effect

d)

Allais effect

44.

What is the escape velocity for a body from the surface of the Earth?

a)

11.2 km/sec (6.96 miles/sec)

b)

9.2 km/sec (5.71 miles/sec)

c)

2.4 km/sec (1.49 miles/sec)

d)

5.01 km/sec (3.11 miles/sec)

45.

What device can change diverging light into a parallel beam?

a)

interferometer

b)

spectrometer

c)

collimator

d)

SWR meter

46.

Who discovered canal rays?

a)

Arnold Sommerfeld

b)

Ernest Rutherford

c)

Robert Millikan

d)

Eugen Goldstein

47.

Who built the first fuel cell?

a)

Henry Moseley

b)

David Edward Hughes

c)

Sir William Robert Grove

d)

Enrico Fermi

48.

What material emits light when exposed to radiation?

a)

melanophore

b)

phosphor

c)

alexandrite

d)

chromophore

49.

Who first discovered the neutron?

a)

James Chadwick

b)

Wolfgang Pauli

c)

Louis de Broglie

d)

Otto Frisch

50.

Who discovered the principle of interference of light?

a)

Philip W. Anderson

b)

Thomas Young

c)

Paul Ehrenfest

d)

Robert Hooke

51.

Who wrote the Principia?

a)

Issac Newton

b)

Marie Curie

c)

John Locke

d)

Thomas Edison

52.

Who proposed the general theory of relativity?

a)

Richard Feynman

b)

Hendrik Lorentz

c)

Albert Einstein

d)

Karl Schwarzschild

53.

What is the unit of measurement of the electromotive force?

a)

hertz

b)

watt

c)

pascal

d)

volt

54.

For what was Carl David Anderson awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1936?

a)

discovery of antineutrons

b)

discovery of B mesons

c)

discovery of positrons

d)

discovery of protons

55.

What is the other name of strong force?

a)

electrical force

b)

gravitational force

c)

nuclear force

d)

magnetic force

56.

What is the change in the direction of a wave with a change in the medium called?

a)

reflection

b)

refraction

c)

rotation

d)

resonance

57.

What causes the perceived pitch of the object to be higher when an object moves closer to the source?

a)

Doppler effect

b)

Evershed effect

c)

Christofilos effect

d)

Glasser effect

58.

What instrument measures and records the relative humidity of air?

a)

thermometer

b)

hygrometer

c)

pH meter

d)

photometer

59.

Who discovered electromagnetic induction?

a)

Heinrich Hertz

b)

André-Marie Ampère

c)

Michael Faraday

d)

John Lewis Hall

60.

What is used to split white light into different colors?

a)

thermometer

b)

magnifying glass

c)

mirror

d)

prism

61.

Decibel is the unit used for measuring what?

a)

loudness

b)

temperature

c)

amplitude

d)

pitch

62.

Who invented the electron microscope?

a)

Ernst Ruska

b)

David Brewster

c)

Christiaan Huygens

d)

Max Born