FORMATIVE

1. A rectangular sheet of paper has dimensions of (30.0 ± 0.5) cm and (20.0 ± 0.5) cm.

What is the percentage uncertainty of the perimeter of the paper?

A. 1 %

B. 2 %

C. 2.5 %

D. 4 %

2.

Two forces, F and G, act on a system.

F is reversed in direction and G is halved.

Which vector correctly represents the new resultant force?

3. Ball 1 is dropped from rest from an initial height h . At the same instant, ball 2 is launched
vertically upwards at an initial velocity u.

At what time are both balls at the same distance above the ground?

h
A.
4u
h
B.
2u
h
C.
u
2h
D.
u
4. A projectile is launched with a velocity u at an angle θ to the horizontal. It reaches a
maximum height s. What is the time taken to reach the maximum height?

2s
A.
u cos θ
2s
B.
g
u cos θ
C.
g
u sinθ
D.
g
5.

An object of mass 2.0 kg is on a horizontal surface. The object is pulled by a force of 12.0 N and
accelerates at 2.0 m s−2.
 What is the coefficient of dynamic friction between the object and the surface?

A. 0.3

B. 0.4

C. 0.6

D. 0.8

6. A person lifts a total mass of 20 kg through a vertical distance of 0.60 m. The person repeats the
lift n times to transfer a total energy of 6.0 × 104 J.

What is n?

A. 5

B. 50

C. 500

D. 5000

7. A ball of mass 1.5 kg strikes a force sensor and bounces. The ball experiences a change in
velocity of 10 m s−1. The graph shows the variation with time t of the force F recorded by the sensor.

What is ΔT?

A. 0.15 s
 B. 0.30 s

C. 0.60 s

D. 3.0 s

8. A block of glass of mass 5 kg and temperature 30°C is brought into contact with a block of
asphalt of mass 20 kg and temperature 75°C. The specific heat capacity of asphalt is twice that of
glass. No energy is transferred to the surroundings. What is the final temperature of both blocks?

A. 35°C

B. 45°C

C. 60°C

D. 70°C

9. A solid mass gains energy at a constant rate until it reaches its liquid phase. The specific heat
capacity in the solid phase is greater than in the liquid phase.

Which graph shows how the temperature of the mass varies with time?

10. Three statements about Boltzmann’s constant kB are:

I. kB has a unit of J K−1

gas constant
II. kB ¿
Avogadro’s constant
 the average kinetic energy of particles
III. kB ¿
temperature of the gas
Which statements are correct?

A. I and II only

B. I and III only

C. II and III only

D. I, II and III

11. Water is to be pumped through a vertical height difference of 12.5 m. The pump is driven by a
wind turbine that has an efficiency of 50 % and an area swept by the blades of 100 m2. The average
wind speed is 5.0 m s−1 and the air density is 1.2 kg m−3.

What is the maximum mass of water that can be pumped every second?

A. 3 kg

B. 30 kg

C. 60 kg

D. 120 kg

12. When heating a metal rod at one end, thermal energy is transferred along the rod.

Which statement explains this transfer?

A. Free electrons transfer kinetic energy to the ions in the metal

B. Intermolecular potential energy increases throughout the metal

C. Intermolecular potential energy is transferred to kinetic energy

D. Ions in the metal radiate energy in all directions

13. The magnitude of the resultant of two forces acting on a body is 12 N. Which pair of forces
acting on the body can combine to produce this resultant?

A. 1 N and 2 N

B. 1 N and 14 N

C. 5 N and 6 N

D. 6 N and 7 N

14. A student measures the time for 20 oscillations of a pendulum. The experiment is repeated four
times. The measurements are:

10.45 s

10.30 s

10.70 s

10.55 s

What is the best estimate of the uncertainty in the average time for 20 oscillations?

A. 0.01 s

B. 0.05 s

C. 0.2 s

D. 0.5 s

15. A block moving with initial speed v is brought to rest, after travelling a distance d, by a frictional
force f . A second identical block moving with initial speed u is brought to rest in the same distance d
f
by a frictional force . What is u?
2
A. v

v
B.
√2
v
C.
2
v
D.
4
16. A stone is kicked horizontally at a speed of 1.5 m s−1 from the edge of a cliff on one of Jupiter’s
moons. It hits the ground 2.0 s later. The height of the cliff is 4.0 m. Air resistance is negligible.

What is the magnitude of the displacement of the stone?

 A. 7.0 m

B. 5.0 m

C. 4.0 m

D. 3.0 m

17. Which of the formulae represents Newton’s second law?

mass
A.
volume
work
B.
displacement
change of momentum
C.
time
D. pressure ×area

18. Two masses m 1 and m 2 are connected by a string over a frictionless pulley of negligible mass.
The masses are released from rest. Air resistance is negligible.
 g m1
Mass m 2 accelerates downwards at . What is ?
2 m2
1
A.
3
1
B.
2
C. 2

D. 3

19.

A cart travels from rest along a horizontal surface with a constant acceleration. What is the
variation of the kinetic energy Ek of the cart with its distance s travelled? Air resistance is
negligible.
20. Two trolleys of equal mass travel in opposite directions as shown.

The trolleys collide head-on and stick together.

What is their velocity after the collision?

A. 1 m s−1

B. 2 m s−1

C. 5 m s−1

D. 10 m s−1

21.

A driver uses the brakes on a car to descend a hill at constant speed. What is correct about the
internal energy of the brake discs?

A. The internal energy increases.

B. The internal energy decreases.

C. There is no change in the internal energy.

 D. The internal energy is zero.

22.

Two blocks, X and Y, are placed in contact with each other. Data for the blocks are provided.

X has a mass m . What is the mass of Y?

m
A.
4
B. m

C. 4 m

D. 6 m

23. An ideal gas is maintained at a temperature of 100 K. The variation of the pressure P and
1
of the gas is shown.
volume

What is the quantity of the gas?

5
2× 10
A. mol
R
 200
B. mol
R
80
C. mol
R
4
D. mol
5R
v
24. Wind of speed v flows through a wind generator. The wind speed drops to after passing
3
through the blades. What is the maximum possible efficiency of the generator?

1
A.
27
8
B.
27
19
C.
27
26
D.
27
25. A ball rolls on the floor towards a wall and rebounds with the same speed and at the
same angle to the wall.

What is the direction of the impulse applied to the ball by the wall?
26. An electric motor of efficiency 0.75 is connected to a power supply with an emf of 20 V and
negligible internal resistance. The power output of the motor is 120 W. What is the average current
drawn from the power supply?

A. 3.1 A

B. 4.5 A

C. 6.0 A

D. 8.0 A

27. A fuel has mass density ρ and energy density u. What mass of the fuel has to be burned
to release thermal energy E ?

ρE
A.
u
uE
B.
ρ
ρu
C.
E
D. ρuE

28. A ball undergoes an elastic collision with a vertical wall. Which of the following is equal to zero?

A. The change of the magnitude of linear momentum of the ball

B. The magnitude of the change of linear momentum of the ball

C. The rate of change of linear momentum of the ball

D. The impulse of the force on the ball

29. An electron has a linear momentum of 4.0 × 10−25 kg m s−1. What is the order of magnitude
of the kinetic energy of the electron?

A. 10−50 J

B. 10−34 J

C. 10−19 J

D. 106 J

30. Which change produces the largest percentage increase in the maximum theoretical
power output of a wind turbine?

A. Doubling the area of the blades

B. Doubling the density of the fluid

C. Doubling the radius of the blades

D. Doubling the speed of the fluid

© International Baccalaureate Organization, 2023