SECTION 1 — 20 marks
2018 SQA Higher Physics MCQS With Answers
1. A car is moving at a speed of 2·0 m s−1.
The car now accelerates at 4·0 m s−2
until it reaches a speed of 14 m s−1.
The distance travelled by the car during this acceleration is
- A 1·5 m
- B 18 m
- C 24 m
- D 25 m
- E 48 m.
Ans C
2. A ball is dropped from rest and allowed to bounce several times.
The graph shows how the velocity of the ball varies with time.
A student makes the following statements about the ball.
I The ball hits the ground at P.
II The ball is moving upwards between Q and R.
III The ball is moving upwards between R and S.
Which of these statements is/are correct?
- A I only
- B II only
- C III only
- D I and II only
- E I and III only
Ans D
3. A block of mass 6·0 kg and a block of mass 8·0 kg are connected by a string.
A force of 32N is applied to the blocks as shown.
A frictional force of 4·0N acts on each block.
The acceleration of the 6·0 kg block is
- A 1·7 m s−2
- B 2·0 m s−2
- C 2·3 m s−2
- D 2·9 m s−2
- E 5·3 m s−2.
Ans A
4. A person stands on a weighing machine in a lift. When the lift is at rest, the reading on the
weighing machine is 700N.
The lift now descends and its speed increases at a constant rate.
The reading on the weighing machine
- A is a constant value higher than 700N
- B is a constant value lower than 700N
- C continually increases from 700N
- D continually decreases from 700N
- E remains constant at 700N.
Ans B
5. Enceladus is a moon of Saturn. The mass of Enceladus is 1·08 × 1020 kg.
The mass of Saturn is 5·68 × 1026 kg.
The gravitational force of attraction between Enceladus and Saturn is 7·24 × 1019N.
The orbital radius of Enceladus around Saturn is
- A 2·38 × 108 m
- B 9·11 × 1013 m
- C 5·65 × 1016 m
- D 8·30 × 1027 m
- E 3·19 × 1033 m.
Ans A
6. A spacecraft is travelling at 0·10c relative to a star.
An observer on the spacecraft measures the speed of light emitted by the star to be
- A 0·90c
- B 0·99c
- C 1·00c
- D 1·01c
- E 1·10c.
Ans C
7. A spacecraft is travelling at a speed of 0·200c relative to the Earth.
The spacecraft emits a signal for 20·0 seconds as measured in the frame of reference of the
spacecraft.
An observer on Earth measures the duration of the signal as
- A 19·2 s
- B 19·6 s
- C 20·0 s
- D 20·4 s
- E 20·8 s.
Ans D
8. How many types of quark are there?
- A 8
- B 6
- C 4
- D 3
- E 2
Ans B
9. An electron is a
- A boson
- B hadron
- C baryon
- D meson
- E lepton.
Ans E
10. A proton enters a region of magnetic field as shown.
On entering the magnetic field the proton
- A deflects into the page
- B deflects out of the page
- C deflects towards the top of the page
- D deflects towards the bottom of the page
- E is not deflected.
Ans C
11. A nuclear fission reaction is represented by the following statement.
1 235 141 10 92 56 0 n U Ba X 3 n + → ++
The nucleus represented by X is
- A 9640Zr
- B 9236Kr
- C 9740Zr
- D 9336Kr
- E 9440Zr.
Ans B
12. The irradiance on a surface 0·50 m from a point source of light is I.
The irradiance on a surface 1·5 m from this source is
- A 0·11I
- B 0·33I
- C 1·5I
- D 3·0I
- E 9·0I.
Ans A
13. Waves from two coherent sources, S1 and S2, produce an interference pattern. Maxima are
detected at the positions shown below.
The path difference S1P − S2P is 154 mm.
The wavelength of the waves is
- A 15·4 mm
- B 25·7 mm
- C 28·0 mm
- D 30·8 mm
- E 34·2 mm.
Ans D
14. A ray of monochromatic light passes from air into a block of glass as shown.
The wavelength of this light in air is 6·30 × 10−7 m.
The refractive index of the glass for this light is 1·50.
The frequency of this light in the glass is
- A 2·10 × 10−15 Hz
- B 1·26 × 102 Hz
- C 1·89 × 102 Hz
- D 4·76 × 1014 Hz
- E 7·14 × 1014 Hz.
Ans D
15. A circuit is set up as shown.
The battery has negligible internal resistance.
A student makes the following statements about the readings on the meters in this circuit.
I When switch S is open the reading on the voltmeter will be 6·0 V.
II When switch S is open the reading on A2 will be 0·60 A.
III When switch S is closed the reading on A1 will be 0·80 A.
Which of these statements is/are correct?
- A I only
- B II only
- C I and II only
- D II and III only
- E I, II and III
Ans E
16. The power dissipated in a 120Ω resistor is 4·8 W.
The current in the resistor is
- A 0·020 A
- B 0·040 A
- C 0·20 A
- D 5·0 A
- E 25 A.
Ans C
17. A 24·0 μF capacitor is charged until the potential difference across it is 125 V.
The charge stored on the capacitor is
- A 5·21 × 106 C
- B 7·75 × 10−2 C
- C 1·50 × 10−3 C
- D 3·00 × 10−3 C
- E 1·92 × 10−7 C.
Ans D
18. A circuit is set up as shown.
When the capacitor is fully charged the energy stored in the capacitor is
- A 1·6 × 10−5 J
- B 1·3 × 10−3 J
- C 2·6 × 10−3 J
- D 1·6 × 10−2 J
- E 1·6 × 104 J.
Ans D
19. The circuit shown is used to charge and then discharge a capacitor C.
Which pair of graphs shows how the potential difference V across the capacitor varies with
time t during charging and discharging?
Ans E
20. A student carries out an experiment to determine the specific heat capacity c of a solid.
The relationship used to calculate c is
The recorded measurements and their percentage uncertainties are shown.
energy supplied, E = 5000 J ± 1%
mass of solid, m = 0·20 kg ± 2%
change in temperature, ∆T = 4·5 °C ± 5%
A good estimate of the percentage uncertainty in the calculated value of c is
- A 8%
- B 7%
- C 5%
- D 3%
- E 1%
Ans C
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