Question 16
According to the Bohr model of the atom, an electron can
undergo a transition from one orbit that is closer to the
nucleus to another which is farther from the nucleus, by
absorbing a photon whose energy E depends on its
frequency f as E = hf, where h is Planck’s constant. An
energy of 13.6 eV is needed to ionize a hydrogen atom by
ejccting an electron from the lowest energy level. What is
the longest wavelength of a photon that can eject the
electron from the lowest energy level of the atom?
(a) 40 nm;
(b) 60 nm;
(c) 70 nm;
(d) 80 nm;
(e) 90 nm.
Problem 3
A soap film with an index of refraction n
= 1.33 is contained within a rectangular
wire frame. The frame is held vertically so
that the film drains downwards and
approximates the shape of a wedge with
flat faces near the top. The thickness of
the film at the very top is essentially zero.
The film is viewed in reflected white light
with near-normal incidence, and the first
violet (λ = 420 nm) interference band is
observed 3.00 cm from the top edge of the
film.
1) Locate the first red (λ = 680 nm)
interference band.
2) Determine the film thickness at the
positions of the first violet and the
first red bands.
3) What is the wedge angle of the film?
Problem 3
In the arrangement shown in Figure 3C, an object is hung
from a string (with linear mass density µ =0.00200 kg/m)
that passes over a light pulley. The string is connected to a
vibrator (of constant frequency f), and the length of the
string between point P and the pulley is L = 2.00 m. When
Figure 3C
the mass m of the object is either 16.0 kg or 25.0 kg,
standing waves are observed; however, no standing waves
are observed with any mass between these values. The
speed of a transverse wave in a string experiencing the
tension T, is given by: v = T /µ .
(a) What is the frequency of the vibrator?
(b) What is the total number of nodes observed along the
compound string at this frequency, excluding the nodes
at the vibrator and the pulley?
(c) What is the largest object mass for which standing waves
could be observed?
Question 17
An impulse laser may be treated as a
source of photons that are emitted during
the time interval of the pulse which is
followed by a time interval when no
photons are produced. Pulses are
periodically repeated. A laser beam of
diameter d = 10 microns is directed
upward and is perpendicular to the thin
foil surface which has an index of reflection ρ = 0.50 (see
the sketch of the experiment). The index of reflection of the
surface is the ratio of the reflected energy to the impact
energy. A pulse with duration of 0.13 ms has a total energy
of 10 J. What is the mass of the piece of foil that can be
supported in the air solely by the light pressure of the laser
beam?
(a) < 39 g
(b) < 3.1 x 10-12 g
(c) < 39 mg
(d) < 3.7 g
(e) < 0.38 g
________________________________________________
Problem 3
Sir Ernest Rutherford, a very famous New Zealander who
worked at McGill University in Montreal and the Cavendish
Laboratory in Cambridge, won the Nobel Prize for his
studies of the disintegration of nuclei. He established an
important relationship for a nuclear reaction, in which a
parent atom disintegrates into a daughter atom, which is
40 40
called the Rutherford – Soddy law of radioactive Where T1/2 is the half-life of 19 K , K f is the amount of 19 K
disintegration. This law states that if N is the number of 40
radioactive nuclei present at some instant, the number of remaining in the sample, and Ar f is the amount of 18 Ar
nuclei ∆N that decay in a time ∆t is given by: found in the sample.

∆N = − λ N ∆ t e) If a rock sample has remained undisturbed for 50

40
million years and the half-life of 19 K is 1.248 x109
years, what ratio of Ar/K should be measured in the
sample?

where λ is called the decay constant. We can integrate this

expression to get the relationship Part A: Multiple Choice
N ( t ) = N 0 e − λt Question 1
where N 0 represents the number of radioactive nuclei at time
Incandescent light bulbs are notorious for being rela-
t = 0.
tively inefficient in producing visible light. The tung-
a) Show that the time taken for N(t) = N 0 /2 (known as the sten wire inside such a bulb is at a temperature of
half-life), is given by T 1/2 = (ln 2)/ λ.
approximately 3000 K and the emission spectrum is
Potassium-argon (K-Ar) dating is used in earth science to very similar to that of a blackbody. The efficiency is
determine the age of a rock sample. The potassium isotope so low because
40
19 K is radioactive and decays over time to the argon a) Most of the electrons are absorbed in the tungsten
40
wire.
isotope 18 Ar . When a rock is molten the argon gas is b) Most of the power is lost due to the resistance of
released into the atmosphere but as the rock cools and the bulb.
crystallizes, the daughter argon atoms are trapped within the c) The electric power actually is efficiently transformed
rock matrix. Time since crystallization is calculated by into radiation but at 3000 K, most of it is infrared.
40
measuring the ratio of the amount of 18 Ar accumulated to d) A blackbody absorbs more light than it emits, hence
40 it appears black.
the amount of 19 K remaining.
40
The two possible nuclear reaction for 19 K to change to
Question 2
40
18 Ar are: A solar panel installed on a spaceship has a maximum
energy output of 5 kW near the Earth. What is the
40
K + 0 1 e→ 40 18 Ar + a neutrino maximum energy output of the solar panel when the
19 spaceship is near Mars? (The distance from the Earth
40 −
to the Sun is 1 A.U. and from Mars to the Sun is
19
K → 40 18 Ar + 0 1 e + a neutrino 1.5 A.U.)
+
b) Describe the physical process that is occurring in these (a) 3.3 kW; (b) 2.2 kW; (c) 1.0 kW;
reactions. (d) 0.55 kW; (e) 0.20 kW.
c) Which of the two is the more likely to occur?
40
d) Most of the potassium 19 K (89.1%) decays to 4200 Ca .
What is the equation for this reaction? Question 4
The gas supply to your physics professor’s house sud-
denly stops due to a gas line failure. It is winter and
40 the temperature outside is −5 ◦ C and constant. As-
The approximate ratio of the amount of 18 Ar to that of suming all the doors and windows remain closed, which
40
19 K is directly related to the time elapsed since the rock of these graphs best describes how the temperature in
was cool enough to trap the argon by the following the house changes with time after the gas supply stops?
equation:
 a) Only region I.
b) Only region II.
c) Only region III.
d) Only regions I &
III.
e) Regions I, II & III.

Question 20
A spherical asteroid with a radius of 1 km is illumi-
nated by sunlight. In order to calculate the solar power
Question 12 absorbed by the asteroid, what area should be used?
A clean metal surface is placed in a vacuum. The sur-
face is irradiated with monochromatic light of variable a) 1 km 2 .
intensity I(number of photons per unit area) and fre- b) 3.14 km 2 .
quency f. We measure the maximum kinetic energy K c) 12.6 km 2 .
of electrons emitted from the metal due to the photo- d) Answer cannot be determined from the available
electric effect. How does K behave when I increases? data.
a) K increases.
b) K is constant. Question 6
c) K decreases. At the designed intensity, the two beams circulating in
d) Impossible to determine. the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN consist of
5616 bunches (2808 in each direction) of approximately
Question 15 1.15×10 11 protons per bunch. A small commercial hy-
Objects A and B, isolated from the environment, are drogen cylinder contains 40 L of gas at a pressure of
initially separated from each other and are then placed 10 MPa and a temperature of 25 ◦ C. Assuming an in-
in thermal contact. Their initial temperatures are jection efficiency of 70%, how many times could the
T A = 0 ◦ C and T B = 100 ◦ C. The heat capacity of LHC be filled at the designed intensity using a single,
B is twice the one of A. After a certain time, the perfectly hermetic cylinder?
system reaches equilibrium. The final temperatures are: a) 1.1 × 10 11
b) 1.5 × 10 11
a) T A = T B = 50 ◦ C. c) 2.1 × 10 11
b) T A = T B > 50 ◦ C. A B d) 1.1 × 10 14
c) T A = T B < 50 ◦ C. e) 1.5 × 10 14
1.0Kg 2.0Kg
d) T A > T B > 50 ◦ C. 0 ◦C 100 ◦ C
e) T A > 50 ◦ C > T B . Question 9
A detector far away from the source of a wave is de-
tecting pulses of that wave every 0.2 second. If the de-
Question 18 tector starts to move towards the source at a speed of
Objects around us have different colours. This is be- 6.0 km/h, then it would detect a total of 18200 pulses
cause per hour. What is the speed of the wave?

a) They are at different temperatures. a) 100 m/s

b) They are non-thermal radiation sources. b) 150 m/s
c) Different materials or paints reflect light at different c) 200 m/s
speeds.
d) Different materials or paints reflect different wave-
lengths.

Question 19
This graph shows the average temperature inside a
room. At time t 1 the heater is turned on. We want
to compare the power input to the room (P in ) and
the power output from the room (P out ). For which
region(s) on the graph is P in =6 P out ?

Question 19
An aluminium plate and a glass plate are left in a room
for a long time. Putting one ice cube on each plate,
you notice that the ice melts faster on the aluminium
plate. Why?
a) The ice is in thermal equilibrium with the glass
plate, but not with the aluminium plate.
b) Aluminium conducts heat to the ice more rapidly
than glass.
c) The aluminium plate holds more heat.
d) The aluminium plate is warmer.
Problem 3B (5 points)
You are given a graph of temperature as a function
of time of a container with a mixture of ice and wa-
ter slowly heated at constant rate. When all the ice
melts, there is 850 mL of water in the container. In the
following questions, neglect the evaporation of water.
(a) At which rate is the container heated?
(b) How much ice was initially present?
Question 13
You put two identical ice cubes on plates of different
materials. One cube is put on an aluminum plate, and
the other on a glass plate. Both plates have been in the
room for a long time prior to the experiment. You no-
tice that the ice melts faster on the metal plate. Why?
a) The ice is in thermal equilibrium with the plastic
plate, but not with the metal plate.
b) The metal plate conducts heat to the ice more
rapidly than the plastic plate.
c) The metal plate holds more heat than the plastic
plate.
Question 20
Two interfering waves have the same wavelength, fre-
quency, and amplitude. They are traveling in the same
direction but are 90 degrees out of phase. Compared
to the individual waves, what can be said about the
resultant wave?
a) It will have the same amplitude and velocity, but a
different wavelength.
b) It will have the same amplitude and wavelength,
but a different velocity.
c) It will have the same wavelength and velocity, but
a different amplitude.
d) It will have the same amplitude and frequency, but
a different velocity.
e) It will have the same frequency and velocity, but a
different wavelength.
Question 9
Two identical loudspeakers, placed close to each other,
are supplied with the same sinusoidal voltage. One
can imagine a pattern around the loudspeakers with
alternating areas of increased and decreased sound in-
tensity. Which of the actions below will not change
the positions of these areas?
a) Moving one of the speakers.
b) Changing the amplitude of the voltage.
c) Changing the frequency.
d) Replacing the air in the room with a gas of a differ-
ent density.
Question 11
When someone drags their fingernails across a chalk-
board, a terrible high-pitched sound is produced due to
small bumps in the chalkboard. Assume these bumps
are uniformly spaced by 0.5 mm. Audiologists have
determined that humans find sounds in the range of
2 ∼ 4 kHz to be very annoying. An evil teacher wants
to produce the longest duration continuous sound in
this range by dragging her fingernails across the chalk-
board. At what speed should she drag her nails to
accomplish this?
a) 0.28 m/s
b) 0.56 m/s
c) 1.00 m/s
d) 2.00 m/s
 Question 13
214 −22
Po atoms have a mass of 3.55 × 10 g and decay Which of the PT diagrams below correctly reflects
these processes:
into 210 Pb with a half-life of 160 µs. A detector en-
compassing 1g of 214 Po counts the number of 210 Pb
daughters produced. An experimentalist rigs an oscil-
lator so that the frequency of electromagnetic radia-
tion it emits matches the frequency of 210 Pb counts
measured by detector. After 8 ms, what type of elec-
tromagnetic radiation is produced by the oscillator?
a) Radar
b) Red light
c) Ultra-violet
d) X-rays
Problem 3
A planet without atmosphere in orbit around a star ra-
diates away an amount of energy equal to the amount
of energy it receives from the star. Therefore, the aver-
age surface temperature of the planet is constant over
decades. Imagine an Earth-sized planet without at-
mosphere orbiting around a Sun-sized star (with the
same radiation power as the sun) at a distance of 1 AU
(AU is the Astronomical Unit, equal to the Earth-Sun
distance). Question 15
Three identical closed containers are filled with gases
a) What portion of the energy radiated by the star is at the same temperature. Container A is filled with 64
captured by the planet? (Assume that planet absorbs g of oxygen, container B is filled with 84 g of nitrogen,
all the energy it receives) and container C is filled with 8 g of hydrogen. Which is
the correct ranking of the pressures in the containers?
b) According to Stefan-Boltzmann’s law, the power per
area emitted from the surface of an object at temper- a) P A > P B > P C
ature T is I = σT 4 for which σ is Stefan’s constant. b) P A > P C > P B
Assuming the power output of the star is the same as c) P A < P C < P B
the Sun (3.85×10 26 W), find the surface temperature of d) P A < P B < P C
the planet. Compare this result to the average surface e) P A = P B > P C
temperature of the Earth (288 K). How much differ-
Question 23
ence does the atmosphere make in the surface temper-
A beam of electrons is sent through a small hole in
ature of Earth? Would Earth be warm enough to be
a piece of foil. The places where the electrons hit on
habitable for humans if it did not have an atmosphere?
a distant screen are recorded. If we make the hole
c) Neptune is the outer-most planet in our solar sys- smaller, the region where the electrons are hitting the
tem at distance 30.4 AU. If we assume that Nep- screen will be
tune absorbs all the energy it receives from the Sun,
what is the average uniform surface temperature of this
planet?

Question 10
A constant amount of ideal gas, at the temperature T 0 ,
undergoes a process that changes its pressure from P 0
to 2P 0 . Then its volume is increased from V 0 to 3V 0 at
a constant pressure, as shown on PV diagram:

a) bigger
b) the same
c) smaller
Problem 3
The vapor pressure is the pressure at which a liquid can be in equilibrium with its own vapor. When the
pressure in the liquid is lower than the vapor pressure, the liquid begins to boil. The vapor pressure increases
with temperature. The following pictures represents the vapor pressure of water, in Torr (760 Torr = 1 atm),
as a function of temperature in Celsius.

Imagine a tall column of water on the Moon, maintained at a temperature of 50 o C and left open to the vacuum
at the top. Up to what depth will the water in this column boil? The Moon’s radius is 0.273 that of the Earth’s
and its mass 1.23% that of the Earth’s.

Question 12
A red beam of light is made up of a stream of photons.
If we double the frequency of the beam, keeping the in-
tensity constant, what will happen to the stream?

a) The number of photons will stay the same and the

energy of each photon will stay the same.
b) The number of photons will stay the same and the
energy of each photon will increase.
c) The number of photons will decrease and the energy
of each photon will increase.
d) The number of photons will increase and the energy
of each photon will stay the same.
e) The number of photons will increase and the energy
of each photon will increase.