Physics 111 Fall 2015 Midterm (100 pts.

Total)

Name: ______________________

Directions: This test is closed book and closed notes. You may use only a
calculator and the formula sheet provided. Skim through the questions
before answering. For full credit, show all calculations and carry through
units. For the multiple choice questions, write the letter of your answer in
the blank space. For questions that involve a calculation, draw a circle or
box around your answer.

1 – 6 (5 pts apiece)

1. _______ We add 105.2 and 2.387. How many significant figures are in the result (not
just after the decimal point)?

A. 5 B. 4 C. 3 D. 2

2. _______ How would we write 25,670,000 in scientific notation?

A. 2.567 x 105 B. 2.567 x 106

C. 2.567 x 107 D. 2.567 x 108

3. _______ A particle has the velocity and acceleration shown below. What option
properly describes its motion (assume right is positive)?

v
a
A. positive velocity and slowing down
B. positive velocity and speeding up
C. negative velocity and slowing down
D. negative velocity and speeding up

4. _______ Which of these lists includes only scalars and no vectors?

A. distance, velocity, mass, time

B. speed, mass, volume, acceleration
C. mass, displacement, time, energy
D. mass, speed, distance, volume
5. _______ A ball rolls sideways off a table and falls to the floor. How do we describe its
acceleration in the x and y directions as it falls (assume no air resistance or friction, and
that up is the positive y direction)?

A. no acceleration in x, positive acceleration in y

B. no acceleration in x, negative acceleration in y
C. positive acceleration in x, negative acceleration in y
D. negative acceleration in x, negative acceleration in y

6. _______ Which of these four velocity vs. time graphs would match with a constant
negative acceleration?

A. B.

C. D.
7. A man’s motion is described by the graph below. Assume that positive x is to the
right. (15 pts.)

10
9
8
Displacement (m)

7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Time (s)

a. What is his velocity at 2 s? (5 pts.)

b. What is his velocity at 6 s? What is his average velocity between

0 s and 6 s? (5 pts.)

c. By 10 s, how far away is he from his starting point, and in which direction?
(5 pts.)
8. You’re driving along the highway in your new car, which still has the speedometer
setting stuck on metric, and see a sign in the distance. You can barely make out the
wording: “Speed Limit 70 miles per hour, strictly enforced.” They’re not kidding about
the “strictly”, as there is a state patrol officer parked right behind the sign, with his radar
gun ready! If you’re currently going 30 m/s, will you need to slow down?
(1 mile = 1.609 km) (10 pts.)

9. Your canoe springs a leak and you have to start bailing out water while your friend
frantically rows to shore. You only have a 1 L jug with you to scoop up the water, and
can pour it out and repeat in 10 s. If you need to bail out 10 L/min to stay afloat, can you
do it? (5 pts)

10. You walk 15.0 km in a direction 30° West of North. (15 pts)

a. Draw a diagram of your displacement, with the appropriate axes. Label the
displacement vector R, its angle, and its x and y components. (5 pts)

b. What is your displacement in the x direction (include sign)? (Use East as +x

and North as +y.) (10 pts.)
11. You’re driving in the city at 15.0 m/s and see a stop light turn red 100 m ahead of
you. (10 pts.)

a. What acceleration will you need to stop the car within that distance? (5 pts.)

b. What time will it take to stop at that acceleration? (5 pts.)

12. A ball is rolling to the right at 20.0 m/s on the top of a 100 m tall building. When it
reaches the edge, it falls as a projectile. Assume no friction or air resistance. Take right
to be +x and up to be +y. (15 pts.)

a. If time t = 0 is when it reaches the edge of the building, what are the initial x
and y components of velocity? (5 pts.)

b. How long does the ball take to reach the ground? (5 pts.)

c. How far away from the face of the building (horizontally) does it hit the
ground? (5 pts.)