Name: ________________________

Waves and Material

MCQ Class: ________________________

Date: ________________________

Time: 50 minutes

Marks: 47 marks

Comments:

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 Which combination of an object’s speed and journey time gives a distance travelled of 1 mm?
1.

Speed Journey time

A 10 μm s−1 100 s

B 10 km s−1 0.01 μs

C 1 nm s−1 1 Gs

D 0.1 Mm s−1 100 ns

(Total 1 mark)

An object of mass 0.20 kg moves with an initial velocity u. It collides with a stationary object of
2.
mass 0.30 kg.

The objects stick together when they collide.

No external forces act on the objects.

What is the final velocity of the two objects after the collision?

A 0.40u

B 0.67u

C 1.5u

D 2.5u

(Total 1 mark)

A ball is dropped from a height h. The ball hits the ground with a velocity v.
3.
The ball is now dropped from a height of 2h.
Air resistance is negligible.

What is the velocity at which the ball hits the ground?

A v

D 2v

(Total 1 mark)

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 The graph shows the variation of stress with strain for a material.
4.

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 What is the Young modulus of the material?

A 1.2 × 105 Pa

B 1.5 × 105 Pa

C 1.2 × 1011 Pa

D 1.5 × 1011 Pa

(Total 1 mark)

A person jumps as high as she can from a standing position.

5.
What is a reasonable estimate of her speed just after she leaves the ground?

A 2 m s−1

B 4 m s−1

C 8 m s−1

D 10 m s−1

(Total 1 mark)

A ball is kicked from point P on level ground. The ball initially travels at 45° to the horizontal.
6.
The ball reaches its maximum height after a time of 2.0 s.
Air resistance can be ignored.

What is the displacement of the ball from P when at its maximum height?

A 20 m

B 40 m

C 45 m

D 60 m

(Total 1 mark)

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 An object is moving in a straight line. A graph is plotted to show the variation of the momentum of
7. the object with time.

Which quantities can be calculated from the gradient of the graph and the area under the graph?

Gradient of graph Area under graph

A power mass × displacement

B force work done × time

C power work done × time

D force mass × displacement

(Total 1 mark)

A sphere of mass m falls with speed v.

8.
The resistive force on the sphere is kv, where k is a constant.

What is the terminal speed of the sphere?

C kmg

(Total 1 mark)

A trolley moves down a slope with constant acceleration.

9. The mass of the trolley is doubled and the trolley moves down the same slope again.
Air resistance and friction are negligible.

Which is correct?

A The accelerating force is unchanged.

B The accelerating force is halved.

C The acceleration is unchanged.

D The acceleration is halved.

(Total 1 mark)

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 A variable force F acts on an object of mass 2.0 kg. The object is at rest at time t = 0
10.
The graph shows the variation of F with t.

What is the speed of the object when t = 1.0 s?

A 3.75 m s−1

B 5.00 m s−1

C 7.50 m s−1

D 15.0 m s−1

(Total 1 mark)

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 A heavy cable is attached to a fixed support and carries a load at its lower end.
11.

The weight of the cable is not negligible.

The cable has constant cross-sectional area and density.

Which graph shows the variation of tensile stress σ in the cable with
distance d from J to K?

A B

C D

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 A

(Total 1 mark)

A baby bouncer consists of an inextensible harness attached to a spring.

12.

The stiffness of the spring is in the range:

A 1–10 N m−1

B 10–100 N m−1

C 100–1000 N m−1

D 1000–10 000 N m−1

(Total 1 mark)

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 A mass M hangs in equilibrium from a vertical spring that obeys Hooke’s law.
13.
M is pulled down by 10 cm and then released to oscillate about the equilibrium position.
M returns to the equilibrium position for the first time 0.50 s after release.

Which row gives the amplitude and the period of the oscillations?

Amplitude / cm Period / s

A 10 1.0

B 10 2.0

C 20 2.0

D 20 1.0
(Total 1 mark)

A uniform beam of weight 23.5 N is attached by a hinge to a vertical wall and supported by a
14.
string.
The string makes an angle of 35° to the wall.

What is the tension in the string?

A 14 N

B 21 N

C 29 N

D 41 N
(Total 1 mark)

Hartland International School Page 9 of 32

 P and Q are two balls of the same diameter. P has a greater mass than Q.
15.
Both balls are projected at the same time from the top of a tall building that stands on horizontal
ground.
Both balls are projected with the same horizontal velocity.
P reaches the ground after time tP and at a horizontal distance dP from the building.
Q reaches the ground after time tQ and at a horizontal distance dQ from the building.

The air is still and air resistance is not negligible.

Which row is correct?

Time Horizontal distance

A tP = tQ dP = dQ

B tP = tQ dP > dQ

C tP < tQ dP = dQ

D tP < tQ dP > dQ
(Total 1 mark)

A firework rocket moves vertically upwards.

16. The rocket’s fuel burns at a steady rate to produce a constant thrust.
The mass of the rocket decreases with time.

Ignore the effects of air resistance on the rocket.

Which row shows the acceleration of the rocket before, and the acceleration immediately after,
the fuel has been used up?

Acceleration before Acceleration immediately after

A increasing upwards constant downwards

B increasing upwards decreasing upwards

C constant upwards constant downwards

D decreasing upwards constant downwards

(Total 1 mark)

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 Object P has a mass of 7500 kg and travels at 12 m s−1.
17.
Object Q has a mass of 2500 kg and travels at 20 m s−1 in the same direction as P.
P and Q collide and remain together after the collision.

What is the total kinetic energy of P and Q immediately after the collision?

A 70 kJ

B 140 kJ

C 980 kJ

D 2.0 MJ
(Total 1 mark)

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 A solar panel powers a pump for a water feature.
18.

Solar energy is incident on the solar panel at a rate of 1.5 W.

Water from the bottom container is continually pumped through a vertical height of 0.60 m to the
top container.

The overall efficiency of the solar panel and the pump is 20%.

What mass of water can be pumped into the top container each second?

A 5g

B 50 g

C 100 g

D 250 g
(Total 1 mark)

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 Which two quantities have the base unit kg m2 s−2?
19.

A kinetic energy and momentum

B kinetic energy and Young modulus

C work done and the moment of a couple

D work done and pressure

(Total 1 mark)

A tennis ball has a mass of 58 g.

20.
The ball is dropped from rest from a height of 1.8 m above the ground and falls vertically.
The ball rebounds vertically to a height of 1.1 m.
The effect of air resistance is negligible.

What is the change in momentum of the ball during its collision with the ground?

A 0.040 N s

B 0.075 N s

C 0.215 N s

D 0.614 N s
(Total 1 mark)

Light of wavelength λ is incident normally on a diffraction grating.

21.
The separation between adjacent slits is equal to 5λ.

What is the smallest angle between the third-order maximum and fourth-order maximum
diffracted beams?

A 13.3°

B 16.2°

C 36.9°

D 53.1°

(Total 1 mark)

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 S1 and S2 are coherent sources of microwaves that produce waves of the same amplitude.
22. A microwave detector gives a zero reading when placed at a point that is the same distance from
S1 and S2.

What is the phase difference between microwaves from S1 and S2 at the detector?

A zero

B 1.6 rad

C 3.1 rad

D 6.3 rad

(Total 1 mark)

Powder is spread along the inside of an air-filled pipe that is closed at one end.
23. A loudspeaker is placed at the other end.
At certain sound frequencies a stationary wave is produced so that powder collects in evenly
spaced piles. These piles correspond to positions of minimum amplitude.

The distance between pile A and pile B is 0.20 m.

What is the wavelength of the stationary sound wave?

A 0.04 m

B 0.05 m

C 0.10 m

D 0.20 m

(Total 1 mark)

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 Two aerials A1 and A2 receive radio waves from the same distant transmitter T.
24.
The waves have a frequency of 88 MHz.
The phase difference between the waves received by A1 and A2 is 6.6 rad.

What is the distance A1T – A2T?

A 1.6 m

B 3.2 m

C 3.6 m

D 7.2 m

(Total 1 mark)

A stationary wave of wavelength λ is produced on a string.

25.
What are the phase difference and the distance between adjacent antinodes?

Phase difference Distance

C π

D π

(Total 1 mark)

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 A central diffraction maximum is observed when monochromatic light of wavelength λ passes
26.
through a single slit of width s.

Which combination of changes to λ and s will always produce a wider central diffraction
maximum?

Change to λ Change to s

A decrease decrease

B decrease increase

C increase decrease

D increase increase

(Total 1 mark)

Electrons with a certain kinetic energy pass through a powdered crystalline sample and are
27. incident on a fluorescent screen.
The diagram shows a sketch of the diffraction pattern produced.

A change is made and this second pattern is produced.

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 Which change could produce the second pattern?

A decreasing the kinetic energy of the electrons

B replacing the electrons with protons with the same kinetic energy

C using a crystalline sample with a wider spacing between its atoms

D moving the screen closer to the crystalline sample

(Total 1 mark)

A string with a length of 1.2 m vibrates at its second harmonic.

28.
The diagram shows the displacement–time graph for a point on the string.

What are the wavelength and frequency of the wave on the string?

Wavelength / m Frequency / kHz

A 0.6 0.17

B 0.6 0.34

C 1.2 0.17

D 1.2 0.34

(Total 1 mark)

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 A standing wave is created on a string.
29.
Which statement about the two waves that create the standing wave is not correct?

A They have the same frequency.

B They have a constant phase relationship.

C They travel in opposite directions.

D They have the same speed.

(Total 1 mark)

A double slit with a separation s is illuminated by light of wavelength λ.

30.
Fringes with spacing w are produced on a screen placed a distance D from the slits.
The distance from the slits to the screen is changed to .

Which combination of slit separation and wavelength produces a fringe spacing of 1.5w on the
screen?

Slit separation Wavelength

A 0.22s 0.66λ

B 0.50s 0.75λ

C 0.60s 1.20λ

D 1.20s 0.40λ

(Total 1 mark)

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 A single narrow slit is illuminated with monochromatic light and a diffraction pattern is produced.
31.
The slit width is increased.

What happens to the width and brightness of the central maximum of the diffraction pattern?

Width of central maximum Brightness of central

maximum

A increases increases

B increases decreases

C decreases increases

D decreases decreases

(Total 1 mark)

A narrow beam of light is incident on a sheet of Polaroid material. The intensity of the transmitted
32. beam is a maximum.

The Polaroid sheet is rotated about the beam by 90° and the intensity of the transmitted beam
decreases to zero.

Which row explains this observation?

Nature of incident beam Action of Polaroid material as it is rotated

A unpolarised polarises the incident beam

B unpolarised absorbs the incident beam

C polarised absorbs the incident beam

changes the plane of polarisation of the

D polarised
incident beam

(Total 1 mark)

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 Two points P and Q on a progressive wave are separated by distance d.
33.

The phase difference between P and Q is θ rad.

What is the wavelength?

B θd

(Total 1 mark)

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 A long spring is used to demonstrate wave motion. The spring lies horizontally on a table. One
34. end of the spring is attached to a wall.

The free end of the spring is quickly moved to one side and then back to the centre, creating a
pulse.
This movement takes 0.40 s.
The pulse travels 4.0 m along the spring in a time of 2.0 s.

What is the length of the pulse?

A 0.8 m

B 1.6 m

C 2.0 m

D 10.0 m
(Total 1 mark)

Monochromatic visible light is incident normally on a plane transmission diffraction grating that
35.
has 4.8 × 105 lines m−1.
First-order maxima are observed at angles of 16° to the central maximum.

How many maxima in total can be observed?

A 3

B 4

C 5

D 7

(Total 1 mark)

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 A progressive wave travels along a rope in the direction M to N.
36.
X marks a point on the rope.

The wave has a frequency of 5.0 Hz, a wavelength of 1.0 m and an amplitude of 0.20 m.

Where will X be after 0.15 s?

A below MN by 0.20 m

B above MN by 0.20 m

C nearer N by 0.15 m

D nearer N by 0.75 m

(Total 1 mark)

The diagram shows a string stretched between two fixed points O and R which are 120 cm apart.
37.
P and Q are points on the string.

OP = 30 cm
OQ = 90 cm

At a certain frequency the string vibrates at its first harmonic.

P and Q oscillate in phase.

The frequency is gradually increased.

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 What is the next harmonic at which P and Q will oscillate in phase?

A second

B third

C fourth

D fifth

(Total 1 mark)

In a Young’s double-slit experiment, monochromatic light is incident on two narrow slits and the
38. resulting interference pattern is observed on a screen.

Which change decreases the fringe separation?

A decreasing the separation between the two slits

B increasing the distance between the slits and the screen

C using monochromatic light of higher frequency

D using monochromatic light of longer wavelength

(Total 1 mark)

A ray of light is incident on a glass–air boundary of a rectangular block as shown.

39.

The refractive index of this glass is 1.5

The refractive index of air is 1.0
The angle of incidence of the light at the first glass–air boundary is 44°

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 What is the path of the ray of light?

(Total 1 mark)

In the diagram, P is the source of a wave of frequency 50 Hz

40.

The wave travels to R by two routes, P → Q → R and P → R. The speed of the wave is 30 m s−1

What is the path difference between the two waves at R in terms of the wavelength λ of the
waves?

A 4.8λ

B 8.0λ

C 13.3λ

D 20.0λ

(Total 1 mark)

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 Light from a point source passes through a single slit and is then incident on a double-slit
41. arrangement. An interference pattern is observed on the screen.

What will increase the fringe spacing?

A increasing the separation of the single slit and the double slit

B increasing the width of the single slit

C decreasing the distance between the double slits and the screen

D decreasing the separation of the double slits

(Total 1 mark)

Light of wavelength 500 nm is passed through a diffraction grating which has 400 lines per mm.
42.
What is the angular separation between the two second-order maxima?

A 11.5°

B 23.1°

C 23.6°

D 47.2°

(Total 1 mark)

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 When a parallel beam of monochromatic light is directed at two narrow slits, S1 and S2,
43. interference fringes are observed on a screen.

Which line in the table gives the changes that will increase the spacing of the fringes?

Distance from slits to

Slit spacing
screen

A halved halved

B halved doubled

C doubled halved

D doubled doubled

(Total 1 mark)

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 A parallel beam of monochromatic light is directed normally at a plane transmission grating which
44.
has N slits per metre. The second order diffracted beam is at angle θ to the zero order
transmitted beam.

The grating is then replaced by a plane transmission grating which has 2N slits per metre.

Which one of the following statements is correct?

With the first grating, the first order beam is at angle

A
0.5θ to the zero order transmitted beam.

With the second grating, the first order beam is at angle

B
0.5θ to the zero order transmitted beam.

With the second grating, the first order beam is at angle

C
θ to the zero order transmitted beam.

With the second grating, the second order beam is at

D
angle θ to the zero order transmitted beam.

(Total 1 mark)

Two coherent sources generate sound waves of wavelength 0.40 m. The waves leave the
45. sources in phase. A detector some distance from the sources receives the sound waves. The
path difference between the detector and the sources is 0.90 m.

What is the phase difference between the waves arriving at the detector?

A zero

B 45°

C 90°

D 180°

(Total 1 mark)

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 Monochromatic light of wavelength 490 nm falls normally on a diffraction grating that has 6 × 105
46.
lines per metre. Which one of the following is correct?

A The first order is observed at angle of diffraction of 17°.

B The second order is observed at angle of diffraction of 34°.

C The third and higher orders are not produced.

D A grating with more lines per metre could produce more orders.

(Total 1 mark)

47.

In a double slit system used to produce interference fringes, the separation of the slits is s and
the width of each slit is x. L is a source of monochromatic light. Which one of the following
changes would decrease the separation of the fringes seen on the screen?

A moving the screen closer to the double slits

B decreasing the width, x, of each slit, but keeping s constant

C decreasing the separation, s, of the slits

D exchanging L for a monochromatic source of longer wavelength

(Total 1 mark)

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Mark schemes
A
1.
10 μm s-1 100 s
[1]

A
2.
0.40u
[1]

C
3.
[1]

D
4.
1.5 × 1011 Pa
[1]

B
5.
4 m s-1
[1]

C
6.
45 m
[1]

D
7.
force mass × displacement
[1]

A
8.

[1]

C
9.
The acceleration is unchanged.
[1]

C
10.
7.50 m s-1
[1]

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 D
11.

[1]

C
12.
[1]

B
13.
[1]

A
14.
[1]

D
15.
[1]

A
16.
[1]

C
17.
[1]

B
18.
[1]

C
19.
[1]

D
20.
[1]

B
21.
16.2°
[1]

C
22.
3.1 rad
[1]

C
23.
0.10 m
[1]

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 C
24.
3.6 m
[1]

D
25.
π
[1]

C
26.
increase decrease
[1]

A
27.
decreasing the kinetic energy of the electrons
[1]

C
28.
1.2 0.17
[1]

B
29.
They have a constant phase relationship.
[1]

A
30.
0.22s 0.66λ
[1]

C
31.
decreases increases
[1]

C
32.
[1]

C
33.
[1]

A
34.
[1]

D
35.
[1]

B
36.
[1]

B
37.
[1]

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 C
38.
[1]

D
39.
[1]

C
40.
[1]

D
41.
[1]

D
42.
[1]

B
43.
[1]

C
44.
[1]

45. C
[1]

A
46.
[1]

A
47.
[1]

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