November 2011 - Physics Subject Test

<p>So guys how was the test ?? Hard , easy , on average … ??
I’m taking it in Nov 19th along with Chem and Math 2 and i didn’t have so much time to prepare for it because of school endless exams and preparing for Math and Chem.</p>

<p>well, i just needed more time. if i had more time i couldve prob finished them all. so it depends on how well you know ur material and how fast you can you can do them.</p>

<p>that was rough. I omitted like 5 or 6 questions because of the time crunch and I might have gotten like 10-15 wrong. I thought this was alot different from the PR practice tests</p>

<p>anyone remember some questions that were difficult conceptually ? ( they needed known info and not solving ) ?</p>

<p>I hate to break it to you guys, but the scale probably won’t be any more generous than the practice test one, even though it was harder and more fast-paced. They purposely do this to convince people to take the test, then accurately measure their mastering of the subject. I took it and didn’t have time to even fill in 6 answers (plus I got many of the ones I did fill in wrong, unfortunately), but even so, I don’t think they’ll make the scale better for us. Last time, my friend thought he easily got an 800, even though it was also fast paced, but he only got a 790 (still very good; I’m just saying it won’t be as generous as you think). Anyway, what about the question about the required speed at the top of a loop, as compared to a loop with 1/2 of the radius?</p>

<p>It was hard. I took 3 practice tests and easily got an 800 on all. Unfortunately today I left 10 blank. However according to the blue book 10 blank and 4 wrong gets an 800. So far I’m only iffy on 2 that I answered. So I’ll have to wait and see. I felt today had a lot more focus on topics other than kinematics. Plus there was only 1 mirror problem, which was wierd. There was also only 1 capacitance, and possibly 2 or 3 circuit ?'s which was uncommon. I also felt that there weren’t many pendulum, spring, and torque problems.</p>

<p>It looks like you guys had many of the same answers as the international test! I’m also glad to hear that I wasn’t alone in terms of struggling with the timing. </p>

<p>By the way, about the question dealing with diffraction of light and sound waves around the doorways, was the answer “phase” or “wavelength”?</p>

<p>EDIT: Never mind - the consensus seems to be “wavelength”. YES! Glad I didn’t get that one wrong after all.</p>

<p>Hey everyone.
I thought it was decent. I am pretty sure that I got 64 right, guessed on 4 and left 7 blank. Any clue what my score will be?</p>

<p>Well, everybody seems to have pretty much the same concerns, I don’t know about you guys, but I felt that it was more optics, waves, and obscure magnetism, which are not my strong suits. So I answered about 57 of them, possibly 4-8 wrong (assuming that if there was a mistake, it was because of a minor calculation or something I didn’t see quite well)</p>

<p>I just hate how CB reuses old tests. This test was the same as that of October 2010.
Here is the consolidated list made last year after testing. (and according to CCers, the 800’s cutoff is around 58-60)</p>

<p>Consolidated List (65/75)
Force is NOT zero with a nonzero acceleration
Kinetic energy is not a vector
Two carts elastically collide, second one is 6 m/s
Inelastically collide and stick together for 1.5 m/s
Half life is 1 hr 20 min
A is proportional to b^2, straight line when it’s a vs b^2.
Constant acceleration graph is straight, velocity is parabola, displacement is upside down parabola.
Stars: quasar
Resistors: 12 and 4 in parallel, 3 ohms in series.
Kinetic energy for half the speed was 9J.
Capacitator: nonlinear, negative decay (doesn’t reach zero, but gets close).
Pulley tension 2W
Photoelectric: I and II - energy increases in electrons and photons, but work function unchanged.
amplitude and tension T1 = T2
Net force moon and earth → D
Greatest magnitude moon and earth → A
velocity less and frequency same for thick wire
light and 6 screens no light ?
light and 6 screens white color ?
3 second for ball to drop
refraction B reflection E
temperature goes to 20 celcius
1 m way up for the rider question
rutherford experiment some deflected
tuning fork 7 cm
same sign for two charges
current opposite magnetic field left
charges have same sign
PE of spring for the graph question (shaded area)
to the left centripetal force if you cut string
satellite orbiting earth question
2 charges point west answer is the point equidistant from the two charges
diverging lens either A or B the one that is upright i think
F=MA if you times F by 6 and m by 3 then it is 2a
bulb question is always on
Q charge grounded state zero zero
Q charge Q charge have the same charge
first four questions that were relatively easy matching the units
voltmeter and ammeter what is the correct electric circuit
special relativity question ?
Q = mcdelta T question ?
increasing angle when rod is brought close to the thing
finding electric force using F=eQ
one that I omitted by cant remember
sum of kinetic energy of two carts is 45 J
apparatus for circling thing is kinetic friction
I and II are correct for inducing current and III is not
magnetic force perpendicular which is for the two currents in opposite direction
two sides of an object attracted to N of magnet → ferromagnetic
which one is higher for blue light → frequency
bell question with the rider → 250 N
impulse indicates change in momentum
last question which i dont remember
what can you determine in a period question
velocity = 60 angle = 37 degrees time =3 sec
sqr 2v question which i omitted
wave property of electron → double slit experiment
change in in kinetic energy = 0
increase in velocity when the ball is placed higher</p>

<p>^ Cool, it looks like I got the ones I answered right! Except for one: when the question asked about energy and the speed of light, was the answer the one that contained a denominator with v^2/c^2?</p>

<p>Wow. CC always makes me feel so bad about how I do. You guys are all so smart. I didn’t get to study for Physics as much as I wanted to (basically I studied the night before around 330-530 and then 930-1130) and I only answered around 50 questions/75. I just want at least a 650 at this point…</p>

<p>I hate that Columbia requires engineering students to take physics or chem.
Hopefully my Math 2 was better.</p>

<p>And thanks vicky for those answers. It made me feel better about a few I was unsure about (:</p>

<p>A is proportional to b^2, straight line when it’s a vs b^2.</p>

<p>the answer is a parabola i think</p>

<p>Constant acceleration graph is straight, velocity is parabola, displacement is upside down parabola.</p>

<p>if acc is constant >> velocity is straight line with a slope >> disp. is a parabola …</p>

<p>what is the answer to the “least heat lost depending on the area, thickness, and original temperature of the wall?” Anyone remembers?</p>

<p>I left 2 and 5 wrong so far. Could I get an 800? :(</p>

<p>Too much out-of-syllabus for me, like that *** tuning fork.</p>

<p>Left 0 Wrong 4 Any chance of 800?
Also acceleration constant,velocity straight line(not parabola) and displacement parabola.
shouldn’t velocity be equal be on 1m way up and 1m way down,so what was the ans?
no light-nowhere, white light-6
pulley tension was 16W, i think. wasn’t it the question with pulley and two equal weights?</p>

<p>@karan - a sureshot 800. The velocity will be more when going 1m UP since in the question it said that the bell strikes hard and thus there was more energy. The pulley tension was 2W (W either side of the pulley)</p>

<p>@iamthebist - The tension of two sides of a rope can really add up?
The tension of two sides of an inelastic rope on a pulley is always the same, right? It is virtually meaningless to add up the two sides, in my opinion.
For instance, a m and a 2m are hung on two sides of a pulley, with acceleration of a, the following system of equation can be established:
2mg-T=2ma
T-mg=ma
mg=3ma, a=g/3
T=m(g+a)=4mg/3, on either side of the pulley
I don’t think the tension of the two sides should be added up to become 8mg/3.</p>

<p>Weren’t the weights on either side of the pulley 8N each. So I put in 16N.</p>

<p>EDIT: Oh wait i am talking about another question with answer 8N, this was 2W for sure. I too put that in.</p>