NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

TERM TEST 1

GEK 1521/PC1326 PHYSICS IN LIFE SCIENCES

29th September 2014

1.5 hours

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Closed Book

You must also bring along your matriculation card.

You will have to enter your answers on the Optical Reader Form using 2B pencils. Do not
write your answers on the question paper itself.
Enter your matriculation number in section B of an Optical Reader Form using 2B
pencils.
Duration of the test is one and half hours.
Hand over both the script and the Optical Reader Form upon completion.
There is a negative marking for this test (0.25 mark will be deducted for each incorrect
answer).

THE TEST SCRIPT CONTAINS THIRTY (30) MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

There is only one correct answer each question. Choosing more = incorrect.
1. In the SI unit system, how do we write the unit of stress, Pascal, in terms of base units?
a)
kilogram meter / second
b)
kilogram meter / second2
c)
kilogram / (meter second)
d)
kilogram / (meter second2)

2. When a light beam passes through the vicinity of a star, it will be deflected by an angle due to
the gravity of the star (see the figure below). depends on four factors: the mass of the star m,
the distance to the star r, the universal gravitation constant G = 6.6710-11 Nm2/kg2, and the
speed of light c = 3.0108 m/s. If we know G,
using dimensional analysis, determine how
depends on m and r:

r
m
a)

m
r

b)

m
r2

c)

m2
r

d)

m2
r2

3. Two vectors A and B are shown below. If A B + C = 0, which of the vectors in the answers is
vector C?

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

4. Four vectors A, B, C and D are shown below. They have roughly the same magnitude.
Regarding their scalar products, which of the following relationships is true?

a)
b)
c)
d)

AC < BD
BC < AD
AB < CD
DC < AC

5. A person walks from a bus station to a restaurant. At the same time, another person walks from
the restaurant to the bus station, following a different route. If they complete the trips in the
same amount of time, which of the following quantity must be equal for them?
a)
Displacement
b)
|Average velocity|
c)
Average speed
d)
Average velocity

6. An apple falling from 5 m height takes about 1.01 s to reach the ground. If another apple is
falling from 50 m height, how long does it take to reach the ground?
a)
3.19 s
b)
5.05 s
c)
10.1 s
d)
13.1 s

7. Your friend kicked a football towards you and it hit your leg with an impact force. According to
the laws of physics, you can conclude that
a)
the force you sensed was applied by your friend. He gave that force to the football when he
kicked it.
b)
the football carried its own force during motion.
c)
there was an impact force because the football had to slow down when it met your leg.
d)
the football gave a bigger force to your leg than the force given by your leg to the football.

8. Your weight on Mars will be 0.38 times your weight on Earth. Considering the radius of Mars is
about half of Earths radius, how does the mass of Mars compare with the mass of Earth?
a)
about 10% of Earths mass.
b)
about 20% of Earths mass.
c)
about 40% of Earths mass.
d)
about 80% of Earths mass.
9. Following the above question, what is the escape velocity on Mars? (Hint: Escape velocity
happens when the total energy of the launched object (kinetic+potential) equals zero; compare
the escape velocity of this planet with the escape velocity on Earth)
a)
2.24 km/s
b)
2.50 km/s
c)
3.54 km/s
d)
5.01 km/s

10. On a smooth ice surface, two people are pulling a 30 kg sled. The pulling forces from them have
a magnitude of 50 N and 80 N respectively. If the directions of the two forces are both
horizontal and are perpendicular to each other, the acceleration of the sled is
a)
1.00 m/s2
b)
2.08 m/s2
c)
3.14 m/s2
d)
4.33 m/s2

11. After rubbing a glass rod with silk, the glass rod now carries a net charge of 3.00 C. How
many electrons have moved from glass to silk?
3 million.
b)
1.8751013.
c)
1.881016.
d)
31019.
a)

12. The electric potential energy between a proton and an electron separated by a distance d is U.
What is the electric potential energy between a carbon nucleus and a proton separated by a
distance of 3d?
a)
8U/3
b)
2U
c)
2U/3
d)
-2U

13. Regarding the concept of work and energy, which of the following statements is correct?
a)
If a force does not do any work in a system, removing this force will not change the motion
of the system.

b)

c)

d)

When we are lifting heavy objects (with our muscles), mechanical energy of the system (us
+ the object) is not conserved.
Energy is defined as the capability to do work, and so all forms of energy can be
completely converted into work.
If I did 100 J of work to a table, the energy of the system (me + the table) would increase
by 100 J.

14. If we launch an object from ground at the initial launching speed of 10.6 km/s and a proper
launching angle towards the sky, this object will
a)
fall to the ground eventually.
b)
become a satellite of Earth.
c)
never come back to Earth again.
d)
become a satellite of Moon.

15. Which of the following processes can convert a 14O nucleus into a 14C nucleus?
a)
A proton replaces a neutron in the nucleus.
b)
A neutron replaces a proton in the nucleus.
c)
Two neutrons replace two protons in the nucleus.
d)
The nucleus loses two protons.

16. Which of the following elements has the electronic structure of 4s1?
a)
31Ga
b)
26Fe
c)
19K
d)
11Na

17. Which of the following substances will be the hardest to dissolve in water?
a)
CH4
b)
CO2
c)
NH3
d)
MgCl2

18. The major component of plant cell wall is

a)
protein.
b)
sucrose.
c)
cellulose
d)
phospholipid.

19. Some people say that all life forms are low-entropy objects. This statement refers to which
property of life?

a)
b)
c)
d)

Growth and development.

Order and organization.
Response to environment.
Utilization of energy.

20. Under a fluorescent microscope, we see a labeled protein moving towards the nucleus at a
constant speed. If it is actively transported, the motor protein involved is
a)
hemoglobin
b)
kinesin
c)
myosin
d)
dynein

21. Consider the following processes: (1) the light reactions in photosynthesis. (2) Calvin cycle. (3)
glycolysis. (4) fermentation. Which of them produce ATP?
a)
1, 3.
b)
2, 3.
c)
1, 3, 4.
d)
All of them.

22. In terms of energy efficiency, how many times more efficient is aerobic respiration than
anaerobic respiration?
a)
15 times.
b)
17 times.
c)
19 times.
d)
21 times.

23. Physically speaking, heat flow exists because of

a)
the microscopic collision between molecules.
b)
the requirement of increasing entropy.
c)
the difference in the microscopic kinetic energy of molecules.
d)
All of the above.

24. As you may have seen in movies, a helicopters fan can cause a lot of wind (air flow) when its
running. Now consider a helicopter halting in mid-air as a thermodynamic system, which of the
following statement is true?
a)
The work done by the environment to the helicopter is negative.
b)
The work done by the helicopter to the environment is zero.
c)
The energy from burning fuel in the helicopter is partially turned into work.
d)
None of the above.

25. Some people imagined a machine (the 2nd type of perpetual motion machine) that can absorb
heat from the ocean and turn it into electricity with no other consequences. Such a machine is
against
a)
the conservation of mechanical energy.
b)
the conservation of entropy.
c)
the 1st law of thermodynamics.
d)
the 2nd law of thermodynamics.

26. The graph below shows the stress-strain curves of material A and B respectively. What is the
approximate ratio between the stiffness of A and the stiffness of B?

a)
b)
c)
d)

2.6
11
2.2
5

27. An apartment building has ten stories and it is 30 m tall. Considering the tap water system in the
building, what is the water pressure difference between the first floor and the tenth floor?
(water density = 103 kg/m3, g = 9.8 m/s2)
a)
2.70 atm.
b)
3.00 atm.
c)
265 kPa.
d)
294 kPa.

28. The main secondary structure of the richest protein in our body is:
a)

-helix

b)

-sheet

c)

-turns

d)

left-handed helix.

29. The spider silk has higher tensile strength than the silkworm silk because
a) it has more tightly packed -sheet crystallites.
b) it has less tightly packed -sheet crystallites.
c) it has more amorphous proteins.
d) it has less amorphous proteins.

30. Fluoride can protect our teeth because

a)
it can effectively remove bacteria plaques on teeth.
b)
it can change the surface properties of teeth so that less sugar will be attracted.
c)
it can prevent the loss of calcium in acids.
d)
it can form a long-lasting protective layer on the surface of teeth.

END OF PAPER