Praxis Study Companion – Physics (5266) Practice Test

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• Isotopes are
• If light goes from water to air at incidence 60°, will total internal reflection occur?
• If a gas expands isothermally and its volume doubles, what happens to the pressure?
• Ohm's Law is represented by which equation?
• In an electric field, the force on a positive test charge is in the same direction as the field. Which statement is correct?
• Doubling the distance between plates of a parallel-plate capacitor, while keeping plate area and dielectric the same, will cause the capacitance to
• Which statement best describes the Biot-Savart Law?
• A polarizing filter works by
• What is the expression for the magnetic force on a moving charge in a uniform magnetic field?
• The angular momentum of a satellite in circular motion is given by which expression?
• If the incident light frequency increases (above threshold) while intensity remains constant, what happens to the kinetic energy of emitted electrons?
• Heat is best described as energy transferred as a result of a temperature difference. Which option reflects this definition?
• Which quantity is not a vector (i.e., is scalar)?
• From the relation v = 2π r / T, what is T expressed as in terms of radius r and speed v?
• If the radius of curvature is r and f = r/2, if r doubles, what does f become?
• In alpha decay, the emitted particle is
• Which statement best describes Hooke's Law for a spring?
• Polarization (optics) is
• In beta decay, which process occurs?
• In a sound wave, how do frequency and amplitude relate to perceptual qualities?
• Electric field strength is defined as the force exerted on a unit positive charge. Which option best matches this definition?
• The dominant mode of heat transfer that requires direct contact between substances is conduction.
• In the orbital velocity formula v = sqrt(GM/r), what does GM stand for?
• Which statement about the Doppler effect is true?
• The true statement about boundary refraction and critical angles:
• What does the prefix pico represent?
• Electromotive force is best described as what?
• Which equation correctly converts Fahrenheit to Celsius?
• Two equal masses m = 1 kg each on a frictionless track collide elastically head-on with equal and opposite speeds of 3 m/s. What are their speeds after the collision?
• What is transmutation in nuclear physics?
• Which equation represents the heat required for a phase change at constant temperature?
• In a parallel circuit, the voltage across each branch equals the source voltage.
• Deposition is the phase change in which a gas becomes a solid. Which option describes this process?
• What happens when an additional branch is added to a parallel circuit?
• If the current through an inductor is doubled from 2 A to 4 A while L remains 0.5 H, by what factor does the stored energy change?
• Angular speed is the rate of change of which quantity?
• In the ideal gas law PV = nRT, what is true about temperature?
• In a parallel network with R1 = 2 Ω, R2 = 4 Ω, and R3 = 4 Ω connected to 12 V, which resistor carries the greatest current?
• Which formula gives the efficiency of a heat engine in terms of hot and cold reservoir temperatures, using Kelvin?
• Total internal reflection occurs under which condition?
• Bernoulli's Principle relates fluid speed and pressure. According to this principle, as the fluid speed increases, what happens to the pressure?
• If the length L is halved on a string fixed at both ends with constant wave speed, what happens to the fundamental frequency f1 = v/(2L)?
• In a parallel circuit, which statement is true about the voltages across branches?
• Converging lens is best described as
• For a 1 kg object with c = 900 J/(kg·°C) heated by ΔT = 10°C, how much heat is added?
• In a series circuit, the total voltage equals the sum of the voltages across each component.
• What is the magnitude of the magnetic force on a moving charge given by?
• The ideal gas constant R has units of which of the following?
• A 2 kg block is lifted vertically by 3 meters. What is the work done by gravity on the block?
• Total resistance in parallel is less than the smallest branch resistance.
• In a series circuit, the current is
• What is the standard relationship between a wave's speed, frequency, and wavelength?
• Which expression gives current in terms of voltage and resistance?
• In the photoelectric effect, if the incident photon energy is below the work function, what happens to electrons?
• Ampere's Law relates the line integral of the magnetic field around a closed loop to what quantity?
• A converging lens with focal length f = 10 cm forms an image of an object placed at do = 15 cm. What is di and the magnification?
• Which statement best defines a conductor?
• If the intensity of incident light is increased (with frequency above threshold), what happens in the photoelectric effect?
• Current is defined as what?
• What does the prefix kilo represent in the metric system?
• Acceleration formula for satellites
• Electric potential is defined as electric potential energy per unit charge, also known as voltage. Which option expresses this definition?
• A car starts from rest and accelerates uniformly at 5 m/s^2 for 4 s. What is the car's final speed?
• An electromagnetic wave travels in vacuum at speed c ≈ 3.00×10^8 m/s. If the frequency is 4.0×10^14 Hz, what is the wavelength?
• What is true about the magnetic field around a long straight current-carrying wire?
• Isotopes differ in what property?
• What does the prefix nano represent?
• In beta minus decay, what is emitted along with the electron?
• A light ray goes from air into water with incidence 60°, water refractive index 1.33. What is the angle in water?
• Thermal energy is defined as what?
• Archimedes Principle states that the buoyant force on an object equals which quantity?
• A 12 V source drives a 3 Ω resistor. What are the current and power dissipated in the resistor?
• What is the work function in simple terms?
• Gamma decay involves which type of emission?
• A mass-spring system with mass 2 kg and spring constant 200 N/m has what approximate period?
• A 5 kg block on a horizontal surface experiences a net horizontal force of 12 N. What is its acceleration?
• What is the gravitational work done when a 2 kg block falls 3 meters?
• In Bohr’s model, the angular momentum of the electron in the nth orbit is L = nħ. What is L for n = 2 in terms of ħ?
• What is true about the densities of atomic nuclei?
• If the source of a wave moves toward an observer, what happens to the observed frequency?
• Which right-hand rule helps determine the direction of the force on a current-carrying wire in a magnetic field?
• Which quantity requires using the sign of the charge when calculating energy from a potential?
• A velocity-time graph shows a straight line from t = 0 to t = 4 s with velocity increasing from 0 to 20 m/s. What are the acceleration and the displacement during this interval?
• In hydrogen, the energy difference between the ground state (n=1) and the first excited state (n=2) is 10.2 eV. Which of the following is that difference?
• Using the first law of thermodynamics, ΔU = Q − W. If a system absorbs 120 J of heat and does 40 J of work, what is ΔU?
• Which letter is commonly used to denote the period of a satellite's orbit?
• The thin lens equation relates which quantities?
• Temperature is defined as what?
• Radioactivity is the
• If the central mass M increases while the orbit radius r remains fixed, what happens to the orbital velocity v?
• In the engine efficiency formula, temperatures must be measured in which unit?
• Two equal masses of 1 kg each moving toward each other with speeds of 3 m/s collide elastically on a frictionless track. What is the total kinetic energy after the collision?
• Which option correctly identifies the first right-hand rule in this context?
• Using the same two-slit setup with d = 0.25 mm and λ = 600 nm, what is sin θ for the second bright fringe (m = 2)?
• Heat flows naturally from
• If the radius of a circular path is doubled while velocity stays the same, how does the centripetal force change?
• If a planet's orbital radius doubles, how does its orbital period change according to Kepler's Third Law?
• Which term describes the energy transferred between objects at different temperatures?
• Kepler's Second Law implies which of the following about a planet's motion?
• In refraction, when light enters a denser medium and slows down, what happens to the wavelength?
• In a parallel circuit, the total current is the sum of the branch currents.
• Torque is defined as what?
• A photon has energy 3 eV. Convert this energy to joules.
• Diverging lens produces which type of image?
• Why does alpha decay occur?
• What is the relationship between temperature and density?
• Two masses m1 = 2 kg and m2 = 3 kg collide in a perfectly inelastic collision, with m2 initially at rest and m1 moving at 2 m/s. What is the common final velocity?
• Coulomb's Law describes the magnitude of the force between two charges. Which option correctly identifies this concept?
• A heat engine operates between a hot reservoir at 600 K and a cold reservoir at 300 K. What is its maximum theoretical efficiency?
• The photoelectric effect: Suppose incident photons have energy E_ph = h f and work function φ. If E_ph > φ, electrons are ejected. If E_ph = φ + 1.2 eV, what is the kinetic energy of emitted electrons in eV?
• Lenz's Law states what about the direction of an induced current?
• What is the index of refraction defined as?
• A force does 100 J of work in 4 s. What is its average power?
• The ideal gas constant R, derived from PV = nRT, is approximately what value in SI units?
• Sublimation is the phase change from
• If the orbital period T doubles while the radius r remains fixed, what happens to velocity v?
• Which statement best describes Hooke's Law?
• What does the prefix micro represent?
• Angular momentum L = m v r depends on which three quantities?
• According to the third law of thermodynamics, the entropy of a perfectly organized crystal at absolute zero is
• The slope of the velocity-time graph in the given scenario equals which quantity?
• The kinetic energy of a 2 kg mass moving at 3 m/s is:
• A string fixed at both ends has length L = 1.0 m; speed of waves on the string is 50 m/s. What is the fundamental frequency?
• A simple pendulum of length 1 m with small amplitude has period approximately?
• Which statement best describes the Bohr model?
• In a series circuit with resistors 2 Ω, 4 Ω, and 6 Ω and a 24 V source, what is the current? What is the voltage across the 4 Ω resistor?
• Magnetic flux is defined as what?
• Which statement describes nuclear fission?
• Which expression correctly gives the electric field in terms of voltage and distance?
• Kepler's First Law states that ...
• Nuclear fusion occurs when light nuclei are forced together to produce heavier nuclei. What byproduct is commonly formed?
• Which factors determine the magnitude of the magnetic force on a moving charge?
• Which statement reflects the second law of thermodynamics?
• True or false: If a medium has index n greater than 1, light travels slower than in vacuum.
• In a mass–spring system, the symbol f represents which physical quantity?
• A sound wave of frequency f travels in air with speed v = 343 m/s. What is its wavelength when f = 343 Hz?
• Why are more neutrons in the nucleus required as the atomic number increases?
• A transformer has a primary voltage V1 = 120 V and a turns ratio N2/N1 = 2. What is V2?
• Faraday's Law describes what phenomenon?
• A lens forms an image with magnification -2 and is inverted. What is the orientation of the image?
• Capacitance of a parallel-plate capacitor is C = ε0 A / d. If A = 0.01 m^2 and d = 0.005 m, what is C approximately? (ε0 = 8.85×10^-12 F/m)
• Which statement describes how parallel light behaves when it passes through a converging lens?
• Sublimation is the phase change from which to which?
• If a simple pendulum's length is doubled, what happens to the period (small-angle approximation)?
• If a Carnot engine operates between Th = 600 K and Tc = 300 K and achieves 50% efficiency, how much work can it do at most if it absorbs 400 J of heat from the hot reservoir?
• Two identical resistors in parallel are connected to a voltage source. The equivalent resistance is?
• Which equation expresses the photon energy in the photoelectric effect?
• A radioactive sample has a half-life of 3 hours. After 9 hours, what fraction remains?
• In a mass-spring system undergoing SHM, where is the potential energy maximum?
• In a mass-spring system, if the mass is doubled while the spring constant remains fixed, the period will
• If the cross-sectional area doubles, keeping length and material constant, the resistance will
• A 1 kg object with c = 900 J/(kg·°C) is heated by 5°C. How much heat is added?
• What does the first law of thermodynamics state?
• In a two-slit interference setup, constructive interference occurs when d sin θ = m λ. If d = 0.25 mm and λ = 600 nm, what is sin θ for the first bright fringe (m = 1)?
• At maximum displacement in a mass-spring system, which energy form is maximum?
• Which formula represents the orbital (circular) velocity of a satellite around a central mass M?
• Kirchhoff’s current law states that the sum of currents entering a junction equals the sum leaving. If I1 = 2 A and I2 = 3 A flow into a node, what must I3 be if it leaves the node?
• In a two-slit interference setup, if the slit separation d is halved while keeping λ and m constant, what happens to sin θ for the first bright fringe?
• Which statement about the strong nuclear force is true?
• A spring with k = 100 N/m is compressed by x = 0.2 m. What is the elastic potential energy stored?
• If the length of a wire doubles, keeping material and cross-sectional area constant, the resistance will
• Hydrogen atom energy: E_n = -13.6 eV / n^2. What is the energy of the electron in the n = 2 state? What is the ionization energy from the ground state?
• What is the photoelectric effect?
• Snell's Law expresses the relationship between the incident and refracted angles and refractive indices as which equation?
• Electric field at a distance r from a point charge q is E = k q / r^2. What is E for q = 5 μC at r = 0.1 m? (k = 8.99×10^9)
• Current through a branch in a parallel circuit equals what expression?
• If the orbital radius r is doubled in v = sqrt(GM/r) with M fixed, how does v change?
• In an adiabatic process, what is true about heat transfer?
• What does the prefix milli represent?
• Which term describes the energy stored due to molecular motion?
• According to Kepler's laws, when is a planet's orbital speed greatest?
• Electric potential energy of two equal charges q separated by r is U = k q^2 / r. If q = 1 μC and r = 0.5 m, compute U.
• In a parallel circuit with R1 = 2 Ω, R2 = 4 Ω, R3 = 4 Ω connected to 12 V, what is the total current and the current through each resistor?
• What is the kinetic energy of a 0.5 kg mass moving at 4 m/s?
• In Bohr’s model, the angular momentum L = nħ. What is L for n = 3 in terms of ħ?
• In a mass-spring system, the restoring force direction relative to displacement is?
• Which formula converts Celsius to Kelvin?
• In a parallel-plate capacitor, doubling the plate area A and halving the separation d changes the capacitance by what factor?
• Diverging lens is best described as
• Thermal equilibrium occurs when two objects are at the same temperature and no heat flows between them. Which statement describes this condition?
• Which statement describes a transformer?
• A car of mass 1000 kg moves at 20 m/s around a flat curve of radius 50 m. What is the required centripetal force?
• According to the inverse-square law, if you move a light source from distance r1 to r2 = 2 r1, how does the intensity change?
• Which statement best defines an insulator?
• In an isobaric process, what happens to the pressure?
• A ball is projected horizontally from a 20 m high cliff with speed 15 m/s. Assuming g = 9.8 m/s^2 and no air resistance, approximately how far from the base will it land?
• Electric field strength can be described as the ratio of force to charge, i.e., F divided by q. Which option correctly expresses this definition?
• In an isochoric process, which statement is true?
• Which statement correctly describes Kepler's Third Law?
• Conduction is defined as what?
• The energy stored in a capacitor is given by which formula?
• How much gravitational potential energy is gained when a 2 kg block is lifted 3 meters?
• Alpha decay involves emission of which of the following?
• Which statement best describes the effect of material on the resistance of a wire with the same dimensions?
• Which right-hand rule determines the direction of the magnetic field around a straight current-carrying wire?
• What is the correct form of the ideal gas law?
• In the photoelectric equation, which symbol represents Planck's constant?
• Kepler's Second Law implies which statement about the area swept by a line from the Sun to the planet?
• If the net force on a 5 kg block is 0 N, what is its acceleration?
• A 5 kg block on a horizontal surface experiences kinetic friction with μk = 0.3. If the normal force is 49 N, what is the kinetic friction force?
• Which expression correctly shows the total resistance for a three-branch parallel circuit?
• The energy stored in the magnetic field of an inductor is U = 1/2 L I^2. If the inductance triples from 0.5 H to 1.5 H with the current held constant, by what factor does U change?
• The area under a velocity-time graph represents which physical quantity?
• One calorie is equal to how many joules?
• If the speed of a wave on a string is halved while the length remains the same, what happens to the fundamental frequency?
• Which statement correctly describes how capacitance depends on plate area and separation for a parallel-plate capacitor?
• Which equation relates heat transfer to mass, specific heat, and temperature change?
• Using K = C + 273, what is the Kelvin temperature when C = 25°C?
• Which substances are fossil fuels?
• Radiation is defined as what?
• Power is defined as
• In a mass-spring system undergoing simple harmonic motion, which equation correctly gives acceleration a in terms of displacement x?
• Which statement correctly describes the strong nuclear force?
• In a mass-spring system, which statement correctly describes the distribution of kinetic and potential energy during the motion?
• Which statement about electric potential is true?
• The energy stored in the magnetic field of an inductor is U = 1/2 L I^2. If L = 0.5 H and I = 2 A, what is U?
• An electromagnetic coil has dΦ/dt = 3 V. The induced emf is ε = -N dΦ/dt. What is ε for N = 1 turn? What about N turns?
• In an isothermal process for an ideal gas, which statement is true?
• Which term describes the energy stored due to molecular motion in a system?
• What is the Doppler effect?
• Convection is defined as what?
• For an ideal gas undergoing an isothermal expansion, what is the relationship between pressure and volume?
• Which equation expresses the velocity of an object in circular motion in terms of radius r and orbital period T?
• A transformer has a primary voltage V1 = 120 V and a turns ratio N2/N1 = 2. What is V2?
• Converging lens typically forms what kind of image when the object is far away?
• Magnetic force on a moving charge: F = q v B. A proton (q = 1.6×10^-19 C) moves at v = 1.5×10^6 m/s perpendicular to B = 0.2 T. What is F?
• What does the work function represent in the photoelectric effect?
• Using the relation K = C + 273, what is the Kelvin temperature corresponding to -273°C?
• Specific heat is defined as what?
• In a series circuit with resistors R1, R2, R3, the total resistance is
• Which law describes the refraction of light at an interface between media of different refractive indices?
• Kepler's Third Law expresses a relation between the orbital period P and the semi-major axis a. Which of the following is correct?
• The weight of an object is mg. If m = 60 kg and g = 9.8 m/s^2, what is its weight in newtons?
• Capacitance is defined as the relationship between charge and voltage as
• Gauss's Law relates electric flux to what?
• Which rule correctly describes the direction of refraction when light moves from a slower to a faster medium?
• Heat is defined as what?
• In Bohr’s model, the angular momentum of the electron in the n = 1 orbit is L = nħ. What is L for n = 1 in terms of ħ?
• Which statement correctly describes the speed of a mass on a horizontal spring during simple harmonic motion?
• What is the formula for the power of a lens?