National 5 (Scotland) · National 5 Physics

Properties of Matter, Waves and Radiation

28 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

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Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 28 questions

  1. A force of 600 N is applied to an area of 0.020 m². What is the pressure?
  2. Calculate the energy needed to raise the temperature of 2.0 kg of water by 10 °C (c = 4180 J/kg/°C).
  3. How much energy is needed to melt 0.50 kg of ice at 0 °C? (specific latent heat of fusion of ice = 3.34 × 10⁵ J/kg)
  4. A gas at a constant temperature has a volume of 4.0 litres at 100 kPa. It is compressed to 2.0 litres. What is the new pressure?
  5. A sealed container of gas at 300 K and 100 kPa is heated at constant volume to 360 K. What is the new pressure?
  6. What is 20 °C in kelvin?
  7. Which statement explains the pressure of a gas?
  8. A block has a mass of 540 g and a volume of 200 cm³. What is its density?
  9. A wave has frequency 25 Hz and wavelength 0.40 m. What is its speed?
  10. A sound wave has a frequency of 250 Hz. What is its period?
  11. Which type of electromagnetic radiation has the highest frequency?
  12. A ray of light passes from air into glass at an angle to the normal. What happens?
  13. Why is total internal reflection used in optical fibres?
  14. Waves diffract most when passing through a gap that is:
  15. Which radiation is stopped by a sheet of paper?
  16. A radioactive source emits 3600 counts in one minute. What is the activity?
  17. A worker's body absorbs 0.30 J of radiation energy in 60 kg of tissue. What is the absorbed dose?
  18. A tissue receives an absorbed dose of 0.0020 Gy from alpha radiation, which has a radiation weighting factor of 20. What is the equivalent dose?
  19. A worker receives an equivalent dose of 2.4 mSv over an 8-hour shift. What is the equivalent dose rate?
  20. A sample of a radioisotope has an activity of 64 MBq. The half-life is 3 days. What is the activity after 12 days?
  21. A worker receives an absorbed dose of 0.50 µGy of gamma radiation (weighting factor 1) and 0.020 µGy from alpha radiation (weighting factor 20). What is the total equivalent dose?
  22. A fixed mass of gas has a volume of 2.0 m³ at 100 kPa and 300 K. It is changed to 1.5 m³ at 150 kPa. What is the new temperature?
  23. What is a key difference between nuclear fission and nuclear fusion?
  24. A motor lifts a 20 kg load through 3.0 m and uses 800 J of electrical energy. What is its efficiency? (g = 9.8 N/kg)
  25. A 10 kg object is acted on by a 30 N force to the east and a 40 N force to the north. What is the magnitude of its acceleration?
  26. How much energy is needed to change 0.10 kg of ice at 0 °C into water at 20 °C? (latent heat of fusion 3.34 × 10⁵ J/kg, c = 4180 J/kg/°C)
  27. A radio signal is sent to a geostationary satellite 3.6 × 10⁷ m above the Equator and is sent straight back down to a receiver on the Equator. How long does the signal take? (speed of radio waves = 3.…
  28. A 0.80 kg trolley is released from rest at the top of a frictionless ramp, 1.0 m above the bottom. What is its speed at the bottom? (g = 9.8 N/kg)

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