Physics 106 - Spring 2008

Exam Information

• Sample Questions for Midterm Exam

Sample questions for the Final Exam:

• (5 pts.)How did J.J.Thompson first measure the charge-to-mass ratio of the electron?
• (5 pts.)What is latent heat? Why is it called "latent"?
• (5 pts.) According to Aristotle, what kind of motion is "natural motion"? Why did he call it "natural"?
• (5 pts.) What is the "Equivalence Principle"?
• (10pts.) If you have one kilogram of a radioactive material with a half life of one year, how much of this material will be left after four years? Explain your answer.
• (10pts.) Why can ultraviolet light damage the cells in your skin whereas visible light cannot?
• (10pts.) If Schroedinger's Equation is applied to an electron that goes through a double slit and then strikes a photgraphic film beyond, what does it enable one to predict?
• (10pts.) Explain briefly how carbon-14 dating works?
• (10pts.) What important fact about atomic structure was learned from Ernest Rutherford's experiment with alpha-particles hitting a thin gold foil? What feature of the experiment lead to this conclusion?
• (10pts.) What does Faraday's Law tell us about electric and magnetic fields?
• (5pts.) What is the "Bernoulli Effect"?
• (5 pts.) Describe Alessandro Volta's pile. Of what was it made?
• (5pts.) In what sense was Aristotle right that heavier objects fall faster than light objects? In what sense was he wrong?
• (5pts.) What is a "standing wave"? Give an example?
• (5pts.)What did Hans Christian Oersted discover about the connection between electricity and magnetism?
• (5pts.) In the case of light waves, what is actually waving or oscillating?
• (5pts.)What is time dilation?

Final Exam Study Guide - Important Topics Covered:

• Scientific Method-Hypothesis, Theory, Induction, Deduction
• Solar System - Geocentric, Heliocentric, Ptolemy, Copernicus
• Brahe, Kepler, Galileo
• Universe- Stars, Galaxies, Black Holes, Supernovas, Neutron Stars, Big Bang, Hubble, etc.
• Life in Universe
• Atoms - Crystals, Brownian Motion, Chemistry, etc.
• Aristotle - Motion, Falling
• Galileo - Distance, Velocity Acceleration, Gravity, Projectiles
• Vectors and Scalars - Adding
• Newton - Forces, Laws of Motion, Momentum, Friction, Circular Motion
• Fluids - Buoyancy, Pressure, Bernoulli, Pascal
• Newton - Gravity, Tides, Satellites
• Work and Energy - Kinetic, Potential, Elastic, Inelastic, Conservation Laws
• Heat - Caloric, Friction, Count Rumford, Joule
• Temperature - Scales, Absolute Zero, Gas, Liquid, Solid
• Ideal Gas Law
• Calorimetry - Specific Heat
• Heat Transfer - Convection, Conduction, Black Body Radiation
• Kinetic - Molecular Theory of Matter
• Heat Engines - Carnot, Efficiency, Refrigerators
• Laws of Thermodynamics - 0th, 1st, 2nd
• Entropy - Disorder
• Waves - Longitudinal, Transverse, Sound, Light, Water
• Sound - Doppler Effect, Sonic Booms, Bow Waves, Decibels
• Standing Waves - Musical Instruments, Harmonics, Beat Frequencies
• Light - Dispersion, Spectra, Interference, Diffraction, Primary Colors
• Electricity - Coulomb, Fields, Potential, Electrolysis, Batteries, Current
• Magnetism - Electromagnets
• Faraday's Law - Devices
• Maxwell's Equations - Hertz, Electromagnetic Waves, Polarization
• Global Warming - Greenhouse Effect
• Optics - Reflection, Mirrors, Total Internal Reflection, Refraction, Lenses
• Images - Principal Rays, Focal Points, Virtual, Real , Upright, Inverted, Magnification
• Optical Instruments - Fresnel Lenses, Telescopes, Microscopes, the Eye, Eye Glasses
• Einstein - Special Relativity, Length contraction, Time Dilation, Simultaneity, Twin Paradox, Velocity Addition
• Michelson - Morley Experiment, Speed of Light
• Energy & Mass - Nuclear Bomb, Reactors
• General Relativity - Dark Matter, Dark Energy
• Atomic Spectra - Balmer Formula
• Planck's Formula - Ultraviolet Catastrophe, Photons
• Photoelectric Effect
• Properties of Electron - Charge, Mass, Periodic Table
• Rutherford Scattering Experiment
• Bohr's Model Of Hydrogen Atom - De Broglie's Waves, Heisenberg Uncertainty
• Principle
• Schroedinger Wave Equation - Wave function, Quantum states, Probability
• Interpretation
• Pauli Exclusion Principle - Chemistry
• Radioactivity - Half Life, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Carbon-14 Dating
• Protons, Neutrons, Alpha Particles, Isotopes
• Nuclear Binding energy - Fission, Fusion, Bombs, Reactors, The Sun
• Dirac Equation - Positrons, Antimatter, Pair Production
• Radiation - Doses, and Biological Risks
• Elementary Particles - Quarks, Color, Photons, Gluons, etc.
• Forces -Electromagnetic, Strong, Weak Gravity,Grand Unified Theories - String theories
• Conservation Laws