Learn Extracted exam questions AP Physics 1 2016 Free Response
2016 Free Response
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A wooden wheel of mass $M$, consisting of a rim with spokes, rolls down a ramp that makes an angle $\theta$ with the horizontal, as shown above. The ramp exerts a force of static friction on the wheel so that the wheel rolls without slipping.
[Figure at top of page: A wheel of mass $M$ sits at the top of an inclined ramp that makes angle $\theta$ with the horizontal (a right triangle shown in profile, with the wheel resting at the top of the incline).]
On the diagram below, draw and label the forces (not components) that act on the wheel as it rolls down the ramp, which is indicated by the dashed line. To clearly indicate at which point on the wheel each force is exerted, draw each force as a distinct arrow starting on, and pointing away from, the point at which the force is exerted. The lengths of the arrows need not indicate the relative magnitudes of the forces.
[Diagram: a wheel with spokes resting on a dashed line representing the ramp surface, for the student to draw force vectors on.]
As the wheel rolls down the ramp, which force causes a change in the angular velocity of the wheel with respect to its center of mass?
Briefly explain your reasoning.
For this ramp angle, the force of friction exerted on the wheel is less than the maximum possible static friction force. Instead, the magnitude of the force of static friction exerted on the wheel is 40 percent of the magnitude of the force or force component directed opposite to the force of friction. Derive an expression for the linear acceleration of the wheel's center of mass in terms of $M$, $\theta$, and physical constants, as appropriate.
In a second experiment on the same ramp, a block of ice, also with mass $M$, is released from rest at the same instant the wheel is released from rest, and from the same height. The block slides down the ramp with negligible friction.
Which object, if either, reaches the bottom of the ramp with the greatest speed?
____ Wheel ____ Block ____ Neither; both reach the bottom with the same speed.
Briefly explain your answer, reasoning in terms of forces.
Briefly explain your answer again, now reasoning in terms of energy.
A new kind of toy ball is advertised to "bounce perfectly elastically" off hard surfaces. A student suspects, however, that no collision can be perfectly elastic. The student hypothesizes that the collisions are very close to being perfectly elastic for low-speed collisions but that they deviate more and more from being perfectly elastic as the collision speed increases.
Design an experiment to test the student's hypothesis about collisions of the ball with a hard surface. The student has equipment that would usually be found in a school physics laboratory.
What quantities would be measured?
What equipment would be used for the measurements, and how would that equipment be used?
Describe the procedure to be used to test the student's hypothesis. Give enough detail so that another student could replicate the experiment.
Describe how you would represent the data in a graph or table. Explain how that representation would be used to determine whether the data are consistent with the student's hypothesis.
A student carries out the experiment and analysis described in parts (a) and (b). The student immediately concludes that something went wrong in the experiment because the graph or table shows behavior that is elastic for low-speed collisions but appears to violate a basic physics principle for high-speed collisions.
Give an example of a graph or table that indicates nearly elastic behavior for low-speed collisions but appears to violate a basic physics principle for high-speed collisions.
State one physics principle that appears to be violated in the graph or table given in part (c)i. Several physics principles might appear to be violated, but you only need to identify one.
Briefly explain what aspect of the graph or table indicates that the physics principle is violated, and why.
[Figure at top of page: A cart of mass $M$ starts at rest at the top of a long track inclined at angle $\theta$ to the horizontal. The track has evenly spaced small speed bumps (shown as dots) along its length, with the spacing between consecutive bumps labeled $d$. The angle $\theta$ is marked at the bottom of the incline between the track and the horizontal. Note: Figure not drawn to scale.]
A long track, inclined at an angle $\theta$ to the horizontal, has small speed bumps on it. The bumps are evenly spaced a distance $d$ apart, as shown in the figure above. The track is actually much longer than shown, with over 100 bumps. A cart of mass $M$ is released from rest at the top of the track. A student notices that after reaching the 40th bump the cart's average speed between successive bumps no longer increases, reaching a maximum value $v_{avg}$. This means the time interval taken to move from one bump to the next bump becomes constant.
Consider the cart's motion between bump 41 and bump 44.
In the figure below, sketch a graph of the cart's velocity $v$ as a function of time from the moment it reaches bump 41 until the moment it reaches bump 44.
Over the same time interval, draw a dashed horizontal line at $v = v_{avg}$. Label this line "$v_{avg}$".
[Graph axes provided: vertical axis $v$ (velocity), horizontal axis Time, with four evenly spaced vertical dashed gridlines labeled "Bump 41", "Bump 42", "Bump 43", "Bump 44" from left to right, origin labeled $0$; for the student to sketch the velocity-time graph and the $v_{avg}$ line.]
Suppose the distance between the bumps is increased but everything else stays the same.
Is the maximum speed of the cart now greater than, less than, or the same as it was with the bumps closer together?
____ Greater than ____ Less than ____ The same as
Briefly explain your reasoning.
With the bumps returned to the original spacing, the track is tilted to a greater ramp angle $\theta$. Is the maximum speed of the cart greater than, less than, or the same as it was when the ramp angle was smaller?
____ Greater than ____ Less than ____ The same as
Briefly explain your reasoning.
Before deriving an equation for a quantity such as $v_{avg}$, it can be useful to come up with an equation that is intuitively expected to be true. That way, the derivation can be checked later to see if it makes sense physically. A student comes up with the following equation for the cart's maximum average speed:
To test the equation, the student rolls a cart down the long track with speed bumps many times in front of a motion detector. The student varies the mass $M$ of the cart with each trial but keeps everything else the same. The graph shown below is the student's plot of the data for $v_{avg}$ as a function of $M$.
[Graph: scatter plot of $v_{avg}$ (m/s) on the vertical axis, ranging 0 to 3, versus $M$ (kg) on the horizontal axis, ranging 0 to 2; data points increase in a concave-down, leveling trend from approximately $(0.5, 1.25)$ through $(2.4, 2.3)$, roughly: $(0.5, 1.25)$, $(0.75, 1.4)$, $(1.0, 1.7)$, $(1.25, 1.8)$, $(1.5, 2.0)$, $(1.75, 2.1)$, $(2.0, 2.15)$, $(2.4, 2.3)$.]
Are these data consistent with the student's equation?
____ Yes ____ No
Briefly explain your reasoning.
Another student suggests that whether or not the data above are consistent with the equation, the equation could be incorrect for other reasons. Does the equation make physical sense?
____ Yes ____ No
Briefly explain your reasoning.
[Circuit diagram at top of page: A circuit containing a battery and four identical resistors labeled $A$, $B$, $C$, $D$. Resistors $B$ and $C$ are connected in parallel with each other, forming a combination that is in series with resistors $A$ and $D$, which are connected in series with each other and with the battery, forming a single loop around the outer rectangle of the circuit.]
A circuit contains a battery and four identical resistors arranged as shown in the diagram above.
Rank the magnitude of the potential difference across each resistor from greatest to least. If any resistors have potential differences with the same magnitude, state that explicitly. Briefly explain your reasoning.
Ranking:
Brief explanation:
Resistor $B$ is now removed from the circuit, and there is no connection between the wires that were attached to it. The new circuit diagram is shown below.
[Circuit diagram: The same circuit with resistor $B$ removed; the wires that were attached to $B$ are shown as two open (unconnected) dots at the top, while resistors $A$, $C$, $D$ remain connected as before — $C$ in series with the branch, $A$ and $D$ in series with the battery.]
When resistor $B$ is removed, does the current through resistor $A$ increase, decrease, or remain the same?
____ Increase ____ Decrease ____ Remain the same
Briefly explain your reasoning.
When resistor $B$ is removed, does the current through resistor $C$ increase, decrease, or remain the same?
____ Increase ____ Decrease ____ Remain the same
Briefly explain your reasoning.
[Figure at top of page: Two diagrams of a rope hanging vertically from an oscillator mounted at the top. The figure on the left shows the rope hanging straight down (oscillator off), with two labeled points $P$ (upper) and $Q$ (lower) marked on the rope. The figure on the right shows the same rope forming a standing wave (oscillator on at a certain frequency): the rope traces out two loops (antinodes) with the envelope shown as solid and dashed curves bulging outward from the vertical, node at the top (near the oscillator), a node between the two loops, and a node at the free bottom end; point $P$ is again marked, located near the top loop, and point $Q$ is marked, located near the node between the two loops.]
The figure above on the left shows a uniformly thick rope hanging vertically from an oscillator that is turned off. When the oscillator is on and set at a certain frequency, the rope forms the standing wave shown above on the right. $P$ and $Q$ are two points on the rope.
The tension at point $P$ is greater than the tension at point $Q$. Briefly explain why.
A student hypothesizes that increasing the tension in a rope increases the speed at which waves travel along the rope. In a clear, coherent paragraph-length response that may also contain figures and/or equations, explain why the standing wave shown above supports the student's hypothesis.