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PHYSICS
2000 NATIONAL QUALIFYING
EXAMINATION

Time Allowed:
Reading Time: 15 minutes
Examination Time: 120 minutes

INSTRUCTIONS

ƒ Attempt ALL questions.

ƒ Permitted materials: Any Calculator.
ƒ Answer the questions on your own writing paper; do not answer them on this question paper.
ƒ Make sure that you attach your answer scripts to your completed cover sheet.
ƒ Particular attention should be paid to giving clear diagrams and explanations.
ƒ All numerical answers must have units.

MARKS
SECTION 1 8 multiple choice questions 8 marks
SECTION 2 3 questions 18 marks
SECTION 3 2 questions 24 marks

Total marks for the paper 50 marks

AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE OLYMPIADS 2000 PHYSICS NATIONAL QUALIFYING EXAMINATION

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AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE OLYMPIADS 2000 PHYSICS NATIONAL QUALIFYING EXAMINATION

SECTION A

Multiple choice questions.

Answer ALL questions in this section. One mark each for a total of 8 marks.
As a guide, you should allocate about 15 minutes to this section.

Answer by writing on your own writing paper the question number and the letter that corresponds
to the best answer to the question.

Q1 Which of the following is the best evidence that light is a wave:

A. light beams can interfere.

B. light energy comes in packets, called photons.
C. light beams can be reflected.
D. light beams travel in straight lines.
E. light comes in different colours.

Q2 The best explanation for the delay between seeing the flash and hearing the thunder from a
distant lightning bolt is:

A. the reason is not yet understood.

B. the light is produced before the sound.
C. this is an illusion, they are produced at the same time.
D. sound travels faster than light.
E. light travels faster than sound.

Q3 Which of the following quantities is closest to the energy released when 1 kg of dynamite
explodes?

A. 4 kW.
B. 4 J.
C. 4 MJ.
D. 4000 kPa.
E. 40 Pa.

Q4 The fluid surrounding the nerve cells in your brain contains about 1026 sodium ions per
cubic metre of fluid. The membranes surrounding the cells contain hollow ion channels
filled with this fluid. These channels are approximately cylindrical: about 1 µm long and 1
nm in radius. On average, approximately how many sodium ions are expected to be inside

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AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE OLYMPIADS 2000 PHYSICS NATIONAL QUALIFYING EXAMINATION

such a channel.

A. 3.
B. 3x102.
C. 3x104.
D. 3x106.
E. 3x108.

Q5 A metal wire of cross sectional area 1 mm2 has a conducting electron density of 6x1028 m-3.
Each electron has the charge 1.6x10-19 C. If the wire is carrying 1 A of current, what is the
average net speed of the conducting electrons along the wire.

A. 1 m/s.
B. 1 cm/s.
C. 1 mm/s.
D. 0.1 mm/s.
E. 0.01 mm/s.

Q6 The energy that is dissipated by the brakes to stop a car travelling at 50 km/h is what
fraction of that dissipated to stop the car when travelling at 100 km/h?

A. An eighth.
B. A quarter.
C. A third.
D. A half.
E. Less, by a factor depending on the mass of the car.

Q7 An expert juggler, carrying five juggling pins, has to cross a swing bridge which has a
maximum safe load rating of 50 kg. The juggler weighs 47 kg and each of his five pins
weighs 2 kg. He believes he can make it across safely in one trip by juggling the pins, so
that he is never holding more than one pin. His skill enables him to juggle smoothly without
any jerking. He is

A. incorrect – more information is needed.

B. correct – the total weight will never exceed 49 kg
C. correct – no jerking means no extra weight.
D. correct – the total weight can be made to exceed 49 kg by an arbitrarily small amount.
E. incorrect – the total weight is 47 kg + 5x2 kg = 57 kg.

Q8 Some of the Moon walking Apollo astronauts observed a layer of dust floating above the
surface of the Moon. They were surprised since the Moon has no atmosphere for the dust to
float in. The best explanation for these observations is that

A. they were mirages, like those that occur on Earth, in deserts.

B. floating is expected because there is no gravity in a vacuum.
C. they were due to repulsive lunar gravity anomalies.
D. the dust is positively charged, by the photoelectric effect, and so is the Moon’s surface.
E. the dust is positively charged, by the photoelectric effect, and the Moon’s surface carries

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AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE OLYMPIADS 2000 PHYSICS NATIONAL QUALIFYING EXAMINATION

a balancing negative charge.

SECTION B

Short answer questions.

Attempt ALL three questions in this section. Six marks each for a total of 18 marks.
As a guide, you should allocate about 45 minutes to this section.

Q9 A simple jet engine works by sucking air in the front, burning fuel, and directing the high
speed exhaust out the back. This provides the thrust, or force, which pushes the aircraft
forward.

intake compressor

bypassed air
exhaust
engine core
exhaust
compressor turbine

In turbofan jet engines the intake air is split into two streams, as shown in the highly
simplified diagram. One stream, the core stream, is combined with fuel and burnt. The
resulting high pressure gas drives a turbine which both powers the intake compressor, and
provides direct thrust. The intake compressor accelerates the second "bypass" stream, which
is not combined with fuel and burnt.

The "bypass ratio" is the ratio of the mass flow rate of the bypass stream to that of the core
stream. For a given thrust, high bypass ratio engines have a greater total gas mass flow, with
a lower average exhaust velocity.

Modern turbofan engines have high bypass ratios. One reason is that a high bypass ratio
engine can achieve the same thrust with less fuel consumption than a low bypass ratio
engine.

Explain, using the physics of energy and momentum, why a high bypass ratio engine uses
less fuel than a low bypass ratio engine providing the same total thrust. In your explanation,
use equations as appropriate.

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AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE OLYMPIADS 2000 PHYSICS NATIONAL QUALIFYING EXAMINATION

Q10 Popcorn “pops” when a kernel is heated so that the pressure of the steam inside exerts a
force which exceeds the strength of the popcorn shell. This pressure is called the "yield
pressure" PY . The steam then expands outwards, carrying the kernel’s contents with it. The
final size of the popcorn is reached when the pressure of the expanding steam reaches the
pressure of the external air – which is normally atmospheric pressure.

shell

un-popped kernel.
Arrows indicate steam kernel bursts, expansion stops when steam
pressure inside steam expands, pressure drops pressure equals atmospheric

(a) Explain the effect that reducing the external pressure would have on the size of the
popped popcorn. This could be achieved by popping in an airtight vessel whose
pressure could be lowered.
[2 marks]

The formula relating the pressure P and the volume V of the expanding steam is known as
the adiabatic expansion formula:

4/3
PV =C

where C is constant over the entire duration, from the start to the end, of the expansion.

(b) The volume of the un-popped kernel is observed to increase by 43 = 64 times after
popping at atmospheric pressure. Use this information to estimate the yield
pressure PY , as a multiple of atmospheric pressure.
[3 marks]

(c) Estimate the reduced external pressure needed to produce “super-size” popcorn that
has twice the volume of popcorn which is popped at atmospheric pressure.
[1 mark]

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AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE OLYMPIADS 2000 PHYSICS NATIONAL QUALIFYING EXAMINATION

Q11 This question concerns the behaviour of masses of air moving about the surface of the Earth,
driven by atmospheric pressure differences. Because the Earth rotates, a fixed point on its
surface is accelerating. Therefore the air experiences the Coriolis force. This is an inertial
force, sometimes called a pseudo-force. It acts in a direction perpendicular to the air’s
velocity.

A cyclone is a slowly rotating mass of air that has a low pressure area at its centre. An
anticyclone slowly rotates in the opposite direction and has a high pressure centre. The
different directions of rotation are due to the oppositely directed Coriolis forces on in-
flowing and out-flowing air.

Once rotating, the air experiences a rotated Coriolis force, which is radial in direction and
opposite to the pressure force. Its magnitude is proportional to the air’s rotational angular
velocity.

For slowly rotating cyclones and anticyclones the centripetal force maintaining the rotation
is provided by the difference between the radial Coriolis and pressure forces, as indicated in
the diagram. The required centripetal force is proportional to the square of the air’s
rotational angular velocity.

Latent heat from evaporating tropical ocean water allows cyclones to develop into rapidly
rotating hurricanes.

In terms of these three forces, centripetal, Coriolis, and pressure, explain why (usually) only
cyclones, not anti-cyclones, develop into rapidly rotating hurricanes.

centripetal force pressure force centripetal force pressure force

HIGH LOW

Anticyclone Cyclone Coriolis force

Coriolis force

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AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE OLYMPIADS 2000 PHYSICS NATIONAL QUALIFYING EXAMINATION

SECTION C

Long questions.
Attempt BOTH questions in this section. Twelve marks each for a total of 24 marks.
As a guide, you should allocate about 60 minutes to this section.

Q12 On a flat part of the Earth, such as a quiet sea, the horizon for a person with an eye height of
1.5 m is about 4.4 km away. On a plain on the Moon their horizon is only about 2.3 km
6 6
away. The Earth is a sphere of radius 6.4x10 m and the Moon a sphere of radius 1.7x10 m.

(a) Explain briefly in words and with a diagram why the horizon is closer on the Moon.
[4 marks]

(b) Obtain a formula for the distance to the horizon in terms of the radius of the planet or
moon, and the height of the observer's eyes above the surface.
[6 marks]

(c) On Earth, how much further can a person with a 2 m eye height see than a person with
a 1.5 m eye height?
[2 marks]

Q13 Wind can have a big effect on an athlete's performance. In the 100 m sprint a tail wind of
more than 2 m/s is classified as a "wind assist" and the run is not eligible for record status.
However athletes often have to train with a wind of speed w along the track (> 0 for a tail
wind, < 0 for a head wind). The following formula allows them to convert their times t w
with wind speed w to an equivalent (approximate) zero wind speed time t0

tw ⎧⎪ ⎛ wt w ⎞ ⎫⎪
2
t0 = ⎨1− D ⎝ 1− ⎬ (approximate conversion formula)
1− D ⎪⎩ 100 ⎠ ⎪⎭

D = 0.027 for a typical athlete.

Florence Griffith-Joyner holds the women’s 100 m record of 10.49 s, for a run in the USA
in July 1988. However there is some controversy about this time, since it has been claimed
that the wind meter was broken, and did not record a w = 5.5 m/s tail wind.

(a) Use the approximate conversion formula to convert the time t w = 10.49 s to a zero
wind time t 0 , assuming there was a w=5.5 m/s tail wind.
[1 mark]

(b) Given that she was running times of 10.7 s in other races at this time, is the corrected
time consistent the wind meter being broken?
[1 mark]

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AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE OLYMPIADS 2000 PHYSICS NATIONAL QUALIFYING EXAMINATION

It is also believed that higher altitudes give sprint athletes an advantage. This would explain
why so many records were broken at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, which has an
altitude of 2250 m.

(c) Give a physics based explanation for why this might be true.
[2 marks]

In the 100 m sprint athletes reach their full speed v very quickly. So we will assume that the
whole race is run at speed v. Since the athlete's speed is then constant, the total force is zero.
There are three relevant terms. The propulsive force FP , which is the force the athlete exerts
on the track at zero speed. The "decay" term -Av, A a constant parameter, which accounts
for the decreasing physiological effectiveness of the athlete with speed. And the wind
resistance with wind speed w, FW (w) . These satisfy

FP − Av − FW ( w) = 0

(d) Solve this equation for v. Use the result to express the ratio t0 / t w in terms of
FP , FW (w) , and FW (0). “A” should not occur in your formula.
[2 marks]

The constant in the approximate conversion formula above is defined to be D = FW (0) / FP .

Also, assume that the wind resistance is given by
2
2⎛ w⎞
FW = B(v − w ) = Bv ⎝1 − ⎠
2
v

with B a constant parameter. Note that v and w are independent parameters.

(e) Use these formulae in the result from (d) to express the ratio t0 / t w in terms of t0 ,
t w , w, and D only.
[4 marks]

This formula is awkward to use, because it contains the unknown t0 on both sides. The
approximate conversion formula (above), which is more suitable for practical use, can be
obtained from it by ignoring a certain term.

(f) Justify the use of the approximate conversion formula. That is, explain why ignoring
the term does not change the result very much.
[2 marks]

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