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Re: Conceptual Physics Question
| quote: | Originally posted by SuPeRSaW2005
1) Which light spreads out most (or fastest)(not sure which makes more sense)?
a) laser light
b) flashlight light
c) sunlight
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I think the answer is (C). By it's very nature, the laser is a highly coherent source, and hence it's least likely to spread out. The flash light is directional, because the only direction it comes out is from the front of the flash case. There is no directionality to the sunlight since it is emitted in all 360 degrees.
Spread could also mean the spread over electromagnetic wave spectrum. Even from this point of view, sun emits radiation over the entire spectrum from gamma-rays to visible light to radio waves. Suffice to say, it has the maximum "spread". The waves emitted by a flashlight depend on the material properties of the high resistance filament which heats up and emits light when connected to a voltage source. Hence the "spread" is fairly narrow and limited to a part of the visible light and the infrared. Laser is monochromatic (single wavelength), hence it has the least "spread". Either way, sunlight seems to be the correct answer.
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2) Two objects, object A and B, free fall together from a high altitude. Assume Object A weighs less and both object A and object B have the same shape. Which object will reach terminal velocity quicker?
a) Object A
b) Object B
c) Both at same time
d) Not enough information
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I think the answer is (a) object A . The terminal velocity is reached when the drag forces equal the force of gravity. For a heavier object, the force of gravity is significantly more than the lighter object (assuming they are of the same shape and size) and hence requires higher drag force to balance out the gravity. Now the drag force depends on the velocity of the object, and hence to generate larger drag forces, the heavier body needs to speed up more. As a result, it takes more time to reach the terminal velocity. So in a sense, the lighter object pwns the heavier one when it comes to reaching the terminal velocity quickly
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3) If you throw a baseball up to the sky, there is ________ air pressure at the bottom of the ball than at the top of it, which means there is ______ velocity under the ball than there is at the bottom.
a) more, less
b) less, more
c) more, more
d) less, less
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I'm thinking the answer is B. Technically, the air pressures on the top of the baseball will be less than the bottom, because air pressure dips as one moves away from the surface of earth. But practically, a baseball thrown up in the air is still very much near to the surface and really too small to take these pressure differences into account.
As the baseball moves through the air, the air pressure in the direction of motion is more than on the other side. Locally, the air molecules get compressed at the top and they create higher pressure in comparison to the pressure at the bottom. A small pocket of low pressure in the bottom of the baseball will be quickly filled in by the surrounding air, and this will result in higher velocities at the bottom.
*disclaimer* I could be wrong on all three questions. Get it double checked with someone else. Physics is kinda hard and you need to think a lot. I might not have taken some factors into account, and I could also be conceptually wrong.
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Last edited by Omega_M on Dec-17-2006 at 16:05
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