A particle separator functions by using a magnetic field and an electric field pointing perpendicularly. When a charged particle is launched into the particle separator, a constant electric force is exerted on the particle proportional to the particle's charge. Additionally, the magnetic field exerts a force on the particle that is in the opposite direction of the electric force and that is proportional to the particle's charge and velocity. A particle will make it through the particle separator only if the opposing magnetic forces and electric forces are equal in magnitude as they will not cause a net change in the particle's direction.

According to the information of the passage, by what physical characteristic does a particle separator separate particles?

A particle separator functions by using a magnetic field and an electric field pointing perpendicularly. When a charged particle is launched into the particle separator, a constant electric force is exerted on the particle proportional to the particle's charge. Additionally, the magnetic field exerts a force on the particle that is in the opposite direction of the electric force and that is proportional to the particle's charge and velocity. A particle will make it through the particle separator only if the opposing magnetic forces and electric forces are equal in magnitude as they will not cause a net change in the particle's direction.

What can we infer would happen if a neutron (a particle with no charge) were to be shot into the particle separator with a low velocity?

A particle separator functions by using a magnetic field and an electric field pointing perpendicularly. When a charged particle is launched into the particle separator, a constant electric force is exerted on the particle proportional to the particle's charge. Additionally, the magnetic field exerts a force on the particle that is in the opposite direction of the electric force and that is proportional to the particle's charge and velocity. A particle will make it through the particle separator only if the opposing magnetic forces and electric forces are equal in magnitude as they will not cause a net change in the particle's direction.

Which of the following statements about the electric field and magnetic field strength is consistent with the information provided in the passage?

An engineer wants to design a prank toy that will be thrown onto the ground. It looks like a superball (bouncing ball), but does not bounce. The engineer has Subtance A, Substance B, and Substance C that he drops from various heights. All of the tests are performed by dropping the substances on the same surface and each height is tested multiple times. The error between experiments is minimal and too small to be seen on the graph. The engineer records the maximum rebound height of each substance at the various drop heights. This data is displayed in the graph below.

Which of the following will be the best improvement that can be made in the design of the experiment? 

Engineers are evaluating four potential technologies. These technologies are to be used as power plants that are considered "clean" energy. The estimated energy output of these plants were calculated and the resources needed to run these were also listed. 

Which of the following should the engineers also research before building the power plant? 

A company developed new prototype car and wanted to test the new car. The car's acceleration time from 0mph to 60mph and stopping time from 60mph to 0mph were measured. An obstacle course involving a lot of turns was also constructed to determine how well the car can handle turning. The main concern of the company is the safety of the car and therefore all of the tests were performed on dry concrete, concrete after simulated rain, concrete that was covered with snow and in sand. 

What other aspects of the car should this company test? 

Two scientists are concerned with producing electricity with magnets.

Scientist 1 believes that rotating a magnet within a coil of wires will produce electricity. Scientist 1 asserts that the larger the magnet the more electricity will be produced. 

Scientist 2 believes that rotating the coil of wires around a magnet will produce electricity. Scientist 2 asserts that the more number of coils the more electricity will be produced. 

The scientists conduct the following experiment. The scientists take four magnets, A, B, C and D; with A being the smallest magnet, B the next smallest, then C and the largest magnet was D. The scientist rotate the magnets at the same constant speed in the coils and record the number of milliamps produced. This was done in copper wiring with 20, 40 and 60 coils. When testing by rotating the coil around the magnet at the same speed of the magnet rotation produced the results recorded below.

What else can be tested to be determine ways to increase the maximum current produced? 

A student is performing a science experiment for his class. The student creates a ramp that contains four different surfaces, carpet, glass, wood and plastic. The ramp is held at a constant angle and a ball is allowed to roll down the ramp. The student tests each material by releasing a ball at different distances from the bottom of the ramp and recording the time it takes for the ball to travel the distance of the ramp. 

What is/are the independent variable(s) in this experiment?

Sometimes scientists need to scale down experiments because collecting full-scale data may not be practical or possible. Most of the time, the data collected during a small scale-experiment is an accurate indicator of full-scale results. For example, research of craters on the Earth’s surface has indicated that the Earth has experienced a history of massive meteor collisions. It has been hypothesized that, amongst other things, these impacting meteorites caused the Earth’s oceans to vaporize. The detrimental effects associated with meteor collisions would have made the planet to be uninhabitable to humans. Due to these adverse effects, an experiment that could produce meteor-sized craters would not be possible in a full-scale setting.

Researchers have developed small-scale experiments that are exemplary of Newton’s three laws of motion. Newton’s first law states that an object in motion will stay in motion unless it is acted on by another force. This phenomenon is known as inertia. The second law comes in the form of an equation that calculates how much force is exerted on two colliding objects with respect to mass and acceleration. In other words force is equal to the mass of an object multiplied by its acceleration. The third law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In other words, forces always occur in pairs. A counter force that is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction compliments each force in a particular direction. For example, if you push downwards on a table then the table, in theory, pushes upwards with the same force.

In a particular small-scale exercise, students were asked to design an experiment in which two “meteorites” would be dropped into a medium of sand and the subsequent crater diameters would be measured. Afterwards, the sand would be leveled and the experiment would be repeated. The students were asked to identify all of the factors that could affect the formation of the craters. This was done in order to ensure that each experiment was testing one independent and one dependent variable at a time. Otherwise, it would be unclear which variable is causing the observed effect. Possible variables that could alter the outcome of the experiment included but were not limited to the following: height of the fall, speed of the “meteorite,” angle of impact, and the mass of meteorite.

Consider an experiment that seeks to identify the mass of the meteorite analog. All other variables would have to remain constant in order to ensure accurate results.  In order to do this, the height of the fall was set to one meter. The object was placed on top of a vertical meter stick. In order to keep the acceleration and height of the drop constant, it was rolled off of the stick instead of being pushed or simply dropped. Last, a protractor was used to keep the meter stick at a ninety-degree angle. In the procedure, a marble and a golf ball were used as “meteorites” of different masses.

The results of the experiment were recorded in the table and figure provided.

Which of the following choices most accurately identifies the independent and dependent variables of this experiment?

Sometimes scientists need to scale down experiments because collecting full-scale data may not be practical or possible. Most of the time, the data collected during a small scale-experiment is an accurate indicator of full-scale results. For example, research of craters on the Earth’s surface has indicated that the Earth has experienced a history of massive meteor collisions. It has been hypothesized that, amongst other things, these impacting meteorites caused the Earth’s oceans to vaporize. The detrimental effects associated with meteor collisions would have made the planet to be uninhabitable to humans. Due to these adverse effects, an experiment that could produce meteor-sized craters would not be possible in a full-scale setting.

Researchers have developed small-scale experiments that are exemplary of Newton’s three laws of motion. Newton’s first law states that an object in motion will stay in motion unless it is acted on by another force. This phenomenon is known as inertia. The second law comes in the form of an equation that calculates how much force is exerted on two colliding objects with respect to mass and acceleration. In other words force is equal to the mass of an object multiplied by its acceleration. The third law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In other words, forces always occur in pairs. A counter force that is equal in magnitude and opposite in direction compliments each force in a particular direction. For example, if you push downwards on a table then the table, in theory, pushes upwards with the same force.

In a particular small-scale exercise, students were asked to design an experiment in which two “meteorites” would be dropped into a medium of sand and the subsequent crater diameters would be measured. Afterwards, the sand would be leveled and the experiment would be repeated. The students were asked to identify all of the factors that could affect the formation of the craters. This was done in order to ensure that each experiment was testing one independent and one dependent variable at a time. Otherwise, it would be unclear which variable is causing the observed effect. Possible variables that could alter the outcome of the experiment included but were not limited to the following: height of the fall, speed of the “meteorite,” angle of impact, and the mass of meteorite.

Consider an experiment that seeks to identify the mass of the meteorite analog. All other variables would have to remain constant in order to ensure accurate results.  In order to do this, the height of the fall was set to one meter. The object was placed on top of a vertical meter stick. In order to keep the acceleration and height of the drop constant, it was rolled off of the stick instead of being pushed or simply dropped. Last, a protractor was used to keep the meter stick at a ninety-degree angle. In the procedure, a marble and a golf ball were used as “meteorites” of different masses.

The results of the experiment were recorded in the table and figure provided.

What part of the experimental procedure would most likely cause the results of the experiment to be less accurate?