All MCAT Physical Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #21 : Electricity And Magnetism
If the electrical potential energy between two equal charges quadruples, describe the change in the distance between the particles.
The distance was doubled
The distance was halved
The distance was quartered
The distance was not changed
The distance was quadrupled
The distance was quartered
Electrical potential energy is given by the equation .
Electrical potential energy is inversely proportional to the distance between the two charges. If the energy is quadrupled, then (the distance between the two equal charges) must have decreased proportionally.
For the energy to be quadrupled, the radius must be quartered.
Example Question #12 : Electrostatics And Electrical Fields
For the following:
If a charge of magnitude +4e is being held in place 3 nm from a charge of -5e which is also being held in place. What is the potential energy of the system?
Given the equation and plugging in the values of e and k, we get that
It is important to keep in mind that the charge is given in the question and must be incorporated into the formula by multiplying each charge by that value.
Example Question #1 : Electric Potential Energy
Which of the following is not true regarding electric potential?
All of these are true statements
A negative charge moving from low potential to high potential will accelerate
When a positive charge moves from a region of low potential to high potential, the electric field does positive work on the charge
Electric potential can be expressed with units of Volts or Joules per Coulomb
The positive terminal of a battery has higher electric potential than the negative terminal
When a positive charge moves from a region of low potential to high potential, the electric field does positive work on the charge
A positive test charge will naturally move from high potential to low potential. If it is moved in the opposite direction, then the electric field will do work against its motion (negative work). This be seen from the equation for electric field work:
is the work done by the electric field, is the charge, and is the potential difference. If is positive (the final potential is higher than the initial potential) and is also positive, then work done by the field is negative.
Example Question #1 : Electric Potential Energy
How much work is required to bring together the three given charges from infinity to the corners of an equilateral triangle of side length 1cm?
Relevant equations:
Step 1: Since the work done to assemble the charges equals their potential energy in this arrangment, find the potential energy between each pair of charges. Work is equal to change in potential energy; since the charges start at infinite distance, initially potential energy is equal to zero.
Charges 1 and 2
Charges 1 and 3
Charges 2 and 3
Step 2: Add together all these potential energies to find the total energy of the arrangement.
Example Question #11 : Electrostatics And Electrical Fields
A standard AC outlet is capable of delivering of current. What is the maximum possible voltage given by the outlet.
Since the given voltage is the root mean squared voltage we must multiply the voltage by to find the maximum voltage.
We determine that the maximum voltage delivered by the outlet is .
Example Question #11 : Electrostatics And Electrical Fields
The primary coil of a transformer has 800 turns and an rms voltage of 400V. If an output voltage of 120V is needed, how many turns whould the secondary coil contain?
Relevant equations:
For the primary coil, we have:
And for the secondary coil:
Plugging these in yields:
Example Question #15 : Electrostatics And Electrical Fields
An electrical current is flowing through a block. It is observed that the electrical conductivity of the block is , the length of the block is and the resistance of the block is . Which of the following is a valid conclusion about this block?
The block has a circular cross-section that has a diameter of
The block has a rectangular cross-section with a height of and the width of
The block has a circular cross-section that has a radius of
The block has a square cross-section, with a height and width of
The block has a square cross-section, with a height and width of
To answer this question you need to understand the relationship between electrical conductivity, , and electrical resistivity, :
This means that the electrical conductivity is the reciprocal of the electrical resistivity; therefore, the electrical resistivity of this block is:
Recall the definition of resistivity:
Here, is the resistance, is the cross-sectional area, and is the length of the block. The question gives us resistance and length of the block, and we calculated resistivity; therefore, solving for the area of the block gives us:
The cross-sectional area of the block is .
Of the given answer choices, the only valid conclusion is that the block has a square cross-section with a height and width of because this square has an area equal to the cross-sectional area of the block ().
Example Question #11 : Electrostatics And Electrical Fields
Consider a conducting rod. Which of the following is true regarding the relationship between the electrical conductivity, the resistance, and the length of the rod?
The electrical conductivity increases when the length of the rod increases and the resistance of the rod decreases
The electrical conductivity increases when the length of the rod decreases and the resistance of the rod increases
The electrical conductivity increases when both the length and the resistance of the rod increase
The electrical conductivity increases when both the length and the resistance of the rod decrease
The electrical conductivity increases when the length of the rod increases and the resistance of the rod decreases
The electrical conductivity is the reciprocal of electrical resistivity; therefore, an increase in electrical resistivity will lead to a decrease in electrical conductivity, and vice versa.
Recall the definition of electrical resistivity:
Here, is resistance, is cross-sectional area, and is the length of the rod. This equation reveals that an increase in resistance and area will increase resistivity, whereas an increase in length will decrease resistivity. Since conductivity is the reciprocal of resistivity, increasing resistance and area will decrease conductivity, whereas increasing the length will increase conductivity.
Example Question #12 : Electrostatics And Electrical Fields
A researcher has two rods: rod A and rod B. Rod A has the same geometrical properties as rod B, but has a larger resistance. What can you conclude about the relative rates of charge flow in the two rods?
Rod A has a higher rate of charge flow than rod B because rod A has the higher electrical conductivity
Rod B has a higher rate of charge flow than rod A because rod B has the higher electrical resistivity
Rod B has a higher rate of charge flow than rod A because rod B has the higher electrical conductivity
Rod A has a higher rate of charge flow than rod B because rod A has the higher electrical resistivity
Rod B has a higher rate of charge flow than rod A because rod B has the higher electrical conductivity
The question is asking about the rates of charge flow. Recall that the current is defined as the amount of charge flowing through a point in a given time; therefore, we are looking for the amount of current flowing through the two rods. Current flow is higher for a material with higher electrical conductivity. This means that we need to find the rod with the higher electrical conductivity.
Since there are no easy equations to find conductivity, we need to find the resistivity first. Electrical conductivity is the reciprocal of electrical resistivity (measure of the ability of a material to resist current flow); therefore, an increase in resistivity leads to a decrease in conductivity, and vice versa. Resistivity is defined as:
Here, is the resistance, is the cross-sectional area, and is the length of the rod. The question states that the two rods have the same geometrical properties; therefore, the area and the length of the rods are the same. However, the resistance of rod A is higher. This means that the resistivity is higher and conductivity, consequently, is lower for rod A. Since it has a lower conductivity, rod A has a lower charge flow rate.
Example Question #1 : Other Electrical Principles
Which of the following is false regarding a battery?
A battery converts chemical energy into electrical energy
Recharging a battery involves a nonspontaneous chemical reaction
Electrons are reactants at an anode, and are products at a cathode
A battery houses two electrodes: the anode and the cathode
A battery converts chemical energy into electrical energy
Batteries are a series of electrochemical cells that use the electrical energy associated with the movement of electrons to perform other processes. The electrical energy is not itself usable; instead, batteries convert the electrical energy into other forms of energy, such as chemical energy, that can be used to drive a process. The electrical energy is derived from the movement of electrons associated with redox reactions.
Batteries contain one or more electrochemical cells. Each electrochemical cell houses a cathode and an anode, which facilitate a redox reaction. The cathode is the site of the reduction half-reaction, whereas the anode is the site of the oxidation half-reaction. Reduction is the process by which reactants gain electrons and become more negative; oxidation is the process by which reactants lose electrons and become more positive. As such, electrons are products at an anode and reactants at a cathode. The redox reaction proceeds in the spontaneous reaction direction when the battery is being used, but proceeds in the nonspontaneous reaction direction when the battery is being recharged after use. Recall that nonspontaneous reactions require energy. When you are charging a battery, you are supplying energy in the form of voltage to drive the nonspontaneous reaction. On the other hand, when you are discharging (or using) the battery, the spontaneous redox reaction is supplying energy to drive another process.
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