HS Sample Set 13, Round 2 from NSB
If a barometer were constructed using water instead of mercury, by what factor would the height of the mercury barometer be multiplied to give the height of the water barometer? W) 1 over 13.6 X) 1 Y) 13.6 Z) 33.2
W: W) 1 over 13.6
X: X) 1
Y: Y) 13.6
Z: Z) 33.2
Answer: Y) Y) 13.6
To the nearest degree Celsius, what is the boiling point at standard pressure of a 2-molal solution of urea in water?
Acceptable Answers:
If a sound wave traveling in air has a frequency of 5,000 hertz, how far, in centimeters, does the wave travel in a single period?
Acceptable Answers:
Consider a solid spherical conductor that has a small spherical cavity in its center. You place an excess charge on the conductor and wait for it to reach equilibrium. Identify all of the following three places that some of the excess charge can be found: 1) Surface of the conductor; 2) Surface of the cavity; 3) Between the surfaces of the conductor and cavity.
Choices:
Correct Answers:
Fermi National Accelerator Lab scientists, as a part of the SENSEI collaboration, are trying to detect dark matter particles with specialized “skipper” CCDs. CCDs are composed of what semiconductor element?
Acceptable Answers:
Scientists at Ames Lab are studying the formation of alumina under various conditions. What is the chemical formula of alumina?
Acceptable Answers:
What is the general term for metabolic reactions that release energy by breaking down complex molecules?
Acceptable Answers:
What plant ground tissue type performs a majority of the metabolic functions of a plant and plays a relatively small role in structural support?
Acceptable Answers:
Which of the following cannot be the rightmost two digits, in order, of the square of an integer? W) 24 X) 27 Y) 56 Z) 89
W: W) 24
X: X) 27
Y: Y) 56
Z: Z) 89
Answer: X) X) 27
What is the average of the first 10 prime numbers?
Acceptable Answers:
Which of the following tectonic plates is largest? W) African X) Arabian Y) Eurasian Z) Pacific
W: W) African
X: X) Arabian
Y: Y) Eurasian
Z: Z) Pacific
Answer: Z) Z) Pacific
An atom of uranium-238 undergoes two beta-minus decays and four alpha decays. What is the mass number of the product?
Acceptable Answers:
Identify all of the following three compounds that contain both covalent and ionic bonds: 1) Phosphorus oxychloride; 2) Ammonium sulfate; 3) Potassium chloride.
Choices:
Correct Answers:
A weak acid has a Ka of 1.6×10^−5. Assuming that dissociation is small, what is the percent dissociation of a one-molar solution of this acid in water?
Acceptable Answers:
If the half-life of a radioisotope is 25,000 years, what fraction of an original sample will remain after 100,000 years?
Acceptable Answers:
At a bottling factory, a robotic arm automatically raises a 4000-newton palette up 6 meters to load it into a canning machine every 5 minutes. In watts, how much average power is required to operate the robotic arm?
Acceptable Answers:
Scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab have been studying a silencer protein known as PRC2. PRC2 silences genes by chemically modifying what proteins around which DNA is wound?
Acceptable Answers:
Scientists at Oak Ridge National Lab are studying alloys composed of rare-earth elements. Identify all of the following three metals that may be examined in these studies: 1) Cerium; 2) Cesium; 3) Tellurium.
Choices:
Correct Answers:
The function y = f(x) has zeroes at 4 and 12. If its graph is vertically stretched using a factor of 2, what are the zeroes of the result? W) 2 and 6 X) 4 and 12 Y) 6 and 14 Z) 8 and 24
W: W) 2 and 6
X: X) 4 and 12
Y: Y) 6 and 14
Z: Z) 8 and 24
Answer: X) X) 4 and 12
What is the ratio of the volume of a sphere of diameter π to the volume of a cube with edge length π?
Acceptable Answers:
What is the most abundant gas in Mars’ atmosphere?
Acceptable Answers:
Neutron stars are generally created as remnants of what type of supernovae?
Acceptable Answers:
What phylum of animals contains organisms that do not possess tissues? W) Cnidaria X) Porifera Y) Nematoda Z) Echinodermata
W: W) Cnidaria
X: X) Porifera
Y: Y) Nematoda
Z: Z) Echinodermata
Answer: X) X) Porifera
Pterosaurs were the first tetrapods to evolve what key characteristic of their clade?
Acceptable Answers:
Two cars leave from the same spot, driving directly away from each other on a straight road, at 20 and 30 miles per hour, respectively. How many minutes will it take for the two cars to be 10 miles apart?
Acceptable Answers:
If f(x) = ln(cos x), what is f′(π/3)?
Acceptable Answers:
Which of the following conditions is sufficient for describing a system in unstable equilibrium? W) Net force is zero X) Net force is at a minimum Y) Potential energy is at a strict minimum Z) Potential energy is at a strict maximum
W: W) Net force is zero
X: X) Net force is at a minimum
Y: Y) Potential energy is at a strict minimum
Z: Z) Potential energy is at a strict maximum
Answer: Z) Z) Potential energy is at a strict maximum
The acceleration function for a particle’s motion is differentiable and integrable everywhere. Identify all of the following three quantities that can be determined with no additional information: 1) The position of the particle at a particular time; 2) The change in position of the particle over a given period of time; 3) The change in velocity of the particle over a given period of time.
Choices:
Correct Answers:
Scientists at SLAC National Lab recently began construction on the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, or DUNE, in South Dakota. What property of neutrinos are scientists at DUNE trying to measure? W) Spin X) Temperature Y) Charge Z) Mass
W: W) Spin
X: X) Temperature
Y: Y) Charge
Z: Z) Mass
Answer: Z) Z) Mass
Scientists at Brookhaven National Lab are researching ways to increase oil production in the leaves of plants. In what plant structure do oils, such as soybean oil or cocoa butter, normally accumulate?
Acceptable Answers:
What is the term for minerals that are indicators of the metamorphic environment in which the rock was formed? W) Grade minerals X) Index minerals Y) Foliation minerals Z) Thermo-metric minerals
W: W) Grade minerals
X: X) Index minerals
Y: Y) Foliation minerals
Z: Z) Thermo-metric minerals
Answer: X) X) Index minerals
Identify all of the following three rocks that can have a glassy texture: 1) Coal; 2) Obsidian; 3) Pumice.
Choices:
Correct Answers:
What is the primary industrial ore of aluminum?
Acceptable Answers:
What is the name of a molecule with a 5-membered ring and the molecular formula C₅H₈?
Acceptable Answers:
Which of the following best describes how a serine protease catalyzes amide-bond-breaking reactions? W) The enzyme stabilizes the products X) The enzyme stabilizes the reactants Y) The enzyme increases the activation energy Z) The enzyme provides a mechanism with lower-energy intermediates
W: W) The enzyme stabilizes the products
X: X) The enzyme stabilizes the reactants
Y: Y) The enzyme increases the activation energy
Z: Z) The enzyme provides a mechanism with lower-energy intermediates
Answer: Z) Z) The enzyme provides a mechanism with lower-energy intermediates
The organisms that form truffles are predominantly part of what group of fungi? W) Chytrids X) Glomeromycetes Y) Basidiomycetes Z) Ascomycetes
W: W) Chytrids
X: X) Glomeromycetes
Y: Y) Basidiomycetes
Z: Z) Ascomycetes
Answer: Z) Z) Ascomycetes
If f(x) = 3x² – x + 2, what is f′(3)?
Acceptable Answers:
If the product of cosine x and sine x is 2/9, what is the value of (cos x – sin x)²?
Acceptable Answers:
Kepler’s second law states that each planet moves so that a line from the sun to the planet sweeps out equal areas in equal periods of time. It is a direct result of the conservation of which of the following physical quantities? W) Linear momentum X) Linear kinetic energy Y) Angular momentum Z) Angular kinetic energy
W: W) Linear momentum
X: X) Linear kinetic energy
Y: Y) Angular momentum
Z: Z) Angular kinetic energy
Answer: Y) Y) Angular momentum
Consider a spring-mass system that has an angular frequency of 6 radians per second. If the mass is 2 kilograms, then in newtons per meter, what is the value of the spring constant for this oscillator?
Acceptable Answers:
The Saros cycle describes the period of time between successive alignments of what three solar system bodies?
Acceptable Answers:
In stellar fusion, what isotope is the primary product of the proton-proton chain?
Acceptable Answers:
Mature plant cells have the ability to de-differentiate and then give rise to all of the cell types found in the adult organism. What is the term for this potential?
Acceptable Answers:
What is the adjective for organisms that lay eggs that hatch outside the mother’s body?
Acceptable Answers:
Aldehydes and ketones have what functional group in common?
Acceptable Answers:
Identify all of the following three elements that are considered nonmetals: 1) Radon; 2) Europium; 3) Americium.
Choices:
Correct Answers: