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Question 1
The weight of an object is
Correct Answer:
The force of Earth's gravity on the object
Explanation:
Weight is the gravitational force acting on an object. On Earth, this force equals the object's mass times the acceleration due to gravity, W = m g, so it has units of newtons. This means weight reflects how strongly Earth's gravity pulls on the object, not how heavy the object feels in a particular environment. The mass is the amount of matter in the object, which remains the same anywhere, while weight changes with the strength of gravity. The other ideas describe different things: air resistance is drag from the air, velocity is how fast the object moves, and neither is the gravitational force acting on the object.
Question 2
Using the Rayleigh criterion, estimate the angular resolution for light with wavelength 550 nm observed through an aperture of diameter 2.0 cm.
Correct Answer:
3.36×10^-5 rad
Explanation:
The Rayleigh criterion says the smallest resolvable angle for a circular aperture is θ ≈ 1.22 λ / D. Using λ = 550 nm = 5.50 × 10^-7 m and D = 2.0 cm = 0.02 m, the ratio λ/D is 5.50e-7 / 0.02 = 2.75 × 10^-5. Multiplying by 1.22 gives θ ≈ 3.36 × 10^-5 rad. This is the estimated angular resolution. In arcseconds, that’s about 6.9″, illustrating how a modest aperture limits the detail you can resolve with visible light.
Question 3
Dispersion is the separation of light into its different colours or wavelengths.
Correct Answer:
Dispersion
Explanation:
Dispersion describes why white light splits into a spectrum when it passes through a material like a prism. Different colours have different wavelengths, so they travel at different speeds inside the medium (v = c/n(λ)) and bend by different amounts. Because the refractive index depends on wavelength, each colour emerges at its own angle, spreading the light into a range of colours. That separation into colours is what dispersion is all about. The other terms relate to electric fields or potentials between charges and don’t describe this splitting of light by wavelength, so they don’t fit the idea of dispersion.
Question 4
In an elastic collision with m1=2 kg moving at 3 m/s and m2=1 kg at rest, what is the velocity of m2 after the collision?
Correct Answer:
4 m/s
Explanation:
In an elastic collision both momentum and kinetic energy are conserved. When one mass of 2 kg moving at 3 m/s collides elastically with a 1 kg mass at rest, the final velocity of the second mass can be found from the standard result for u2 = 0: v2 = (2 m1)/(m1 + m2) × u1. Plugging in gives v2 = (2×2)/(2+1) × 3 = 4 m/s. So the second mass moves in the same direction as the first at 4 m/s after the collision.
Question 5
Using the lens maker formula for a thin lens in air with n = 1.50, R1 = +20 cm, R2 = -20 cm, what is the focal length f?
Correct Answer:
f = +20 cm
Explanation:
The test is about how a thin lens in air focuses light, described by the lens maker formula: 1/f = (n − 1)(1/R1 − 1/R2). Here the lens material has n = 1.50, so n − 1 = 0.50. The curvatures are R1 = +20 cm and R2 = −20 cm, so 1/R1 = 0.05 cm⁻¹ and 1/R2 = −0.05 cm⁻¹. Plugging in gives 1/f = 0.50(0.05 − (−0.05)) = 0.50 × 0.10 = 0.05 cm⁻¹. Therefore f = 1/0.05 = 20 cm. The positive focal length means a converging lens, which matches a focal length of +20 cm. The other options would require different values of 1/f (for example, 1/f = 0.025 would give f = 40 cm, and a negative 1/f would imply a diverging lens), which isn’t produced by these surface curvatures with this index.
Question 1
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About this Exam

Prepare with the Leaving Certificate Physics Practice Test practice quiz. This question bank includes 10 questions covering light, collision, lens, good, and leaving. Use it to review important concepts, identify knowledge gaps, and build confidence for the related exam, course, or assessment.

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Leaving Certificate Physics Practice Test

This practice set contains 10 questions from the matching question bank and focuses on light, collision, lens, good, and leaving. Work through each question carefully, review the provided solutions, and revisit topics that need more study before your next attempt.

This is an independent study resource intended for practice and review; it is not an official examination or an endorsement by any organization named in the title.

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