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HL - Scientific Skills & Tools

25 MCQ from 2025 Question Bank Scientific Skills & Tools (all topics)

DP IB HL Physics Quiz

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1. Two trucks X and Y are pulling a car out of thick mud along a straight path. The only other horizontal force acting on the car is a drag force opposite to the direction of motion. The diagram shows the direction of the force applied by truck  and the direction of motion of the car.

PH0490

Which of the following vectors shows the direction of the force applied by truck Y?

PH0490-1

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2. A rectangle has length  and width W=(3 ± 0.2) cm.

What is the uncertainty of the perimeter of the rectangle?

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3. The volume of a cylinder is calculated from the product of its base area and height. The measurement of the height has an uncertainty of 5% and the uncertainty of the diameter is 1%. What is the uncertainty of the volume of the cylinder?

 

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4. An electronic balance has a button with “tare” written on it. The reading of the balance is reset to zero when the “tare” button is pressed. Which of the following gives a reason why use of the “tare” button improves the measurement?

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5. Express 0.04758 to 3 significant figures.

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6. A stream flows east with a speed . A boat points due south and moves with a speed  relative to the water.

PH0492

The ratio vo/vs=1/2

Which of the following is correct about the magnitude in  and the angle  between the velocity of the boat and the side of the stream?

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7. A car is moving with a kinetic energy of .

Estimate the order of magnitude of its momemtum.

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8. Vector  makes an angle  with the horizontal as shown. Its magnitude is  and the magnitude of its horizontal component  is .

PH0491

Which of the following is correct about the magnitude and direction of its vertical component?

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9. A student is using the equation  to solve for  with the following percentage uncertainties in the measurements.

 Quantity  Uncertainty
P ± 2 %
V ± 6 %
T ± 1 %

What is the percentage uncertainty in the calculated value of n?

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10. A spring with spring constant  is extended by a distance .

PH0497

The uncertainty of  is 2% and that of x is 3%.

What is the uncertainty of the potential energy stored in the spring?

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11. A pilot intends to fly a plane from point A to point . Due to strong winds, she points the nose of the plane in the direction shown by the vector P. Which of the choices below best represents the direction of the wind encountered by the plane?

PH0259-1

A. B.
PH0259A PH0259B
C. D.
PH0259C PH0259D

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12. A ball is projected with an initial speed of  making an angle of  with the horizontal as shown.

PH0495

Which expression gives the vertical component of the velocity vector?

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13. The mass and circumference of a standard volleyball are 270±10g and 66±1 cm respectively. What is the percentage uncertainty in the density of the ball calculated from these values?

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14. A spring of negligible mass and length of lo is attached to a fixed point. When the spring is extended by an external force , the length of the spring increases to . The graph shows how the length of the spring varies with the tension in spring. The tension in the spring is equal to , where k is a constant and  is the extension of the spring.

PH0036

What are the gradient and y-intercept of the graph?

 Gradient  y-intercept
 A. 1/k l
 B. 1/k lo
 C. k lo
 D. 1/k Δl

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15. As a truck is brought to rest, the brakes apply a force of 5.1×10^3N. Which answer best describes the magnitude of the change in momentum of the truck if the brakes are applied for 3.0 ?

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16. Which of the following is not a fundamental SI unit?

 

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17. A body moves a distance of 1.5 in 10 .

Which of the following gives the correct magnitudes of both of distance and time?

Distance Time
A. 1.5×10^−4 dm 10^16 ps
B. 1.5×10^4 dm 10^16 ps
C. 1.5×10^9 μm 10^−16 ps
D. 1.5×10^−9 μm 10^−16

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18. Electrons are accelerated between two conducting plates that have a potential difference of . Estimate the total energy that would be delivered to 10^21 electrons by the conducting plates.

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19. An object is moving at constant velocity. Which of the following could be the free-body diagram representing the forces acting on the object?

A. B.
PH0551A PH0551B
C. D.
PH0551C PH0551D

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20. Which of the following is a vector quantity?

 

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21. Which of the following units is not a unit of power?

 

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22. Which of the following is an estimate of the order of magnitude of the radius of the Earth?

 

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23. An object starting from rest travels a distance d after a time . If , and the time is measured as . Which of the following gives the correct values of the fractional and absolute uncertainties of acceleration?

 Fractional  Absolute /m s^−2
 A. 0.25  2.5
 B. 0.30  3.0
 C. 0.45  4.5
 D. 1.4  14

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24. Which of the following gives the unit for work in fundamental SI units?

 

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25. An object moves  east, then  north.

What is the magnitude of the total displacement of this object?

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