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SL - Scientific Skills & Tools

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

DP IB SL Physics Quiz

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1. In finding the area of a circular metal plate, a student measures the radius  of the plate and calculates the area to be , where a is the absolute uncertainty on the area. Which of the following would give the fractional uncertainty on R?

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

 Quantity  Uncertainty
P
V
T

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

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4. 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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5. 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 m s^−1 and the angle  between the velocity of the boat and the side of the stream?

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

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7. How many significant figures are there in 0.000017000?

 

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

Estimate the order of magnitude of its momemtum.

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9. 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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10. An apple falls 5m in height from a tree. It rebounds from the ground with a quarter of its striking speed. The apple is in contact with the ground for approximately 0.1 s. What is an estimate of the magnitude of the average net force on the apple when it strikes the ground?

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11. An object starting from rest travels a distance d after a time . If d=(20 ± 1)m, and the time is measured as t=(2.0 ± 0.4)s. 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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12. Vector d 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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13. Which of the following gives the unit for work in fundamental SI units?

 

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14. 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 X 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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15. An object moves  east, then  north.

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

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16. A car moves clockwise in a circular path as shown. The direction of its instantaneous velocity at two different times is shown in the diagram.

PH0496

Which of the following vectors shows the direction of the change in velocity?

A. B.
PH0496A PH0496B
C. D.
PH0496C PH0496D

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

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18. A rectangular prism is obtained by combining two identical cubes as shown in the figure.

PH0031

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

 

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20. A rectangle has length L=(2 ± 0.1) cm and width .

What is the uncertainty of the perimeter of the rectangle?

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

PH0497

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

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

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22. As a truck is brought to rest, the brakes apply a force of 5.1×10^3 N. 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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23. 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 l. 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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24. A pilot intends to fly a plane from point  to point . Due to strong winds, she points the nose of the plane in the direction shown by the vector . 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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25. 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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