Practice physics class test — Year 1: vectors, forces and equilibrium.
15 questions drawn at random from a bank of 25, on the block of the programme your teacher is finishing: every attempt is a different test. No penalty for wrong answers, so answer even if you are not sure. At the end you receive by email the correct answer to every question and your weak topics — with an account you see them straight away here on the page. The step-by-step solution unlocks with your first lesson.
A class test is the written test an Italian high-school class sits after each block of the programme; this practice version is multiple choice.
Note on school types. At the liceo scientifico and technical schools this is the second physics test of Year 1; at the classical, languages and human-sciences high schools physics starts in Year 3, and the same block opens the mechanics programme.
Test in ItalianThe questions of this simulator are in Italian, as in the real exam.
Programme covered by the test
- Scalar and vector quantities
- Adding, subtracting and resolving vectors
- Magnitude of a vector from its components
- Weight, mass and the value of g on the planets
- Hooke’s law and the spring constant
- Static and kinetic friction
- Inclined plane: components of the weight and the normal reaction
- Equilibrium of a particle and the balancing force
Two worked examples from the test
L'insegnante scrive alla lavagna quattro grandezze: massa, peso, temperatura, spostamento. Quali fra queste sono grandezze vettoriali?
Solution
Una grandezza è vettoriale se per definirla servono modulo, direzione e verso; è scalare se basta un numero con la sua unità di misura.
Passo 1 — Massa e temperatura. Sono scalari: e sono informazioni complete, non hanno una direzione.
Passo 2 — Lo spostamento. Ha modulo, direzione e verso: « verso nord» è diverso da « verso sud». È vettoriale.
Passo 3 — Il peso. Il peso è una forza, quindi è vettoriale: è sempre diretto verticalmente verso il basso.
Risposta corretta: «Solo il peso e lo spostamento». Se hai scelto «Solo lo spostamento» hai dimenticato che il peso è una forza; se hai scelto «Massa e peso» hai confuso il peso (forza, in newton) con la massa (scalare, in kilogrammi).
Il vettore ha componenti e il vettore ha componenti , misurate in newton. Quali sono le componenti di ?
Solution
Sottrarre un vettore significa sommare il suo opposto: , e il vettore opposto si ottiene cambiando segno a tutte le componenti.
Passo 1 — Scrivo l'opposto di .
Passo 2 — Sommo componente per componente.
Passo 3 — Concludo. .
Risposta corretta: «». Se hai ottenuto «» hai sommato invece di sottrarre; «» è , cioè il vettore opposto a quello richiesto; in «» hai sbagliato il segno della componente .
In the online practice test you will find 13 more questions like these; the correct answer to every question arrives by email.
Prefer paper? Download the test as a PDF (15 questions, 4 pages · 80 KB, ready to print). You receive the solutions by email after taking it online.
Download the PDFWhat a physics test on vectors and forces looks like
Resolving one or more forces along the axes, the equilibrium of a particle with the balancing force to find, a spring with Hooke’s law and almost always an inclined plane, with or without friction.
The mistake that costs the grade
Adding the magnitudes of vectors instead of combining them component by component. On the inclined plane, the second constant mistake is swapping sine and cosine in the two components of the weight: the component along the plane goes with the sine of the angle of inclination, the perpendicular one with the cosine.
How to use this practice test
Take it once cold, without revising and with the timer on: it is there to show you where you stand, not to look good. Then look at your weak topics, revise only those — usually two or three, not the whole chapter — and retake it after a few days. The 15 questions are drawn from a bank of 25, so the second attempt is not the same test and the scores are genuinely comparable.
Is the score not enough?
See which topics lost you the most marks, then read the typical physics mistakes in high school — or we look at your results together: the diagnostic is free.