Practice test — Physics 1.
20 questions drawn at random from the whole Physics 1 programme, mixed as in a real exam sitting: scoring +1/−0.25/0. At the end you receive by email the correct answer to every question and your weak points by topic — with an account you see them straight away on this page (the guided solution unlocks with your first lesson).
Each test mixes every topic of one first-year course at an Italian university, like a real exam sitting.
Want to review the theory first? Read Guide to the physics catch-up exam.
Test in ItalianThe questions of this simulator are in Italian, as in the real exam.
Topics covered by the test
- Kinematics and dynamics of a particle
- Work, energy and conservation
- Collisions and momentum
- Dynamics of systems and the rigid body
- Thermodynamics
Two worked examples from the test
Un punto materiale ha posizione (in metri, in secondi). Qual è la sua velocità all'istante ?
Solution
Passo 1 — La velocità è la derivata della posizione.
Passo 2 — Valuto in .
Risposta corretta: .
Un proiettile viene lanciato con velocità iniziale a un angolo di sopra l'orizzontale. Qual è la componente verticale iniziale della velocità? ()
Solution
Passo 1 — Scompongo la velocità iniziale. .
Passo 2 — Sostituisco con , .
Risposta corretta: . La componente orizzontale (non richiesta) sarebbe attenzione a non scambiare seno e coseno.
In the online practice test you will find 18 more questions like these; the correct answer to every question arrives by email.
What the Physics 1 exam is like
Three or four long problems in two hours — a motion with dynamics, an energy balance or a collision, a rotating rigid body and a thermodynamic process — with the oral on the principles and the conditions under which they hold. Compared with high school the method changes, not the topics: here you almost always start from symbols and the numbers only come in at the end.
Where the exam is lost
Substituting the numbers too early and losing dimensional control of the result: a symbolic expression can be checked with units, a chain of decimals cannot. Then, with the rigid body, using the moment of inertia about the wrong axis — the Huygens–Steiner (parallel-axis) theorem exists for that and is systematically forgotten.
How to read your score, in short.
What are the questions of the Physics 1 test like?
20 multiple-choice questions (4 options), drawn at random from a larger bank and spread over the WHOLE course programme together, not one topic at a time: kinematics and dynamics of a particle, work, energy and conservation, collisions and momentum, dynamics of systems and the rigid body, thermodynamics.
Is there a penalty for wrong answers?
Yes: +1 point for a correct answer, −0.25 for a wrong one, 0 for a question left blank — as in the TOLC (the Italian university admission tests). You should answer only when you are reasonably sure: it is the same logic as a real multiple-choice exam.
What does the final score mean?
15 out of 20 or more: you are ready, the programme is solid. 10-14: needs consolidating — review the topics of the questions you got wrong and try again. Under 10: to be reviewed calmly before you sit the test again.
Course still weak?
Let us look at your results together — the diagnostic is free — and I will tell you honestly what it takes to close the gap.