Middle School Physical Science
FGCU STEM Competition
March 2013
Please note that for all questions NOTA means, “none of the above answers is correct.”
1.) The boiling point of methanol is 65°C and the boiling point of ethanol is 78°C. Which of the
following statements is true?
A.) At 90°C you would have methanol and ethanol as solids.
B.) At 50°C you would have methanol and ethanol as gases.
C.) At 40°C the methanol reacts with the ethanol.
D.) At 70°C you would have methanol gas and liquid ethanol.
E.) NOTA
2.) "Cosmological Redshift" refers to
A.) the expansion of space itself.
B.) the expansion of galaxies.
C.) the tendency of light to expand when free of gravitational influences.
D.) the expansion of red giants.
E.) NOTA
3.) The background stars during a solar eclipse are those of constellations
A.) of the opposite season.
B.) not seen normally.
C.) seen in the nighttime sky.
D.) seen in the opposite hemisphere.
E.) NOTA
4.) What is the buoyant force acting on a 10-ton ship floating in the ocean?
A.) 10 tons
B.) less than 10 tons
C.) more than 10 tons
D.) depends on density of seawater
E.) NOTA
5.) Which of the following compounds contains ionic bonds?
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)
O
E.)
NOTA
6.) When a star collapses to become a black hole, its mass
A.) remains unchanged.
B.) decreases.
C.) increases.
D.) both increases and decreases.
E.) NOTA
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Middle School Physical Science
FGCU STEM Competition
March 2013
7.) When we consider the time taken for a pendulum to swing to and fro we're talking about the
pendulum's
A.) amplitude.
B.) frequency.
C.) period.
D.) wavelength.
E.) NOTA
8.) Where groundwater discharges to a stream, the elevation of the water table next to the stream
A.) is lower than the surface of the stream.
B.) is higher than the surface of the stream.
C.) is the same as the surface of the stream.
D.) Not enough information given
E.) NOTA
9.) Scientific equations in a conceptual course are mainly
A.) guides to thinking about the relationships between concepts.
B.) for mathematical problem solving.
C.) recipes for plugging in numerical data.
D.) unfortunately a confusing way of explaining ideas.
E.) NOTA
10.) Escape speed from Earth is
A.) 42.2 km/s.
B.) 11.2 km/s.
C.) 8 km/s.
D.) 9.8 km/s.
E.) NOTA
11.) Which are older, the atoms in the body of an elderly person or those in the body of a baby?
A.) They are of the same age, which is appreciably older than the solar system.
B.) It depends upon their diet.
C.) an elderly person because they have been around much longer
D.) a baby because this is surely a trick question
E.) NOTA
12.) An object in free fall has a speed of 60 m/s. One second later its speed is
A.) 10 m/s.
B.) 60 m/s.
C.) 30 m/s.
D.) 70 m/s.
E.) NOTA
13.) What is the source of acid rain?
A.) All rain is acid rain because rain has a hydronium ion concentration greater than 10-7 M.
B.) Acid rain is from dissolved carbon dioxide.
C.) All rain is acid rain because rain has a pH is less than 7.
D.) Rain is normally basic, but depending on the weather it can get slightly acidic.
E.) NOTA
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Middle School Physical Science
FGCU STEM Competition
March 2013
14.) As entropy in a system increases, energy within the system
A.) becomes more ordered.
B.) moves toward destruction.
C.) reaches equilibrium.
D.) becomes less ordered.
E.) NOTA
15.) The formation of the early Appalachian Mountains began as a result of tectonic activity during the
A.) Mesozoic era.
B.) Paleozoic era.
C.) Triassic era.
D.) Cenozoic era.
E.) NOTA
16.) Which of the following elements will most likely be shiny and flexible?
A.) hydrogen (H)
B.) helenium (Se)
C.) iodine (I)
D.) silicon (Si)
E.) rhodium (Rh)
17.) On which body (other than Earth) is life in our solar system most likely to be found?
A.) Europa
B.) Scientific evidence suggests that life elsewhere in our solar system is not possible.
C.) Venus
D.) Mars
E.) NOTA
18.) When work is done on a system and no heat is added, the temperature of the system
A.) increases.
B.) remains unchanged.
C.) decreases.
D.) both increases and decreases.
E.) NOTA
19.) Although tornadoes occur in many parts of the world, they are very common
A.) on the western slopes of the Rockies.
B.) along the Gulf Coast.
C.) in the northeastern part of the United States.
D.) in the Central Plains.
E.) NOTA
20.) Water causes partial melting of the mantle at which type of plate boundary?
A.) Transform-fault boundaries.
B.) Convergent boundaries.
C.) Divergent boundaries.
D.) Opposite boundaries.
E.) NOTA
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Middle School Physical Science
FGCU STEM Competition
March 2013
21.) Success in science is mainly linked to emphasis on
A.) experiments.
B.) luck.
C.) philosophical discussions.
D.) trial and error.
E.) NOTA
22.) Which of the following statements about strong and weak acids is not true?
A.) A weak acid dissociates in water.
B.) A weak acid is as corrosive as a strong acid.
C.) A strong acid will react with a strong base.
D.) A weak acid will react with a strong base.
E.) NOTA
23.) Classify the following as element, compound, or mixture, and justify your classifications: table salt,
stainless steel, table sugar, aluminum, ice.
A.) mixture; compound; mixture; element; compound
B.) compound; mixture; compound element; compound
C.) mixture; element; compound; element; element
D.) compound; element; compound; element; compound
E.) NOTA
24.) The ocean can be divided into several vertical layers–the surface zone, a transition zone, and the
deep zone. As one descends to lower depths, water pressure and temperature .
A.) decreases; increases
B.) increases; increases
C.) increases; decreases
D.) decreases; decreases
E.) NOTA
25.) The molecules in a room-temperature glass of water jostle around at
A.) a great variety of speeds.
B.) constant speeds.
C.) much the same speeds.
D.) variable speeds.
E.) NOTA
26.) The impulse-momentum relationship is a direct result of
A.) Newton's second law.
B.) Newton's third law.
C.) Newton's first law.
D.) Newton’s fourth law.
E.) NOTA
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Middle School Physical Science
FGCU STEM Competition
March 2013
27.) An object may have potential energy because of its
A.) acceleration.
B.) location.
C.) speed.
D.) momentum.
E.) NOTA
28.) A friend argues that if mass were really conserved he would never need to refill his gas tank. What
explanation do you offer your friend?
A.) The atoms (mass) of gasoline are converted into exhaust fumes.
B.) The atoms (mass) of gasoline are converted into energy by the engine according to
.
C.) The Law of Conservation of Mass does not apply to reactions involving combustion or
explosion of matter.
D.) The oil companies make gasoline in a way that it gets used up so that we are always required
to replenish it.
E.) NOTA
29.) As air flows up the side of a mountain, the air pressure
A.) gets colder.
B.) gets warmer.
C.) decreases.
D.) increases.
E.) NOTA
30.) The electric force between charges depends on the
A.) magnitude of electric charges.
B.) separation distance between electric charges.
C.) both A and B.
D.) neither A or B.
E.) NOTA
31.) Which of these is not a metal?
A.) gallium (atomic no. = 31)
B.) lithium (atomic no. = 3)
C.) vanadium (atomic no. = 23)
D.) potassium (atomic no. = 19)
E.) selenium (atomic no. = 34)
32.) How many structural isomers are there for a compound having the molecular formula C 3H9N?
A.) one
B.) two
C.) three
D.) four
E.) NOTA
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Middle School Physical Science
FGCU STEM Competition
March 2013
33.) When you toss a coin straight up, it moves upward, turns around, and drops. During this time the
acceleration of the coin is
A.) downward and constant.
B.) upward and constant.
C.) first decreasing, then increasing.
D.) downward and constant.
E.) NOTA
34.) Precession is
A.) the wobbling of a planet's axis of rotation.
B.) the process of planetary evolution.
C.) the stage before planets stabilize into a stationary orbit.
D.) when the elliptical orbits of planets slip forward with each revolution.
E.) NOTA
35.) A hunter aims a rifle at an angle of 10° above the horizontal. The hunter fires a bullet while
simultaneously dropping another bullet from the side of the rifle. Which bullet hits the ground
first?
A.) the dropped one
B.) the fired one
C.) both hit at the same time
D.) neither hit the ground
E.) NOTA
36.) Disregarding the effects of friction, a cyclist will coast farther when a lamp powered by a wheel
generator is
A.) burned out.
B.) of low wattage.
C.) of high wattage.
D.) both B and C.
E.) NOTA
37.) Which of the following is a positive ion?
A.) Ca+2
B.) Al+3
C.) Na+1
D.) Mg+2
E.) all of the above are positive ions
38.) Coal is formed from
A.) deeply buried oil sediments.
B.) swamps.
C.) lithified peat.
D.) anthracite.
E.) NOTA
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Middle School Physical Science
FGCU STEM Competition
March 2013
39.) The boiling point of methanol is 65°C and the boiling point of ethanol is 78°C. Which of the
following statements is true?
A.) At 50°C you would have methanol and ethanol as gases.
B.) At 40°C the methanol reacts with the ethanol.
C.) At 90°C you would have methanol and ethanol as solids.
D.) At 70°C you would have methanol gas and liquid ethanol.
E.) NOTA
40.) What is the mass of a water molecule,
A.) 16 amu
B.) 18 amu
C.) 2 amu
D.) 3 amu
E.) NOTA
, in atomic mass units?
41.) In a sedimentary rock that contains inclusions of metamorphic rock, the inclusions must be
A.) on top of the sedimentary rock.
B.) younger than the sedimentary rock.
C.) older than the sedimentary rock.
D.) below the sedimentary rock.
E.) NOTA
42.) Of the sciences known as physics, chemistry, and biology, the most basic is
A.) biology.
B.) physics.
C.) chemistry.
D.) none in particular, as each may be considered fundamental.
E.) NOTA
43.) A heavy block at rest is suspended by a vertical rope. When the block is accelerated upward by
the rope, the rope tension
A.) decreases.
B.) remains the same.
C.) increases.
D.) both increases and decreases.
E.) NOTA
44.) As a high-altitude balloon sinks lower and lower into the atmosphere it undergoes a decrease in
A.) weight.
B.) volume.
C.) density.
D.) mass.
E.) NOTA
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Middle School Physical Science
FGCU STEM Competition
March 2013
45.) Like Jupiter and Saturn, Neptune emits about 2.5 times as much heat energy as it receives from
the Sun, although calculations show it should have already lost all of its original heat. What is the
most likely explanation?
A.) There are gravitational anomalies taking place, which may hold some clue as to where the
heat may be coming from.
B.) Unlike Uranus, it is still contracting.
C.) Radioactive decay has kicked into overdrive, with runaway reactions taking place.
D.) The basis for these calculations is currently being questioned by a new generation of
scientists.
E.) Uranus' gravity is creating a 'slingshot' effect, catapulting solar winds into Neptune's
atmosphere in the form of as of yet undetected radiation.
46.) Science and technology are
A.) responsible for all the good in the world.
B.) fundamentally different from each other.
C.) responsible for all that is wrong in the world.
D.) really one and the same.
E.) NOTA
47.) If a water well is actively pumped, the water table will
A.) stay at the same level as before pumping.
B.) be recharged.
C.) be depressed around the well.
D.) be raised around the well.
E.) NOTA
48.) The higher the temperature of an object, the
A.) shorter the wavelengths it radiates.
B.) longer the wavelengths it radiates.
C.) wavelengths it radiates stay the same.
D.) object no longer radiates wavelengths.
E.) NOTA
49.) Which of the following solutions is the most concentrated?
A.) 0.1 liter of water with 1 gram of sugar
B.) 3 liters of water with 30 grams of sugar
C.) 2 liters of water with 0.2 gram of sugar
D.) 0.5 liter of water with 50 grams of sugar
E.) NOTA
50.) Why might the following nuclear reaction not be very good for energy production in a fission
reactor?
A.) The material only produces one neutron so the chain reaction will not be very efficient.
B.) Interatomic attraction between the products will impede the efficient separation of the
atoms from the unstable nuclei.
C.) The products are too large.
D.) The mass of the byproducts is too high and therefore the energy released will not be high
enough.
E.) NOTA
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