Grade 9 Science
Electrical Principles and Technologies
Sample Achievement Test
Sample test authors:
Kerry Blum
Dan Grassick
Kamal Johal
Claude Langlois
Joan Liland
This test was developed by the authors to share with colleagues and
students in the Calgary Board of Education. Please respect their work and
do not distribute outside the CBE.
This work may continue in future years. Please forward contributions and
suggestions to Curriculum Support, Science Specialist, Willowglen (through
internal CBE mail) or call 294-8624.
Copyright, 2004. Do not distribute or reproduce for use outside of the Calgary Board of Education.
Electrical Principles and Technologies
Science 9
Sample Achievement Test Questions
1.
Ovens use electric thermometers that operate from the conversion of
A.
B.
C.
D.
2.
heat to light
electrical energy to microwave energy
heat to electrical energy
light to microwave energy
A “spark” lighter works by
A.
B.
C.
D.
transforming motion into electrical energy
transforming electrical energy into heat
transforming motion into heat and light
transforming heat into electrical energy
3. Which of the following materials could be combined to create a voltaic cell?
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
A.
B.
C.
D.
a penny
a nickel
a strip of paper soaked in distilled water
a strip of paper soaked in salt water
two pennies
two nickels
I, II, and III
I, II, and IV
IV and V
III and VI
The following diagram illustrates a St-Louis motor.
4. In the device shown above, the wire coil and the armature together create the
A.
B.
C.
D.
5.
commutator
brushes
electromagnet
permanent magnet
Which of the following drawings expresses the best conditions for a St-Louis motor normal
operation?
A.
B.
C.
D.
1
2
3
4
6.
What order would best describe how a St-Louis motor works (drawing 3 is your starting
point)?
A.
B.
C.
D.
7.
3-1-2-4
3-4-1-2
3-2-4-2
3-1-4-2
Why do experts recommend not to replace a breaker of 15 A by a breaker of 30 A in a
service panel?
A.
B.
C.
D.
The wires in the walls may heat up and start a fire.
Electric appliances will not work properly because of a surplus of electricity.
The voltage in the circuit will be reduced thus negatively affecting appliances.
Short circuits will occur more often than before.
8. Sometimes a material is charged by rubbing or touching and the charge remains stationary.
This is an example of
A.
B.
C.
D.
direct current (DC) electricity
alternating current (AC) electricity
static electricity
balanced charges
9. A very large current has to be transmitted easily along a wire. What kind of wire would do
this most safely?
A.
B.
C.
D.
thick copper wire
thin copper wire
thick nichrome wire
thin nichrome wire
10. What feature of a river is the best analogy for current in an electrical circuit?
A.
B.
C.
D.
volume of water that moves past a particular point measured in litres per second
depth of the river measured in metres
vertical drop between two points along the river measured in metres
speed of water flow measured in metres per second
11. What is the total resistance of a circuit having a source of 250 V and a current intensity of
10 A?
A.
B.
C.
D.
2500 ohms (Ω)
260 ohms (Ω)
25 ohms (Ω)
0.04 ohms (Ω)
12. Sandeep was playing with her favourite tow truck that could move across the room and
hoist up other toys. She observes that there were 2 switches on the truck, each controlling
one operation. Which diagram best represents the flow of electricity in the toy?
A.
B.
C.
D.
13. What device in a microelectronic circuit is the equivalent of a light switch in a house circuit?
A.
B.
C.
D.
14.
L.E.D. (Light Emitting Diode)
transformer
transistor
resistor
Electric lighting in most homes is largely provided by incandescent light bulbs which are
only about 5% efficient. This means that 95% of the energy output is in the form of
A.
B.
C.
D.
light
heat
sound
electricity
15. What is the energy consumption of a 25 W radio left on for a 2 hour time period?
A.
B.
C.
D.
25 kJ
50 kJ
180 kJ
3000 kJ
16. An electric motor uses 35000 J of electricity to produce 5250 J of mechanical energy.
What is the approximate efficiency of the motor?
A.
B.
C.
D.
0.07 %
0.15 %
7%
15 %
17. To celebrate Christmas, a family would like to decorate their house with lights. To reduce
their energy consumption, which of the following bulbs should they use?
A.
B.
C.
D.
neon
incandescent
L.E.D.
halogen
18. Which of the following types of power plants generate the most greenhouse gases?
A.
B.
C.
D.
thermo-electric plant
nuclear plant
geothermal plant
wind plant
NUMERICAL RESPONSE
19. In Alberta, the following sources are used to generate electricity. Use 1 to indicate
renewable resources, use 2 to indicate non-renewable resources.
Oil
Coal
Water
Wind
20. Depending on the purpose of an electrical device, a switch or a variable resistor might be
included in the design of the device. For each device below, decide whether a switch or a
variable resistor would best serve the function of the device. For devices suited to a switch,
mark as a “1". For devices suited to a variable resistor, mark as a “2".
Doorbell
Speed Control on a
sewing machine
Volume control on a
stereo
Electric coffee maker