First Semester Integrated Physical Science Study Guide
Remember, for the COL you will need a basic scientific calculator – no phones to be used. For all
problems on the COL, be sure to show work, include units and BOX your answers.
Units covered:
a. Dimensional analysis and significant
d. Forces
figures
 Definition
b. Designing scientific investigations
 Newton’s laws
c. Describing motion
 Gravity and weight
 Vector vs. scalar
 Air resistance and terminal velocity
 Speed
 Torque
 Acceleration
e. Potential vs. Kinetic energy
 Momentum
Vocabulary:
Hypothesis
Controlled variable
Displacement
Velocity
Mass
Centripetal acceleration
Reference point
Gravity
Manipulated variable
Experimental control
Distance
Momentum
Weight
Vector
Force
Inertia
Air resistance
newton (unit)
Terminal velocity
joule (unit)
Responding variable
Graph
Speed
Acceleration
Gravitational acceleration (g)
Scalar
Friction
Balanced and unbalanced
forces
Potential and kinetic energy
Torque
Formulas to find and recognize: (formulas will be given on the COL, but will not be labeled)
velocity (speed)
acceleration
momentum
Newton’s 2nd law
weight
gravitational potential energy
kinetic energy
torque
Determine the number of significant figures in the following measurements:
Measurement
Sigfigs
Conversion (unit)
323 mL
L
759.55 kg
g
10.0 dm
2000000 mg
1460 km
7 days
cm
g
cm
s
15.705 kg of H2O
L of H2O
125 cm3 of H2O
g of H2O
1. Light travels 186 000 miles/second. How long is a light year in meters? (1 light year is the distance
light travels in one year.)
2. How many miles will a person run during a 10 kilometer race?
3. The moon is 250,000 miles away. How many meters is it from earth?
4. A family pool holds 10,000 gallons of water. How many cubic meters is this?
5. The average high school student is in class 330 minutes/day. How many hours/day is this? How many
seconds/day is this?
6. Lake Michigan holds 1.3 x 1015 gallons of water. How many liters is this?
7. Change 60 kilometers/hour to m/sec (hint: both kilometers and hour must be change to other units) .
8. A sudden gust of wind increases the velocity of a sailboat relative to the water surface from 3.0 m/s to
5.5 m/s over a period of 30.0 s. Using the formula a = Δv/t, what is the average acceleration of the
sailboat?
9. If you traveled 90 km in 0.50 hours, what was your average speed? In m/s?
10. Arrange the following measurements in order from largest to smallest: kilometer, millimeter, meter,
centimeter, micrometer.
11. Read the lab overview and identify the key elements.
(the final will have a different scenario – but same idea)
A family wants to test the effectiveness of a misting showerhead in conserving water. They place a large
tub at the bottom of the shower. With the old showerhead in place, they turn the shower on full force for
one minute. They measure the volume of water. They then replace the showerhead with the new misting
showerhead and repeat the procedure.
manipulated variable_____________________
responding variable ______________________
controlled variable ___________________
experimental control ___________________
Use Graph 1 and Graph 2 for questions 12-15.
12. Graph 1 is a graph of a biker riding to a store. What can you tell about the motion of the bike rider in
this figure?
13. What can you tell about the motion of the object in Graph 2?
14. What are the different labels on the graphs? What does each graph represent?
15. Do Graphs 1 and 2 represent the same object in motion? Explain.
16. “If gravity causes everything to fall with the same acceleration,” a friend asks, “then why does a
crumpled piece of paper fall faster than an uncrumpled one?” How would you answer?
17. Evaluate this statement: “The object is in motion in a straight line, and it is moving with a constant
speed. That must mean that no forces are acting on it.”
18. What does the law of conservation of energy state?
19. A car goes from 16 m/s to 2 m/s in 3.5 s. What is the car’s acceleration?
20. A roller coaster goes from 3 m/s to 27 m/s in 2 s. What is the roller coaster’s acceleration?
21. Can the velocity of a car change when its acceleration is constant? Explain why or why not.
22. Explain why the second hand of a clock cannot travel at constant velocity.
23. Compare positive and negative acceleration.
24. How can a rocket work even in deep space where there is nothing to push off of?
25. Study the diagram below. Then answer the questions that follow.
At what point(s) does the pendulum have maximum GPE?
At what point(s) does the pendulum have maximum kinetic energy?
26. If a ping pong ball and a golf ball are moving with the same kinetic energy, which one is moving at a
higher velocity? Explain.
27. A baseball with a mass of 0.15kg is moving at 40 m/s. What is the ball’s momentum? What is the ball’s
kinetic energy from that motion? Is that the only energy present in the baseball? Explain.
28. A car moving at a speed of 25 m/s has a kinetic energy of 200,000 J from that motion. What is the car’s
mass?
29. A sprinter has a mass of 80 kg and a kinetic energy of 2500 J. What is the sprinter’s speed?
30. A ceiling fan has a mass of 12 kg and is 3.0 m above the floor. What is the approximate gravitational
potential energy of the ceiling fan-Earth system, relative to the floor?
31. What is the approximate mass of a hiker that is 300 m above a reference level if the GPE of the hikerEarth system is 116,000 J?
32. Describe a change caused by kinetic energy as well as a change involving gravitational potential
energy.
33. A book sliding across a table comes to a stop. The book’s kinetic energy was converted to what form of
energy?
34. A rock has a mass of 1 kg. What is the speed of the rock if the rock has fallen off a cliff for 2s?
35. Explain why scientists consider the conservation of energy to be a law and not a theory?
36. You may have seen in the movies or on television where a horse and rider come to a fence; when the
horse stops the rider flies over the horse’s head. Explain why this happens.
37. Compare acceleration and velocity.
38. Compare positive and negative acceleration.
39. Imagine a car driving up a street at a constant speed. Midway up it passes another car coming down
the street at a constant speed. The car going up the street is traveling at 30 km/h. As it passes the car
coming down the street, the driver of the first car measures the speed of the second car to be 60 km/h
relative to the first car. Analyze the cars’ motions in terms of speed, velocity, and acceleration.
40. Two object that have the same mass are dropped from the top of a 20-m high building. One object is
larger and flatter than the other object. Explain why the larger, flatter object hits the ground last.
41. How is mass different from weight?
42. A student is building a mobile with rods that are virtually weightless. On one side, she places a 23g
mass 13 cm from the pivot point. She balances that with a 40g mass on the other side. How far from
the pivot point is the second mass?