National University – Ho Chi Minh City MIDTERM EXAM OF PHYSICS A2 – 2015-16

University of Technology
Department of Engineering Physics
Closed book exam – Duration: 90 min No: 1
Student’s name: Student ID:

A) MCQ ANSWER SHEET:

Choose for each question only one correct answer and darken corresponding circle in the following
answer sheet.

A B C D A B C D A B C D
1 O O O O 6 O O O O 11 O O O O
2 O O O O 7 O O O O 12 O O O O
3 O O O O 8 O O O O 13 O O O O
4 O O O O 9 O O O O 14 O O O O
5 O O O O 10 O O O O 15 O O O O

QUESTION 1

This and the following question should be considered together.

Sound waves emerging from two speakers are detected at the point shown in the figure
above. The arriving waveforms are A cos( kx - wt ) and A cos ( kx -ωt + φ ). The angular
frequency of these waves is 2000 s-1, and the intensity of each wave alone is 12 W/m2.

Given that the speed of

sound is 450 m/s, what is
the wavelength of these
sources?

A. 0.453 mm
B. 670 mm
C. 0.225 m
D. 0.543 m

QUESTION 2

The net intensity of the sound received at the point shown is 5 W/m2. What is the
relative phase φ between the sources?

A. 350 B. 142.30 C. 2.4 radians D. 0.3 radians

QUESTION 3

Two waves, y1 and y2, have the same wave number, k, amplitude, A, and frequency, ω but
different phase:
y1(x,t) = A cos(kx-ωt)
y2(x,t) = A cos(kx-ωt+π/2)

What is the amplitude, Atot, of the superposition of the two waves?

A. Atot = 2 A cos(kx-ωt+45°) C. Atot =A √ 2

B. Atot = 2 A D. Atot = 4 A

QUESTION 4

Consider a propagating wave y(x,t) given by:

y(x,t) = (5.0 × 10-6) cos[(2.0 × 106 rad/m) x + (6.5 × 1014 rad/s) t ]
Which one of the following describes the velocity v of the wave?
A. v = 0.0 m/s
B. v = 1.25 × 108 m/s traveling in the +x direction
C. v = 5.62 × 108 m/s traveling in the -x direction
D. v = 3.25 × 108 m/s traveling in the -x direction

QUESTION 5

An object of mass m, oscillating on the end of a spring with spring constant k, has
amplitude A. Its maximum speed is:

A. A √ k /m B. A2 k /m C. Am/k D. A2 m/k

QUESTION 6

The displacement of an object oscillating on a spring is given by x (t )=x m cos ⁡(ωt +Φ) . If
the initial displacement is zero and the initial velocity is in the negative x direction, then
the phase constant ϕ is:

π 3π
A. 0 B. rad C. π rad D. rad
2 2

QUESTION 7

If the amplitude of the electric field in a plane electromagnetic wave is 720V/m then the
amplitude of the magnetic field is:

A. 2.4× 10-6 T C. 3.3× 10-6 T

B. 8× 10-8 T D. 6.7× 10-8 T

QUESTION 8

A stationary source generates 5Hz water waves whose speed is 2 m/s. A boat is
approaching the source at 10 m/s. The frequency of these waves, as observed by a
person in the boat, is:

A. 15Hz B. 20Hz C. 25Hz D. 30Hz

QUESTION 9

A pendulum with a length of 1 m is released from an initial angle of 15 0. After 1000 s, its
amplitude has been reduced by friction to 5.50. What is the value of b/2m?

A. 5.2×10-5 s-1 C. 75.8×10-5 s-1

B. 10-3 s-1 D. 2.8× 10-3 s-1

QUESTION 10

Newton’s rings can be seen when a planoconvex lens is placed on a flat glass surface.
For a particular lens with an index of refraction of n= 1.63 and glass plate with an index
of n= 1.8, the diameter of the third bright ring is 0.67 mm. If water (n= 1.5) now fills the
space between the lens and the plate, what is the new diameter of this ring?

A. 0.55 mm C. 0.35 mm
B. 0.023 mm D. 0.085 mm

QUESTION 11

Single slit diffraction of the light with the wavelength of 550 nm. The width of slit is of
0.02 mm. Determine the width of central light band (central maximum) obtained on the
screen which is located 1.7 m far from the slit.

A. 3.2 mm C. 15.2 mm
B. 45.6 mm D. 93.5 mm

QUESTION 12

In a two-slit interference experiment, a viewing screen is placed 4 meters directly in

front of the slits. Light of wavelength 550 nm emerges in phase from the two slits.

If the spacing between the maximum of light intensity at the center of the screen and
the second maximum away from the center is 0.5 cm, what is the distance between the
two slits?

A. 0.88 μm C. 0.52 μm
C. 0.52 mm D. 0.88 mm

QUESTION 13

Light of wavelength λ = 550nm is incident on three narrow slits separated by d = 40

μm. A viewing screen is placed a distance L= 3 m behind the slits. Calculate the position
on the screen of the second principal maximum of the interference pattern. (The zeroth
maximum is at θ = 0.)

A. y = 0.014 m C. y = 0.028 m
B. y = 0.041 m D.y = 0.083 m

QUESTION 14

This and the following question should be considered together.

A set of n slits is illuminated by a laser beam with wavelength λ = 500 nm. The intensity
of the diffraction pattern on a screen 4.0 m behind the slits is shown in the figure. The
scale in the figure shows the positions on the screen.

What is the amount n of slits ?

A. 2 C. 3

B. 4 D. More than 4

QUESTION 15

What is the width of each slit?

A. 4 μm C. 20 μm

B. 25 μm D. 50 μm
B. PROBLEMS:

QUESTION 1

A sinusoidal wave traveling in the –x direction (to the left) has an amplitude of 20 cm, a
wavelength of 35 cm, and a frequency of 12 Hz. The transverse position of an element of
the medium at t=0, x=0 is y= -3 cm, and the element has a positive velocity here.

a) Define the wave number, period, angular frequency and wave speed of the wave?
b) Write an expression for the wave function y(x,t).

QUESTION 2

What is the thinnest film of a coating with n=1.42 on glass (n= 1.52) for which
destructive interference of the red component ( λ=650 nm) of an incident white light
beam in air can take place by reflection?

QUESTION 3:

Normal-incidence green light with λ = 600 nm is diffracted by a 2.5 cm wide grating

with N = 5000 lines (assume that the entire grating is illuminated).

Through what angle θ is the 4th maximum fringe?