Physics in Daily Life

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1. A dropped ball accelerates toward the ground mainly because of which force?

   • Friction
   • Magnetism
   • Buoyancy
   • Gravity

2. Why can a straight drinking straw look bent where it enters a glass of water?

   • Water physically bends the straw
   • Light changes direction at the air–water boundary
   • The glass makes the lower part larger
   • The submerged straw stops reflecting light

3. Which behavior of light allows a plane mirror to form an image?

   • Reflection
   • Absorption
   • Diffusion
   • Conduction

4. When a car stops suddenly, a seat belt prevents a passenger from continuing forward. Which property of matter is involved?

   • Elasticity
   • Density
   • Inertia
   • Electric charge

5. A metal spoon left in hot soup becomes warm at the handle. How is most heat traveling through the spoon?

   • Radiation through empty space
   • Evaporation
   • Convection of the metal
   • Conduction

6. A prism spreads white light into a spectrum because different colors undergo different amounts of what?

   • Reflection only
   • Refraction
   • Electrical resistance
   • Interference from sound

7. A floating ship displaces water whose weight is equal to the ship’s weight. Which principle describes this?

   • Archimedes’ principle
   • Ohm’s law
   • Hooke’s law
   • Pascal’s law

8. Tightening a guitar string usually raises its note. What directly increases?

   • The speed of sound in air
   • The string’s length
   • Its vibration frequency
   • The amplitude of every vibration

9. A spinning skater pulls both arms inward and rotates faster without an external torque. Which quantity is conserved?

   • Linear momentum only
   • Temperature
   • Electric potential
   • Angular momentum

10. Why does a clear daytime sky usually appear blue to an observer on the ground?

    • Air emits blue light
    • Air molecules scatter shorter visible wavelengths more strongly
    • Oceans project their color onto the atmosphere
    • Blue light travels slowest through space