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MCAT Physics: Fluids, Circuits, Waves and Optics Formulas — quiz
15 multiple-choice questions covering Projectile motion, Friction, Newton's third law, Work, Momentum conservation. One answer each; you get a score at the end and the explanation for every question. No account needed.
Updated 2026-11-03. Keys 1–4 pick an answer, Enter moves on. Redo it any time, in order or shuffled.
The questions
Answers and explanations are shown after you finish.
- Projectile motion
A ball is thrown at an angle above the ground. At the exact peak of its trajectory, which statement correctly describes its velocity and acceleration?
- Velocity is zero; acceleration is g downward
- Vertical velocity component is zero; acceleration is g downward
- Velocity is zero; acceleration is zero
- Horizontal velocity component is zero; acceleration is zero
- Friction
A heavy crate on a rough floor requires more horizontal force to start sliding than to keep it sliding at constant speed. What explains this?
- Kinetic friction coefficient is greater than static friction coefficient
- Static friction coefficient is greater than kinetic friction coefficient
- Normal force decreases once motion begins, lowering friction
- Friction force becomes zero once the object starts moving
- Newton's third law
You push on a wall and the wall pushes back on you with equal and opposite force, yet you still accelerate away from it. How is this consistent with Newton's third law?
- The reaction force is weaker than the action force due to friction losses
- Newton's third law only applies to objects at rest
- Action-reaction force pairs act on two different objects, so they don't cancel for either object's own motion
- The net force on you is zero, yet momentum still changes somehow
- Work
You hold a 10 kg box stationary at arm's length, then carry the same box across a room at constant height and constant velocity. In which situation(s) do you do positive work on the box?
- In neither case — both involve zero work on the box
- In both cases
- Only while walking across the room
- Only while holding it stationary
- Momentum conservation
Two carts collide head-on and stick together, moving off as one unit. Which quantity is guaranteed to be exactly conserved in this collision?
- Momentum only
- Kinetic energy and mass only
- Kinetic energy and momentum both
- Kinetic energy only
- Buoyancy
A block of wood floats in water with 70% of its volume submerged. What can you conclude about its density relative to water?
- Block's density is 70% of water's density
- Block's density is greater than water's density
- Block's density is 30% of water's density
- Block's density equals water's density
- Continuity equation
Water flows through a pipe that narrows to half its original cross-sectional area. Assuming incompressible flow, what happens to the flow speed in the narrow section?
- Speed decreases by half
- Speed quadruples
- Speed doubles
- Speed stays the same; pressure doubles instead
- Bernoulli's equation
Air moves faster over the top of an airplane wing than underneath it. According to Bernoulli's principle, what does this create?
- Equal pressure above and below, no net force
- Lower pressure above the wing, creating lift upward
- Higher pressure above the wing, pushing it down
- Lower pressure below the wing, pulling it down
- Electric field
A negative point charge sits near a location in space. In which direction does the electric field vector point at that location?
- Toward the negative charge
- Perpendicular to the line connecting the charge and the point
- Direction depends on the sign of the test charge placed there
- Away from the negative charge
- Capacitors
Two identical 4 μF capacitors are connected first in series, then in parallel. What are the equivalent capacitances, and how does this compare to resistor behavior?
- Series = 8 μF, parallel = 8 μF; no difference
- Series = 2 μF, parallel = 2 μF; both the same
- Series = 2 μF, parallel = 8 μF; series is lower, opposite of how resistors combine
- Series = 8 μF, parallel = 2 μF; series is higher
- Magnetic force
A current-carrying wire is oriented parallel to an external magnetic field B. What is the magnetic force on the wire?
- Zero, because sinθ = 0 when the wire is parallel to the field
- Equal to half of BIL
- Maximum, equal to BIL
- Force is infinite due to resonance effects
- Doppler effect
A siren moves toward a stationary observer while emitting a constant frequency. Compared to the emitted frequency, what happens to the frequency the observer hears?
- Higher, because the observer's speed term increases the numerator
- Lower, because the v_s term increases the denominator
- Higher, because the v_s term decreases the denominator, making f' larger
- Unchanged, since the Doppler effect only applies to light waves
- Snell's law / total internal reflection
Light traveling inside water (n=1.33) strikes the water-air boundary at an angle greater than the critical angle. What happens to the light?
- Total internal reflection cannot occur in this direction
- It refracts into the air at a bent angle
- It splits into reflected and refracted components equally
- It undergoes total internal reflection back into the water
- Ideal gas law
A student plugs a temperature of 25°C directly into PV=nRT without converting units. What is the most likely consequence?
- Only affects calculations involving R in SI units
- The ideal gas law doesn't actually depend on temperature
- No difference, as long as the units for P and V are consistent
- The calculated value will be incorrect because the gas law requires absolute temperature
- Nuclear decay
A radioactive nucleus undergoes decay in which its atomic number increases by one while its mass number stays the same. Which type of decay occurred?
- Beta-plus decay
- Alpha decay
- Gamma decay
- Beta-minus decay
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