MATSEC IM Physics case studies
MATSEC IM Physics · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The MATSEC Intermediate Level Physics examination is part of the suite of examinations administered by the MATSEC Examinations Board at L-Università ta' Malta. It is a secondary-school-leaving and university-entry qualification taken by candidates in Malta who wish to demonstrate competence in physics at an intermediate level, typically alongside other intermediate subjects in the two-year matriculation programme. The MATSEC IM Physics case studies are 5 cases and about 3,525 words.
1Plank, trestles and a painter: which limit bites first?
A workshop has no proper platform, so a uniform timber plank 4.00 m long and of mass 18.0 kg is laid across two trestles, placed 0.50 m and 3.50 m from the plank's left end. Each trestle is rated by its manufacturer to carry a maximum load of 800 N.
767 words, about 4 min2Resonance tube: trusting two readings and an end correction
A student measures the speed of sound with a resonance tube: a glass tube whose lower end is closed by a water surface that can be raised and lowered. Holding a 512 Hz tuning fork at the open top, she finds the air column resonates when the water surface is 0.155 m below the top and again when it is 0.495 m below the top.
693 words, about 3 min3A 6 V lamp on a 9 V battery: designing the series resistor
A pupil is given a 9.0 V battery, a torch lamp marked '6.0 V, 3.0 W', an ammeter, a voltmeter, a rheostat and a box of resistors. A multimeter placed across the lamp while it is cold reads 1.8 Ω.
693 words, about 3 min4Why the specific heat capacity came out 13% too high
A student is asked to measure the specific heat capacity of water. She pours 0.400 kg of water at 20.4 °C into a copper can of mass 0.085 kg (specific heat capacity 385 J kg⁻¹ K⁻¹), lowers a 120 W immersion heater into it, switches on for exactly 240 s while stirring, and records a final temperature of 35.4 °C.
721 words, about 4 min5Photocell: two stopping potentials and a current that is not photoelectric
In a photoelectric-effect experiment a photocell with a potassium cathode (work function 2.30 eV) is illuminated by the 365 nm line of a mercury lamp. A reverse potential difference is applied and increased until the photocurrent just falls to zero.
651 words, about 3 min