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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. According to string theory, why do different particles have different properties?
(a) Their strings do not have the same number of dimensions.
(b) Their strings are different lengths.
(c) They have different types of strings.
(d) Their strings are vibrating in different patterns.

2. What property of electromagnetic waves did Max Planck solve the thermodynamic problem of the oven by discovering?
(a) They can penetrate or "tunnel" through any surface.
(b) They have a minimum energy, proportional to their frequency.
(c) Waves are really particles.
(d) There are infinite numbers of waves, but each has an infinitely small energy.

3. Einstein's equation, E=mc^2, states that which of the following are equivalent?
(a) Energy and mass.
(b) Energy and light.
(c) Light and magnetism.
(d) Electricity and magnetism.

4. Which of the following best describes a fermion?
(a) A messenger particle for a force.
(b) A particle of matter.
(c) The supersymmetric version of a proton.
(d) The super-partner of a proton.

5. Which of the following qualities must a physical law have in order to be considered symmetric?
(a) It does not depend on where or when it is applied.
(b) It is valid for both matter and energy.
(c) It works regardless of the spin of the particles involved.
(d) It is valid for both matter and anti-matter.

6. What is different about a particle of antimatter, compared to its normal counterpart?
(a) Negative mass.
(b) Zero mass.
(c) Opposite electrical charge.
(d) Complementary spin.

7. What are the components of an atomic nucleus?
(a) Protons and electrons.
(b) Protons and neutrons.
(c) Photons and electrons.
(d) Electrons and neutrons.

8. What spin do all particles of matter have?
(a) 1/2.
(b) 3/2.
(c) 2.
(d) 1.

9. Which of the following is correct about the speed at which light moves?
(a) It moves at a constant speed only near a gravitational field.
(b) It moves faster at higher energy levels.
(c) It moves at a constant speed for all observers.
(d) Its speed depends on the observer.

10. Which of the following is true regarding experimental confirmation of string theory?
(a) It can never be confirmed.
(b) It has been experimentally confirmed, but the data are still being processed.
(c) It has not yet been experimentally confirmed.
(d) It was confirmed in the 1980s.

11. The first version of string theory did not include any particles of _____.
(a) Messenger particles.
(b) Gravitons.
(c) Fermions.
(d) Bosons.

12. Which of the following is one of the major problems in using both quantum physics and general relativity?
(a) General relativity is time-dependant, quantum physics is a steady-state theory.
(b) General relativity is a wave theory, but quantum physics is a particle theory.
(c) At small scales, quantum physics predicts uncertainty, but general relativity requires certainty.
(d) Quantum physics predicts that all particles are massless.

13. Which of the following correctly describes the structure of an atom?
(a) A cloud of neutrons orbiting a nucleus of other particles.
(b) A cloud of electrons orbiting a dense nucleus.
(c) A single nucleus composed of both electrons and protons.
(d) A cloud of protons, each with an electron orbiting it.

14. Which of the follow is true of objects with which string theory is concerned?
(a) They include strings and other objects as well.
(b) It concerns one-dimensional strings and nothing else.
(c) The objects are purely imaginary.
(d) They are all really Calabi-Yau shapes.

15. Which of the following is NOT an actual version of string theory?
(a) Type I theory.
(b) Heterotic type O(32) theory.
(c) Fermionic type IV theory.
(d) Type IIA theory.

Short Answer Questions

1. If a clock were accelerated to nearly the speed of light for a year's time, which of the following would be true of its reading at the end of that time?

2. What characteristic did Werner Heisenberg discovered that some features of the universe at very small scales, and some properties of particle?

3. According to Newton's theory of gravity, if two objects have a gravitational pull on one another, and one changes its mass or distance from the other, how quickly does the effect of this change travel to the other object?

4. According to Newton's law of gravity, the strength of the pull between two objects depends on what factors?

5. When the distance between two objects is doubled, what happens to the strength of the gravitational pull between them?

(see the answer keys)

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