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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What would an outside observer notice about an object moving near the speed of light?
(a) It would be shorted in the direction of its movement.
(b) It would appear vastly larger than it would at rest.
(c) It would not be observable under any circumstances.
(d) It would appear to move slower near a gravitational field.

2. Which physicist is credited with discovering that light is composed of particles?
(a) Maxwell.
(b) Planck.
(c) Rutherford.
(d) Einstein.

3. According to Einstein's theory of general relativity, 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?
(a) Near the speed of light, faster for lighter objects.
(b) At exactly the speed of light.
(c) Instantaneously.
(d) Near the speed of light, faster for more massive objects.

4. What characteristic of the string determines the properties of the particle it represents?
(a) Its length.
(b) Its frequency of vibration.
(c) The number of other strings with which it is threaded.
(d) Its mass.

5. Why are the fluctuations that quantum physics predicts not observable in everyday life?
(a) Most fluctuations are canceled out by electromagnetic waves, like light.
(b) The human brain filters them out.
(c) On large scales, the effects cancel each other out.
(d) The fluctuations only occur in deep space.

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

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

8. According to special relativity, which of the following is true about the passage of time for an observer moving near the speed of light?
(a) Time would pass very quickly compared to an observer at rest.
(b) No time would pass at all.
(c) The passage of time could not be predicted.
(d) Time would pass slowly compared to an observer at rest.

9. Which of the following is true of a particle's spin?
(a) It depends on the strength of the local magnetic field.
(b) It increases with each interaction with a particle of greater spin.
(c) It changes depending on the particle's energy.
(d) It is constant for that particle.

10. In which particle was spin first discovered?
(a) The photon.
(b) The neutron.
(c) The electron.
(d) The proton.

11. What is the quantum, or messenger particle, of the strong force?
(a) The baryon.
(b) The muon.
(c) The hadron.
(d) The gluon.

12. What is the fundamental force responsible for keeping the nucleus of an atom "glued" together?
(a) Quantum-tunneling force.
(b) Gravitational force.
(c) Potential electrical force.
(d) The nuclear-strong force.

13. Which of the following did Einstein considered time?
(a) The fifth fundamental force of the universe.
(b) A fourth dimension, alongside the three spatial dimensions.
(c) A physical substance, composed of particles.
(d) A three-dimensional field.

14. Which of the following is not one of the four fundamental forces of the universe?
(a) The photoelectric force.
(b) The electromagnetic force.
(c) The nuclear-weak force.
(d) Gravity.

15. How many dimensions did the tiny objects involved in the original statement of string theory have?
(a) One.
(b) Two.
(c) Three.
(d) Four.

Short Answer Questions

1. What type of a wave is light?

2. What discovery was made that incorporated gravitational force into quantum mechanics via string theory?

3. How can black holes be detected?

4. In Einstein's famous equation, E=mc^2, what does "c" represent?

5. What is the Planck mass?

(see the answer keys)

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