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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Quantum electroweak theory concerns quantum mechanics and _____.
(a) The electromagnetic force.
(b) The strong force.
(c) The weak force.
(d) Gravity.

2. Edwin Hubble used Einstein's theories to show that the fabric of the universe _____.
(a) Has a finite boundary.
(b) Is not static, it must either be shrinking or expanding.
(c) Is not flat, it is curved, either inwards or outwards.
(d) Is uniform in all places and times.

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

4. 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) No time would pass at all.
(b) Time would pass slowly compared to an observer at rest.
(c) The passage of time could not be predicted.
(d) Time would pass very quickly compared to an observer at rest.

5. According to Newton's law of gravity, the strength of the pull between two objects depends on what factors?
(a) The distance between them and their average atomic numbers.
(b) Their masses and the distance between them.
(c) Their masses and potential energies.
(d) Their densities and the strength of the gravitational field they occupy.

Short Answer Questions

1. Which physicist is credited with discovering that light is composed of particles?

2. Quantum physics began with the study of the energy inside a heated, closed container, such as an oven. The problem with theories at the time was that they predicted that _____.

3. Which of the follow is true of objects with which string theory is concerned?

4. Quantum chromodynamics concerns quantum mechanics and ____.

5. Which of the following is one of the major problems in using both quantum physics and general relativity?

Short Essay Questions

1. Describe the symmetry between the electromagnetism and the weak force that is predicted by quantum electroweak theory.

2. What are some of the difficulties in confirming string theory experimentally?

3. Adam is in his spaceship, at rest, when Ben's ship passes by, moving at nearly the speed of light. Adam observes that Ben's ship seems to be shorter than normal, and the clock on the outside of the ship is running very slowly. When he tells Ben about this, Ben claims that his ship was at rest, and that Adam passed him at nearly the speed of light. Ben also claims to have seen the same unusual problems with Adam's ship; it appeared shorter and its clock was running slowly. Adam and Ben's observations are both perfectly valid. Why?

4. What are the two main theories on which modern physics is based? At what scales are they accurate or inaccurate? Give at least one example of a circumstance in which both theories would need to be employed.

5. Describe the structure of an atom.

6. What are strings composed of?

7. What is the relationship between light, electricity, and magnetism?

8. What is the relationship between wavelength, frequency, and a wave's minimum energy?

9. What are super-partners?

10. What are the messenger particles of the strong and weak force, and what function do they perform?

(see the answer keys)

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