Physics quiz archive: kinematics, free fall

Physics 205A Quiz 2, fall semester 2019
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA
Sections 70854, 70855
Exam code: quiz02Cs1o



Sections 70854, 70855 results

0- 6 :
7-12 :	******** [low = 9]
13-18 :	************
19-24 :	****************** [mean = 21.1 +/- 6.0]
25-30 :	**************** [high = 30]

Physics quiz archive: kinematics, free fall

Physics 205A Quiz 2, fall semester 2018
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA
Sections 70854, 70855 version 1
Exam code: quiz02HwRd



Sections 70854, 70855 results

0- 6 :	** [low = 6]
7-12 :	******
13-18 :	*************
19-24 :	******************** [mean = 20.4 +/- 6.1]
25-30 :	*********** [high = 30]

Physics quiz archive: kinematics, free fall

Physics 205A Quiz 2, fall semester 2017
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA
Sections 70854, 70855 version 1
Exam code: quiz02BjRn



Sections 70854, 70855 results

0- 6 :	* [low = 6]
7-12 :	******
13-18 :	************
19-24 :	**************** [mean = 22.0 +/- 6.5]
25-30 :	********************* [high = 30]

Physics quiz archive: kinematics, free fall

Physics 205A Quiz 2, fall semester 2016
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA
Sections 70854, 70855, 73320, version 1
Exam code: quiz02SL1p


Sections 70854, 70855, 73320 results

0- 6 :
7-12 :	********* [low = 9]
13-18 :	************
19-24 :	******************** [mean = 21.4 +/- 6.2]
25-30 :	****************** [high = 30]

Physics quiz archive: kinematics, free fall

Physics 205A Quiz 2, fall semester 2013
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA
Sections 70854, 70855, 73320, version 1
Exam code: quiz02p3nG

Sections 70854, 70855, 73320 results

0- 6 :	* [low = 6]
7-12 :	*********
13-18 :	*********************
19-24 :	************************ [mean = 20.0 +/- 5.9]
25-30 :	************** [high = 30]

Physics quiz archive: kinematics, free fall

Physics 205A Quiz 2, fall semester 2012
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA
Sections 70854, 70855, version 1
Exam code: quiz02Bo74Sections 70854, 70855

0- 6 :	****** [low = 3]
7-12 :	****************
13-18 :	********************* [mean = 15.3 +/- 6.1]
19-24 :	***********
25-30 :	**** [high = 27]

Physics quiz archive: kinematics, free fall

Physics 205A Quiz 2, fall semester 2011
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA
Sections 70854, 70855, version 1Sections 70854, 70855 results
Exam code: quiz02p4iN

 0- 6 : **  [low = 6]
 7-12 : ****
13-18 : ************
19-24 : *****************  [mean = 21.8 +/- 6.5]
25-30 : ******************  [high = 30]

Physics clicker question: distance traveled vs. displacement magnitude

Physics 205A, Fall Semester 2008
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Cf. Giambattista/Richardson/Richardson, Physics, 1/e, Conceptual Question 2.1 (extended)

Students were asked the following clicker question (Classroom Performance System, einstruction.com) at the beginning of their learning cycle:

In general, which statement(s) is/are possible?
(A) Distance traveled > magnitude of displacement.
(B) Distance traveled < magnitude of displacement.
(C) Distance traveled = magnitude of displacement.
(D) (More than one of the above choices.)
(E) (I'm lost, and don't know how to answer this.)

Sections 70854, 70855
(A) : 11 students
(B) : 5 students
(C) : 9 students
(D) : 17 students
(E) : 0 students

This question was asked again after displaying the tallied results with the lack of consensus, with the following results. No comments were made by the instructor, in order to see if students were going to be able to discuss and determine the correct answer among themselves.

Sections 70854, 70855
(A) : 5 students
(B) : 1 student
(C) : 1 student
(D) : 37 students
(E) : 0 students

Correct answer: (D)

If an object moves along one dimension such that it does not retrace its path, then the distance traveled from its initial location to its final location is exactly equal to the magnitude of the displacement (the straight-line vector that points from the initial to final location), so choice (C) is possible. However, if an object moves back-and-forth along one dimension, then the distance traveled will be longer than the magnitude of the displacement, so in this case choice (A) is possible. Under no circumstances would (B) be possible. Never. Never? Never-ever-ever!

Now entering Zeno's Paradox

Photoshop Phriday: Signs Of Our Times II, by Hellkind
somethingawful.com
August 3, 2007

And yet somehow the jaywalker will reach the side of the road.

The dudes of displacement

Delta Chi fraternity members
Frostburg State University
Frostburg, MD
http://involvement.frostburg.edu/pic_gallery/Delta_chi.jpg

Displacement vector lovers, represent!

Physics clicker question: what is not a vector?

Physics 5A, Fall Semester 2007
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Cf. Giambattista/Richardson/Richardson, Physics, 1/e, Chapter 2.2

Students were asked the following clicker question (Classroom Performance System, einstruction.com) near the beginning of their learning cycle:

[0.3 participation points.] Consider the following list of quantities:
Position.
Displacement.
Distance traveled by an object.

How many of the above quantities are vectors? _____.

Correct answer: 2.

Student responses
Sections 0906, 0907
"1" : 16 students
"2" : 28 students
"3" : 2 students

Teachable moment! Students were then asked to identify the one quantity that was not a vector, eliciting various responses, most notably "position." Following discussion ensues:

• "Displacement" is a vector, pointing from the initial to the final location.
  
• "Distance traveled by an object" is not a vector but a scalar, and in one-dimensional travel may move back and forth along itself.
  
• "Position" is a vector, as it points from the origin to the location. Many students were thinking of a location as just a point, and thus not a vector. Or a few students had considered a special case that if an object starts from the origin, then its initial position is then a point and not a vector; but this brings up the special case of a null vector.