Unit 3: Electric Circuits
Physics 2 · Unit 3 · Paper 2

Electric Circuits unit test

A test on this unit alone, marked as a percentage and a letter grade — for the test your class is actually sitting, rather than for May. Answer everything, then submit once: seeing the answer to question 3 before attempting question 4 makes the final percentage meaningless.

Each paper is built from this unit’s 47 terms and is the same for everyone, so a teacher can assign “Unit 3, Paper 2” and every student sits the identical test. Multiple choice is marked objectively; the written sections you mark yourself against the model answer and rubric.
Suggested time 37 min 34 points0/17 attempted
1

Kilowatt-hour

2

Measuring resistance experimentally

3

Resistance and resistivity

4

Choosing the power form

5

Ohm's law

6

Where the energy goes

7

Meters connected wrongly

8

Effect of adding a parallel branch

9

Kirchhoff loop rule

10

Series vs parallel capacitor voltage

11

RC circuit charging

12

Internal resistance is in series

Short answer 1. Define or explain: Ideal ammeter

3 pts

Short answer 2. Define or explain: Brightness in series versus parallel

3 pts

Short answer 3. Define or explain: Why headlights dim when cranking

3 pts

Short answer 4. Define or explain: Resistivity versus resistance

3 pts

Free response

10 pts

Students are asked to determine the resistivity of the material in a long, uniform wire. They have a battery, an ammeter, a voltmeter, a meterstick, and a micrometer. The cross-sectional area of the wire is measured as 8.0 × 10⁻⁸ m². The students cut samples of different lengths, measure the resistance of each, and record the data below. L (m) 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 R (Ω) 1.1 2.2 3.2 4.3 5.4

A(i). Describe how the students could use the ammeter, voltmeter, and battery to measure the resistance of one wire sample. A(ii). Describe one step that would reduce experimental uncertainty.

B(i). Indicate what quantities the students should graph on the horizontal and vertical axes to obtain a straight line usable to determine the resistivity. B(ii). Describe how the resistivity is related to a feature of that graph.

C(i). Describe the axis labels, with units, and the positions of the plotted points. C(ii). Describe the best-fit line.

D. Using the best-fit line described in part C, calculate an experimental value for the resistivity of the wire material.