F=ma Exam

Analysis of previous F=ma exams and the types of questions that appear.

2007
Problem	Topic	Comment
1	Kinematics	Position-time equation	Kinematics	7
2	Kinematics	Velocity-time graph	Dynamics	6
3	Kinematics	Average velocity	Energy	7
4	Kinematics	Free fall	Collisions	3
5	Dynamics	Force and effects	System of Masses	2
6	Kinematics	Position from velocity-time equation	Rigid Bodies	8
7	Energy	Comparison of amounts	Oscillatory Motion	3
8	Gravity	Gravitational potential energy	Gravity	2
9	System of Masses	Motion of center of mass	Fluids	0
10	Rigid Bodies	Rotational analog of Newton’s 2nd Law	Other	0
11	Rigid Bodies	Moments of inertia and energy		38
12	Dynamics	Statics, balance of torques
13	Collisions	Conservation laws
14	Dynamics	Direction of forces
15	System of Masses	Translational and rotational dynamics
16	Collisions	Conservation laws
17	Kinematics	Acceleration over time in projectile motion
18	Energy	Conservation of energy
19	Energy	Spring and conservation of energy
20	Collisions	Energy, momentum, and velocity
21	Rigid Bodies	Value of moments of inertia
22	Energy	Work, energy, momentum
23	Gravity	Centripetal force
24	Kinematics	Projectile motion
25	Oscillatory Motion	Period in water
26	Dynamics	Kinematics and coefficient of friction
27	Rigid Bodies	Conservation laws, centripetal force
28	Rigid Bodies	Analysis of bicycle, equilibrium
29	Rigid Bodies	Analysis of bicycle, equilibrium
30	Rigid Bodies	Analysis of bicycle, equilibrium
31	Rigid Bodies	Rotational inertia of a rod
32	Oscillatory Motion	Angular frequency
33	Oscillatory Motion	Angular frequency
34	Dynamics	Object winding up around a cylinder
35	Energy	Kinetic energy of object
36	Dynamics	Original length of rope
37	Energy	Ratio of velocities
38	Energy	Ratio of kinetic energies

2008
1	Kinematics	Uniform acceleration equations	Kinematics	7
2	Kinematics	Displacement	Dynamics	6
3	Kinematics	Velocity from position-time graph	Energy	1
4	Kinematics	Displacement from velocity-time graph	Collisions	3
5	Kinematics	a-t graph from v-t graph	System of Masses	2
6	Kinematics	Projectile motion and range	Rigid Bodies	1
7	Collisions	Conservation laws	Oscillatory Motion	1
8	Dynamics	Friction and centripetal force	Gravity	3
9	Collisions	Conservation laws	Fluids	0
10	Dynamics	Dynamics	Other	1
11	Dynamics	Dynamics		25
12	Rigid Bodies	Moments of inertia and kinetic energy
13	Oscillatory Motion	Spring constant and amplitude
14	System of Masses	Angular momentum and energy
15	Dynamics	Statics, balance of torques
16	Dynamics	Spring and acceleration
17	Dynamics	Spring and acceleration
18	Gravity	Potential and kinetic energy
19	Energy	Power and acceleration
20	Elasticity	Young’s modulus, Elimination of answers
21	System of Masses	Conservation laws
22	Collisions	Conservation laws and circular motion
23	Gravity	Relationship between variables
24	Kinematics	Bouncing ball
25	Gravity	Velocity and orbit

2009
1	Collisions	Impulse and pressure	Kinematics	7
2	Collisions	Motion after elastic collision	Dynamics	4
3	Collisions	Motion after inelastic collision	Energy	1
4	Dynamics	Apparent weight	Collisions	5
5	Gravity	Comparison after angular momentum	System of Masses	0
6	Kinematics	Projectile motion, velocity and angle	Rigid Bodies	1
7	Kinematics	Uniform acceleration equations	Oscillatory Motion	3
8	Kinematics	Rotational motion, ω-t graph	Gravity	3
9	Kinematics	Rotational motion, ω-t graph	Fluids	0
10	Kinematics	Projectile motion	Other	1
11	Kinematics	a-t graph, work		25
12	Energy	Work
13	Dynamics	Statics, torque
14	Collisions
15	Dynamics	Determining coefficient of friction
16	Oscillatory Motion	Angular frequency of oscillation
17	Experiment	Measure quantities in SI units
18	Oscillatory Motion	Period of pendulum
19	Kinematics	Projectile motion, height and range
20	Collisions	Conservation laws
21	Gravity	Gravitational potential energy
22	Gravity	Period of orbit
23	Oscillatory Motion	Simple harmonic motion, Power
24	Dynamics	Tipping over of box
25	Rigid Bodies	Angular velocity, friction

2010
1	Kinematics	Position-time graph	Kinematics	6
2	Kinematics	Velocity-time graph	Dynamics	6
3	Kinematics	Acceleration-time graph	Energy	4
4	Kinematics	Free fall	Collisions	1
5	Kinematics	Projectile motion	System of Masses	2
6	Kinematics	Projectile motion, height and range	Rigid Bodies	2
7	Dynamics	Centripetal force, angular momentum	Oscillatory Motion	0
8	Dynamics	Friction, acceleration	Gravity	3
9	Dynamics	Acceleration	Fluids	1
10	Dynamics	Acceleration, friction	Other	0
11	Dynamics	Statics		25
12	Energy	Kinetic energy and projectile motion
13	Rigid Bodies	Energy and moment of inertia
14	Collisions	Conservation laws, friction
15	System of Masses	Conservation laws
16	System of Masses	Conservation laws
17	Gravity	Potential energy of configuration
18	Energy	Force and potential energy
19	Energy	Potential and position-time graph
20	Energy	Position-time graph, energy
21	Gravity	Gravitational self potential energy
22	Dynamics	Centripetal force
23	Fluids	Cross-sectional area and velocity
24	Rigid Bodies	Determining moments of inertia
25	Gravity	Energy and velocity

2011
1	Kinematics	Average speed and displacement	Kinematics	5
2	Kinematics	Velocity-time graph	Dynamics	3
3	Kinematics	Velocity-time graph	Energy	2
4	Kinematics	Velocity-time graph	Collisions	1
5	Gravity	Centripetal acceleration	System of Masses	0
6	Collisions	Conservation laws	Rigid Bodies	4
7	Rigid Bodies	Angular momentum, energy	Oscillatory Motion	4
8	Fluids	Fraction of block floating	Gravity	3
9	Dynamics	Force on length of spring	Fluids	2
10	Oscillatory Motion	Factors that increase period	Other	1
11	Fluids	Water level – time graph		25
12	Gravity	Compressive force
13	Rigid Bodies	Statics, balance of torques
14	Kinematics	Free fall
15	Oscillatory Motion	Determination of spring constant
16	Dynamics	Statics, friction
17	Dynamics	Acceleration
18	Energy	Friction, conservation laws
19	Oscillatory Motion	Return to origin
20	Oscillatory Motion	Amplitude
21	Dimensional Analysis	Same units
22	Energy	Torque, rotation frequency, and power
23	Gravity	Kepler’s laws
24	Rigid Bodies	Rotation, power, friction
25	Rigid Bodies	Comparison of motion down a plane

2012
1	Kinematics	Free fall	Kinematics	4
2	Kinematics	Projectile motion, height and range	Dynamics	5
3	Dynamics	Angle for toppling	Energy	3
4	System of Masses	Conservation laws	Collisions	1
5	Collisions	Loss of kinetic energy	System of Masses	1
6	Kinematics	Free fall	Rigid Bodies	2
7	Kinematics	Free fall	Oscillatory Motion	3
8	Energy	Friction, conservation of energy	Gravity	2
9	Gravity	Escape velocity	Fluids	2
10	Rigid Bodies	Comparison of acceleration down a plane	Other	2
11	Dynamics	Change in forces over time		25
12	Dynamics	Change in forces over time
13	Energy	Work and velocity
14	Rigid Bodies	Torque, moments of inertia
15	Energy	Power and velocity
16	Oscillatory Motion	Vibration frequency of spring
17	Oscillatory Motion	Period-amplitude graph
18	Oscillatory Motion	Relationship between variables
19	Fluids	Energy, power, velocity
20	Fluids	Buoyancy, apparent weight
21	Dynamics	Change in height of springs
22	Dimensional Analysis	Equivalent units
23	Experiment	Equipments used to determine constants
24	Dynamics	Determining spring constant
25	Gravity	Comparison of velocities and orbits

2013
1	Kinematics	Uniform acceleration equations	Kinematics	3
2	Kinematics	Elastic collision with wall	Dynamics	8
3	Kinematics	Projectile motion	Energy	5
4	Dynamics	Statics, balance of torques	Collisions	1
5	Dynamics	Aparent weight, velocity	System of Masses	2
6	Dynamics	Aparent weight, velocity	Rigid Bodies	2
7	Energy	Comparison of momentum and energy	Oscillatory Motion	1
8	Energy	Conservation laws	Gravity	1
9	Energy	Conservation laws	Fluids	1
10	Rigid Bodies	Difference between solid and hollow spheres	Other	1
11	System of Masses	Normal force of system to table		25
12	Rigid Bodies	Acceleration and moments of inertia
13	Gravity	Velocity and distance
14	Collisions	Velocity of center of mass
15	Fluids	Fraction of rod above water
16	Dimensional Analysis	Same units
17	Dynamics	Change in forces over time
18	System of Masses	Conservation laws
19	Dynamics	Tension, pendulum
20	Dynamics	Tension, pendulum
21	Oscillatory Motion	Determination of period
22	Dynamics	Statics, balance of torques
23	Energy	Determination of spring constant
24	Energy	Extension of cord
25	Dynamics	Power and velocity

2014
1	Dynamics	Angular momentum and acceleration vectors	Kinematics	0
2	Rigid Bodies	Direcction of force	Dynamics	7
3	Fluids	Floating object	Energy	5
4	System of Masses	Conservation laws	Collisions	2
5	Dynamics	Torques, centripetal force	System of Masses	3
6	Collisions	Coefficient of restitution	Rigid Bodies	2
7	Dynamics	Statics, balance of torques	Oscillatory Motion	1
8	Oscillatory Motion	Determining period	Gravity	2
9	Energy	Impulse, velocity	Fluids	1
10	Dynamics	Tension, centripetal force	Other	2
11	Energy	Energy graphs		25
12	Dimensional Analysis	Same units
13	Dimensional Analysis	Same units
14	Rigid Bodies	Translational and rotational kinetic energy
15	Energy	Power and velocity
16	Collisions	Speed ratio
17	Gravity	Determining gravitational acceleration
18	Dynamics	Tension, pulley system
19	Dynamics	Air resistance
20	Energy	Centripetal force
21	Dynamics	Moments of inertia, pulley system
22	Gravity	Relationship between variables
23	System of Masses	Impulse, conservation laws
24	System of Masses	Velocity turns through an angle
25	Energy	Friction, conservation laws

2015
1	Kinematics	Addition of velocities	Kinematics	4
2	Kinematics	Average speed	Dynamics	4
3	Energy	Force and power	Energy	6
4	Dynamics	Graph analysis of motion	Collisions	4
5	Kinematics	Projectile motion	System of Masses	0
6	Collisions	Conservation of momentum	Rigid Bodies	0
7	Collisions	Conservation of momentum	Oscillatory Motion	2
8	Collisions	Conservation of momentum	Gravity	0
9	Collisions	Conservation of momentum	Fluids	2
10	Energy	Analysis of kinetic energies from collisions	Other	3
11	Fluids	Buoyancy		25
12	Dynamics	Acceleration of pendulum
13	Dynamics	Direction of pendulum acceleration
14	Dynamics	Forces and circular motion
15	Energy	Work-energy theorem
16	Energy	Analysis of potential energy graph
17	Dimensional Analysis	Dimensional analysis
18	Graphs	Re-expression of data
19	Oscillatory Motion	Oscillation of a liquid in a U-tube
20	Fluids	Balance of forces, equilibrium
21	Kinematics	Coefficient of restituion, infinite series
22	Energy	Graph analysis
23	Energy	Vertical spring, conservation of energy
24	Waves	Transverse wave, fundamental frequencies
25	Oscillatory Motion	Coupled oscillators

	Percent	Average appearance	TOTAL:
	18.07	4.52	Kinematics	43
	20.59	5.15	Dynamics	49
	14.29	3.57	Energy	34
	8.82	2.21	Collisions	21
	5.04	1.26	System of Masses	12
	9.24	2.31	Rigid Bodies	22
	7.56	1.89	Oscillatory Motion	18
	7.98	2.00	Gravity	19
	3.78	0.95	Fluids	9
	4.62	1.16	Other	11
	100	25		238

Kevin S. Huang

F=ma Exam

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