VCE Physics Question Thread!

[KiNSKi01]

I'm fairly sure that in physics, unless specified you don't need to worry about sig figs

[Freddie Hg]

I'm still a little bit confused on significant figures for the exam (I looked at the other thread on the front page), so was wondering if anyone could help.

Say for example I had a final value for a problem of 10.16. How do I figure out the number of significant figures required? That is, how do I know whether my answer should be 10, 10.2 or 10.16 etc?

Also, can you be penalised in the exam for incorrect significant figures?

Thanks!

Miniturtle addressed this issue somewhere in the forum, i searched for it but couldnt find it. i think just round to the lowest number of sig figs

[sweetiepi]

I'm still a little bit confused on significant figures for the exam (I looked at the other thread on the front page), so was wondering if anyone could help.

Say for example I had a final value for a problem of 10.16. How do I figure out the number of significant figures required? That is, how do I know whether my answer should be 10, 10.2 or 10.16 etc?

Also, can you be penalised in the exam for incorrect significant figures?

Thanks!

My general rule of thumb for sigfigs is to go with the lowest amount quoted in the question stimulus

Physics is not as strict as chemistry with sigfigs. You just have to be reasonable- i.e. don't quote 9sigfigs when only 2 or 3 are needed

[Bri MT]

Yeah i have to agree with you. rookie mistake, for minhaigill's questions what are the answers?  i got b and c respectively for 1 and 2

I got the same

[AnonymooseUser]

My general rule of thumb for sigfigs is to go with the lowest amount quoted in the question stimulus
Physics is not as strict as chemistry with sigfigs. You just have to be reasonable- i.e. don't quote 9sigfigs when only 2 or 3 are needed

Miniturtle addressed this issue somewhere in the forum, i searched for it but couldnt find it. i think just round to the lowest number of sig figs

I'm fairly sure that in physics, unless specified you don't need to worry about sig figs

So as long as your answers are reasonable in terms of sig figs, vcaa will accept it?

Thank you for the responses by the way! 

[KiNSKi01]

Yo can someone help me understand why E=hf is an equation relevant to the particle model of light

I'm stuck on how frequency (a wave property) can explain the particle nature of light

Cheers

[Bri MT]

Yo can someone help me understand why E=hf is an equation relevant to the particle model of light

I'm stuck on how frequency (a wave property) can explain the particle nature of light

Cheers

If you think about frequency it just specifies how often something occurs in a period of time - it doesn't necessarily have to be related to wavelength (when we're talking about waves it is related to wavelength)

Think this might be related to vibrations, but unfortunately I can't confidently answer you.

[VinnyD]

Yo can someone help me understand why E=hf is an equation relevant to the particle model of light

I'm stuck on how frequency (a wave property) can explain the particle nature of light

Cheers

Pretty sure its the quantised state of energy (Hf) that supports the particle model, whereas i don't think we know anything regarding the energy for waves in VCE. This is linked closely with the emission and absorption spectra as well as the atomic orbiting (all discrete amounts of energy that relate to hf)

[KiNSKi01]

Think this might be related to vibrations, but unfortunately I can't confidently answer you.

That's what I was thinking but not confident about

Pretty sure its the quantised state of energy (Hf) that supports the particle model,

Quantised states of energy also explain why electrons can form standing waves around nucleus which are of a whole number of wavelengths- therefore supporting the wave model 
Now I am confused  which model does that support

[VinnyD]

That's what I was thinking but not confident about

Quantised states of energy also explain why electrons can form standing waves around nucleus which are of a whole number of wavelengths- therefore supporting the wave model 
Now I am confused  which model does that support

there's a lot of duality as far as i know. You can argue different things for experiments, supporting duality.

[KiNSKi01]

ok dope!

cheers

[lzxnl]

Yo can someone help me understand why E=hf is an equation relevant to the particle model of light

I'm stuck on how frequency (a wave property) can explain the particle nature of light

Cheers

E = hf is more than defining the energy of a photon. It is an assertion that light exists in discrete packets of energy, and each packet of energy has size hf. It then links the particle and wave models of light by further asserting a direct relationship between a particle quantity, the photon energy, and a wave quantity, the wave frequency. That is the significance of this equation.

[KiNSKi01]

yessss thank-you!

makes more sense now

[KiNSKi01]

sup

For graphing, what are the main graph transformations we need to know to linearize results AND what areas of study do these likely relate to?

e.g a graph of Kinetic energy against velocity (m/s) would require an x^2 transformation

[S200]

sup

For graphing, what are the main graph transformations we need to know to linearize results AND what areas of study do these likely relate to?

e.g a graph of Kinetic energy against velocity (m/s) would require an x^2 transformation

Why do you need to linerise results?