Oxford AQA International A-level · Physics (9630)

Estimation of physical quantities: Practice Questions

5 multiple-choice questions marked as you go, and 4 written questions with worked solutions. All on Estimation of physical quantities.

9 questions19 marksFree, no account

Question 1

1 mark

Which of the following is the most reasonable estimate for the mass of a medium-sized apple?

Question 2

1 mark

Estimate the thickness of a single sheet of standard A4 printer paper.

Question 3

1 mark

Estimate the average power developed by a person of mass \(70\, \text{kg}\) when climbing a flight of stairs of vertical height \(10\, \text{m}\) in a time of \(15\, \text{s}\).

Question 4

1 mark

Estimate the mass of a typical four-door passenger car.

Question 5

1 mark

What is the order of magnitude estimation for the typical height of a single-storey residential house in metres?

Question 6

2 marks

Estimate the order of magnitude of the typical speed of a fast walking human in \(\text{m s}^{-1}\).

Write your answer out first, then check it against the worked solution.

Question 7

5 marks

Estimate the order of magnitude of the total kinetic energy, in joules, of a typical adult human (mass \(m \approx 70 \text{ kg}\)) running at a typical speed (estimate \(v \approx 5 \text{ m s}^{-1}\)).

Write your answer out first, then check it against the worked solution.

Question 8

3 marks

Estimate the order of magnitude for the following physical quantities:

(a) The wavelength of visible light (in metres).
(b) The mass of a standard adult physics textbook (in kilograms).
(c) The duration of a typical school physics lesson (in seconds).

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Question 9

4 marks

A physics student is trying to estimate the maximum speed of a car on a motorway in miles per hour (\(\text{mph}\)).

The maximum speed limit is \(70 \, \text{mph}\). Estimate this speed limit in SI units (\(\text{m s}^{-1}\)) to the nearest order of magnitude.

Use the following approximate conversions: \(1 \, \text{mile} \approx 1.6 \, \text{km}\) and \(1 \, \text{hour} = 3600 \, \text{s}\).

Write your answer out first, then check it against the worked solution.

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