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Physics 122 Practice Problem of the Day

May 1: Six very short diagnostic concept questions. See PPOTD #25

April 29: Six new problems packed into Problem #24 with slightly revised solutions. PF2 through PF6 also posted. See PPOTD #24

Note also that some practice problems will have hand-written solutions, some will have "typeset" solutions, and some will have both.

Problem #01: Kinematics Review with Cartesian Unit Vectors:

  • Difficulty: medium
  • Exam Class Problem: no
  • Relevant to Homework Problems: HW#01: Problem #2.
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem (PDF).
  • Hand-Written Solution: NOTE THURS JAN 22: UNFORTUNATELY THERE IS A SIGN ERROR IN THE VERY LAST THREE LINES OF THE LAST PROBLEM. This changes the sign in the final answer from negative to positive. I'll fix this at some point... (PDF).
  • Mr. Covaults Narrated Video Solution (74 MByte HD MP4)

    Problem #02: Coulomb's Law and Point Particles:

  • Difficulty: medium
  • Exam Class Problem: yes
  • Relevant to Homework Problems: HW#01: Problems #1, #2, #4, and #5.
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem (PDF).
  • Hand-Written Solution (PDF).
  • Mr. Covault's Narrated Video Solution (Sorry, not ready yet...).

    Problem #03: Parallel Charged Insulating Sheets:

  • Difficulty: medium hard
  • Exam Class Problem: yes
  • Relevant to Homework Problems: HW#01: Problem #6.
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem (PDF).
  • Hand-Written Solution (PDF).
  • Mr. Covault's Narrated Video Solution (MP4 NOT READY).

    Problem #04: Voltage and Conservation of Energy near Conductors:

  • Difficulty: medium hard
  • Exam Class Problem: yes
  • Relevant to Homework Problems: HW#01: Problem #6, #7.
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem (PDF).
  • Hand-Written Solution (PDF).
  • Mr. Covaults Narrated Video Solution (MP4 NOT READY).

    Problem #05: Circuit with a Switch:

  • Difficulty: medium easy
  • Exam Class Problem: yes
  • Relevant to Homework Problems: HW#02: Problem #4, #5.
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem (PDF).
  • Solving PPOTD #05 in about 100 seconds: A Most Elegant Graphical Solution (HTML with jpgs)
  • Typeset Solution (PDF).
  • Mr. Covault's Narrated Video Solution (MP4 NOT READY).

    Problem #06: Circuit with a Second Voltage Source:

  • Difficulty: medium
  • Exam Class Problem: yes
  • Relevant to Homework Problems: HW#02: Problem #4. #5
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem (PDF).
  • Typeset Solution (PDF).
  • Mr. Covault's Narrated Video Solution (ppotd_vid_06.mp4) not ready yet.

    Problem #07: A "Voltage Divider" Circuit

  • Difficulty: Part (a) Easy, Part (b) medium, Part (c) medium difficult
  • Exam Class Problem: yes, but only parts (a) and (b)
  • Relevant to Homework Problems: HW#03: Problems #3,#4. and #5
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem (PDF).
  • Typeset Solution (PDF).
  • Mr. Covault's Narrated Video Solution (ppotd_vid_07.mp4) not ready yet.

    Problem #08: Throwing in a Voltage Source

  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Exam Class Problem: yes, defintely
  • Relevant to Homework Problems: HW#03: Problems #3,#4. and #5
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem (PDF).
  • Handwritten Solution (PDF).
  • Mr. Covault's Narrated Video Solution (ppotd_vid_08.mp4) not ready yet.

    Problem #09: Force between two wires

  • Difficulty: Medium hard
  • Exam Class Problem: too long
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem (PDF).
  • Typeset Solution (PDF).

    Problem #10: Car Talk Puzzler

  • Difficulty: Medium hard
  • Exam Class Problem: too "tricky"
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem with Illustrations (PDF).
  • Typeset Solution (PDF).

    Problem #11: Solving for the E-field by Direct Integration

  • Difficulty: hard
  • Relevant to Homework Problems: HW#04: Problem #1.
  • Exam Class Problem: too long
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem with Illustrations (PDF).
  • Typeset Solution (PDF).

    Problem #12: Gauss's Law and a Uniformly Charged Sphere

  • Difficulty: medium easy
  • Relevant to Homework Problems: HW#04: Problems #2 though #6 .
  • Exam Class Problem: Not bad. Perhaps a little long
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem with Illustrations (PDF).
  • Typeset Solution (PDF).

    Problem #13: Gauss's Law and a Thick Shells

  • Difficulty: medium
  • Relevant to Homework Problems: HW#04: Problems #2 though #6 .
  • Exam Class Problem: Yes, it was. Perhaps a little long
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem with Illustrations (PDF).
  • Typeset Solution (PDF).

    Problem #14: Gauss's Law and a Non-uniform Sphere

  • Difficulty: medium hard
  • Relevant to Homework Problems: HW#04: Problem #6.
  • Exam Class Problem: A little too hard, a little too long.
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem with Illustrations (PDF).
  • Typeset Solution (PDF).

    Problem #15: Ampere's Law for a Coaxial Current Core

  • Difficulty: easy
  • Relevant to Homework Problems: HW#06: Problem's #7, #8.
  • Exam Class Problem: Probably too easy.
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem with Illustrations (PDF).
  • Typeset Solution (PDF).

    Problem #16: Ampere's Law for a Solenoid

  • Difficulty: medium
  • Exam Class Problem: Yes.
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem with Illustrations (PDF).
  • Typeset Solution (PDF).

    Problem #17: KVL and KCL Practice

  • Difficulty: medium. Annoying algebra.
  • Exam Class Problem: Yes. but I would pick better values to simplify algebra.
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem with Illustrations (PDF).
  • Typeset Solution (PDF).

    Problem #18: Practice with mulitple capacitors

  • Difficulty: medium. Annoying algebra.
  • Exam Class Problem: Yes. but I would probably reduce number of capacitors from 6 down to 3 or 4.
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem with Illustrations (PDF).
  • Typeset Solution (PDF).

    Problem #19: Ampere's Law and a Toroid

  • Difficulty: medium. Not long.
  • Exam Class Problem: Yes.
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem with Illustrations (PDF).
  • Typeset Solution (PDF).

    Problem #20: Circuit with RC and LR

  • Difficulty: medium.
  • Exam Class Problem: Yes.
  • Relevant to Homework Problems: HW#10: Problem #2.
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem with Illustrations (PDF).
  • Typeset Solution (PDF).

    Problem #21: A moving line of charge

  • Difficulty: medium.
  • Exam Class Problem: Yes. Once given!
  • Relevant to Homework Problems: HW#10: Problem #6.
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem with Illustrations (PDF).
  • Typeset Solution (PDF).

    Problem #22: Gauss' Law with planar symmetry variable charge density

  • Difficulty: medium hard
  • Exam Class Problem: Parts (a) and maybe (c) yes.
  • Relevant to Homework Problems: HW#10: Problem #5 and #6.
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problem (PDF).
  • Typeset Solution (PDF).

    Problem #23: Five New Practice Problems from P122 2008

  • Difficulty: medium to medium hard
  • Exam Class Problem: Mostly. See remarks.
  • Introductory Remarks (HTML).
  • The Problems WITH solutions: (PDF).

    Problem #24: Six New Practice Problems

  • Difficulty: medium easy to hard
  • Exam Class Problem: Mostly from Final Exam 2008
  • The Problems alone: (PDF).
  • The Problems WITH solutions (slightly revised May 2): (PDF).

    Problem #25: Six Short Conceptual Diagnostic Problems

  • Difficulty: medium easy to medium hard
  • Exam Class Problem: Yes, certainly
  • Note: Solutions are written below statement of problem. Apologies for sloppy handwriting here.
  • NOTE: THERE IS AN ERROR IN MY SOLUTION TO PROBLEM 1: My answer for Problem 1 is entirely is reverse order because I forgot to consider the negative sign... Oops! The correct answer is as given in the opposite order!
  • Note: Problem 5: Sorry for the confusing subscripts on the fluxes. These are all electric (not magnetic) fluxes. PROBLEM 4: OOOPS! The question I answered was the strength of the electric field. You can see that in my explanation. The corect answer is: the fluxes are all equal because the enclosed charge is the same in every case. -CC
  • The Problems WITH solutions: (PDF).