Questions and Answers of Integrated Science

How are visible light and a radio wave different? How are they the same?
Analyze how the equation E = hf could mean that visible light is a particle and a wave at the same time.
Compare and contrast the path of light through a convex and a concave lens. Give several uses for each lens, and describe how the shape of the lens results in that particular use.
Use a dialogue as you “think aloud” in considering the evidence that visible light is a wave, a particle, or both.
Describe how you would use questions alone to help someone understand that the shimmering they see above a hot pavement is not heat.
Clarify the distinction between light reflection and light refraction by describing clear, obvious examples of each.
Why are both the photon model and the electromagnetic wave model accepted today as a single theory? Why was this so difficult for people to accept at first?
What was so unusual about Planck’s findings about blackbody radiation? Why was this considered revolutionary?
Explain why the intensity of reflected light appears to change if you tilt your head from side to side while wearing polarizing sunglasses.
How can you tell if a pair of sunglasses is polarizing or not?
Why does a highway sometimes appear wet on a hot summer day when it is not wet?
When does total internal reflection occur? Why does this occur in the diamond more than other gemstones?
One star is reddish, and another is bluish. Do you know anything about the relative temperatures of the two stars? Explain.
What happens to light that is absorbed by matter?
What model of light is supported by the photoelectric effect?Explain.
Which carries more energy, red light or blue light? Should this mean anything about the preferred color of warning and stop lights? Explain.
What model of light does the polarization of light support?Explain.
What determines if an electromagnetic wave emitted from an object is a visible light wave or a wave of infrared light?
What are the basic similarities and differences between an electric field and a magnetic field?
Analyze the apparent contradiction in the statement that “solar energy is free” with the fact that solar cells are too expensive to use as an energy source.
Will a fuel cell be the automobile engine of the future?Identify the facts, beliefs, and theories that support or refute your answer.
Transformers usually have signs warning, “Danger—High Voltage.” Analyze if this is a contradiction since it is exposure to amps, not volts, that harms people.
What are the significant similarities and differences between AC and DC? What determines which is “better” for a particular application?
Explain how the model of electricity as electrons moving along a wire is an oversimplification that misrepresents the complex nature of an electric current.
Explain what causes an electron to move toward one end of a wire when the wire is moved across a magnetic field.
Why does the north pole of a magnet generally point to the geographic North Pole if like poles repel?
Describe how an electric generator is able to generate an electric current.
Explain why the electric utility company increases the voltage of electricity for long-distance transmission.
How is an unmagnetized piece of iron different from the same piece of iron when it is magnetized?
What is a magnetic pole? How are magnetic poles named?
What is the difference between AC and DC?
Is a kWh a unit of power or a unit of work? Explain.
Explain how you know that it is an electric field, not electrons, that moves rapidly through a circuit.
Why does a positively or negatively charged object have multiples of the fundamental charge?
Explain what is happening when you walk across a carpet and receive a shock when you touch a metal object.
Explain why a balloon that has been rubbed might stick to a wall for a while.
Why is it not a good idea for a large band to march in unison across a bridge?
How can sound waves be waves of pressure changes if you can hear several people talking at the same time?
Are vibrations the source of all sounds? Discuss if this is supported by observations or if it is an inference.
Is sound actually destroyed in destructive interference?
Describe how you can use beats to tune a musical instrument.
Sometimes it is easier to hear someone speaking in a full room than in an empty room. Explain how this could happen.
What are the significant similarities and differences between longitudinal and transverse waves? Give examples of each.
How would distant music sound if the speed of sound decreased with frequency?
Why are fundamental frequencies and overtones also called resonant frequencies?
What is an echo?
Does a supersonic aircraft make a sonic boom only when it cracks the sound barrier? Explain.
What gives a musical note its characteristic quality?
What eventually happens to a sound wave traveling through the air?
Do all frequencies of sound travel with the same velocity?Explain your answer by using the wave equation.
Explain why sounds travel faster in warm air than in cool air.
What is resonance?
Why do astronauts on the moon have to communicate by radio even when close to one another?
A piano tuner hears three beats per second when a tuning fork and a note are sounded together and six beats per second after the string is tightened. What should the tuner do next, tighten or loosen
Is it possible for a transverse wave to move through air? Explain.
What is a wave?
Explore the assumptions on which the “heat death of the universe” idea is based. Propose and evaluate an alternative idea for the future of the universe.
Could a heat pump move heat without the latent heat of vaporization? Explain.
This chapter contains information about three types of passive solar home design. Develop criteria or standards of evaluation that would help someone decide which design is right for their local
Analyze the table of specific heats (table 4.2) and determine which metal would make an energy-efficient and practical pan, providing more cooking for less energy.
Gas and plasma are phases of matter, yet gas runs a car and plasma is part of your blood. Compare and contrast these terms and offer an explanation for the use of similar names.
What are the significant similarities and differences between heat and temperature?
Considering the criteria for determining if something is a solid, liquid, or a gas, what is table salt, which can be poured?
The relative humidity increases almost every evening after sunset. Explain how this is possible if no additional water vapor is added to or removed from the air.
Explain why a burn from 100°C steam is more severe than a burn from water at 100°C.
Explain why a glass filled with a cold beverage seems to sweat.Would you expect more sweating inside a house during the summer or during the winter? Explain.
Which Styrofoam cooler provides more cooling, one with 10 lb of ice at 0°C or one with 10 lb of ice water at 0°C? Explain your reasoning.
What is condensation? Explain, on a molecular level, how the condensation of water vapor on a bathroom mirror warms the bathroom.
A piece of metal feels cooler than a piece of wood at the same temperature. Explain why.
Why is air a good insulator?
Why is cooler air found in low valleys on calm nights?
A true vacuum bottle has a double-walled, silvered bottle with the air removed from the space between the walls. Describe how this design keeps food hot or cold by dealing with conduction,
Would the tight packing of more insulation, such as glass wool, in an enclosed space increase or decrease the insulation value?Explain.
Explain why most materials become less dense as their temperature is increased.
What is temperature? What is heat?
Are there any contradictions to the law of conservation of energy in any area of science?
Most technological devices convert one of the five forms of energy into another. Try to think of a technological device that does not convert an energy form to another. Discuss the significance of
The five forms of energy are the result of the fundamental forces—gravitational, electromagnetic, and nuclear—and objects that are interacting. Analyze which force is probably involved with each
Describe at least several examples of negative potential energy and how each shows a clear understanding of the concept.
Use the equation for kinetic energy to prove that speed is more important than mass in bringing a speeding car to a stop.
Simple machines are useful because they are able to trade force for distance moved. Describe a conversation between yourself and another person who believes that you do less work when you use a
Whenever you do work on something, you give it energy. Analyze how you would know for sure that this is a true statement.
What are the significant similarities and differences between work and power?
Evaluate the requirement that something must move whenever work is done. Why is this a requirement?
What happens to the kinetic energy of a falling book when the book hits the floor?
Compare the energy needed to raise a mass 10 m on Earth to the energy needed to raise the same mass 10 m on the Moon.Explain the difference, if any.
Define a joule. What is the difference between a joule of work and a joule of energy?
From time to time, people claim to have invented a machine that will run forever without energy input and develops more energy than it uses (perpetual motion). Why would you have reason to question
Why are petroleum, natural gas, and coal called fossil fuels?
A spring clamp exerts a force on a stack of papers it is holding together. Is the spring clamp doing work on the papers? Explain.
If energy cannot be destroyed, why do some people worry about the energy supplies?
Is a kWh a unit of work, energy, power, or more than one of these? Explain.
A lamp bulb is rated at 100 W. Why is a time factor not included in the rating?
Does a person standing motionless in the aisle of a moving bus have kinetic energy? Explain.
What is the relationship between the work done while moving a book to a higher bookshelf and the potential energy that the book has on the higher shelf?
Assess the reasoning that Newton’s first law of motion tells us that centrifugal force does not exist.
Why is it that your weight can change by moving from one place to another, but your mass stays the same?
Newton’s law of gravitation explains that every object in the universe is attracted to every other object in the universe.Describe a conversation between yourself and another person who does not
Compare your beliefs and your own reasoning about motion before and after learning Newton’s three laws of motion.
What are the significant similarities and differences between velocity and acceleration?

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