Praxis II Physics Exam by ETS

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PRAXIS II Physics: Content Essays Exam

The exam is aimed for those individuals who wants to teach physics at the secondary level. One hour will be provided, to complete this 3 essay question exam. There will be 1 question pertaining to society, technology and science, one question pertaining to waves and fields and one question pertaining to energy and matter. Each question will count has 33.3% of the final grade. Your ability to integrate science and technical knowledge with society and analyze critical scientific concepts will be tested by this exam. One question on this exam will include the impact of physics on society and technology. The other two questions on this exam will include a specific scientific skill and areas of scientific content knowledge. The areas of scientific content knowledge will include the impact of physics on society and technology, waves, fields and matter and energy.

PRAXIS II Physics: Content Knowledge (0261) Exam

The exam is aimed for those individuals who would like to teach physics at the secondary level. One hour will be provided, to complete 50 multiple choice questions. Use of a calculator is not allowed. There will be 13 questions pertaining to particular topics in modern physics and optics and waves, 17 questions pertaining to magnetism and electricity and 20 questions pertaining to mechanics.

  • Special topics in Modern Physics: Optics and Waves: This section will test your knowledge of modern physics, light, sound, and waves. Questions pertaining to modern physics will include natural and artificial radioactivity, binding energy, nuclear forces, relativity, black body radiation, photoelectric effect, Michelson-Morley experiment, de Broglie՚s hypotheses, and particle wave duality. Questions pertaining to light and sound will include geometric optics, polarization, sound wave characteristics, air strings and columns, color and the electromagnetic spectrum. Questions pertaining to optics and waves will include the properties of longitudinal and transverse waves, inference and super position of waves, standing waves, dispersion, diffraction, resonance and natural frequencies, the Doppler effect, scattering, transmission, absorption of waves, refraction, Snell՚s law, and reflection. The length, amplitude, speed and frequency of waves will also be includeed in the section.
  • Magnetism and Electricity: This section will test your knowledge of magnetism and electricity. Questions pertaining to magnetism will include motors, transformers, Lorenz force law and applications, Lenz and Faraday՚s electromagnetic induction laws, Ampere and Biot-Savart՚s law, magnetic flux, magnetic force, and magnetic fields. Questions pertaining to electricity will include electrical fields, electrical forces, electrical potential energy, Gauss՚s law, Coulomb՚s law, insulators, semiconductors and conductors. Questions pertaining to circuits and currents will include series and parallel circuits, EMF sources such as generators and batteries, capacitance, resistance, current, potential difference, resistance, insulator՚s, semiconductors and conductors.
  • Mechanics: This section will test your knowledge of dynamics and vectors. Questions pertaining to dynamics will include Newton՚s law of gravity and motion, friction, inelastic and elastic collisions, rigid body motion, conservation laws of momentum and energy, momentum and impulse principles, potential energy and conservative forces, harmonica motion, springs and oscillations, mass versus weight, and statistics. Questions pertaining to vectors will include velocity, periodic motion, reference frames, relative velocity, circular motion, projectile motion and straight-line motion.

PRAXIS II Physics: Content Knowledge (0265) Exam

The exam is aimed for those individuals who wants to teach physics at the secondary school level. Use of a calculator is not allowed. Two hours will be provided to complete 100 multiple choice questions. There will be 12 questions pertaining to social perspectives, scientific technology and, the nature and history of science; 8 questions pertaining to atomic structure, nuclear structure and modern physics; 8 questions pertaining to thermodynamics and heat; 17 questions pertaining to waves and optics, 23 questions pertaining to magnetism and electricity and 32 questions pertaining to mechanics.

  • Social Perspectives, Science Technology and, the Nature and History of Science: This section will focus on STS, safety in the laboratory, various laboratory activities, data manipulation, measurement, mathematics, scientific methodology, scientific inquiry, and the history of science. STS questions will include economic, ethical, political, and social issues relating to technology, scientific technology and everyday life; managing natural resources, storage and usage of disposable consumer products, energy production, and the environmental and technological impact of science on human life. Questions pertaining to laboratory safety and procedures will include the legal issues of operating a science classroom, proper safety techniques in the science classroom, preparation of materials for classroom use, the maintenance and calibration of laboratory equipment, and safe storage and use of laboratory materials. Questions pertaining to data manipulation, measurement and mathematics will include accuracy, error analysis, data collection and drawing conclusions from data, scientific notation and measurement systems will be included in this section of the exam. Questions pertaining to the history of science will include the experimental design, the history of physical science, theories, models, laws, assumptions, and hypothesis. Your knowledge of scientific processing skills such as: Application, inference, comparison, categorizing, ordering and hypothesizing will be tested in this section of the exam. Questions pertaining to scientific inquiry will include: Generalization, observation, testing of hypothesis and problem formulation.
  • Modern Physics: Questions in this section of the exam will include the Michelson-Morley experiment, Lorenz transformations, de Broglie՚s hypothesis, velocity addition, blackbody radiation, photoelectric effect, nuclear reactors, fusion, fission and, physical properties of matter. Your knowledge of matter organization, ionizing radiation, radioactivity, beta decay, alpha decay, isotopes, radioactive decay, electrons, neutrons, protons, isotopes, the hydrogen atom, binding energy, and nuclear forces will be tested in this section of the exam. Questions pertaining to the Bohr model and Rutherford scattering, will also be included in this section of the exam.
  • Thermodynamics and Heat: This section of the exam will include kinetic, sound, magnetic, electrical, light, nuclear, heat, chemical, and mechanical energy. Your knowledge of the Zeroth law of equilibrium, pressure, volume, temperature and the three laws of thermodynamics will be included in this section of the exam. The questions pertaining to the first thermodynamics law will include energy conservation and internal energy; the second question will include the Carnot cycle, efficiency, spontaneity, irreversible and reversible processes and, entropy; the third law will include absolute zero temperature. Your knowledge of heat and temperature measurement, thermal expansion, thermocouples, kinetic molecular theory, heat capacity, vaporization and fusion of heat will be tested in this section of the exam.
  • Waves and Optics: This section will focus on geometric optics, linear superposition, the electromagnetic spectrum, sound, and waves. The questions pertaining to geometric optics will include telescopes, microscopes, magnifiers, prisms, spherical and plane mirrors, thin lenses, fiber optics, internal reflection, Snell՚s law, refraction and reflection. The linear superposition questions will include Young՚s double slit experiment, inference in thin films, standing and beating waves, dispersion, diffraction, and inference. The electromagnetic spectrum questions will include color and frequency regions. Questions pertaining to sound will cove beats, harmonics, standing waves, air columns, pitch and loudness. The questions pertaining to waves and optics will include the Doppler effect, polarization, resonance, natural frequencies, longitudinal and transverse waves, Rayleigh scattering, Snell՚s law, scattering, transmission, absorption, reflection, retraction, the inverse square law of intensity and the speed and amplitude of wavelength.
  • Magnetism and Electricity: This section will focus on electromagnetic induction, currents, magnetic fields, electrical circuits, and electrical fields. The questions pertaining to electromagnetic induction will include motors, transformers, Faraday ′ s law, Lenz ′ s law, generators, and magnetic flux. The magnetic field questions will include magnetic fields, magnetic dipoles, electric fields, Lorenz force law, cyclotron mass spectrometer, Gauss ′ law of magnetism, Bio-Savart law, Ampere ′ s law, the magnetic field of a wire, the magnetic field of a solenoid, and displaced current. The electric current section of the exam will assess your knowledge of components and application of electric circuits; semiconductors, conductors, insulators, sources of EMF, generators, batteries, Ohm ′ s law, inductance, capacitance, series and parallel circuits, Kirchhoff ′ s rules, RC circuits, internal resistance, voltmeters, ammeters, galvanometers, and potentiometers. Questions pertaining to electrical fields will include Coulomb ′ s law, Gauss ′ s law, electrical forces, conduction, induction, electric potential difference and electrical energy potential.
  • Mechanics: This section will focus on numerous aspects of the dynamics of physics, kinematics and vectors. Questions in the dynamics of physics section will include density and pressure of fluids, Bernoulli՚s principle, Archimedes՚s principal, Pascal՚s law, Kepler՚s laws of orbits, areas and periods; and Newton՚s law of orbital motion and universal gravitation. Additional question in the dynamics section of the exam will include mass energy relationships, rotational kinetic energy, rigid body motion, torque, inertia, momentum, velocity, impulse and linear movements, Questions pertaining to Hooke՚s law, pendulums, springs, oscillations, harmonic motion, energy conservation, and equilibrium of torque will be included in this section of the exam. Your knowledge of force, rolling, static and kinetic friction, and Newton՚s laws of motion will also be included in this section of the exam. Questions pertaining to kinematics will include Galilean relativity, relative velocity, relative motion, circular and projectile motion, acceleration, velocity, and displacement along with straight line motion. Questions pertaining to vectors will include addition, subtraction and multiplication of vectors, scalar (dot) product and vector (cross) product.