{"id":1018,"date":"2023-01-02T14:36:46","date_gmt":"2023-01-02T14:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/blog\/prep\/?p=1018"},"modified":"2025-01-31T23:12:36","modified_gmt":"2025-01-31T23:12:36","slug":"mcat-practice-questions-physics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/mcat\/mcat-practice-questions-physics\/","title":{"rendered":"MCAT Practice Questions: Physics"},"content":{"rendered":"

Walking into MCAT preparation, many students think of physics<\/a> as the least applicable science to medicine, reflecting on calculus-heavy premedical classes. But even in the medical field, physics is all around us. When we treat patients at a rehab hospital, we often talk about motion, forces, and bone strength. An ophthalmologist may draw diagrams to help students better understand myopia and hyperopia. When we talk about mitochondria functioning as the batteries of the cell, we mean that fairly literally.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

MCAT Practice Questions: Physics<\/h3>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\n\t
\t\t

\n1. A man walks 30 m east and then 40 m north. What is the difference between his traveled distance and his displacement?
\nA.\u00a0 0 m
\nB.\u00a0 20 m
\nC.\u00a0 50 m
\nD.\u00a0 70 m<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>
\n

<\/span><\/span><\/div><\/p>\n

\t

\t\t

\n2. A 30 kg girl sits on a seesaw at a distance of 2 m from the fulcrum. Where must her father sit to balance the seesaw if he has a mass of 90 kg?
\nA.\u00a0 67 cm from the girl
\nB.\u00a0 67 cm from the fulcrum
\nC.\u00a0 133 cm from the girl
\nD.\u00a0 267 cm from the fulcrum<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>
\n

MCAT Physics Practice Questions: Explained<\/h3>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\n
\n

MCAT Physics Question #1 Explained <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

Using the Pythagorean theorem, calculate the magnitude of the man\u2019s displacement:
\n\"MCAT
\nHis total distance traveled is equal to 30 + 40 = 70 m. Therefore, the difference between these two is 20 m.<\/p>\n <\/div> <\/div> <\/div><\/section>\n<\/div>
\n

<\/span><\/span><\/div>
\n
\n

MCAT Physics Question #2 Explained <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>

In order for the seesaw to be balanced, the torque due to the girl (\u03c4g<\/em> ) must be exactly counteracted by the torque due to her father (\u03c4f<\/em> ). In other words, the magnitudes of these torques must be equal (\u03c4g<\/em>\u00a0 = \u03c4f<\/em> ):<\/p>\n

\"MCAT
\nBecause r<\/em>\u00a0represents the distance of each person from the fulcrum, the father must sit 67 cm from the fulcrum.<\/p>\n <\/div> <\/div> <\/div><\/section>\n<\/div>
\n

<\/span><\/span><\/div>
\n

MCAT Physics Tips and Strategies<\/h2>
<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\nAlthough the designers of the MCAT\u00a0will provide\u00a0physiological facts and numbers, that\u2019s not what you’re expected to know before taking the exam. Your MCAT practice will require being able to see the same concepts that you learned in your\u00a0undergraduate pre-med classes<\/a>\u00a0in a very defined and isolated environment\u2014applied in a foreign scope to integrated sciences.<\/p>\n

The interplay of scientific disciplines (i.e., how your knowledge of\u00a0physics or chemistry<\/a>\u00a0informs your understanding of how an organ works) is paramount to your success both on the new MCAT and as a future physician. The\u00a0human body<\/a>\u00a0is a network of interdependent physical, chemical, and biological processes, and\u00a0the MCAT measures your ability<\/a>\u00a0to make those connections.<\/p>\n

Knowing formulas and reactions is necessary for success on the MCAT, but will in no way be sufficient. Success will only come with practice, so here are a couple of tips:<\/p>\n

MCAT Physics Tip 1: When studying a \u201cphysical\u201d science, think through all of its biological applications.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For example, let\u2019s use reduction and oxidation. We know that\u00a0LEO\u00a0the Lion says\u00a0GER\u00a0(the\u00a0Loss of an\u00a0Electron is\u00a0Oxidation and the\u00a0Gain of an\u00a0Election is\u00a0Reduction). Therefore, when a metal is losing or gaining electrons, it\u2019s either getting oxidized or reduced, respectively.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t stop there. The ReDox that occurs in the Electron transport chain, with NADH losing an electron to the ETC and getting\u2014you guessed it\u2014oxidized, is the exact same concept. NAD+ is the product of the oxidation of NADH, just as Ag+ is the oxidized product of Ag. It\u2019s the exact same science. So, don\u2019t get thrown off by the fact that you learned it in two different places.<\/p>\n

MCAT Physics <\/strong>Tip 2:\u00a0There are a finite number of scientific facts.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There is some truth in the claim that most of biology is rooted in chemistry and physics. Take proteins for example. We think of them as biological molecules because they serve such a prominent role in the body. In reality, they are nothing more than a very specific structural arrangement of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen, and sometimes sulfur.<\/p>\n

The way in which they are bonded to each other is through a bonding orbital\u2014just like the ones you learned about in general chemistry. They fold into specific shapes because of attractions and repulsions of the amino acids in their sequence. Those are the same attractions and repulsions seen in chemistry. The proteins themselves are coded from RNA, which is coded from DNA. RNA and DNA are just chemical molecules with the same properties you learned about in chemistry.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t


\n<\/span>
\n<\/code><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>

\t\t\t


\n<\/span>
\n<\/code><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Walking into MCAT preparation, many students think of physics as the least applicable science to medicine, reflecting on calculus-heavy premedical classes. But even in the medical field, physics is all around us. When we treat patients at a rehab hospital, we often talk about motion, forces, and bone strength. An ophthalmologist may draw diagrams to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45565,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[3],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1018"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1018"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47828,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1018\/revisions\/47828"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45565"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}