A classroom measures about 8 m by 10 m by 3 m, and air has a density of about 1.2 kg/m³. What is the order of magnitude of the mass of the air in the room?Wikipedia, "Order of magnitude". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0001
A laser used in an optics lab is labeled Class 2. Why is a Class 2 visible-light laser considered safe for a brief accidental exposure?Wikipedia, "Laser safety". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0001
A student recalls four formulas for the speed v of a wave on a string under tension F, in newtons, with mass per unit length μ, in kg/m. Which one has consistent dimensions?Wikipedia, "Dimensional analysis". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0001
A student times one swing of a pendulum 25 times. The 25 timings have a standard deviation of 0.20 s. What is the standard error of their mean?Wikipedia, "Standard error". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0001
Hubble's law links physics with astronomy. Which observation does it state?Wikipedia, "Hubble's law". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0002
In 1797 and 1798 Henry Cavendish measured the pull of gravity between lead spheres in a laboratory. Which apparatus did he use, and what did his result give?Wikipedia, "Cavendish experiment". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0002
In 1887 Michelson and Morley compared the speed of light along the Earth's motion and across it. What did they find, and which idea did the result undermine?Wikipedia, "Michelson–Morley experiment". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0002
Show all 50 questions (43 more)
Domain II: Mechanics 14
A 0.010 kg bullet lodges in a 1.99 kg block hanging at rest on cords. Block and bullet swing up through a height of 0.050 m. Taking g as 9.8 m/s², how fast was the bullet moving?Wikipedia, "Ballistic pendulum". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0005
A 2.0 kg block sliding at 6.0 m/s across a level floor is brought to rest by friction in 9.0 m. What is the average friction force?Wikipedia, "Work (physics)". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0005
A 12 kg crate rests on a level floor. The coefficient of static friction is 0.50 and of kinetic friction 0.30, and g is 9.8 m/s². Someone pushes on it horizontally with 40 N. What friction force acts on the crate?Wikipedia, "Friction". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0004
A 30 kg child runs at 3.0 m/s along a tangent and jumps onto the rim of a merry-go-round at rest. Its radius is 2.0 m and its moment of inertia is 240 kg·m². What is the angular speed just afterward?Wikipedia, "Angular momentum". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0006
A block on a spring swings 0.10 m to either side of its rest position and completes one cycle every 0.50 s. How fast is it moving as it passes the rest position?Wikipedia, "Simple harmonic motion". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0006
A car moving at 12 m/s accelerates at a constant 2.5 m/s² for 6.0 s. How far does it travel in that time?Wikipedia, "Equations of motion". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0003
A cyclist rides at a steady 8.0 m/s against a total resisting force of 25 N. What power must she supply to hold that speed?Wikipedia, "Power (physics)". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0005
A Ferris wheel of radius 9.0 m turns once every 30 s at a steady rate. What are a rider's speed and centripetal acceleration?Wikipedia, "Circular motion". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0003
A garden hose nozzle sends water out at a fixed speed. Aimed 30° above the lawn, the stream lands 6.0 m away. With no air resistance, where does it land when aimed at 60°, and which stream stays aloft longer?Wikipedia, "Projectile motion". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0003
A spring stretches 4.0 cm when a 2.0 N weight hangs from it. Within its elastic limit, how far does it stretch under 5.0 N?Wikipedia, "Hooke's law". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0004
A uniform boom 3.0 m long weighing 120 N is hinged to a wall and held level by a vertical cable fixed 2.0 m from the hinge. What is the tension in the cable?Wikipedia, "Torque". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0006
An iceberg of density 920 kg/m³ floats in seawater of density 1,030 kg/m³. About what fraction of the iceberg's volume lies below the waterline?Wikipedia, "Buoyancy". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0004
On a velocity-time graph, a straight line runs from 4.0 m/s at t = 0 to 10 m/s at t = 3.0 s. What is the displacement over those 3.0 s?Wikipedia, "Motion graphs and derivatives". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0003
The speed of a satellite in a circular orbit of radius r is √(GM ÷ r). For Earth, GM is about 4.0 × 10¹⁴ m³/s². How fast does a satellite move in a circular orbit of radius 1.0 × 10⁷ m?Wikipedia, "Orbital speed". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0004
Domain III: Electricity and magnetism 11
A current of 2.0 A flows through a 15 Ω heating coil. At what rate does the coil turn electrical energy into heat?Wikipedia, "Joule heating". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0009
A current of 5.0 A flows into a junction. Two of the three wires leaving it carry 2.0 A and 1.5 A. What current does the third wire carry, and which conservation law requires it?Wikipedia, "Kirchhoff's circuit laws". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0009
A long solenoid is rewound with half as many turns per meter, and its current is doubled. How does the magnetic field inside it change?Wikipedia, "Solenoid". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0008
A positively charged rod is held near, but not touching, a neutral metal sphere on an insulating stand. The sphere is briefly grounded, the ground is removed, and then the rod is taken away. What charge is left on the sphere?Wikipedia, "Electrostatic induction". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0007
A rubbed balloon carries a negative charge and clings to a neutral, insulating wall. What explains the attraction?Wikipedia, "Electrostatic induction". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0007
A strong magnet dropped down a vertical copper tube falls far more slowly than it does down a plastic tube. Why?Wikipedia, "Lenz's law". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0008
A transformer's primary winding is connected to a battery that supplies a steady direct current. Why does no voltage appear across the secondary?Wikipedia, "Transformer". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0008
An electron (charge 1.6 × 10⁻¹⁹ C, mass 9.11 × 10⁻³¹ kg) is released in a uniform electric field of 500 N/C. What is the size of its acceleration?Wikipedia, "Electric field". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0007
In a velocity selector, an electric field of 6.0 × 10⁴ V/m is crossed with a magnetic field of 0.20 T. At what speed does a charged particle pass straight through?Wikipedia, "Lorentz force". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0008
Lamp A is in series with a pair of lamps, B and C, that sit side by side on separate branches. All three lamps are alike. The filament of lamp C breaks. How do A and B change?Wikipedia, "Series and parallel circuits". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0009
Two parallel metal plates 3.0 mm apart are connected to a 12 V battery. What is the size of the nearly uniform electric field between them?Wikipedia, "Electric field". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0007
Domain IV: Waves 7
A cello string sounds 196 Hz when bowed open. The player then touches it lightly at its midpoint, without pressing it down, and bows again. Which frequency sounds?Wikipedia, "Harmonic". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0010
A convex security mirror in a shop has a focal length of −0.50 m. A shopper stands 2.0 m in front of it. What kind of image does the mirror form?Wikipedia, "Curved mirror". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0011
A pipe 0.43 m long is closed at one end and open at the other. Sound travels at 344 m/s. Which set of frequencies can resonate in it?Wikipedia, "Acoustic resonance". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0010
A train sounding its horn passes a person standing beside the track at a constant speed. How does the pitch that the person hears change?Wikipedia, "Doppler effect". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0010
An optical fiber has a glass core wrapped in a cladding of lower refractive index. What keeps light inside the core as the fiber bends?Wikipedia, "Optical fiber". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0011
The intensity of a sound is raised to 100 times its first value. By how much does the sound level rise?Wikipedia, "Decibel". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0010
Light of wavelength 600 nm falls straight onto a diffraction grating with 500 lines per millimeter. What is the highest order of maximum that the grating can produce?Wikipedia, "Diffraction grating". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0011
Domain V: Modern physics 11
A bimetallic strip is made of brass bonded to steel, and brass expands more than steel when heated. What happens to the straight strip when it is warmed?Wikipedia, "Bimetallic strip". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0012
A short-lived tracer has a half-life of 10 minutes. Half an hour after it is made, what share of its original nuclei have broken down?Wikipedia, "Half-life". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0014
A spacecraft passes Earth at 0.60 times the speed of light. Observers on Earth watch a clock on board. How much Earth time passes while the ship's clock advances 8.0 years?Wikipedia, "Time dilation". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0013
A uranium-235 nucleus absorbs one neutron and splits into barium-141, krypton-92 and some free neutrons. How many free neutrons are released?Wikipedia, "Nuclear reaction". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0014
The absolute temperature of an ideal gas is raised to nine times its starting value. What happens to the average kinetic energy and the typical speed of its molecules?Wikipedia, "Kinetic theory of gases". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0012
Classical physics predicted that an ideal black body would emit unlimited energy at short wavelengths, the "ultraviolet catastrophe". Whose idea resolved it, and what was the idea?Wikipedia, "Ultraviolet catastrophe". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0013
Each cycle, a heat engine takes in 2,000 J from its hot reservoir and rejects 1,500 J to its cold reservoir. How much work does it do in a cycle, and what is its efficiency?Wikipedia, "Heat engine". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0012
How much heat melts 0.20 kg of ice at 0 °C and then warms the meltwater to 25 °C? Take the heat of fusion of ice as 334 kJ/kg and the specific heat capacity of water as 4.18 kJ/(kg·K).Wikipedia, "Enthalpy of fusion". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0012
In Bohr's model of hydrogen, which quantity of the orbiting electron must be a whole-number multiple of ħ, the Planck constant divided by 2π?Wikipedia, "Bohr model". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0013
In the Davisson–Germer experiment, electrons were scattered from the surface of a nickel crystal. What did the result show?Wikipedia, "Davisson–Germer experiment". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0013
Two protons and two neutrons, taken separately, have a total mass of 4.0319 u. A helium-4 nucleus has a mass of 4.0015 u. Taking 1 u as 931.5 MeV, what is the binding energy of the nucleus?Wikipedia, "Nuclear binding energy". Written to OAE Physics (035) framework, competency 0014
How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the assessment framework for Ohio Assessments for Educators field 035, Physics, read 2026-10-14 on the program's site (https://www.oh.nesinc.com/CONTENT/STUDYGUIDE/OH_SG_OBJ_035.htm; test page https://www.oh.nesinc.com/TestView.aspx?f=HTML_FRAG/OH035_TestPage.html): 150 multiple-choice questions in 225 minutes, passing score 220; Nature of Science (competencies 0001 to 0002, 14%), Mechanics (0003 to 0006, 28%), Electricity and Magnetism (0007 to 0009, 22%), Waves (0010 to 0011, 14%) and Modern Physics (0012 to 0014, 22%). The bank holds 7, 14, 11, 7 and 11 questions. Every law or definition was read on 2026-10-14 in the Wikipedia article the question names, and every numeric answer was recomputed as a check. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.
How it works
Work 50 physics questions of our own, spread over the five domains of Ohio's OAE assessment 035 in the framework's proportions. It is unofficial: neither the Ohio State Board of Education nor Evaluation Systems, Pearson has any part in it.
Read the full guide
OAE Physics 035 study guide: the five domains
Mechanics is the largest domain at 28%, followed by Electricity and Magnetism and Modern Physics at 22% each, with Nature of Science and Waves at 14% each, by the framework read October 14, 2026. The bank's counts are 14, 11, 11, 7 and 7.
Constants and the calculator
A constants and formulas page and an on-screen scientific calculator come with the real test. Because this page has no such sheet, a problem that needs the Planck constant, an electron's charge or another constant prints it.
Pacing
The real test allows 90 seconds a question. The timed run here gives its 50 questions 75 minutes, the same pace.
Most answers are calculations. Work the numbers on paper before choosing, then compare your lines with the explanation.
Questions and answers
Is this OAE Physics practice test free?
There is no charge and no sign-up. The 50 problems were written for this site to the 14 competencies of test 035, and each explanation names the Wikipedia article for the law it applies.
Is there an official OAE Physics 035 study guide?
Yes, on the program's site, free: it carries the assessment design and the framework, and a constants and formulas page is posted beside it. A paid preparation course is also offered there. This bank was written to the framework alone.
How many questions are on the OAE Physics test?
150 multiple-choice questions in 3 hours 45 minutes, after a 15-minute tutorial. Physics is listed for test centers only, in Ohio and nationwide, with no online proctor.
What is the passing score for OAE Physics?
The minimum is a scaled 220 out of 300. Because the scale starts at 100 and rests on the questions answered correctly across the whole test, a number right on this page does not translate into it.
Which Ohio licenses need OAE Physics?
Four Adolescence to Young Adult (7–12) licenses in the program's table take 035: Physical Sciences: Physics, Physical Sciences (Chemistry and Physics), Life Sciences/Physics and Earth Sciences/Physics. Each also takes Assessment of Professional Knowledge 003.