ENTRANCE EXAMINATION IN PHYSICS FOR APPLICANTS TO BACHELOR’S PROGRAMMES

Entrance test procedure

1. The entrance test is conducted in accordance with the current Rules for admission to the bachelor's and specialty programs and the MIPT entrance tests regulations.

2. The entrance examination in physics has written and oral parts.

3. The entrance examination consists of four parts.

4. The first two parts of the entrance test are tasks with numerical answer. Each part lasts 45 minutes. The first two parts of the entrance test involving distant learning technologies is checked by computer appliance.

5. The third part of the entrance test contains tasks with a detailed answer, which are checked by teachers taking the exam (examiners). The third part lasts 90 minutes.

6. Admission to the third written part and the subsequent oral part of the entrance test depends on the success in the first two written parts. Those who are not admitted to the third and fourth parts of the entrance test get their grade according to the first two parts.

7. The fourth part of the entrance test requires preparing a written response to a question from the entrance test program, and the applicant may be asked additional questions in the framework of the entrance test program. The oral part lasts up to 30 minutes.

List of topics

1. MECHANICS

1.1. Kinematics

Mechanical movement and its types. Vector quantities. Vector projections on coordinate axes and actions with them. Uniform rectilinear motion. Graphs of motion. Straight-line uniformly accelerated motion. Relativity of mechanical motion. The velocity addition rule. Free fall of bodies. Movement of a body thrown at an angle to the horizon. Uniform and non-uniform motion along the circle. Connection between linear and angular velocities. Acceleration during circular movement.

1.2. Newton’s laws

Interaction of bodies in nature. The phenomenon of inertia. Newton's first law. Inertial reference frames. Force. Newton's second law. Newton's third law. Dynamics of motion on a circle. The Galileo-Newton principle of relativity.

1.3. Forces in mechanics

Gravitational force. The law of gravitation. Gravity force. Body weight. The reaction force of the support. Weightlessness and overload factor. Deformation of bodies. Elastic force. Hooke's Law. Friction force. Body movement under the influence of several forces. Movement of coupled systems.

1.4. The laws of conservation in mechanics

Body momentum. Impulse of force. The law of momentum conservation. Jet propulsion. Mechanical work and power. Efficiency of simple mechanisms. Kinetic energy and its change. Work of gravity. Potential energy of a body raised above the ground. Work of elastic force. Potential energy of a deformed body. Law of conservation and transformation of mechanical energy. Universal law of energy conservation.

1.5. Elements of statics and hydrostatics

Elements of statics. Torque. Solid state equilibrium condition. Transfer of pressure in gases and liquids. Pascal law. Interconnected vessels. Atmospheric pressure. Law of Archimedes. Conditions of buoyancy. Ballooning.

2. MOLECULAR PHYSICS AND THERMODYNAMICS

2.1. Foundations of molecular-kinetic theory

Emergence of atomistic hypothesis of matter structure and its experimental evidence. Main provisions of molecular-kinetic theory. Characteristics of molecules. Movement and interaction of molecules. Diffusion. Brownian motion. Perfect gas. Basic equation of perfect gas. Absolute temperature as a measure of the average kinetic energy of thermal motion of particles of matter.

2.2. Properties of gases, liquids and solids

Gas pressure. Perfect gas equation. Gas laws. Saturated vapor. Dependence of saturated vapor pressure on temperature. Boiling. Dependence of boiling point on external pressure. Air humidity. Absolute and relative humidity. Dew point. Structure and properties of crystalline and amorphous bodies.

2.3. Basics of thermodynamics

Internal energy. Internal energy of monatomic perfect gas. Work in thermodynamics. Heat quantity, heat capacity. Equation of thermal balance. First law of thermodynamics. Principle of operation of heat engine and its efficiency. Carnot cycle.

3. ELECTRODYNAMICS

2.4. Basic electrostatics

Elementary electric charge. Two types of electric charges. The law of conservation of electric charge. Interaction of charged bodies. Coulomb Law. Electric field. Electric field intensity. Electric field lines. Principle of superposition of fields. Conductors and dielectrics. Uniform electrostatic field. Field of uniformly charged infinite plane.

Potential energy of a charged body in a uniform electrostatic field. Field potential and potential difference. Field strength and potential of the charge uniformly distributed over the spherical surface.

Electric capacity. Capacitor. Connection of capacitors. Energy of the charged capacitor. Electric field energy.

3.1. Direct current laws

Electric current. The conditions necessary for the existence of electric current. Current strength. Electrical voltage. Dependence of current on voltage. Ohm's Law for the circuit section containing the EMF. Ohm's law for a complete circuit. Resistance. Specific resistance of material. Connection of conductors. Kirchhoff rules for electrical circuits. Ammeter, voltmeter. Work and power of direct current. Operation of the power source. Joule-Lenz Law.

3.2. Magnetic field

Interaction of currents. Vector of magnetic induction. The principle of superposition of magnetic fields. Magnetic induction lines. Ampere force. Lorentz's force. Magnetic properties of substance.

3.3. Electromagnetic induction

Discovery of electromagnetic induction. Magnetic flux. Lentz rule. Law of electromagnetic induction. Electromotive force of induction in moving conductors. Self-inductance. Inductivity. Energy of magnetic field.

4. OSCILLATIONS AND WAVES. OPTICS

4.1. Oscillations

Free oscillations and forced oscillations. Harmonic oscillations. Differential equation of harmonic oscillations. Mathematical pendulum and spring pendulum. Period of their free oscillations. Oscillating circuit. Alternating electric current. Active, inductive and capacitive resistances. Law of energy conservation in electrical circuits. Transformer. Resonance in the electrical circuit.

4.2. Waves

Wave phenomena. Propagation of mechanical waves. Wave length. Wave velocity. Waves in the medium. Sound waves. Electromagnetic waves.

4.3. Geometric optics

The speed of light. Law of light reflection. Refraction index. Law of light refraction. Total internal reflection. Flat mirror. Thin lens formula. Lens power. Lens magnification. Eye, glasses, magnifying glasses, camera.

4.4. Physical optics

Dispersion of light. Light interference and diffraction. Young's experiment.

5. ATOMIC, NUCLEAR AND QUANTUM PHYSICS

Photo-effect. Einstein's equation for the photo-effect. Light pressure. Structure of the atom. Bohr's model of hydrogen atom. Spectra. Structure of atomic nucleus. Law of radioactive decay, half-life. Bond energy of atomic nuclei. Nuclear reactions.