How to answer Regents Physics constructed-response questions
About 40% of the questions ask you to write your own answer. Each is worth 1 credit: answer exactly what is asked, and use the cluster's data or objects to show it.
Share of the test
About 40% of the questions
Credit
1 per question
Often on
A passage, a data table, a graph, a circuit or a ray diagram
Here
Written answers read against the creditable answers, with your next step
Write to the question
Find the task word first: identify, describe, explain, predict, calculate, use data to support a claim.
Answer in one or two sentences, and name the object, the variable or the number you used.
When a question asks for a calculation, show the equation, the values with units and the answer with its unit.
Use the cluster
Each question builds on the cluster's storyline. An answer that ignores the passage or the data is rarely the one that earns the credit.
Try 2 questions
Question 1
Stopping time of the headform
Liner
Stopping time (ms)
A
4
B
8
C
12
Engineers test three helmet liners. In each test, a 5.0 kg headform wearing the helmet hits a rigid block at 5.0 m/s and stops without bouncing. The table gives the stopping time for each liner. Which liner gives the smallest average force on the headform, and about how large is that force?
A hot metal block is placed in cool water in an insulated, covered cup, and a temperature probe in each records the graph. The block's temperature falls 60 °C while the water's rises 10 °C. Energy exchange with the cup and air is negligible. Which conclusion do the data support?