A Level Physics Practice Exam

If a clock ticks once a second, how many ticks occur every half a second?

1. 1 tick

2. 2 ticks

3. ½ tick

4. 3 ticks

The correct answer is: ½ tick

A clock that ticks once every second completes one full cycle of ticking in that one-second interval. Therefore, if you consider a time span of half a second, the clock would complete half of a tick within that timeframe. The reasoning lies in understanding that the clock’s ticking is a continual process, with each tick marking a specific time interval. Since the tick occurs once every second, in a half-second period, it is logical that only half of that tick occurs. Thus, the correct choice acknowledges that in a half-second, the clock does not complete a full tick, hence the notion of ½ tick. This representation effectively captures the fractional nature of the relationship between time and the clock’s ticking mechanism.