VCE Physical Education sample questions

Question 1

Which energy system is the predominant contributor during a maximal 10-second sprint?

Accepted Answer

C. ATP-CP system

Question 2

Explain two chronic adaptations to the cardiovascular system that result from long-term aerobic training, and describe how each improves performance.

Accepted Answer

Cardiac hypertrophy: the left ventricle wall thickens and its chamber enlarges, increasing stroke volume. More blood is ejected per beat, so more oxygen is delivered to the working muscles at any given intensity and the athlete can sustain a higher workload before fatiguing.

Increased capillarisation: the density of capillaries surrounding the skeletal muscle increases. This provides a greater surface area for gas exchange and shortens the diffusion distance, so more oxygen is delivered to and more carbon dioxide removed from the muscle, delaying the onset of fatigue.

Question 3

A coach observes that a beginner learner is performing a tennis serve with many errors and needs to think through each part of the action. Identify the stage of learning and describe two characteristics of a learner at this stage.

Accepted Answer

The learner is in the cognitive stage. Performance is highly inconsistent, with frequent and often large errors, because the movement pattern has not yet been established. The learner relies heavily on conscious thought and on external feedback from the coach, and cannot yet detect or correct their own errors.

Question 4

Explain how increasing the length of a lever, such as by using a longer golf club, affects the velocity of the club head, and state one disadvantage of doing so.

Accepted Answer

A longer lever means the club head travels through a greater distance in the same time for a given angular velocity, so its linear velocity at the point of contact is greater. This can produce greater force on the ball and therefore greater distance.

The disadvantage is that a longer lever is harder to control and requires more muscular force to accelerate, so accuracy typically decreases and the movement takes longer to initiate.

VCE Physical Education practice exams and worked solutions

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Sample questions

14 full papers for Physical Education