Mechanics Question

Revision 2012

unit1

The vertical position of an elevator as a function of time is shown above.

(a) On the grid below, graph the velocity of the elevator as a function of time.

i. Calculate the average acceleration for the time period t = 8 s to t = 10 s.

ii. On the box below that represents the elevator, draw a vector to represent the direction of this
average acceleration.
(c) Suppose that there is a passenger of mass 70 kg in the elevator. Calculate the apparent weight
of the
passenger at time t = 4 s.

Harshana Perera(B,Sc(Phy),BIT,SCJP) exam New

Mechanics Question

Revision 2012

unit1

2)

A large rectangular raft (density 650 kg/m3) is floating on a lake. The surface area of the top of
the raft is 8.2 m2 and its volume is 1.80 m3. The density of the lake water is 1000 kg/m3.
(a) Calculate the height h of the portion of the raft that is above the surrounding water.
(b) Calculate the magnitude of the buoyant force on the raft and state its direction.
(c) If the average mass of a person is 75 kg, calculate the maximum number of people that can be
on the raft without the top of the raft sinking below the surface of the water. (Assume that the
people are evenly distributed on the raft.)
3) A student of mass m stands on a platform scale in an elevator in a tall building. The positive direction
for all vector quantities is upward.
(a) Draw a free-body diagram showing and labeling all the forces acting on the student, who is
represented by the dot below.
(b) Derive an expression for the reading on the scale in terms of the acceleration a of the elevator, the
mass m of the student, and fundamental constants.
An inspector provides the student with the following graph showing the acceleration a of the elevator as a
function of time t.

Harshana Perera(B,Sc(Phy),BIT,SCJP) exam New

Mechanics Question

Revision 2012

unit1

i. During what time interval(s) is the force exerted by the platform scale on the student a
maximum value?
ii. Calculate the magnitude of that maximum force for a 45 kg student.
(d) During what time interval(s) is the speed of the elevator constant.

4)

A large tank, 25 m in height and open at the top, is completely filled with saltwater
(density 1025 kg/m3). A small drain plug with a cross-sectional area ea of 4.0 *10 -5
m-2
is located 5.0 m from the bottom of the tank.
The plug breaks loose from the tank, and water flows from the drain.
(a) Calculate the force exerted by the water on the plug before the plug breaks free.
(b) Calculate the speed of the water as it leaves the hole in the side of the tank.
(c) Calculate the volume flow rate of the water from the hole.

5)

A small block of mass M is released from rest at the top of the curved frictionless ramp shown
above. The block slides down the ramp and is moving with a speed 3.5u0 when it collides with a
larger block of mass 1.5M at rest at the bottom of the incline. The larger block moves to the right
at a speed 2u0 immediately after the collision. Express your answers to the following questions in
terms of the given quantities and fundamental constants.
(a) Determine the height h of the ramp from which the small block was released.
(b) Determine the speed of the small block after the collision.
(c) The larger block slides a distance D before coming to rest. Determine the value of the
coefficient of kinetic friction m between the larger block and the surface on which it slides.

Harshana Perera(B,Sc(Phy),BIT,SCJP) exam New

Mechanics Question

Revision 2012

unit1

A designer is working on a new roller coaster, and she begins by making a scale model. On this
model, a car of total mass 0.50 kg moves with negligible friction along the track shown in the
figure above. The car is given an initial speed 0 u = 1.5 m s at the top of the first hill of height
2.0 m. Point A is located at a height of 1.9 m at the top of the second hill, the upper part of which
is a circular arc of radius 0.95 m.
(a) Calculate the speed of the car at point A.
(b) On the figure of the car below, draw and label vectors to represent the forces on the car at
point A.
(c) Calculate the magnitude of the force of the track on the car at point A.
(d) In order to stop the car at point A, some friction must be introduced. Calculate the work that
must be done by the friction force in order to stop the car at point A.
(e) Explain how to modify the track design to cause the car to lose contact with the track at point
A before descending down the track. Justify your answer

The experimental diving bell shown above is lowered from rest at the oceans surface and
reaches a maximum depth of 80 m. Initially it accelerates
downward at a rate of 0.10 m s2 until it reaches a speed of 2.0 m
s , which then remains constant. During the descent, the pressure
inside the bell remains constant at 1 atmosphere. The top of the
bell has a cross-sectional area A = 9.0 m2 . The density of
seawater is 1025 kg m3 .
(a) Calculate the total time it takes the bell to reach the
maximum depth of 80 m.
(b) Calculate the weight of the water on the top of the bell when
it is at the maximum depth.
(c) Calculate the absolute pressure on the top of the bell at the maximum depth.
On the top of the bell there is a circular hatch of radius r = 0.25 m.
(d) Calculate the minimum force necessary to lift open the hatch of the bell at the maximum
depth.
(e) What could you do to reduce the force necessary to open the hatch at this depth? Justify your
answer.

Harshana Perera(B,Sc(Phy),BIT,SCJP) exam New

Mechanics Question

Revision 2012

unit1

1)

An incident ball A of mass 0.10 kg is sliding at 1.4 m/s on the horizontal tabletop of
negligible friction shown above. It makes a head-on collision with a target ball B of mass 0.50

kg at rest at the edge of the table. As a result of the collision, the incident ball rebounds, sliding
backwards at 0.70 m/s immediately after the collision.
(a) Calculate the speed of the 0.50 kg target ball immediately after the collision. The tabletop is
1.20 m above a level, horizontal floor. The target ball is projected horizontally and initially
strikes the floor at a horizontal displacement d from the point of collision.
(b) Calculate the horizontal displacement d.

In another experiment on the same table, the target ball B is replaced by target ball C of mass
0.10 kg. The incident ball A again slides at 1.4 m/s, as shown above left, but this time makes a
glancing collision with the target ball C that is at rest at the edge of the table. The target ball C
strikes the floor at point P, which is at a horizontal displacement of 0.15 m from the point of the
collision, and at a horizontal angle of 30 from the +x-axis, as shown above right.
(c) Calculate the speed v of the target ball C immediately after the collision.
(d) Calculate the y-component of incident ball As momentum immediately after the collision.

2)

Harshana Perera(B,Sc(Phy),BIT,SCJP) exam New

Mechanics Question

Revision 2012

unit1

A 2.0 kg frictionless cart is moving at a constant speed of 3.0 m/s to the right on a
horizontal surface, as shown above, when it collides with a second cart of
undetermined mass m that is initially at rest. The force F of the collision as a
function of time t is shown in the graph below, where t = 0 is the instant of initial
contact. As a result of the collision, the second cart acquires a speed of 1.6 m/s to
the right. Assume that friction is negligible before, during, and after the collision.

(a) Calculate the magnitude and direction of the velocity of the 2.0 kg cart after the
collision.
(b) Calculate the mass m of the second cart.
After the collision, the second cart eventually experiences a ramp, which it traverses
with no frictional losses. The graph below shows the speed v of the second cart as a
function of time t for the next 5.0 s, where t = 0 is now the instant at which the

carts separate.
(c) Calculate the acceleration of the cart at t = 3.0 s.
(d) Calculate the distance traveled by the second cart during the 5.0 s interval after
the collision
(0 s < t <5.0 s).

Harshana Perera(B,Sc(Phy),BIT,SCJP) exam New

Mechanics Question

Revision 2012

unit1

(e) State whether the ramp goes up or down and calculate the maximum elevation
(above or below the initial height) reached by the second cart on the ramp during
the 5.0 s interval after the collision
(0 s < t < 5.0 s).
A pulley of radius R1 and rotational inertia I1 is mounted
on an axle with negligible friction. A light cord passing
over the pulley has two blocks of mass m attached to
either end, as shown above. Assume that the cord does
not slip on the pulley. Determine the answers to parts
(a) and (b) in terms of m, R1, I1, and fundamental
constants.

(a) Determine the tension T in the cord.

(b) One block is now removed from the right and hung
on the left. When the system is released from rest, the
three blocks on the left accelerate downward with an
acceleration g/3
Determine the following.
i. The tension T3 in the section of cord supporting the
three blocks on the left
ii. The tension T1 in the section of cord supporting the
single block on the right
iii. The rotational inertia I1 of the pulley

The blocks are now removed and the cord is tied into a loop, which is passed around the original
pulley and a second pulley of radius 2R1 and rotational inertia 16I1. The axis of the original
pulley is attached to a motor that rotates it at angular speed 1, which in turn causes the larger
pulley to rotate. The loop does not slip on the pulleys. Determine the following in terms of I1, R1,
and 1.
i. The angular speed 2 of the larger pulley
ii. The angular momentum L2 of the larger pulley

Harshana Perera(B,Sc(Phy),BIT,SCJP) exam New

Mechanics Question

Revision 2012

unit1

iii. The total kinetic energy of the system

The cart shown above is made of a block of mass m and four solid rubber tires each
of mass m/4 and radius r. Each tire may be considered to be a disk. (A disk has
rotational inertia 1/2ML2 , where M is the mass and L is
the radius of the disk.) The cart is released from rest and rolls without slipping from
the top of an inclined plane of height h. Express all algebraic answers in terms of
the given quantities and fundamental constants.
(a) Determine the total rotational inertia of all four tires.
(b) Determine the speed of the cart when it reaches the bottom of the incline.
(c) After rolling down the incline and across the horizontal surface, the cart collides
with a bumper of negligible mass attached to an ideal spring, which has a spring
constant k. Determine the distance xm the spring is, compressed before the cart and
bumper come to rest.
(d) Now assume that the bumper has a non-neglible mass. After the collision with
the bumper, the spring
is compressed to a maximum distance of about 90% of the value of xm in part (c).
Give a reasonable
explanation for this decrease.

Harshana Perera(B,Sc(Phy),BIT,SCJP) exam New