Physics 225 Dr

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Physics 225 Dr. Shapiro

Midterm Exam #2 (Section 2)

Closed book. One 35 note card, the handout and a

calculator may be used. Please do not write on the test
or the handout. Both must be turned in with your test
answers. Note: This is a one hour exam.
Partial credit will be given.

Please show all your work.

1) A 10 kg crate is on an incline plane that makes an

angle of 20 degrees with the horizontal. When the block
is set in motion, it is observed to slide downhill at
constant speed. When the block reaches the bottom of the
incline plane, it is projected back up the plane with an
initial velocity of 1.2 m/s. (a) What is the coefficient
of kinetic friction between the block and the incline
plane? (b) When the block is projected back up the plane,
how far along the plane does it travel before stopping?

(a) Since the crate is not accelerating, the downhill

gravitational force must be balanced by the uphill
frictional force. So
, which implies
that
(b) When the block is projected uphill, it starts with a
. The block
kinetic energy of
will stop when all the kinetic energy has been converted
into gravitational potential energy and thermal energy.
It is convenient to think in terms of the distance moved
along the incline, so
. Note
that

represents the vertical rise of the block,

when the block slides a distance d along the incline

plane.

Solving for d we get

2) A steel ball with a mass of 0.25 kg is attached to a

0.25 m cord with negligible mass. The steel ball is being
rotated in a vertical circle (see the diagram) at a

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constant tangential speed of 1.6 m/s (a) What is the

tension in the cord when the ball is at the top of the
circle? (b) What is the tension in the cord when the ball
is at the bottom of the circle?

(a) At the top of the circle there are two downward forces
acting on the ball, T and mg. These together provide the
necessary centripetal force to keep the ball moving in a
circle, so

or

(b) At the bottom of the circle T and mg are in opposite

directions, so

, or

3) A 10 kg block is placed gently on a vertical spring.

The spring is an ideal Hookes Law spring. It compresses
12.5 cm. The block then is pushed down an additional 25
cm and released. (a) What is the spring constant? (b)
How much elastic energy is stored in the spring when it is
compressed the full 37.5 cm? (c) What is the maximum
height that the block reaches above the release point?
(a) At a compression of 12.5cm the spring force is just
balancing the weight of the block, so
and

(b)
(c) When the block is released it will rise until all the
elastic energy stored in the spring has been converted
into gravitational potential energy of the block, so
, or

4) A 10 kg body is traveling at 2.0 m/s with no external

force acting on it. At a certain instant an internal
explosion occurs splitting the body into two equal chunks
(5 kg each). The explosion gives the chunks an additional
15 J of kinetic energy. Neither chunk leaves the line of

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original motion. (a) Determine the momentum of each of

the chunks after the explosion. (b) Determine the kinetic
energy of each of the chunks after the explosion.
Initially the momentum is 20kgm/s and the kinetic energy
is 20J. After the explosion the total momentum is
unchanged (all forces are internal), and the total energy
is now 35J, so
and
.
These equations can be solved for v1 and v2 (requires use
of quadratic formula). It turns out that there are two
solutions, but only one satisfies the energy equation.
The results are v1 = 0.268m/s and v2 = 3.732m/s.
A second approach is to work in a coordinate system that
moves with the center of mass. Since before the collision
the system consists of only a single mass, its easy to
see that the velocity of the center of mass is just
2.0m/s. In this coordinate system the initial momentum is
zero, and the initial kinetic energy is also zero. After
the explosion, the total momentum in this coordinate
system must still be zero, but the total kinetic energy is
now 15J. This yields the following two equations:
and
. Here v1 and
v2 refer to velocities in the center of mass reference
frame. From the first of these equations v1= - v2, then
from the second equation v1= 1.7321m/s and
v2=-1.7321m/s. Then in the lab system v1= v1+2.0m/s =
3.732m/s and v2= v2+2.0m/s =0.268m/s as before.
(a) The momenta then are mv1 = 5kg0.268m/s = 1.34kgm/s
and mv2 = 5kg3.732m/s = 18.66kgm/s.
(b) KE = 0.5mv2 = p2/2m.
34.8196J.

So KE1 = 0.1796J and KE2 =

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