HKIPhO Training Class

Mechanics Assignment II
(1)A person standing on the top of a hill throws out simultaneously at all horizontal
directions small stones with identical initial speed vo. Describe the distribution of
the stones at a later time t. If the slope of the hill is 45 o at all directions, how long
will it take for the stones to reach the ground?
(2)Two straight rods l1 and l2 are put on a piece of paper as shown in
the figure. The point of crossing of the two rods is denoted by A.
The angle between the two rods is (see figure). Suppose l1
starts to roll along the paper with speed v 1, what is the velocity
(speed and direction) of which point A travels? How about if l2
also rolls with speed v2 (see figure)?
l2
l1

v2

v1

(3)An airplane flies horizontally with speed vo from left to right at height h
from the ground. A cannon launches a shell to hit the airplane when the airplane is
exactly above the cannon. What is the minimum initial velocity of the shell for it
to hit the airplane? Where will the shell hit the airplane if the initial velocity is
twice the minimum velocity?
(4)A tennis ball travelling with speed vo is hit by a racket moving with speed v1.
What is the maximum speed of the ball after being hit? (All speeds are measured
relative to the ground.) What assumption did you make in solving this problem?
(5)A boat travels in still water with speed v. How long will it take for the boat to
make a round trip across a river of width w if the water flows with speed u along
the river? How about if the round trip is made to a point on the same side of the
river at a distance w and back?
(6)An inclined plane with inclined angle and mass M is placed on a frictionless
table. A piece of wood with friction coefficient < tan is put on the inclined
plane (see figure). A horizontal force F acts on the system as shown in the figure.
What is the range of magnitude of F where the piece of wood can remain
stationary on the inclined plane?

(7)A light string passes through a system of 2 pulleys mounted at equal height as
shown in the figure. The ends of the string are mounted with weights m1 = 4 kg
and m2 = 2 kg, respectively. An object with weight M is mounted between the 2
pulleys. What is the range of values of M where the system remains at static
equilibrium?

m1

m2
M

(8)A bullet with mass m and travels with velocity v hits an object on ground with
mass M and stays inside the object. How far will the object move if the coefficient
of friction between the object and the ground is ?
(9)A piece of metal plate with length L and mass M is put on ground. The coefficient
of friction between the ground and the metal plate is . A person with mass m runs
from one end of the metal plate to the other end and stops suddenly. Suppose the
coefficient of friction between the person and the metal plate is , with >> .
What is the maximum distance the metal plate will move along the direction
where the person runs?