Physics 1301W.

400 Fall, 2014

Discussion Session #1 Sept. 4
Some useful formulae/conversions:
The surface area of a sphere is A = 4R
2
where R is the radius of a sphere.
x = x
0
+ v
0x
t +
1
2
a
x
t
2
v
x
= v
0x
+ a
x
t v
2
x
= v
2
0x
+ 2a
x
(x x
0
) g = 9.8 m/s
2
1 mile = 1609 m
Skip 1(b) unless there is time.
1. Order of magnitude problems. These are problems where you use your personal expe-
riences and general knowledge to get within an order of magnitude (a factor of ten or
thereabouts) of the correct answer. Often, a rough calculation is all that is needed to esti-
mate an answer or to determine if a solution is sensible.
(a) On average, how many strands of hair are there on a human head? (You may not use
Yul Brynner, Michael Jordan, or Dr. Evil as examples!)
(b) (Challenge Problem if time) How many auto mechanics are there in the United States?
2. While out camping, you see a thunderstorm rapidly approaching. You count seven sec-
onds between a lightning strike and the sound of thunder associated with this lightning strike.
How far away, in miles, is the thunderstorm? Note, the speed of light is so much faster than
the speed of sound in air, which is 343 m/s, that you can assume that you see the lightning
strike at the instant that it actually occurs in the distance.
3. Your doctor strikes you with a hammer just below the knee cap and your lower leg jerks
outward, reexively, in a time of about 0.05 s. Estimate the minimum speed of a nerve
impulse.
4. A motorcycle, speeding at 80 mph (miles/hour), is 200 meters ahead of a police car,
which is traveling in the same direction at a rate of 95 mph. Assuming their speeds remain
constant, how long does it take for the police to catch up to the motorcyclist? How far have
both of them traveled during this time? It might help to make a graph of their positions vs.
time during the period it takes for the police to catch up with the motorcyclist.
1