4CCP1350 Mathematics and Mechanics

for Physics I
Assignment 1

1 Calculate how many g of acceleration are experienced by a dust particle

rotating inside a Dyson DC31 vacuum cleaner, said to be the fastest on Earth,
with an angular velocity of 104000 rpm, and a size of 55,0 mm.

2 A cube of mass M1 5 kg lays on a large slab of mass M2 20 kg placed

over a plane. A constant force FE 90 N is applied to the cube. The
cube and the slab are rough, such that their interaction can be described
by a static friction coecient S 1 0.60 and a dynamic friction coecient
D 1 0.60. Determine the motion of the cube and the slab for the two
cases:

2.1 for no friction between the slab and the plane.

2.2 the friction between the plane and the slab is described by the two
coecient S 2 0.15 and D 2 0.10.

3 Describe the motion of a particle whose equation of motion is

3.1
xptq r cospt2 q
xptq r sinpt2 q
3.2
xptq rt cospt2 q
xptq rt sinpt2 q
3.3 Confirm your results with a simple script as for example the following
Matlab script:

t=0.01*(1:1000); % time axis

x = t.*cos(t.2); % x ais
y = t.*sin(t.2); % y axis
plot(x,y)
xlabel('Position in the x axis [A.U.]','FontSize',18)
ylabel('Position in the y axis [A.U.]','FontSize',18)
title('Trajectory','FontSize',18)

4 A spring-loaded toy gun is used to shoot a ball of mass M straight up in the

air. The ball is not attached to the spring. The ball is pushed down onto the
spring so that the spring is compressed a distance S below its unstretched
point. After release, the ball reaches a maximum height 3S, measured from
the unstretched position of the spring (see diagram).

4.1 Find the spring constant of the spring.

4.2 Find the equilibrium point of the ball when it is sitting on the spring with
no forces other than gravity and the spring acting on it. Clearly indicate the
point you are using as the origin of your coordinate system and what direction
is positive.
4.3 Now, the ball is glued onto the spring so that it oscillates up and down
rather than flying o the spring. The spring is again compressed the same
distance S below its unstretched point. Write an equation for the position of
the ball as a function of time after it is released.

5 A clock is build out of a light particle of mass m which bounces elastically

back and forth between two very heavy mirrors like in the figure, a unit of
time is defined as the round-trip time of the bouncing mass. The distance
between the two mirrors is L and the velocity of the bouncing ball is v0 .
The clock is mounted on a ship that move with velocity v and magnitude |v|
smaller than |v0 |. Treat the clock as an isolated system to which no external
forces are acting.

v0

v
v0

v
v

5.1 Calculate the value of a time unit for an observer on the ship and for
one on ground.
5.2 Replace the mass m with a photon, which is a particle of no mass and
fixed velocity |v0 | c. Calculate the value of a time unit for an observer on
the ship and for one on ground.

6 A children toy is composed of a point mass of value m 1 kg and an ideal

(no mass, inextensible) rope of length r 20 cm. The rope has a breaking
tension of Tmax 30 N after which it breaks. By spinning the toy on Earth,
the children can achieve instantaneously an angular velocity of 10 rad/s.

6.1 Will the toy rotate or will the rope break?

6.2 Calculate the tension of the rope as a function of the rotation angle .
6.3 At time t 0 the children decrease the angular rotation speed from
10 rad/s to 1 rad/s. Will the toy still rotate?