Physics 107 HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT #1

Cutnell & Johnson, 7th edition

Chapter 2: Conceptual Question 12

Chapter 2: Problems 16, 28, 30, 32

12 A ball is dropped from rest from the top of a building and strikes the ground with a speed vf.
From ground level, a second ball is thrown straight upward at the same instant that the first ball
is dropped. The initial speed of the second ball is v0 = vf, the same speed with which the first ball
will eventually strike the ground. Ignoring air resistance, decide whether the balls cross paths at
half the height of the building, above the halfway point, or below the halfway point. Give your
reasoning.

16 An automobile starts from rest and accelerates to a final velocity in two stages along a
straight road. Each stage occupies the same amount of time. In stage 1, the magnitude of the car’s
acceleration is 3.0 m/s2. The magnitude of the car’s velocity at the end of stage 2 is 2.5 times
greater than it is at the end of stage 1. Find the magnitude of the acceleration in stage 2.

*28 Review Interactive LearningWare 2.2 in preparation for this problem. A race driver has
made a pit stop to refuel. After refueling, he leaves the pit area with an acceleration whose
magnitude is 6.0 m/s2; after 4.0 s he enters the main speedway. At the same instant, another car
on the speedway and traveling at a constant speed of 70.0 m/s overtakes and passes the entering
car. If the entering car maintains its acceleration, how much time is required for it to catch the
other car?

*30 In a historical movie, two knights on horseback start from rest 88.0 m apart and ride
directly toward each other to do battle. Sir George’s acceleration has a magnitude of 0.300 m/s2,
while Sir Alfred’s has a magnitude of 0.200 m/s2. Relative to Sir George’s starting point, where
do the knights collide?

*32 Multiple-Concept Example 9 illustrates the concepts that are pertinent to this problem. A
cab driver picks up a customer and delivers her 2.00 km away, on a straight route. The driver
accelerates to the speed limit and, on reaching it, begins to decelerate at once. The magnitude of
the deceleration is three times the magnitude of the acceleration. Find the lengths of the
acceleration and deceleration phases.
 SOLUTIONS:
12. REASONING AND SOLUTION The first ball has an initial speed of zero, since it is
dropped from rest. It picks up speed on the way down, striking the ground at a speed vf .
The second ball has a motion that is the reverse of that of the first ball. The second ball
starts out with a speed vf and loses speed on the way up. By symmetry, the second ball will
come to a halt at the top of the building. Thus, in approaching the crossing point, the second
ball travels faster than the first ball. Correspondingly, the second ball must travel farther on
its way to the crossing point than the first ball does. Thus, the crossing point must be
located in the upper half of the building.

16. REASONING AND SOLUTION The velocity of the automobile for each stage is given by
Equation 2.4: v = v0 + at . Therefore,

v1 = v0 + a1t = 0 m/s + a1t and v2 = v1 + a2t

Since the magnitude of the car's velocity at the end of stage 2 is 2.5 times greater than it is at
the end of stage 1, v2 = 2.5v1 . Thus, rearranging the result for v2, we find

v2 – v1 2.5v1 – v1 1.5v1 1.5(a1t )

a2 = = = = = 1.5a1 = 1.5(3.0 m/s 2 ) = 4.5 m/s 2
t t t t

28. REASONING AND SOLUTION The car enters the speedway with a speed of

v01 = a1t1 = (6.0 m/s2)(4.0 s) = 24 m/s

After an additional time, t, it will have traveled a distance of

x = v01t + a1t2/2

to overtake the other car. This second car travels the same distance x = v02t.
Equating and solving for t yields

2 ( v02 − v01 ) 2 ( 70.0 m/s − 24 m/s )

t= = = 15 s
a1 6.0 m/s 2
30. REASONING The drawing shows the two knights, initially separated by the displacement
d, traveling toward each other. At any moment, Sir George’s displacement is xG and that of
Sir Alfred is xA. When they meet, their displacements are the same, so xG = xA.

Starting point
− + Starting point
for Sir Alfred
for Sir George

xG
xA
d

According to Equation 2.8, Sir George's displacement as a function of time is

xG = v0,G t + 12 aG t 2 = ( 0 m/s ) t + 12 aG t 2 = 12 aG t 2 (1)

where we have used the fact that Sir George starts from rest ( v0,G = 0 m/s ) .

Since Sir Alfred starts from rest at x = d at t = 0 s, we can write his displacement as (again,
employing Equation 2.8)

xA = d + v0,A t + 12 aA t 2 = d + ( 0 m/s ) t + 12 aA t 2 = d + 12 aA t 2 (2)

Solving Equation 1 for t

2
( t 2 = 2 xG / aG ) and substituting this expression into Equation 2
yields
 2x   xG 
xA = d + 12 aA  G  = d + aA   (3)
 aG   aG 

Noting that xA = xG when the two riders collide, we see that Equation 3 becomes

x 
xG = d + aA  G 
 aG 
d
Solving this equation for xG gives xG = .
aA
1−
aG
 (
SOLUTION Sir George’s acceleration is positive aG = +0.300 m/s 2 since he starts from )
rest and moves to the right (the positive direction). Sir Alfred’s acceleration is negative
( aA = −0.200 m/s2 ) since he starts from rest and moves to the left (the negative direction).
The displacement of Sir George is, then,

d 88.0 m
xG = = = 52.8 m
1−
aA ( − 0.200 m/s 2)
1−
aG ( +0.300 m/s 2 )

32. REASONING AND SOLUTION The distance covered by the cab driver during the two
phases of the trip must satisfy the relation

x1 + x2 = 2.00 km (1)

where x1 and x2 are the displacements of the acceleration and deceleration phases of the trip,
respectively. The quantities x1 and x2 can be determined from Equation 2.9 v 2 = v02 + 2ax : ( )
2 2
v12 − ( 0 m/s ) v2 ( 2
0 m/s ) − v02 2
v02
x1 = = 1 and x2 = =−
2a1 2a1 2a2 2a2

with v02 = v1 and a2 = −3a1 . Thus,

x1 v12 /(2a1 )
= =3
x2 −v12 /(−6a1 )
so that
x1 = 3 x2 (2)

Combining (1) and (2), we have,

3 x2 + x2 = 2.00 km
Therefore, x2 = 0.50 km , and from Equation (1), x1 = 1.50 km . Thus, the length of the
acceleration phase of the trip is x1 = 1.50 km , while the length of the deceleration phase is
x2 = 0.50 km .