AIR UNIVERSITY

Final Exam Fall 2012

Subject: Physics 105 Maximum Marks: 45 Maximum Time: 3 Hrs
Class: BEE 1st Semester Date: 06-01-2012
Instructors: A. Sadiq, M. Atif, R. Nasir; and T. Zehra
Note: Attempt all the 9 questions. Each question carries equal marks. Use of Scientific calculators is
allowed.

1 x  t   5  3t  3t  t gives in meters the displacement x t  of an object as a function

2 3

of time t measured in seconds.

a) What are its initial position, velocity v and acceleration a ? (1.5)
b) Is it an example of motion with constant acceleration a ? (0.5)
c) When is its velocity v  0 ? Find the value of a at this time. (1.5)
d) Sketch x as a function of t . (1.5)
Solution: a) x  t   5  3t  3t  t , v  t  
dx    3  6t  3t 2 and a t     6  6t
t dv t
2 3
 
dt dt
Therefore at t  0 we have, x  t  0   5m , v  t  0   3ms and
1

a  t  0   6ms 1 x
b) No. Here the acceleration depends on time.
 21 t
c) The velocity v  t   3  6t  3t  0 , for values of t given by,
2

1  2t  t 2   t  1  0 , or t  1s , a  t  1  0ms 2
2 1 2
d) For t   the displacement x t    . Also we have x t  1  6 ,
dx d 2x
v  t  1   0 and a  t  1   0 . Therefore figure shows a rough sketch of x as
dt t 1 dt 2 t 1

a function of t .

2 The Olympic record for a 200m cycling sprint is t  9.7 s . Let m  70kg be the mass
of cyclist and his cycle.
a) Calculate the average and final speeds of the cyclist in kmh 1 . (1)
b) Find his acceleration assuming it is constant throughout the sprint. (1)
c) Sketch a free body diagram of the cyclist on a rough banked track in Fig 1.   300
(1.5)
d) For   30 0 and track radius r  50m find the normal reaction of the track. Fig1
(1.5)

Solution: a) Average speed of the cyclist

 s 200
v   20.8ms 1  74.2kmh 1
R
t 9.7
 vi  f 0 vf  mrw 2 
Since v   , we get v f  2 v  41.6ms 2
 148.4kmh 1
2 2
F mg

1
 1 vf 41.6 1 2
b) From v f  41.6ms  at we get, a    4.3ms 1 , or from s  at ,
t 9.7 2
2s 400
a 2   4.3ms  2
t 9 .7  9 .7
c) Fig shows the free body diagram of the cyclist. The force of friction F   s R could
point up or down the inclined plane depending on the speed of the cyclist.
d) In addition to supporting the weight of the cycle and the cyclist the normal reaction
R of the track also provides the centripetal force rw 2 needed to keep the cyclist on
the curved track. With v  rw , therefore the normal reaction corresponding to the
average speed of the cyclist is given by,
 3 1  20.8. 
2
R  mg cos   mrw 2 sin   70   9.8      35  16.97  8.66   896.6 N
2 2 50 
 

3 Fig 2 shows a block of mass M  1kg lying on a rough horizontal

surface with  s  0.5 and k  0.4 . It is held in its place by a light un- M
stretchable string passing over a light frictionless pulley. A mass
m  510 g is attached to the other end of the string. m
Fig 2
a) Is mass m large enough to move M ? (1)
b) If so what is the acceleration of mass M ? (2)
c) Find the tension in the string and the work done in displacing M by x  10cm . (2)

Solution: The minimum force F needed to move block M is given by,

F   s R   s Mg  0.5  1  9.8  4.5 N , T
Since mg  0.51  9.8  5.0 N , its weight is greater than F . Therefore mass m is a
large enough to move mass M .
b) From the free body diagram of mass m shown in Fig 2a we have, Fig mg
2a
mg  T  ma
Similarly from the free body diagram of mass M shown in Fig 2b we have,
 k Mg T
T   k Mg  Ma Fig 2b
a
Adding the above two equations we get,
 m   k M  g   m  M  a , giving,
 m  k M  0.51  0.4
a g  9.8  0.71ms  2
mM 1.51
c) The tension in the string is given by,
T  m g  a   0.51   9.8  0.7   4.84 N
Work done W in displacing mass M by 1m , T  s  4.84 J

4 Fig 3 shows two masses m1  00 g and m2  150 g attached to the ends of a light
untraceable string passing over a light frictionless pulley. Fig 3
a) Find the direction and magnitudes of their acceleration a . (1.5)

2
b) Find the tension T in the string.
(1)
c) What is the net change in their potential energy when m1 moves by 1m ?
(1.5)
d) What is the corresponding change in their kinetic energy? (1)
Solution: a) Since m1  m2 it will accelerate upward and m 2 will accelerate
downward. The free body diagram of mass m1 is similar to Fig 2a. That of mass m 2 is
also very similar to it accept that the direction of its acceleration is reversed.
Therefore we have,
m1 g  T  m1 a
T  m2 g  m2 a
Adding these two equations we get,
 m  m2  g  200  150  9.8  0.196ms 2  0.2ms 2
a 1
m1  m2 200  150
b) The tension in the string is given by
T  m1  g  a   0.2   9.8  0.2  1.92 N
c) The change in the potential energy of mass m1 is
U 1   m1 g 0.2  9.8  1  1.96 J
The change in the potential energy of mass m2 is U 2  m2 gh  015  9.8  1  1.47 J
Net change in the potential energy of the two masses
U  U 1  U 2  1.96  1.47  0.58 J
d) Since the two masses move in the conservation gravitational force field, their
mechanical energy ME  U  K is conserved. Therefore the loss of potential energy of
the two masses is converted into their kinetic energy. From,
ME  U  K  0 , we get,
K   U  0.58 J
Alternately one can calculate the change in the kinetic energies of the two masses
K 1 and K 2 from the equation,
2 2
v f  vi  2as
By adding together K 1 and K 2 we get the desired result.

5 A mass m  200 g vertically suspended from a spring increases its length by

x  2mm
a) Find the spring constant k of the spring. (1)
b) What is the frequency f of oscillations of mass m ? (2)
c) Write the expression for the displacement x t  of m at any time t when the
amplitude of these oscillations is x 0 and their phase angle is  .
(1)
d) Find the value of  when x t  0   x0 (1)
Solution: a) From kx  mg we get,
mg 0.2  9.8
k   980 Nm 1
x 0.002

3
 m2

m1 l m3

b) The frequency of oscillations f of mass m attached to a spring of spring constant

k is given by,
k 980
f    4500  67 Hz
m 0.2
c) w  2f  421rad , giving,
x t   x 0 cos wt     x 0 cos 421t   
d) From x t  0   x0 , we get,
x t  0  x0  x0 cos   , or cos    1 , giving,
  0 0 , and x t   x0 cos 421t 

6 A rifle bullet of mass m  10 g moving horizontally with velocity v hits head-on a

ballistic pendulum of mass M  1kg of length l  1m that is initially at rest and gets
stuck in it. The pendulum gets displaced through a maximum angle   18 0
a) Calculate the maximum change in the potential energy of the pendulum. (1.5)
b) What is the maximum linear momentum of the pendulum? (1.5)
c) Using the law of conservation of momentum calculate the value of v .
(2)
Solution: a) The change U in the potential energy of the ballistic pendulum is
greatest when its angular displacement is greatest;. For small angle  measured in
2
radians 1  cos   , we have
2
2
1  2 
U  mgh  mgl 1  cos    1.0  9.8  1.0  1  cos 18  9.8     4.5  0.99  4.4 J
2  20 
b) From the conservation of mechanical energy we get the momentum p of the
ballistic pendulum just after the bullet get stuck in it,
p2
 U , or,
2m
p 2m  U  8.8  3kgms 1
c) From conservation of momentum we have the momentum of the bullet mv is the
same as the initial momentum p of the pendulum. Therefore,
mv  p , or,
p 3
v   300ms 1
m 0.01

7 Three masses m1 , m2 and m3 lie at the corners of an equilateral triangle of side l .

Fig 4
a) Write down an expression for the coordinate of their CM with respect to m1 .
(1)
b) Find the values of these coordinates in terms of l for m1  m2  m and m3  2m .
(2)
c) What is the distance of CM from the mass m1 ? (1.5)
d) Do you expect the distance of the CM from mass m2 to be different?
(0.5)

4
Solution: a) We take the position of mass m1 as the origin of our coordinate system,
take x -axis along the base of the equilateral triangle and y -axis perpendicular to it.
In this reference frame the coordinates x c and y c of the CM of the three masses are
given by,
1 1
xc   m2 x2  m3 x3  , and y c   m 2 y 2  m3 y 3 
m1  m2  m3 m1  m2  m3
Since x1  0 and y1  0
b) For m1  m2  m and m3  2m , we get,
1  l  5 1  3  34
xc   m  2ml   l , and y c   m l  2ml   l
4m  2  8 4m  2  8
c) Let r1 be the distance of the CM from mass m1 or the origin
2
5 
2
 34  l l
r1   x1  xc  2
  y1  y c 
2
  l    l   25  19  8 3  11  2 3
8
   8  8 4

d) From symmetry considerations we expect r 2  r1 .

8 The moment of inertia of a thin uniform disc of m  250 g and R  30cm. about an
axis through its CM and perpendicular to its plane is I c  mR / 2
2
P
a) Calculate its moment of inertia I P about an axis perpendicular to its plane R
passing through a point P on its edge. (2) M
b) Find the period of oscillations of the disc about the axis through the point P (3)
Solution: a) From the parallel axis theorem with d  R we have,
1 3 Fig 5
mR 2  mR 2  mR @  1.5  0.25   0.3  0.034kgm 2
2
I p  I c  md 2 
2 2
b) The period of oscillations of the disc oscillating about an axis through the point
perpendicular to the disc is given by,
Ip 1.5mR 2 1.5 R 1. 5  0. 3
T  2  2  2  6.18  1.35s
mgd mgR g 9.8

9 A car is moving at 120kmh 1 .Assume that its wheels can be approximated by

rings.
a) What is the translational kinetic energy of its wheel of mass m  15kg ?
(1)
b) Find the rotational velocity of its wheel of diameter d  70cm
(1)
c) What is the moment of inertia of its wheel about its axle? (1.5)
d) Find the rotational kinetic energy of the wheel. (1.5)
Solution: a) Translational velocity v of the wheel is the same as that of the car;
120  1000 100
v  120kmh 1  120kmh   ms  `1
3600 3
2
1  100 
Its translational kinetic energy K t   mv 2  0.5  15     8333J
2  3 
b) Radius of the wheel r  d / 2  0.35m

5
 v 100
For wheel rolling without slipping w    95.2rads 1
r 3  0.35
c) The moment of inertia of a wheel in the form a uniform ring about its axle is,
I c  mr 2  15   0.35  1.85kgm 2
2

1
I c w 2  0.5  1.85   92.5  7914 J
2
d) Kinetic energy of rotation of the wheel K r 
2