Name and ID#:__________________________________________________________________

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF ARMENIA

College of Science and Engineering
ENGS 121 Mechanics
QUIZ 09
Date / Time: Friday, March 30 at 08:30
Duration: 50 mins
Attention: ANY TYPE OF COMMUNICATION IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED

Problem 1: A jumper of mass m jumps straight into the air, rising the height h from the ground. Compute the
impulse received from the ground to attain such height.

Solution

The impulse equals to the change in jumper’s momentum P. At the height h the velocity is zero v = 0  the
momentum Ph = mv = 0. At the ground the velocity is v0  the momentum Ph = mv0.
𝑔𝑡 2 𝑣02
ℎ = 𝑣0 𝑡 − , 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑣0 − 𝑔𝑡 = 𝑣 = 0 ⇒ ℎ = ⇒ 𝑣0 = √2𝑔ℎ
2 2𝑔

Δ𝑃 = 𝑚𝑣0 − 0 = 𝑚√2𝑔ℎ

Problem 2: An empty freight car of mass M starts from rest under an applied constant force F. At the same
time, sand begins to run into the car at constant rate  from a hopper at rest along the track. Here,  is the
mass of sand in unit time. Find the speed when a total mass of sand m has been transferred.

Solution
Pbefore = Mv0 = 0
Pafter = (M + m) v = 0
P = Pafter – Pbefore = (M + m) v = Ft 
Δ𝑡 𝑚 𝐹
𝑣= 𝐹=
𝑀+𝑚 𝑀+𝑚𝜇

Problem 3: A raindrop of initial mass m0 starts falling from rest under the influence of gravity. Its mass is
increasing at a rate
𝑑𝑚
= 𝛽𝑚𝑣,
𝑑𝑡
where v is its instantaneous velocity and  is a constant.
Write the momentum of the drop at the moment before gaining the increment dm and at the moment
immediately after that, and find the velocity, at which drop’s acceleration becomes 0.

Solution

Pbefore = mv
Pafter = (m + dm) (v + dv) = mv + mdv + vdm
dP = Pafter – Pbefore = mv + mdv + vdm – mv = mdv + vdm = Fdt = mgdt 
𝑑𝑃 𝑑𝑣 𝑑𝑚 𝑑𝑣 𝑑𝑣
=𝑚 +𝑣 =𝑚 + 𝛽𝑚𝑣 2 = 𝑚𝑔 ⇒ = 𝑔 − 𝛽𝑣 2
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡
𝑑𝑣 𝑔
= 0 ⇒ 𝛽𝑣 2 = 𝑔 ⇒ 𝑣 = √
𝑑𝑡 𝛽

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