School of Indiana Alem Bank Branch Department of Natural Science Physics Division

Collection of UEE [2003-2015] E.C. regarding impulse, linear momentum, and center of mass.

1. A cart moving at a speed V collides with an identical stationary cart on an air track and the two stick
together after collision. What is their velocity after collision? [UEE: 2003]
A. -0.5 V B. Zero C. 0.5 V D. V
2. A car (mass m1) is driving at velocity v, when it smashes into an unmoving car (mass m2), locking bumpers.
Both cars move together at the same velocity. The common velocity will be given by :[UEE: 2004]

m1 v m2 v m1 v (m1 +m2 )v
A. B. C. D.
m2 m1 (m1 +m2 ) m1
3. A bullet of mass 10 gm, moving horizontally, strikes and embeds itself in a box of mass 1 kg suspended from
a light string as shown in the figure below. If the composite mass rises to a height H = 0.45 m, then what is
the speed of the bullet before collision? [UEE: 2005]
A. 303 m/s
B. 300 m/s
C. 90.9 m/s
D. 90 m/s

4. A rocket moving in free space has speed of 3 × 103 𝑚/𝑠 relative to the earth. Its engines are turned on, and
fuel is ejected in a direction opposite the rocket’s motion at a speed of 5 × 103 𝑚/𝑠 relative to the rocket.
What is the speed of the rocket relative to the earth once the rocket’s mass is reduced to half its mass before
ignition? [UEE: 2005] [old curriculum]
A. 7 × 103 𝑚/𝑠 B. 5 × 103 𝑚/𝑠 C. 4 × 103 𝑚/𝑠 D.2 × 103 𝑚/𝑠
5. Two particles with masses 2m and 3m are moving toward each other along the x axis with the same initial
speeds v. Particle 2m is traveling to the left, and particle 3m is traveling to the right. They undergo an
elastic glancing collision such that particle 2m is moving in the negative y direction after the collision. What
are the x component of the final velocity of particle 3m and the kinetic energy of the particle 2m,
respectively? [UEE: 2006] [old curriculum]
A. 0.33 v and 0.7 mv2 B. 0.33 v and 1.4 mv2 C. 0.67 v and 0.7 mv2 D. 0.67 v and 1.4 mv2
6. A hard ball moving on a horizontal frictionless surface with a speed of 5 m/s in the positive x direction
strikes a stationary hard ball of the same mass. After the collision, the first ball moves with a speed of 4 m/s
along a direction that makes an angle of 370 with its initial direction of motion. What is the struck ball’s
speed and the smallest angle between its direction of motion and the positive x axis after the collision?
[UEE: 2007]. [old curriculum]
A. 3 m/s and 530 B. 3 m/s and 370 C. 4 m/s and 530 D. 4 m/s and 370
7. A man standing on a frictionless surface continuously fired 120 bullets horizontally in 1 minute using a
machine gun. If each bullet has a mass of 10 g and leaves the muzzle of the gun with a speed of 800 m/s,
what is the average force exerted by the gun on the man? [UEE:2007]
A. 8 N B.16 N C. 960 N D. 16000 N
8. What is the necessary and sufficient condition for conservation of linear momentum? [UEE:2008]
A. The presence of more linear than nonlinear forces in the system.
B. Net force on the system is zero.
C. The presence of only non-linear forces.
D. Internal forces exceed external forces.
9. A large mass (A) and a small mass (B) are pushing one another apart, as shown in the figure below. The
small mass moves away at a velocity of 20 m/s to the right. What is the recoil velocity of the large mass?
(UEE:2008)
A. -20 m/s
B. 8 m/s
C. 20 m/s
D. -8 m/s

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10. Find the distance of the center of mass of the system shown in the diagram from point A. The rod is
massless. [uee:2008]
A. 3.73 m 3 kg 3 kg 3 kg 2 kg
B. 2.09 m A
C. 2.45 m
D. 5.86 m 3m 3m 1m
11. A 1kg object explodes and breaks up in three pieces. One piece has a mass of 400 g and has a velocity of (15
î+ 10 ĵ)m/s. A second piece has a mass of 250 g and has a velocity of (25 𝑖̂+ 10 𝑗̂) m/s. What is the velocity of
the third piece? [UEE: 2009] [old curriculum]
A. (-4.3 î +35 ĵ) m/s B. (-35î – 4.3 ĵ) m/s C. (45î – 4.3 ĵ) m/s D. (-35î – 4.3 ĵ) m/s
12. A Uranium atom initially at rest has amass of 2 units and spontaneously disintegrated in to two fragments.
One of the fragments has a mass of 0.8 units and moves at a speed of 24 m/s as shown in figure below. What
is the speed of the second fragments? [UEE: 2009] [old curriculum]
A. 25.6 m/s
B. 21.3 m/s
C. 16 m/s
D. 14.8 m/s

13. For a constant force F, if the impulse imparted to the system is large, then what can you conclude about the
collision? [UEE:2010]
A. Linear momentum is conserved. C. The contact or impact time is large.
B. Kinetic energy is conserved. D. The change in velocity is small.
14. An open trolley is rolling on a level surface without friction loss through a vertical downpour of rain, as
shown in the figure below.

As the trolley rolls, an appreciable amount of rainwater accumulates in the cart. What will be the speed of
the cart? [UEE: 2010][old curriculum]
A. It increases because of conservation of mechanical energy.
B. It decreases because of conservation of momentum.
C. It decreases because of conservation of mechanical energy.
D. It remains the same because the raindrops are falling perpendicular to the direction of the cart’s motion.
15. A ball of mass M moves with speed V in the + x-direction. It explodes into two pieces that go off at angles ѳ1
and ѳ2, as shown below. What are the magnitudes of the momenta of the two pieces? (UEE: 2011).

𝑀𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃2 𝑀𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃1
A. 𝑃1 = and 𝑃2 =
sin(𝜃1 +𝜃2 ) sin(𝜃1 +𝜃2 )
𝑀𝑉𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃2 𝑀𝑉𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃1
B. 𝑃1 = sin(𝜃1 +𝜃2 )
and 𝑃2 = sin(𝜃1 +𝜃2 )
C. 𝑃1 = 𝑀𝑉𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃2 and 𝑃2 = 𝑀𝑉𝑡𝑎𝑛𝜃1
𝑀𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃2 𝑀𝑉𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃1
D. 𝑃1 = and 𝑃2 =
cos(𝜃1 +𝜃2 ) cos(𝜃1 +𝜃2 )

∆m
16. The rate of change of momentum of the raindrop can be given by F = ma +u ∆t
. In this expression what
does u represent? [UEE: 2011]. [old curriculum]
A. The velocity of the extra mass added to the raindrop.
B. The velocity of the raindrop.
C. The velocity of the loss in mass of raindrop.

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 D. The rate of change of the velocity for combined system.
17. Which one of the following statements is correct about the impulse on an object? (UEE: 2013/14)
A. The impulse on an object is changed when the net force acting on the object is zero.
B. The area under the curve of momentum versus time graph is the impulse on an object.
C. Impulse is the change in momentum when a force is exerted on an object for a very short period of time.
D. Impulse is the rate of change in momentum due to external force exerted on an object for a very short
period of time.
18. Consider two collisions, that occurred between two trollies having the same mass; moving with the same
speed, and in opposite directions,
Collision 1:- after collision the two trollies bounce back with the same speed.
Collision 2:- after collision the two trollies stick together due to magnetic coupler.
Which of the following statement is correct about the two collisions? (UEE: 2013/14)
A. Both collisions are elastic.
B. Collision 1 is elastic and collision 2 is inelastic
C. Both collisions are inelastic.
D. Collision 1 is inelastic and collision 2 is elastic.
19. A ball of mass m moving witth a speed v strikes a hard wall at an angle 𝜃 with the wall. It is refelected with
the same speed at the same angle as shown in the figure below.

If the ball is incontact with the wall for time t, then the average force acting on the wall is given by
[uee:2014/15] [old curriculum]
𝑚𝑣 𝑚𝑣 2𝑚𝑣 2𝑚𝑣
A. t
𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 B. t
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 C. t
𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 D. t
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃
20. Two masses of m1 and m2 are balanced on horizontal stick of negligible mass pivoted at the center of mass of
the sysytem. If the distance from m1 to the center of mass is 3.0m and the distance from the m2 to the center
of mass is 1.0m, the ratio of m1 to m2(m1/m2)is______.[uee:2012/13]
A. 1/3 B. 3 C. ¾ D. 4/3
21. Consider a system of two point masses M1 and M2, with M1=0.5M2. The two masses are located on the x-y
plane as shown in the figure below.

Which one of the following alternatives indicates the position of center of mass of the system? [uee:2015]
5 7 16 11 11 16
A. (5,4)𝑐𝑚 B. (3 , 3) 𝑐𝑚 C. ( 3 ,3
) 𝑐𝑚 D. ( 3 , 3
) 𝑐𝑚
22. A stationary mass explodes into two parts of masses 0.4kg and 4kg. If the larger mass has a kinetic energy
of 100J, what is the kinetic energy of the smaller mass? [uee:2004]
A. 4√50J B. 100J C. 1000 J D. The change in kinetic energy is the same for both particles
Additional exercise
23. Body A of mass 4m moving with speed u collides with another body B of mass 2m, at rest. The collision is
head on and elastic in nature. After the collision the fraction of energy lost by the colliding body A is
(a) 5/9 (b) 1/9 (c) 8/9 (d) 4/9

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24. A bullet of mass 10 g moving horizontally with a velocity of 400 m s–1 strikes a wooden block of mass 2 kg
which is suspended by light inextensible string of length 5 m. As a result, the centre of gravity of the block is
found to rise a vertical distance of 10 cm. The speed of the bullet after it emerges out horizontally from the
block will be
(a) 100 m s–1 (b) 80 m s–1 (c) 120 m s–1 (d) 160 m s–1
25. Two identical balls A and B having velocities of 0.5 m s–1 and –0.3 m s–1 respectively collide elastically in one
dimension. The velocities of B and A after the collision respectively will be
(a) –0.5 m s–1 and 0.3 m s–1 (c) –0.3 m s–1 and 0.5 m s–1
(b) 0.5 m s and –0.3 m s
–1 –1 (d) 0.3 m s–1 and 0.5 m s–1
26. A ball is thrown vertically downwards from a height of 20 m with an initial velocity v0. It collides with the
ground, loses 50 percent of its energy in collision and rebounds to the same height. The initial velocity v0 is
(Take g = 10 m s–2)
(a) 28 m s–1 (b) 10 m s–1 (c) 14 m s–1 (d) 20 m s–1
27. A ball moving with velocity 2 m/s collides head on with another stationary ball of double the mass. If the
coefficient of restitution is 0.5, then their velocities (in m/s) after collision will be
(a) 0, 1 (b) 1, 1 (c) 1, 0.5 (d) 0, 2
28. Two equal masses m1 and m2 moving along the same straight line with velocities + 3 m/s and –5 m/s
respectively collide elastically. Their velocities after the collision will be respectively
(a) – 4 m/s and +4 m/s (b) +4 m/s for both (c) – 3 m/s and +5 m/s (d) – 5 m/s and + 3 m/s.
29. A rubber ball is dropped from a height of 5 m on a plane. On bouncing it rises to 1.8 m. The ball loses its
velocity on bouncing by a factor of
3 2 16 9
(a) (b) (c) (d)
5 5 25 25
30. A metal ball of mass 2 kg moving with speed of 36 km/h has a head on collision with a stationary ball of
mass 3 kg. If after collision, both the balls move as a single mass, then the loss in K.E. due to collision is
(a) 100 J (b) 140 J (c) 40 J (d) 60 J.
31. A moving body of mass m and velocity 3 km/hour collides with a body at rest of mass 2m and sticks to it.
Now the combined mass starts to move. What will be the combined velocity?
(a) 3 km/hour (b) 4 km/hour (c) 1 km/hour (d) 2 km/hour
32. A bullet of mass m travelling with a speed v hits a block of mass M initially at rest and gets embedded in it.
The combined system is free to move and there is no other force acting on the system. The heat generated in
the process is
𝑚𝑣 2 𝑀𝑚𝑣 2 𝑀𝑚𝑣 2
(a) zero (b) 2
(c) 2(𝑀−𝑚) (d) 2(𝑀+𝑚)
33. A person holding a rifle (mass of person and rifle together is 100 kg) stands on a smooth surface and fires 10
shots horizontally, in 5 s. Each bullet has a mass of 10 g with a muzzle velocity of 800 m s–1. The final
velocity acquired by the person and the average force exerted on the person are
(a) – 0.08 m s–1, 16 N (b) – 0.8 ms–1, 8 N (c) – 1.6 m s–1, 16 N (d) – 1.6 m s–1, 8 N
34. A mass of 1 kg is thrown up with a velocity of 100 m/s. After 5 seconds, it explodes into two parts. One part
of mass 400 g comes down with a velocity 25 m/s. The velocity of other part is (Take g = 10 m s–2)
(a) 40 m/s (b) 80 m/s (c) 100 m/s (d) 60 m/s
35. Which one of the following statements is incorrect about an elastic collision between two particles?
(A) The total kinetic energy of the system is always conserved.
(B) The kinetic energy of the system before collision is equal to the kinetic energy of the system after
collision.
(C) The linear momentum of the system is conserved.
(D) The mechanical energy of the system before collision is equal to the mechanical energy of system after
collision. But the kinetic energy of the system is not always conserved. It is conserved only before and
after the collision.
36. A bullet is fired from a gun. The force on the bullet is given by F = 600 − 2 × 105 t where, F is in newton and t
in seconds. The force on the bullet becomes zero as soon as it leaves the barrel. What is the average impulse
imparted to the bullet?
(a) 9 N-s (b) zero (c) 1.8 N-s (d) 0.9 N-s

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37. A bomb of mass 9 kg explodes into two pieces of masses 3 kg and 6 kg. The velocity of mass 3 kg is 16 m/s.
The kinetic energy of mass 6 kg is
(A) 96 J (B) 384 J (C) 192 J (D) 768 J
38. Two balls of same mass are dropped from the same height h, on to the floor. The first ball bounces to a
ℎ ℎ
height 4 , after the collision & the second ball to a height 16. The impulses applied by the first & second ball
on the floor are J1 and J2 respectively. Then
(A) 5 J1 = 6 J2 (B) 6 J1= 5 J2 (C) J1= 2 J2 (D) 2 J1= J2
39. A particle of mass m moving with velocity u makes an elastic onedimensional collision with a stationary
particle of mass m. They are in contact for a very brief time T. Their force of interaction increases from

zero to F0 linearly in time 𝑇⁄2, and decreases linearly to zero in a further time 𝑇⁄2. The magnitude of F0 is
mu 2mu mu
(A) (B) (C) (D) none of these
T T 2T
40. A boy hits a baseball with a bat and imparts an impulse J to the ball. The boy hits the ball again with
the same force, except that the ball and the bat are in contact for twice the amount of time as in the first
hit. The new impulse equals:
(A) half the original impulse (C) the original impulse
(B) twice the original impulse (D) four times the original impulse
41. A body of mass 3 kg collides elastically with another body at rest and then continues to move in the original
direction with one half of its original speed. What is the mass of the target body?
(A) 1 kg (B) 1.5 kg (C) 2 kg (D) 5 kg
42. Three blocks are initially placed as shown in the figure. Block 4 has mass and initial velocity v to the right.
Block B with mass m and block C with mass 4m are both initially at rest. Neglect friction. All collisions are
elastic. The final velocity of blocks 4 is
(A) 0.6v to the left
(B) 1.4v to the left
(C) v to the left
(D) 0.4v to the right
43. During collision between a closed system of particles, in the absence of external forces:
(A) The total kinetic energy of the system remains constant
(B) The momentum of each particle remains constant
(C) Momentum is exchanged between different particles
(D) Momentum and kinetic energy, both are exchanged between different particles.
44. Three particles of masses 1 kg, 2 kg and 3 kg are situated the corners of an equilateral triangle move at
speed 6 ms–1, 3 ms–1 and 2 ms–1 respectively. Each particle maintains a direction towards the particle at the
next corner symmetrically. Find velocity of CM of the system at this instant.
(A) 3 ms–1
(B) 6 ms–1
(C) 5 ms–1
(D) zero

45. Masses 8, 2, 4, 2 kg are placed at the corners A, B, C, D respectively of a square ABCD of diagonal 80 cm .
The distance of centre of mass from A will be
(A) 20 cm (B) 30 cm (C) 40 cm (D) 60 cm

Compiled by: Wesen G.

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