Problem set 2

PHY131H1F Summer 2024

These review questions will not be marked. They are solely for your benefit to understand the
course better and to practice for midterm and final exam preparation. The solutions will be
posted in a separate file.
Instructions
Most questions are end-of-chapter “Questions” or “Problems” from “College Physics: Explore
and Apply”, by Etkina, Planinsic, and Van Heuvelen, 2nd Edition, ©2019 by Pearson Education,
where the first number is the chapter, and the decimal is either the Question number with a Q in
front, or the Problem number with a P in front. For example, if it says “Etkina 3.Q16”, it means
Chapter 3, Question 16.

Question 1. Etkina 3.Q8

Question 2. Etkina 3.Q14
Question 3. Etkina 3.Q16 Part (I) “moves at a constant speed”.
Question 4. Etkina 3.Q18
Question 5. Etkina 3.Q26 Part (a)
Question 6. Etkina 3.Q27 Part (a)
Question 7. Etkina 3.P12 Part (b). Assume the pan is traveling at constant speed from t = 0.55
s to 0.80 s; find the distance it travels in this time interval.
Question 8. Etkina 3.P60
Question 9. Etkina 3.P62

Question 10: A 5.0 kg block has an acceleration of 0.20 m/s2 when a force is exerted on it. A
second block as an acceleration of 0.10 m/s2 when subject to the same force. What is the mass
of the second block?
a. 10 kg
b. 5.0 kg
c. 2.5 kg
d. 7.5 kg

Question 11. A person pulling an empty wagon causes it to accelerate at 1.4 m/s2. What will
the acceleration be if he pulls with the same force when the wagon contains a child whose mass
is three times that of the wagon? [Assume friction between the wagon and the ground is small,
and doesn’t change much when the child gets in the wagon.]
Question 12: True or False? “In order to lift a bucket of concrete, you must exert more force on
the bucket than the bucket exerts on you.”

Question 13. You are in a train traveling on a horizontal track and notice that a piece of luggage
on the floor starts to accelerate directly toward the front of the train. From this observation, you
can conclude that this train is

Question 14. A person is using a rope to lower a 0.51-kg bucket into a well with a constant
speed of 2.0 m/s. What is the magnitude of the force exerted by the rope on the bucket?

Question 15. Ch.3 medium [from fall 2022 test 1]

When you jump on a trampoline, the Earth exerts a gravitational force on you, causing you to
accelerate with an acceleration of magnitude 𝑎𝑌 . According to Newton’s Third Law, you exert a
gravitational force on the Earth, causing the Earth to accelerate with an acceleration of
|𝑎𝐸 |
magnitude 𝑎𝐸 . What, approximately, is the ratio of the Earth’s acceleration to yours |𝑎𝑌 |
?
[Assume you have a mass of 60 kg, and the Earth has a mass of 6 × 1024 kg.]

Question 16. [from fall 2022 warmup test 1]

You are in an elevator standing on a bathroom scale which measures the upward normal force
on you in Newtons (N). When the elevator is at rest, you observe the bathroom scale to read
725 N. Then the elevator starts moving. You then observe the bathroom scale to read 821 N.
What is the acceleration of the elevator at this moment?

a) 1.30 m/s2, downward

b) 0.844 m/s2, downward
c) 0.844 m/s2, upward
d) 1.30 m/s2, upward
e) 11.1 m/s2, upward

Question 17. [from fall 2022 warmup test 1]

A suitcase has a mass of 40.4 kg, and is sitting at rest on the floor. A strong person grabs the
handle and pulls upward with a constant force of magnitude 450 N. After 0.80 seconds, how
high above the floor is the bottom of the suitcase?
a) Zero
b) 0.25 m
 c) 0.43 m
d) 0.51 m
e) 3.6 m

Question 18. Ch.3 Challenge [from fall 2022 test 1]

Three books are stacked on an elevator floor. The top book has a mass of 1.5 kg, the middle
book has a mass of 2.0 kg, and the bottom book has a mass of 2.5 kg. Determine the force that
the bottom book exerts on the middle book, if the upward-moving elevator’s speed decreases at
a rate of 1.8 m/s2.

a) 12 N
b) 16 N
c) 20 N
d) 24 N
e) 28 N