Tutorial 3

Question 1 A pendulum, comprising of a string of length L and a small sphere, swings in the vertical plane. The string hits a peg located a distance d below the point of suspension (See Figure 1).

Figure 1: Pendulum and the peg.

a) Show that if the sphere is released from a height below that of the peg, it will return to this same height after striking the peg. b) Show that if the pendulum is released from the horizontal position ( = 90 ) and is to swing in a complete circle centered on the peg, then the minimum value of d must be d = 3L/5.

Question 2 A 0.400 kg particle slides around a horizontal track. The track has a smooth vertical outer wall forming a circle with a radius of 1.50 m. The particle is given an initial speed of 8.00 m/s. After one revolution, its speed has dropped to 6.00 m/s because of friction with the rough oor of the track. a) Find the energy lost due to friction in one revolution. [Ans: 5.60 J] b) Calculate the coecient of kinetic friction. [Ans: = 0.152] c) What is the total number of revolutions the particle makes before stopping? [Ans: 2.28 revolutions] Question 3 Completely Inelastic Collision: Two objects of masses 2.0 kg and 6.0kg slide without friction down the sides of a hemispherical bowl as shown in Figure 2. Both start with zero velocity at the lip, which is 12 cm above the bottom. The objects collide at the bottom 1

of the bowl. Just before the collision, they are moving at right angles to each other. To what maximum height above the bowl will the objects move if the collision is completely inelastic ? You may treat the objects as small particles. [Ans: 7.5cm]

12 cm

Figure 2: Objects sliding down a bowl

Question 4 Explosion: A 10.0 kg shell is traveling horizontally to the right at 25.0m/s relative to the ground when it explodes into two fragments, one of mass 3.00 kg and the other of mass 7.00 kg. The lighter fragment goes horizontally forward, and the explosion increases initial mechanical energy of the system by 1.50 103 J. Find the velocities of the fragments relative to the ground just after the explosion. [Ans: v1 = 13.7 m/s, v2 = 51.5 m/s] Question 5 Center of mass: In the 1968 Olympic Games, University of Oregon jumper Dick Fosbury introduced a new technique of high jumping called the Fosbury op. It contributed to raising the world record by about 30 cm, and is presently used by nearly every world class jumper. In this technique, the jumper goes over the bar face up while arching his back as much as possible. This action places his center of mass outside his body, below his back. As his body goes over the bar, his center of mass passes below the bar. Because a given energy input implies a certain elevation for his center of mass, the action of arching his back means his body is higher than if his back were straight.

90

Figure 3: A really skinny guy

As a model, consider the jumper as a thin uniform rod of length L. When the rod is straight, its center of mass is at its center. Now bend the rod in a circular arc so that it subtends an angle of 90.0 at the center of the arc as shown in Figure 3. In this conguration, how far outside the rod is the center of mass? [Ans: 0.0635L] For Discussion in the Forum Question 6 A small block slides from rest from the top of a frictionless sphere of radius R as shown in Figure 4. The sphere does not move. How far below the top, x, does it lose contact with the sphere? [Ans: x = R/3]

x R

Figure 4: A block sliding down a sphere

Question 7 Two particles with masses m and 3m are moving towards each other along the x-axis with the same initial speeds vi . Particle m is traveling to the left, while particle 3m is traveling to the right. They undergo an elastic glancing collision such that particle m is moving downwards after the collision at right angles from its initial direction. What is the angle at which the particle 3m is scattered. [Ans: 35.3 ]