PHY1501/may-june/memo/2011

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MEMORANDUM MAY/ J UNE 2011 EXAMI NATION
















Department of Physics



Elementary Mechanics
MODULE CODE: PHY1501



Prof ML Lekala
Department of Physics
Uni versity of South Africa
2011
PHY1501/may-june/memo/2011
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SECTI ON B (WRITTEN SOLUTI ONS)



QUESTION 1

(Definitions) [10 marks]
a) Conservative force: A force is conservative when the work it does on a moving object is
independent of the path between the objects initial and final positions. OR. A force is
conservative when it does no net work on an object moving around a closed path, starting and
finishing at the same point.
b) Stress: Stress is the magnitude of the force per unit area applied to an object and causes strain.
(stress = )
c) Torque: Torque is the product of the magnitude of the applied force and the lever arm ( ).
d) Center of gravity: The center of gravity of a rigid body is the point at which its weight can be
considered to act when the torque due to the weight is being calculated.
e) Center of mass: The center of mass is a point that represents the average location for the total
mass of a system.


QUESTION 2

(Principles) [8 marks]
a) Archimedes principle: Any fluid applies a buoyant force to an object that is partially or
completely immersed in it; the magnitude of the buoyant force equals to the weight of the fluid
that the object displaces, i.e.
b) Bernoullis principle: I n the steady flow of a nonviscous, incompressible fluid of density
pressure fluid speed and the elevation at any two point (1 and 2) are related by
.
c) Principle of conservation of angular momentum: The total angular momentum of a system
remains constant if the net average external torque acting on the system is zero.
d) Principle of conservation of total mechanical energy: The total mechanical energy (E =
KE+PE) of an object remains constant as the object moves, provided that the net work done by
external nonconservative forces is zero.



QUESTION 3

[10 marks]
We first decompose the three coplanar forces into their rectangular components, as shown in the table
below.

F
1
F
2
F
3
x-component -400 N (250 N)sin 45
= 176.8 N
-(200 N)(4/5)
= -160 N
y-component N (250 N)cos 45
= 176.8 N
(200 N)(3/5)
= 120 N

In order to determine the magnitude of the resultant force we first sum the forces in the x- and y-
direction, and then use the Pythagoras theorem to determine the resultant. Therefore


400N 176.8N 160N 383.2 N
0N 176.8N 120N=296.8 N
x
y
F
F
= + =
= + +

The negative sign indicates acts to the left. The magnitude of the resultant is


2 2 2 2
( ) ( ) ( 383.2N) (296.8N) 485 N
R x y
F F F = + = + =



PHY1501/may-june/memo/2011
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The direction of is given by


( )
1 1
296.8N
tan tan 37.8
383.2N
y
x
F
F

| |
= = =
|

\ .

i.e. 34.9 below the x-axis. Pictorially














QUESTION 4

[8 marks]
Suppose the board is kept from rotating and rests on the support as shown in the picture. The net torque
due to the weights of the two blocks is


12 12 4 4
2
(12kg) (0.60m) (4.0kg) (1.4m)
[(12kg)(0.60m) (4.0kg)(1.4m)](9.80m/s )
15.68 N m
kg kg kg kg
W W
g g
=
=
=
=

When the system is allowed to rotate by Newtons second law of motion for rotational motion, ,
where is the moment of inertia and is the magnitude of the angular acceleration. Therefore we have


2
2
15.68 N
1.3 rad/s
12 kg m I

= = =

QUESTION 5

[10 marks]
The conservation of energy applied between point A and the top of the trajectory gives

KE
A
+ mgh
A
= mgh

where h = 4.00 m. Rearranging, we find

KE
A
= mg(h h
A
)
or

( )
( )( )
2
A A
2 2 9.80m/s 4.00m 3.00m 4.43m/s v g h h = = =




y
x


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QUESTION 6

[5 marks]
Let the constant angular acceleration of the object be , and the radial distance of a point on the object.
Since the object starts from rest the initial angular velocity is zero. Hence from we have
. But Thus and are constants. Therefore for different times we have


2 2 2 2
(3s) =( )(3s) and (6s) =( )(6s)
c c
a r a r

Dividing the two equations by each other we obtain

2 2
2 2
(6s) ( )(6s)
4
(3s) ( )(3s)
c
c
a r
a r

= =

Hence magnitude of the centripetal acceleration of the point six seconds after the motion had begun is

2 2
(6s) 4 (3s)=4(2.0m/s ) 8 m/s
c c
a a = =

QUESTION 7

[4 marks]
Method 1
The work done by a constant force is given by where is the magnitude of the
average force, is the magnitude of the displacement ( ), and is the angle between the force
and the displacement. The force acting on the spring is given by and as spring contracts the
magnitude of this force changes from to Therefore the magnitude of the average force is
. Hence the work done by the average spring force is
:

0 0
2 2
0
1
( cos ) ( )(cos0 )( )
2
1 1
2 2
elastic av f f
f
W F s kx kx x x
kx kx
= = +
=

Method 2
The work done by a force in compressing the spring from to is given by
:

0 0 0
2
2 2
0
1
d d
2
1 1
2 2
f f f
x x x
elastic
x x x
f
W F x k x x k x
kx kx
(
= = =
(

=








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QUESTION 8
Consider the diagram in the question. Since the structure is in equilibrium
the net force (in component form) is zero; and
the net torque is zero

Axes: Choose down and left as (-ve) and up and right as (+ve):

Table of components of the forces

component 400 N 200 N 800 N 1000 N 500 N 600 N F
x- 400 N (200 N)cos 0 0 - - 0
y- 0 - -800 N -1000 N -(500 N)sin - F


Hence

a) Taking moments about point A to obtain magnitude of force F, we obtain

.... 926,8 F N = =

b) Summing components of the forces in the x- and y-direction to zero, we obtain reaction force at A
(R
A
)

c)
2 2 3
( ) ( ) .... 1.57 10 N
A x y
R F F = + = =




Direction of R
A
is given by

( )
1
tan / ... 14
y x
F F

= = =



West of North.





















END