1.

When oil is pumped round a car engine it is essential that it flows at the correct rate. It must coat
the moving parts and still move quickly through narrow passages. To ensure that this happens
the viscosity of the oil must be measured.
One way of measuring the coefficient of viscosity is to use a falling ball viscometer. In this
instrument a sphere is dropped into the liquid and its subsequent motion is recorded. This motion
can be analysed in terms of the viscous drag, the upthrust and the weight of the sphere. Stokes
law can be used if the flow is laminar. When terminal velocity has been reached measurements
can be made to determine the coefficient of viscosity.
Explain the meaning of the terms in italics in the above passage.
Viscous drag..................................................
........................................................
........................................................
........................................................
(1)

Laminar flow.................................................
........................................................
........................................................
........................................................
(1)

Terminal velocity...........................................
........................................................
........................................................
........................................................
(2)

Draw a labelled diagram showing the forces acting on the sphere when it is falling at
constant velocity.

(1)

Wilmington Grammar School For Boys

The sphere has a radius r and it is made form a material of density . Write down an expression
for the weight W of the sphere.
........................................................
(1)

4
U = r 3
3
The sphere experiences an upthrust force
g where is the density of the oil.
Explain briefly the cause of the upthrust force on the sphere.
........................................................
........................................................
........................................................
........................................................
(1)

Explain why, when the sphere is falling with terminal velocity, F = WU where F is the Stokes
law force.
........................................................
........................................................
(1)

Hence show that the viscosity can be calculated from the expression

2r 2 g ( )
9v

where v is the velocity of the sphere.

........................................................
........................................................
........................................................
........................................................
(2)

Explain why it is important that the experiment is performed using hot oil.
........................................................
........................................................
........................................................
........................................................
(2)
(Total 12 marks)

Wilmington Grammar School For Boys

2.

The process of turbulence was described in verse by the British meteorologist,

Lewis F. Richardson:
Big whorls have little whorls,
Which feed on their velocity,
And little whorls have lesser whorls,
And so on to viscosity.
Suggest what the author means by the word whorl.

(1)

Draw diagrams in the boxes below to show laminar and turbulent flow.
Describe these flow patterns.
Laminar flow

Description:

(2)

Wilmington Grammar School For Boys

Turbulent flow

Description:

(2)

Turbulence can be used to reduce the rate of flow of a fluid.

Explain this statement in terms of energy transfers.

(2)
(Total 7 marks)

3.

Some people think that all raindrops fall at the same speed; others think that their speed
depends on their size.
Calculate the speed of a raindrop after it has fallen freely from rest for 0.2 s.
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
Speed = .
(1)

Wilmington Grammar School For Boys

The raindrop falls for longer than 0.2 s. Explain why its acceleration does not remain uniform
for the whole of its fall.
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
(2)

Show that the mass of a 0.5 mm diameter spherical raindrop is less than 1 107 kg.
1.0 m3 of water has a mass of 1.0 103 kg
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
(2)

Calculate the raindrops terminal velocity. Assume that the upthrust from the air is negligible.
Explain your working clearly.
Viscosity of air = 1.8 105 kg m1 s1.
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
Terminal velocity =
(3)

Wilmington Grammar School For Boys

Sketch a graph to show how the raindrops velocity increases from rest to terminal velocity. Add
a scale to the velocity axis.

V e lo c ity

T im e
(3)

Explain how the terminal velocity would be different for a larger raindrop.
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
(1)
(Total 12 marks)

4.

Oil is used as a lubricant in a car engine. The viscosity of the oil is one property that determines
the best oil to use under particular conditions.
A student uses the apparatus shown to investigate the flow rate of engine oil at different
temperatures. She finds that her results give a straight line graph if she plots the log 10 of the flow
rate against temperature as shown below.
Log

10

( f lo w r a te )

T h e rm o m e te r

O il

T e m p e ra tu r e
H e a tin g c o il

Wilmington Grammar School For Boys

S to p c lo c k

Give one reason for choosing to plot the log10 of the flow rate.
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
(1)

What does the graph tell you about the effect that heating the oil has on its flow rate?
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
(1)

How is viscosity related to the flow rate?

...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
(1)

Multigrade oils have now been developed to overcome the need for changing engine oil with
seasonal temperature changes. This involves adding special polymers to the oil.
Explain the term polymer.
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
(1)

These polymers curl up at lower temperatures but open up and take up more space at higher
temperatures. Suggest how adding the polymers enables the same engine oil to be used all year
round.
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
(2)

Wilmington Grammar School For Boys

The type of flow of oil in the engine will vary from laminar to turbulent depending on the
temperature, the flow rate and the shape of the tube the oil is flowing through. Use diagrams to
explain what is meant by the terms laminar flow and turbulent flow.

...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
(3)

The student needs to make the heating coil for her apparatus. She calculates that it requires a
resistance of 1.2 and plans to use nichrome wire with a diameter of 5.0 10 4. Calculate the
length of wire she will need for the heater.
(Resistivity of nichrome = 1.1 106 )
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
Length of wire = ........................................
(3)
(Total 12 marks)

Wilmington Grammar School For Boys

5.

Speed cyclists need to reach very high speeds when competing.

What word describes the preferred airflow around the body of a speed cyclist?
...............................................................................................................................................
(1)

Draw the possible airflow above and behind the body of a speed cyclist

(i) in racing position

(ii) when sitting upright.

(2)

What is the advantage to speed cyclists of travelling very close together as shown in the
photograph?
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
(1)

Would plastic or elastic better describe the material of the bodysuit worn by a speed cyclist?
...............................................................................................................................................

Wilmington Grammar School For Boys

Explain your choice.

...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
(2)

Would brittle or tough better describe the material of the helmet worn by a speed cyclist?
...............................................................................................................................................
Explain your choice.
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
(2)

Explain why such a helmet is designed to deform in a crash.

...............................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................
(1)
(Total 9 marks)

6.

Do not try this at home!

The website urban myths claims that a man in California tied a number of balloons filled with
helium to his chair in the garden, with a view to gently hovering above the neighbourhood.
The moment he cut the anchoring cord he shot upwards to a height of about 4000 m. Several
hours later he was rescued by a helicopter after being spotted by an airline pilot.
If the combined mass of the man and the chair was 70 kg, calculate their weight.
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
Weight = ..............................................................
(1)

Wilmington Grammar School For Boys

10

What is meant by the term upthrust?

...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
(2)

Show that the upthrust in newtons from the balloons is about 13V where V is the total volume of
the balloons in cubic metres.
The density of air is 1.29 kg m3.
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
(2)

Write down an expression, in terms of V, for the weight of the helium in the balloons. The
density of helium is 0.18 kg m3.
...................................................................................................................................................
(1)

Calculate the total volume of the balloons required just to lift the man and his chair from the
ground. Assume the weight of the balloon fabric is negligible.
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
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...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
(3)

Explain why any viscous drag force can be ignored in the previous calculation.
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
(2)
(Total 11 marks)

Wilmington Grammar School For Boys

11

7.

A Galilean thermometer consists of a column of liquid containing glass weights which can be
regarded as spheres. The spheres drop one by one as the temperature rises.

26

24

22

20

18

The diagram below represents one of these spheres, falling through the liquid with increasing
speed at a certain temperature. Add labelled arrows to the diagram to show the forces on this
sphere.

(3)

Wilmington Grammar School For Boys

12

How do these forces compare in size?

..........................................................................................................................................................
The radius of a sphere is 1.20 102 m. Calculate its volume.
..........................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................
Volume = ................................................
(1)

Calculate the mass of liquid displaced by this sphere when the density of the liquid is
1020 kg m3.
..........................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................
Mass = ....................................................
(1)

Show that the upthrust on the sphere is about 0.07 N.

..........................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................
(2)

Another sphere is of the same radius but with a weight of 0.069 N. Explain where you would
expect to find this sphere.
..........................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................
(2)

What two properties of the liquid would affect the spheres terminal velocity?
..........................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................
(2)
(Total 12 marks)

Wilmington Grammar School For Boys

13