Physics I A.A.

2013 2014
Prof. Iazzi Felice felice.iazzi@polito.it
Exercise teachers
Balestra Francesca francesca.balestra@polito.it
Sharda Kanudha kanudha.sharda@polito.it
May 7, 2014
1 COLLISIONS EXERCISES
1. On a horizontal frictionless desk a cube of mass m
1
is sent to collide with
a velocity v
0
against another cube of mass m
2
at rest. After the collision m
2
moves parallel to v
0
.
Knowing that the internal forces are only normal forces, calculate the velocities
v and

V of both cubes after the collision.
DATA: v
0
=5 [m/s]; m
1
=1 [kg]; m
2
=2 [kg]
2. A pendulum has a length L and a wooden cube of mass M hung on its free
end. The system is at rest on the vertical. A bullet of mass m is shot against
the cube with a horizontal velocity v
0
. The bullet penetrates into the cube and
stops inside. When it stops the displacement of M with respect to the vertical
is practically negligible. The whole system (m+M) reaches an angle at the
maximum height.
Find the initial speed of the bullet.
DATA: L=1 [m]; M=5 [kg]; m=50 [g]; =35 [degrees]

Figure 1.
1
3. A spring of elastic constant k=1000 [N/m] and rest length l
0
=0.5 [m] has
one end connected to a wall B xed on a platform lying on a horizontal road.
The other end A is at a distance l
0
from B, on the platform. The total mass of
the system is M=20 [kg]. A cubic mass m=0.5 [kg] lies on the platform in C at
a distance L=0.6 [m] from A. No friction is present between m and the platform
nor between the platform and the road (which is equivalent to say that platform
and cube have very small wheels of negligible mass). Initially both m and M
are at rest: m is kicked and gets a velocity v
0
toward A, on the platform, and
after a time t=0.3 s collides with the spring.
Find the velocities v and

V of m and M when:
a) the collision is ended and
b) the minimum length is reached by the spring and, in this case, calculate
the maximum compression of the spring.

A
C
B
L
Figure 2.
4. A pipe with 2 arms perpendicular to each other, connected by a quarter
of circle AB (see gure 3.), is vertically xed to a trolley, initially at rest on
2 rectilinear rails. The total mass of pipe and trolley is M=2 [kg]. A small
spherical bullet of mass m=0.01 [kg] is shot inside one arm with a horizontal
velocity v
0
=50 [m/s]. Inside the pipe there is no friction.
Find the maximum height h reached by the bullet (point C).
2

Figure 3.
4 bis. In the same exercise 4., nd the velocities of the bullet and the trolley
when the bullet exits from the pipe.
5. A trolley of mass M
1
and mass-less wheels has a spring of rest length l
0
and elastic constant k connected at one end to a wall of the trolley. The other
side of the spring is connected to a cube of mass M
2
. At the beginning both
masses M
1
and M
2
, are at rest, and M
2
is located on the frictionless horizontal
plane of the trolley at a distance l
0
from the wall (see g.4). At the time t=0 a
projectile of mass m hits the trolley with velocity v
0
and penetrates inside. The
shock is so fast that the projectile, when stops inside the trolley, is still nearly
in the same position.
Find:
1. Velocity of the trolley just after the bullet stops inside.
2. The maximum elongation d, of the spring after the trolley moves forward.
(Hint: process occurs in two steps. In the rst step some forces are fast and
much stronger than the other ones. . . .)
DATA: m=0.05 [kg]; M
1
=4 [kg]; M
2
= 1[kg]; K=160 [N/m] ; l
0
= 10 [cm];
v
0
= 200 [m/s]
3

Figure 4.
2 COLLISIONS SOLUTIONS
1. Solution
Internal forces are only normal. Saying that there are only normal forces, it
means that there is no friction between the two masses therefore it is an elastic
collision.
Normal forces dont produce work. Therefore the kinetic energy and the linear
momentum are conserved.
We can write:

m
1
v
0
= m
1
v + m
2
V linear momentum conservation
1
2
m
1
v
2
0
=
1
2
m
1
v
2
+
1
2
m
2
V
2
kinetic energy conservation
(as written in Eq. 4.7.5 chapter 4).
Solving the system we can get two solutions:
the rst gives:
v =
(m
1
m
2
)v
0
m
1
+ m
2
= 1.67 m/s being m
1
lower than m
2
the final speed of the first body is negative.
(1)
and
V =
m
1
m
2
(v
0
v) =
m
1
m
2
(v
0
(
(m
1
m
2
)v
0
m
1
+ m
2
)) =
2v
0
m
1
m
1
+ m
2
= 3.3 m/s (2)
(NOTE: if the two masses are equal (m
1
= m
2
) we will have a total elastic
collision in which the rst mass m
1
will stop so v = 0 while the second mass m
2
will move with a speed equal to the initial speed: V = v
0
.)
The second solution produces:
v = v
0
and |v| = |v
0
| = 5 m/s (3)
4
and
V = 0 m/s (4)
but, in our case, this second solution is valid when the interaction between the
two masses didnt occured yet (and so we are not interested in it).
NOTE: this second solution can easily be observed in the particle physics, in
interactions between particles.
2. Solution
Lets assume the z axis horizontal, passing through O and perpendicular to
the velocity v
0
.
1

step) Collision m against M (totally inelastic collision)

Along x, there are no external forces. Along y gravity and rope tension com-
pensate each other (we assume to be still in the vertical position during the
collision), therefore the sum of the external forces along y is zero. Therefore, in
this step, the external torque
ext
= r

F
ext
= 0.
Then the z component of the angular momentum remains constant (and the
same holds for the linear momentum):
Lmv
0
= L(m + M)V V =
m
m + M
v
0
(5)
2

step) (m+M) rising

Dissipative forces are absent: mechanical energy is conserved. Therefore:
1
2
(m + M)V
2
= (M + m)gh
1
2
(m + M)(
m
m + M
v
0
)
2
= (M + m)gh (6)
Simplifying,
1
2
(
m
m + M
v
0
)
2
= gh v
2
0
= 2gh(
m + M
m
)
2
v
0
=

2gh(
m + M
m
) (7)
Knowing , from geometrical calculations, it is possible to nd h:
h = L(1 cos()) then nally we have:
v
0
=

2gL(1 cos())(
m + M
m
) = 190 m/s. (8)
3. Solution
Lets assume the x axis horizontal, in the direction of the velocity v
0
. All
external forces along x axis on the system m + platform are null: therefore the
x component of the total linear momentum is conserved; moreover all forces are
conservative or dont produce work and the total energy is conserved too.
From this considerations we can write the system:

mv
0
= mv + MV linear momentum conservation
1
2
mv
2
0
=
1
2
mv
2
+
1
2
MV
2
+
1
2
k(l
0
l)
2
energy conservation
v
0
can be nd knowing that the cube in C spends t=0.3 s to arrive in A, and
the distance between A and C is L=0.6 m. So v
0
=
L
t
= 2 m/s.
5
In case a), at the end of the collision, the spring length is l
0
therefore
1
2
k(l
0
l)
2
is equal to 0 and the system becomes:

mv
0
= mv + MV
1
2
mv
2
0
=
1
2
mv
2
+
1
2
MV
2
Rewriting:

v = v
0

M
m
V
v
2
0
= (v
0

M
m
V )
2
+
M
m
V
2
Solving the system we can nd:
[(1 +
M
m
)V 2v
0
]V = 0 (9)
from which we have two solutions:
V = 0 m/s or V =
2m
m + M
v
0
= 9.7 10
2
m/s (10)
Then v becomes:
v = v
0
= 2 m/s or (11)
v = v
0

M
m
V = v
0
(
M
m
2m
m + M
)v
0
=
mM
M + m
v
0
= 1.9 m/s the small cube, finally will go back toward C.
(12)
In case b), when the minimum length is reached by the spring, the velocities
of the platform and of the cube of mass m are the same;
the system becomes:

mv
0
= (m + M)V = (m + M)v v = V =
m
m+M
v
0
= 4.8 10
2
m/s
mv
2
0
= (m + M)v
2
+ k(l
0
l)
2
= (m + M)V
2
+ k(l
0
l)
2
= (m + M)(
m
m+M
v
0
)
2
+ k(l
0
l)
2
Solving the system we can obtain the value of l
0
l, the maximum compression
of the spring:
l
0
l = +

Mm
k(M + m)
v
0
= 0.044 m = 4.4 cm (13)
4. Solution
Lets assume the x axis horizontal, in the direction of the velocity v
0
. The
external forces are null along x axis; along y axis there is gravity, which is
conservative. Internal forces are not dissipative because all friction is absent.
Therefore the x component of the total linear momentum is conserved as well
as the total mechanical energy. Equations are:
mv
0
= (m + M)V V =
m
m + M
v
0
= 0.25 m/s at maximum heigth (14)
1
2
mv
2
0
=
1
2
(m + M)V
2
+ mgh h =
m(v
2
0
V
2
) MV
2
2mg
= 127 m. (15)
6
NOTE: the bullet and the system (pipe+trolley) have the same nal velocity
because the bullet remains inside the pipe. It is like an inelastic collision.
4 bis. Solution
Lets assume the x axis horizontal, in the direction of the velocity v
0
. As in the
previous exercise, the external forces are null along x axis; along y axis there
is gravity, which is conservative. Internal forces are not dissipative because all
friction is absent. Therefore the x component of the total linear momentum is
conserved as well as the total mechanical energy. Equations are:
mv
0
= mv + MV V =
m(v
0
v)
M
(16)
NOTE: the bullet and the system (pipe+trolley) have dierent nal speeds in
this case because the bullet exits from the pipe. It is like an elastic collision.
1
2
mv
2
0
=
1
2
MV
2
+
1
2
mv
2

1
2
mv
2
0
=
1
2
mv
2
+
1
2
M(
m(v
0
v)
M
)
2
(17)
Developing the calculations we can nd:
v =
(mM)v
0
M + m
= 49.5 m/s because the bullet goes back along the pipe (18)
and
V =
m(v
0
v)
M
=
2m
M + m
v
0
= 0.5 m/s (19)
The situation is the same both if the bullet (in the previous exercise) man-
ages to exit from the pipe vertically or not. In fact also if it exits vertically, it
will continue to travel with the same speed along x, as the trolley. So at some
time the bullet will fall down back in the pipe and it will move back along it.
5. Solution
In the rst step the bullet hits the trolley and penetrates inside in a very
short time, so short that the trolley doesnt change position (actually changes of
very small shift). Therefore the interaction between bullet and trolley is strong:
in the same short time interval the trolley doesnt interact with the mass M
2
because the interaction is through the spring and if trolley is in the original
position the spring is at rest and the elastic force is zero (actually, the position
is shifted a little bit and the elastic force is very small, negligible). Therefore
in the rst step no external horizontal forces act on the system m M
1
and
the total linear momentum along x (horizontal axis) is conserved. In the initial
state the momentum of the system is mv
0
, in the nal is (m + M
1
)V
0
, where
V
0
is the velocity of both bullet and trolley because bullet stopped inside the
trolley. We have, for the linear momentum conservation:
mv
0
= (m + M
1
)V
0
V
0
=
m
m + M
1
v
0
= 2.5 m/s (20)
In the second step the system made by the whole trolley plus the bullet and
the cube with mass M
2
is again free from external forces along x (wheels are
7
mass-less, therefore no horizontal forces interact with the oor). In addition all
internal forces are conservative (elastic) or do not do any work (normal forces):
linear momentum (along x) and mechanical energy are conserved.
In the initial state the only moving part of the system is (m + M
1
) and the
potential energy is zero; when the elongation of the spring is max the velocity
of M
2
with respect the trolley is zero, i.e. they have the same velocity V. We
have, for the linear momentum conservation:
(m + M
1
)V
0
= (m + M
1
+ M
2
)V V =
m + M
1
m + M
1
+ M
2
V
0
= 2 m/s (21)
and for the energy conservation:
1
2
(m+M
1
)V
2
0
=
1
2
(m+M
1
+M
2
)V
2
+
1
2
kd
2
d =

(m + M
1
)V
2
0
(m + M
1
+ M
2
)V
2
k
= 0.18 m
(22)
8