Professional Documents
Culture Documents
ELEMENTARY MECHANICS
2. A ball of mass m 1 = 8.0 102 kg starts from rest and falls vertically
downward from a height of 3.0 m. After colliding with the ground, it bounces up to
a height of 2.0 m. The collision takes place over a time interval of _t = 5.0 103 s.
Calculate (i) the momentum of the ball immediately before and immediately after
the collision, (ii) average force exerted by the ground on the ball and (iii) impulse
imparted to the ball?
(a) The momentum of the ball immediately before and immediately after the
collision:
First we have to calculate the velocity of ball immediately before collision and
immediately after it.
We can use the equation of motion: 2 = 2 + 2
Where, V is the final velocity, u is the initial velocity, a is acceleration
(acceleration due to gravity in this case and it is positive for falling object and
negative for raising objects) and s is the distance traveled.
Before collision, S =h= 3 m, u = 0 m/s and a = g = 9.81 m/s^2
Thus, 2 = 0 + 29.813 (falling objects +ve g)
Solving this, we get, V = 7.67 m/s.
Thus, momentum immediately before collision = mv = 8 x 10^-2 x 7.67 kg m/s
= 0.614 kg m/s.
Similarly, after the collision, ball rises to a height of 2 m.
Thus, s = 2 m, v = 0, a = -g = -9.81 m/s^2
Thus, 0 = 2 + 2(9.81)2 (raising object ve g)
Solving this, we get, u = 6.26 m/s
Thus, momentum immediately after collision = mu = 8 x 10^-2 x 6.26 kg m/s
= 0.501 kg m/s
(b) Average force exerted by the ground on the ball
c) Impulse =
Since the box is pushed initially, some force has been imparted to it. This force has
a magnitude of ma, where m is the mass of box and a is its acceleration. This force
is equal to the force of friction, since the applied force will be dissipated to counter
the friction. Hence,
Thus, 2 = 2
2
=
2
22
=
2(0.981)
S = 2.04 m.
Thus, the box will move a distance of 2.04 m over the rough surface, before
coming to a full stop.
(b) The minimum total energy at which the particle can escape from the force field:
If the total energy of the particle is Et = 150J , then the potential energy of the
particle E(x) is either less or equal to 150 J, as follows from the equation
V2
E(x) + m =Et
2
This corresponds to the region on the potential energy curve which lies below the
horizontal line corresponding to E(x) = 150 J. This region on the interval where x
is greater than 1.3 m and less than 3.4 m: 1.3<x<3.4. So, if the total energy of the
particle is 150 J, the particle will be "trapped" by the force field in between these
two values of x.
The velocity of the particle will be zero when E(x) = Et , which happens at x = 1.3
m and x = 3.4 m.
The velocity will be maximum at the point where E(x) is minimum, which is at the
point x = 2.6 m. At this point, the particle is in equilibrium.
2
Total energy of a particle is kinetic energy plus potential energy E. The force
2
field is conservative so the potential energy depends only on the position x of a
particle. Total energy of a particle has the same value for any x because of energy
conservation law.
A particle escapes a force field if its x can be arbitrary large. Denote the total
V2
particle's energy as Et and consider the equation E(x) + m =Et
2
From the graph we see that as Also recall that the
displacement is the integral of the velocity (the velocity is the derivative of the
displacement with respect to time).
b1) if then cannot be arbitrary large ( will
become negative which is impossible), and a particle won't escape.
b2) if then Therefore
So a particle will escape.
b3) if then the answer may be different for different
6. A fisherman in a boat catches a huge fish with a rod and starts to pull it in. The
fish struggles for a while and then becomes still when it is at a distance of 200 m
from the boat. During this operation, the boat (initially at rest) moves 25 m in the
direction of the fish. If the mass of the boat is 5000 kg, calculate the mass of the
fish. Assume that water exerts no friction.
The boat move 25m while the fish is being reeled in from 200m. It's a center of
mass problem - if the water friction can be ignored then the center of mass of the
boat/fish system lies 25m from the initial position of the boat.
1 1 = 2 2
x1
m2 = m
x2 1
25
m2 = X5000
200
= 625 kg.
In order to answer this question, we need to apply the law of the conservation of
angular momentum: in the absence of the torques of external forces, the angular
momentum of a system is conserved.
In this case, the system consists of two discs. There are no external forces on the
system mentioned.
The initial angular momentum of the system is the vector sum of the angular
momenta of the discs. The magnitudes of the momentum are
L1 = I1 1
L 2 = I 2 2
Here, I is the moment of inertia and is an angular velocity of each disk.
Since the first disk is rotating counterclockwise and the second disk is rotating
clockwise, their angular momenta are in the opposite direction. So the magnitude
of the vector sum is
L = |I1 1 I2 2 |
The final angular momentum of the system, after the disks stick together and
rotate as one, is
L = (I1 + I2 )
(Since the disks rotate together as one, they have the same angular velocity,
and the total moment of inertia is the sum of the moments of inertia of the disks.)
Since the angular momentum is conserved, L = L':
After plugging in the given values of the quantities, the new angular velocity can
be found:
|8X14 2X7| = (8 + 2)
The angular velocity of the system of the two disks rotating together is 9.8 rps.
Counter clockwise.
8. A car of mass 1400 kg moving south at 11 ms1 collides into another car of
mass 1800 kg moving east at 30 ms1. The cars are stuck together after the
collision. Determine the velocity of the cars immediately after the collision.
Given:
V1 = 11m/s; V2 = 30m/s; m1 = 1400Kg; m2 = 1800Kg
Applying conservation of momentum Applying conservation of momentum
along the x-axis along the y-axis.
V1 x = 0 m/s V2 x = 30 m/s
V1 y =11 m/s V2 y =0 m/s
m1 =1400Kg m2 =1800Kg
m1 + m2 =3200Kg
Goal:
= ? =?
System: cars
External forces: Gravity and normal are external forces, but the net, external force
is 0. We're ignoring friction.
Initial state: cars before collision
Final state: cars just after collision
Y North
m1=1400Kg
v1= 11 m/s
Vf cos
West x x East
m2=1800 Kg Angle=
v2= 30 m/s
V final
m1+m2= 3200Kg
Vf sin
Y South
Dividing 2 by 1
15400
=
54000
Tan=0.2852
= tan-1 (0.2852)
= 15.92 (It falls in IV quadrant and with x-axis)
From 1 From 2
15400=3200Vf sin (15.92) 54000=3200Vf cos (15.92)
15400 54000
Vf = Vf =
0.2743200 0.9623200
Vf = 17.56 m/s Vf = 17.54 m/s
Therefore velocity of the cars immediately after the collision=17.5 m/s
The turning points and are the distances of closest approach and furthest
recession. These points are usually denoted by the Greek prefixes peri (around)
and apo (from). Thus a planets point of closest approach to the sun is called its
perihelion, and its point of furthest recession is its aphelion (helios is sun in
Greek).
For satellites around the earth, the corresponding names are perigee and apogee.
We find the turning points by setting Ueff E, remembering that E is negative
L2 Mm
G = E (Or)
2mr2 r
2
GMm L2
r + r =0
E 2mE
The roots of this equation are rp and ra , so it must be the same as
(r rp )(r ra ) = 0 (Or)
r 2 (rp + ra )r + ra rp = 0
GMm
rp + ra =
E
L2
ra rp =
2mE
rp + ra = 2a
ra rp = b2
So we can write the energy and angular momentum of the orbit in terms of a and b
: =
: =
The first of these is an important formula, showing that the energy depends only on
the length of the orbit 2a. The second shows that L is proportional to b, so more
eccentric orbits (smaller b) correspond to lower L. Maximum L occurs for a
circular orbit, b = a .