Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Solved Examples on Kinematics
Question 1:A certain computer hard disk drive is rated to withstand
an acceleration of 100g without damage. Assuming the drive
decelerates through a distance of 2 mm when it hits the ground, from
how high can you drop the drive without running it?
Concept:
The height say y from which the disk falls freely, can be related to its
final speed before collision say vy and the initial speed v0y as:
(vy)2 – (v0y)2 = 2gy
From this expression, we calculate the speed of the disk just before it
hits the ground but in terms of height y.
If you assume that the initial speed of the disk before it hits the
ground is v'0y, the final speed to be v'y and the distance travelled
during the collision is given by y', then the acceleration of the disk
during collision is given using the relation: (v'y)2 – (v'0y)2 = 2ay'
Since the speed of the disk before collision is known from above, we
can equate the limiting value of acceleration to account for the
height y from which the disk can be thrown without damaging it.
Solution:
From the equation of kinematics, we have
y = v0yt + ½ at2 (for y0 = 0)
vy= v0y + at
Where vy represents the final speed of the disk, a is its
acceleration,v0y is the initial speed and is the time taken by the disk
to attain the final speed vy.
From the second equation, the time t is given as: t = (vy v0y) /a
Substitute the value in first equation
y = v0y [(vyv0y)/a] + ½ a [(vyv0y)/a]2
= [(vyv0y)/a] [v0y + ½ a[(vyv0y)/a]]
= [(vyv0y)/a] [(2 v0y+ vy v0y)/2]
= [(vyv0y)/a] [(vy+v0y)/2]
So,
2ay = (vy v0y)(vy+ v0y)
= (vy)2 – (v0y)2
Since the disk accelerates under the action of gravity and we take the
http://www.askiitians.com/revisionnotes/physics/kinematics/solvedexamples.html 1/6
3/16/2016 Kinematics Solved Examples | askIITians
convention of downward motion to be positive, we can equatea = g in
the equation above as:
(vy)2 – (v0y)2 = 2gy …… (1)
(vy)2 – (0 m/s)2 = 2gy
(vy)2 = 2gy …… (2)
Assume that the distance travelled by the disk during collision is y',
the speed of the disk just before the contact is v'0y, and the final
speed after the collision is v'y, such that the disk experience an
acceleration a, then equation (1) can be written as:
(v'y)2 – (v'0y)2 = 2ay'
Since the disk will come to rest after colliding, hits final speed v'y is
zero. Also the initial speed before collision is equal to vy calculated
above.
Given that the disk crushes to a depth of 2 mm, the height y' can be
equated to it.
Substitute the appropriate values in the equation above,
(0 m/s)2 – (vy)2 = 2a (2 mm)
Substitute the value of (vy)2 from equation (2),
2gy = 2a (2mm)
Given that the limit to the deceleration that the disk can withstand
during the collision is 100 g, we can equate a = 100 g as,
2gy = 2(100 g)(2mm)
y = 100 (2 mm) (103 m/1 mm)
So, y = 0.2 m
Therefore if the disk is thrown from height 0.2 m the disk will start to
damage, therefore the person can throw the disk from any height
which is less than 0.2 m and avoid damaging it.
http://www.askiitians.com/revisionnotes/physics/kinematics/solvedexamples.html 2/6
3/16/2016 Kinematics Solved Examples | askIITians
Solution:
Given:
Inclination of slope, ? = 4.3°.
Altitude of plane, h = 35 m.
Speed of air, vair = 1300 km/h.
Let us assume that the length of slope to the point where the plane
meets the slope is given by length l. Also, the speed of the plane is
equal in magnitude with that of the speed of air, therefore the speed
of the plane (say vplane) is equal to 1300 km/h.
The figure below shows the motion of the plane and various other
variables
From the figure one can see that the altitude (say d) of the slope is
given in terms of length l of slope and the angle ? as:
d = l sin ?
If the plane were to collide with the slope then the following condition
should be fulfilled:
h d = 0
d = h
Substitute the value of d and h to have,
l sin ? = 35 m
l = 35 m/ sin (4.3°)
http://www.askiitians.com/revisionnotes/physics/kinematics/solvedexamples.html 3/6
3/16/2016 Kinematics Solved Examples | askIITians
So, l = 466.7 m
Therefore the length of the slope after which the plane collides is
466.7 m.
Now, to calculate the horizontal distance (say x) that the plane will
travel if it collides with the slope, we calculate the base of triangle
ABC as
From triangle ABC, we have
x = l cos ?
Substitute the value of l and ?, to have
x = (466.7 m) [cos (4.3°)]
= 465.3 m
Therefore the horizontal distance at which the plane will collide with
the slope is 465.3 m.
The time (say t) that the plane had before it run into the inclined
ground ahead is given as:
t = x/vplane
t = (465.3 m)/(1300 km/h)
=(465.3 m)/[(1300 km/h) (103 m/1 km) (1 h/3600 s)]
=(465.3 m)/(361.1 m/s)
= 1.28 s
Rounding off to two significant figures,
t = 1.3 s
Therefore the plane has 1.3 s before it will run into the ground, and
avoid the collision.
Question 3:A juggler juggles 5 balls with two hands. Each ball rises
2 meters above her hands. Approximately how many times per
minute does each hand toss a ball?
Concept:
First calculate the time for which a ball stays in air. Suppose that the
time taken by the ball to reach the juggler hand from height sayy is t.
Since the balls begin with initial speed say v0y of zero, the timet can
be calculated as:
y = v0yt + ½ gt2
2
http://www.askiitians.com/revisionnotes/physics/kinematics/solvedexamples.html 4/6
3/16/2016 Kinematics Solved Examples | askIITians
y = ½ gt2 (for v0y = 0 m/s) …… (1)
The convention chosen is such that the downward motion is consider
as positive.
The time (t) calculated above accounts for the time taken by the ball
to reach the hand of the juggler from the maximum height it attains,
therefore to calculate the time say t', for which the ball stays in the air,
multiple the time (t) by 2.
By the time the ball left from one hand and reached the other, the
juggler must have thrown 5 balls so that he can be ready to throw the
ball reaching his hand again.Therefore, if the juggler has thrown 5
balls in time t', he would throw (5/t') (1 min) times each ball with his
two hands in 1 min.
Thus the number of times say n, the ball is tossed by each hand is
given as:
n = (5/t')(1 min)/2 …… (2)
Solution:
Given that the ball rise 2 m above the hand, the distance y travelled
by the ball when he descends from the maximum height to reach the
juggler hand is 2 m. Also the free fall acceleration is 9.81 m/s2.
Substitute the given values in equation (1),
y = ½ gt2
2 m = ½ (9.81 m/s2) t2
t = √4 m/(9.81 m/s2)
= 0.63 s
The time (t ') for which a ball stays in the air is given by
multiplying t by 2 as:
t ' = 2t
= 2 (0.63 s)
= 1.27 s
The juggler has to juggles each ball once before time t ' so that he
gets ready to juggle the ball reaching him again.
Therefore if two hands toss 5 times in 1.27 seconds, then the number
of times (n) each ball is tossed in 1 min is given using equation (2) as:
n = [(5 times/1.27 s) (1 min)]/2
= [(5 times/1.27 s) (60 s)]/2
= 234.9 times/2
http://www.askiitians.com/revisionnotes/physics/kinematics/solvedexamples.html 5/6
3/16/2016 Kinematics Solved Examples | askIITians
= 117.4 times.
Round off to three significant figures,
n = 117 times.
Therefore the juggler juggles at a rate of 117 toss per minute with
each hand.
http://www.askiitians.com/revisionnotes/physics/kinematics/solvedexamples.html 6/6