1

Unit 11: Moments

1. The diagram shows a gauge, which measures the amount
of liquid in a tank.

At which position should the pivot be placed so that the
pointer moves the greatest distance as the tank is emptied?


2. A driver's foot presses on a pedal in a car with a force of 20
N as shown in the diagram.

With what force is the spring pulled?
A 2.5 N B 10 N C 100 N D 160 N E 800 N

3. The diagram shows a uniform beam pivoted at its
centre. Forces of 3 N and 4 N act in the directions shown.

What is the size and position of the upward force, which
will prevent the beam from turning?
size position
A 1 N X
B 1 N Y
C 7 N X
D 7 N Y

4. A door requires a minimum moment of 32.5 Nm in order to
open it.

What is the minimum distance of the handle from the
hinges, if the door is to be pulled open with a force at the
handle not greater than 50 N?
A 0.33 m B 0.65 m C 0.77 m D 1.54 m


5. If a nut and bolt are difficult to undo, it may be easier to turn
the nut by using a longer spanner. This is because the
longer spanner gives
A a larger turning moment. C less friction.
B a smaller turning moment. D more friction

6. A pivoted uniform bar is in equilibrium under the action of
the forces shown.

What is the magnitude of the force F?
A 2 N B 4 N C 8 N D 14 N

7. A uniform beam is pivoted at its midpoint. An object is
placed on the beam as shown. Which force will rebalance
the system?

A 20 N acting downwards, 40 cm to the right of the
midpoint
B 20 N acting upwards, 40 cm to the right of the midpoint
C 50 N acting downward, 10 cm to the right of the midpoint
D 50 N acting upward, 10 cm to the left of the midpoint

8. The uniform beam of weight 30N and length 4m is hinged
at end A, as in the next figure. Which is the force F, in N,
which must be applied vertically upwards at a distance of
1m from end B so that the beam is horizontal?

A 60N B 50N C 40N D 30N E 20N

9. The next figure shows three positions of the pedal on
a bicycle, which has a crank 0.20m long. If the cyclist exerts
the same vertically downward push of 25 N with his foot, in
which case is the turning effect
(a) 25 X 0.2 = 5.0 Nm, (b) 0 (c) between 0
and 5 Nm?
Explain your answers.
2

10. A plank of wood is balanced on a brick. A boy stands at a
point 30 cm from the centre. Ten 1 kg masses are placed
on the plank 1.5 m from the centre on the opposite side
and the beam balances. What is the mass of the boy?



11. A light beam is supported at its centre and two forces of 5
newtons and 10 newtons act on it


a) If the beam balances, at what distance from the centre
must the 10 newton force act?
b) What upward force is exerted by the support on the
beam?


12. A light beam is balanced as shown in figure by the force
due to the spring acting on one side of the balance point
and by a mass of 200 g on the other side. The
gravitational force is 10 newtons on every kilogram.

a) What is the downward gravitational force acting on
the 200g mass?
b) What downward force must be exerted by the spring?


13. Next figure shows an empty wheelbarrow, which weighs
80 N. The operator pulls upwards on the handles with a
force of 20 N to keep the handles horizontal. The point
marked M is the centre of mass of the wheelbarrow.



a) On figure draw arrows to show the other two vertical
forces that act on the wheelbarrow.
b) Determine:
(i) the moment of the 20 N force about the centre of
the wheel A,
(ii) the distance between points A and M.
14. A metre rule is supported on a knife-edge placed at the
40cm graduation. It is found that the metre rule balances
horizontally when a mass which has a weight of 0.45 N is
suspended at the 15 cm graduation, as shown in the
diagram.


Calculate the moment, about the knife-edge in this
balanced condition, of the force due to the mass of the
rule, If the weight of the rule is 0.90 N, calculate the
position of its centre of gravity.



15.


A knife-edge is placed at the 62.0 cm mark of the uniform
metre rule shown in the diagram. In order to balance the
rule horizontally, a weight of 0.24 N is hung from one end.
Show this weight on the diagram and also mark the
weight, W, of the rule acting in the correct position.
Calculate the weight, W, of the rule.


16.

AC represents a trap door of width 100cm, which is hinged
at A. The weight of the trap door is 30 N and its centre of
gravity is 45cm from A.
An object is placed on the trap door so that its weight of 40
N acts through B, which is 25cm from A.
Show on the diagram these two forces and add a force
applied vertically at C, which just lifts the door. Calculate
the magnitude of this force at C.



17. The board shown in the diagram is hinged at A and
supported by a vertical rope at B, 3.0 m from A. A boy of
3
weight 600 N stands at the end D of the board, which is
5.0 m from the hinge. Neglecting the weight of the board,
calculate the tension T in the rope.
If the board were uniform and of weight 48 N, calculate the
tension in the rope.

18.


A uniform plank, AB, of length 4.0m and weight 500 N is
suspended by a vertical rope at each end. A girl of weight
300 N stands in the position shown, 1.2m from the end, A.
By taking moments about A, calculate the tension in the
rope supporting the end B.

Would you expect the tension in the rope at A to be larger
or smaller than that in the rope at B? State a reason for
your answer.



19. Next figure shows a uniform metre rule, freely pivoted
at a point 20 cm from end P.



The rule is kept horizontal by means of a 120g mass
suspended 5.0 cm from end P.
a) Write down the size of the vertical force acting 5.0 cm
from P.

b) Use the principle of moments to help you determine the
mass of the metre rule.



20.


This figure shows a plank of mass 5.0 kg and length 3.00 m
resting horizontally on two trestles, P and Q, which are a
distance of 2.50 m apart. When a student of mass 60.0 kg
walks along the plank from one trestle to the other, the
plank sags.

Calculate the downward force exerted on each trestle
when the student is a distance of:

a) 0.50 m from trestle P,
(Take g = 10.0 N/kg)
b) 1.25 m from trestle P.

21. The diagram shows a building site crane.

a) What is the purpose of the concrete block at one end of
the jib?

b) If the mass of the concrete is 1500kg, what weight
force does it have? (Take g = 10 N/kg)
Give units with your answer.

c) The bucket is being filled with concrete. If the combined
weight of the bucket and the concrete is 4500 N, how
far out from the centre of the tower should the crane
operator position the bucket so that there is no torque
about the tower? (Ignore the mass of the jib).Show your
working and give units with your answer.


22. The diagram shows the electromagnet just above an iron
rod, which is pivoted at one end. A box is hanging from the
other end.

Ignore the mass of the rod in the following questions.

a) What is the mass of the box?

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b) What is the clockwise torque given to the rod by the 3
N force? Include the Sl unit for torque in your answer.

c) (i) What principle makes it possible to find the force
provided by the electromagnet?
(ii) What is the torque provided by the electromagnet?
(iii) What is the force provided by the electromagnet?

d) Suppose the electromagnet is shifted out until it is 0.6m
from the pivot as shown below.



If the electromagnetic force has the same value as
before, what downward force is required on the end to
keep the rod balanced?
23. The cyclist finds she has to stand so that her full weight
(550 N) is on the pedals.
a) In the box provided to the right of the diagram, draw the
position of the pedal when she is exerting maximum
torque.

b) Calculate the size of the maximum torque.


24. Steve and Jenni are selling vegetables at an open-air
market. Steve sets up a device for measuring the mass of
the vegetables. The vegetables are placed in the bucket.
Steve slides a slider weight on the rod until it balances the
bucket. The mass is worked out from the position of the
slider. To help him work this out, Steve records the slider
position with some known masses. Here is Steve's data:

Steves data
Mass (kg) Slider position (cm)
0 4
0.5 19
1.0 34
2.0 64
3.0 94

a) A customer wants 2.2 kg of tomatoes. Where should
Jenny place the slider? (Show your reasoning)

b) Work out the mass of the kumara shown (in kilograms).
(Show your reasoning)

c) The device is not useful for measuring very heavy masses.
What is the largest mass Steve could measure with this device?

d) Jenny suggests that if they used a slider twice as
heavy as the one they are using at present, they could
measure much larger masses as well as light ones. Is she
right? Discuss.
25. Henry uses the light seesaw shown below to measure
Mary's mass.



a) Use the information in the diagram to calculate Mary's
mass. Show your working.

b) Could this seesaw method be used to find Marys mass
on the planet Mars? Explain.





26. The diagram below shows a mousetrap.


The mousetrap works as follows. As the mouse walks
towards the cheese, the plank tips and the mouse falls
conveniently near to Boris, the cat.

Complete the following calculations to see how far along
the plank the mouse can go before the plank tips.

a) Calculate the turning moment of the counter balance
weight about the pivot.

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b) The weight of the plank may be taken to act through
the 50 cm mark. Calculate the total turning moment of
the cheese and the plank about the pivot.

c) What is the minimum distance from the support
beyond which the mouse will overbalance the trap and
make Boris a happy cat?
































































































6
Name: ( ) Class:
Sec 3. Date:

Science (Physics) Worksheet Moments
and Stability

1. The lamina below has a uniform thickness. Its centre of gravity is likely to be at
( )
2. A uniform beam is pivoted at its centre, Y, as shown in the diagram below. Two forces
of magnitude 3 N and 4 N act upwards at X and Z respectively. If a third force is
applied downwards, what is its magnitude and position to prevent the beam from
turning?


Magnitude Position
A 1 N X
B 1 N Z
C 7 N X
D 7 N Z ( )
3. Where is the centre of mass of the bus if it does not tilt over when travelling at an angle
as shown in the diagram below?
( )



4. A triangular piece of card with a triangular hole can be balanced on the thin edge of a
ruler, as shown.


In which other position will the card balance on the ruler?
A.

C.

B.

D.
( )
5 The diagram below shows the cross-sections of 4 solid objects. Which solid is in
neutral equilibrium?


6. Explain how does the design of a racing car increase its stability.

....
....
....[2]
7
7. Fig. 7.1 shows a card hanging through a pin P. The card is being pulled to the left.
The card has a weight of 2 N and its centre of gravity is at position x.
Fig. 7.1 is drawn to scale.




card is pulled
to the right


Fig. 7.1
(a) On Fig. 6.1,
(i) draw the line of action of the weight of the card and label it 'w'. [1]
(ii) draw the perpendicular distance between the pivot and the line of
action of the weight and label it 'd'. [1]
(b) A student cuts the string and the card starts to oscillate. State the position of
x when the card stops oscillating.
...
.......[1]
(c) Calculate the moment of the card immediately after the string is cut.




moment = [2]
8.



What is the weight of the uniformed metre rule that is balanced on the pivot?























































25 cm 20 cm 30 cm 25 cm
P
x
10N W
3N
50 cm
8
1. 1, 2-Dibromoethane, C
2
H
4
Br
2
, reacts
with potassium iodide as shown in the
equation below.
C
2
H
4
Br
2
+ 3KI C
2
H
4
+
2KBr + Kl
3

A series of experiments was carried out
to investigate the kinetics of this
reaction.
(a) In a first experiment the
concentration of C
2
H
4
Br
2
was
measured during the course of
the reaction and a concentration-
time graph was plotted. The
reaction was shown to be first
order with respect to C
2
H
4
Br
2
.
(i) On the axes below, sketch a
graph to show how
[C
2
H
4
Br
2
] changed during
the course of the reaction.

[2]

(ii) Show on the graph how you
would measure the initial
rate of the reaction.
[1]
(iii) How would you use the
graph to show that the
reaction is first order with
respect to C
2
H
4
Br
2
?
.............................................
....................................
...............................
[1]

[C H Br ]
2 4 2
/ mol dm
3
time /s
0
0
9
(iv) The experiment was
repeated using different
initial concentrations of
C
2
H
4
Br
2
.
Using the axes below,
sketch a graph to show how
the initial rate of the reaction
changes with different
concentrations of C
2
H
4
Br
2
.

[1]

(b) In a second experiment, the initial
concentration of KI was varied
and the initial rate was measured.
The results are shown in the table
below.

experiment [C
2
H
4
Br
2
]
/mol dm
3

[KI]
/mol dm
3

initial rate
/mol dm
3
s
1

1 0.50 0.18 0.027
2 0.50 0.72 0.108
Deduce the order of reaction with
respect to KI. Show your
reasoning.
......................................................
.............................................
......................
......................................................
.............................................
......................
[2]

[C H Br ] mol dm
2 4 2
3
0
0
initial rate /
mol dm s
3 1
10
(c) (i) Construct the rate equation
for the reaction.
.............................................
....................................
...............................
[1]
(ii) Calculate the rate constant,
k, for this reaction. State the
units for k.



k = ............................ units
..................................
[3]
[Total 11 marks]