Problem Set

Keerat [NIT D]
January 2024

Questions
1. A particle moves according to the equation x = 3 + 4t + 6t2 + 4t3 . Find its
velocity and acceleration at all times. When does its velocity equal 10 m/s?
What is its acceleration at that instant?
2. Romeo is at x = 0 m at t = 0 s when he sees Juliet at x = 6 m.

(a) Romeo begins to run towards her at v = 5 m/s. Juliet, in turn, begins
to accelerate towards him at a = −2 m/s2 . When and where will they
cross? Sketch their motions by measuring time on the horizontal axis
and position on the vertical axis.
(b) Suppose, instead, that Juliet moved away from Romeo with positive
acceleration a. Find amax , the maximum acceleration for which Romeo
can catch up with her. For this case, find the time t of their meeting.
Show that for smaller values of a these star-crossed lovers cross twice.
Draw a sketch for this case. Explain in words why they cross twice.

3. (Difficult) Ball A is dropped from rest from a building of height H exactly

as ball B is thrown up vertically from the ground. When they collide, A has
twice the speed of B. If the collision occurs at height h, what is h/H? Hint:
Write equations for heights yA , yB and velocities vA , vB . What can you say
about them at the time of the collision?
4. A solid, homogeneous spherical ball of mass m and radius R is made of
insulating material and has charge Q distributed uniformly throughout its
volume. The ball is placed on a large horizontal surface and set in rolling
motion without slipping in such a way that its center starts to move with
initial horizontal velocity v0 . There is a uniform magnetic field (flux density)
of magnitude B perpendicular to the surface. The coefficient of static friction
is large enough to prevent the ball from slipping on the surface. The moment
of inertia of the ball about an axis through its center is 2mR2 /5.

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5. A small puck is launched with an initial velocity v0 = 5.0 m/s along a smooth
surface, which is inclined at an angle α = 30◦ with the horizon. Determine
the distance L between the launching point O and the location where the
puck would leave the inclined rectangular surface. Assume that dimensions
of the slanted surface are very large, while launching point O is located at
the intersection of the inclined and horizontal surfaces. The launching angle
of the puck is φ = 60◦ with the intersection line of two surfaces.

6. Two beads of mass m are positioned at the top of a frictionless hoop of mass
M and radius R, which stands vertically on the ground. The beads are given
tiny kicks, and they slide down the hoop, one to the right and one to the left,
as shown. What is the smallest value of m/M for which the hoop will rise
up off the ground at some time during the motion?

7. A powder composed of small spherical particles (with ε = 4 and of radius R =

100 nm) is dispersed in vacuum with a concentration of n = 1012 particles
per cm3 . Find the effective dielectric constant ε′ of this medium. Explain
why the apparent answer,

ε′ = 1 + (ε − 1)nV

(where V = 4πR3 /3 is the volume of one particle) is wrong.

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 8. A washer is made of a dielectric of resistivity ρ. It has a square cross-section
of length a on a side, and its outer radius is 2a. A small slit is made on one
side and wires of negligible resistance are connected to the faces exposed by
the slit. If the wires were connected into a circuit, what would be the lumped
resistance due to the washer?

9. On Earth, a baseball player can hit a ball 120 m by giving it an initial angle
2
of 45◦ to the horizontal. Take the acceleration due to gravity as g = 10 m/s .
Suppose the batter repeats this exercise in a space ’habitat’ that has the form
of a circular cylinder of radius R = 10 km and has an angular velocity about
the axis of the cylinder sufficient to give an apparent gravity of g at radius
R. The batter stands on the inner surface of the habitat (at radius R) and
hits the ball in the same way as on Earth (i.e., at 45◦ to the surface), in a
plane perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder. What is the furthest distance
the batter can hit the ball, as measured along the surface of the habitat?

10. A ladder of mass m and length 2l stands against a frictionless wall with its
feet on a frictionless floor. If it is let go with an initial angle α0 , what will
be the angle when the ladder loses contact with the wall?

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 Figure 1: Diagram Of 10th Question

11. A projectile is fired horizontally with speed v0 from the top of a cliff of
height h. It immediately enters a fixed tube with length x, as shown. There is
friction between the projectile and the tube, the effect of which is to make the
projectile decelerate with constant acceleration −a (a is a positive quantity
here). After the projectile leaves the tube, it undergoes normal projectile
motion down to the ground.

12. A bead of mass m is given a velocity along a smooth rigid spiral wire (mass
M = 2m and outer radius R) such that the bead slides along the wire. When
the bead will reach the center of the spiral and sticks to it, at that moment
velocity of bead is v and angular velocity of the spiral is ω. (Assume that
the center of mass of the loop lies at its center and given that its moment
of inertia about an axis passing through the center and perpendicular to its
2
plane is M2R ). Find ωRv (Neglect gravity)

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13. James skied down a snowy slope (frictionless) in an attempt to escape from
the killer. Their speeds are 40 m/s and 45 m/s respectively. James noted
that he and the killer carried the same kind of rifle and estimated that their
masses M (including body mass, skis, weapon, backpack, etc.) were about
the same. James realized that each time he fired his weapon back at the
killer, his momentum would change; whereas when the killer fired, the killer’s
momentum would also change. Every time James fired a bullet, the killer
would fire back accordingly. Assume that all bullets missed their targets
(otherwise this exercise would terminate). Given M = 100 kg mass and the
muzzle velocity of a bullet is m = 0.02 kg and v = 500 m/s (with respect to
the ground) respectively. If the number of bullets James had to fire in order
to assure that the killer couldn’t catch up with him is 5x, then find the value
of x.

14. The figure shows a system consisting of (i) a ring of outer surface 3R rolling
clockwise without slipping on a horizontal surface with angular speed ω and
(ii) an inner disc OP radius 2R rotating anticlockwise with angular speed
ω/2. The ring and the disc separated by a frictionless ball bearing, the system
is in the xz-plane. The point P on the inner disc is at a distance R from
the origin where OP makes an angle of 30◦ with the horizontal. Then with
respect to the horizontal surface.

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 (a) The point O has a linear velocity 3Rω î √
3
(b) The point P has a linear velocity 11
4 Rω î + Rω k̂
√4
13 3
(c) The point P has a linear velocity 4 Rω î − 4 Rω k̂
(d) The point P has a linear velocity
√ !
3 1
3− Rω î + Rω0 k̂
4 4

15. A mathematical pendulum of length l and mass m is suspended on a smoothly

running trolley of mass M . Another pendulum, also of length l and mass m
is suspended from the ceiling, displaced through angle a and then released
without initial velocity. The two pendulums collide centrally and perfectly
elastically. Find the angle φ through which the pendulum suspended from
the trolley swings out. (M = 3 kg, m = 2 kg, α = 60◦ .)

16. A block is attached to the ceiling by a spring that has a force constant
K = 200 N/m. A conducting rod is rigidly attached to the block. The
combined mass of the block and the rod is m = 0.3 kg. The rod can slide
without friction along the two vertical parallel rails, which are a distance
ℓ = 1 m apart. A capacitor of known capacitance C = 500µF is attached
to the rails by the wires. The entire system is placed in a uniform magnetic
field B = 20 T directed inwards as shown. Neglect the self inductance and
electrical resistance of the rod and all wires. The angular frequency (in rad/s)
of the vertical oscillations of the block is 4ω. Find the value of ω ?

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17. A wooden bus of mass M = 20, 000 kg ( M represents the mass excluding
the wheels) is on a ramp with angle 30◦ . Each of the four wheels is composed
of a ring of mass M2 and radius R = 1 m and 6 evenly spaced spokes of mass
M
6 and length R. All components of the truck have a uniform density. Find
the acceleration of the bus down the ramp assuming that it rolls without
slipping.
Answer in m/s2 .

18. A potato gun fires a potato horizontally down a half-open cylinder of cross-
sectional area A. When the gun is fired, the potato slug is at rest, the
volume between the end of the cylinder and the potato is V0 , and the pres-
sure of the gas in this volume is P0 . The atmospheric pressure is Patm , where
P0 > Patm . The gas in the cylinder is diatomic; this means that Cv = 5R/2
and Cp = 7R/2. The potato moves down the cylinder quickly enough that
no heat is transferred to the gas. Friction between the potato and the barrel
is negligible and no gas leaks around the potato.

The parameters P0 , Patm , V0 , and A are fixed, but the overall length L of
the barrel may be varied.

a. What is the maximum kinetic energy Emax with which the potato can
exit the barrel? Express your answer in terms of P0 , Patm , and V0 .

b. What is the length L in this case? Express your answer in terms of

P0 , Patm , V0 , and A.

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19. A plank of mass M is placed over smooth triangular wedge with angle of in-
clination 30◦ . Block of mass m is connected to the plank by massless string.
A cylinder of mass M and radius R is now placed over the plank, such that
one end of the string, wrapped over cylinder is fixed and parallel to incline.
Coefficient of friction between cylinder and plank is sufficient for pure rolling
of cylinder. If system is released from rest with condition that M = 4 m.
The acceleration of plank is kg 2
13 m/s . Find the value of k.

20. A car is moving with velocity vC along positive x axis on the road as shown
in the figure. A shooter S is at some distance from the road. He has a detec-
tor which can detect signal only of frequency 1500 Hz. The car blows horn
of frequency 1000 Hz. When detector detects a signal, shooter immediately
shoots towards the road along PS and bullet hits the√car. If velocity of sound
in medium is 360 m/s and velocity of car vc = 80 3 m/s, then velocity of
bullet (in m/s ) is 36 N. Find N.