A bob of mass 0.1 kg hung from the ceiling of a room by a string 2 m long is set into oscillation. The speed of the bob at its mean position is 1 ms-1. What is the trajectory of the bob if the string is cut when the bob is (a) at one of its extreme positions, (b) at its mean position.
(a) Vertically downward
(b) Parabolic path
(a) At the extreme position, the velocity of the bob becomes zero. If the string is cut at this moment, then the bob will fall vertically on the ground.
(b) At the mean position, the velocity of the bob is 1 m/s. The direction of this velocity is tangential to the arc formed by the oscillating bob. If the bob is cut at the mean position, then it will trace a projectile path having the horizontal component of velocity only. Hence, it will follow a parabolic path.
The driver of a three-wheeler moving with a speed of 36 km/h sees a child standing in the middle of the road and brings his vehicle to rest in 4.0 s just in time to save the child. What is the average retarding force on the vehicle? The mass of the three-wheeler is 400 kg and the mass of the driver is 65 kg.
A pebble of mass 0.05 kg is thrown vertically upwards. Give the direction and magnitude of the net force on the pebble,
(a) during its upward motion,
(b) during its downward motion,
(c) at the highest point where it is momentarily at rest.
Do your answers change if the pebble was thrown at an angle of 45° with the horizontal direction? Ignore air resistance.
A train runs along an unbanked circular track of radius 30 m at a speed of 54 km/h. The mass of the train is 106 kg. What provides the centripetal force required for this purpose - The engine or the rails? What is the angle of banking required to prevent wearing out of the rail?
A monkey of mass 40 kg climbs on a rope (Fig. 5.20) which can stand a maximum tension of 600 N. In which of the following cases will the rope break: the monkey
(a) climbs up with an acceleration of 6 m s-2
(b) climbs down with an acceleration of 4 m s-2
(c) climbs up with a uniform speed of 5 m s-1
(d) falls down the rope nearly freely under gravity?
(Ignore the mass of the rope).
A shell of mass 0.020 kg is fired by a gun of mass 100 kg. If the muzzle speed of the shell is 80 ms-1, what is the recoil speed of the gun?
A block of mass 15 kg is placed on a long trolley. The coefficient of static friction between the block and the trolley is 0.18. The trolley accelerates from rest with 0.5 ms-2 for 20 s and then moves with uniform velocity. Discuss the motion of the block as viewed by (a) a stationary observer on the ground, (b) an observer moving with the trolley.
Ten one-rupee coins are put on top of each other on a table. Each coin has a mass m. Give the magnitude and direction of
(a) the force on the 7th coin (counted from the bottom) due to all the coins on its top,
(b) the force on the 7th coin by the eighth coin,
(c) the reaction of the 6th coin on the 7th coin.
One end of a string of length l is connected to a particle of mass m and the other to a small peg on a smooth horizontal table. If the particle moves in a circle with speed v the net force on the particle (directed towards the centre) is:
(i) T, (ii) T - mv2 / l , (iii) T + mv2 / l , (iv) 0
T is the tension in the string. [Choose the correct alternative].
Some of the most profound statements on the nature of science have come from Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientists of all time. What do you think did Einstein mean when he said : “The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible”?
The sign of work done by a force on a body is important to understand. State carefully if the following quantities are positive or negative:
(a) work done by a man in lifting a bucket out of a well by means of a rope tied to the bucket.
(b) work done by gravitational force in the above case,
(c) work done by friction on a body sliding down an inclined plane,
(d) work done by an applied force on a body moving on a rough horizontal plane with uniform velocity,
(e) work done by the resistive force of air on a vibrating pendulum in bringing it to rest.
A geyser heats water flowing at the rate of 3.0 litres per minute from 27 °C to 77 °C. If the geyser operates on a gas burner, what is the rate of consumption of the fuel if its heat of combustion is 4.0 x 104 J/g?
Estimate the fraction of molecular volume to the actual volume occupied by oxygen gas at STP. Take the diameter of an oxygen molecule to be 3Å.
A cyclist starts from the centre O of a circular park of radius 1 km, reaches the edge P of the park, then cycles along the circumference, and returns to the centre along QO as shown in Fig. 4.21. If the round trip takes 10 min, what is the
(a) net displacement,
(b) average velocity, and
(c) average speed of the cyclist?
A refrigerator is to maintain eatables kept inside at 9°C. If room temperature is 36° C, calculate the coefficient of performance.
A physical quantity P is related to four observables a, b, c and d as follows :
The percentage errors of measurement in a, b, c and d are 1%, 3%, 4% and 2%, respectively. What is the percentage error in the quantity P ? If the value of P calculated using the above relation turns out to be 3.763, to what value should you round off the result ?
Estimate the average mass density of a sodium atom assuming its size to be about 2.5 Å. (Use the known values of Avogadro’s number and the atomic mass of sodium). Compare it with the density of sodium in its crystalline phase : 970 kg m–3. Are the two densities of the same order of magnitude ? If so, why ?
A child sits stationary at one end of a long trolley moving uniformly with a speed V on a smooth horizontal floor. If the child gets up and runs about on the trolley in any manner, what is the speed of the CM of the (trolley + child) system?
Explain why
(a) To keep a piece of paper horizontal, you should blow over, not under, it
(b) When we try to close a water tap with our fingers, fast jets of water gush through the openings between our fingers
(c) The size of the needle of a syringe controls flow rate better than the thumb pressure exerted by a doctor while administering an injection
(d) A fluid flowing out of a small hole in a vessel results in a backward thrust on the vessel
(e) A spinning cricket ball in air does not follow a parabolic trajectory
The unit of length convenient on the nuclear scale is a fermi : 1 f = 10 - 15 m. Nuclear sizes obey roughly the following empirical relation : r = r0 A1/3
where r is the radius of the nucleus, A its mass number, and r0 is a constant equal to about, 1.2 f. Show that the rule implies that nuclear mass density is nearly constant for different nuclei. Estimate the mass density of sodium nucleus. Compare it with the average mass density of a sodium atom obtained in Exercise. 2.27.
Three girls skating on a circular ice ground of radius 200 m start from a point P on the edge of the ground and reach a point Q diametrically opposite to P following different paths as shown in Fig. 4.20. What is the magnitude of the displacement vector for each? For which girl is this equal to the actual length of the path skated?
A narrow sound pulse (for example, a short pip by a whistle) is sent across a medium.
(a) Does the pulse have a definite (i) frequency, (ii) wavelength, (iii) speed of propagation?
(b) If the pulse rate is 1 after every 20 s, (that is the whistle is blown for a split of second after every 20 s), is the frequency of the note produced by the whistle equal to or 0.05 Hz?
In problem 10.9, if 15.0 cm of water and spirit each are further poured into the respective arms of the tube, what is the difference in the levels of mercury in the two arms? (Specific gravity of mercury = 13.6)