Exercise

Lift
1. Subra stands on a weighing machine in
a lift. If the mass of Subra is 58 kg,
determine the reading of the weighing
machine when the lift is.
(a) stationary
(b) moving upward with a uniform
velocity of 2 ms-1
(c) moving upward with a uniform
acceleration of
1 ms-2
(d) moving downward with a uniform
acceleration of 1 ms-2
(consider gravitational acceleration, g to
be 10 ms-2)
2. A box of mass 1.6 kg is suspended from
a spring balance hanging from the
ceiling of a lift.
What is the reading on the spring
balance if

Find the tension in the rope and the

acceleration of the 3 kg mass when the
5 kg mass is released.
2. A 1.5 kg trolley is being pulled by a 0.5
kg weight with the help of a pulley
system.

Calculate the acceleration of the trolley.

(Take g = 10 ms-2)
3. Figure shows a pulley system with two
loads, A and B, connected by a nonelastic rope that passes over a
frictionless pulley. (Take g = 10 ms-2)
(a) the lift is stationary?
(b) the lift moves upwards at an
acceleration of
2 ms-2?
(c) the lift moves downwards at an
acceleration of
3 ms-2?

Pulley System
1. Two masses of 5 kg and 3 kg are
connected to a rope which passes over
a frictionless pulley.

(a) Determine the resultant force, F, of

the system and state the direction of
the movement of each load.

(b) Calculate the magnitude of the

acceleration of load A.
4. A 2 kg weight is connected by a rope to
a 3 kg wooden block. The rope passes
over a smooth pulley as shown in figure.
Determine the magnitude and the
direction of the resultant force using the
parallelogram of forces method.
3. Samy and Heng pull a crate with forces
70 N and 90 N respectively.

The weight is then released. Find the

tension in the rope if a friction of 5 N
acts against the wooden block.

Force In Equilibrium
Resultant Force
1. An ocean liner is towed into harbour by
two tugs, A and B, exerting forces of 12
kN and 10 kN respectively and the tow
ropes making an angle 68 . Find the
resultant force acting on the liner.

Find the resultant force on the crate due

to these two forces.
4. Two forces of magnitude 5N and 12 N
act at a point respectively as shown I
figure below. The forces are
perpendicular to each other.
Resolution of Forces
1. Find the horizontal and vertical
components for each of the following
forces.

2. Figure shows a boat being pulled by two

forces with a magnitude of 300 N and
400 N respectively. The angle between
the forces is 60 .

2. A boy is pulling a toy car with a force of

6 N as shown in figure.

Find the horizontal component of the

force. If the toy car is moving with
constant velocity. What is the friction
against the toy car?

force of 50 N, which makes an angle of

30

with the direction of motion.

3. Santhiran pulls a 5 kg crate on the floor

with a force of 35 N. The friction against
the box is 8N.

What is the acceleration of the crate?

4. A gardener pushes a 250 kg concrete
roller with a force of 200 N directed from
the handle. The handle is at an angle of
33

to the horizontal.

The total mass of Tina and the trolley is

30 kg and the friction between the
trolley and the floor is 40 N.
What is
(a) the total of forces towards the left?
(b) the acceleration of Tina and the
trolley?
6. Find the resultant force of the two forces
as shown in figure.

(a) Find the horizontal and vertical

components of the force.
(b) What is the weight of the concrete
roller?
(c) If the gardener pulls the handle with
the same force in a reverse
direction, what is the downward
force on the ground then?
(d) In which direction, pushing or
pulling, would the roller be more
effective in levelling the grass?

5. Eric and Darren are pulling a trolley on

which their sister, Tina is sitting. Both
Eric and Darren pull the rope with a

Three Forces In Equilibrium

A lamp of weight 25 N is supported by

two ropes as shown in figure.
Given that the tension in rope A is 20 N,
find

1.

(a) the angle of

(b) the tension in the rope B

5.
A carton of mass 5 kg is at rest on an
inclined plane making an angle of 15

with the horizontal. Find the

frictional force and the normal reaction

force acting on the carton.

Each elephant in the diagram is pilling a

rope attached to a mass of 10 kg. The
elephants pull with a force of 5000 N.
Find the angle between the ropes
Can the ropes be pulled to become
horizontal?

6.
Figure shows a horizontal force, F acts
on a wooden block of weight 8 N placed
on a smooth plane inclined at 30

to

the horizontal.
What must the magnitude of F be to
prevent the block from sliding down?
3.

A mirror of weight 12 N is hung on the

wall using a string as shown.
Draw a scale drawing of a triangle of
forces to determine the tension, T in the
string.
(use the scale 1 cm : 2N)

Joan and her sister lift a pail of water of

total mass 5.6 kg. Each of them exerts a
force of F at 25
the magnitude of F.
4.

to the vertical. Find

7. Two forces of 60 N and 80 N act on an

object.
Find
(a) the greatest and the smallest forces
that can be exerted.
(b) the resultant force if the force 80 N
is acting to the right and is at right
angles to the 60 N force.
(c) the resultant force if the force 80 N is
acting to the right and is at 120
to the 60 N force.
8.

A footballer is injured and requires traction

on his foot as shown.
In the force of the traction is 125 N, what is
the mass, m required to pull the rope?
12.

Two astronauts push a 800 kg satellite

with forces of 35 N and 45 N which
make an angle of 60

with each

other. Find the resultant force and the

acceleration acquired by the satellite.
9.

Aunty Anne is ironing with a force of 6 N as

shown.
What is the effective force that pushes the
iron forwards.

A boy exerted a force of F to pull a box

of mass 2 kg up an inclined plane which
makes an angle of 30

with the floor.

Given that the friction acting on the box is

3 N, find
(a) the normal reaction force, R acting on
the box,
(b) the component of the weight down the
plane,
(c) the value of F is the box is moving up
the plane with an acceleration of 1 ms-2
13.

10.

A 3.5 kg flowerpot is supported by two

ropes as shown.
The rope attached to the wall is
horizontal and the rope attached to the

In a circus, a monkey is pulling his chain

with a forward force of 20 N as shown.
What force does the clown need to apply to
the chain to prevent the monkey from
moving forward?

ceiling makes an angle of 30

with

the horizontal.
Find the tension in each rope.
14.

11.

A wooden block is placed on top of a

smooth runway of length 2 m. The angle
of inclination with the floor is 30 .
Find
(a) the time and
(b) the velocity of the block
When it reaches the bottom of the
runway.

15.A bird of mass 0.6 kg stands on the

midpoint of a horizontal rope. The rope
sags and an angle of 150

is formed.

Find the tension in the rope

16. A traffic light of mass 15 kg is
suspended from two cables as shown.

In each of the objects, determine the

magnitude and direction of the resultant
force
Find the tension in each cable.
17.(a) Explain the equilibrium of forces.
(b) Figure shows a ball resting on a
field.

19 Two boats, P and Q are used to pull a

raft carrying a few elephants. Boat P
uses a force of 4500 N in the direction of
30

NW. Boat Q uses a force of 5000

N in the direction of 20 NE.

Draw and label the two forces that

cause the ball to be at rest.
(c) Figure shows a picture frame being
held by two identical strings.

(a) calculate the magnitude of the

resultant force.
(b) determine the direction in which the
raft is moving
Draw and label the three forces that are
in equilibrium so that the frame is at
rest.

20.A conductor uses a scraper to scrape

old paint away from a wall. He uses a
force of 12 N at an angle of 36
the wall.

18.(a) What is meant by resultant force?

(b) Figure shows forces acting on three
objects.

with

identical ropes, each at an angle of 40

with the vertical.

Calculate
(a) the vertical
(b) the horizontal
Components of the force acting on the wall.
21 During a training session, a 50 kg
trainee is at rest by holding two

(a) What is the weight of the trainee?

(b) Calculate the tension of each rope
(g = 9.8 Nkg-1)