1.

interval when the diode is open, we can also neg-

DC-DC converter

1)

(1 pt) From the Kircho 's voltage law for

L and E , E = L dI
, hence
dt
= Et/L. From I0 = EL /L we obtain

the loop consisting of

lect the presence of the diode since

Hence, the current

V0  Vmax .

LC -loop changes in
from i = I0 and end-

in the

time sinusoidally, starting

hence its trajectory is an ellips with longer semiaxis equal to

proportionality coecient. Then

RE /2.

According to the Kepler's

3/2
III law, the period on such an orbit is 2

times shorter than the Earth's orbital period

T.

0
Fm = Fm
(d)d =

because

d = x.

kn
x,
dn+1

Therefore

L = LI0 /E.
2) (1 pts) Once the current I0 is reached, the key
is opened; the current trough L cannot change

i = 0 (then the diode will close disconnecting the LC -loop). During that process, the
2
1
magnetic energy of the inductor 2 LI0 is conver-

3)

ted into the electric eld energy of the capacitor,

needs to be zero; hence, in the Earth's frame

instantaneously and therefore is forced to ow

is described by this problem)

which is later released as heat on the resistor.

of reference, it is opposite to the orbital ve-

have two equations with two unknowns (n and

When the stationary regime is achieved, the en-

locity of the Earth and by modulus equal to

k):

ergy lost by the capacitor during one period (of

v0 = 29.8 km/s.
4) The speed vS

R.

through the resistor

Since the characteristic

time of this current loop (consisting of

is very short (L/R

 K ),

and

the current decays

ing when

L ) as the heat dissipation on the res2

Q = Vav
L /R must be equal to the energy

duration

very fast and becomes essentially equal to zero

istor

while the key is still open. Now there is no cur-

received from the inductor; so,

rent through the inductor, so that the key will

close again and the process will start repeating
from the beginning.

As a result we'll have a

periodic graph as shown in gure.

I
I0

2
Vav
L
1
= LI02 Vav = I0
R
2

6)

LR
=
2L

EI0 R
.
2

found as

qC = L Vav /R

(owing to

RC  LC ,

the relative change of the capacitor's voltage

is small).

3)

Hence, the voltage drop is found as

V = qC /C = L Vav /(RC).

maximal values, so that the amplitude

maximal when the current is maximal, which

happens immediately after the switch is opened;

I0 so that Vmax = RI0 .

Vmax  V0 , we can neglect

U0 =

the maximal current is

4)

(2 pts) Due to

the eect of the diode; so we have the Kircho 's

dq
dI
voltage law L dt = RI = R dt (here we expressed the current via the charge q which ows
through the resistor). Integration over a single
cycle (when the inductor current drops from
down to

0)

yields

LI0 = Rq ,

I0

hence the charge

own through the resistor (and through the diode)

q = I0 L/R.

During that cycle, the diode

V0 ,
A = V0 q

had a constant voltage

so the electric eld

performed work

which was released

as heat in the diode. So, the average power dissipation

(2 pts) Now, since the characteristic time of

RC -loop

is very large, the capacitor main-

2.

1)

Waste project

the Earth's orbit needs to be as large as posit to the elliptical orbit), hence the full orbital
GM m
energy of the ship E = 2a
needs to be as
small as possible. Here, M is the mass of the
Sun,

 the mass of the space ship, and

the longer semiaxis. So,

a needs to be as large as

possible, which means that the perihelion needs

2a = RE + rS ,

where

the Earth and

rS

RE

is the orbital radius of

 the radius of the Sun. The

2a

RE + rS

r
vS =

Re

 

Part of the initial kinetic energy in the

Sun

2)

If we neglect the radius of the Sun, the space

RC  TLC ), we can neg-

ship needs to fall directly to the Sun, which

lect the presence of the resistor. During the time

means that its initial orbital speed must be zero,

2
vE
+ 2gR 29.2 km/s.

Magnets

net: the downwards directed gravity force

T~ ,

is almost equal to

mg ,

horizontal projection is expressed as

kn
mg
=
.
dn+1
l

4.

Superballs

1)

During

the

bottom-most

collision

ball

will

(x/l)mg ,
x = 1 cm

is the length of the thread and

the
its

oor,

the

speed

and

v0 = v . Let the k-th ball move up with a

vk ; we'll consider the collision between
this and (k + 1)-st ball, which moves down with
the velocity v . In the frame of reference of the
vk f v
centre of mass, u =
; hence, after the
1+f
collision the upwards velocity equals to vk+1 =
f v
2
= 1+f
vk + 1f
v . With v0 = v , we
v + 2 vk1+f
1+f


3f
4
can conclude that v1 = 1+f v = 1+f 1 v . 2)
speed

velocity

One can see that if we apply the recurrent formula repetitively, the result at the n-th step will
n
2
vn = 2 1+f
1 v.
3) Now we need to relate the speeds to the jump2
2
ing heights via v = 2gh0 and vn = 2ghn ; hence,

hn /h0 =

~m .
F

so that its

with

retain

change the direction of the velocity; its upwards

m~g ,

Since the thread's angle is very small, the mod-

T~

kn
mg

= 0;
dn+1
l

xmg
k
=
,
dn
l

which is directed along the

thread, and the horizontal magnetic force

ulus of

Thus we

this can be rewritten as

be

There three forces acting on the hanging magthe tension force

k
xmg

= 0,
dn
l

F = 0.

d/n = x, hence
n = d/x = 4.

of the potential energy due to the gravitational

GME m
= gmR hence
pull of the Earth, =
R
2
2
vE
u
gR + 2 = 2 . Here, ME is the Earth's mass
and u is the launching speed. So,

3.

x.

equations we obtain

2rS

= v0 2 sin
v0 .
R E + rS
2
Numerically this yields vS 2.8 km/s; the speed
in the Earth's frame of reference vE = v0 vS
27.0 km/s.
vS = v0

If we divide the corresponding sides of the two

GM 2rS
.
R E R E + rS

u=

kn
mg

dn+1
l

At the limit case of the loss of stability (which

This expressing can be rewritten by using equal2

GM
as
ity v0 = R

rE

F =

in the Sun's frame of reference

hence

where

resulting trajectory is depicted below.

LC -loop is

and as the current to the resistor

can be neglected (since

sible (we need to decelerate the ship to bring

rbit

TLC = 2 LC

In order to

minimize the fuel consumption, the speed near

opens, the diode will open, and the capacitor

formed. That
loop admits oscillations of period

In the Sun's frame of reference, the speed

is found from the expression for the total energy,

GM m
GM m
GM m
mvS2

5)

The trajectory is a very elliptical ellipse, peri-

helion of which is within the Sun.

of time when the diode is closed. Once the key

is connected to the inductor so that a

of the period, so that

Earth's frame of reference goes to the change

tains its charge (and voltage) during that period

K1

I0
.
2RE

Earths o

the

L Vav
I0 L
V
=
=
2
2RC
2C

to lie at the surface of the Sun, in which case

A
V0 I0 L
V0 E
P =
=
=
.
L
RL
R
5)

The amplitude is

half of the dierence between the minimal and

(1 pt) The voltage through the resistor is

t=2

(1 pt) The charge which ows away from

the capacitor when the diode is closed can be

t is half
T 64.6 days.

The travel time

5/2

For

f = 0.5

vn /v0 =

2
1+f

n
1.

n = 10 we obtain that the nal

ca 1200 larger than the initial one.

and

height will be
5.

s 

Planck's constant

(the displacement from the initial position). The

1)

net horizontal force

battery, we can observe the light of the emit-

equilibrium

ted light; the mapping is as follows:

is stable if

F = Fm (x/l)mg . At the
point F = 0. The equilibrium point
a small (virtual) displacement x

gives rise to a returning force

x
F = Fm
mg
l
which needs to push towards the equilibrium
point. Let F
= kdn , where k is an unknown

When we connect each of the diodes to the

940 nm 
620 nm  red, 590 nm  orgreen; 470 nm  blue; 450 nm

invisible (infrared),
ange,

525 nm

 violet.

2)

We can measure the current

through the

diode (which is also the current through the resistor

R),

so that the voltage on the diode would

be

Vd = E IR,

but we don't know the battery

voltage. However, we do know that the diode's

voltage equals approximately to the photon's
energy

Ep

hc/(e).
if we plot

Ep =
IR = E Vd ,

expressed in electron volts,

Since we expect that

IR

versus

1/,

we should obtain a

straight line

IR = E

3)

h =

which allows us to calculate

The major source of the uncertainty is not

the instrument uncertainties, but the departure

of the real diode data from the simplistic model.
Therefore we can try to t the data points with
dierent straight lines making the slope

as

steep as possible (while still keeping a reasonable t with the data points, and also as at
as possible; the uncertainty of
A = 21 (Amax Amin ), and h
6.

1)

For small values of the argument of the hy-

over all the photons, the perpendicular to the

those molecules which collide with the cube at

perbolic tangent, the last expression can be ap2

proximated as E N  /4kT .

surface normal components cancel out (photons

low temperatures to the overall momentum re-

go to all the directions).

mains still small.

4)

the parallel component can be estimated just as

pk Ec .

According to the denition of the heat capa2

2
dE
city, C = dT = N  /4kT .
8.

Mirror interference

1)

1 hc
.
e

We can measure the slope of the straight line

A = hc/e,
eA/c.

3)

A is found
= hA/A.

as

For a position

= y/L

angle

the arriving rays form an

imation; the angle is in radians). Then, the optical path dierence between the reected and
2
direct rays is = 2l cos 2N N .
Since there is an additional phase shift for the
reected rays at the reection from optically
denser dielectric material, the total phase shift
2
is = 2/ = 4N (2N 1). At the
maxima, this equals to
is an integer.

2(2N n),

Let us

vx vy point A with

2)

n + 0.5
yn = L
N
n = 0, 1, . . .  N .

n + 0.5
,
N

x-axis,

the max-

ima form on the screen concentric circles; the

plane: we need to move from the

pitch between the neighbouring circles becomes

(v, 0)

(0, v)

to a point

with coordinates

while having a constant speed. Indeed,

the velocity of a point in the

vx vy -plane

is

the acceleration of the body, which has here a

constant modulus

g .

Obviously,the fastest

path
is a straight line of length

v 2,

so that

smaller as the order number

radii
form a sequence

3)

number of maxima

stant, the trajectory is the same as for a body

9.

According to Boltzmann's distribution, p =

em , where the constant A can be found

from the condition that the probability of having either up or down orientation is one:
e/2 + A e/2 = 1, hence

1
1
A = /2kT
=
.
2 cosh(/2kT )
e
+ e/2kT
Thus,
/2kT

p =
2)

e
.
e/2kT + e/2kT

The average energy is the weighted average

of up- and down-state energies for a single spin,

multiplied by the number of spins:
/2kT
/2kT

N e
e
N
E=
=
tanh(/2kT ).
2 e/2kT + e/2kT
2

max = 4N +

and

min = .

The

1)

hence

is the Stefan-Boltzmann con-

 the radiating area. This simpli-

es to

4)

T = 0,

Using the graph we nd

this as the area under the curve, q R560 J/K.

3
The number of moles = a /MA 0.117 mol,

Q = q 546 J.
2) Each photon of frequency radiated by the
cube carries away heat energy equal to E = h ,
and carries momentum p = h/ = h/c = E/c.
If the photon departs at the angle with rehence the total heat energy

The setup is as follows. The rubber thread

is xed to the stand, and the plastic bag is xed

to the free end of the thread. The hex nuts are
added, one-by-one, into the bag, starting with
zero and ending with 15. The laser light is directed to the thread and the diraction pattern
is observed on the screen (which is a vertically
xed sheet of graphic paper on a support). The
diraction pattern from a wire is the same as
from a single slit (the superposition of the Huygens sources from those two cases gives a full set

and opposite wave amplitudes and equal intensities). So, if we measure on the screen the dis-

between such maxima which are separ-

ated by

n (e.g. n = 10) periods of the diraction

tance

pattern then using small-angle-approximation,

n/d = a/L,

where

In the case of a hydrogen atmosphere, the

that the molecules colliding with the coated

they came, but uncoated face gives away heat
energy, and the molecules leave at higher temIf we assume that the departing

a part of the energy is transferred), then the

where

vT =

RT /MH

1/vT ,

is the thermal speed of

the molecules after the collision with the cube

for the motion along the surface normal. So we
3
estimate a v Q/vT , hence

Q
a3

 the thread dia-

The strain is calculated by making markings on

the thread and measuring the distance

MH
180 m/s.
RT

b between

these in a stretched state,

b b0
,
b0

faces bounce back with the same speed as the

momentum-to-heat ratio is estimated as

is the distance from the

d = nL/a.

momentum is given to the cube due to the fact

perature.

thread to the screen and

meter. So,

dT
= Bt T = A eBt .
T

when particles of dierent masses collide, only

For the heat energy of one mole of material

no heat energy by

is a constant,

stant, and

1)

Young's modulus of rubber

elds from those two cases must provide equal

cube (which serves us only as an estimate 

Thermal acceleration

dq = Cv dT .R There is
T
hence q =
Cv dT .
0

10.

of sources on a at wave front, hence the electric

Q
v 3 0.67 mm/s.
a c

molecules have the same temperature as the

m = (max min )/2 = 2N.

in the Earth's eld of gravity  a parabola.

1)

3 1.73,

only within a hemisphere, the phase shift varies

2)

Spin system

1 = 1,

Since the reected rays can reach the screen

between

7.

grows (using the

etc).

t = v 2/g 7.2 s.

Since the direction of the acceleration is con-

length unit dened by the

smallestradius, the

5 2.23,

momentum equals to

The heat balance at very low temperatures

3
4
can be written as AT dT = ST dt, where

Since the rays of a given order number

form a xed angle with the

1/c, the overall

Q/c. Thus, a3 v Q/c,

same for all the photons, equal to

3)

consider the this graphically using the

coordinates

Since the momentum-energy ratio is the

1
If we apply the exact factor 3 (obtained above
via integration), we end up with v 0.22 mm/s.

maxima is written as

where

During the process, the velocity vector needs

where

If we want to obtain an exact result, we need

to integrate over all the directions while keeping
in mind that the light intensity is proportional to
cos .
So, the momentum
R 2 averaged over all the
1
directions pk = Ec 2
cos d, where the solid
angle dierential d = 2 sin d. Therefore, pk =
R
R /2 2
/2
E
E
.
sin cos2 d = E
cos d cos = 3c
c
c
0
0

Therefore, the condition for the

Running on ice

to change its direction by 90 degrees.

y,

(we use the small-angle approx-

The average value of

where

b0

is the length in a non-strained state.

The stress is calculated as

=
where
and

4N mg
,
d2

is the number of hex nuts in the bag

 the mass of a single nut.

The data

are plotted in a graph; linear relationship corresponds to a straight line.

The uncertainties

are calculated using the rule of relative uncertainties, either using Pythagorean or simple addition, e.g.

= b
where

b 0.5 mm

2
1
+
b b0
b0

is the length measurement

uncertainty. Similarly,

= 2

It should be noted that in fact, one should have

d
.
d

been careful with such an estimate, because the

These uncertainties are marked in the graph as

spect to the surface normal then the componE

ent parallel to the surface normal pk = c cos .

thermal speed is at the denominator. This will

error bars.

increase the relative contribution of the heat ra-

2)

The total momentum given by the photons to

diated at low temperatures.

value of

the cube equals by modulus to the total mo-

maining heat at low temperatures is propor4

tional to T , and therefore the contribution of

mentum carried by the photons; when averaged

However, the re-

Using the plot, we need to determine such a

that for

1 > ,

it is impossible

to draw a straight line intersecting the error bars

of all the data points with

1 < .