Physics 1110

Practice/Review for Midterm 3

November 12 & 13, 2014
( 11 / 12-13 / 14 )!

Some moments of inertia of circular objects about their center:

Ihoop

= MR2

Isolid disk

= 1/2 MR2

Isolid sphere = 2/5 MR2

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1)

A mass is sitting on a rotating merry-go-round that is rotating with constant angular

velocity. At the moment when the mass is at the far right (as shown in the
diagram), which free-body diagram most accurately represents the forces on the
mass?
mass

platform

2)

A)

D)

C)

B)

E)

In the previous question, the object with mass m = 3.0 kg sits on the merry-goround at a distance R = 2.0 m from the center, and is moving with constant angular
velocity with a period T = 1.57 sec. What is the magnitude of its acceleration?
(Linear acceleration, not angular acceleration.)
a) 8.0 m/s2
b) 9.8 m/s2
c) 32 m/s2
d) 64 m/s2
e) 96 m/s2

3)

If you drop a pebble from rest, what is the change in speed of the pebble during
the time interval between t = 2 seconds and t = 6 seconds?
a) no change.
b) increases by 2.45 m/s.
c) increases by 9.8 m/s
d) increases by 19.6 m/s.
e) increases by 39.2 m/s.

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4)

Two masses of size m and 4m are connected by a

massless thread and are strung over a frictionless pulley of
radius R and moment-of-inertia I. The two masses are
held motionless at the same height and then released from
rest. After the mass 4m has fallen a distance L and the
mass m has risen the same distance L, what is the total
kinetic energy of the entire system?

m
L
4m

A) 4 m g L
B) 2 m g L
C) 3 m g L
D) 4 m g L + (1/2) I R2
E) None of these

5)

A mass m is suspended by two strings as shown, with (unknown) tensions T1 and

T2 . One of the strings is horizontal and the other makes an angle with the
horizontal ceiling, as shown. What is the magnitude of the vertical component of
the tension T2?
a) mg cos
b)

mg
sin

c) mg sin
d)

T1

mg
cos

e) None of these.

Page 3 of 10

T2

The following image and description are used for the next two problems. It is a "ballistic
pendulum", which is used to measure the speed of a bullet. The bullet, of mass m and
velocity vb, is fired into a block of wood of mass M, which is suspended like a pendulum.
When the bullet hits the block, it is lodged in the wood, and the bullet and block swing
up together to a maximum height h.

vb+B

vb
6)

A 4 gram (0.004 kg) bullet is fired at vb = 1002 m/s and is lodged into the wooden
block of mass 2.0 kg. Immediately after the bullet is fully lodged in the block, what
is the velocity of the bullet and block together (vb+B)?
a) 2.00 m/s
b) 2.01 m/s
c) 20.1 m/s
d) 20.2 m/s
e) 120.1 m/s

7)

What is the maximum height that the bullet/block pendulum reaches?

a) 0.03 m
b) 0.20 m
c) 0.42 m
d) 1.09 m
e) Impossible to tell without knowing how deep the bullet is lodged in the block.

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8)

The graph shows angle vs. time t of a wheel spinning around a fixed axis.
The graph shows:
a) < 0 then > 0 , > 0
b) > 0 then < 0 , < 0
c) > 0 , > 0
d) < 0 , > 0
e) > 0 , = 0

9)

An irregularly-shaped object of total mass M is free

to rotate about a frictionless axis. The moment-ofinertia about the axis is I. The object, initially at
rest, is acted on by a torque of constant magnitude
for a time t. There are no other torques acting.
After the time t, what is the magnitude of the angular
velocity of the bar?
a)

t
I

b)

It

c)

t
M

d) Zero

axis
M, I

e) None of these.

10) Edward and Cindy are riding a merry-go-round which is turning at a constant rate.
Edward is sitting near the outer edge, while Cindy is sitting closer to the center.
Who is undergoing a larger acceleration?
a) Edward
b) Cindy
c) Both have the same non-zero acceleration
d) Both have zero acceleration

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11) A pendulum consists of a mass m at the end of

a string of length L. The mass is at an initial
height h0 (measured from the lowest point) and
is given a small initial speed v0. What is the
maximum height h to which the mass swings?
a) h 0 +
d)

2g
vo2

v 02
- h 0
2g

b)

v0 h 0
2g

c) h 0 +

vo2
2g

e) None of these

12) A tennis ball (mass 0.020 kg) moves right with an initial velocity of +10 m/s. It is
struck by a tennis racket for a period of time t = 0.05 sec. The ball rebounds to
the left with a final velocity of -15 m/s. What is the impulse (change in momentum)
given to the ball? As usual, we indicate direction in this 1D problem with a sign: (+)
sign means to the right; () sign means to the left. (Neglect friction and gravity.)
a) 0.10 kg m/s
b) 10.0 kg m/s
c) + 10.0 kg m/s
d) 0.50 kg m/s
e) + 0.50 kg m/s

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13) A mass is hanging from the end of a horizontal bar which pivots about a frictionless
axis through its center, but is being held stationary. The bar is then released and
begins to rotate.
As the bar rotates from horizontal to
vertical, the magnitude of the angular
acceleration of the bar...
a) increases
b) decreases
c) remains constant
d) none of these

14) A student holding two weights sits on a rotating

chair and slowly spins around (without friction).
After a few seconds he pulls his arms inwards as
shown. As the student pulls in his arms, the
kinetic energy of the student+stool system...
a) increases
b) decreases
c) remains constant

15) Two masses, of size 3m and m, are at rest on a

frictionless surface. A compressed, massless spring
between the masses is suddenly allowed to
uncompress, pushing the masses apart.
After the masses lose contact with the spring, the
kinetic energy of 3m is ____ the kinetic energy of m.
a) less than

b) greater than

c) equal to

d) not enough information to solve

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3m

16) A frictionless sliding ice cube and two rolling objects, a hoop and a disk, are
moving on a horizontal surface with the same initial speed v toward an inclined
plane. All three objects have the same mass M; both rolling objects have the
same radius R, and roll without slipping.
all have same initial speed v

Ice cube

hoop

disk

Which object will go the furthest up the incline? Assume the objects don't bump
into each other.
a) ice cube
b) disk
c) hoop
d) The hoop and the disk reach the same height, higher than the ice cube.
e) All three reach the same maximum height.

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17) Consider the following collision (which may or may not be physically possible): Box
1 of mass m, moving to the right with speed v, collides with Box 2 of mass 2m,
initially at rest. Immediately after the collision, both Box 1 and Box 2 are moving to
the right with speed v/3. What can you say about the total momentum and total
kinetic energy (KE) during this collision?

BEFORE

m 2m

2m
(rest)

v/3

AFTER

a) Both total momentum and total KE were conserved.

b) Neither total momentum, nor total KE were conserved.
c) Total momentum was conserved, but total KE decreased.
d) Total momentum was conserved, but total KE increased.
e) Total KE was conserved, but total momentum was not.

18) Suppose you are standing on a cart, initially at rest on a track with very little
friction. You throw a ball at a partition that is
rigidly mounted on the cart. If the ball bounces
straight back as shown in the figure, is the cart
put in motion?
a) Yes, it moves to the right.
b) Yes, it moves to the left.
c) No, it remains in place because moving would violate conservation of
momentum.
d) No, it remains in place because moving would violate conservation of energy.
e) No, because the ball has a smaller mass than the cart plus the person.

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19) A bowling ball of mass m and radius r rolls without slipping at velocity v. What is
its total kinetic energy?
a)
b)

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c)

d)

e)

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20) A 1000 kg car traveling at 25 m/s runs directly into a stationary 70 kg physics
professor on a skateboard. After the collision, the professor and skateboard are
launched forward at 35 m/s.
What is the total momentum of the
car+professor+skateboard after the collsion?
a) 2.5 x 104

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b) 3.2 x 104

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c) 8.6 x 104

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d) Cannot be answered without knowing how much energy was converted to heat.
e) Cannot be answered because this situation is physically impossible.

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