1. A block move freely on a horizontal ground with a dynamic coefficient of friction 0.3.

If the
initial speed of the block is 4.5 m/s, find
(a) the acceleration of the block, and (2 marks)
(b) the stopping distance of the block. (2 marks)
2. Two masses of mass 2 kg and 0.5 kg respectively are connected by a light string which passes
over a light pulley suspended from the ceiling as shown below.

2 k g

0 . 5 k g
(a) Find the acceleration of the two masses. (2 marks)
(b) Find the tension of the string. (1 mark)

3. (a) Figure 10.1 shows a man of mass 60 kg standing against the wall of a cylindrical
compartment called a ‘rotor’. The level of the rotor’s floor can be adjusted. The diameter of the
rotor is 5.0 m.

w a l l
F A

F B

f l o o r w e i g h t

4 . 0 m
Figure 10.1
The rotor is spun at a certain speed about its central vertical axis so that, at this angular
speed, the man remains ‘pinned’ against the wall even if the floor of the rotor is pulled
downwards.
(i) Name the forces FA and FB acting on the man. (2 marks)
(ii) It is known that the maximum value of FA equals 0.6 FB. Find the minimum angular
speed, in radian per second, of the rotor needed to keep the ‘pinned’ against the wall.
(3 marks)
(iii) If the mass of the man is smaller than 60 kg, would the result in (a) (ii) increase,
decrease or remain unchanged ? Explain briefly. (2 marks)
(b) For a donut-shaped space station that is far from any planetary objects. It is designed such
that the astronauts live at the periphery 2.0 km from the centre. Describe how an ‘artificial
gravity’ of 10 N kg-1 can be created at the periphery. (3 marks)
1
4. In 1989, the spacecraft ‘Voyager 2’ was sent from earth to the Neptunian system. Before this
expedition, two satellite of Neptune had been discovered, namely Triton and Nereid. Five more
satellites were discovered after this expedition. Their diameters d, period T and orbital radii
about Neptune r are as follows :
Satellite d / km T / hr r / 103 km
New :
1989 N1 420 26.90 117.6
1989 N2 200 9.22 70.6
1989 N3 140 8.22 64.1
1989 N4 160 6.89 58.0
1989 N5 90 5.48 47.8
Previously known :
Triton 2 720 140.90 354.3
Nereid 340 8 640 5 500
Given : radius of the earth = 6 300 km
(a) (i) Calculate the gravitational potential at the earth’s surface. (2 marks)
(ii) Find the minimum energy supplied to each kilogram of the mass of the spacecraft so
as to enable it to escape from the earth’s gravitational pull. Show your working.
(2 marks)
(b) Suggest a reason why 1989 N1 was not discovered from earth though it is bigger than
Nereid. (1 mark)

r3 GM
(c) It can be shown that the orbital radius r and period T satisfy the relation =
T 2
4π 2
where M is the mass of Neptune.
(i) What is the major assumption for the validity of the above relation ? (1 mark)

(ii) Using the information from the newly discovered satellites 1989 N2 to 1989 N5 of
Neptune, plot a suitable graph to find the mass of Neptune. Show your working.
(6 marks)
-11 2 -2
(Given : Gravitational constant G = 6.7 × 10 N m kg )

2
5. A space shuttle is launched into a circular orbit around the earth at an altitude of 1.2 ×105 m.
(Given : radius of the earth = 6.4 × 106 m)
(a) (i) Find the orbital speed of the shuttle. Show your working. (3 marks)
(ii) Calculate the gravitational force acting on an astronaut of mass 50 kg in the shuttle.
(2 marks)

(b) Two astronauts A and B, each of mass 50 kg, float in the cabin of the shuttle. They
approach each other in opposite directions with the same speed of 1.5 m s -1. Astronaut A
carries with him a toolbox of mass 20 kg.
(i) Explain why the astronauts appear to be ‘weightless’ in the cabin. (1 mark)
(ii) In order to avoid colliding head-on with B, A thrown the toolbox to B, and B grasps
the box once it reaches him. How can a collision be avoided by so doing ? (2 marks)
(iii) Calculate the minimum speed that the toolbox should have when it reaches B in
order to avoid a collision. (4 marks)
(iv) Use the result in (b) (iii) to find the corresponding work that is done on the toolbox
by A. (2 marks)

6. Figure 15.1 shows a light spring fixed vertically to the ground at its lower end and with a small
aluminium pan of negligible weight attached to its upper end. When a small block of mass 0.2
kg is placed on the pan, a compression of 8 cm is observed after the pan settles. Assume the
spring obeys Hooke’s law and damping can be neglected.

Figure 15.1

(a) Find the force constant (i.e. force per unit extension or compression) of the spring.
(1 mark)
(b) (i) If the block and the pan are pushed slightly downwards and released, calculate the
period of oscillation of the system. (2 marks)
(ii) Find the maximum amplitude for which the block would not leave the pan.(3 marks)
(iii) Figure 15.2 shows the variation of kinetic energy of the block with its height above
the ground. (The gravitational potential energy of the block is taken to be zero at the
ground.)

3
 k i n e t i c
e n e r g y / J

0 . 0 2

Figure 15.2
0 . 0 1

0
5h
0 . 0 5 0 . 1 0 e i g h t / m
0 . 1
(I) Find the amplitude of oscillation of the block. (1 mark)

(II) If the total energy of the system remains constant at 0.123 J, find the maximum
elastic potential energy stored in the spring. (2 marks)
(c) The system is now brought to a planet with a smaller gravitational field strength than that
of the earth. How would the answers to (b)(i) and (b)(ii) be affected ? Explain briefly.
(2 marks)

7. Figure 4 shows a small bead of mass m connected by two identical elastic light strings to points A
and B respectively, with A vertically above B. The separation between A and B is 2.0 m. The
bead is at rest when it is 0.8 m above B and both strings are taut.

2 . 0 m
Figure 16.1
m

0 . 8 0 m
B

(a) (i) Write down an equation relating the tensions in the strings with the weight of the
bead. (1 mark)

(ii) If each string has an unstretched length of 0.7 m and a force constant of 1.5 N m-1,
find m. (2 marks)

(b) The bead is now displaced vertically a small distance y from its equilibrium position and
is then released from rest. (Neglect air resistance and assume that both strings are always
taut.)
(i) What is the maximum allowed value of y such that the strings remain taut when the
4
 bead oscillates ? (1 mark)

(ii) Show that the restoring force is given by –3.0 y and calculate the period of
oscillation of the bead. (3 marks)

(c) With the bead resting at its equilibrium position, the lower string is cut. Find
(i) the initial acceleration of the bead; (2 marks)
(ii) the new equilibrium position of the bead and its maximum speed in the subsequent
motion. (5 marks)
8. Figure 35.1 shows a smooth box in which a small block of mass m is connected by two identical
light springs to opposite sides, A and B, of the box.

b o x m
A B

x Figure 35.1
T 1 m T 2

Initially both springs are stretched an equal amount e and the force constant is 5 N m-1 each.
The block is now displaced a small distance along AB from the equilibrium position and is
released from rest. (Assume that both springs are always in tension.)
(a) When the block is at distance x from the equilibrium position, write down the expressions
for the tensions, T1 and T2, in the springs. Show that the motion of the block is simple
harmonic. (4 marks)
(b) Figure 35.2 shows the time variation of the potential energy of one of the springs.

p o t e n t i a l e n e r g y

Figure 35.2

0
0 . 3 0 . 6 0 . 9 1 . 2t i m e / s

(i) Using crosses, indicate on the graph the points corresponding to the time at which
the block is at its extreme positions. (1 marks)
(ii) Find the period of oscillation and the mass of the block. (4 marks)
(c) State the change, if any, in the period of oscillation if
(i) the box is tilted at a small angle to the horizontal; (1 marks)
(ii) a larger box with greater separation AB is used. (1 marks)
5
9. An earthquake propagates in the form of waves. The quake centre produces both longitudinal
and transverse waves, which are known as P waves and S waves respectively. The two types of
wave propagate at different speeds in the earth’s crust. Figure 11.1 shows distance-time graphs
for these two waves.
d i s t a n c e / k m
P S

8 0 0

6 0 0

4 0 0

2 0 0

0
3 0 6 0 9 0 1 2 0 1 5 0 1 8 0 t i m e / s
Figure 11.1
(a) With reference to the vibrations of particles, state the difference between longitudinal and
transverse waves. (1 mark)
(b) (i) Find the speed of the P waves and of the S waves. (2 marks)
E
(ii) The speed of the P waves can be approximated by where E and ρare
ρ
respectively the Young modulus and the average density of the earth’s crust.
Estimate E if ρ = 2.3 × 103 kg m-3. (2 marks)

6
 Three detecting stations A, B and C are located at the vertices of an equilateral triangle as
shown in Figure 11.2. Their mutual separation is 300 km. Figure 11.3 shows the records
(seismograph traces) of an earthquake recorded by these stations. Due to the difference in
speeds, the P and S waves are detected at different times. Such a time difference is called the
S-P interval. The S-P intervals are respectively 92 s, 138 s and 45 s for stations A, B and C.
s t a S - rP t i n t e r v a l
A

C
X
P S
Y
C B B
P S
5 0 k m Z
A
5 0 k m P S

Figure 11.2 Figure 11.3

(c) (i) What evidence in the records shows that station C is closest to the quake centre ?
(1 mark)
(ii) Use Figure 11.1 or otherwise to find the distances of stations A and B from the quake
centre. Which position in Figure 7.2, X, Y or Z, is the approximate location of the
quake centre ? (3 marks)
(d) The frequency of the quake waves is approximately 5 Hz. It is known that the natural
frequencies of bridges F and G are respectively 3 Hz and 8 Hz. Explain why bridge G
would collapse more easily in an earthquake. (2 marks)

10. Figure 34.1 shows a uniform wire which is held taut but unstretched between a fixed point and a
smooth cylindrical peg of radius 1.5 cm. The force constant of the wire is 8.4 × 10 2 N m-1. The
tension in the wire can be increased by rotating the peg about its fixed axis so that some wire is
wound onto the peg.
w i r e

p e g
Figure 34.1
(a) When the peg is rotated through an angle of 2π, calculate
(i) the tension in the wire. (2 marks)

(ii) the work done in rotating the peg. (2 marks)

7
 (b) The about wire is part of a musical instrument. Two knife edges, A and B, are placed 0.42
m apart under the stretched wire as shown in Figure 34.2. The mass of the wire between A
and B is 5.8 × 10-4 kg. (Assume that the presence of the two knife edges would not affect
the tension in the wire.)

A w i r e B

0 . 4 2 m
p e g

Figure 34.2
(i) Calculate the frequency of the fundamental note emitted when the wire between A
and B is plucked. (3 marks)
(ii) State THREE difference between the waves in the wire and the fundamental note
emitted. (3 marks)
(iii) Draw a diagram to show the vibration of the wire between A and B when it is
vibrating at the second harmonic. (1 marks)
A B

11. (a) (i) A certain machine in a factory produces a 60 dB sound level when operated. Taking
I0 as the threshold of hearing, calculate the maximum number of machines which can
be operated at the same time in the factory if the noise level is not permitted to
exceed 66 dB.
(ii) Suppose the ventilation system of the factory produces a back ground noise level of
3.8 dB. Would the total noise level exceed the noise limit of 66 dB when the
maximum number of machines [as found in (i)] are operating in the factory? Explain
your answer.
(5 marks)
(b) The following table shows some typical situation in everyday life. State the approximate
noise-levels found in these situations.
Situation Noise level /dB
(i) Quiet places such as libraries and hospital wards
(ii) Normal traffic noise in Hong Kong
(iii) Near a working construction site
(2 marks)
(c) Name one design feature used to lower the noise levels in buildings built near airports or
busy highways. (1 marks)

8
12.

t w i r e

5 0 m m

Figure 50.1
To measure the diameter of a metal wire, the wire is placed between two flat parallel-sided
glass plates as shown in Figue 50.1, forming a wedge-shaped air film of length 50 mm. The
plates are illuminated from above by sodium light of wavelength λ and interference fringes are
observed from above.
(a) Draw a labelled diagram of a suitable experimental arrangement which includes the
apparatus of Figure 50.1 to measure the separation between adjacent fringes. (3 marks)
(b) Briefly explain the formation of the fringes and hence write down in terms of λ and t, the
condition for a bright fringe to be produced at a particular point where the separation of
the plates is t. (see Figure 50.1) (3 marks)
(c) In this experiment, the wavelength of the light is 589 nm, and the fringes are found to
have a separation of 0.157 mm. Calculate the diameter of the wire. (4 marks)
(d) If the space in the wedge is filled with water of refractive index 1.32, what will happen to
the fringe pattern observed? Explain your answer briefly. (2 marks)

13. (a) Explain what is meant by the normal adjustment for an astronomical refracting
telescope and why it is used in this way. (2 marks)
(b) (i) Draw a diagram to show the passage of three light rays passing through an
astronomical refracting telescope from a point on a distant object (not on the axis of
the telescope) when it is used with normal adjustment. Mark the foci of the objective
lens (Fo) and eyepiece (Fe) clearly on your diagram. State the functions of the
objective lens and eyepiece.
(ii) What is the meaning of the magnifying power of the astronomical refracting
telescope with normal adjustment ? State the ways of increasing the magnifying
power and discuss the limitations on its value.
(iii) What is the major disadvantage of the astronomical refracting telescope for viewing
objects on the ground ? With the help of a suitable diagram, show how this
disadvantage can be overcome.
(10 marks)

9
Q.4 graph paper

10