Test: Mechanics Class: Name: Date:

Test: Mechanics Multiple-choice

Section A: Core C acceleration

1 A girl takes 10 s to walk 15 m towards the east,

then takes 15 s to walk 20 m towards the south.
Which of the following statements is/are true?
(1) The average speed of the girl is 1.5 m s–1.
time
(2) The magnitude of the displacement of the
girl is 25 m. D acceleration

(3) The magnitude of the average velocity of

the girl is 1.0 m s–1.
A (1) only.
B (2) only. time D
C (2) and (3) only.
C
D (1), (2) and (3). 3 A block remains at rest on a rough surface
when two horizontal forces (2 N and 5 N) act
2 Figure a shows the velocity-time graph of the on it as shown in Figure b.
motion of a car.
velocity 5N 2N

Fig b

If the 5 N force is removed, the resultant force

acting on the block is
time
0
A zero.
Fig a
B 1 N.
Which of the following shows the acceleration- C 2 N.
time graph of the car? A
D 3 N.
A acceleration

(For questions 4 and 5.) Three blocks (X, Y and

Z ) of the same mass are connected by two light
and inextensible strings (S1 and S2 ) as shown in
Figure c. They are pulled by a constant force F and
time
move with uniform acceleration a on a smooth
B acceleration
table. String S1 suddenly breaks.

S1 S2
X Y Z F

time Fig c

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 Class: Name: Date: Test: Mechanics

4 What will be the new tension in string S2 after 7

pull
a new acceleration is achieved?
A F
2
B F
3
1 Fig e
C F
2
1 A block is pulled by a force F along a smooth
D F C
3 inclined plane as shown in Figure e. Which of
the following diagrams correctly shows the
5 What will be the new acceleration of block Y? forces acting on the block?
3 A
A a F
2
4
B a
3
C a
2 B
D a A F
3

6 In Figure d, a box is placed inside a lift which

is moving downwards with uniform weight
acceleration.
C
F
lift

weight
friction

box

D normal
F1 reaction
F
F2

Fig d F3
weight
D
F1 is the gravitational force acting on the box.
F2 is the force acting on the box by the lift.
F3 is the force acting on the lift by the box.
Which of the following correctly describes the
relationship between the magnitudes of the
forces?
A F1  F2 = F3
B F1  F2 = F3
C F1 = F2  F3
B
D F1 = F3  F2

© Oxford University Press 2003 New Physics at Work 93

Test: Mechanics Class: Name: Date:

8 Peter and Mary, of masses 50 kg and 20 kg
respectively, stand on two stationary trolleys
on a smooth horizontal floor. They pull each
other with a string. The mass of each trolley
is 10 kg.
Peter
Mary
Fig f
Which of the following statements is/are true?
(1) The tension pulling Mary is the same as
the tension pulling Peter.
(2) The acceleration of Mary is twice the
acceleration of Peter.
(3) If the string breaks suddenly, the speed
of Mary is twice the speed of Peter.
A (1) only.
B (1) and (2) only.
C (2) and (3) only.
D
D (1), (2) and (3).
10 Which of the following phenomena can be
explained by Newton’s first law of motion?
(1) A stone and a piece of paper fall with the
same acceleration in a vacuum tube.
(2) A passenger in a car tends to move
backwards when the car suddenly starts
to move.
(3) Hot gas is pushed downwards from a
rocket when the rocket is moving
upwards.
A (1) only.
B (2) only.
C (1) and (3) only.
B
D (2) and (3) only.
(For questions 11 and 12.) Mass A of 10 kg and
mass B of 15 kg are connected by a light inelastic
string passing over a smooth pulley. Initially mass
A is on the ground while mass B is held 10 m
above the ground. Mass B is then released.
B

10 m
9 The acceleration due to gravity on the Moon
is about one-sixth of that on the Earth. Which Fig g A
of the following is/are correct? (Neglect air
resistance.)
11 What is the acceleration of mass B?
(1) The weight of a 1-kg mass on the Moon is
A 1 m s–2
smaller than that on the Earth.
B 2 m s–2
(2) To accelerate a 1-kg mass at 1 m s–2
horizontally, a smaller horizontal net C 6 m s–2
force is required on the Moon than on the B
D 10 m s–2
Earth.
(3) It takes a shorter time for a 1-kg mass to 12 What is the greatest height reached by
drop 1 m from rest on the Moon than on mass A?
the Earth. A 10 m
A (1) only. B 11 m
B (1) and (2) only. C 12 m
C (2) and (3) only. C
D 13 m
A
D (1), (2) and (3).

94 New Physics at Work © Oxford University Press 2003

 Class: Name: Date: Test: Mechanics

13 Which of the following processes involve(s) a 14 1st statement: Mechanical work is a non-
rate of energy transfer of 50 W? negative quantity.
(1) A 5-kg mass decelerates from 10 m s–1 to 2nd statement: Mechanical work is a scalar
rest in 5 seconds. quantity.
D
(2) Raise a 2-kg mass vertically upwards for
5 m in 4 seconds.
(3) Push a 3-kg mass on a rough horizontal 15 1st statement: When a ball is thrown upwards,
table at a constant speed of 2 m s–1 with a its acceleration is zero when it is at the
25-N horizontal force. highest position.

A (1) only. 2nd statement: When a ball is thrown

upwards, it is instantaneously at rest when it
B (1) and (3) only.
is at the highest position.
C (2) and (3) only. D
B
D (1), (2) and (3).

Directions: Each question below consists of two

statements. Decide whether each of the two
statements is true or false. If both are true, then
decide whether or not the second statement is a
correct explanation of the first statement. Then
select one option A, B, C or D according to the
following table:

1st 2nd
statement statement

A True True 2nd statement is a

correct explanation
of the 1st statement

B True True 2nd statement is not

a correct explanation
of the 1st statement

C True False

D False True

© Oxford University Press 2003 New Physics at Work 95

 Test: Mechanics Class: Name: Date:

Section B: Core + Extension D velocity

E 16 A rectangular block is projected up a rough

inclined plane from point O. It reaches the
highest point H and then returns to the
original position O. Assume the friction time
0
between the block and the inclined plane is
A
constant.

E 17 Trolley X moving at a speed of 1.5 m s–1

collides head-on with another stationary
H
trolley Y on a smooth horizontal runway.
They stick together and move with a speed of
O 0.6 m s–1. The ratio of the mass of trolley X to
the mass of trolley Y is
Fig h
5
A .
2
Which of the following correctly shows the 3
B .
velocity-time graph of the block in the above 2
process? (Take upwards along the inclined 2
C .
plane as positive.) 3
2
A D . C
velocity 5

(For questions 18 and 19.) A 2-kg trolley moving

at 5.0 m s–1 collides with a 1-kg trolley moving at
time 2.0 m s–1 on a smooth runway as shown in Figure i.
0
After the collision, the two trolleys stick together.

5 m s –1 2 m s –1
B
velocity
before
2 kg 1 kg
collision

commom velocity
time
0
after
2 kg 1 kg
collision

Fig i

C velocity
E 18 The common velocity of the two trolleys after
collision is
A 3.0 m s–1.

time
B 3.5 m s–1.
0
C 4.0 m s–1.
C
D 4.2 m s–1.

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 Class: Name: Date: Test: Mechanics

E 19 The total loss in kinetic energy of the trolleys E 22 The graph of kinetic energy of a body against
is the square of its velocity is shown in Figure k.
A 0 J. What is the momentum of the body when its
velocity is 3 m s–1?
B 3 J.
KE / J
C 6 J.
B
D 9 J.
18

(For questions 20 and 21.) A 20-g marble travels v2 / m2 s –2

0 9
to the right at 0.4 m s–1 on a smooth, level surface.
It collides elastically with a 60-g marble moving to
Fig k
the left at 0.2 m s–1 (Fig j). The collision lasts for
0.1 s. After the collision, the 60-g marble moves at A 6 kg m s–1
0.02 m s–1 in the original direction. B 12 kg m s–1
C 18 kg m s–1
0.4 m s –1 0.2 m s –1
D Cannot be determined as the mass
B
of the body is unknown.

20 g 60 g

Fig j

E 20 The velocity of the 20-g marble after the

collision is
A 0.14 m s–1 to the left.
B 0.14 m s–1 to the right.
C 0.26 m s–1 to the left.
A
D 0.26 m s–1 to the right.

E 21 The average force acting on the 60-g marble

during collision is
A 0.11 N.
B 0.12 N.
C 0.13 N.
A
D 0.18 N.

© Oxford University Press 2003 New Physics at Work 97

Test: Mechanics Class: Name: Date:

Test: Mechanics Conventional

Section A: Core

1 A wooden block of mass 4 kg on a rough horizontal table is attached to a hanging mass Page total
of 6 kg by an inextensible light string passing over a smooth pulley. The friction
between the block and the table is 10 N. The 4-kg block is released from rest.

4-kg wooden block

>1m

6-kg mass

>1m
Fig a

(a) (i) Find the acceleration of the wooden block. (3 marks)

Let T be the tension in the string and a be the acceleration of the wooden block and

hanging mass.

6 × 10 – T = 6a (1M)

T – 10 = 4a (1M)

⇒ a = 5 m s–2 (1A)

(ii) Find the tension in the string. (1 mark)

Substituting a = 5 m s–2 into either equation in (i)

T = 30 N (1A)

(b) Find the velocity of the wooden block after it has moved by 1 m. (2 marks)

By v 2 – u 2 = 2as (1M)

v = A1
21× 1
51×1
11
1

= 3.16 m s–1 (1A)

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98 New Physics at Work © Oxford University Press 2003

 Class: Name: Date: Test: Mechanics

2 A man of mass 60 kg is going to take a bungy jump from a bridge of height 100 m
above a river. His legs are tied with a light and elastic string of length 50 m. Neglect
air resistance. Page total

bridge

50-m elastic string

100 m

Fig d

(a) The man drops off the bridge from rest. How long does he take to fall 50 m below
the bridge? (2 marks)
1 2
By s = ut + at (1M)
2
2 × 50
11111
t=D
10

= 3.16 s (1A)

(b) Find the velocity of the man when he is 50 m below the bridge. (2 marks)

By v = A1
211
gh (1M)

v = A1
21× 11
11
10 × 1
11
50

= 31.6 m s–1 (1A)

(c) The string stretches for 20 m before the man comes to rest at the lowest position.

(i) Fill in the corresponding energies in the following table when the man is at
different positions. Some have been done for you. (6 marks)

At 50 m below At the lowest × 1A)

(61
On the bridge
the bridge position
Gravitational potential
0 –30 000 42 000
energy of the man (J) 0

Kinetic energy of the man (J) 0 30 000 0

Elastic potential energy of

0 0 42 000
the string (J)
Total mechanical energy (J) 0 0 0 Go on to the next page

© Oxford University Press 2003 New Physics at Work 99

Test: Mechanics Class: Name: Date:

(ii) Describe the energy change as the man falls from the bridge to the lowest
position. (2 marks)
Page total
Gravitational potential energy of the man is converted into the elastic potential energy

of the string. (2A)

OR

In the first 50 m of fall, the gravitational PE of the man is converted into KE of him. (1A)

After that, the KE and gravitational PE of the man is converted into the elastic potential

energy of the string. (1A)

(d) Air resistance exists in real situation. Describe how it affects the value of total
mechanical energy at the lowest position below the bridge. (1 mark)

The total mechanical energy will be negative (or reduced) at the lowest position. (1A)

Section B: Core + Extension

3 Peggy uses a simple device to measure the acceleration of a bus. The device consists
of a protractor, a string and a 0.1-kg mass as shown in Figure b. When the bus
accelerates from rest with a constant acceleration towards the right, the small mass
swings a little bit backwards and seems to be static relative to the bus, as shown in
Figure c.

device for measuring

acceleration

Peggy

Annie’s position
Fig b

When the bus is at When the bus

rest or moves at accelerates
constant velocity. towards the right.

Fig c
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100 New Physics at Work © Oxford University Press 2003

 Class: Name: Date: Test: Mechanics

(a) Draw a labelled diagram in

the space below to show all
the forces acting on the mass Page total
when the bus accelerates from tension θ
rest as observed by Annie who
is standing still on the ground.
(Air resistance is neglected.)
(2 marks)
weight

E (b) When the bus accelerates from rest, the angle between the string and the vertical
is 10° . Find the tension in the string. (2 marks)

E (c) Find the horizontal force acting on the mass. Hence find the acceleration of the
bus. (2 marks)

(b) Resolve the forces vertically and horizontally,

T cos θ = mg (1M)
0.1 × 10
T=
cos 10°

= 1.02 N (1A)

(c) Horizontal force acting on the mass = T sin 10° (1M)

= 0.177 N
0.177
The acceleration of the bus =
0.1

= 1.77 m s–2 (1A)

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© Oxford University Press 2003 New Physics at Work 101

Test: Mechanics Class: Name: Date:

4 Read the following passage and answer the questions that follows:

Page total

Safety helmets
According to international
standard, the safety helmets of
construction workers should be
able to withstand at least 50 J of
impact energy. That means, a
construction worker wearing the
safety helmet should be
protected from being injured by
a spanner falling from the tenth
Fig e
floor of a building.

It is found that the safety helmets available in the market and being
used in construction sites generally meet the safety standard. Some of
them can resist up to 100 J of energy (50 J more than the standard).
Most buildings in Hong Kong are, however, several tens of storeys
high. When an object unfortunately falls from the upper parts of these
building, the impact energy usually exceeds 50 J which is beyond the
protective power of the helmet.
To effectively protect workers from being struck by falling objects,
construction sites should have safety measures such as safety net and
covered walkways.

(a) What is meant by the term ‘impact energy’ in the article? (1 mark)

(b) In an accident, a 150-g spanner falls from the 30th floor of a building and hits the
safety helmet worn by a construction worker. The safety helmet meets the
international safety standard.

(i) With reference to the international safety standard, would the worker get
injured? Justify your answer. (Assume the height of each storey is 3 m and
neglect the height of the worker.) (3 marks)

(ii) Find the velocity of the spanner just before it strikes the helmet. (2 marks)

E (iii) Assume the spanner strikes the helmet in 0.01 s and rebounds vertically
with 10 m s–1, calculate the average NET force acting on the spanner.
(2 marks)

(iv) Hence calculate the average force acting on the helmet during the collision.
(3 marks)

E (c) There is a layer of stiff foam within the helmet. Explain briefly how it contributes
to protect the head of the worker. (2 marks) Go on to the next page

102 New Physics at Work © Oxford University Press 2003

 Class: Name: Date: Test: Mechanics

(a) Kinetic energy (1A)

Page total

(b)(i) KE of the spanner on top of the helmet = PE of it at the 30th floor

= mgh (1M)

= 0.15 × 10 × 3 × 30

= 135 J  50 J (1A)

The worker would get injured. (1A)

(b)(ii) v = A1
21
g1
h (1M)

v = A1
21× 11
11
10 × 1
11
90

v = 42.4 m s–1 (1A)

mv – mu
(b)(iii) By F = and take downwards to be positive (1M)
t
0.15 × (–10 – 42.4)
Average net force acting on the spanner Fnet =
0.01

= –786 N (1A)

(b)(iv) Fnet = Upward force acting on the spanner – weight of spanner (1M)

Upward force acting on the spanner = –786 – (0.15 × 10)

= –787.5 N

By Newton’s third law, (1A)

the average (downward) force acting on the helmet by the spanner is 787.5 N (1A)

(c) The stiff foam deforms when the falling object strikes the helmet, (1A)

the kinetic energy of the falling object is absorbed in the process.

OR

the time of impact is prolonged so that the impact force is reduced. (1A)

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© Oxford University Press 2003 New Physics at Work 103

Test: Mechanics Class: Name: Date:

5
motion sensor

10 m 5m 5m 5m Page total

102 103 104 105

101

Fig f

In Figure f, a motion sensor is installed above the door of room 101. It records the
motion of a woman coming out from room 103 in a velocity-time graph as shown in
Figure g.

1.2

1.0
velocity ( m/s )

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

-2 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28
- 0.2 time ( s )
- 0.4

- 0.6

- 0.8

- 1.0

Fig g

E *(a) Describe the motion of the woman of room 103 in the first 14 s. (6 marks)

(b) What is the physical meaning of the area under the curve in Figure g?
(1 mark)

(c) At a certain moment of this 26-second time interval, the woman stands outside a
room for a while. And finally she enters another room.

(i) Which room does the woman stand outside? Explain your answer briefly.
(3 marks)

(ii) Which room does the woman enter finally? Explain your answer briefly.
(2 marks)

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104 New Physics at Work © Oxford University Press 2003

 Class: Name: Date: Test: Mechanics

(a) For the first 10 s, the woman walked away from Room 101. (1A)

The woman accelerated uniformly at a rate of 0.2 m s–2 in the first 5 s. (1A) Page total

and decelerated uniformly at the same rate from t = 5 s to t = 10 s. (1A)

Then, the woman stopped for 2 s until t = 12 s. (1A)

From t = 12 s to t = 14 s, the woman walked towards Room 101 with

a uniform acceleration of 0.5 m s–2. (1A)

For effective communication (1C)

(b) The area under the v-t graph represents the distance traveled by the woman in 26 s.

(1A)

(c)(i) The woman stopped by a room for 2 seconds after t = 10 s.

The distance traveled in the first 10 s

1
= (10)(1) (1M)
2

= 5 m (away from Room 101) (1A)

The woman stopped by Room 104. (1A)

(c)(ii) The woman entered another room after t = 26 s.

The distance traveled from t = 12 s to t = 26 s

1
= (6 + 14)(1) = 10 m (towards Room 101) (1A)
2

The woman finally entered Room 102. (1A)

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© Oxford University Press 2003 New Physics at Work 105

 Test: Mechanics Class: Name: Date:

E 6

Page total
motion sensor 1

trolley A

trolley B
motion sensor 2

C
B
A

4
3
2
1

Fig h

Figure h shows the data-logging experimental set-up for investigating elastic collisions.
Two motion sensors are set up at each end of a runway. Trolley A is given a sharp
push so that it runs along the runway and collides with trolley B. Figure i shows the
velocity-time graph of the motion of the two trolleys. Both trolleys are of mass 0.5 kg.
velocity (m/s)

0.40

— Velocity, Ch1&2 Run#1

— Velocity, Ch3&4 Run#1
0.20

0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5

time (s)
- 0.20

Fig i

(a) Which graph represents the motion of trolley A? Which represents the motion of
trolley B? Why is one of the graphs negative? (3 marks)

*(b) A student reads the velocities of the trolleys from the graph and works out
momentum as follows:
Momentum before collision = 0.5 kg × 0.36 m s–1 = 0.18 kg m s–1
Momentum after collision = 0.5 kg × 0.30 m s–1 = 0.15 kg m s–1
The student then concludes that momentum is not conserved in this collision.

Is momentum not conserved? How do you account for the irregular results?
(5 marks)

(a) Trolley A — upper graph (1A)

Trolley B — lower graph (1A)

The lower graph is negative since trolley B moves towards motion sensor 2. (1A)

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106 New Physics at Work © Oxford University Press 2003

 Class: Name: Date: Test: Mechanics

(b) Trolley A does not stop after colliding with trolley B. (1A)

If the momentum of trolley A after collision is counted, momentum will be Page total

more conserved. (1A)

Total momentum just before collision = 0.5 kg × 0.36 m s–1

= 0.18 kg m s–1

Total momentum just after collision = 0.5 kg × 0.06 m s–1 + 0.5 kg × 0.30 m s–1

= 0.18 kg m s–1

Furthermore, the graph shows that the trolleys gradually slow down after collision. (1A)

This shows that the runway was not adjusted for friction-compensation accurately. (1A)

For effective communication (1C)

END OF PAPER

© Oxford University Press 2003 New Physics at Work 107