TFA3013 Classical Mechanics 1

TUTORIAL 3

1. A student kick a frictionless puck with initial speed u, so that it slides straight up a plane that is
inclined at an angle θ above the horizontal as shown in Figure 1. Find its position as a function of
time. How long will the puck take to return to its starting point?

Figure 1

2. A particle P, of mass m, is situated on the axis of a uniform disk, of mass M and radius a, as
shown in Figure 2. Find the gravitational force that the disk exerts on the particle.

Figure 2

3. The block in Figure 2 is sliding down the inclined surface of a fixed wedge. This time the
frictional force F exerted on the block is given by F = µN, where N is the normal reaction and µ is
a positive constant. Find the acceleration of the block. What happen when µ = tan α , µ < tan α
and µ > tan α ?

Figure 2
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4. A particle of mass m and charge e is moving along the x-axis with speed u when it passes
between two charged parallel plates. The plates generate a uniform electric field E 0 j in the
region 0 ≤ x ≤ b and no field elsewhere as shown in Figure 3. Find the angle through which the
particle is deflected by its passage between the plates.

Figure 3

5. A particle P of mass m moves under the gravitational attraction of a mass M fixed at the origin O.
Initially P is at a distance a from O when it is projected with the critical escape speed
(2MG / a )1 / 2 directly away from O. Find the distance of P from O at time t , and confirm that P
escapes to infinity.

6. If the Earth were suddenly stopped in its orbit, how long would it take for it to collide with the
Sun? [Regard the Sun as a fixed point mass. You may make use of the formula for the period of
the Earth’s orbit.]
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7. A light pulley can rotate freely about its axis of

symmetry which is fixed in a horizontal position.
A light inextensible string passes over the pulley.
At one end the string carries a mass 4m, while the
other end supports a second light pulley. A second
string passes over this pulley and carries masses m
and 4m at its ends. The whole system undergoes
planar motion with the masses moving vertically as
shown in Figure 4. Find the acceleration of each of
the masses.

Figure 4

8. A block starts at rest and slides down a frictionless plane inclined at angle θ. What should θ be so
that the block travels a given horizontal distance in the minimum amount of time?