2.

4 Newtons first law 73

kx = mg

12 N

mg
k
0.125 10
=
58
= 2.2 cm

x=

40

(b) The extension will be less, since the

acceleration of gravity is less.

20
15 N

?
Q

Figure 4.9 For question 3.

QUESTIONS
1 What is the net force on each of the bodies
shown in the diagrams in Figure 4.7? The
only forces acting are the ones shown.
Indicate direction by right, left, up and
down.

(a)

(b)

12 N

4 Why is it impossible for a mass to hang

attached to two horizontal strings as shown
in Figure 4.10?

8N

18 N

6N
8N

12 N

4N

10 N
5N

(c)

Figure 4.10 For question 4.

10 N
(d)

26 N

(e)

5 A mass is hanging from a string that is

attached to the ceiling. A second piece of
string (identical to the rst) hangs from the
lower end of the mass. (See Figure 4.11.)

(f)
4N

6N

6N

Figure 4.7 For question 1.

2 Find the magnitude and direction of the net
force in Figure 4.8.

20 N

20 N

Figure 4.11 For question 5.

45

45

Figure 4.8 For question 2.

3 In Figure 4.9, what must F and be such that
the three forces give a net force of zero?

Which string will break if:

(a) the bottom string is slowly pulled with
ever increasing force;
(b) the bottom string is very abruptly pulled
down?

74 Core Mechanics
6 A force of 10.0 N is acting along the negative
x-axis and a force of 5.00 N at an angle of 20
with the positive x-axis. Find the net force.

T2
45

T1

7 A force has components 2.45 N and 4.23 N

along two perpendicular axes. What is the
magnitude of the force?

T3

8 A weight of mass 12.5 kg hangs from very

light, smooth pulleys as shown in Figure 4.12.
What force must be applied to the rope so that
the mass stays at rest?

Figure 4.14 For question 10.

11 A rod of mass 5.00 kg is rst pulled and then

pushed at constant velocity by a force at 45
to the horizontal as shown in Figure 4.15.
Assuming that in both cases the frictional
force is horizontal and equal to 0.4 times the
normal reaction force on the rod, nd the
force F in each case. What does this imply?
F=?

45
F

Figure 4.12 For question 8.

f

9 A mass of 2.00 kg rests on a rough horizontal

table. The maximum frictional force between
the mass and the table is 12 N. The block is
attached to a hanging mass by a string that
goes over a smooth pulley. What is the largest
mass that can hang in this way without forcing
the block to slide? (See Figure 4.13.)

45

Mg

Mg

Figure 4.15 For question 11.

12 A 455 kg crate is being pulled at constant

velocity by a force directed at 30 to the
horizontal as shown in Figure 4.16. The
frictional force on the crate is 1163 N. What is
the magnitude of the pulling force?

F
30

Figure 4.13 For question 9.

Figure 4.16 For question 12.
10 A mass of 5.00 kg hangs attached to three
strings as shown in Figure 4.14. Find the
tension in each string. (Hint: Consider the
equilibrium of the point where the strings
join.)

13 (a) A 2598 kg aeroplane is moving

horizontally in a straight line at constant
velocity. What is the upward force on the
aeroplane?

2.4 Newtons first law 75

(b) The plane is now diving (again at constant

velocity) making an angle of 10 to the
horizontal. Find the lift force on the plane
assuming that it is normal to the velocity
of the plane.
14 A mass M is connected with a string to a
smaller mass m. The mass M is resting on an
inclined plane and the string goes over a
pulley at the top of the plane so that the
mass m is hanging vertically, as shown in
Figure 4.17. What must the angle of the plane
be in order to have equilibrium?

15 A mass m is attached to two identical springs

of spring constant k. The other end of each
spring is attached to the ceiling so that each
makes an angle with the vertical, as shown
in Figure 4.18. If the mass is in equilibrium,
what is the extension of each spring?

Figure 4.18 For question 15.

Figure 4.17 For question 14.

84 Core Mechanics
+

Figure 5.16 The two charges and the two masses are
different but the forces are equal and opposite.

?
Q

QUESTIONS
1 (a) Under what circumstances would a
constant force result in an increasing
acceleration on a body?
(b) Under what circumstances would a constant
force result in zero acceleration on a body?
2 A car of mass 1354 kg nds itself on a muddy
road. If the force from the engine pushing the
car forward exceeds 575 N, the wheels slip
(i.e. they rotate without rolling). What is the
maximum acceleration that the car can move
with on this road?
3 The net force on a mass of 1.00 kg initially at
rest is 1.00 N and acts for 1.00 s. What will
the velocity of the mass be at the end of the
1.00 s interval of time?
4 A mass of 2.00 kg is acted upon by two forces
of 4.00 N and 10.0 N. What is the smallest
and largest acceleration these two forces can
produce on the mass?
5 A man of mass m stands in an elevator. Find
the reaction force from the elevator oor on
the man when:
(a) the elevator is standing still;
(b) the elevator moves up at constant speed v ;
(c) the elevator accelerates down with
acceleration a ;
(d) the elevator accelerates down with
acceleration a = g .
(e) What happens when a > g ?
6 A bird is in a glass cage that hangs from a
spring scale. Compare the readings of the
scale in the following cases.
(a) The bird is sitting in the cage.

(b) The bird is hovering in the cage.

(c) The bird is moving upward with
acceleration.
(d) The bird is accelerating downward.
(e) The bird is moving upward with constant
velocity.
7 Get in an elevator and stretch out your arm
holding your heavy physics book. Press the
button to go up. What do you observe
happening to your stretched arm? What
happens as the elevator comes to a stop at the
top oor? What happens when you press the
button to go down and what happens when the
elevator again stops? Explain your observations
carefully using the second law of mechanics.
8 A block of mass 2.0 kg rests on top of another
block of mass 10.0 kg that itself rests on a
frictionless table (see Figure 5.17). The largest
frictional force that can develop between the
two blocks is 16 N. Calculate the largest force
with which the bottom block can be pulled so
that both blocks move together without sliding
on each other.
2.0 kg

10.0 kg

Figure 5.17 For question 8.

9 Figure 5.18 shows a person in an elevator
pulling on a rope that goes over a pulley and is
attached to the top of the elevator. Identify all
the forces shown and for each nd the reaction
force (according to Newtons third law). On
what body does each reaction force act?

Figure 5.18 For questions 9 and 10.

2.5 Newtons second and third laws 85

10 Take the mass of the elevator shown in

Figure 5.18 to be 30.0 kg and that of the
person to be 70.0 kg. If the elevator accelerates
upwards at 0.500 m s2, nd the reaction force
on the person from the elevator oor.

17 If a vertical downward force of 50.0 N acts on

the top block in Figure 5.20, what are the
forces on each block now.

11 A small passenger car and a fully loaded truck

collide head-on. Which vehicle experiences
the greater force?

19 Look back at Figure 5.18. The person has a

mass of 70.0 kg and the elevator a mass of
30.0 kg. If the force the person exerts on the
elevator oor is 300.0 N, nd the acceleration
of the elevator (g = 10 m s2).

12 What force does a man of mass 80.0 kg exert

on the earth as he falls freely after jumping
from a table 1 m high from the surface of the
earth?
13 Three blocks rest on a horizontal frictionless
surface, as shown in Figure 5.19. A force of
20.0 N is applied horizontally to the right on
the block of mass 2.0 kg. Find the individual
forces acting on each mass. Identify
actionreaction pairs.

18 A massless string has the same tension

throughout its length. Can you explain why?

20 (a) Calculate the tension in the string joining

the two masses in Figure 5.21.
(b) If the position of the masses is
interchanged, will the tension change?

30.0 kg
10.0 kg

F = 60.0 N

Figure 5.21 For question 20.

3.0 kg
5.0 kg

2.0 kg

Figure 5.19 For question 13.

14 A (massless) string hangs vertically from a
support in the ceiling. A mass of 10.0 kg is
attached to the other end of the string. What is
the force the string exerts on the support?
15 A block of mass 15.0 kg rests on a horizontal
table. A force of 50.0 N is applied vertically
downward on the block. Calculate the force
that the block exerts on the table.
16 A block of mass 10.0 kg rests on top of a
bigger block of mass 20.0 kg, which in turn
rests on a horizontal table (see Figure 5.20).
Find the individual forces acting on each
block. Identify actionreaction pairs according
to Newtons third law.

21 One hundred equal masses m = 1.0 kg are

joined by strings as shown in Figure 5.22. The
rst mass is acted upon by a force F = 100 N.
What is the tension in the string joining the
60th mass to the 61st?

......

Figure 5.22 For question 21.

22 A mass of 3.0 kg is acted upon by three forces
of 4.0 N, 6.0 N and 9.0 N and is in
equilibrium. Convince yourself that these
forces can indeed be in equilibrium. If the
9.0 N force is suddenly removed, what will
the acceleration of the mass be?
23 What is the tension in the string joining the
two masses in Figure 5.23? What is the
acceleration of each mass?

10.0 kg
20.0 kg

Figure 5.20 For question 16.

10.0 kg

Figure 5.23.

2.0 kg

F = 24 N

86 Core Mechanics
24 Two bodies are joined by a string and are pulled
up an inclined plane that makes an angle of
30 to the horizontal, as shown in Figure 5.24.
Calculate the tension in the string when:
(a) the bodies move with constant speed;
(b) the bodies move up the plane with an
acceleration of 2.0 m s2 .
(c) What is the value of F in each case?

25 The velocitytime graph in Figure 5.25 is a

students graph for the vertical motion of a
person who jumps from a helicopter and a
few seconds later opens a parachute.
(a) Using the laws of mechanics carefully
explain the shape of the curve. (When
does the parachute open? When does the
air resistance force reach its maximum
value? Is the air resistance force constant?)
(b) How would you improve on the students
graph?

F
4.0 kg
v
8.0 kg

30

Figure 5.24 For question 24.

Figure 5.25 For question 25.

2.6 Linear momentum 95

v

begins to leak from a small hole in the base of

the cart and falls out at a rate of kg per
second. (See Figure 6.15.) What happens to the
velocity of the cart?

Figure 6.15.
Answer

We look at things from the point of view of an

observer on the ground and take as our system
the cart plus all the water (including that which is
falling out). The falling water still moves with
the same velocity to the right as far as the
ground observer is concerned, and since there are
no external forces, momentum is conserved and
there can be no change of velocity.
We can also get the same answer if we take as
our system the cart and the water inside the cart.
As far as the ground observer is concerned, the
water leaves the cart with a horizontal velocity v
to the right. Thus, there is a force on the cart
directed to the left of magnitude v . Hence, the
observer deduces that, since net force rate of
change of momentum,
M
v
v =
v+M
t
t
v
= v + M
t
v = 0

Two-dimensional collisions
Consider a stationary body of mass 12 kg
that is hit by a 4.0 kg mass moving at
12 m s1. The collision is not head-on, and
the bodies move at an angle to the original
direction of motion of the 4.0 kg body as
shown in Figure 6.16 (the view is from the
top). How can we find the speeds of the two
bodies after the collision?

60
30
u

Figure 6.16.

Momentum is a vector and is conserved. This

means that
x-component of total momentum before
x-component of total momentum after
y-component of total momentum before
y-component of total momentum after
Thus
4 12 = 4 v cos 60 + 12 u cos 30
0 = 4 v sin 60 12 u sin 30
and so
2 v + 10.392 u = 48
3.464 v 6 u = 0
Solving simultaneously gives
v = 6.0 m s1
u = 3.5 m s1 .

QUESTIONS
1 The momentum of a ball increased by 12.0 N s
as a result of a force that acted on the ball for
2.00 s. What was the average force on the ball?
2 A 0.150 kg ball moving horizontally at
3.00 m s1 collides normally with a vertical
wall and bounces back with the same speed.
(a) What is the impulse delivered to the ball?
(b) If the ball was in contact with the wall for
0.125 s, nd the average force exerted by
the ball on the wall.
3 The bodies in Figure 6.17 suffer a head-on
collision and stick to each other afterwards.
Find their common velocity.

v2

Figure 6.17 For question 3.

2m

96 Core Mechanics
4 Two masses of 2.00 kg and 4.00 kg are kept on
a frictionless horizontal table with a
compressed spring between them. If the
masses are released, the larger mass moves
away with velocity 3.50 m s1. What is the
velocity of the other mass?
5 A 70.0 kg person stands at the back of a
200.0 kg boat of length 4.00 m that oats on
stationary water. She begins to walk toward the
front of the boat. When she gets to the front,
how far back will the boat have moved?
(Neglect the resistance of the water.)
6 A ball of mass 250 g rolling on a horizontal
oor with a speed 4.00 m s1 hits a wall and
bounces with the same speed, as shown in
Figure 6.18.
(a) What is the magnitude and direction of the
momentum change of the ball?
(b) Is momentum conserved here? Why or why
not?

Figure 6.19 For question 9.

(b) Explain why the two stars are always in
diametrically opposite positions.
(c) Hence explain why the two stars have a
common period of rotation and why the
inner star is the more massive of the two.
10 (a) A fan on a oating barge blows air at high
speed toward the right, as shown in Figure
6.20a. Will the barge move? Explain your
answer.
(b) A sail is now put up on the barge so that
the fan blows air toward the sail, as shown
in Figure 6.20b. Will the barge move?
Explain your answer.

45 45
sail
fan

fan

Figure 6.18 For question 6.

7 A mass of 0.500 kg moving at 6.00 m s1
strikes a wall normally and bounces back with
a speed of 4.00 m s1. If the mass was in
contact with the wall for 0.200 s nd:
(a) the change of momentum of the mass;
(b) the average force the wall exerted on the
mass.
8 A person holds a book stationary in his hand
and then releases it.
(a) As the book falls, is its momentum
conserved?
(b) What does the law of conservation of
momentum say for this example?
9 A binary star system consists of two stars that
are orbiting a common centre, as shown in
Figure 6.19. The only force acting on the stars
is the gravitational force of attraction in a
direction along the line joining the stars.
(a) Explain carefully why the total momentum
of the binary star is constant.

barge
(a)

barge
(b)

Figure 6.20 For question 10.

11 If you jump from a height of 1.0 m from the
surface of the earth, the earth actually moves
up a bit as you fall.
(a) Explain why.
(b) Estimate the distance the earth moves,
listing any assumptions you make.
(c) Would the earth move more, less or the
same if a heavier person jumps?
12 A time-varying force whose graph versus time
is shown in Figure 6.21 acts on a body of
mass 3.00 kg.
(a) Find the impulse of the force.
(b) Find the velocity of the mass at 17 s,
assuming the initial velocity was zero.
(c) What should the initial velocity be if the
mass had to stop at 17 s?

2.6 Linear momentum 97

17 Two cars A and B of mass 1200 kg and

1300 kg, respectively, collide at an
intersection and stick to each other as a result
of the collision as shown in Figure 6.24. Find
the speeds of A and B before the collision.

F/N

5.0 m s1

y
5

12

17

t/s

Figure 6.21 For question 12.

13 A rocket in space where gravity is negligible has

a mass (including fuel) of 5000 kg. If it is desired
to give the rocket an average acceleration of
15.0 m s2 during the rst second of ring the
engine and the gases leave the rocket at a speed
of 1500 m s1 (relative to the rocket), how
much fuel must be burned in that second?
14 Two masses moving in a straight line towards
each other collide as shown in Figure 6.22.
Find the velocity (magnitude and direction) of
the larger mass after the collision.
after

before
12.0 kg

4.0 kg
24.0 m s1

2.0 m s1

3.0 m s1

v=?

Figure 6.22 For question 14.

15 Two cars of masses 1200 kg and 1400 kg collide
head-on and stick to each other. The cars are
coming at each other from opposite directions
with speeds of 8.0 m s1 and 6 m s1,
respectively. With what velocity does the wreck
move away from the scene of the accident?
16 A 0.350 kg mass is approaching a moving rod
with speed 8.00 m s1. The ball leaves the rod
at right angles with a speed of 12.0 m s1 as
shown in Figure 6.23. What impulse has been
imparted to the ball?
12.0 m s1

8.00 m s1

Figure 6.23 For question 16.

45
x

Figure 6.24 For question 17.

18 A boy rides on a scooter pushing on the road
with one foot with a horizontal force that
depends on time, as shown in the graph in
Figure 6.25. While the scooter rolls, a constant
force of 25 N opposes the motion. The
combined mass of the boy and scooter is
25 kg.
(a) Find the speed of the boy after 4.0 s,
assuming he started from rest.
(b) Draw a graph to represent the variation of
the boys speed with time.
F/N
100
50

0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0

t/s

Figure 6.25 For question 18.

HL only
19 A student stands on a plate that is connected
to a force sensor that measures the force
exerted by the student on the plate. The
student then jumps straight up. Figure 6.26
is an idealized version of the reading of the
sensor as a function of time. Using this graph
nd the following:

98 Core Mechanics
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)

the mass of the student;

the acceleration of the student at 0.6 s;
the time the student leaves the plate;
the maximum height the student jumps to.
What would be a more realistic graph of
force versus time?

F/kN

force/N
10
8
6
4
2
time/s
0

2.0

10

Figure 6.27 For question 22.

1.5

HL only

1.0
0.5
t/s
0

0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8

Figure 6.26 For question 19.

20 A ball of mass m is dropped from a height of

h1 and rebounds to a height of h2 . The ball is
in contact with the oor for a time interval
of .
(a) Show that the average net force on the
ball is given by

F =m

2gh1 +

2gh2

(b) If h1 = 8.0 m, h2 = 6.0 m, = 0.125 s,

m = 0.250 kg, calculate the average force
exerted by the ball on the oor.
21 A ball of mass m hits a horizontal oor
normally with speed v1 and rebounds with
speed v2 . The ball stayed in contact with the
oor for a time of s. Show that the average
force on the ball from the oor during the
collision is given by m(v1+v2 ) + mg . Find an
expression for the average net force on the ball.
22 Figure 6.27 shows the variation with time of
the force exerted on a body of mass 4.0 kg
that is initially at rest. Find:
(a) the acceleration of the mass at 4 s;
(b) the velocity of the mass at 5 s;
(c) the acceleration of the mass at 8 s;
(d) the velocity of the mass at 10 s.

23 You have a mass of 60.0 kg and are oating

weightless in space. You are carrying 100 coins
each of mass 0.10 kg.
(a) If you throw all the coins at once with a
speed of 5.0 m s1 in the same direction,
with what velocity will you recoil?
(b) If instead you throw the coins one at a
time with a speed of 5.0 m s1 with
respect to you, discuss whether your nal
speed will be different from before. (Use
your graphics display calculator to
calculate the speed in this case.)
24 Figure 6.28 shows the variation with time of the
force exerted on a ball as the ball came into
contact with a spring.
(a) For how long was the spring in contact with
the ball?
(b) Estimate the magnitude of the change in
momentum of the ball.
(c) What was the average force that was exerted
on the ball?
F/N
120
100
80
60
40
20
t/s
0

0.5

Figure 6.28 For question 24.

1.5