PHYS 351: Midterm Examination

Note: All questions are compulsory. You are given 72 hours to access the exam and
once accessed, you have 24 hours to finish it. The exam consists of questions with exact
solutions, so if you get lost in big algebras you’re probably doing something wrong. Under
no condition you should distribute photograph copies of the exam sheet to your friends.
The exam will be a timed one, so the site will know when you have accessed the exam.
Please mention the precise time at which you have accessed the exam. The exam is due on
or before Mar 12 by 2:00 pm Montreal time (depending when you access the exam). Due
to the pandemic, please make sure you submit a LaTeX or hand-written (legible!) pdf copy
of your exam to MyCourses webpage. Please make sure your submission reflects your own
work. Any similarities in the answers will lead to zero credit. Total credit: 100.

1. In the class we studied in details about wheels and when they start rolling without
sliding. Consider a wheel in the form of a n-sided polygon. The mass of the wheel is m
and it’s radius, which is measured from the axle to any one of it’s vertices, is R. The
configuration is shown in the following.

Determine the minimum force required at the axle so that our polygonal wheel rotates
without sliding. What happens when n → ∞? Take the friction coefficient to be µ. Is
there a minimum value for n, i.e. a minimum number of sides required for a polygon to
just start rolling? Find quantitatively.

Suggested time: 10 minutes. Credit: 3 + 3 + 4 = 10 points.

2. A cylinder of radius R and length L is given to us. It is kept horizontally, so that the
open ends are along the (x, z) plane and the length is along the y axis, and is fixed so that
it does not move. Inside we keep a plank of length R at an angle θ with the horizontal so
that it lies completely in the (x, z) plane. A cross-section of the configuration is shown in
the figure next page. The plank has a mass m, and there is enough friction on it’s surface

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such that, if we drop a small bead of mass m at A, it slides and rolls on the plank’s surface,
till the rolling friction takes over and it stops at B. See the following figure.

There is however no friction inside the cylindrical surface. This means, as soon as the
bead starts moving, the plank also moves in the (x, z) plane. Determine precisely the
equilibrium angle about which the plank would oscillate once the bead completely stops at
B. Note that there is no motion along the y axis.

Suggested time: 15 minutes. Credit: 10 points.

3. A rigid disc of mass M and radius R is pushed on a floor with a friction coefficient µ.
The initial velocity if vo and the motion starts at t = to . In the beginning the motion is
a mixture of sliding and rolling and finally rolling takes over. There is also a Maxwell’s
demon sitting on the disc. As soon as the disc starts rolling, say at time t = t1 , it marks
two points on the vertical axis passing through the centre of the disc. They are shown
in red in the figure below, and we will call them as A and B, such that B is at a height
d < R from the centre of the disc and A is the vertical point on the circumference. The
configuration is shown in the following.

The Maxwell demon registers the instantaneous speeds at B and A as vB (t1 ) and vA (t1 )
respectively. Determine the precise time t2 > t1 at which vA (t2 ) = vB (t1 ), i.e. the speed
at the circumference at time t2 becomes equal to the speed at B, the disc had at time
t1 < t2 . Express your answer in terms of vo (hint: first determine t1 ).
Suggested time: 20 minutes. Credit: 7 + 8 = 15 points.

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4. A two-sided fixed inclined ramp is constructed such that the inclinations have angles α
and β. The inclined plane on the left, with inclination α and height H, has no friction,
but both the flat surface BC and the inclined plane on the right, with inclination β, have
frictions with friction coefficients µ each. A massive disc of mass M and radius R is
pushed from the left, marked by the point A, with a velocity vo . The expected motion is
the following. The disc slides up the left plane, jumps at B, starts sliding and rolling on
the plane BC, finally starts rolling completely on BC, then jumps at C and eventually
rolls down on the rightmost inclined plane. The configuration is shown in the following.

Let us assume that the jumps at B and C, if any, can happen only once because of the
friction. We will also assume that the length BC is large enough so that the disc can start
rolling completely. Determine the maximum allowed velocity vo such that the disc jumps
only once at B but not at C, i.e. at C it smoothly rolls over. Assume that the rolling
friction is negligible so that when the disc starts rolling it rolls without any deceleration.
Provide precise quantitative details.

Suggested time: 30 minutes. Credit: 15 points.

5. A spring of spring constant k is attached between two opposite charges +Q and −q

in such a way that the positive charge is fixed and it cannot move. The negative charge,
attached to the spring, is free to move. The mass of the positive and the negative charges
are M and m respectively. For simplicity, and to avoid three-dimensional motion, let us
study this in 1 + 1 dimensions. The configuration is shown in the following figure.

Determine the motion of the negative charge and find at what frequency it oscillates. Avoid
any loss of energy due to the oscillation of the negative charge. Assume no friction.

Suggested time: 10 minutes. Credit: 10 points.

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6. A disc of radius R and mass M is spinning about it’s axis with an angular velocity ω.
Attached to the surface of the disc, and at a distance d from the centre is one end of a
massive rod of length L and mass m1 whose other end has a small ring of mass m2 that
can freely move up and down on another vertical fixed rod. The centre of the disc and the
fixed rod are connected by a spring, with spring constant k, from behind so that it does
not hinder the rotational motion of the disc. The configurations, both from the front and
the top, are shown in the following figure.

Due to the spring, the disc can only oscillate horizontally, while spinning simultaneously.
The fixed vertical rod has no friction and therefore the ring, attached to the lower end of
the rod of length L, moves up or down depending on the rotation and oscillation of the
disc. Determine the velocity and the acceleration of the ring on the fixed rod in terms of
the given parameters. Provide quantitative details.

Suggested time: 30 minutes. Credit: 2 × 10 = 20 points.

7. Imagine you are in a big merry-go-round of radius R, but due to some construction
failure, the axis of rotation is on it’s edge. It is made to spin with a constant angular
velocity of ω about this axis. You, unaware of the fault in the system, is moving on a small
sled along the circumference. The configuration is shown here.

Your mass together with the sled is M , but the total size is negligible compared to the

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radius of the merry-go-round (think how big it is!). From your frame of reference you are
moving with the sled at a constant velocity relative to the merry-go-round. Interestingly,
unbeknownst to you, there is a Maxwell’s demon (the same one that you encountered in
Q3 earlier) sitting right on the fixed axis about which the merry-go-round is spinning. He
finds that, when you and your sled are at the maximum distance from the axis of rotation,
the total forces acting on you vanishes! Determine the acceleration, and the total force
acting on your system, relative to the rotation axis that the Maxwell’s demon finds.

Suggested time: 35 minutes. Credit: 2 × 10 = 20 points.

Note: For some details about Maxwell’s demon, please visit the Wikipedia page
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s−demon.