Physics 7221

Midterm exam
Tuesday, October 13th 2015

Please try to explain (using words is a great form of communication) what you
are doing as clearly as possible. If I don’t understand something, I cannot count
it towards a grade. Please invest effort in finishing the problems. Scribbling
random formulae is not considered a solution nor progress towards one. Each
problem counts as 25% of the grade.

Problem 1: A simple pendulum of length b and mass m is attached to a

support moving vertically with acceleration a. Write the Lagrange equations of
motion and determine the frequency of small oscillations.

Problem 2: Find the force of constraints, using Lagrange indeterminate multi-

pliers, for a particle allowed to slide freely on a wire with the shape of a parabola
z = ax2 in a uniform vertical gravitational field. (Ok to leave result in terms of
a single differential equation that is hard to solve).

Problem 3: Consider the scattering of small rigid balls off a large stationary
rigid ball. The angle of incidence α is equal to the angle of reflection. Compute
the differential and total cross section.

R
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Problem 4: A particle moves in an elliptic orbit in an inverse-square law field.

If the ratio of the maximum angular velocity to the minimum angular velocity of
the particle in the orbit is n, calculate the eccentricity of the orbit as a function
of n. (Hint: think of where in the orbit are velocities maximum and minimum.)