THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES ST.

AUGUSTINE CAMPUS
FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
PRELIMINARY PHYSICS I
Semester 1 2020-2021
Problem Based Assignment 1 (12.5%)
Duration of Assignment: Five (5) days
Start date: 6 am Friday 4th December 2020
Due date: 6 pm Wednesday 9th December 2020
PLEASE READ ALL TEN (10) INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE STARTING THE ASSIGNMENT.
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. This assignment has THREE (3) questions.
Answer ALL questions.

2. This is an open-book take home assignment. Do it YOURSELF, without consulting other students. But feel
free to consult all lectures and additional readings provided this semester, plus reference books and your
notes.
Your work must be your own.
Activities considered cheating include (but are not limited to) copying or closely paraphrasing content from
websites, discussing exam questions with other students, and asking for help with specific questions on
internet forums.
All assignment submissions are checked for copied content.
Anyone found cheating will be penalized.

3. An Individual Plagiarism Declaration form is provided on myelearning and students are required to print or
retype and sign the declaration (that the submitted work is their own) in their own hand (not typed). Insert a
scanned version of the signed, handwritten declaration into the first page of your answer document.

4. You may hand-draw or handwrite any diagrams or equations. Please do so on only one side of a page.

5. Make a clear scan of the diagram or equations using your phone or any other electronic device. Insert the
scanned images into your typed answer at the relevant location. Please ensure that the scanned images are
clear to allow for ease of marking.

6. Insert into the header of your word processing document the following: (1) Your UWI Student’s ID
Number and (2) the Course Code. Place the student ID Number at the top left-hand side of each page and
the course code on the top right-hand side of the document.

7. Students are required to SAVE or CONVERT the word processing document to PDF format in the order of
the answers and pages and upload the file to myelearning. The PDF format is the preferred format for
 submission to the myelearning platform. The only other acceptable format is Microsoft Word. No other
format will be accepted.

8. SUBMIT the PDF or Microsoft Word answer document to the Turnitin Assignment named “Assignment 3
Submissions” on the course page for PHYS 0100 on the Schoology platform.

9. Include FORMULAE (defining all terms) and UNITS in all solutions.

10. Write your answer to the appropriate number of significant figures.

 QUESTIONS
1. Hurricane Iota is considered the strongest hurricane in history to hit Nicaragua. As Iota passed over Nicaragua,
the eye of the hurricane moved with a velocity of 235 km/ h in a direction 35.0o south of east. The course of the
hurricane then shifts direction, 25.5o north of east with a velocity of 249 km/h. Determine:

a) The resultant velocity in unit vector notation, (11 marks)

b) The magnitude of the resultant velocity, and (2 marks)
c) The direction of the resultant velocity vector. (3 marks)
TOTAL 16 marks
2. Table 1 below are measurements taken for a cyclist travelling along a straight road.

Time (s) Velocity (m/s)

0.0 0.0
2.0 15.0
4.0 30.0
6.0 45.0
8.0 45.0
10.0 45.0
12.0 45.0
14.0 40.0
16.0 35.0
18.0 30.0
20.0 25.0
22.0 20.0
24.0 15.0
Table 1

a) Sketch a graph of velocity on the vertical axis against time on the horizontal axis for the journey.
(4 marks)
b) Determine the average acceleration of the cyclist during:
(i) The first 6 seconds
(ii) Between 6 seconds and 12 seconds
(iii) After 12 seconds (6 marks)
c) Calculate the average acceleration of the cyclist for the entire journey. (1 mark)
d) Calculate the total distance that the cyclist travelled during the first 12 seconds. (4 marks)
e) Draw a motion diagram that corresponds to Table 1. (3 marks)
TOTAL 18 marks

3. In April 1718, the famous pirate, Edward “Blackbeard” Teach, plundered port Charleston, South Carolina. To
attack nearby ships he fired cannons. Blackbeard fires a cannon ball at an angle of 26.0° to the horizontal with a
speed of 175 m/s.
Ignoring air resistance, calculate:
a) the initial horizontal and vertical components of the velocity of the cannon ball, (4 marks)
b) the time taken to cover the distance R, where R is the range of the cannon ball, (6 marks)
c) the range the cannon ball covers and (3 marks)
d) the velocity (magnitude and direction) of the cannon ball at a point X where X is 250. m from the point of
fire. (8 marks)

TOTAL: 21 marks
END OF ASSIGNMENT