PHYSICS – MECHANICS

ST. PAUL'S COLLEGE CH. 7 HOMEWORK - P.1

Name : Class : ( )

Date : Marks : / 24

1. A 400-g ball falls from a height of 2 m freely. It rebounds at 6 m s1 after hitting the ground.
(a) Find the momentum of the ball when it reaches the ground. (3 marks)
(b) Find the change in momentum during the rebound. (1 mark)

2. On a level road, a lorry of mass 4000 kg is travelling towards the north at 17 m s1 when it collides head
on with a car of mass 1500 kg travelling at 20 m s1 towards the south. After the collision, the car moves
towards the north at 10 m s1. Neglect the friction between the vehicles and the road during collision.
(a) What is the velocity of the lorry after the collision? (2 marks)
(b) If the average force acting on the car by the lorry is 300 000 N during collision, what is the time of
impact? (2 marks)
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ST. PAUL'S COLLEGE CH. 7 HOMEWORK - P.2

3. Two objects X and Y are hung side by side and are stationary initially. Just after the spring plunger in X is
triggered, X moves at a velocity vX towards the left and Y moves at a velocity vY towards the right. The
maximum height above the resting position reached by X is twice that reached by Y.

spring plunger
triggered

X Y X
Y

spring plunger

(a) Find the ratio vX : vY. (3 marks)

(b) Find the ratio of the mass of X to the mass of Y. (2 marks)

4. Two riders A and B collide on a linear air track. The following data is obtained. Direction to the right is
taken as positive.
Rider A B
Mass / kg 0.4 0.2
Velocity before collision / m s1 1 0
1
Velocity after collision / m s 0.5 1
(a) Show that momentum is conserved in the collision. (2 marks)
(b) A student suggests that the collision is elastic as the two riders separate after the collision. Do you
agree? Explain briefly. (2 marks)

5. A thick layer of spongy material is embedded in boxing gloves. Explain how this will help to prevent
players from being injured.

(2 marks)
 PHYSICS – MECHANICS
ST. PAUL'S COLLEGE CH. 7 HOMEWORK - P.3
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ST. PAUL'S COLLEGE CH. 7 HOMEWORK - P.4

6. Susan and Janet are playing air hockey. As shown in the figure on the right, a puck of 30 g is travelling
towards Susan’s mallet at a uniform speed of 5 m s1. Susan strikes the puck with her mallet and the puck
leaves at a speed v in the opposite direction to the original.

mallet
puck

v 5 m s1

air flows out from the small holes

The graph below shows how the force F acting on the puck by the mallet changes with time t during the
impact.
F/N

200

160

120

80

40

0 t / ms
1 2 3 4 5 6

(a) What is the purpose of ejecting air from the small holes? (2 marks)
(b) Find v. (3 marks)