2 Force and Motion Chapter 5 Moment of a Force

Practice 5.2 (p.198) 8 (a) The c.g. of the bus will be higher when
1 B passengers stand on the upper deck. The
Take moment about the pivot. c.g. may be shifted outside the base of
Sum of clockwise moment support even if the bus is only tilted
= sum of anticlockwise moment slightly. This produces a net moment
600  3 = 400  (1 + 2) + W  2 and makes the bus topple over.
W = 300 N (b) If the c.g. is not vertically below the
2 D point of suspension, the weight of the
Distance of c.g. from pivot =  10 = 15 object will produce a moment that makes
the object rotate. This moment will be
cm zero only if the c.g. is vertically below
Distance of P from pivot the point of suspension.
= 50  10  15 = 25 cm
Take moment about the pivot.
Sum of clockwise moment
= sum of anticlockwise moment
20  15 = F  25 sin 40
F = 18.7 N
3 C
4 A
5 After releasing, the c.g. of the ruler is outside
the base of support (the table). Therefore, the
ruler loses balance and falls.
6 No, he cannot. When he stands against a wall,
he cannot move backwards and his centre of
gravity would be outside the base of support,
i.e. his feet, if he bends over.
7

c.g.

weight
contact point

When the roly-poly is tilted as shown, its

weight produces a clockwise moment about
the contact point and makes it return to the
original position. Therefore, it stays upright.

New Senior Secondary Physics at Work (Second Edition) 1

 Oxford University Press 2015