Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Tsing Yi)

Department of Construction

Assignment 1

Engineering Science for Construction A

Topic : Mechanics

1. A car moving along a straight line from A to B, changes its velocity from 15 m/s to
25 m/s in 5 s. Find:
a) acceleration AB ? (a = 2m/s2)
b) distance travelled in this 5 s ? (s = 100m)

2. A stone is projected upwards with initial speed 10 m/s from the roof of a building. It
takes 6 s to reach the ground. Assume g = 10 m/s2 & neglect air resistance. Find :
a) height of the building = h ? (h = 120m)
b) speed of the stone on striking the ground ? (v = -50m/s)

3. A car speeding steady at 10 m/s from A due south for 20 min and then at 12 m/s due
west for 10 min to B. Find :
a) displacement AB ? (s = 13994m)
b) average velocity AB ? (v = 7.77 m/s)

4. An air-hostess is pulling her suitcase with a force of 15 N. The force makes an angle
of 60o to the horizontal as shown below.
a) What is the horizontal and vertical components of the pulling force ?
(Fx = 7.5N, Fy = 13N)
b) If the suitcase is moving at a constant velocity of 0.5 m/s, what is the friction
acting on it ? (Friction: Fx = -7.5N)

5. If a man is walking at 1.8 m/s, calculate the distance covered in 2 hours.

(12.96 km)
6. A car travels 20 km southwards and then travels another 30 km westwards. What is
the displacement of the car from its initial position?
(36.06 km, 33.7o south of west)

7. A car travels at 14 m/s for the first half hour and at 22 m/s for the following hour.
Calculate:
a) the total distance traveled (104.4 km)
b) the average speed (19.33 m/s)

8. A cyclist covers the first 24 km of his journey in 80 min. After a rest of 10 min, he
covers the remaining 20 km in 70 min. What is his average speed for the whole
journey? (4.58 m/s)

9. A car, starting from rest, accelerates uniformly at 2 m/s2 for 10s. Calculate:
a) the distance travelled (100 m)
b) the final speed. (20 m/s)

10. The speed of a motor vehicle falls uniformly from 28 m/s to zero at 3 m/s2.
Calculate:
a) the time taken for the vehicle to stop (9.3 s)
b) the distance travelled. (130.7 m)

11. A train, starting from rest, reaches a speed of 18 m/s in 2 min. Assuming the
acceleration to be uniform, calculate:
a) the value of the acceleration (0.15 m/s2)
b) the distance travelled. (1080 m)

12. The velocity of a body increases uniformly from 4.5 m/s to 11.5 m/s while it travels
100 m. Calculate:
a) the acceleration (0.56 m/s2)
b) the time taken (12.5 s)

13. A train has a uniform acceleration of 0.2 m/s2 along a straight track. Calculate:
a) the velocity after an interval of 16 s from standstill (3.2 m/s)
b) the time required to attain a velocity of 14 m/s (70 s)
c) the distance travelled from standstill until the train attains a velocity of 14 m/s
(490 m)
d) the time taken for the velocity to increase from 8.5 m/s to 14 m/s and the distance
travelled during that time. (27.5 s, 309 m)
14. A motor car travelling at 14 m/s on dry flat surface should be able to stop in 14m.
Assuming the deceleration to be uniform, calculate:
a) its value and the corresponding braking time (-7 m/s2, 2 sec)
b) the distance travelled during the first second after the application of the brakes.
(10.5 m)

15. Determine the magnitude and line of action of the resultants for the systems of forces
shown in figures (a), (b) and (c).

(a: 20.86 kN,θ= 269.7o)

(b: 148.36 kN,θ= 70.1o)
(c: 71.78 kN,θ= 344.0o)

16. Find the reaction R1 and R2 to provide a condition of equilibrium for the beam
shown below. The weight of the beam maybe ignored.

(R1 = 4.333 N, R2 = 6.667 N)

17. At equilibrium, if the length of a = 12 m, what is b? (3 m)

90N
a b

18N 72N
Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Tsing Yi)
Department of Construction

Assignment 2

Engineering Science for Construction A

Topic : Archimedes’ Principle

(Take acceleration due to gravity g = 10 m/s2)

1. A person of mass 50 kg floats in water almost completely immersed.

a) Find
i) the weight of the person (500 N)
ii) the upthrust acting on him and (500 N)
iii) the weight of water he displaces. (500 N)
b) If he now floats in denser salt water, how does this affect
i) the upthrust (unchanged)
ii) the weight of salt water displaced (unchanged)
iii) the level to which he is immersed in the water ?
(A greater part of his body is exposed)

2. An average person has a volume of 0.05 m3. What is the upthrust from the air on the
person if the density of air is 1.2 kg/m3 ? (0.6 N)

3. A block of steel of density 7800 kg/m3 has a volume of 0.5 m3. Calculate :
a) its weight, (39000 N)
b) its apparent weight when completely immersed in water of density 1000 kg/m3.
(34000 N)

4. A cubical block of wood of side 0.5 m floats in water. Given that the densities of
wood and water are 800 and 1000 kg/m3 respectively, calculate :
a) the weight of the block, (1000 N)
b) the weight of water displaced by the block, (1000 N)
c) the depth of the block immersed in water. (0.4 m)
5. A polythene rod of length 0.5 m floats upright in water.
a) Given that the densities of polythene and water are 920 and 1000 kg/m3
respectively, what is the length of the rod immersed in water ? (0.46 m)
b) If the rod floats in another liquid with 0.4 m of its length under the liquid surface,
what is the density of the liquid ? (1150 kg/m3)

6. An object of mass 100 kg is tied to the bottom of a pond with a light chain. If the
tension in the chain is 200 N, what is the mass of water displaced by the object ?
(120 kg)

7. A balloon of volume 2000 m3 is filled with hot air of density 0.95 kg/m3, If the mass of
the fabric and basket is 200 kg and that of the pilot is 75 kg, what is the maximum
load that can be carried when operating in air of density 1.25 kg/m3 ? (325 kg)

8. Determine the pressure at the bottom of an open tank if it contains layers of 10 cm of

oil, 30 cm of water and 5 cm of mercury. Given that the densities of oil, water and
mercury are 850 kg/m3, 1000 kg/m3 and 13600 kg/m3 respectively. (10.65 kN/m2)

9. A rectangular box, 8 m by 3 m in plan and 4 m deep, weighs 450 kN in air and is

launched in a swimming pool.
a) How deep will it sink ? (1.875 m)
b) If a light chain is used to tie the box to the bottom of the swimming pool, calculate
the tension in the chain. (510 kN)

10. The density of a cubical metal box is 3500 kg/m3. If the side of the box is 1 m,
determine its apparent weight when it is completely immersed in water of density
1000 kg/m3. (25 kN)
Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Tsing Yi)
Department of Construction

Assignment 3

Engineering Science for Construction A

Topic : Material Science

1. A steel tie bar 100 mm x 10 mm in cross-section is transmitting a pull of 135 kN.

Calculate the stress in the bar. (135 N/mm2)

2. A bar of steel, circular in cross-section, is required to transmit a pull of 40 kN. If the

permissible stress is 150 N/mm2, calculate the required diameter of the bar.
(18.4 mm)

3. A steel bar 100 mm x 12 mm in cross-section and 3 m long is subjected to an axial

pull of 130 kN. How much will it increase in length if the modulus of elasticity of the
steel is 210 000 N/mm2. (1.55 mm)

4. A hollow steel tube 100 mm external diameter and 80 mm internal diameter and 3 m
long is subjected to a tensile load of 400 kN. Calculate the stress in the material and
the amount the tube stretches if Young’s modulus is 200 000 N/mm2.
(141 N/mm2, 2.12 mm)

5. Assuming the permissible stress for a timber post 150 mm square and 2.7 m high is
6.5 N/mm2, calculate the safe axial load for the post. How much will the post shorten
under this load, assuming E to be 11 200 N/mm2 ? (146250 N, 1.57 mm)

6. During an experiment on a timber specimen 75 mm x 75 mm in cross-section, a

shortening of 0.22 mm was recorded on a gauge length of 300 mm when a load of 36
kN was applied. Calculate the modulus of elasticity of the timber. Using this value of
E, determine the amount of shortening of a timber post 150 mm square and 2.4 m
high due to an axial load of 130 kN. (8727 N/mm2, 1.59 mm)

7. Determine the increase in length of a steel tie-rod 5 m long and 50 mm diameter when
subjected to a tensile load of 200 kN. (Given : E = 200 kN/mm2)
(2.546 mm)
8. A brick pier is 5 m square and 6 m high and weighs 20 kN/m3 standing on a 6 m thick
layer of soil. It is supporting an axial load of 500 kN. Calculate the stress at the top
of the pier and the stress at the surface of the underneath soil. Also find the
settlement of the soil if the Young’s Modulus of the soil is 150 kN/m2.
(20 kN/m2, 140 kN/m2, 5.6 m)

9. A bar is subjected to a tensile load of 200 N. The cross section of the bar measures 20
mm by 5 mm. Find the stress of bar. (2 N/mm2)

10. A tow bar for a lorry has to be capable of exerting a pull of 10 kN. The material used
for the tow bar must not have a stress greater than 80 MPa for safety reasons. Find
the necessary cross sectional area of the tow bar in mm2 and the diameter of the tow
bar if it is to have a circular cross section.
(0.000125 m2, 0.0126 m)

11. A 2-m long steel wire is stretched by 3 mm. Find the strain. (0.0015)

12. A square aluminium tie rod is 1.5 m long and its cross section measures 10 mm by 10
mm. The tie rod is resisting a tensile load of 1400 N and the modulus of elasticity of
aluminium is 70 x 109 Pa. Find the stress in the tie rod, the resulting strain and the
extension produced by this load.
(1.4x107 N/m2, 0.0002, 0.0003m)
Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Tsing Yi)
Department of Construction

Assignment 4

Engineering Science for Construction A

Topic : Energy

(Take acceleration due to gravity g = 10 m/s2)

1. To escape from the gravity of the Earth, an object must have a minimum velocity of
11.2 km/s. Calculate how much KE a tennis ball of 60 g would have when traveling
at this speed. (3.76x106 J)

2. In Hong Kong, it is enforced by the law that the KE of an air-gun bullet must not
exceed 2 J. Find the maximum speed that a bullet of mass 0.4 g can have in order not
to violate the law. (100 m/s)

3. A child applies a force of 2 N to pull a wooden trolley of mass 0.4 kg a distance of 5 m

on the ground. Find the work done on the trolley if the child applies the force :
a) horizontally (10 J)
o
b) at an angle of 30 to the horizontal (8.66 J)
o
c) at an angle of 60 to the horizontal. (5 J)

4. A boy tries to jump up a step of height 0.3 m. If the speed of the boy is 2 m/s when
his feet just leave the ground, can he land on the upper step ?
(No, he could only jump up 0.2 m)

5. A pendulum bob of mass 20 g is pulled to one side and released at a vertical height of
0.3 m above its lowest position. Find the KE and speed of the bob when it reaches
the lowest position. (0.06 J, 2.45 m/s)

6. According to the Guinness Book of Record, a man jumped from a record-breaking

height of 104.5 m onto a big airbag on 7 August 1998.
a) Estimate his speed just before reaching the airbag. (45.7 m/s)
b) His actual speed just before reaching the airbag was 40.2 m/s. Explain why the
actual speed is different from the result of (a).
7. A ball of mass 50 g is dropped from rest at a height of 3 m above the ground.
a) What is its speed just before reaching the ground ? (7.75 m/s)
b) If the speed of the ball just after the rebound is 4 m/s, how much KE is lost ?
Where does the energy go ? (1.1 J)
c) How high can the ball reach after the rebound ? (0.8 m)

8. An electrical pulley system is used to lift up cargo of mass 50 kg to a height of 6 m

above the ground in 10 s.
a) What is the PE gained by the cargo? (3000 J)
b) What is the average power delivered to the cargo ? (300 W)