Final Exam, Physics 9A

June 10, 2021

1. A sphere of mass m = 1.2 kg hangs from a string. When the string is exactly vertical, the sphere
barely touches a cart of mass M = 1.8 kg. The cart is on wheels that enable it to move freely.
(For this question, treat the wheels as massless.)

L
a) The sphere is raised to a height h = 0.4 m above its lowest position, with the string kept taut,
and is released from rest. It swings down and hits the cart, which begins to move. If the
collision is elastic, to what height does the sphere return?
b) The cart immediately rolls into a vast pile of cotton candy, which exerts a constant force
opposing the motion. The cart comes to rest after travelling a distance L = 1.5 m. How long
does it take to stop?
c) What is the instantaneous power loss when the cart has travelled a distance L/2?

2. A frictionless, lightweight playground merry-go-round is a solid disk 3.0 m in radius, with mass 50 kg.
A group of children start the empty merry-go-round turning so that it completes one revolution
each 4.2 s, then try to slow it down by throwing mudballs at it. The mud sticks wherever it lands
on the merry-go-round.
a) What is the initial angular momentum of the merry-go-round?
b) Describe qualitatively how to throw the mudballs at the merry-go-round to slow it down most
efficiently. Make sure to explain your reasoning.
c) Assume that each mudball has mass 0.15 kg, and that the children can throw them at 15 m/s.
Estimate how many optimally thrown mudballs it takes to stop the merry-go-round.
3. A round, flat frictionless table is 1.1 m tall and has diameter 3 m. A magnet of mass 0.02 kg initially
travels in the î direction, while a steel ball of mass 0.01 kg travels at 18 m/s in the ĵ direction.
Both are small enough that you can ignore their exact size. They collide at the exact center of
the table and stick together.
j
k
i

3m
1.1 m
lands here
x

4m

TOP VIEW SIDE VIEW

a) The magnet and ball land on the floor a horizontal distance of 4 m from the center of the table.
What was their speed as they went off the edge of the table?
b) How fast was the magnet moving before it collided with the steel ball?

4.

20

U (J)
10

0
-4 -2 0 2 4
x (m)

a) How many stable equilibrium points are shown? Roughly what are their locations in x?
b) An object of mass 7.3 kg is at x = 0, moving rightward at 1.3 m/s. Estimate the x-coordinates
of the turning points of its motion.
c) Estimate the magnitude of the largest leftward force, and the position at which it acts.
5. A beam of mass M = 5.0 kg and length L = 0.35 m has one end against a wall and
θ
is held stationary in a horizontal position by two ropes attached to the other end, as
shown. Each rope makes an angle θ = 30◦ with the beam. The coefficient of static θ
friction between the wall and the beam is µs = 0.45.
L
a) Draw a free-body diagram for the beam.
b) If the tension in the lower rope is T2 = 11 Nt, find the normal force.
c) What is the minimum tension in the lower rope that would hold the beam in place?

6. A thin rod has length d = 0.5 m and total mass M = 2.5 kg, but that mass is distributed unevenly,
as λ(x) = ax2 kg/m for −d/2 < x < d/2. Here a = 240 kg/m3 .
a) Calculate the moment of inertia about the center of the rod (x = 0).
b) Calculate the moment of inertia about the right end of the rod (x = d/2).
c) The rod is connected to a support post using a small hole very near its end, as shown. A
person holds the support post. The rod is started spinning around the support post at Ω
rad/s, counterclockwise as viewed from above. The person would like the support post to be
tilted towards the right, in the plane of the screen/page. What should the person do to get
it there?
d

rod

person wants support post

moved to this orientation
support post; person holds
it near the bottom