University of Zambia

School of Natural Sciences

Department of Physics

PHY1015 Tutorial Sheet 4 2021/2022

Newton’s Laws of Motion

Conceptual Questions:

1.   The force of gravity on a 2-kg rock is twice as large as that on a 1-kg rock.
Why then doesn’t the heavier rock fall faster?
2.   Why might your foot hurt if you kick a wall?
3.   When you stand on the ground, how large a force does the ground exert on
you? Why doesn’t this force make you rise up in the air?
4.   Whiplash sometimes results from a car accident when an victim’s car is
struck violently from the rear (back). Explain why the head of the victim
seems to be thrown backwards in this situation. (Assume: The seats have no
headrests).
5.   Describe situations when friction is welcome to human body functions and
when it is not.

Other problems

1.   A 6.0-kg object undergoes an acceleration of 2.0 m/s . (a) What is the

magnitude of the resultant force acting on it? (b) If this same force is applied
to a 4.0-kg object, what acceleration is produced?
2.   As a fish jumps vertically out of the water, assume that only two significant
forces act on it: an upward force F exerted by the tail fin and the downward
force due to gravity. A record Chinook salmon has a length of 1.50 m and a
mass of 61.0 kg. If this fish is moving upward at 3.00 m/s as its head first
breaks the surface and has an upward speed of 6.00 m/s after two- thirds of
its length has left the surface, assume constant acceleration and determine
(a) the salmon’s acceleration and (b) the magnitude of the force F during this
interval.
3.   A person has a reasonable chance of surviving a car crash if the deceleration
is no more than 30 ‘g’s (g=9.8m/s2). Calculate the force on a 70 kg person
undergoing this acceleration. What distance is travelled if the person is
brought to rest at this rate from 100 km/h?
4.   The leg and cast weigh 220N (w1). Determine the weight w2 and the angle a
needed so that no force is exerted on the hip joint by the leg plus the
cast.[1.7x102N, 61o ]
5.   The two masses in Figure 4.14 are tied to opposite ends of
a massless rope hung over a massless and frictionless
pulley. Find the acceleration of the masses. (This device is
called an Atwood machine). m1 = 5.0 kg, m2 = 10.0 kg

6.   Police investigators examining the scene of an accident

involving two cars, measure 72 -m long skid marks of one of the cars, which
nearly came to a stop before colliding. The coefficient of kinetic friction
between the rubber and the pavement is about 0.80. Estimate the initial speed
of the car assuming a level road.
7.   A 45 kg woman stands on a spring scale inside an elevator. (The scale reads
the force with which it pushes upward on the woman). What does the scale
read when the elevator is accelerating (a) upward at 3.65 m/s2, (b) downward
at 3.65 m/s2 ? [605.25 N , 276.75 N ]

8.   Two blocks with masses m1 = 3.2 kg and m2 = 4.1 kg are touching each
other on a frictionless table. If the force F is equal to 6.8 N,
(a) what is the acceleration of the two
F
m1 m2
blocks, and (b) with what force does m1
push against m2?
(c) Repeat (a) and (b) if F is in the reverse
direction and pushes on m2 rather than on
m1. [0.932 m/ s 2 ] [3.82 N ] [- 0.932 m/ s 2 ]
9.   A carton is given an initial speed of 3.0 m/s

up the 22.0º incline as shown below. (a)

How far up the plane will it go? (b) How
much time elapses before it returns to its
starting point? Ignore friction. [(a) 1.2 m
up the incline, (b) 1.6 s]