Question 1 

  

The work done by the centripetal force on an object that moves in a circle at constant speed
is:

1. directly proportional to the radius of the circle.

2. inversely proportional to the mass of the object.

3. zero.

4. negative.

Question 2   

The force acting per unit mass experienced by a small point mass at a given point is:

1. Newton’s law of universal gravitation.

2. Newton’s third law.

3. the definition of the centripetal force.

4. the definition of gravitational field strength.

Question 3   

A spaceship is orbiting a planet in a circular orbit at constant speed. Which of the following
statements is true about the spaceship’s motion?

1. The net force acting on the spaceship and the velocity of the spaceship are
perpendicular.

2. The acceleration of the spaceship is zero.

3. There is no gravitational force acting on the spaceship.

4. The kinetic energy of the satellite increases as it orbits the planet.

Question 4   

An object moves is a circle at a constant speed of 6.06.0 m s^{-1}−1. The radius of the circle
is 2.02.0 m. What is the angular speed of the object?

1. 1.51.5 rad s^{-1}−1

2. 3.03.0 rad s^{-1}−1
 3. 1212 rad s^{-1}−1

4. 2424 rad s^{-1}−1

Question 5   

Phobos is one of the moons that orbits Mars. Newton’s universal law of gravitation can be
applied to calculate the force between Phobos and Mars. Which one of the following
conditions enables this calculation?

1. Phobos and Mars can be considered as point masses.

2. The distance between Phobos and Mars is large enough.

3. Phobos and Mars both have a large volume.

4. Phobos has a circular orbit around Mars.

Question 6   

A stone of mass M is attached to a string and moves in a horizontal circle or radius R. It takes
the stone 2 seconds to complete one revolution.

What is the work done by the centripetal force during 1 second of the stone’s motion?

1. Zero

2. 2\pi^{2}π2R^{2}2M

3. \pi^{3}π3R^{2}2M

4. 2\pi^{3}π3R^{2}2M

Question 7   

An object moves in a circle of radius R at constant speed v. The centripetal acceleration of

the object is a. 

What will be the acceleration of the object when the radius is halved  and the speed is
doubled?

1. a

2. 2a

3. 4a
 4. 8a

Question 8   

A planet has the same mass and twice the radius of Earth. The gravitational field strength at
the surface of the Earth is 1010 N kg^{-1}−1. What is the gravitational field strength at the
surface of the planet?

1. 4040 N kg^{-1}−1

2. 2020 N kg^{-1}−1

3. 5.05.0 N kg^{-1}−1

4. 2.52.5 N kg^{-1}−1

Question 9   

An object is moving in a vertical circle at constant speed. Which of the following diagrams
correctly shows the direction of aa, the object’s acceleration and the direction of vv, the
object’s velocity at point M?

Question 10   
The gravitational force acting between two objects is FF. The mass of each object is mm and
the distance between the objects is xx. What will be the gravitational force acting between
two objects that each have a mass of 2m2m when the distance between them is 2x2x?

1. \frac{F}{4}4F

2. \frac{F}{2}2F

3. FF

4. 2F2F

Question 11   

A small metal ball at the end of a rod is rotated anticlockwise in a vertical circle at constant
speed. After a few revolutions, as the ball is moving upwards, it is released at the moment
when the rod is horizontal.

What is the shape of the ball’s path after it is released from the rod?

1. A circle

2. A semi-circle

3. A parabola

4. A straight line

Question 12   

Moon A has mass M, radius R and the gravitational field strength on the surface of Moon A
is g. Moon B has mass 3M and the gravitational field strength on its surface is \frac{g}{4}4g.

What is the diameter of Moon B?

1. 2\sqrt{3}3R

2. 4\sqrt{3}3R

3. 12R
 4. 24R

Question 13   

A circular disk is rotated anticlockwise at constant speed as shown on the diagram. A and B
are two small objects, each with mass mm, that are fixed to the disk. The angular speed of B
is \omegaω and the net force acting on B is FF.

What is true about the magnitude of the angular speed of object A and the magnitude of the
net force acting on object A?

Magnitude of the angular speed of object A Magnitude of the net force acting on o

A. Same as \omegaω Smaller than FF

B. Larger than \omegaω Smaller than FF

C. Same as \omegaω Larger than FF

D. Larger than \omegaω Larger than FF

Question 14   

A particle moves in a circle at constant speed vv. The frequency of the particles rotation is ff.
What is the diameter of the circle?

1. \frac{v}{\pi f}πfv

2. \frac{v}{2 \pi f}2πfv

3. \frac{fv}{\pi}πfv

\frac{fv}{2 \pi}2πfv
Question 15   

A satellite orbits Earth with orbital radius RR. The centripetal acceleration of the satellite
is aa. What is the centripetal acceleration of the satellite when it is moved to an orbit with
radius \frac{R}{3}3R?

1.  \frac{a}{9}9a

2.  \frac{a}{3}3a

3.  3a3a

4.  9a9a

Question 16   

A point particle of mass m is positioned at a distance of r_{1}1 and r_{2}2 from point

particles with mass m_{1}1and m_{2}2respectively. The net gravitational force acting
on m is F.

What is the magnitude of F ?

1. \frac{Gm\left (m_{1}r_{1}^{2}+m_{2}r_{2}^{2}\right )}{\left (r_{1}r_{2} \right )^{2}}(r1

r2)2Gm(m1r12+m2r22)

2. \frac{Gm\left (m_{1}r_{1}^{2}-m_{2}r_{2}^{2}\right )}{\left (r_{1}r_{2} \right )^{2}}(r1

r2)2Gm(m1r12−m2r22)

3. \frac{Gm\left (m_{1}r_{2}^{2}+m_{2}r_{1}^{2}\right )}{\left (r_{1}r_{2} \right )^{2}}(r1

r2)2Gm(m1r22+m2r12)

\frac{Gm\left (m_{1}r_{2}^{2}-m_{2}r_{1}^{2}\right )}{\left (r_{1}r_{2} \right )^{2}}(r1r2

)2Gm(m1r22−m2r12)

Question 17   

The radius of a planet is R. A satellite, which orbits the planet at a distance R above the
surface, has acceleration a and orbital period T. The satellite then is moved into an orbit at a
distance of 3R from the surface of the planet. 
What should be the new orbital period of the satellite in order for its acceleration to
remain a?

1. \sqrt{2}2T

2. 2T

3. \sqrt{3}3T

4. 3T

Question 18   

A particle of mass mm is moving in a circle at constant speed. The time period of the
particles rotation is TT and its kinetic energy is EE. What is the radius of the particle’s path?

1. \sqrt{\frac{E T}{2 \pi^{2} m}}2π2mET

2. \sqrt{\frac{E T^{2}}{2 \pi^{2} m}}2π2mET2

3. \sqrt{\frac{E T}{4 \pi^{2} m}}4π2mET

\sqrt{\frac{E T^{2}}{4 \pi^{2} m}}4π2mET2

Question 19   

An object with a mass of 22 kg has a weight of 4040 N on the surface of planet X. The mass
of planet X is ten times the mass of Earth. What is the ratio \frac{radius  of  planet  X}{radius 
of  Earth}radius of Earthradius of planet X?

1. \frac{1}{5}51

2. 55

3. \frac{1}{\sqrt{5}}51

\sqrt{5}5

Question 20   

An object moves in a circle at constant speed. Which graph correctly shows the relationship
between TT, the time period of the object and aa, the acceleration of the object?
Question 21   

A small object of mass M moves at constant speed v in a vertical circle on a string of

length R. Point A is at the top of the circle.

What is the tension in the string at point B?

1. M\left (\frac{v^{2}}{R}-\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}g\right )M(Rv2−23g) 

2. M\left (\frac{v^{2}}{R}+\frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}g\right )M(Rv2+23g) 

3. M\left (\frac{v^{2}}{R}-\frac{1}{2}g\right )M(Rv2−21g) 

 4. M\left (\frac{v^{2}}{R}+\frac{1}{2}g\right )M(Rv2+21g)

Question 22   

A particle oscillates with simple harmonic motion between points A and B and an object
rotates anticlockwise in a circle at constant speed. The frequency of the particle’s motion
is 0.250.25 Hz and the frequency of the object’s motion is 0.500.50 Hz. The particle starts
from point A and the object starts from point C. 

After how many seconds will the particle’s acceleration and the object’s velocity first point in
opposite directions?

1. 1.0 s

2. 2.0 s 

3. 3.0 s 

4. 4.0 s

Question 23   

The distance between object A and object B is xx and the gravitational force acting between
the objects is FF. The mass of object A is increased by 5050 percent and the mass of object B
is decreased by 5050 percent. What should be the distance between the objects in order for
the gravitational force to triple?

1. \frac{x}{2}2x 

2. \frac{x}{\sqrt{2}}2x 
 3. \frac{x}{3}3x 

\frac{x}{\sqrt{3}}3x

Question 24   

A small ball is attached to a string and moves in a circle with angular speed \omegaω. The
angle between the string and the vertical is \thetaθ. 

What is the radius of the ball's path?

1. \frac{g}{\omega^{2}}ω2g

2. \frac{g \sin \theta}{\omega^{2}}ω2gsinθ

3. \frac{g \cos \theta}{\omega^{2}}ω2gcosθ

\frac{g \tan \theta}{\omega^{2}}ω2gtanθ

Question 25   

The distance between the centre of planet A and the centre of planet B is dd. The mass of
planet A and B is 16m16m and 25m25m respectively. The resultant gravitational force on an
object placed at a distance xx from the centre of planet B is zero. What is the ratio \frac{x}
{d}dx?

1. \frac{4}{9}94

2. \frac{5}{9}95  

3. \frac{16}{25}2516  

\frac{4}{5}54
Question 1

A rocket carries a space telescope into orbit around the Earth. The space telescope remains
in orbit due to the gravitational field of the Earth.

a. Outline the meaning of gravitational field strength at a point.

   [2 marks]

b. Suggest why Newton's law of gravitation can be applied to the orbiting space telescope,
even though the law applies to point masses.

   [1 mark]

c. It takes the space telescope 100 minutes to complete one full revolution around the Earth.
The mass of the Earth is 6.0 \times 10^{24}6.0×1024 kg and the radius of the Earth is 6400
km. Show that the distance of the space telescope from the surface of the Earth is
approximately 750 km.

   [4 marks]

d. Calculate, in km s^{-1}−1, the orbital speed of the space telescope.

   [2 marks]

e. A different space telescope orbits at a distance of 1500 km from the surface of the Earth.
Calculate the orbital period of the space telescope

   [3 marks]

Question 2 

The diagram shows the path of a proton moving clockwise in a circle at constant speed. The
proton travels 1.15 mm during one full revolution.

 
a. Draw arrows on the diagram to indicate the direction of the proton's velocity and
acceleration at point X.

   [2 marks]

b. Outline why the proton is accelerating even though it is moving at constant speed.

   [2 marks]

c. The net force acting on the proton is 68 fN. 

i Show that the speed of the proton is 8.6 \times 10^{4}8.6×104 m s^{-1}−1.

   [3 marks]

ii Calculate the frequency of rotation of the proton.

   [3 marks]

d. Outline why the work done by the centripetal force on the proton is zero.

   [2 marks]

Question 3

An object of mass 826 g is attached to a string and rotates at constant speed in a horizontal
circle of radius r. The angle between the string and the ceiling is 71^{o}o.

a. Outline whether the object is in equilibrium.

   [2 marks]

b. Draw a free-body diagram for the object at the position where it is shown on the diagram.
    [2 marks]

c. The object rotates with an angular speed of 1.71 rad s^{-1}−1.

i. Show that the tension in the string is 8.6 N.

   [2 marks]

ii. Calculate r. Give your answer to an appropriate number of significant figures.

   [3 marks]

iii.  the period of rotation of the object.

   [2 marks]

Question 4

A moon has a circular orbit around a planet. The radius of the planet is R, the radius of the
moon is r, the time it takes for the moon to complete one full orbit around the planet
is T and the mass of the planet is M and the mass of the moon is m.

a. Show that the shortest distance between the surface of the moon and the surface of the
planet is \sqrt[3]{\frac{T^{2}GM}{4 \pi^{2}}} - (R+r)34π2T2GM−(R+r)

   [3 marks]

b. The following data is known about the moon and the planet:

Mass of the planet = 8.3 \times 10^{25}8.3×1025 kg

Diameter of the planet = 10500 km

Ratio of \frac{r}{R} = \frac{1}{4}Rr=41

Shortest distance between the surface of the planet and the surface of the moon = 75R

   Find, in days, the orbital period of the moon.

   [4 marks]

c. The ratio of \frac{m}{M} = \frac{1}{80}Mm=801.

i. Show that the orbital speed of the moon is 3.7 km s^{-1}−1.

   [3 marks]

ii. Find the gravitational force exerted by the moon on the planet.

   [2 marks]
Question 5

The diagram shows the position of three stars and a planet and the distances between the
stars and the planet. The mass of each star is 3.8 \times 10^{31}3.8×1031 kg. 

a. Outline Newton's universal law of gravitation.

   [3 marks]

b. Find the gravitational field strength at the position of the planet due to Star B. Include an
appropriate unit with your answer.

   [2 marks]

c. Find the magnitude and the direction of the resultant gravitational field strength at the
position of the planet.

   [4 marks]