EBD_7019
116
LAWS of MOTION.
Practice Questions
Very Short Answer Questions [1 Mark Qs.]
1. State Newton’s first law of motion.
2. Two objects having different masses have same
momentum. Which one of them will move faster.
3. What is the effect on the acceleration of a particle if the
net force on the particle is doubled?
4. Why does a heavy rifle not kick as strongly as a light rifle
using the same cartridges?
5. On what factors does the thrust on a rocket depend?
6. What do you mean by normal reaction?
7. At which place on earth, the centripetal force is maximum?
8. What is the angle between frictional force and
instantaneous velocity of the body moving over a rough
surface?
9. Is earth an inertial frame of reference?
10. What provides the centripetal force in the following cases?
(i) Electron revolving around the nucleus.
(ii) Earth revolving around the sun.
11. Can a body in linear motion be in equilibrium?
12. Why are curved roads generally banked?
13. A person sitting in the compartment of a train moving with
a uniform speed throws a ball in the upward direction. What
path of the ball will appear to him? What to a person
standing outside?
14. The length of an ideal spring increases by 0.1cm when a
body of 1kg is suspended from it. If this spring is laid on a
frictionless horizontal table and bodies of 1 kg each are
suspended from its ends, then what will be the increase in
its length?
15. The two ends of a spring-balance are pulled each by a
force of 10 kg-wt. What will be the reading of the balance?
16. A retarding force is applied to stop a motorcar. If the speed
of the motorcar is doubled, how much more distance will it
cover before stopping under the same retarding force?
17. Alift is accelerated upward. Will the weight of person inside
the lift increase, decrease or remain the same relative to its
real weight? If the lift is going with uniform speed, then?
18. A ball of 0.5 kg mass moving with a speed of 10m/s
rebounds after striking normally a perfectly elastic wall.
Find the change in momentum of the ball.
19. A body is suspended from the ceiling of a transparent
cabin falling freely towards the earth. Describe the motion
of the body as observed by an observer (a) sitting in the
cabin, (b) standing on the earth.
20. Calculate the net force acting on a body of mass 10 kg,
moving with a uniform velocity of 2 ms–1.
21. (a) According to Newton’s third law of motion, every
force is accompanied by an equal (in magnitude) and
opposite (in direction) force called reaction, then how
can a movement takes place?
(b) You can move a brick easily by pushing it with your
foot on a smooth floor, but, if you kick it, then your
foot is hurt. Why?
Physics
22. “Friction is a self-adjusting force.” Is this statement correct.
23. What provides the centripetal force in the following cases?
(i) Electron revolving around the nucleus.
(ii) Earth revolving around the sun.
(iii) Car taking a turn on a banked road.
24. (a) A body is moving with uniform velocity. Can it be said
to be in equilibrium? Why?
(b) Why Newton’s second law of motion is not applicable
to the motion of a rocket?
25. Name the forces which are in equilibrium in each of the
following situations :
(a) a book resting on a table.
(b) a cork floating on water.
(c) a pendulum bob suspended from the ceiling with the
help of a string.
26. A force of 5N changes the velocity of a body from 10 ms–1
to 20 ms–1in 5s. How much force is required to bring about
the same change in 2s.
27. Sand is thrown on the tracks covered with snow why?
28. Why is it easier to maintain the motion than to start it?
29. Why are the wheels circular in shape?
30. Rubber tyres are preferred to steel tyres, why?
31. What is the angle of friction between two surfaces in contact,
if coefficient of friction is 1/3?
Short Answer Questions [2 or 3 Marks Qs.]
1. (a) An astronaut accidently gets separated out of his small
spaceship accelerating in inter-steller space at a
constant rate 100 ms–2. What is the acceleration of the
astronaut at the instant after he is outside the
spaceship?
(b) How is it that a stone dropped from a certain height
falls much more rapidly as compared to a parachute
under similar conditions?
2. Explain how proper inflation of tyres saves fuel?
3. In a circus in the game of swing, the man falls on a net after
leaving the swing but he is not injured, why?
4. (a) A meteorite burns in the atmosphere before it reaches
the Earth’s surface. What happens to its momentum?
(b) By accident a person fell on a floating ice slab in a
pond. He has nothing with him to get out and the ice
slab is big enough so that he cannot put his hands or
feet in water. How can he save himself by coming out
of the ice slab?
5. A block of mass M is placed on a frictionless, inclined plane
of angle , as shown in the figure. Determine the acceleration
of the block after it is released. What is force exerted by the
incline on the block?

Laws of Motion
6. Show that the total linear momentum of an isolated system
of interacting particles is conserved.
7. State the law of conservation of momentum. Establish the
same for a ‘n’ body system.
8. State the laws of limiting friction. Hence define coefficient
of friction.
9. Vehicles stop on applying brakes. Does this phenomenon
violate the principle of conservation of momentum?
10. Four blocks of the same mass m connected by cords are
pulled by a force F on smooth horizontal surface, as shown
in figure. Determine the tensions T1, T2, and T3 in the cords.
11. Two bodies of masses M and m are allowed to fall freely
from the same height. If air resistance for each body is same,
then will both the bodies reach the earth simultaneously?
12. A bird is sitting on the floor of a closed glass cage in the
hands of girls. Will the girl experience any change in the
weight of the cage when the bird (i) starts flying in the cage
with a constant velocity ? (ii) flies upwards with acceleration?
(iii) flies downwards with acceleration ?
13. The driver of a truck travelling with a velocity v suddenly
notices a brick wall in front of him at a distance d. It is better
for him to apply brakes or to make a circular turn without
applying brakes in order to just avoid crashing into the
wall? Why?
14. Derive a formula for the acceleration of a body moving down
on a rough inclined plane.
15. Derive a relation between angle of friction and angle of
repose.
16. Derive an expression for the acceleration and the tension in
the string for a system of two masses connected by a string
passing over a smooth frictionless pulley.
17. Why does water from a bucket not fall even when it is upside
down while rotating in a vertical circle?
18. Derive the maximum angle by which a cyclist can bend while
negotiating a curved path.
Long Answer Questions [5 Marks Qs.]
1. State Newton’s second law of motion. How does it help to
measure force. Also state the units of force.
2. State Newton’s third law of motion. Discuss its
consequences.
3. A uniform rod is made to lean between a rough vertical wall
and the ground. Show that the least angle at which the rod
can be leaned without slipping is given by
1  1  12 
 = tan 
22 
where 1 and 2 stand for the coefficient of friction between
(i) the rod and the wall and (ii) the rod and the ground.
4. Name a varying mass system. Derive an expression for
velocity of propulsion of a rocket at any instant
5. Obtain an expression for minimum velocity of projection of
a body at the lowest point for looping a vertical loop.
6. (i) Define friction.
(ii) Show that kinetic friction is less than the static friction.
(iii) Establish that static friction is a self-adjustable force.
(iv) Write the laws of limiting friction.
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7. Consider a mass ‘m’ attached to a string of length ‘l’
performing vertical circle. Find an expression for the
(i) velocity at any point,
(ii) tension at any point,
Numerical Questions [3 or 5 Marks Qs.]
1. A force produces an acceleration of 16 m/s2 in a body of mass
0.5 kg, and an acceleration of 4 m/s2 in another body. If both
the bodies are fastened together, then what is the acceleration
produced by that force?
2. A 20 gm bullet moving at 300 m/s stops after penetrating 3
cm of bone. Calculate the average force exerted by the bullet.
3. A stone of mass 5 kg falls from the top of a cliff 50 m high
and buries 1 m deep in sand. Find the average resistance
offered by the sand and the time it takes to penetrate.
4. A force of 50 N is inclined to the vertical at an angle of 30°.
Find the aceeleration it produces in a body of mass 2 kg
which moves in the horizontal direction.
5. A gun weighing 10 kg fires a bullet of 30 g with a velocity of
330 m/s. With what velocity does the gun recoil? What is
the resultant momentum of the gun and the bullet before
and after firing?
6. An elevator weighs 4000 kg. When the upward tension in
the supporting cable is 48000 N, what is the upward
acceleration? Starting from rest, how far does it rise in 3
seconds?
7. A machine gun has mass of 20kg. It fires 25g bullet at the
rate of 600 bullets per minutes with a speed of 200 m/s.
Calculate (i) recoil velocity of the gun and, (ii) force required
to keep the gun in position.
8. A ball of mass 100 g falls from a height of 5 m and rebounds
to a height of 1.25 m. Calculate the impulse and average
force between the ball and the ground, if the time during
which they are in contact is 0.1s [g = 10 m/s2]
9. A ball of mass 20g hits a wall at an angle of 45° with a
velocity of 15 m/s. If the ball rebounds at 90° to the direction
of incidence, calculate the impulse received by the ball.
10. A rocket of initial mass 6000 kg ejects mass at a constant
rate of 16 kg/s with constant relative speed of 11 km/s. What
is the acceleration of the rocket one minute after blast?
11. A horizontal force of 1.2 kg is applied on a 1.5 kg block,
which rests on a horizontal surface. If the coefficient of
friction is 0.3, find the acceleration produced in the block.
12. A body weighing 20 kg just slides down a rough inclined
plane that rises 5 m in every 12 m. What is the coefficient of
friction ?
13. A block of mass 2 kg rests on a plane inclined at 30° with the
horizontal. The coefficient of friction between the block and
the surface is 0.7. What will be the frictional force acting on
the block?
14. What is the smallest radius of a circle at which a cyclist can
travel if its speed is 36 km/h, given that he bends by an
angle 45° while turning [g = 10 m/s2]

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15. A stone tied to one end of a string 70 cm long is whirled in a
horizontal circle with a constant speed. If the stone makes 10
revolutions in 20s, what is the direction and magnitude of the
acceleration of the stone?
16. Find the force required to move a train of mass 5000 quintals
up an incline of 1 in 50 with an acceleration of 2 m/s2. [Take
force of friction = 0.2 N/quintal and g = 10m/s2]
EBD_7019
Physics
17. A plane describes a vertical circle when looping. Find the
radius of the greatest possible loop if the velocity of the
plane at the lowest point of its path is 50 m/s. [g = 10 m/s2]
18. A particle moves in a circle of radius 20 cm. It’s linear speed
is given by v = 2t where t is in second and v in metre/s. Find
the radial and tangential acceleration at t = 3s.

HOTS/Exemplar Questions
Very Short Answer Questions [1 Mark Qs.]
1. Is it possible to have motion in the absence of a force? Is it
possible to have force in the absence of motion? [HOTS]
2. When the pellet fired into the spiral tube emerges, which
path will it follow? (Neglect gravity) [HOTS]
3. A person in an elevator accelerating upwards with an
acceleration of 2 ms–2, tosses a coin vertically upwards
with a speed of 20 m s–1. After how much time will the coin
fall back into his hand? (g = 10 ms–2) [Exemplar]
4. A block of mass M is held against a rough vertical wall by
pressing it with a finger. If the coefficient of friction between
the block and the wall is  and the acceleration due to gravity
is g, calculate the minimum force required to be applied by
the finger to hold the block against the wall? [Exemplar]

Long Answer Questions [5 Marks Qs.]

1. Two masses each equal to m are lying on X-axis at (–a, 0) and
A B C
(Top view) (+ a, 0) respectively as shown in fig. They are connected by
a light string. A force F is applied at the origin and along the
3. At the moment an object that has been tossed upward into Y-axis. As a result, the masses move towards each other.
the air reaches its highest point, is it in equilibrium? Defend What is the acceleration of each mass? Assume the
your answer. [HOTS] instantaneous position of the masses as (– x, 0) and (x, 0)
respectively.
4. A person driving a car suddenly applies the brakes on seeing
F
a child on the road ahead. If he is not wearing seat belt, he
falls forward and hits his head against the steering wheel.
Why? [Exemplar]
5. Why are mountain roads generally made winding upwards
(–a, 0) (a, 0)
rather than going straight up? [Exemplar] –X X
m O m
[HOTS]
Short Answer Questions [2 or 3 Marks Qs.] 2. A 0.30 kg hockey puck slides on the horizontal frictionless
surface of an ice rink. It is struck simultaneously by two
1. In the absence of air friction, it is claimed that all objects fall different hockey sticks. The two constant forces that act on
with the same acceleration. A heavier object is pulled to the the puck as a result of the hockey sticks are parallel to the
Earth with more force than a light object. Why does the ice surface and are shown in the pictorial representation in
heavier object not fall faster? [HOTS] figure. The force F1 has a magnitude of 5.0 N. and F2 has a
2. Note the readings on the scales. Rustam the painter has a magnitude of 8.0 N. Determine the acceleration of the puck
weight of 600 N and carries a 100-N bucket of point. What is while it is in contact with the two sticks.
the weight of the scaffold? y
F2

F1= 5.0 N
700 N 500 N
F2= 8.0 N
60°
x
20°

F1
[HOTS] [HOTS]
Laws of Motion 119

3. A helicopter of mass 2000 kg rises with a vertical acceleration
of 15 ms–2. The total mass of the crew and passengers is
500 kg. Give the magnitude and direction of the (g = 10 ms–2)
(a) force on the floor of the helicopter by the crew and
passengers.
(b) action on the rotor of the helicopter on the surrounding
air.
(c) force on the helicopter due to the surrounding air.
[Exemplar]
4. A cricket bowler releases the ball in two different ways.
(a) giving it only horizontal velocity, and
(b) giving it horizontal velocity and a small downward
velocity.
The speed vs at the time of release is the same. Both
are released at a height H from the ground. Which one
will have greater speed when the ball hits the ground?
Neglect air resistance. [Exemplar]

CHAPTER TEST

Time : 45 min. Max. Marks : 24

Directions : (i) Attempt all questions

(ii) Questions 1 to 5 carry 1 mark each.
(iii) Questions 6, 7 and 8 carry 3 marks each.
(iv) Questions 9 and 10 carry 5 marks each.

1. A stone is tied to one end of a string and rotated in a vertical circle. What is the difference in tension of the string at lowest
and highest points of the vertical circle?
2. Can a body remain in rest when external forces are acting on it?
3. An athlete runs a certain distance before taking a long jump. Why?
4. A bullet of mass 50 g moving with a speed of 500 m/s is brought to rest in 0.01s. Find the impulse.
5. A cricket ball is rolled on ice with a velocity of 5.6 m/s and comes to rest after travelling 8 m. Find the coefficient of friction.
[g = 9.8 m/s2]
6. State the principle of conservation of linear momentum. Explain, the recoiling of a gun when a bullet is fired from it with this
principle.
7. A block of mass M is supported by a cord C from a rigid support, and another cord D is attached to the bottom of the block.
If you give a sudden jerk to D, it will break. But if you pull on D steadily, chord C will break. Why ?

8. When a horse pulls a cart, the cart also pulls it with an equal and opposite force by Newton’s third law. Explain how the cart
moves forward.
9. Two objects of masses m1 and m2 are tied at the two ends of a light inextensible string passing over a frictionless pulley. Find
expressions for the acceleration of the system and the tension in the string.
10. An object is first sliding down an inclined plane of inclination  with some constant velocity. It is next projected up the plane
with an initial velocity u. Calculate the distance upto which it will rise before coming to rest. What will happen to the object
after it has come to rest?