H2 Physics – Forces and Statics

Upthrust

1. An object, immersed in a liquid in a tank, experiences an upthrust. What is the physical reason for this
upthrust?

A The value of g in the liquid increases with depth.

B The pressure in the liquid increases with depth.
C The density of the body differs from that of the liquid.
D The density of the liquid increases with depth.

2. Two beakers of water are shown below. Beaker A is brim-full of cold water with a solid ice-block floating
in it. Beaker B is also brim-full with an ice-block floating in it, but the ice-block has a trapped lead ball
within it. When both ice-blocks melt, what will happen?

A Both beakers will remain brim-full.

B Beaker A will remain brim-full whereas beaker B will spill over.
C Beaker A will spill over whereas the water-level in beaker B will get lower.
D Beaker A will remain brim-full whereas the water-level in beaker B will get lower.

3. A solid cube of density 3.0 g cm-3 floats in an unidentified liquid of uniform density ρ. Given that two-fifth
of its total volume is exposed above the liquid surface, find ρ.

A 0.800 g cm-3 B 1.20 g cm-3 C 5.00 g cm-3 D 7.50 g cm-3

4. When a beaker of water rests on a weighing balance, the weight indicated is X. A boy dips one of his
fingers into the water without touching the beaker, the balance reads Z.

Which of the following statements is correct?

A Z = X because the water has not overflowed from the beaker.
B Z < X because the water exerts an upthrust on the boy’s finger.
C Z > X because the water exerts an upthrust on the boy’s finger and as a
result, the boy’s finger exerts a force back on the water.
D Z > X because the weight of the boy’s finger is added to that of the water in
the beaker.
5. A beaker three quarters full of water resting on the pan of a spring balance registers a reading W as
shown in Figure 4. When the finger of a boy is immersed in the water without touching the sides and the
bottom of the beaker, the reading becomes W’. Which of the following
statements is correct?

A W’ = W because the water has not overflowed from the

beaker.
B W’ < W because the water exerts an upthrust on the finger.
C W’ > W because the finger’s weight is added to that of the
water in the beaker.
D W’ > W because the boy’s finger exerts a downthrust
(downward force) on the water and this is transmitted to the
spring balance.

6. A brick weighs 8.00 N on a weighing machine. The brick and weighing machine are now entirely
submerged in water. What is the reading of the weighing machine in water?

A 0N
B slightly less than 8.00 N
C 8.00 N
D slightly more than 8.00 N

7. A buoy of volume V is held to the sea bed using a spring which is being extended (see figure below).

If b and w represents the density of ball and seawater respectively, which of the following expression
best represents the magnitude of the tension of the spring on the ball?

A (w - b)Vg
B (b - w)Vg
C Zero
D (w + b)Vg
Moment of a force, Principle of Moment

8. A uniform rod AB of mass 2.0 kg is freely hinged to a vertical wall at point A. The rod is held in a horizontal
position by a force F1 acting vertically from M, the midpoint of the rod, and by a force F2 from B acting at
an angle of 50 o to the vertical. Given that F1 = 2.0 N, find the value of F2,

A 8.81 N B 11.5 N C 13.7 N D 27.4 N

9. A uniform rod XY of weight 10.0 N is freely hinged to a wall at X. It

is held horizontally by a force F acting from Y at an angle of 60o to
the vertical as shown in the diagram. What is the value of F?

A 20.0 N B 10.0 N
C 8.66 N D 5.00 N
10. The diagram below shows the positions of a person’s
jawbones. The lower jaw may be represented by the diagram
below. The jawbone has negligible mass. It consists of two
straight parts of length 7.0 cm and 4.0 cm making an angle of
130o with each other. During one particular bite, a force of 45 N
is applied by the teeth at the front of the jawbone. What is the
force M exerted by the masseter muscle?

A 120 N
B 140 N
C 150 N
D 170 N

11. A uniform horizontal beam of length 10 m and weight 200 N is attached to a

wall as shown below. The far end of the beam is supported by a cable which
makes an angle of 60o with respect to the beam. A 500 N boy stands 2 m from
the wall. What is the tension in the cable?

A 700 N B 400 N C 231 N D 808 N

12. The diagram shows four forces acting on a uniform circular object.
Which of the following best describes the motion of the object? 5N
north
5N
A Spins clockwise and accelerates to the west
B Spins clockwise and accelerates to the southwest
C Spins clockwise about its original position
D Accelerates to the west without spinning 5N
5N
13. A metal disc is acted upon by a number of forces. The forces are all in the plane of the disc and the
weight of the disc is negligible. In which of the following situations is the disc in static equilibrium?

14. A uniform plank of length l m weighs 240 N. Two strings, tied at X and Y, are used to support the plank
and keep it horizontal. X is located at a distance half way to the centre of the plank. The tension in the
string tied at Y is
X Y

lm
A 160 N B 80 N C 60 N D 40 N

15. In Figure 7, uniform rod PQ of mass 500 g is freely hinged to a wall at P. A block of lead of mass 2.00 kg
is suspended at Q by means of a light inextensible string. Force F acting from Q at an angle of 60 o to
the vertical keeps the rod horizontal.

F
60 o

P Q

2.00 kg

What is the magnitude of F?

A 88 N B 49 N C 44 N D 39 N

16. A lever of negligible weight is bent so that its sides wx, xy and yz are equal 10 N
in length as shown. The pivot of the lever is at point x. A force of 10 N is x
applied at point w at right angles to arm wx. w A

A force is applied at z to keep the lever in equilibrium. Along which z

direction would the minimum force be required? y
B D
C
17. A heavy uniform piece of wood of length L is supported by two forces F1 and F2 as shown in the figure
below.

What is the value of F1 : F 2 ?

2 3 2 3
A B C D
5 5 3 2

18. A pair of equal and opposite forces of magnitude 1.5 N is applied to the ends of a 0.50 m rod as shown
below.
1.5
50o
N
Rod

50o
1.5
N
What is the magnitude of the torque of the couple on the rod when it is in the position shown above?

A 0.29 N m B 0.38 N m C 0.57 N m D 0.75 N m

19. What is the mass m of the counterweight needed to balance the 1500 kg load on the
smooth incline as shown in the system below? Assume all pulleys are frictionless
and massless.

A 250 kg B 500 kg
C 750 kg D 1500 kg

20. Two objects P and Q having the same volume are hung at either ends of a light uniform rod and
subsequently submerged in two different liquids X and Y respectively. The density of X is less than that
of Y. The system is balanced when a string is hung right at the centre of the rod as shown in figure.

P Q
Liquid X Liquid Y
Which object has a smaller mass?

A P
B Q
C P and Q have the same mass
D Not enough information given
Static Equilibrium

21. A uniform ladder of weight W rests against a smooth inclined plane

and on a rough floor as shown in Figure 5. Find the magnitude of
the force exerted by the inclined plane on the ladder, in terms of W.

A 0.50 W
B 0.75 W
C 1.00 W
D 1.25 W

22. The figure below shows a block of weight 50 N supported by

three cords 1, 2 and 3. Find the tension in the cord 2.

A 167 N
B 136 N
C 119 N
D 96.2 N

23. A ladder stands on a rough floor and leans against a rough wall. Which of the following diagrams best
represents the directions of the forces acting on the ladder?

A B C D
24. A uniform notice board with a mass of 20.0 kg is supported by two thin inelastic wires, P and Q. Figure
6 shows four suggested ways to support the uniform notice board. Which ones will be in static
equilibrium?

A None of the above B I & IV only. C III only. D I, III and IV only.
25. A uniform sphere resting against a vertical wall is supported by a string connected to the same wall.

Which one of the following diagrams correctly shows the directions of the forces acting on the sphere ?

A B C D

26. The figure below shows three tangential forces applied to a uniform circular 15 N
disc. Which of the following describes the states of equilibrium of the object? 20 N

Translational Rotational equilibrium

equilibrium
5N
A Yes No
B Yes Yes
C No Yes
D No No

27. A ladder is placed between a vertical wall and horizontal ground. The wall
and ground can be either smooth or rough. The table below shows you the
various combinations of roughness and smoothness for the two surfaces.

Wall Ground
(i) Smooth Smooth
(ii) Rough Smooth
(iii) Smooth Rough
(iv) Rough Rough
For which of the options below could the ladder be in static equilibrium?

A (iv) B (ii) and (iv) C (iii) and (iv) D (ii), (iii) and (iv)

28. A weight W is supported by two light strings inclined at 30° and 60°
to the vertical. The tensions in the strings are T1 and T2.
T1 T2
If the forces are in equilibrium, the ratio T1 / T2 would be

3 1
A 3 B C 1 D
2 3
29. Three coplanar forces, 10 N, 8 N and 6 N act on a flat object. Which one of the following shows the flat
object in equilibrium under the action of the forces? (The forces are drawn to scale)

30. The diagram shows the cross-section of a sail-boat. Point G is the centre of
gravity of the boat, including its sail. The upthrust on the boat acts through
point Q, the centre of gravity of the seawater that is displaced by the boat.
A strong gust of wind tilts the boat off its upright position as shown in the
diagram. When the gust subsides,

A the boat will continue to roll anticlockwise and topple due to the
moment from the weight of its sail.
B the boat will continue to roll over and capsize because of its rounded
cross-section.
C the boat will roll back to its upright position because upthrust acts upwards on the
boat.
D the boat will roll back to its upright position because its weight and upthrust form a
couple whose torque is clockwise.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
B D C C D B A C B D C A C B C
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
B C C A A A A A C B C C A C D