PHYS 101 – General Physics I Final Exam Solutions

Duration: 120 minutes Wednesday, 22 May 2019

1. A spool of thread (a yo-yo) with inner radius 𝑟1 , outer radius 𝑟2 , mass M and moment of inertia I about the center of
mass is placed on a horizontal surface. The spool is pulled by the thread, as shown in the figure, by a constant
horizontal force ⃗𝑭, and rolls to the right without slipping.
⃗𝑭𝑵
(a) (5 Pts.) Draw the free-body diagram.

(b) (10 Pts.) Find the linear acceleration of the center of the spool.
𝑟2
(c) (10 Pts.) If the coefficient of static friction between the spool and the 𝑟1
horizontal surface is 𝜇𝑠 , what is the maximum value of F for which the ⃗𝑭
spool rolls without slipping? ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑭𝒇𝒓

Solution: ⃗⃗
𝑀𝒈

(b) Newton’s second law applied to the horizontal translational motion implies F  Ffr  Mac .

Since the spool rolls without slipping, Newton’s second law applied to the rotational motion about the

ac
center of the spool implies r2 Ffr  r1 F  I   I . Solving these two equations for the acceleration, we get
r2

 I  Mr22   I  Mr1r2   r22  r1r2 

F  2  c
a , F   2 a a 
 c . Hence, we have c  2 
F .
  
fr
 2 12
r r r  2 12 
r r r  I Mr 2 

 I  Mr1r2   I  Mr1r2 
(c) Since Ffr  s Mg , we have Ffr    ac   s Mg   2 
F   s Mg , meaning that
 r2  r1r2   I  Mr2 
2

 I  Mr22 
F    s Mg .
 I  Mr1r2 
2. A beam with mass M and length ℓ length slides broadside down the ice with speed 𝑣0 as shown. At some point one
end of the beam collides elastically with a fixed obstacle and the beam goes spinning down the ice. Assume
frictionless motion. For a uniform beam ICM  121 M 2
.
𝑀
(a) Which of the following quantities are conserved in the collision:

i) linear momentum; ii) kinetic energy; iii) angular momentum with

respect to the obstacle. ⃗0
𝒗
ℓ
(b) With what angular velocity does the beam rotate about its center of
mass?

(c) How fast does the center of mass of the beam move after the
collision?

Solution:
Fixed obstacle (a nail)
(a) Since the collision is elastic, kinetic energy is conserved, and since
external forces act at the obstacle, angular momentum with respect to the obstacle is conserved. Momentum is not
conserved because the obstacle is fixed.

(b) Since angular momentum with respect to the obstacle is conserved, we have

1 1
Li  Mv0 and L f  MvCM  I   Mv0  MvCM  M 2  v0  vCM   .
2 2 2 2 12 6

(c) Since kinetic energy is conserved, we have

1 1 1 1 2 2
Ki  Mv02 and K f  MvCM
2
 I  2  v02  vCM
2
  .
2 2 2 12

Solving these two equations, we get

1 3v
vCM  v0 and   0 .
2
3. A hockey puck is sliding without friction on ice. The
radius of the hockey puck is R=5 cm, its mass is m=200 g 𝑦
𝑅2
and the moment of inertia through its center is 𝐼 = 𝑚 2
.
At a particular moment in time the center of the puck is at
position 𝑟 = 4𝑖̂ + 3𝑗̂, where the components are in meters. At 𝑣𝐴
this moment the velocity of the topmost point of the puck 𝑣𝐵
(point A) with respect to the origin is 𝑣𝐴 = −𝑖̂ − 2𝑗̂ while
the velocity of the rightmost point of the puck (point B) with
respect to the origin is 𝑣𝐵 = 2𝑖̂ + 𝑗̂. The velocity components 𝑅
are in meters/second.
(a) (5 Pts.) Is the puck rotating clockwise or counter
clockwise? (Explain.) 𝑟

(b) (5 Pts.) What is the velocity of the center of mass of the

𝑥
puck with respect to the origin?
(c) (5 Pts.) What is the angular velocity of rotation of the puck with respect to its center of mass?
(d) (5 Pts.) What is the kinetic energy of the puck?
(e) (5 Pts.) What is the magnitude of the angular momentum of the puck with respect to the origin?

Solution:

(a) Tangential components of v A and v B indicate that the rotation of the puck is counterclockwise.

(b) Denoting the position vectors of points A and B relative to the center of the puck by rA and rB , we have

rA  r  rA and rB  r  rB . Taking derivative with respect to time we get v A  vC  vA and v B  vC  vB where
vC is the velocity of the center. The puck is rotating counterclockwise with respect to its center, and at that instant

vA   R ˆi and vB  R ˆj . So v A  v B  3 ˆi  3 ˆj =vA  vB   R ˆi  R ˆj  R  3 m /s . Hence

v C  v A  vA  ˆi  2ˆj  3ˆi  2ˆi  2ˆj m /s

(c) R  3 m /s    3 / 0.05  60 rad/s .

1 1
(d) K  m vC2  I  2  1.25 J
2 2

(e) L  LO  LC  r  mv C  Iω  0.785 kˆ kg  m / s
2

 0.2 
L  (4 ˆi  3 ˆj)  (0.2)(2 ˆi  2 ˆj)   ˆ ˆ
 (0.05) (60) k  (2.785 kg  m / s) k
2 2

 2 

with magnitude L  2.785kg  m2 / s .

4. (25 Pts) A pendulum is made of a point mass m tied to an ideal string of
length ℓ tied to the ceiling. The point mass is also connected to a massless ideal
spring of spring constant k, which is horizontal and is at its relaxed length when ℓ
the pendulum is vertical. The gravitational acceleration is g. 𝑔
𝑘
Find the period of small oscillations of the pendulum.
m

Solution:

We have
ℓ
Fs  k sin  ,  s  k 2
sin  cos  and  g  mg sin  .
⃗𝑠
𝑭 𝜃

Therefore
⃗⃗
𝑚𝒈

d 2
 s   g  I  m 2
 ( k 2
cos   mg ) sin  .
dt 2

For small oscillations, using sin    and cos  1 , we get

d 2  k g 
     0 .
dt 2  m 

Therefore

k g 2 2
2      T  .
m   k g

m