ESci 12 – Dynamics of Rigid Bodies

Midterm Examination
Part I (4 pts each) – Encircle the letter of your answer (2 pts) and show your solution (+2 pts).
1. A man weighs 150N on the surface of the earth. Find his weight at an elevation equal to the radius of the
earth.
a. 37.5 N b. 25.7 N c. 47.5 N d. 52.7 N
2. An airplane used to drop water on brushfires is flying horizontally in a straight line at 315 km/h at an
altitude of 80 m. Determine the distance at which the pilot should release the water so that it will hit the
fire.
a. 335 m b. 325m c. 343 m d. 353 m.
3. Determine the gravitational force exerted by the sun on a 1.0-kg object on the surface of the earth. Mass
of sun = 1.9891 × 1030 kg, Distance between earth and sun = 149.6 × 106 km and G = 6.67×10−11
m3/(kg·s2).
a. 5.93 10−3 N b. 5.93 103 N c. 3.95 10−3 N d. 9.35 103 N
4. The position of a particle that moves along the x-axis is given by x = t3 − 3t2 − 45t m where t is the time in
seconds. Determine the velocity at t = 8 s.
a. 74 m/s b. 42 m/s c. 99 m/s d. 310 m
5. A car is traveling at 100 km/h along a straight, level road when its brakes become locked. Determine the
stopping distance of the car knowing that the coefficient of kinetic friction between the tires and the road
is 0.65.
a. 70.6 m b. 60.5 m c. 85.3 m d. 93.2 m
6 A satellite is launched in a direction parallel to the surface of the earth with a velocity of 36 900 km/h from
an altitude of 500 km. Determine the maximum altitude reached by the satellite,
a. 50 300 km b. 40 200 km c. 60 400 km d. 70 500 km
Part II – Solve the following and show your solution (5 pts each).
1. A rocket is launched vertically at time t = 0. The elevation of the rocket is given by y = −0.13t4 + 4.1t3 +
0.12t2 m where t is in seconds. Determine the maximum velocity of the rocket and the elevation at which it
occurs.
2. A volleyball player serves the ball with an initial velocity v 0 of magnitude 13.40 m/s at an angle of 20° with
the horizontal. Determine (a) if the ball will clear the top of the net, (b) how far from the net the ball will land.
3. A 1300-kg small hybrid car is traveling at 108 km/h. Determine (a) the kinetic energy of the vehicle, (b) the
speed required for a 9000-kg truck to have the same kinetic energy as the car.
4. Two cars A and B traveling at constant speeds are in the positions shown at time t = 0. Determine (a) the
velocity of A relative to B; (b) the position vector of A relative to B as a function of time

5. Grain falls onto a chute at the rate of 109 kg/s. It hits the chute with a velocity of 6 m/s and leaves with a
velocity of 4.5 m/s. The combined weight of the chute and the grain it carries is 272 kg with the center of
gravity at G. Determine the reactions at C and B.
6. Three small identical spheres A, B, and C, which can slide on a horizontal, frictionless surface, are
attached to three 8-in-long strings, which are tied to a ring G. Initially, the spheres rotate clockwise about
the ring with a relative velocity of 2.5 ft/s and the ring moves along the x-axis with a velocity v0= (1.3 ft/s).
Suddenly, the ring breaks and the three spheres move freely in the xy plane with A and B following paths
parallel to the y-axis at a distance a = 13.5 in from each other and C following a path parallel to the x axis.
Determine (a) the velocity of each sphere, (b) the distance d.