Physics 325: Spring 2022

Practice Exam 1. Solutions.

1
An olympic diver of mass m begins her descent from a diving board of height h with zero initial
velocity.
a) What is her speed on impact with the water? (leave your answer in terms of g and h)
b) Assume that the buoyant force of the water precisely balances the gravitational force on the
diver while she is underwater, and that the viscous force on the diver is bv 2 . Write down an
equation that describes the diver’s descent through the water (use Newton’s equation), and
solve for the diver’s velocity v = v(x), as function of depth under water, x. Hint: Note that
d dx dv(x)
v(x) = (1)
dt dt dx
c) Solve for the diver’s vertical depth x(t) under water as a function of the time, t, she has been
under water.

a)
We can use conservation of energy to find this. She starts off at a height h, thus relative to the
surface of the water she has potential energy
P E = mgh (2)
when she hits the water, this has been converted to kinetic energy, and she has velocity
p
v = 2gh (3)

b)
When she enters the water, since her weight is canceled by the bouyant force, Newton’s second law
says
dv
ma = m = −bv 2 (4)
dt
Now, using the hint, we have
dv(x) dv
=v (5)
dt dx
and thus
Z v Z x
dv b
=− dx (6)
v0 v x=0 m
thus
 
v b b
2ghe− m x
p
ln =− x ⇒ v(x) = (7)
v0 m
Checks: Note that when x = 0, v = v0 .

© Peter Adshead 2022 1

c)
We can use the fact that
dx p b
v= = 2ghe− m x (8)
dt
and separate variables
Z x b
Z t
x
p
dxe m = 2ghdt (9)
x=0 t=0

and we find
m mb x p
(e − 1) = 2ght (10)
b
rearranging
 
m bp
x(t) = ln 2ght + 1 (11)
b m
Checks: we note that at t = 0, we have x = 0 as expected.

2
a) Show that if a force is conservative,

F~ (~r) = −∇U
~ (~r), (12)

and the potential U is time independent

∂U
=0 (13)
∂t
then the total system energy E = T + U is conserved.

b) Show that if a force is central

F~ (~r) = f (r, θ, φ)r̂ (14)

then angular momentum

~ = ~r × (m~v )
L (15)

is conserved.

a)
We want to show that
dE d
= (T + U ) = 0. (16)
dt dt
We start with the right hand side, and look at
 
dT d 1 d~v
= m~v · ~v = m~v · (17)
dt dt 2 dt

© Peter Adshead 2022 2

then, using Newton’s law

d~v
m = F~ (18)
dt
we have
dT
= ~v · F~ (19)
dt
Next, we look at the time derivative of the potential. We are told it does not explicitly depend on
time, therefore

dU (x, y, z) ∂U dx ∂U dy ∂U dz ∂U
= + + + (20)
dt ∂x dt ∂y dt ∂z dt ∂t
0
~ +  ∂U7

=~v · ∇U (21)
∂t
Combining these two expressions, we have
dE d  
= (T + U ) = ~v · F~ + ∇U
~ =0 (22)
dt dt

where in the last step we used the fact that F~ is conservative.

b)
We are to show that if the force is central, F~ = f (r, θ, φ)r̂, then angular momentum is conserved.
We need to show that
~
dL d
= (~r × (m~v )) = 0. (23)
dt dt
We start with the right hand side,
 
d d~v
(~r × (m~v )) =~v × (m~v ) + ~r × m (24)
dt dt

The first term is zero, because the cross product of a vector with itself is zero. We can use Newton’s
law on the second term, to get
 
d~v
~r × m = ~r × F~ (25)
dt

this also vanishes, since the force is central F~ = f (r, θ, φ)r̂, and ~r × r̂ = 0. Thus

~
dL
= 0, (26)
dt
and angular momentum is conserved.

© Peter Adshead 2022 3

3
Consider a uniform spherical mass of radius R and mass M and mass density ρ.

a) Find the gravitational potential Φ(r) for points r outside the mass r > R.

b) Find the gravitational potential Φ(r) for points r inside the mass r < R.
A small hole is drilled straight through the sphere, passing through the center (assume that this
does not change your answers above).

c) A small test mass is dropped from rest into the hole from the surface of the sphere (i.e. from
radius R). Describe the motion of the test mass after it is dropped into the hole. How long
does the mass take to reach the other side of the sphere?

There are multiple ways to do parts a and b. There is the 2 derivations from lecture, which I
won’t repeat here. Here I will give a 3rd way of doing this.

a)
We know that the mass inside a shell gravitates like a point mass concentrated at the origin,
therefore, we know the gravitational field is
GM
~g = − r̂ (27)
r2
and thus we find the potential by integrating from a reference point, which we will take to be
infinity,
GM
Φ(r) = − r>R (28)
r

b)
Inside the sphere, the gravitational field at a point r is due only to the mass in shells < r that
gravitate like a point mass at the origin. Therefore, the field is
GM<r 4π
~g = − 2 r̂ = ρGrr̂ (29)
r 3

since M<r = 4πρr3 /3. To find the potential inside the sphere, we integrate the gravitational field
from our reference position, ∞, to the point of interest. Thus,
Z R Z r
GM 4π
Φ(r) = − 2 dr − ρGrdr (30)
∞ r R 3
! !
GM GM r2 GM r2
=− − 1− 2 =− 3− (31)
R 2R R 2R R2

© Peter Adshead 2022 4

c)
Inside the sphere, the potential is purely quadratic (with an irrelevant constant offset), so a test
mass would oscillate in simple harmonic motion, with an amplitude equal to the radius of the
sphere. The mass feels an acceleration
GM
r̈ = − r (32)
R3
therefore we can find the frequency of oscillations as
r
GM
q
00
ω = U (r = 0) = (33)
R3
therefore the period is
s
2π R3
T = = 2π (34)
ω GM
this is the time for a roundtrip, to the time to get to the other side of the sphere is half of this,
that is
s
R3
t=π (35)
GM

4
Consider a spaceship in an elliptical orbit around a star. The orbit has eccentricity ε = 1/2 and
closest approach (periastra) a distance R from the star. All answers are to be given in terms of the
star mass M , G, and the given R.
a) What is its speed at periastra?
b) What is its furthest distance R0 from the star?
c) What is its speed at R0 ?
d) What change of speed ∆v is required if the spaceship is to boost into an escape trajectory
from R?
e) What change of speed ∆v is required if the spaceship is to boost into an escape trajectory
from R0 ?

a)
We have that the spaceship is in an elliptical orbit, and the point of closest approach is R. Thus,
we have
α 2 2 l2
R= = α= , (36)
1+ε 3 3 GM
which we can use to find
r
3
l= GM R (37)
2

© Peter Adshead 2022 5

Now, at the periastra, ~r · ~v = 0, therefore
r
l 3 GM
l = Rv, or v= = (38)
R 2 R

b)
Its furthest distance from the star is

α l2
R0 = = 2α = 2 = 3R (39)
1−ε GM

c)
Again at R0 , ~r · ~v = 0, therefore
r
0 0 0 l GM
l=Rv, or v = 0 = (40)
R 6R

d)
At position R, the spaceship has energy

v 2 GM 1 GM
e= − =− (41)
2 R 4 R
to escape the spaceship needs to have e = 0, so that

(v + ∆v)2 GM
− =0 (42)
2 R
we can solve for ∆v finding
r r !r
GM √ 3 GM
∆v = 2 −v = 2− (43)
R 2 R

e)
We can do a similar computation at R0 , and find
r r r !r
GM 0 2 1 GM
∆v = 2 0 − v = − (44)
R 3 6 R

5
A particle of mass m is constrained to move in a straight line. Its potential energy is given by

U (x) = a exp(−x) + bx, (45)

where a and b are positive constants.

a) Let x0 be the position where the potential energy is minimized. Find x0 in terms of a and b.

© Peter Adshead 2022 6

 b) Let z = x − x0 . For z  x0 , show that we can approximate the potential as
1
U (z) ∼ c + kz 2 (46)
2
where c and k are constants. What is k in terms of a and b?
c) What is the period of small oscillations about x = x0 ?

a)
We want to find where
dU
= −a exp(−x0 ) + b = 0, (47)
dx
that is,
a a
exp(x0 ) = , ⇒ x0 = ln (48)
b b

b)
We can Taylor expand the potential as

  a  dU    a  1 d2 U  a
U (x) = U ln + x − ln + (x − ln )2 + . . . (49)
 
b dx x=ln( a ) b 2 dx2  b

a
b x=ln( b )

note that the second term vanishes, by the definition of x0 = ln ab , recall that from part a),



dU 
=0 (50)
dx x=x0
and we are thus left with a potential of the form
1
U (z) = c + kz 2 + . . . (51)
2
where

d2 U   a i   
h b a
k= = a exp − ln = a exp ln = b, z = x − ln (52)
dx2  b a b

a
x=ln( b )

c)
For small oscillations about x0 , the equation of motion for z = x − x0 reads
mz̈ = −bz (53)
The frequency of small oscillations is
r
b
ω= (54)
m
and thus the period is
r
2π m
T = = 2π (55)
ω b

© Peter Adshead 2022 7