Revision questions MATH122 (Week 12) – (2023)

Problem 1 A train consisting of five cars and a locomotive is moving on a

straight, horizontal track. The locomotive is exerting a decelerating (breaking)
constant force F on the first car, which has mass 6m, whereas cars two and
three have mass 2m and cars four and five mass m each. Assuming that the
cars have no friction, find the force of car three on car four, F43 , and the force
of car two on car one, F12 . If the initial velocity of the train is v0 , calculate how
long it takes until the train comes to a standstill.

Solution to problem 1 Given in class, see recording on Canvas.

Problem 2 A parachuter of mass m = 80 kg is dropped vertically from a heli-

copter at an altitude of 1200m above the ground. If the friction (drag) force is
Ffriction = −kv 2 , where v is the velocity of the parachuter and k = 25kg m−1 ,
calculate the speed with which they will hit the ground. Use g = 9.81m s−2 for
the gravitational acceleration. Compare your result to the asymptotic velocity,
i.e. the velocity reached for a drop from very high altitude, but assuming the
same forces.

Solution to problem 2 Given in class, see recording on Canvas.

Problem 3 Solve the differential equation of an oscillator with damping and

forcing, given by
ẍ + 4ẋ + 13x = 2 ,
for the initial conditions x(0) = ẋ(0) = 0.

Solution to problem 3 Given in class, see recording on Canvas.

Problem 4 An object of mass 400 kg is moving with 30 m s−1 and collides head
on with a heavier object which moves at 15 m s−1 in the opposite direction. If
both bodies coalesce, and the velocity of the composite object after the colli-
sion is 10 m s−1 in the direction the heavier object moved before the collision,
determine the mass of the heavier object. Which fraction of the total energy
is absorbed during the collision by the coalescing process? Give the number in
percent rounded to an integer number.

Solution to problem 4 Given in class, see recording on Canvas. Additional

remark, answering a question asked after end of recording: given that a collision
takes place during a time interval ∆t, the average acceleration of a particle with
initial velocity v1 and final velocity v10 is

v10 − v1
ā1 = .
∆t
This concept was introduced in the Week 6 tutorial, see Problem 3 of the Week
6 tutorial sheet, and Homework 2, Problem 1, and Sample Paper 2, Problem 1.

1
Problem 5 The track of a rollercoaster is described by the function y(x) =
2 + 3x − x3 , −2 ≤ x ≤ 1, where y is the height measured in meter. Sketch the
rollercoaster for the given x range. Assuming that the motion is frictionless, if
a car starts from rest at x = −2 and moves in the positive x direction, what is
its speed at x = 1? Where does it reach its maximum speed vmax ? Calculate
vmax if the gravitational acceleration is g = 9.81m s−2 . You may round your
result to two decimal places.

Solution to problem 5 Given in class, see recording on Canvas. See also

Sample Paper 1, Problem 4.

Problem 6 Starting from Newton’s law of universal gravitation, calculate the

gravitational acceleration on the surface of the Moon, given that its (mean)
radius is 1737 km, its mass is 7.34 · 1022 kg and Newton’s universal gravitational
constant G = 6.67 · 10−11 m3 kg−1 s−2 . If an astronaut, wearing space-suit and
full gear, manages to jump a maximum height of 0.5 m on Earth, where the
gravitational acceleration is g = 9.81 m s−2 , what is the maximum height they
will be able to jump on the Moon (when wearing the same suit and gear)?
Neglect any effect of air resistance and assume that their take-off speed when
jumping on the Moon is the same as on Earth. You may round your results to
two decimal places.

Solution to problem 6 Given in class, see recording on Canvas.

Problem 7 A particle of mass m is moving in the (x, y)-plane under the elastic,
restraining force F = −k(xi + 4yj), where k is a positive constant and i, j are
the unit vectors in the x and y directions.
q
k
1. Given the initial conditions x(0) = 0, ẋ(0) = m , y(0) = 2, ẏ(0) = 0,
find the solutions for x(t) and y(t).
2. By eliminating the variable t, derive the path of the particle in the form
y(x) and sketch it.
3. Using your sketch, discuss the movement for the first period after t = 0.
What is the period of the particle’s motion in the (x, y)-plane?
4. Compute the angular momentum of the particle at t = 0. What is the
torque acting on it?

Hint: You may use the trigonometric identity cos(2α) = 1 − 2 sin2 α.

Solution to problem 7 Given in class, see recording on Canvas.

Problem 8 On flat terrain, a projectile is fired from ground level, with velocity
v0 and at an angle θ from the horizontal. If air resistance is neglected, and
taking the gravitational acceleration to be g = 9.81 m s−2 , what is the reach of
the projectile as a function of v0 and θ?

2
If v0 = 200 m s−1 , at which angle must the projectile be aimed to hit a target
(at ground level) which is at a distance of 300 m? Choose the smaller of the two
solutions and give the angle to two decimal places in degrees.
1
Hint: You may use sin θ · cos θ = 2 sin(2θ).

Solution to problem 8 Given in class, see recording on Canvas. See also

Sample Paper 2, Problem 7.

Problem 9 An asteroid is orbiting a distant star of mass M on a circular orbit

of radius r with constant speed v. Derive, using the formula for centripetal
acceleration, v as a function of M , r and the universal gravitational constant
G. Then find the orbital period (again as a function of M , r and G).

Solution to problem 9 Newton’s law of universal gravitation:

mM
F = −G r̂
r2
is the force acting on a body of mass m orbiting a body of mass M , where r is
the distance from the centre of the mass M . (Since no information about the
radius of mass M is given, we should treat it as a point mass located at r = 0.)

Force for a circular motion:

v2
F = ma = −m r̂ ,
r
2
where v is the orbital speed and r the radius of the circle. (a = − vr r̂ is the
so-called centripetal acceleration).

For the mass m to be on a circular orbit under the action of gravitational force
created by mass M both expressions must match:
r
mM v2 GM v2 GM
−G 2 r̂ = −m r̂ ⇒ 2 = ⇒v= .
r r r r r
The orbital period is T = 2π
ω , where ω is the (angular) frequency of the circular
motion. For circular motion v = ωr, and therefore

2πr 2πr 2πr3/2

T = =q = √ .
v GM GM
r

Problem 10 A thin wheel with radius R and mass M is rotated around its
axis, which goes through the wheel’s centre and is perpendicular to the plane
of the wheel (i.e. the wheel’s axis of rotational symmetry).
1. Determine the moment of inertia in the case that the mass is distributed
uniformly along the rim of the wheel. (This is the mass distribution of a
thin ring of radius R.)

3
 2. Now calculate the moment of inertia if instead the same mass M is uni-
formly distributed across the whole disk.
3. Compare the two results, using the definition of the moment of inertia.
If the thin ring from part 1 rotates with angular speed ω1 , with which
angular speed ω2 must the solid disk from part 2 rotate so that both have
the same rotational energy?

Solution to problem 10 See Sample Paper 2, Problem 6.