UNSOLVED SUBJECTIVE LEVEL – II

(BRUSH UP YOUR CONCEPTS)

1. A ring has a radius R. It is made of thin wire of crosssectional radius r. Calculate the gravitational
force exerted by the material of ring on a particle of mass m placed on the axis of the ring at a
distance x from its centre. The density of the material of the wire of  . Where is this force maximum?
What is the value of maximum force?

2. Find the radius of the circular orbit of a satellite moving with an angular speed equal to the angular
speed of earth’s rotation. If the satellite is directly above the north pole at some instant, find the time
it takes to come over the equatorial plane. Mass of the earth  6  1024 kg.

3. The time taken by Mars to revolve round the sun is approximately 2 years. Find the ratio of average
distance between Mars and the sun to that between the earth and the sun.

4. In a certain region of space, gravitational field is given by I  (K / r) . Taking the reference point to
be at r  r0 with V  V0 , find the potential, as a function of distance r..

5. Two stars each of one solar mass (= 2  1030 kg) are approaching each other for a head on collision.
When they are at a mutual distance 109 km, their speeds are negligible. What is the speed with which
they collide ? the radius of each star is 104 km. Assume the stars to remain undistorted until they
collide. (Use the known value of G).

6. The density of the core of a planet is 1 and that of the outer shell R
2R
is 2 . The radii of the core and that of the planet are R and 2R
respectively. The acceleration due to gravity at the surface of the 1
planet is same as at a depth R. Find the ratio 1 / 2 . 2

7. The minimum and maximum distances of a satellite from the centre of the earth are 2R and 4R
respectively, where R is the radius of earth and M is the mass of the earth. Find radius of curvature
at the point of minimum distance.

8. In a double star, two stars(one of mass m and the other of 2m) distance d apart rotate about their
common centre of mass. Deduce an expression for the period of revolution. Show that the ratio of
their angular momenta about the centre of mass is the same as the ratio of their kinetic energies.
M2
9. Two concentric spherical shells of uniform density of mass M1 and a

M 2 are situated as shown in the figure. Find the force on a particle

of mass m when:
(i) the particle is located at r = a
M1 b
(ii) the particle is located at r = b c
(iii) the particle is located at r = c
The distance r is measured from the centre of the shells.
10. A satellite of mass m is moving in a circular orbit of radius r. Calculate its angular momentum with
respect to the centre of the orbit in terms of the mass of the earth.

UNSOLVED SUBJECTIVE LEVEL – III

(CHECK YOUR SKILLS)

1. An artificial satellite of mass m of a planet of mass M, revolves in a cirular orbit whose radius is n
times the radius R of the planet. In the process of motion, the satellite experiences a slight resistance
due to cosmic dust. Assuming resistance force on satellite depends on velocity as F  av 2 where a
is constant, calculate how long will the satellite stay in orbit before it falls onto the planet’s surface.

2. A body of mass m be projected vertically upward from the surface of the earth so as to reach a
height nR above the earth’s surface. Calculate
(a) the increase in its P.E.
(b) the velocity with which the body must be projected

3. A space ship approached the moon (mass = M and radius = R) along a parabolic path which is
almost tangential to its surface. At the moment of maximum approach, the brake rocket is fired to
convert the spaceship into a satellite of the moon. Find the change in speed.

400 kg 100 kg
4. In the figure masses 400 kg and 100 kg are fixed. A B
(a) How much work must be done to move a 1 kg mass
from point A to point B? 2m 2m
(b) What is the minimum kinetic energy with which the 1 10 m
kg mass must be projected from A to the right to reach
the point B?

5. The masses and the radii of the earth and the moon are M1 , R 1 and M 2 , R 2 respectively. Their
centers are a distance d apart. Find the minimum speed with which a particle of mass m should be
projected from a point mid-way between the two centres so as to escape to infinity.

6. A massive body moving radially away from a planet of mass M, when at distance r from planet,
explodes in such a way that two of its many fragments move in mutually perpendicular circular
orbits around planet. Find the maximum distance between fragments before collision and their relative
speed at the moment they collide.

7. A satellite of mass M s is orbiting the earth in a circular orbit of radius R. It starts losing energy very
slowly at a constant rate ‘C’ due to friction. If M e and R e denote the mass and radius of the earth

GM e M s  1 1
respectively, show that the satellite falls on the earth in a time t  
2C  R e R 
 .

8. A meteorite approaching a planet of mass M (in the straight line passing through the centre of the
planet) collides with an automatic space station orbiting the planet in the circular trajectory of radius
R. The mass of the station is ten times as large as the mass of the meteorite. As a result of collision,
 the meteorite sticks in the station which goes over to a new orbit with the minimum distance R/2 from
the planet.
Determine the velocity u of the meteorite before the collision.

9. Inside a uniform sphere of density  there is a spherical cavity whose P

 Cl
centre is at a position l from the centre of the sphere. Find the strength F
of the gravitational field inside the cavity.

10. Imagine a tunnel dug along a diameter of the Earth. Show that a particle dropped from one end of the
tunnel executes simple harmonic motion. What is the time period of this motion ? Assume the Earth
to be a sphere of uniform mass density (equal to its known average density = 5520 kg m-3) and G =
6.67  1011 N m 2 kg 2 . Neglect all damping forces.