LESSON 6

WORK, ENERGY & POWER

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Chapter 7
System of Particles and rotational motion
 ̂
1. Find the torque of a force 7��̂ + 3 ��̂ − 5 �� about the origin. The force acts on a
̂
particle whose position vector is ��̂ - ��̂ + ��.

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2. Two particles of masses 1kg and 3kg are located at (2��̂ +5 ��̂ + 13 ��) and
̂
( −6��̂ +4 ��̂ − 2 ��)metre respectively. Find the position of the centre of
the mass.

3. A metal bar 70 cm long and 4.00 kg in mass supported on two knife-edges placed 10 cm
from each end. A 6.00 kg load is suspended at 30 cm from one end. Find the reactions at
the knife edges. (Assume the bar to be of uniform cross section and
homogeneous.)

4. A 3m long ladder weighing 20 kg leans on a frictionless wall. Its feet

rest on the floor 1 m from the wall as shown in Fig. Find the
reaction forces of the wall and the floor.

5. The angular speed of a motor wheel is increased from 1200 rpm to

3120 rpm in 16 seconds. (i) What is its angular acceleration,
assuming the acceleration to be uniform? (ii) How many revolutions
does the engine make during this time?

6. A hoop of radius 2 m weighs 100 kg. It rolls along a horizontal floor so that its centre of
mass has a speed of 20 cm/s. How much work has to be done
to stop it?

7. As shown in Fig., the two sides of a step ladder BA and CA are

1.6 m long and hinged at A. A rope DE, 0.5 m is tied half way
up. A weight
40 kg is suspended from a point F, 1.2 m from B along the
ladder BA.
Assuming the floor to be frictionless and neglecting the
weight of
the ladder, find the tension in the rope and forces exerted by the
floor on the ladder. (Take g = 9.8 m/s2) (Hint: Consider the
equilibrium of each side of the ladder separately.)

8. A man stands on a rotating platform, with his arms stretched horizontally holding a 5 kg
weight in each hand. The angular speed of the platform is 30 revolutions per minute. The
man then brings his arms close to his body with the distance of each weight from the axis
changing from 90cm to 20cm. The moment of inertia of the man together with the
platform may be taken to be constant and equal to 7.6 kg m2 . (a) What is his new
angular speed? (Neglect friction.) (b) Is kinetic energy conserved in the process? If not,
from where does the change come about?

9. A solid cylinder of mass 20 kg rotates about its axis with angular speed 100 rad s-1. The
 radius of the cylinder is 0.25 m. What is the kinetic energy associated with the rotation of
the cylinder? What is the magnitude of angular momentum of the cylinder about its axis?
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Chapter 8
GRAVITATION
1. Find the potential energy of a system of four particles placed at the vertices of a square of
side l. Also obtain the potential at the centre of the square.

2. Two uniform solid spheres of equal radii R, but mass M and 4 M have a centre to centre
separation 6 R. The two spheres are held fixed. A projectile of mass m is projected from the
surface of the sphere of mass M directly towards the centre of the second sphere. Obtain
an expression for the minimum speed v of the projectile so that it reaches the surface of
the second sphere.

3. A 400 kg satellite is in a circular orbit of radius 2RE about the Earth. How much energy is
required to transfer it to a circular orbit of radius 4RE ? What are the changes in the kinetic
and potential energies ?

4. Choose the correct alternative :

(a) Acceleration due to gravity increases/decreases with increasing altitude. (b)

Acceleration due to gravity increases/decreases with increasing depth (assume the earth to
be a sphere of uniform density).
(c) Acceleration due to gravity is independent of mass of the earth/mass of the body. (d)
The formula –G Mm(1/r2 – 1/r1) is more/less accurate than the formula mg(r2 – r1) for the
difference of potential energy between two points r2 and r1 distance away from the centre
of the earth.

5. Choose the correct alternative: (a) If the zero of potential energy is at infinity, the total energy
of an orbiting satellite is negative of its kinetic/potential energy. (b) The energy required to
launch an orbiting satellite out of earth’s gravitational influence is more/less than the energy
required to project a stationary object at the same height (as the satellite) out of earth’s
influence.

6. Does the escape speed of a body from the earth depend on (a) the mass of the body, (b) the
location from where it is projected, (c) the direction of projection, (d) the height of the
location from where the body is launched?

7. The escape speed of a projectile on the earth’s surface is 11.2 km s –1. A body is projected out
with thrice this speed. What is the speed of the body far away from the earth? Ignore the
presence of the sun and other planets.

8. A rocket is fired ‘vertically’ from the surface of mars with a speed of 2 km s –1. If 20% of its
initial energy is lost due to martian atmospheric resistance, how far will the rocket go from
the surface of mars before returning to it ? Mass of mars = 6.4×10 23 kg; radius of mars = 3395
km; G = 6.67×10-11 N m2 kg–2.

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