SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING

Tutorial 3 – Week 4
Work and Energy

1. A box of mass 5 kg is accelerated from rest across a floor at a rate of 2 m/s2 for 7 s. Find the
net work done on the box.
(𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫: 𝟒. 𝟗 × 𝟏𝟎𝟐 𝐉)

2. What is the minimum work needed to push a 950 kg car 810 m up along a 9° incline.
a) Ignore friction.
(𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫: 𝟏. 𝟐 × 𝟏𝟎𝟔 𝐉)
b) Assume the effecting coefficient of friction retarding the car is 0.25.
(𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫: 𝟑 × 𝟏𝟎𝟔 𝐉)

3. An 88 g arrow is fired from a bow whose string exerts an average force of 110 N on the arrow
over a distance of 78 cm. What is the speed of the arrow as it leaves the bow.
(𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫: 𝟒𝟒 𝐦/𝐬 )

4. How high will a 1.85 kg rock go if thrown straight up by someone who does 80 J of work on
it? Neglect air resistance.
(𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫: 𝟒. 𝟒𝟏 𝐦)

5. A 1 200 kg car rolling on a horizontal surface has speed v = 65 km/h when it strikes a
horizontal coiled spring and is brought to rest in a distance of 2.2 m. What is the spring
stiffness constant of the spring?
(𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫: 𝟖. 𝟏 × 𝟏𝟎𝟒 𝐍/𝐦)

6. A spring with k = 53 N/m hangs vertically next to a ruler. The end of the spring is next to the
15 cm mark on the ruler. If a 2.5 kg mass is now attached to the end of the spring, where will
the end of the spring line up with the ruler marks?
(𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫: 𝟔𝟏 𝐜𝐦)

7. A sled is initially given a shove up a frictionless 28° incline. It reaches a maximum vertical
height of 1.35 m higher than where it started. What was its initial speed?
(𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫: 𝟓. 𝟏𝟒 𝐦/𝐬)

8. A 0.4 kg ball is thrown with a speed of 12 m/s at an angle of 33°.

a) What is its speed at its highest point?
(𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫: 𝟏𝟎 𝐦/𝐬)
b) How high does it go? (Use conservation of energy and ignore air resistance)
(𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫: 𝟐. 𝟐 𝐦)

9. A 21.7 kg child descends a slide 3.5 m high and reaches the bottom with a speed of 2.2 m/s.
How much thermal energy due to friction was generated in this process.
(𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫: 𝟔. 𝟗 × 𝟏𝟎𝟐 𝐉)
10. A 145 g baseball is dropped from a tree 13 m above the ground.
a) With what speed would it hit the ground if air resistance could be ignored?
(𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫: 𝟏𝟔 𝐦/𝐬)
b) If it actually hits the ground with a speed of 8 m/s, what is the average force of air
resistance exerted on it?
(𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫: 𝟏. 𝟎𝟔 𝐍)

11. If a car generates 18 hp when travelling at a steady 88 km/h, what must be the average force
exerted on the car due to friction and air resistance?
(𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫: 𝟓. 𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎𝟐 𝐍)

12. A driver notices that her 1 150 kg car slows down from 85 km/h to 65 km/h in about 6 s on
the level when it is in neutral. Approximately what power (watts and hp) is needed to keep the
car travelling at a constant 75 km/h?
(𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫: 𝟐. 𝟐 × 𝟏𝟎𝟒 𝐖 𝐨𝐫 𝟑 × 𝟏𝟎𝟏 𝐡𝐩)