AUSTRALIAN PHYSICS OLYMPIAD

Qualifying Examination 1994

Instructions to candidates.
Time allowed: 90 minutes.
(includes 10 minutes reading time)
Attempt (i) ALL questions in Section One;
(ii) TWO questions from Section Two.
The questions in Section One are worth a total of 26 marks.
The three questions in Section Two are worth 12 marks each.
Total marks for the paper 50 marks
Permitted materials : non-programmable calculators.
Answer the questions on your own writing paper, do not answer them on this question paper.
Make sure that you attach your cover sheet to your answer scripts.
Particular attention should be paid to the clarity with which solutions are presented.
Diagrams, explanations and units should be included where appropriate.
2
FUNDAMENTAL CONSTANTS
Quantity Symbol Approximate Value
Speed of light in a vacuum c
3.00 x 10
8
m s
-1
Gravitational constant G
6.67 x 10
-11
N m
2
kg
-2
Avogadro constant
N
A
6.02 x 10
23
mol
-1
Gas constant R
8.315 J mol
-1
K
-1
Boltzmann constant k
1.38 x 10
-23
J K
-1
Charge on electron e
1.60 x 10
-19
C
Stefan-Boltzmann constant
5.67 x 10
-8
W m
-2
K
-4
Permeability of free space

o
4 x 10
-7
H m
-1
(precise)
Permittivity of free space

o
= (1/
o
c
2
) 8.85 x 10
-12
F m
-1
Planck constant h
6.63 x 10
-34
J s
Electron rest mass
m
e
9.11 x 10
-31
kg
Proton rest mass
m
p
1.6726 x 10
-27
kg
Neutron rest mass
m
n
1.6750 x 10
-27
kg
Atomic mass unit (1u)
m
u
1.6605 x 10
-27
kg
OTHER DATA
Quantity Value
Absolute zero -273.15
o
C
Molar volume of gas at STP
*
2.24 x 10
-2
m
3
mol
-1
Standard atmosphere 1.013 x 10
5
Pa
Joule equivalent (1 cal) 4.184 J
Density of water at STP
1.00 x 10
3
kg m
-3
Density of dry air at STP
1.29 kg m
-3
Speed of sound in dry air at STP
331.4 m s
-1
Speed of sound in water
1440 m s
-1
Acceleration due to gravity
9.8 m s
-2
Earth:
Mass
Radius (mean)
5.98 x 10
24
kg
6.38 x 10
6
m
Moon:
Mass
Radius (mean)
7.4 x 10
22
kg
1.74 x 10
6
m
Sun:
Mass
Radius (mean)
2.0 x 10
30
kg
7 x 10
8
m
Earth-sun distance (mean) 1.50 x 10
11
m
Earth-moon distance (mean) 3.84 x 10
8
m
*
STP = standard temperature and pressure = 0
o
C and 1 atm.
3
SECTION 1
Attempt ALL questions (1-11) in this section. Total of 26 marks.
Multiple choice questions. Compulsory 1 mark each
Answer by writing on your own writing paper the question number and the letter that corresponds
to the best solution for the question.
1. The magnetic field lines around a straight current carrying wire are:
(a) lines parallel to the wire;
(b) helices centred on the wire;
(c) circles centred on the wire;
(d) (a) or (c) depending on whether the current is AC or DC;
(e) lines directed radially outward or inward depending on the sign of the current.
2. Rainbows are caused by:
(a) dispersion of light by water drops;
(b) the fact that water drops absorb different colours differently;
(c) atmospheric electricity;
(d) heating of the atmosphere by the Sun after rain;
(e) the fact that only raindrops of size equal to the wavelength of a particular colour can
reflect that colour.
The following figure relates to questions 3 and 4. It shows a hollow, circular tube fixed to a
frictionless, horizontal table. You are looking down at the table. A ball is shot into the end A of the
tube to leave the other end B at high speed. The ball's diameter is slightly less than the internal
diameter of the tube.
A
B
3. Which of the paths below will the ball follow on the table, after it leaves the tube?
(b) (c) (d) (e) (a)
4. After the ball leaves the tube, and along the path you have chosen, what force(s) act on it?
(a) the weight of the ball, vertically downward;
(b) a force from the table, vertically upward;
(c) a horizontal force, in the direction of motion;
(d) the first two forces above;
(e) all three forces above.
4
5. The air resistance force on a car moving with speed v through air of density D is given in terms
of a dimensionless drag coefficient C, and the car's frontal area A by:
(a) C D A v
2
;
(b) C D
2
A v
2
;
(c) C D A v ;
(d) C D v
2
/ A;
(e) C D v
2
/ A
2
.
6. In 1676 Roemer measured the speed of light by observing eclipses of the satellites of Jupiter,
whose orbits were well known. He observed that over six months the eclipses came
progressively later than predicted. Knowing that the orbital radius of Jupiter is 7.8x10
11
m
and that of Earth is 1.5 x 10
11
m he deduced the speed of light to be near its correct value of 3
x 10
8
m/s. The maximum difference between the observed and predicted eclipse times was
about:
(a) 78,000 s or 1 day;
(b) 5200 s ;
(c) 2100 s ;
(d) 1000 s ;
(e) the maximum time difference is now known to be too small to have been observed at that
time, so Roemer's result was good luck.
7. To launch light efficiently into a certain optical fibre a 1 mm diameter laser beam must be
focused by a lens onto the end of the fibre. The converging beam must form a cone with a half
angle of 45. The lens focal length most suitable for this is:
(a) 5 cm ;
(b) 0.5 cm ;
(c) 2 mm ;
(d) 1 mm ;
(e) 0.5 mm.
8. What is the voltage across resistor A in the following circuit? Each resistor has a resistance of
2M and the capacitors have capacitances of 1 F. The battery voltage is 3V.
(a) 0 V.
(b) 0.5 V.
(c) 0.75 V.
(d) 1.5 V.
(e) 3 V.
A
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Short answer questions. Compulsory 6 marks each
9. An ice yacht has a sail and glides frictionlessly on ice. An air cannon at the rear of the yacht
shoots pulses of air at the sail, see figure. The yacht weighs 500 kg and the air cannon shoots
0.5 kg pulses of air, with a speed of 200 m/s, at the sail every half second. The distance
between the cannon and the sail is 2 m. Ignore any friction or other dissipation on the air
pulses. 250 pulses are fired and stopped by the sail.
sail
air cannon
air pulses
(i) What is the final speed of the yacht, after the last pulse has hit the sail? Give your
reason(s).
(ii) How far has the yacht moved after 250 pulses (an answer accurate to the nearest cm is
adequate)?
10. A student is shown a block of shiny plastic material. Observing light reflected from its surface
she sees colours which change with the viewing angle. The student is asked to choose the best
explanation for this behaviour from the following two possibilities:
(1) a diffraction grating ruled on the surface of the block, or
(2) a thin film coating the block.
Hence she performs the following experiment. The block is rotated horizontally so that neither
the angle of incidence nor viewing changes, see figure. The student observes that neither the
colour nor intensity changes.
rotation axis
light
eye
block
(i) Which explanation does this experiment support? Give your reasons.
(ii) Assume the student favours explanation (2). What is the minimum thin film thickness
that would make light with wavelength of 0.5 m brightest at an observed angle of 45?
11. Consider two spherical empty regions in an otherwise uniform and essentially infinite
intergalactic gas cloud, see figure. As a result of gravitational effects do the empty regions
move towards or away from each other? Give your reasoning.
gas cloud
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SECTION 2
Long questions. Attempt TWO only of the three questions. (12 marks each)
12. A person on a swing lets go and flies through the air hitting the ground at some horizontal
distance D from the swing's pivot, see figure. Derive an expression for D as a function of the
swing angle, A, with the vertical, at release. The swing pivot is a height H above the ground
and the length of the swing is L . The swing was initially released with zero speed from the
horizontal 90 position. Approximate the person as a point mass at the end of the swing. Ignore
friction and air resistance.
D
ground hit point
A
H
L
swing pivot
inital
position
release
point
13. The Penning trap is a device for trapping individual electrons for long periods of time. The
trapping is provided by the combined effect of electric and magnetic fields. A schematic
diagram of a Penning trap is shown in the figure. The coordinate origin is in the geometrical
centre of the trap.
ring electrode
(half shown)
-
-
top cap electrode
bottom cap electrode
+
+
y
x
z
(i) Sketch the electric field lines in the vertical cross sectional plane x = 0.
(ii) Sketch the electric field lines in the horizontal cross sectional plane z = 0.
(iii) Along the z axis the electric potential is V = V
0
z
2
. Give an expression for the frequency
of the motion of the electron along this axis (assuming only electric fields are present).
With V
0
= 1 kV/m
2
what is the numerical value of this frequency?
(iv) What will happen to an electron that is not on the z axis, (assuming only electric fields are
present)?
(v) Explain why a strong magnetic field parallel to the z direction is useful for confining
electrons in the radial direction (perpendicular to the z direction).
(vi) When the magnetic field is strong enough the radial electric field can be ignored and the
electrons undergo circular "cyclotron" motion. Derive a formula for the frequency of this
motion. With a magnetic field of 2 T what is the numerical value of this frequency?
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14. One of the fundamental features of quantum mechanics is wave-particle duality. Both light and
matter can show either wave or particle aspects in appropriate experiments. In particular,
diffraction of atoms has been experimentally observed. In these experiments Louis de Broglie's
hypothesis that the wavelength of a particle is given in terms of its momentum p by,
= h/p
was verified. h is called Planck's constant.
Consider a Young's type experiment for atoms. A beam of atoms is incident on a double slit
with slit separation d. The beam is well collimated and perpendicular to the plane of the slits,
see figure.

atom beam
d
observation angle
(i) Give an expression for the de Broglie wavelength of an atom with kinetic energy E .
(ii) Derive an expression for the angles of the intensity maxima and minima of the atom
waves diffracted through the double slit, when observed at a large distance from the slits.
One experimental difficulty is that the incident atoms have a range of energies. Assume
that they have a range of energies uniformly distributed between E+E and E-E, so that
the mean energy is E. Because of the range of energies the experimental diffraction
fringes are poorly defined compared to the ideal single energy case.
(iii) Explain why, and give in words a simple condition that the zeroth and first order fringe
maxima can be resolved.
(iv) Using your condition derive an expression for the allowable energy range E such that
the zeroth and first order fringe maxima can be resolved.