Physics Enhancement Program Phase 1 Test

31 August, 2013
Total: 100 marks, Time allowed: 120 minutes
Answer all questions. Numerical answers should be given to 3 significant figures.
Useful information and formulas are provided in Table 1.
1. A double-decker bus has a height of H = 5 m, a width of W = 2.5 m, a length of L =
10 m, and a mass of M = 5000 kg. Its center of mass lies on the central plane of the
bus, and is at a height of h = 1.6 m above the ground. The coefficient of static friction
between the tires and the road surface is = 0.4. Consider the situation that the bus is
making a right turn around a road corner with radius R = 10 m.
(a) Derive an expression of the velocity at which the bus skids (). (4 marks)
(b) Calculate the value of the velocity in (a). Express your answer in km/h. (2 marks)
(c) When typhoon signal number 8 was just hoisted, the wind speed is vwind = 63 km/h
and is blowing from the right of the bus. The density of air is = 1.2 kg/m3. Derive an
expression of the wind force F acting on the bus. (4 marks)
(d) Assuming that the bus does not skid when turning, derive an expression of the
velocity at which the bus overturns. (6 marks)
(e) Assuming that the bus does not overturn when turning, derive an expression of the
velocity at which the bus skids. (4 marks)
(f) Calculate the velocity above which the bus either skids or overturns. Express your
answer in km/h. Will the bus skid or overturn at this velocity? (4 marks)
[Remark: The answers to (a), (c), (d) and (e) should be expressed in terms of the
symbols H, W, L, M, h, , vwind and . Where convenient, the symbol F can also
appear in the answers to (d) and (e).]
2. Many young people have tried the trick of pressing the ping pong. As shown in
Fig. 1, the finger of the player presses the ping pong at point P. This sets the ping
pong rotating and moving forward at the same time. The finger remains in contact
with the ping pong at point P, for a while. At the moment the ping pong starts to slide
on the table, its velocity is v0 and its angular velocity is 0. Let be the coefficient of
kinetic friction between the ping pong and the table.
(a) Derive an expression for the linear acceleration of the ping pong. (4 marks)
(b) Derive an expression for the angular acceleration of the ping pong. (4 marks)
(c) Derive an expression for the final velocity of the ping pong after it has stopped
sliding. (8 marks)
(d) Derive the condition that the ping pong rolls backward after it stops sliding. (4
marks)
(e) Derive an expression for the loss in kinetic energy during sliding. (6 marks)

3. A particle of mass m is moving in an attractive force field. At distance r from the

center, the attractive force is given by

E0 R
2 r

r ,

where E0 and R are the energy and length scales respectively.

(a) If the particle is moving in a circular orbit of radius R, derive expressions for the
orbital period Torb, energy E, and angular momentum L. (12 marks)
(b) The mechanical energy of a general orbit can be written as
2

1 dr
m Veff (r ),
2 dt

where Veff(r) is the effective potential. If the energy and angular momentum of the
orbit is E and L respectively, derive the expression of Veff(r). (4 marks)
(c) If the particle moving in the circular orbit with radius R is given a small push in the
radial direction, derive an expression of the time period Tosc of the small oscillations.
(8 marks)
(d) Express the period of oscillations as a multiple of the orbital period. (2 marks)
4. As shown in Fig. 2, a homogeneous cube of length d is placed on top a fixed
cylinder of radius R with its axis horizontal, so that the center of mass of the cube is
directly above the axis of the cylinder. Suppose the cube is displaced without slipping
to an inclination angle with the horizontal.
(a) Define a coordinate system with the center of the cylinder as the origin, and the
horizontal and vertical directions as the x and y axes respectively. What is the
coordinate of the center of mass of the cube at angle ? (4 marks)
(b) What is the condition for stable equilibrium of the cube? (4 marks)
(c) For small angular displacement , what is the potential energy? (4 marks)
(d) For small angular displacement , what is kinetic energy of the cube? (4 marks)
(e) Find the period of small oscillations about equilibrium. (4 marks)
(f) When the amplitude of oscillation is too large, the oscillation becomes unstable.
tan
What is the value of
at the maximum amplitude? (4 marks)

(a)
P

(b)
v0
P

Fig. 1: (a) The finger starts to press the ping pong at point P with a force F. (b) The finger remains in
contact with the ping pong at point P with the same force F for a while.

d
CM
y
x
R

Fig. 2: A homogeneous cube placed on top a fixed cylinder.

gravitational acceleration
g = 9.80 ms2
rotational inertia of a spherical shell of mass M and radius R about
2
I MR 2
a diameter
3
1
rotational inertia of a cube of mass M and length L about its center
I ML2
6
n

1
Integration formula
x
n
x dx n 1 C

Series expansion for |x| << 1

n(n 1) 2
(1 x)n 1 nx
x
2
Series expansion for |x| << 1
x2
cos x 1
2
Table 1: Useful information and formulas