Explain clearly, with examples, the distinction between:
a) magnitude of displacement (sometimes called distance) over an interval of time, and the total length of path covered by a particle over the same interval;
b) magnitude of average velocity over an interval of time, and the average speed over the same interval. [Average speed of a particle over an interval of time is defined as the total path length divided by the time interval]. Show in both (a) and (b) that the second quantity is either greater than or equal to the first.
When is the equality sign true? [For simplicity, consider one-dimensional motion only].
a) The magnitude of displacement over an interval of time is the shortest distance (which is a straight line) between the initial and final positions of the particle. The total path length of a particle is the actual path length covered by the particle in a given interval of time.
For example, suppose a particle moves from point A to point B and then, comes back to a point, C taking a total time t, as shown below. Then, the magnitude of displacement of the particle = AC.
Whereas, total path length = AB + BC It is also important to note that the magnitude of displacement can never be greater than the total path length. However, in some cases, both quantities are equal to each other.
b)
Magnitude of average velocity = Magnitude of displacement / Time Interval
For the given particle,
Average velocity = AC / t
Average Speed = Total Path length / Time Interval
= AB + BC / t
Since (AB + BC) > AC, average speed is greater than the magnitude of average velocity. The two quantities will be equal if the particle continues to move along a straight line.
A drunkard walking in a narrow lane takes 5 steps forward and 3 steps backward, followed again by 5 steps forward and 3 steps backward, and so on. Each step is 1 m long and requires 1 s. Plot the x-t graph of his motion. Determine graphically and otherwise how long the drunkard takes to fall in a pit 13 m away from the start.
A woman starts from her home at 9.00 am, walks with a speed of 5 km h-1 on a straight road up to her office 2.5 km away, stays at the office up to 5.00 pm, and returns home by an auto with a speed of 25 km h-1. Choose suitable scales and plot the x-t graph of her motion.
A ball is dropped from a height of 90 m on a floor. At each collision with the floor, the ball loses one tenth of its speed. Plot the speed-time graph of its motion between t = 0 to 12 s.
A man walks on a straight road from his home to a market 2.5 km away with a speed of 5 km h –1. Finding the market closed, he instantly turns and walks back home with a speed of 7.5 km h–1. What is the
a) magnitude of average velocity, and
b) average speed of the man over the interval of time (i) 0 to 30 min, (ii) 0 to 50 min, (iii) 0 to 40 min?
[Note: You will appreciate from this exercise why it is better to define average speed as total path length divided by time, and not as magnitude of average velocity. You would not like to tell the tired man on his return home that his average speed was zero!]
The position-time (x-t) graphs for two children A and B returning from their school O to their homes P and Q respectively are shown in Fig. 3.19. Choose the correct entries in the brackets below;
(a) (A/B) lives closer to the school than (B/A)
(b) (A/B) starts from the school earlier than (B/A)
(c) (A/B) walks faster than (B/A)
(d) A and B reach home at the (same/different) time
(e) (A/B) overtakes (B/A) on the road (once/twice).
A car moving along a straight highway with a speed of 126 km h–1 is brought to a stop within a distance of 200 m. What is the retardation of the car (assumed uniform), and how long does it take for the car to stop?
A player throws a ball upwards with an initial speed of 29.4 m s–1. What is the direction of acceleration during the upward motion of the ball? What are the velocity and acceleration of the ball at the highest point of its motion?
Choose the x = 0 m and t = 0 s to be the location and time of the ball at its highest point, vertically downward direction to be the positive direction of x-axis, and give the signs of position, velocity and acceleration of the ball during its upward, and downward motion. To what height does the ball rise and after how long does the ball return to the player’s hands? (Take g = 9.8 m s–2 and neglect air resistance).
Two towns A and B are connected by a regular bus service with a bus leaving in either direction every T minutes. A man cycling with a speed of 20 km h–1 in the direction A to B notices that a bus goes past him every 18 min in the direction of his motion, and every 6 min in the opposite direction. What is the period T of the bus service and with what speed (assumed constant) do the buses ply on the road?
Read each statement below carefully and state with reasons and examples, if it is true or false; A particle in one-dimensional motion
(a) with zero speed at an instant may have non-zero acceleration at that instant
(b) with zero speed may have non-zero velocity,
(c) with constant speed must have zero acceleration,
(d) with positive value of acceleration mustbe speeding up.
Some of the most profound statements on the nature of science have come from Albert Einstein, one of the greatest scientists of all time. What do you think did Einstein mean when he said : “The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible”?
The sign of work done by a force on a body is important to understand. State carefully if the following quantities are positive or negative:
(a) work done by a man in lifting a bucket out of a well by means of a rope tied to the bucket.
(b) work done by gravitational force in the above case,
(c) work done by friction on a body sliding down an inclined plane,
(d) work done by an applied force on a body moving on a rough horizontal plane with uniform velocity,
(e) work done by the resistive force of air on a vibrating pendulum in bringing it to rest.
A geyser heats water flowing at the rate of 3.0 litres per minute from 27 °C to 77 °C. If the geyser operates on a gas burner, what is the rate of consumption of the fuel if its heat of combustion is 4.0 x 104 J/g?
Estimate the fraction of molecular volume to the actual volume occupied by oxygen gas at STP. Take the diameter of an oxygen molecule to be 3Å.
A monkey of mass 40 kg climbs on a rope (Fig. 5.20) which can stand a maximum tension of 600 N. In which of the following cases will the rope break: the monkey
(a) climbs up with an acceleration of 6 m s-2
(b) climbs down with an acceleration of 4 m s-2
(c) climbs up with a uniform speed of 5 m s-1
(d) falls down the rope nearly freely under gravity?
(Ignore the mass of the rope).
The industrial revolution in England and Western Europe more than two centuries ago was triggered by some key scientific and technological advances. What were these advances ?
Attempt to formulate your ‘moral’ views on the practice of science. Imagine yourself stumbling upon a discovery, which has great academic interest but is certain to have nothing but dangerous consequences for the human society. How, if at all, will you resolve your dilemma?
The transverse displacement of a wire (clamped at both its ends) is described as :
y (x, t) = 0.06 sin(2π/3x) cos(120πt)
The mass of the wire is 6 x 10-2 kg and its length is 3m. Provide answers to the following questions:
( I ) Is the function describing a stationary wave or a travelling wave?
( ii ) Interpret the wave as a superposition of two waves travelling in opposite directions. Find the speed, wavelength and frequency of each wave.
( iii ) Calculate the wire’s tension. [X and y are in meters and t in secs]
A vertical off-shore structure is built to withstand a maximum stress of 109 Pa. Is the structure suitable for putting up on top of an oil well in the ocean? Take the depth of the ocean to be roughly 3 km, and ignore ocean currents.
During blood transfusion the needle is inserted in a vein where the gauge pressure is 2000 Pa. At what height must the blood container be placed so that blood may just enter the vein? [Use the density of whole blood from Table 10.1].
Two vessels have the same base area but different shapes. The first vessel takes twice the volume of water that the second vessel requires to fill upto a particular common height. Is the force exerted by the water on the base of the vessel the same in the two cases? If so, why do the vessels filled with water to that same height give different readings on a weighing scale?
The mass of a box measured by a grocer's balance is 2.300 kg. Two gold pieces of masses 20.15 g and 20.17 g are added to the box. What is
(a) the total mass of the box,
(b) the difference in the masses of the pieces to correct significant figures?
Explain why
(a) To keep a piece of paper horizontal, you should blow over, not under, it
(b) When we try to close a water tap with our fingers, fast jets of water gush through the openings between our fingers
(c) The size of the needle of a syringe controls flow rate better than the thumb pressure exerted by a doctor while administering an injection
(d) A fluid flowing out of a small hole in a vessel results in a backward thrust on the vessel
(e) A spinning cricket ball in air does not follow a parabolic trajectory
Ten one-rupee coins are put on top of each other on a table. Each coin has a mass m. Give the magnitude and direction of
(a) the force on the 7th coin (counted from the bottom) due to all the coins on its top,
(b) the force on the 7th coin by the eighth coin,
(c) the reaction of the 6th coin on the 7th coin.