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) Positive In the given case, force and displacement are in the same direction. Hence, the sign of work done is positive. In this case, the work is done on the bucket.
(b) Negative In the given case, the direction of force (vertically downward) and displacement (vertically upward) are opposite to each other. Hence, the sign of work done is negative.
(c) Negative Since the direction of frictional force is opposite to the direction of motion, the work done by frictional force is negative in this case.
(d) Positive Here the body is moving on a rough horizontal plane. Frictional force opposes the motion of the body. Therefore, in order to maintain a uniform velocity, a uniform force must be applied to the body. Since the applied force acts in the direction of motion of the body, the work done is positive.
(e) Negative The resistive force of air acts in the direction opposite to the direction of motion of the pendulum. Hence, the work done is negative in this case.
A body of mass 2 kg initially at rest moves under the action of an applied horizontal force of 7 N on a table with coefficient of kinetic friction = 0.1. Compute the
(a) work done by the applied force in 10 s,
(b) work done by friction in 10 s,
(c) work done by the net force on the body in 10 s,
(d) change in kinetic energy of the body in 10 s, and interpret your results.
Underline the correct alternative:
(a) When a conservative force does positive work on a body, the potential energy of the body increases/decreases/remains unaltered.
(b) Work done by a body against friction always results in a loss of its kinetic/potential energy.
(c) The rate of change of total momentum of a many-particle system is proportional to the external force/sum of the internal forces on the system.
(d) In an inelastic collision of two bodies, the quantities which do not change after the collision are the total kinetic energy/total linear momentum/total energy of the system of two bodies.
A trolley of mass 300 kg carrying a sandbag of 25 kg is moving uniformly with a speed of 27 km/h on a frictionless track. After a while, sand starts leaking out of a hole on the floor of the trolley at the rate of 0.05 kg s-1. What is the speed of the trolley after the entire sand bag is empty?
Answer carefully, with reasons:
(a) In an elastic collision of two billiard balls, is the total kinetic energy conserved during the short time of collision of the balls (i.e. when they are in contact)?
(b) Is the total linear momentum conserved during the short time of an elastic collision of two balls?
(c) What are the answers to (a) and (b) for an inelastic collision?
(d) If the potential energy of two billiard balls depends only on the separation distance between their centres, is the collision elastic or inelastic? (Note, we are talking here of potential energy corresponding to the force during collision, not gravitational potential energy).
A bolt of mass 0.3 kg falls from the ceiling of an elevator moving down with an uniform speed of 7 m s-1. It hits the floor of the elevator (length of the elevator = 3 m) and does not rebound. What is the heat produced by the impact? Would your answer be different if the elevator were stationary?
The blades of a windmill sweep out a circle of area A. (a) If the wind flows at a velocity v perpendicular to the circle, what is the mass of the air passing through it in time t?(b) What is the kinetic energy of the air? (c) Assume that the windmill converts 25% of the wind's energy into electrical energy, and that A = 30 m2, v = 36 km/h and the density of air is 1.2 kg m-3. What is the electrical power produced?
A bullet of mass 0.012 kg and horizontal speed 70 ms-1strikes a block of wood of mass 0.4 kg and instantly comes to rest with respect to the block. The block is suspended from the ceiling by means of thin wires. Calculate the height to which the block rises. Also, estimate the amount of heat produced in the block.
State if each of the following statements is true or false. Give reasons for your answer.
(a) In an elastic collision of two bodies, the momentum and energy of each body is conserved.
(b) Total energy of a system is always conserved, no matter what internal and external forces on the body are present.
(c) Work done in the motion of a body over a closed loop is zero for every force in nature.
(d) In an inelastic collision, the final kinetic energy is always less than the initial kinetic energy of the system.
A family uses 8 kW of power. (a) Direct solar energy is incident on the horizontal surface at an average rate of 200 W per square meter. If 20% of this energy can be converted to useful electrical energy, how large an area is needed to supply 8 kW? (b) Compare this area to that of the roof of a typical house.
A body is initially at rest. It undergoes one-dimensional motion with constant acceleration. The power delivered to it at time t is proportional to
(i) t½ (ii) t (iii) t3/2 (iv) t2
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”?
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.
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.
The Sun is a hot plasma (ionized matter) with its inner core at a temperature exceeding 107 K, and its outer surface at a temperature of about 6000 K. At these high temperatures, no substance remains in a solid or liquid phase. In what range do you expect the mass density of the Sun to be, in the range of densities of solids and liquids or gases? Check if your guess is correct from the following data: mass of the Sun = 2.0 x 1030 kg, radius of the Sun = 7.0 x 108 m.
Fill in the blanks by suitable conversion of units:
(a) 1 kg m2s–2= ....g cm2 s–2
(b) 1 m =..... ly
(c) 3.0 m s–2=.... km h–2
(d) G = 6.67 × 10–11 N m2 (kg)–2=.... (cm)3s–2 g–1.
Explain this common observation clearly : If you look out of the window of a fast moving train, the nearby trees, houses etc. seem to move rapidly in a direction opposite to the train's motion, but the distant objects (hill tops, the Moon, the stars etc.) seem to be stationary. (In fact, since you are aware that you are moving, these distant objects seem to move with you).
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?
When the planet Jupiter is at a distance of 824.7 million kilometers from the Earth, its angular diameter is measured to be 35.72" of arc. Calculate the diameter of Jupiter.
A steel rod 100 cm long is clamped at its middle. The fundamental frequency of longitudinal vibrations of the rod is given to be 2.53 kHz. What is the speed of sound in steel?
A transverse harmonic wave on a string is described by
y(x,t) = 3.0 sin [36t + 0.018x + π /4]
Where x and y are in cm and t in s. The positive direction of x is from left to right.
(a) Is this a travelling wave or a stationary wave? If it is travelling, what are the speed and direction of its propagation?
(b) What are its amplitude and frequency?
(c) What is the initial phase at the origin?
(d) What is the least distance between two successive crests in the wave?