EXAM 3

MECHANICS
40% of the final grade

Winter 2021 Name: ___________________________

Each multiple-choice question is worth 2 points.

1. The figure shows 3 disks with the same mass spinning around their centre of mass.
Which one has the greatest rotational kinetic energy?

___ % A
___ % B
___ % C
___ % It’s the same.

2. When a projectile fall at the same height it was launched, which one or which ones of
those quantities can be zero at some point of its trajectory?

1. The acceleration.
2. The horizontal component of the momentum.
3. The vertical component of the momentum.
4. The instantaneous power of the gravitational force.

Answer(s): __________________________

3. A mass is placed on a vertical spring compressed by a distance x0.

When the mass is released. It is thrown upwards. The mass reaches its
maximum velocity…

___ % a) when the spring is neither compressed nor stretched

(x = 0).
___ % b) when kx = mg.
___ % c) when ½kx² = mgx.
___ % d) when the spring’s compression is half its initial compression
(x = x0/2).
 Exam 3 - Mechanics

4. The following graph shows the position of two cars moving on a road. This graph
shows that…
Car B
___ % a) the two cars will never have
the same speed.
___ % b) the two cars will have the
Car A
same speed only once.
___ % c) the two cars will have the
same speed only twice.
___ % d) the two cars always have
the same speed.

5. Which one of these planets have the smallest gravitational field at its surface?

___ % a) Earth.
___ % b) A planet with the same mass as the Earth, but with twice its diameter.
___ % c) A planet with the same diameter as the Earth, but twice its mass.
___ % d) A planet with the twice the mass of the Earth and twice its diameter.

6. Marianne is in an elevator going up. If the elevator is slowing down (with an

acceleration smaller than 9.8 m/s²), the magnitude of the normal force on her is…

___ % a) smaller than the magnitude of her weight.

___ % b) the same as the magnitude of her weight.
___ % c) greater than the magnitude of her weight.
___ % d) greater or smaller than the magnitude of her weight, it depends on the
speed.

7. A planet follows an elliptical trajectory as shown. What is the sign of the instantaneous
power made by the gravitational force made by the star on the planet when the planet
is at the position shown on the diagram? Planet

___ % a) Negative.
___ % b) Null.
___ % c) Positive. Star
 Exam 3 - Mechanics

8. An object with a mechanical energy of 10 J has a potential energy given by this graph
(it is a parabola). Where is the object when the greatest force towards the left is applied
on it?

___ % a) x = -5 cm
___ % b) x = 0 cm
___ % c) x = 5 cm
___ % d) It’s a trap, the force is constant since the
concavity is constant for a parabola.

9. The following figure shows three positions of a projectile. Where does the apparent
weight of the object is the greatest? (Point C is
lower than point A.)

___ % a) At point A.
___ % b) At point B.
___ % c) At point C.
___ % d) It is the same but not zero.
___ % e) It is zero at the 3 points.

10. A racecar on a circular track does a lap in 121 seconds. If the racecar kept the same
speed, but the track was tilted inwards, what would happen to the centripetal force?

___ % a) The centripetal force would become zero.

___ % b) The centripetal force would increase.
___ % c) The centripetal force would decrease, but won’t become zero.
___ % d) The centripetal force would stay the same.

11. There are two normal forces acting on this plank. One made by the left support (1)
and one made by the right support (2). Which
one has the greatest magnitude?

___ % a) The one by the left support.

___ % b) The one by the right support.
___ % c) They have the same magnitude.
 Exam 3 - Mechanics

12. An uranium atom initially at rest fissions (splits) in 2 parts of different masses. Which
one will have more momentum (in absolute value)?

___ % a) The one with the smaller mass.

___ % b) The one with the greater mass.
___ % c) They both will have no momentum.
___ % d) They will have the same momentum, but not zero.

13. A satellite in orbit is made of a cylindrical central section, and a small mass held by a
rope. What is the change of the angular velocity of the satellite if a mechanism in the
satellite increases the length of the rope, thereby
increasing the radius of the path of the small mass?

___ % a) It increases.
___ % b) It stays the same.
___ % c) It decreases.

14. The position of an object is given by the equation x = (t – 2)(t – 4). When does its speed
goes to zero?

___ % a) t = 2 s
___ % b) t = 3 s
___ % c) t = 4 s
___ % d) t = 6 s
___ % e) It is never zero.

Ceiling
15. A motionless ball is suspended by a string. The force associated
by Newton’s third law to the tension acting on the ball is the
force on… String

___ % the ball made by the Earth.

___ % the ceiling made by the string. Ball
___ % the ceiling made by the ball.
___ % the string made by the ball.
___ % the string made by the ceiling.
___ % the ball made by the ceiling.
Earth

Answers: 1d 2: 3 and 4 3b 4c 5b 6a 7c 8c 9e 10d 11b 12d 13c 14b 15d

 Exam 3 - Mechanics

16. (12 points)

A 10 kg block slides down a frictionless ramp in the shape or an arc (quarter of a

circle). The radius of the arc is 5 m. The bloc then slides on a frictionless horizontal
surface to finally get on a surface with friction (µc = 0.4).

a) What is the speed of the block at the

bottom of the ramp?
b) What is the highest centripetal
acceleration of the block?
c) What is the block’s stopping distance in
the friction zone (from the point where the
friction begins)? With friction
d) What is the number of g experienced by
the block during the breaking phase?

Answers: a) 9.899 m/s b) 19.6 m/s² c) 12.5 m d) 1.077

17. (10 points)

Frédérique, with a mass of 70 kg, and Amélie, which is lighter, are in a 30 kg canoe
on a lake. The canoe is motionless on the calm waters. Then, they switch seats, i.e.,
Frédérique takes Amélie’s seat, and Amélie takes Frédérique’s seats. The two seats
are 3 metres apart and are at the same distance from the centre of the canoe. During
the switch, Frédérique notices
that the canoe is moving. If the
canoe moved by 40 cm, what is
Amélie’s mass?

Answer: 50 kg
 Exam 3 - Mechanics

18. (12 points)

A 1 m long rod with a 300 g mass can spin around its centre. Initially, the rod is
motionless. A 4 g projectile with a 250 m/s speed hits the rod halfway between the
end of the rod and its centre and get stuck in the rod.

a) Find the angular speed after the collision.

b) Find the number of turns the rod will do before stopping if the
friction of the pivot creates a 0,01 Nm torque opposed to the
rotation.
c) Find the time it takes for the rod to stop spinning.

Answers: a) 9.901 rad/s b) 19.697 tours c) 25 s

19. (12 points)

A 100 g pendulum is released while it is at 60° from the vertical. When the pendulum
reaches its lowest point, the string (whose length is 2 m) breaks and the mass falls to
the ground. The height of the mass is h = 2.5 m when the string breaks.

a) What is the flight time of the mass (from the moment

the string breaks)?
b) What is the range (x) of the mass?

Answers: a) 5/7 s (0.71428 s) b) 3.1623 m

 Exam 3 - Mechanics

20. (12 points)

A 1 kg ball travelling at 12 m/s collides with a 2 kg ball travelling at 24 m/s in the

opposite direction.

a) What is their speed after the collision if they stuck together?

b) What are their speeds after the collision if the collision is elastic (in 1
dimension)?

Answers: a) v = -12 m/s b) v1 kg ball = -36 m/s v2 kg ball = 0 m/s

21. (12 points)

The rod on the figure is at equilibrium. The

known masses are m1 = 200 g and
m2 = 100 g.

a) What must be the mass m3 for this

rod to be in equilibrium if the mass of
the rod is neglected?
b) Using the mass m3 found in a), what is the normal force made by the support
(S) on the rod?
c) What must be the mass m3 for this rod to be in equilibrium if the mass of the
rod is 400 g?

Answers: a) 600 g b) 8.82 N c) 866.7 g