DEPARTMENT OF MARITIME STUDIES CHAPTER 8: Motion in a plane

MARINE ENGINEERING PHYSICS

1. In uniform circular motion, which of the following are constant: speed, velocity, angular velocity,
centripetal acceleration, magnitude of the net force?
2. A car runs out of gas while driving down a hill. It rolls through the valley and starts up the other
side. At the very bottom of the valley, which of the free-body diagrams in Figure below is correct?
The car is moving to the right, and drag and rolling friction are negligible.

3. A jet plane is flying on a level course at constant speed. The engines are at full throttle.
a. What is the net force on the plane? Explain.
b. Draw a free-body diagram of the plane as seen from the side with the plane flying to the
right. Name (don’t just label) any and all forces shown on your diagram.
c. Airplanes bank when they turn. Draw a free-body diagram of the plane as seen from behind
as it makes a right turn.
d. Why do planes bank as they turn? Explain

4. A 450 g model rocket is on a cart that is rolling to the right at a speed of 4 m/s. The rocket engine,
when it is fired, exerts a 6 N vertical thrust on the rocket. Your goal is to have the rocket pass
through a small horizontal loop that is 22 m above the ground. At what horizontal distance left of
the loop should you launch? [7.54 m]
5. A 55 kg astronaut who weighs 180 N on a distant planet is pondering whether she can leap over a
3.5-m-wide chasm without falling in. If she leaps at a 15° angle, what initial speed does she need to
clear the chasm? [4.8 m/s]
6. A 150 g block on a 48-cm-long string swings in a circle on a horizontal, frictionless table at 72
rpm.
a. What is the speed of the block? [3.6 m/s]
b. What is the tension in the string? [4.05 N]

7. It is proposed that future space stations create an artificial gravity by rotating. Suppose a space
station is constructed as a 1000-m-diameter cylinder that rotates about its axis. The inside surface
is the deck of the space station. What rotation period will provide “normal” gravity? [45 s]
8. Mass m1 on the frictionless table of Figure below is connected by a string through a hole in the
table to a hanging mass m2. With what speed must m1 rotate in a circle of radius r if m2 is to
remain hanging at rest?
9. A 9.4 x 1021 kg moon orbits a distant planet in a circular orbit of radius 1.5 x 108 m. It experiences
a 1.1 x 1019 N gravitational pull from the planet. What is the moon’s orbital period in earth days?
[26d]
10. Communications satellites are placed in circular orbits where they stay directly over a fixed point
on the equator as the earth rotates. These are called geosynchronous orbits. The altitude of a
geosynchronous orbit is 3.58 x 107 m (≈22,000 miles).
a. What is the period of a satellite in a geosynchronous orbit? [24 h]
b. Find the value of g at this altitude. [0.223 m/s2]
c. What is the weight of a 2000 kg satellite in a geosynchronous orbit?

11. A roller coaster car crosses the top of a circular loop-the-loop at twice the critical speed. What is
the ratio of the normal force to the gravitational force?
The normal force equals the magnitude of the gravitational force as a roller coaster car crosses the
top of a 40 m diameter loop-the-loop. What is the car’s speed at the top [20 m/s]
12. While at the county fair, you decide to ride the Ferris wheel. Having eaten too many candy apples
and elephant ears, you find the motion somewhat unpleasant. To take your mind off your stomach,
you wonder about the motion of the ride. You estimate the radius of the big wheel to be 15 m, and
you use your watch to find that each loop around takes 25 s.
a. What are your speed and the magnitude of your acceleration? [3.77 m/s, 0.95 m/s2]
b. What is the ratio of your weight at the top of the ride to your weight while standing on the
ground? [0.90]
c. What is the ratio of your weight at the bottom of the ride to your weight while standing on the
ground? [1.1]
13. A toy train rolls around a horizontal 1.0-m-diameter track. The coefficient of rolling friction is
0.10. How long does it take the train to stop if it’s released with an angular speed of 30 rpm? [1.6
s]
14. Three cars are driving at 25 m/s along the road shown in Figure below. Car B is at the bottom of a
hill and car C is at the top. Both hills have a 200 m radius of curvature. Suppose each car suddenly
brakes hard and starts to skid. What is the tangen-tial acceleration (i.e., the acceleration parallel to
the road) of each car? Assume 𝜇𝜇𝑘𝑘 = 1.0. [-6.7 m/s2]

15. A 5000 kg interceptor rocket is launched at an angle of 44.7°. The thrust of the rocket motor is
140,700 N.
a. Find an equation y(x) that describes the rocket’s trajectory.
b. What is the shape of the trajectory?
c. At what elevation does the rocket reach the speed of sound 330 m/s? [1090 m]

16. A 75 kg man weighs himself at the north pole and at the equator. Which scale reading is higher?
By how much? Assume the earth is spherical [2.5 N]
17. Two wires are tied to the 2.0 kg sphere shown in Figure below. The sphere revolves in a horizontal
circle at constant speed.
a. For what speed is the tension the same in both wires? [2.9 m/s]
b. What is the tension? [14 N]
18. In an amusement park ride called The Roundup, passengers stand inside a 16-m-diameter rotating
ring. After the ring has acquired sufficient speed, it tilts into a vertical plane, as shown in Figure
below.
a. Suppose the ring rotates once every 4.5 s. If a rider’s mass is 55 kg, with how much force
does the ring push on her at the top of the ride? At the bottom? [1.4 kN]
b. What is the longest rotation period of the wheel that will prevent the riders from falling off at
the top? [5.7 s]

19. A 100 g ball on a 60-cm-long string is swung in a vertical circle about a point 200 cm above the
floor. The tension in the string when the ball is at the very bottom of the circle is 5.0 N. A very
sharp knife is suddenly inserted, as shown in figure below, to cut the string directly below the point
of support. How far to the right of where the string was cut does the ball hit the floor? [2.63 m]

20. A 500 g steel block rotates on a steel table while attached to a 2.0-m-long massless rod.
Compressed air fed through the rod is ejected from a nozzle on the back of the block, exerting a
thrust force of 3.5 N. The nozzle is 70° from the radial line, as shown in Figure below. The block
starts from rest.
a. What is the block’s angular velocity after 10 rev? [6.63 rad/s]
b. What is the tension in the rod after 10 rev? [44 N]

21. Sam (75 kg) takes off up a 50-m-high, 10° frictionless slope on his jet-powered skis. The skis have
a thrust of 200 N. He keeps his skis tilted at 10° after becoming airborne, as shown in Figure
below. How far does Sam land from the base of the cliff? [105 m]

22. A 500 g steel block rotates on a steel table while attached to a 1.2-m-long hollow tube as shown in
Figure below. Compressed air fed through the tube and ejected from a nozzle on the back of the
block exerts a thrust force of 4.0 N perpendicular to the tube. The maximum tension the tube can
withstand without breaking is 50 N. If the block starts from rest, how many revolutions does it
make before the tube breaks? [3.7 rev]