Work, Energy and Power
Work, Energy and Power
In the sport of curling, two teams of 'curlers' take turns sliding polished granite stones across
an ice surface towards a circular target marked on the ice.
A stone of mass 19.6 kg is accelerated uniformly for 1.25 s before being released by a
curler. The stone then decelerates uniformly to rest, travelling 32.5 m in a time of 17.5 s.
Calculate the average useful power developed by the curler in accelerating the stone.
(4)
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Q2.
The Solar Impulse 2 is a solar-powered plane that completed a round the world trip in 2016
without using fossil fuels.
The wings are covered in thin solar panels, keeping the total mass of the plane and pilot at
1600 kg. The need to reduce the weight limits the efficiency of the solar panels to 23%.
However, in daylight, these panels generate enough energy to run the four 7.5 kW electric
motors that keep the plane airborne and to fully charge the batteries that power the plane
during the night. The batteries take about 6 hours to fully charge.
In daylight the plane flies at a height of 8500 m to harness the most sunlight, and at night
descends to 1500 m. This descent makes use of the gravitational potential energy gained
during the day to help the plane get through the night.
(Source: www.solarimpulse.com)
The plane flies at the greater height during the day. At night it glides down to the lower
height over a period of 4 hours, with the motors switched off.
Calculate the change in gravitational potential energy as the plane glides down.
(2)
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Q3.
A child in a bumper car travelling at velocity of 7.0ms−1 collides with a stationary bumper car
directly ahead of him. The diagram shows the bumper cars before the collision.
(a) (i) Assume that the bumper cars move off together after the collision.
Calculate the velocity of the bumper cars after the collision.
(3)
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Velocity = ...........................................................
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(b) State one assumption made in order to carry out the calculation in (a)(i).
(1)
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(Total for question = 7 marks)
Work, Energy and Power
Q4.
Deduce whether the power of the engine is capable of producing this performance.
(3)
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Q5.
A rope is used to apply a force F to a box as shown. The box is pulled a distance d along a
horizontal surface.
Which of the following could be used to determine the work done on the box?
Q6.
Which of the following gives the best estimate of the energy provided to consumers over a
period of a year?
A 1 × 106 J
B 1 × 1011 J
C 1 × 1013 J
D 1 × 1017 J
Q7.
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Q8.
One region of Australia decided to trial the removal of the speed limit on some roads.
The following statements were made in an online forum discussing this issue.
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Q9.
A spring is hung vertically and masses are added to the lower end.
The graph shows how the extension Δx of the spring varies with the mass m added.
An object of mass m is moved from point A on the ground, to point B on a bench of height h
as shown in the diagram.
Which of the following is a correct expression for the work done on the object?
(1)
Q11.
A 42 J
B 56 J
C 412 J
D 549 J
(Total for question = 1 marks)
Q12.
The rock is held in a sling. When the peg is removed the counterweight falls and the rock is
projected through the air.
A student assumes that all the gravitational potential energy transferred from the
counterweight is transferred to the kinetic energy of the rock.
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Q13.
Gravitricity is developing a new technology to capture and store the excess power generated
by renewable energy resources. A large load is suspended by cables in a disused mineshaft.
During periods of low power demand, excess generated power is used to winch the load
upwards. During periods of high demand, the load is lowered down the shaft, causing
electricity to be generated. The system can produce electricity at low power for several
hours, or a short burst of electricity at high power.
One such system is planned to use a load of mass 2500 tonnes. The load will be at the top
of a shaft. The load will be lowered down the shaft at a steady speed. A useful power output
of 15 MW will be generated. The system will have an efficiency of 80%.
1 tonne = 1000 kg
(3)
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Speed = ...........................................................
Q14.
Gravitricity is developing a new technology to capture and store the excess power generated
by renewable energy resources. A large load is suspended by cables in a disused mineshaft.
During periods of low power demand, excess generated power is used to winch the load
upwards. During periods of high demand, the load is lowered down the shaft, causing
electricity to be generated. The system can produce electricity at low power for several
hours, or a short burst of electricity at high power.
One such system is planned to use a load of mass 2500 tonnes. The load will be at the top
of a shaft. The load will be lowered down the shaft at a steady speed. A useful power output
of 15MW will be generated. The system will have an efficiency of 80%.
The system can generate "a short burst of electricity at high power".
Explain why high power can be generated for only a short time.
(2)
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Q15.
Impact craters are formed when meteorites strike the surface of a planet. A student
investigated some factors that might influence the formation of impact craters. He did this by
dropping spheres of modelling clay into a tray of sand.
The diameter of the crater produced by each sphere was measured using vernier calipers as
shown.
In one test, the spheres were dropped from the same height.
Determine the factor by which the kinetic energy of the sphere just before impact increases
when the sphere diameter is increased from 2.0 cm to 4.0 cm.
(3)
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Factor = ...........................................................
Q16.
Two ice skaters are gliding across the horizontal ice surface at an ice rink.
When the male skater pushes the female skater forwards, the total kinetic energy of the
skaters increases.
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(Total for question = 2 marks)
Q17.
A car of mass 1.5 × 103 kg is travelling at a speed of 25 m s–1. The driver applies the brakes
and the car comes to rest.
Which of the following gives the decrease in kinetic energy, in joules, as the car is brought to
rest?
Q18.
Seat belts are being tested by a car manufacturer. In the test, a car moving at a steady
speed of 28 m s–1 collides with a wall and stops.
A crash-test dummy in the driving seat is wearing a seat belt made from polyester webbing.
The seat belt has a cross-sectional area of 0.85 cm2 and a total length of 2.0 m. A student
suggests that in the collision the seat belt absorbs all the kinetic energy of the dummy.
Show that the energy per unit volume that would have to be absorbed by the seat belt is
about 2 × 108 J m–3.
mass of dummy = 75 kg
(3)
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Q19.
A trolley is attached to the ends of two springs as shown. When displaced from its
equilibrium position, the trolley moves with simple harmonic motion.
The student displaces the trolley a greater distance from the equilibrium position, so the
amplitude of oscillation is doubled. The trolley still moves with simple harmonic motion.
Explain how the maximum kinetic energy of the trolley will change.
Work, Energy and Power
(3)
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Q20.
A cyclist travels up a slope through a vertical height h in a time t. The mass of the cyclist and
his bike is m.
Q21.
A lift moves upwards from the ground to the tenth floor of a building. The velocity-time graph
for the lift is shown.
The power developed by the lift when travelling upwards with different loads is shown in the
table.
(i) By considering the forces acting on the lift as it rises, discuss the difference in values
for the power developed by the lift.
(4)
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Work, Energy and Power
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(ii) Lifts use a significant proportion of all total energy consumption of a building.
When designing the lift systems, engineers compare the predicted daily energy
consumption of different lift motors by
• estimating the time for typical lift journey based on the number of floors in the building
and the speed of the lift
• estimating the number of lift journeys per day
using daily energy consumption = maximum power output of motor × number of
journeys × time per journey
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using this method to compare the
predicted energy consumption of different lift motors.
(4)
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Work, Energy and Power
Q22.
A projectile of mass 65 g is fired vertically upwards into a stationary wooden block of mass
2.400 kg, as shown.
The projectile becomes embedded in the block. They both move vertically upwards through
a vertical displacement of 55 cm before momentarily coming to rest.
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Q23.
A motor is used to lift an object as shown. The object is raised through a vertical height of 75
cm at a constant speed of 0.40 m s−1.
Which of the following gives the rate of increase of potential energy of the object in watts?
B 0.25 × 0.75
Q24.
Impact craters are formed when meteorites strike the surface of a planet. A student
investigated some factors that might influence the formation of impact craters. He did this by
dropping spheres of modelling clay into a tray of sand.
The diameter of the crater produced by each sphere was measured using vernier calipers as
shown.
* The student also dropped the spheres from different heights. His results are shown in the
table.
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(Total for question = 6 marks)
Work, Energy and Power
Q25.
State why the 'efficiency' given on the website cannot be a value of efficiency as defined in
physics.
(1)
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Q26.
An object of mass m is moved from the bottom to the top of a slope. The vertical height of
the slope is y.
The horizontal distance between the bottom and top of the slope is x.
Which of the following gives the gain of gravitational potential energy of the object as it
moves from the bottom to the top of the slope?
Q27.
Two small identical solid metal spheres, A and B, are suspended by light inextensible
threads from a frame.
Determine the momentum of sphere A just before the collision. You should take
measurements from the photograph.
height of frame = 11 cm
mass of sphere = 0.022 kg
(5)
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Q28.
A garden pond contains a water fountain. The fountain consists of a pump and nozzle and is
used to create a jet of water which falls back into the pond as shown. The top of the edge of
the pond is level with the nozzle.
The water is lifted through a height of 0.45 m before it leaves the nozzle at an angle of 25° to
the vertical.
Show that the water leaves the nozzle at a speed of about 8 m s−1.
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(Total for question = 5 marks)
Work, Energy and Power
Q29.
A sports class is studying cycling. They produce a video of a cyclist on a horizontal lawn.
The cyclist starts from rest.
They produce a sketch graph of the velocity v of the cyclist against time t.
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Q30.
A car of mass 1.2 × 103 kg is travelling at a speed of 18 m s–1. The driver applies the brakes
and the car comes to rest.
Q31.
A rope is used to pull a box a distance d along a horizontal surface at a constant speed.
A force F is applied to the rope and the rope is at an angle θ to the horizontal.
Which of the following could be used to determine the work done on the box?
Q32.
A projectile of mass 65 g is fired vertically upwards into a stationary wooden block of mass
2.400 kg, as shown.
The projectile becomes embedded in the block. They both move vertically upwards through
a vertical displacement of 55 cm before momentarily coming to rest.
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Q33.
Q34.
A student investigates the properties of one of the rubber bands and obtains the following
graph.
Work, Energy and Power
(a) The student wants to determine the mass of one of the rubber bands. He places five
rubber bands on a balance and obtains a reading of 2 g. He divides the reading on
the balance by five to determine the mass of one rubber band.
Explain how he could improve his result.
(3)
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(b) The rubber band is stretched by 17.4 cm when it is placed on the toy.
Show that the work done on the rubber band is about 1 J.
(3)
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Work, Energy and Power
(c) Calculate the maximum possible value for the initial velocity of the rubber band as it is
fired from the toy.
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(d) The student thinks the calculated value of maximum velocity is too high because the
band does not travel as far as expected.
Explain how the student could determine the initial velocity with the use of a video
camera and why light gates would not be suitable.
(4)
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Q35.
The rock is held in a sling. When the peg is removed the counterweight falls and the rock is
projected through the air.
The mass of the counterweight was reduced. The trebuchet was then used to project the
rock again.
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Q2.
Q3.
Work, Energy and Power
Q4.
Q5.
Q6.
Q7.
Work, Energy and Power
Q8.
Q9.
Q10.
Q11.
Work, Energy and Power
Q12.
Q13.
Q14.
Work, Energy and Power
Q15.
Q16.
Q17.
Work, Energy and Power
Q18.
Q19.
Q20.
Work, Energy and Power
Q21.
Work, Energy and Power
Work, Energy and Power
Q22.
Q23.
Work, Energy and Power
Q24.
Work, Energy and Power
Q25.
Q26.
Q27.
Work, Energy and Power
Q28.
Q29.
Q30.
Work, Energy and Power
Q31.
Q32.
Q33.
Work, Energy and Power
Q34.
Q35.