Class 091007
The first 6 questions are about the experiment we did Monday, allowing a ball to back and forth on a pair of oppositely-inclined ramps until it comes to rest. Most of the remaining questions involve sketches, estimates and explanations. The last problem is a review of something everyone should now know (but it ain't always so).
`q001. Give your raw data for the experiment conducted Monday, with a ball traveling down one incline then up another, until it finally comes to rest.
Report you numbers in the form of an easily-read table, including an explanation before or after the table of what the numbers mean.
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`q002. How much distance did the ball cover between the instant of release and the instant at which it came to rest? Give the distance, then explain how you got it from the data you reported in the preceding.
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`q003. The distance down the first ramp is about 30 cm, and the domino supporting it has a thickness of a little less than 1 cm. So the distance the ball traveled on the first ramp alone is more than 30 times the distance of its vertical descent.
Between release and coming to rest (after rolling back and forth for a time) the ball sometimes descends and sometimes ascends, but it ends up lower than it starting point by a vertical distance equal to the thickness of a single domino.
How many times the distance of its vertical descent is the total distance traveled by the ball?
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`q004. When the ball descends, does its potential energy increase or decrease? Does its kinetic energy increase or decrease?
When it ascends, does its potential energy increase or decrease? Does its kinetic energy increase or decrease?
Sketch a graph you think might represent the potential energy of the ball vs. clock time, from the instant of release to the instant it comes to rest.
Describe your graph:
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`q005. On the same graph, sketch the kinetic energy vs. clock time.
Describe this graph, and describe how the two graphs compare.
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`q006. Sketch two more graphs, one representing the ball's velocity vs. clock time, and another representing the ball's position vs. clock time.
Describe your graphs.
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`q007. The sketch you copied from the board in class depicts an incline rising from left to right at angle alpha with horizontal. The x axis is directed up the incline. The weight vector is vertical, and makes angle beta with the y axis. Theta is the angle from the positive x axis to the weight vector, as measured in the counterclockwise direction.
Sketch the same figure, but adjust your angles so that the angle of the incline with horizontal is 15 degrees. (If you divide a 90 degree angle into three equal angles, then take half of one of these angles, you will have a 15 degree angle. Using this method you should be able to hand-sketch a 15 degree angle within a couple of degrees.)
Sketch the projection lines for the weight vector, and estimate the lengths of the arrows representing the x and y components of this vector as percents of the length of the arrow representing the weight vector.
Give the following numbers below, in the specified order, with one number to a line:
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`q008. Repeat the preceding exercise for angle alpha = 10 degrees. You should identify all the quantities you did before, but report here only the x component of the weight as a percent of the weight:
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`q009. Repeat the preceding exercise for angle alpha = 5 degrees. You should identify all the quantities you did before, but report here only the x component of the weight as a percent of the weight:
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`q010. Explain how your pictures show why an increasing slope implies and increasing acceleration.
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`q011. Suppose the ball had a weight of 8 Newtons.
Using the percents you estimated previously:
What would be the x component of its weight on the 15 degree ramp?
What would be the x component of its weight on the 10 degree ramp?
What would be the x component of its weight on the 5 degree ramp?
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`q012. Suppose the ball had a mass of 3 kilograms. What would be its weight, in Newtons?
Using the percents you estimated previously:
What would be the x component of its weight on the 15 degree ramp?
What would be the x component of its weight on the 10 degree ramp?
What would be the x component of its weight on the 5 degree ramp?
Using Newton's Second Law, assuming that the net force on the ball is equal to the x component of its weight, what then would be its acceleration on the 15 degree ramp?
What would be its acceleration on each of the other ramps?
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`q013. Assume that the weight of the ball is 8 Newtons, as on one of the preceding problems.
Based on your estimates of the x component of the weight:
How much work would be done on the ball by this force if it rolled 5 meters down the ramp?
Assuming it started from rest and the only force acting parallel to the ramp is the x component of the weight, how fast would it be going after rolling 5 meters down the ramp?
Under the same assumptions, what therefore would be its kinetic energy after rolling 5 meters down the ramp?
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`q014. Assume that the weight of the ball is 8 Newtons, as before.
Based on your estimates of the x component of the weight:
How much work would be done on the ball by this force if it rolled 3 meters up the ramp?
Assuming it started with a speed of 6 meters / second, how fast would it be going after rolling 3 meters up the ramp?
Assuming it started with a speed of 6 meters / second, what would be its kinetic energy after rolling 3 meters up the ramp?
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`q015. Sketch the tension force for a pendulum which is displaced to an angle of 15 degrees with vertical.
Using an x-y coordinate system with the x axis horizontal, estimate the x component of the tension as a percent of the tension.
Repeat for angles of 10 degrees and 5 degrees.
Give your three estimates below:
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`q016. Based on your answers to the preceding, would you expect the acceleration of the pendulum to increase, decrease or remain the same as it swings back to its equilibrium position? Be sure to explain your reasoning.
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`q017. Explain why it would or would not be a good idea to use the equations of uniformly accelerated motion to model the motion of a freely swinging pendulum.
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`q018. You should be able to do these review problems in a couple of minutes each. If not, you still have some work to do on projectile motion:
If an object falls freely from rest through a vertical distance of 2 meters, while traveling at a constant horizontal velocity of 250 cm/second, then how far does it travel in the horizontal direction as it falls?
If another object falls freely from rest through the same distance, and in the process of falling travels 40 cm in the horizontal direction, then what is its horizontal velocity?
Your solution:
Confidence rating:
Given solution: Let downward be the positive direction.
The vertical displacement is therefore 2 meters, the vertical acceleration 980 cm/s^2, the initial vertical velocity zero. We can work in units of cm or meters, but should decide this at the beginning. Either express 2 meters as 200 cm, or 980 cm/s^2 at 9.8 m/s^2, then simply use the equations.
The fourth equation gives us vf^2 = v0^2 + 2 a `ds. Substituting the quantities we get vf = 6.4 m/s, approximately. We also get a negative solution, but discard it since it is clear the final velocity is downward.
The average vertical velocity is therefore vAve_y = (0 m/s + 6.4 m/s) / 2 = 3.2 m/s, and the time of fall is
`dt = `ds / vAve = 2 m / (3.2 m/s) = .63 sec, approx..
The horizontal velocity is constant, since gravity doesn't act in that direction and we are neglecting air resistance and other possible forces in the horizontal direction.
Thus the horizontal displacement is
`ds = vAve_x * `dt = 250 cm/s * .63 sec = 160 cm, approx.. This can also be expressed as 1.6 meters.
For the second question the initial vertical velocity and displacement are the same as before so `dt is still .63 sec.
The horizontal displacement is 40 cm, so the constant horizontal velocity is
vAve_x = 40 cm / (.63 s) = 60 cm/s, approx..
Self critique:
Self-critique rating:
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Homework:
Your label for this assignment:
ic_class_091007
Copy and paste this label into the form.
Report your results from today's class using the Submit Work Form. Answer the questions posed above.
The topics we addressed today in class relate to q_a_'s #11 through 14.
Today q_A_12 and q_a_13 are assigned for the weekend.