All AP Physics 1 Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Torque
One side of a seesaw carries a mass four meters from the fulcrum and a mass two meters from the fulcrum. To balance the seesaw, what mass should be placed nine meters from the fulcrum on the side opposite the first two masses?
For the seesaw to be balanced, the system must be in rotational equilibrium. For this to occur, the torque the same on both sides.
The total torque must be equal on both sides in order for the net torque to be zero.
Substitute the formula for torque into this equation.
Now we can use the given values to solve for the missing mass.
The acceleration form gravity cancels from each term.
Example Question #1 : Torque
Two masses hang below a massless meter stick. Mass 1 is located at the 10cm mark with a weight of 15kg, while mass 2 is located at the 60cm mark with a weight of 30kg. At what point in between the two masses must the string be attached in order to balance the system?
This problem deals with torque and equilibrium. Noting that the string is between the two masses we can use the torque equation of . We can use the equation to find the torque. Since force is perpendicular to the distance we can use the equation (sine of 90o is 1). Force presented in this situation is gravity, therefore F=mg, and using the variable x as a placement for the string we can find r.
x=43, thus the string is placed at the 43cm mark.
Example Question #1 : Torque
An attraction at a science museum helps teach students about the power of torque. There is a long metal beam that has one pivot point. At one end of the bar hangs a full sedan, and on the other end is a rope at which students can pull down, raising the car off the ground.
The beam is 40 meters long and the pivot point is 5 meters from one end. A car of mass 500kg hangs from the short end of the beam. Neglecting the mass of the beam, what is the minimum mass of a student who can hang from the rope and begin to raise the car off the ground?
More information is needed to answer
We are trying to find what force needs to be applied to the rope to result in a net of zero torque on the beam.
Torque applied by the car:
We can use this to find the mass of a student that will create the same amount of torque while hanging from the rope:
Example Question #1 : Torque
There is a weight to the left the center of a seesaw. What distance from the center on the right side of the seesaw should Bob sit so that the seesaw is balanced?
Bob's mass is
Torque is defined as . In this case, is zero because Bob and the weight are sitting directly on top of the seesaw; all of their weight is projected directly downward. Therefore, the torque that the weight applies is:
In order for the seesaw to balance, the torque applied by Bob must be equal to .
Example Question #11 : Torque
Terry is pushing a vertical lever that is attached to the floor, and he pushes above the point of rotation. If he pushes with a force of at an angle of from the ground, what is the magnitude of torque that he is applying to the lever's hinge?
Magnitude of torque can be found by relating the amount of force applied perpendicular to a lever arm about a point of rotation.
In this case, the force is not perpendicular, so we must take the perpendicular aspect of the force to find torque.
Plug in and solve.
Example Question #11 : Torque
From the given force and position vector, calculate the torque experienced by an object.
To calculate the torque experienced by the object, we must take the cross product of the force vector and the position vector.
Example Question #11 : Torque
You apply a force of to a wrench of length . Determine the torque experienced by the bolt on the other end. Assume the force you apply is perpendicular to the wrench.
None of these
The definition of torque is
Where
is the force
is the distance
Theta is the angle between the direction of the force and the distance.
In this case, , so .
Plugging in our remaining values:
Example Question #1051 : Newtonian Mechanics
There is a steel disk of radius and uniformly distributed mass . Assuming that it is perfectly balanced on it's center, determine how much torque would be needed to accelerate it to in .
Assume
Initial angular momentum is zero
Combine equations:
Solve for
Definition of :
Combine equations:
Plug in values:
Example Question #11 : Torque
A force is applied to the edge opposite the doorhinge of a door of radius perpendicular to the door to produce a torque . Suppose now that the force is doubled, but now acts at a point from the doorhinge at an angle of to the door.
What is the resulting torque in terms of ?
The torque is produced by a force acting at a radius . Since the force and the radius are perpendicular, then the torque equation gives us:
The new torque, which we will call is produced by a force of acting at a radius of at an angle of . Thus the torque equation gives us:
Since , plugging this in to the above gives us
Example Question #1055 : Newtonian Mechanics
Find the torque on a rod that's in length that's hit by a force at a angle.
Torque is given by:
, where is the length of the rod from the pivot point, is the force acting on the rod, and is the angle. Since we have all of these components, we can plug in and solve: