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Example Questions
Example Question #6 : Motion
If a particle reaches its max height in , what is its range if it is launched at a speed of that remains constant throughout its flight at angle of ?
First let's write out the information we are given:
We know that in order to obtain the time it takes a projectile to hit the ground we just multiply by , since the time it takes to reach the max height is half of the total time the project is in the air, so
Now we can use the equation
Since we are only concerned with the particle's motion in the horizontal direction, and we know that the horizontal velocity is constant . We also know since that is the definition of the initial position.
This gives us:
Let's plug in what we have:
. This is the range and our final answer. The reason why we can just use as the horizontal velocity is because the project is launched at a ° angle.
Example Question #11 : Mechanics
A cannon is being shot from the ground. You want to shoot that cannon as far as possible. At what angle should the cannon be shot?
90 degrees
30 degrees
60 degrees
50 degrees
45 degrees
45 degrees
There are many explanations for this. First you could simply insert a velocity at all of these angles and see which ends up with the greatest change in horizontal distance. You also could use basic calculus and solve for the greatest theta.
Example Question #1 : Motion In Two Dimensions
A ball is thrown off a building at a speed of and at to the horizontal. If the building is tall, how far from the base of the building will the ball land?
This is a projectile motion problem. The problem states that it was thrown off the building at an angle of 30 degrees to the horizontal. So before we can find time, we need to find the horizontal and vertical parts of this velocity.
Since and
It follows that
Now, before we can find far it went, we need to find how long it was in the air. We need to solve for time.
With the equation we can find t.
X is the initial height which in this case is the tall building. V is the initial vertical velocity and
Plugging all that in and solving yields
Knowing that the time the ball is in the air is and the constant horizontal velocity is , we can plug in these known values into the simple distance formula to solve for distance.
Example Question #4 : Motion
A pendulum is made up of a small mass that hangs on the end of a long string of negligible mass. The pendulum is displaced by and allowed to undergo harmonic motion. What is the angular frequency of the resulting motion?
The angular frequency of a simple pendulum is , where is the length of the pendulum.
Example Question #1 : Harmonic Motion
Which of the following is not an example of simple harmonic motion?
The mass on a pendulum moving back and forth
A book falling to the ground
A child swinging on a swing set
A plucked string vibrating on a guitar
A book falling to the ground
For this question, we need to recall what simple harmonic motion is. Remember that it is a periodic motion where the restoring force depends on the displacement of the object undergoing these motions. So to answer this question, we need to keep this idea in mind and see which example doesn't match up.
A mass on a pendulum moving back and forth is clearly an example of simple harmonic motion. As the mass moves further from the center in either direction, it experiences a greater and greater force in the opposite direction.
A child swinging on a swing set is another correct example. This situation is analogous to the mass on a pendulum swinging back and forth.
A vibrating guitar string is yet another example of simple harmonic motion. After it is plucked, the string oscillates back and forth.
Finally, a book falling to the ground does not represent harmonic motion. Once the book is released from rest, we intuitively know that it will fall to the ground and will then stay there; in no way is there any periodic motion.
Example Question #31 : College Physics
If the mass of a simple pendulum is quadrupled, then its period __________.
remains the same
is reduce to one quarter
doubles
quadruples
remains the same
We know that the equation for the period of a simple pendulum is . This equation does not depend on mass. It is only affected by the length of the pendulum (L) and the gravitational constant (g). Therefore, adding mass to the pendulum will not effect the period, so the period remains the same.
Example Question #22 : Mechanics
A violin string long has a linear density of . What is the string tension if the second harmonic has a frequency of ?
Since we are solving for string tension, we need to use the frequency equation with the tension variable in it. That equation is where is the frequency, is the number of the harmonic, is the length of the string, is the linear density of the string, and is the tension of the string.
We are given:
Next we must convert the length of to meters which is and the mass density of to . Then we plug in our known values into the equation and solve for the string tension. The result is .
Example Question #2 : Harmonic Motion
For a simple harmonic motion governed by Hooke's Law, , if is the period then the quantity is equivalent to which of the following?
We know that T is the period. The equation for T is for harmonic motion.
Solve for by dividing the equation by on both sides. The result is , which is the answer.
Example Question #2 : Harmonic Motion
A pendulum on earth has a period of . What is it's period on Mars with it's gravity is
First, we need to find the length of the pendulum. Begin with the equation for finding the period of a pendulum:
solve for to get:
Now we can plug in our given values:
Since we have the length of the pendulum determined, we can now find the period of the pendulum on Mars:
Example Question #32 : College Physics
The bases on a baseball field are 90 feet apart.
A players hits a home run and gets around the bases in 20 seconds what is the players total speed?
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