MULUNGUSHI UNIVERSITY

SNAS- DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

SEMESTER 1 2024/2025 ACADEMIC YEAR
TEST 1
PHY- 101 INTRODUCTORY PHYSICS I
28rd October, 2024

DURATION: 1 Hour 30 min TOTAL MARKS: 50

INSTRUCTIONS

• Answer all questions in this paper.

• For section A, write the correct option on your answer sheet.

• Each question in section A carries 2 marks.

• For section B, show all essential working to earn full marks.

• ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE WRITTEN THE CORRECT DETAILS ON YOUR ANSWER SHEET.

Useful Formulars

 
1 q Ry
v = v◦ + at ∆x = v◦ t + at2 v 2 = v◦2 + 2a∆x R= Rx2 + Ry2 θ = tan−1
2 Rx

Useful Constants:
e = 1.60 × 10−19 C, me = 9.11 × 10−31 kg, mp = 1.67 × 10−27 kg 1eV = 1.60 × 10−19 J, g = 9.81ms−2 A=
23 −12 −3 −1 4 2
6.0 × 10 o = 8.85 × 10 m kg s A
1. What is an approximate value for the speed of A. 0.23 ms−1 C. 3.0 ms−1
sound in air? B. 0.46 ms−1 D. 6.0 ms−1

A. 30 ms−1 C. 3 000 ms−1

6. A body is released from rest and falls vertically in
B. 300 ms−1 D. 30,000 ms−1 air of constant density. Which statement about
the motion of the falling body is correct?
2. A projectile is fired in such a way that its hori-
zontal range is equal to three times its maximum A. As it accelerates, its weight decreases so

height. What is the angle of projection? that its acceleration decreases until it
travels with constant velocity.
A. 53◦ B. 30◦ C. 60◦ D. 21◦ B. It accelerates initially at 9.8ms?2 but
the drag force increases so its acceler-
3. A goods train passes through a station at a steady
ation decreases.
speed of 10ms−1 . An express train is at rest at
the station. The express train leaves the station C. Its velocity increases at a constant rate
with a uniform acceleration of 0.5ms−2 just as until its velocity becomes constant.
the goods train goes past. Both trains move in D. The drag force of the air increases con-
the same direction on straight, parallel tracks. tinually and eventually the velocity de-
How much time passes before the express train creases.
overtakes the goods train?
7. In an experiment to determine the acceleration of
A. 6 s C. 20 s free fall g, the period of oscillation T and length
l of a simple pendulum were measured. The un-
B. 10 s D. 40 s
certainty in the measurement of l is estimated to
4. A pendulum bob is held stationary by a horizon- be 4%, and the uncertainty in the measurement
tal force H. The three forces acting on the bob are of T is estimated to be 1%. The value of g is de-
shown in the diagram. The tension in the string termined using the formula
of the pendulum is T. The weight of the pendu- 4π 2 l
g=
lum bob is W. The string is held at an angle of T2
30◦ to the vertical. Which statement is correct? What is the uncertainty in the calculated value
for g?

A. 2% B. 3% C. 5% D. 6%

8. An astronaut on a strange planet finds that she

can jump a maximum horizontal distance of 15.0
m if her initial speed is 3.00 m/s. What is the
free-fall acceleration on the planet?

A. 20m/s2 C. 0.3 m/s2

A. H=Tcosθ C. W=T sinθ B. 0.6m/s2 D. 0.5m/s2
B. T=H sinθ D. W=Tcosθ
9. In still air, a bird can fly at a speed of 10 m s−1 .
5. An aircraft, initially stationary on a runway, The wind is blowing from the east at 8.0 m s−1 .
takes off with a speed of 85 km h−1 in a distance In which direction must the bird fly in order to
of no more than 1.20 km. What is the minimum travel to a destination that is due north of the
constant acceleration necessary for the aircraft bird’s current location?
 A. 37◦ east of north Question 2
◦
B. 37 west of north (a) Imagine that on your wedding day your lover gives
◦
C. 53 east of north you a gold ring of mass 3.80 g. Fifty years later
its mass is found to be 3.35 g. On the average,
◦
D. 53 west of north
how many atoms were abraded (weared off) from
the ring during each second of your marriage?
10. Physical quantities can be classified as vectors of
The atomic mass of gold is 197 u where 1 u =
scalars. Which pair of quantities are both vec-
1.661 × 10−27 kg (3)
tors?
(b) A ball is thrown directly downward with an initial
A kinetic energy and elastic force
speed of 8.00 m/s, from a height of 30.0 m. After
B momentum and time what time interval does it strike the ground? (3)
C velocity and magnetic field strength (c) A package is dropped from a helicopter that is
D weight and temperature descending steadily at a speed vo . After t seconds
have elapsed, what is the velocity of the package
in terms of v◦ , g, and t? (2)

SECTION B: Answer all questions (d) A force F~1 of magnitude 6.00 N acts on an object
at the origin in a direction θ = 30.0◦ above the
Question 1 positive x-axis. A second force F~2 of magnitude
5.00 N acts on the object in the direction of the
(a) Explain how an object which is at rest and the positive y-axis. Find the magnitude and direction
one moving with a constant velocity may be con- of the resultant force F~1 +F~2 (4)
sidered to be in the same state. (2)
(e) A rescue helicopter wants to drop a package
of supplies to isolated mountain climbers on a
(b) A footballer kicks a ball on horizontal ground giv-
rocky ridge 200 m below. If the helicopter is trav-
ing it an initial velocity of 25 ms−1 at an angle of
eling horizontally with a speed of 70 m/s and
35◦ to the horizontal.
someone in the helicopter throws the package a

i. Where will the ball be 1.2 seconds after it is horizontal distance of 400 m in advance of the

kicked? (2) mountain climbers. With what speed should the

package be given so that it arrives precisely at
ii. Calculate the velocity of the ball after 1.2 s (4) the climber’s position? (3)
iii. Where will the ball land? (2)

(c) A superhero leaped with a displacement having

an x-component of 32.5 m and a y-component of
24.3 m. Find the magnitude and direction of the
displacement vector. (3)

(d) A truck covers 40.0 m in 8.50 s while uniformly

slowing down to a final velocity of 2.80 m/s. Find
the truck’s original speed? (2)

(e) i. Under what conditions is the resultant vec-

tor equal to zero (1)

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