Physics I 2019/2020

Assignment 5: Applying Newton’s laws of motion

I. Walking on horizontal slippery ice can be much more tiring than walking on ordinary
pavement. Why?

II. In the figure each of the suspended blocks has weight W. The pulleys are frictionless
and the ropes have negligible weight. Calculate, in each case, the tension T in the rope
in terms of the weight W. In each case, include the free-body diagram or diagrams you
used to determine the answer.

III. A 75.0-kg wrecking ball hangs from a uniform heavy-duty chain having a mass of 26.0
kg.
a. Find the maximum and minimum tension in the chain
b. What is the tension at a point three fourths of the way up from the bottom of
the chain?

IV. A 1130-kg car is held in place by a light cable on a very smooth (frictionless) ramp, as
shown in the figure. The cable makes an angle of 31.0° above the surface of the ramp,
and the ramp itself rises at 25.0° above the horizontal.

a. Draw a free-body diagram for the car.

b. Find the tension in the cable.
c. How hard does the surface of the ramp push on the car?

V. A man pushes on a piano with mass 180kg so that it slides at constant velocity down a
ramp that is inclined at 11.0° above the horizontal floor. Neglect any friction acting on
the piano. Calculate the magnitude of the force applied by the man if he pushes
a. parallel to the incline
b. parallel to the floor
 VI. Three sleds are being pulled horizontally on frictionless horizontal ice using horizontal
ropes. The pull is of magnitude 125 N. Find:

a. The acceleration of the system

b. The tension in ropes A and B

VII. A light rope is attached to a block with mass 4.00 kg that rests on a frictionless,
horizontal surface. The horizontal rope passes through a massless pulley, and a block
with mass m is suspended from the other end. When the blocks are released, the
tension in the rope is 10.0 N.
a. Draw two free-body diagrams, one for the 4.00-kg block and one for the block
with mass m.
b. What is the acceleration of either block?
c. Find the mass m of the hanging block.
d. How does the tension compare to the weight of the hanging block?

VIII. A 550-N physics student stans on a bathroom scale in an 850-kg (including the student)
elevator that is supported by a cable. As the elevator starts moving, the scale reads
450N.
a. Find the acceleration of the elevator (magnitude and direction)
b. What is the acceleration if the scale reads 670 N?
c. If the scale reads zero, should the student worry? Explain.
d. What is the tension in the cable in parts (a) and (c)?

IX. Two crates connected by a rope lie on a horizontal surface. Crate A has mass 𝑚𝐴 and
crate B has mass 𝑚𝐵 . The coefficient of kinetic friction between each crate and the
surface is 𝜇𝑘 . The crates are pulled to the right at constant velocity by a horizontal
force 𝐹⃗ . In terms of 𝑚𝐴 , 𝑚𝐵 , 𝜇𝑘 calculate:

a. The magnitude of the force 𝐹⃗

b. The tension in the rope connecting the blocks. Include the free-body diagram
or diagrams you used to determine each answer.

X. You are lowering two boxes, one on top of the other, down the ramp shown. Both
boxes move together at a constant speed of 15.0cm/s. The coefficient of kinetic
friction between the ramp and the lower box is 0.444, and the coefficient of static
friction between the two boxes is 0.800.
 a. What force do you need to exert to accomplish this?
b. What are the magnitude and direction of the friction force on the upper box?

XI. A flat curve on a highway has a radius of 220.0m. A car rounds the curve at a speed of
25.0 m/s.
a. What is the minimum coefficient of friction that will prevent sliding?
b. Suppose the highway is icy and the coefficient of friction between the tires and
pavement is only 1/3 of what you found in part (a). What should be the
maximum speed of the car so it can round the curve safely?

XII. An airplane flies in a loop (a circular path in a vertical plane) of radius 150m. The pilot’s
head always points toward the center of the loop. The speed of the airplane is not
constant; the airplane goes slowest at the top of the loop and fastest at the bottom.
a. At the top of the loop, the pilot feels weightless. What is the speed of the
airplane at this point?
b. At the bottom of the loop, the speed of the airplane is 280km/h. What is the
apparent weight of the pilot at this point? His true weight is 700N.

XIII. Two ropes are connected to a steel cable that supports a hanging weight as shown.

a. Draw a free-body diagram showing all of the forces acting at the knot that
connects the two ropes to the steel cable. Based on your force diagram, which
of the two ropes will have the greater tension?
b. If the maximum tension either tope can sustain without breaking is 5000N,
determine the maximum value of the hanging weight that these ropes can
safely support. You can ignore the weight of the ropes and the steel cable.

XIV. Block A has a mass of 4.00kg, and block B has

mass 12.0kg. The coefficient of kinetic friction
between block B and the horizontal surface is
0.25.
a. What is the mass of block C if block B is
moving to the right and speeding up with
an acceleration of 2.00 𝑚/𝑠 2 ?
b. What is the tension in each cord when
block B has this acceleration?

XV. A curve with a 120-m radius on a level road is banked at the correct angle for a speed
of 20m/s. If an automobile rounds this curve at 30m/s, what is the minimum
coefficient of static friction needed between tires and road to prevent skidding?