SCIENCE TEST
LAW OF MOTION
1. Give the magnitude and direction of the net force acting on
a. a drop of rain falling down with a constant speed,
b. a cork of mass 10 g floating on water,
c. a kite skilfully held stationary in the sky,
d. a car moving with a constant velocity of 30 km/h on a rough road,
e. a high-speed electron in space far from all material objects, and free of electric and magnetic fields.
2. A pebble of mass 0.05 kg is thrown vertically upwards. Give the direction and magnitude of the net force on the
pebble,
a. during its upward motion,
b. during its downward motion,
c. at the highest point where it is momentarily at rest. Do your answers change if the pebble was thrown at an angle of
45° with the horizontal direction?
Ignore air resistance.
3. Give the magnitude and direction of the net force acting on a stone of mass 0.1 kg,
a. just after it is dropped from the window of a stationary train,
b. just after it is dropped from the window of a train running at a constant velocity of 36 km/h,
c. just after it is dropped from the window of a train accelerating with 1 m s-2,
d. lying on the floor of a train which is accelerating with 1 m s-2, the stone being at rest relative to the train. Neglect air
resistance throughout.
4. One end of a string of length l is connected to a particle of mass m and the other to a small peg on a smooth
horizontal table. If the particle moves in a circle with speed v the net force on the particle (directed towards the
centre) is:
(i) T, (ii) T - mv2 / l, (iii) T + mv2 / l, (iv) 0
T is the tension in the string.
5. A constant retarding force of 50 N is applied to a body of mass 20 kg moving initially with a speed of 15 ms –1. How
long does the body take to stop?
6. A constant force acting on a body of mass 3.0 kg changes its speed from 2.0 m s–1 to 3.5 m s–1 in 25 s. The direction of
the motion of the body remains unchanged. What is the magnitude and direction of the force?
7. A body of mass 5 kg is acted upon by two perpendicular forces 8 N and 6 N. Give the magnitude and direction of the
acceleration of the body.
8. The driver of a three-wheeler moving with a speed of 36 km/h sees a child standing in the middle of the road and
brings his vehicle to rest in 4.0 s just in time to save the child. What is the average retarding force on the vehicle? The
mass of the three-wheeler is 400 kg and the mass of the driver is 65 kg.
9. A rocket with a lift-off mass 20,000 kg is blasted upwards with an initial acceleration of 5.0 m s –2. Calculate the initial
thrust (force) of the blast.
10. A body of mass 0.40 kg moving initially with a constant speed of 10 m s–1 to the north is subject to a constant force of
8.0 N directed towards the south for 30 s. Take the instant the force is applied to be t = 0, the position of the body at
that time to be x = 0, and predict its position at t = –5 s, 25 s, 100 s
11. A truck starts from rest and accelerates uniformly at 2.0 m s–2. At t = 10 s, a stone is dropped by a person standing on
the top of the truck (6 m high from the ground). What are the (a) velocity, and (b) acceleration of the stone at t = 11
s? (Neglect air resistance.)
12. A bob of mass 0.1 kg hung from the ceiling of a room by a string 2 m long is set into oscillation. The speed of the bob
at its mean position is 1 m s–1. What is the trajectory of the bob if the string is cut when the bob is (a) at one of its
extreme positions, (b) at its mean position
13. A man of mass 70 kg stands on a weighing scale in a lift which is moving
(a) upwards with a uniform speed of 10 m s–1,
(b) downwards with a uniform acceleration of 5 m s–2,
(c) upwards with a uniform acceleration of 5 m s–2.
What would be the readings on the scale in each case?
(d) What would be the reading if the lift mechanism failed and it hurtled down freely under gravity?
14. Figure 5.16 shows the position-time graph of a particle of mass 4 kg. What is the (a) force on the particle for t < 0, t >
4 s,0 < t < 4 s? (b) impulse at t = 0 and t = 4 s? (Consider one-dimensional motion only).
15. Two bodies of masses 10 kg and 20 kg respectively kept
on a smooth, horizontal surface are tied to the ends of a
light string. A horizontal force F = 600 N is applied
to (i) A, (ii) B along the direction of string.
What is the tension in the string in each case?
16. Two masses 8 kg and 12 kg are connected at the two ends
of a light inextensible string that goes over a frictionless pulley.
Find the acceleration of the masses, and the tension in the string
when the masses are released.
17. A nucleus is at rest in the laboratory frame of reference. Show that
if it disintegrates into two smaller nuclei the products must move
in opposite directions.
18. Two billiard balls each of mass 0.05 kg moving in opposite directions with speed 6 m s –1 collide and rebound with the
same speed. What is the impulse imparted to each ball due to the other?
19. A shell of mass 0.020 kg is fired by a gun of mass 100 kg. If the muzzle speed of the shell is 80 m s –1, what is the recoil
speed of the gun?
20. A stone of mass 0.25 kg tied to the end of a string is whirled round in a circle of radius 1.5 m with a speed of 40
rev./min in a horizontal plane. What is the tension in the string? What is the maximum speed with which the stone
can be whirled around if the string can withstand a maximum tension of 200 N?
21. A helicopter of mass 1000 kg rises with a vertical acceleration of 15 m s –2. The crew and the passengers weigh 300 kg.
Give the magnitude and direction of the
[Link] on the floor by the crew and passengers,
b. action of the rotor of the helicopter on the surrounding air,
c. force on the helicopter due to the surrounding air.
22. A stream of water flowing horizontally with a speed of 15 m s–1 gushes out of a tube of cross-sectional
area 10–2 m2, and hits a vertical wall nearby. What is the force exerted on the wall by the impact of water,
assuming it does not rebound?
23. Ten one-rupee coins are put on top of each other on a table. Each coin has a mass m. Give the
magnitude and direction of
a. the force on the 7th coin (counted from the bottom) due to all the coins on its top,
b. the force on the 7th coin by the eighth coin,
c. the reaction of the 6th coin on the 7th coin.
24. A monkey of mass 40 kg climbs on a rope (Fig. 5.20) which can stand a maximum tension of 600 N. In
which of the following cases will the rope break: the monkey
a. climbs up with an acceleration of 6 m s–2
b. climbs down with an acceleration of 4 m s–2
c. climbs up with a uniform speed of 5 m s–1
d. falls down the rope nearly freely under gravity?
25. A block of mass 15 kg is placed on a long trolley. The coefficient of static friction between the block and
the trolley is 0.18. The trolley accelerates from rest with 0.5 m s–2 for 20 s and then moves with uniform
velocity. Discuss the motion of the block as viewed by (a) a stationary observer on the ground, (b) an
observer moving with the trolley.