Solution of 2 Online Physics Brawl

Online Physics Brawl December 6, 2012
Solution of 2
nd
Online Physics Brawl
1
!TODO! Pterodaktyl je bitmapa
!TODO! Adresa anglicky.
!TODO! Odstranit TODO z loh
!TODO! Zkontrolovat, e vsledek v een je na sprvn poet pl. cifer
!TODO! Napsat do een seln vsledky vech loh
!TODO! Zkontrolovat nutnost novch odstavc v een
!TODO! Dodlat pvody a zvtnit je
!TODO! Zkontrolovat seln vsledky
!TODO! Doladit obrzky v een
Problem FoL.1 . . . curtain
Imagine a thin rigid homogeneous rod with mass m = 1 kg and length l = 2 m, which is attached
to a horizontal rail by a small massless ring at its end, so that it can slide without friction. As
the ring accelerates at a constant rate a = 5 ms
2
, the rod makes a constant angle to the
vertical. Find this angle given that the whole situation takes place on the Earths surface, thus
in the presence of the vertical acceleration due to gravity g = 10 ms
2
, neglecting the eects of
air resistance. State your answer in radians. Nry, looking at the mechanics of curtain.
a
g
Fig. 1: To the problem 1
Let us describe the system in the frame of reference comoving with the ring. In this frame, the
rod has only one degree of freedom, namely the angle , which was said to be constant. Hence
the rod can be considered at rest with respect to this frame and we are left with determining
the conditions for equilibrium. Apart from the force due to gravity, there is a cticious force
acting on every element of the rod, which is due to the accelerating frame of reference. Resolving
the forces acting on the rod in the direction perpendicular to it (the parallel components are
compensated for by the tension in the rod) and equating the corresponding moments, we nd
the following condition for the rod to be at equilibrium
tg =
a
g
.
Substituting the numerical values for a and g, we obtain
.
= 0.46 rad.
J Nron
nahry@fykos.cz
2
Problem FoL.2 . . . hangmen
There are two balls of mass m and electric charge q (with the same sign) hanging from two slings
of length l xed in the same point. These balls are placed in air with density
a
= 1.2 kgm
3
.
Due to the electric repulsion of the balls, the slings are forming an angle . If we put the same
aparate in the olive oil with relative permitivity
r
= 3 and density
o
= 900 kgm
3
, the angle
will remain the same. Consider the permitivity of the air to be same as permitivity od vacuum.
What is the density of the balls?
f(Ale) was reading about little balls and decided to recompute the problem for nicer situation.
There are two forces aecting the balls, one electric and the other one gravitational. Electric
force can be computed from Coulombs law and the gravitational which can be computed from
law of gravity, hence
F
e
=
1
4
0
r
q
2
4 sin
2
_
2
_
l
2
,
F
g
= V (
b

e
) g ,
where
e
is the density of the environment.
Those two forces are perpendicular to each other. Gravitational force is vertical while the
electric force is horizontal.
From geometry
F
e
F
g
= tg
_
2
_
.
Lets mark the forces after inserting the aparate to the olive oil with primes. Condition for
the constant angle gives us
F
e
F
g
=
F
e
F
g
,
from here
1
b

a
=
1
(
b

o
)
r
,
where we assumed that the permitivity of the air is the same as of vacuum.
Then
b
=

o
r

a
r
1
.
Plugging in numbers,
b
.
= 1349, 4 kgm
3
.
Ale Flandera
flandera.ales@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.3 . . . blue rock
Center of mass of a mountaineer climbing on a rock is h = 24 m above ground. The last belay
(place where the climbers rope runs through a metallic circle attached to the rock) is at a height
h
0
= 20 m. The climber slips and falls. How closest to the ground does he get during his fall?
Youngs modulus of the rope is E = 100 MPa, its radius r = 0.5 cm and mass of the climber
m = 70 kg. Neglect mass of the rope and all friction. Assume that the rope is attached to the
climber in his center of mass. All distances are given with respect to a securing device which is
3
attached to the ground and does not move during the fall. The local gravitational acceleration
is g = 9.81 ms
2
. Honza thought carefully before climbing.
Lets denote l the increase in the length of the rope during the fall. From the conservation of
energy we have
mg (2 (h h
0
) +l) =
1
2
Er
2
h
l
2
.
Solving the quadratic equation we nd l. The height h
f
in which the climber stops falling is
then h
f
= h 2(h h
0
) l
.
= 7.7 m.
Jan Humplk
honza@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.4 . . . gas block
There is a movable divider in a closed cylindrical vessel, separating it into two chambers. One
of the chambers contains 25 mg of N
2
while the second one contains 40 mg of He. Assume that
the equilibrium state was attained. What is the ratio of the lenghts of the chambers in the
equilibrium state? Assume ideal-gas behaviour. Your answer should be less than 1.
Janapka was going through her old exercise books.
The pressure in both chambers is the same, since we are in equilibrium state. Let us compute
the amount of substance in both chambers. We need to look up molar masses M in the tables.
For nitrogen, it is 28 gmol
1
while for helium, we have 4 gmol
1
. We will plug in the numbers
into the formula for the amount of substance, where n = m/M and m is the mass of the gas in
the chamber. Let us denote the area of the base of the bottle by S and the lenghts by L. Then,
taking into account the ideal gas law, we can write
p =
n
1
RT
SL
1
=
n
2
RT
SL
2
,
whence L
1
/L
2
= n
1
/n
2
.
= 0.089.
Jana Polednikov
janap@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.5 . . . marble play
We want to galvanise (in copper sulphate solution) an iron sphere of mass m
Fe
= 8 kg and
density
Fe
= 8 gcm
3
. We aim for a layer of copper r = 2 mm thick. The density of copper
is
Cu
= 9 gcm
3
and we apply constant current I = 0.5 A. How long does the process take?
State your answer in days, ceiled (i.e. 3.238 days are 4 days).
Kiki was remembering the chemistry olympiad.
Essential for the solution is nding out how much copper m
Cu
is deposited onto the surface of
the sphere during the electrolysis. We know the density of the sphere and its mass, hence we can
compute its volume, which is V
Fe
= m
Fe
/
Fe
. The volume can also be expressed as V = 4r
3
/3,
so we can infer the radius of the sphere r, which will grow to R = r +r, where r = 0.002 m.
The volume of the resulting sphere will be V = 4R
3
/3. Copper and iron do not mix in the
4
process, so we can deduce the volume of the copper layer, which is V
Cu
= V V
Fe
. The mass
of the layer can be computed as m
Cu
= V
Cu
Cu
. We can input the known quantities to obtain
m
Cu
= V
Cu
Cu
,
m
Cu
= (V V
Fe
)
Cu
,
m
Cu
=
_
4
3
R
3
m
Fe
Fe
_
Cu
,
m
Cu
=
_
4
3
_
3
3m
Fe
4
Fe
+ r
_
3
m
Fe
Fe
_
Cu
.
We will use Faradays laws of electrolysis to infer the time needed to produce such amount
of copper. We write m = AIt, where A is the corresponding electrochemical equivalent A =
= M
Cu
/(Fz), M
Cu
= 0.0635 kgmol
1
is the molar mass of copper, F = 96 485 Cmol
1
is the
Faradays constant and z = 2 is the number of electrons released during the reaction when
a copper cation with oxidation number II changes into a copper atom with oxidation number
0. The time elapsed can be computed as
t =
m
C
u
AI
,
t =
m
C
uFz
IM
C
u
.
Plugging in the numbers, we get t
.
= 5 292 447 s, which is equivalent to 62 days after ceiling.
Kristna Neporov
kiki@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.6 . . . springy one
We happen to have forgotten a spring with natural length l = 0.5 m and a spring constant
of k = 5 Nm
1
in the outer space. There is a mass m
1
= 1 kg attached to one end of the spring
while at the other end, there is a mass m
2
= 3 kg. Compute the period of small oscillations of
the spring. Pao was going through his old exercise book.
The centre of mass of an isolated system considered with respect to an inertial frame of reference
cannot accelerate. Hence, in the centre of mass reference frame, the periods of oscillations of
both masses must be the same. The centre of mass is at the distance
x = l
m
2
m
1
+m
2
from m
1
. Let us regard the spring as consisting of two springs connected in series at the centre
of mass. The spring constants of these springs are inversely proportional to their respective
lengths (the shorter spring is more rigid than the longer one), hence for the spring connected
to m
1
we have
k
1
= k
l
x
= k
m
1
+m
2
m
2
.
5
The period of oscillations of the whole system is equal to the period of oscillations of this part
of it, so
T = 2
m
1
k
1
= 2
m
1
m
2
k(m
1
+m
2
)
.
Plugging in the numbers, we get T
.
= 2.43 s.
Patrik vanara
patrik@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.7 . . . expandable balloon
A closed helium balloon is taking o from the Earths surface, where the temperature and
pressure are 300 K and 101 kPa respectively. Eventually, it will reach the point where the
temperature and pressure are 258 K and 78 kPa respectively. Assuming that the balloon is of
spherical shape initially with radius 10 m, nd the factor by which its radius will increase. The
balloon is in thermodynamic equilibrium with its environment. Do not take into account the
surface tension of the balloon. Tom was dreaming about ying in a hot air balloon.
We can use the ideal gas law to write
p
1
V
1
T
1
=
p
2
V
2
T
2
.
Hence the ratio V
2
/V
1
can be expressed as
p
1
T
2
p
2
T
1
.
= 1.114 .
The initial volume of the balloon is V
1
= 4r
3
1
/3. We will express the new volume as
V
2
= V
1
p
1
T
2
p
2
T
1
=
4
3
r
3
2
=
4
3
r
3
1

p
1
T
2
p
2
T
1
.
Hence the resulting ratio is
3
p
1
T
2
p
2
T
1
.
= 1.037 .
Tom Brta
tomas@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.8 . . . resistant prism
The edges of a square pyramid are made out of wires which are conductively connected at all
vertices. Compute the resistance across the opposite vertices on a diagonal of the base square,
given that the resistance of one metre of the wire is 1 , the height of the pyramid is

7 m and
the base length is 2 m. Piko, while marking solutions.
We want to nd the resistance across the opposite vertices of the base of a square pyramid.
By symmetry of the problem, we note that all the remaining vertices are at the same poten-
tial, including the top of the pyramid. Hence there is no current through the wires mutually
6
connecting these vertices and we can discard them. We are left with three pairs of resistors
connected in parallel, each pair containing identical resistors. As for the two pairs dening the
base, the resistors have resistance 2 while in the case of the third pair, the resistance of the
constituent resistors is (by Pythagoras theorem)
_
7
_
2
+
_
2
2
+ 2
2
2
_
2
= 3 .
Thus the sought-after resistance is 1.5 .
Tom Piklek
pikos@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.9 . . . satellite
Consider a planet and its natural satellite orbiting about their common centre of mass, where
the motion takes place in a plane. The magnitude of the tangent velocity of the satellite, dened
with respect to the centre of mass of the system, is 2.5 kms
1
. Find the ratio of the mass of the
planet to the mass of the satellite in order for the centre of mass of the system to be located
at the planets surface, given that the orbits are circular. The mass of the planet is M
p
=
= 7.6 10
24
kg, it has a radius of R
p
= 7 436 km and the radius of the satellite is R
m
= 1 943 km
Nicola was thinking about the two-body problem.
Since we know the speed of the moon in its orbit, we can derive the distance h of the moons
surface from the planets surface. We know that F
G
= F
d
, where F
G
is the magnitude of the
force due to gravity on the moon and F
d
is the magnitude of the centripetal force making the
moon follow the circular orbit. Hence we have
M
p
M
m
(R
p
+h +R
m
)
2
=
M
m
v
2
R
p
+h +R
m
.
where is the gravitational constant. Thus
h =
M
p
v
2
R
p
R
m
.
We need the center of mass at the surface of the planet. By denition, we write
T =
(h +R
p
+R
m
)M
m
M
m
+M
p
,
where T is the distance of the centre of mass from the centre of the planet. Putting T = R
p
,
we express M
m
as
M
m
=
M
p
R
p
h +R
m
,
Substituting for h, rearranging the terms and dividing through by M
p
, we obtain our nal result
M
p
M
m
=
h +R
m
R
p
.
Plugging in the numerical value of h, we get M
p
/M
m
.
= 9.91.
Nicola Burianov
nicola@fykos.cz
7
Problem FoL.10 . . . a loop
Consider an electron-emitting source with an emitting speed of v = 1.510
7
ms
1
. At a point P,
the electrons enter a homogeneous magnetic eld with a magnitude of B = 1 10
3
T. The
vector of electrons velocity at P makes an angle = 15
to the magnetic eld vector. Find the

distance of P from the point where the electrons again (for the rst time) cross the eld line
going through P. Zdenk has teleported inside a monitor.
We need to resolve the velocity vector v into two components. One component is perpendicular
to the eld lines, v
x
= v sin , while the other one is parallel to them, v
y
= v cos . The Lorentz
force is acting as a centripetal force, so
Qv
x
B =
mv
2
x
r
,
whence we can express r as
r =
mv
x
QB
.
Then the period of the orbital motion can be obtained as
T =
2r
v
x
=
2m
QB
.
This is basically the time the electron needs to cross the eld line once more. In the meantime,
it will travel through a distance s in the direction parallel to the eld lines
s = v
y
2m
QB
.
Substituting for the charge and the mass of the electron, we get s
.
= 0.52 m.
Zdenk Jakub
zdenekjakub@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.11 . . . ecologically passive
A passionate tree hugger (weighing only m = 50 kg) learned that the city council decided to
chop down his favourite tree. He climbed onto the top of his homogeneous green friend believing
that he would keep the tree killers away. However, the lumberjacks came and cut down the h =
= 10 m tall tree weighing M = 1 t. What was the speed with which the tree hugger, initially
resting at the tree top, hit the ground? The acceleration due to gravity is g = 9.81 ms
2
.
Terka, while climbing a tree.
The crucial one is the law of conservation of energy here. The potential energy of the tree
hugger and the tree is
E
p
= g
_
mh +
h
2
M
_
.
The kinetic energy is given by the moment of inertia I of the system as
I =
1
2
I
2
,
8
where is the angular speed of the tree hitting the ground. The moment of inertia can be
computed with aid of the parallel axis theorem as
E
k
=
1
12
Mh
2
+M
_
h
2
_
2
+mh
2
.
Conserving the total energy, we have
hg (2m+M) =
_
1
3
M +m
_
h
2
2
.
Whence we obtain as well as v = h:
v =
3M + 6m
M + 3m
gh.
Plugging in the numbers, we get v
.
= 16.8 ms
1
.
Ale Flandera
Problem FoL.12 . . . nucleus on a diet
Imagine we have a nucleus with nucleon number A = 36, proton number Z = 17 and the mass
of m
k
= 5.99965 10
26
kg What would be the sum of bonding energies in nucleus in one mole
of nuclei of this element? Provide your answer in TJ.
Kiki was bored during the lecture on anorganic chemistry.
The element contains Z = 17 protons and N = A Z = 19 neutrons. Mass of proton as
a standalone particle is m
p
= 1.6725 10
27
kg, mass of neutron is m
n
= 1.6749 10
27
kg. Just
adding these two, the nucleus should weigth m
t
= 17m
p
+19m
n
. The real mass of the nucleus
is smaller. The dierence is directly proportional to bonding energy
m = m
t
m
k
according to E = mc
2
. We are interested in energy of one mole of the nuclei, E
m
= N
A
E, whe-
re N
A
= 6.02210
23
mol
1
is Avogadro number. Plugging in the numbers, we get E
m
.
= 1.4010
13
J =
= 14.0 TJ.
Kristna Neporov
kiki@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.13 . . . music of the locomotives
Two locomotives A and B are moving with velocities v
A
= 15 ms
1
in the right direction
and v
B
= 30 ms
1
in the left direction, facing each other on the paralel railways. Locomotive
A whistles on a frequence 200 Hz. The speed of the sound is 340 ms
1
. Lets assume that
some of the sonic waves will be reected from the locomotive B back to locomotive A. Which
frequency will be heard by the engineer in the locomotive A? Assume that rightwards direction
is positive and the environment is not moving. Janapka was playing with trains.
The problem makes use of Doppler eect. First, lets compute the frequency which will be heard
by engineer in locomotive B. Locomotive A is moving to the right, in the positive direction, so
9
locomotive B will have velocity |v
B
|. Environment is not moving. The velocity of the source
is equal to the velocity of locomotive A, moving in the positive direction. The speed of sound
is denoted as v. Frequency which is heard by engineer in locomotive B is
f
B
= f
0
c +|v
B
|
c |v
A
|
.
= 228 Hz .
This is the frequency sent from locomotive B to locomotive A. So lets apply Dopplers law
once more to get the nal frequency
f
A
= f
B
c +|v
A
|
c |v
B
|
.
= 261 Hz .
Jana Polednikov
janap@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.14 . . . capacitors in the circuit
Voltage in the circuit on the attached image is 10 V and each capacitor has capacity 10 F.
Compute the charge (in C) on the capacitor C
1
. Dominika on a branch.
We use the numbering of capacitors as in the image. Lets recall the rules for computing the
nal capacity if the capacitors are in series (C
s
) or parallel (C
p
)
1
C
s
=
1
C
a
+
1
C
b
, C
p
= C
a
+C
b
.
Using this formula, we replace the capacitors 1, 2, 3 with equivalent C
123
and capacitors 1, 2, 3, 4
with equivalent C
1234
C
123
=
3
2
C, C
1234
=
3
5
C.
Charge in the right branch of circuit (with capacitors C
1...4
) is Q
1234
= U C
1234
, which is
the same as the charge of capacitor C
4
and also C
1...3
: Q
1234
= Q
3
= Q
123
. Voltage on C
1...3
is U
123
= Q
123
/C
123
. Capacitors C
1
and C
2
will have the same charge, Q
1
= Q
2
= U
123
C
12
=
= U
123

C
2
. Generally
Q
1
=
1
2
U
123
C =
1
2
CU
C
1234
C
123
=
1
5
CU .
Plugging the numbers in, we get Q
1
= 20 C.
Dominika Kalasov
dominika@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.15 . . . glasses or contact lenses
!TODO! zmna index
Pepa needs glasses with focal length f
b
= 50 cm to clearly see his favourite crossword at
a distance D = 25 cm from his eye lens. The glasses are at d = 2 cm from his eye lens which
itself has focal length f
o
= 2 cm. What focal distance (in cetimetres) must Pepas contact lenses
which are in direct contact with the eye have so that Pepa still could see the crossword
10
clearly without any change in the focal length of the eye lens? Treat all lenses as thin.
Luk stared into crosswords.
First we calculate distance from the eye lens in which the image of the crossword is produced.
Crossword is at a distance d
b
= D d from the glasses. This is less than f
b
which means the
image will be on the same side of the lens as the crossword. Image position with respect to the
glasses is obtained from the lensmakers equation
s
b
=
1
1
f
b

1
Dd
.
The image is then at a distance s
o
= s
b
+ d from the eye lens. From this directly follows nal
position of the image x:
x =
1
1
f
o

1
s
o
=
1
1
f
o

f
b
D+d
d(f
b
D+d)+f
b
(Dd)
=
1204
575
cm.
Focal distance f
c
of the contact lens must fulll
1
f
c
+
1
f
o
=
1
x
+
1
D
,
which leads to
f
c
=
1
1
D

f
b
D+d
d(f
b
D+d)+f
b
(Dd)
.
= 56.9 cm
Dvid Hvizdo
david@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.16 . . . superluminal electron
Assume the Bohr model of an ionized atom with xed nucleus (with proton number Z) and only
one electron. Which would be the lowest possible proton number of the atom in order to obtain
superluminal velocity of the orbiting electron? Assume that the electron is in a ground state.
Speed of light is c = 299.8 10
6
ms
1
, charge of the electron is e = 1.6022 10
19
C, Coulombs
constant is k
e
= 8.987 10
9
Nm
2
C
2
and the reduced Planck constant is = 1.0546 10
34
Js.
Use classical, not relativistic, physics. Jakub wanted to destroy the world.
Velocity of the electron in the ground state can be obtained directly from the Bohr model
v
e
=
Ze
2
k
e
.
We want this velocity to be superluminal, hence
v
e
=
Ze
2
k
e
> c .
Playing around with this algebracic expression, we get condition for Z
Z >
c
e
2
k
e
.
= 137.05 .
Number of protons is an integer, so the velocity of the electron crossed the superluminal barrier
for Z = 138.
Jakub Kock
jakub@fykos.cz
11
Problem FoL.17 . . . ecocar
Find the mass of a compressed gas which is equivalent to one litre of petrol with a heating
value of L = 30 MJl
1
, given that we use air as our working gas with an initial pressure of
p
0
= 200p
a
, where p
atm
= 10
5
hPa is the atmospheric pressure. Further assume that the density
of air under atmospheric pressure is
atm
= 1.3 kgm
3
, that it exhibits ideal-gas behaviour and
that the expansion process is carried out isothermally without any loss of energy.
Luk came up with this on the trip in the mountains.
Let us write the ideal gas law for the original, intermediate and atmospheric pressure
p
0
V
0
= nRT , pV = nRT p
atm
V
atm
= nRT .
The temperature and the amount of substance are constant. The work done by gas during the
expansion process is
W =
V
atm
V
0
pdV =
V
atm
V
0
p
0
V
0
/V dV = p
0
V
0
ln
V
atm
V
0
= p
0
V
0
ln
p
0
p
atm
.
The density of air is = m/V
atm
, for which we can write
p
atm
=

atm
M
m
RT ,
where M
m
is molecular mass of the air. By the ideal gas law for the initial state, we can express
p
0
V
0
as.
p
0
V
0
=
m
M
m
RT = m
p
atm
atm
.
The work has already been computed before, so let us assume that it is equal to the heating
value of one litre of petrol
LV
B
= W = p
0
V
0
ln
p
0
p
atm
= m
p
atm
atm
ln
p
0
p
atm
,
whence
m =
LV
B
atm
p
atm
ln
p
0
p
atm
.
= 73.6 kg .
Jn Pulmann
janci@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.18 . . . swinging barrel
A cylindrical object with a radius of r = 0.5 m, height l = 3 m and mass of two tonnes is oating
on the water of density so that the axis of the cylinder remains vertical. Let us displace the
cylinder from its equilibrium position vertically by x = 1 mm. Find the period of oscillations
of the cylinder (in seconds). The acceleration due to gravity is g = 9.81 ms
2
.
Pikos problem from the school days.
There is a force due to gravity F
G
= mg acting on the cylinder, where m is the mass and g is
the acceleration due to gravity. The other force acting on the cylinder is the buoyant force
F
v
= V g ,
12
where V is the volume of the submerged part of the cylinder and is the density of the liquid
(water). At the equilibrium position, the resultant force acting on the cylinder is zero. Let
us denote the height of the submerged part as x
0
(at the equilibrium position). Then mg =
= r
2
x
0
g. If we displace the cylinder from the equilibrium position by x upwards, then the
height of the submerged part will be x
0
x and the magnitude of the resultant force will be
equal to
F = mg r
2
(x x
0
)g .
Substituting for x from the previous equation we obtain
F = r
2
xg ,
thus the force acting on the cylinder is proportional to the displacement, hence we can see
that it is a simple harmonic oscilator with the eective spring constant r
2
g. Therefore, the
sought-after period of oscillations is
T = 2
m/(r
2
g)
.
= 3.2 s .
Tom Piklek
pikos@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.19 . . . capacitor duo
Find the charge in Coulombs on the capacitor C
2
if you know the following: At the beginning,
the switch S
0
was o and the switch S
1
was on, as displayed on the picture. There was zero
voltage on both capacitors. Then we switched S
0
on and waited until the current stopped
owing. Subsequently, we switched S
1
o and again waited for the circuit to come into a steady
state. At the end, we measured the charge on the capacitor C
2
. The voltage across the ideal
voltage source (DC) is U = 17 V and both capacitors have the same capacitance C = 1 F.
Nry felt like doing some electrotechnics.
U
S
0
C
1
C
2
S
1
This experiment represents a process in which we add an extra capacitor into a capacitor circuit
in a steady state. This new element acts as a simple conductor because it is added at a moment
when all dierences in the electric potential are balanced. There is a zero voltage on the added
capacitor and thus also a zero accumulated charge.
13
Validity of this statement can be seen from the second Kirchhos circuit law and the
conservation of the electric charge.
Q+q
C
+
q
C
= U , (1)
where Q is the original charge on the positively charged plate of the capacitor C
1
and q is an
extra charge on this plate after switching o S
1
. This is then the charge lost by the plate of C
2
which is connected with the positively charged plate of C
1
.
From the rst phase of the process we know
Q
C
= U , (2)
which, combined with (1) gives q = 0 C.
Charge on the capacitor C
2
will be 0 C.
J Nron
nahry@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.20 . . . heureka
Consider a cube with edge length a = 1 m and density
0
= 1 000 kgm
3
and a container with
a liquid of density (at its level)
0
. The density of the liquid increases linearly with depth,
so (h) =
0
+h, where = 25 kgm
4
. How deep does the cube sink, given that the height of
the level of the liquid does not change having immersed the cube in the liquid? The acceleration
due to gravity is g = 9.81 ms
2
. State your answer in centimetres.
Terka was bathing in strange liquids.
Let us use the Archimedes principle: a thin slab of the cube with a height of dx submerged at
a depth of x is acted on by a force corresponding to the weight ga
2
(
0
+x)dx of the liquid of
the same volume as the slab. The total mass of the water replaced by the cubes body must be
equal to the total mass of the cube, so
H
0
(
0
+x)dx = a
3
0
,
which leads to a quadratic equation. This can be solved as
0 = H
2
+ 2
0
H 2a
3
0
,
H =
2
0
+ 2a
3
0

0
.
Plugging in the numbers, we get H
.
= 98.8 cm.
Tereza Steinhartov
terkas@fykos.cz
14
Problem FoL.21 . . . ecology above all
Find the eciency (energy returned on energy invested - ERoEI) of storing the energy in the
form of compressed air. If there is surplus of electrical energy produced in solar power plants,
we start to compress the air adiabatically so that we eventually achieve a compression ratio of
k = 10. If we need the energy back, we let the air expand adiabatically to the original pressure.
However, before we commenced the expansion process the air cooled down to the temperature
before the compression took place. Assume that the air is a diatomic gas exhibiting ideal-gas
properties. State your answer in terms of percentage.
Luk was listening to a programme about the cars running on compressed air.
Quantities indexed by 1 describe the initial state while the ones indexed by 2 describe the state
after the adiabatic compression, 3 stands for the state before the adiabatic expansion and 4 is
for the state after the expansion.
Let us derive the energy supplied to the gas during the adiabatic compression rst (energy
invested). We can write
T
2
= T
1
_
V
1
V
2
_
1
= T
1
k
1
.
Then the energy invested is
E
in
= RnT
1
_
k
1
1
_
.
For determining the parameters describing the state 3, the ideal gas law needs to be employed.
We know that T
3
= T
1
, hence
p
3
= kp
1
.
We should note that p
4
= p
1
. Then we can write for the adiabatic expansion
T
4
= T
3
_
p
3
p
1
_
1
= T
1
k
1
T
4
= T
1
k
1
.
The energy returned in this process is
E
out
= RnT
1
_
1 k
1
_
.
At this point, we can compute the eciency as
=
E
out
E
in
=
1 k
1
k
1
1
.
Let us recall that for a diatomic gas we have = 1.4, so the answer is
.
= 31.9 %.
Luk Ledvina
lukasl@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.22 . . . resistor blackbox
Consider a box containing three resistors with unknown resistances. These resistors are con-
nected through ideal conductors. There are four output terminals leading outside the box. We
measure the resistance across dierent pairs of terminals for all possible combinations of ter-
minals. Five such measurements yield 9 , 12 , 8 , 3 and 14 . Let us now connect the
15
ohmmeter across the last unmeasured pair of terminals. What resistance do we nd?
Nry is tragic.
Unless we want to measure zero resistance, there should not be any loop in the wiring, hence
the resistors must be connected either in a star conguration or in series. Equipped with this
condition we can uniquely determine both the precise way of wiring as well as the individual
values of resistances of the resistors and hence the resistance across the last choice of terminals.
Let us denote the resistances by R
1
, R
2
and R
3
. Based on how these resistors may be con-
nected we infer that the resistances measured across the terminals can either be a combination
of sums of R
1
, R
2
and R
3
or directly R
1
, R
2
or R
3
. There are exactly 7 such cases. Since we
obtained our measurements for 5 possible combinations of terminals out of 6, we must have
necessarily measured at least two values which correspond directly to some of R
1
, R
2
and R
3
.
This implies that the least resistance measured across a pair of terminals must be one of R
1
,
R
2
or R
3
, since assuming the opposite we come to a quick contradiction. Denoting the least
resistance R
1
, we observe that R
1
= 3 .
In the next step we subtract R
1
from all of the remaining measured resistances. There exist
exactly 3 pairs of resistors, which we potentially could have measured and which satisfy the
following: when we subtract R
1
from the resistance of the rst one we get the resistance of the
second one. Since we conducted 5 measurements, there must be at least one such a pair in the
list of measured resistances. Indeed, the values 12 and 9 dier exactly by 3 . Since this is
the only such pair and simultaneously 12 is not the highest value measured, we must have
that 9 is the resistance of the second resistor, denoted by R
2
(think this carefully through!).
Since 8 is less than R
2
, it must be equal either to R
3
or R
1
+ R
3
. However, it would
be impossible to place the terminals in a star or serial wiring in such a way so as to obtain
a resistance of 14 , if we had R
3
= 8 . Hence R
3
= R
2
R
1
= 5 .
Based on the above derived results we easily conclude that the resistors are connected in
a star and that the resistance across the last choice of terminals is R
3
= 5 .
J Nron
nahry@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.23 . . . orbiters
Determine the magnitude of a magnetic eld which is present at the centre of mass of the
system of two planets charged with equal charges of Q = 100 TC and with equal masses of
M = 5 10
24
kg orbiting each other at a distance of d = 500 000 km apart. In your calculations,
regard the two planets as point charges and assume that their orbits are circular. State your
answer in terms of nT. Luk wanted to create an unconventional problem no matter what.
The planets exert an attractive force on each other, which is of magnitude
F =
1
d
2
_
GM
2
Q
2
4
0
_
.
In order to balance the centrifugal with the attractive force (from the point of view of the frame
of reference rotating with the planets), we have to satisfy
v =
dF
2M
.
16
This means that the current owing around the centre of mass will be
I =
2Qv
d
which allows us to compute the magnitude of the magnetic eld at the centre of mass as
B =
0
I
d
=
0
2Qv
(d)
2
=
0
2Q
dF
2M
(d)
2
.
= 57.23 nT.
Tom Brta
tomas@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.24 . . . mercujet
Consider a ask lled with a potion of density = 13 600 kgm
3
. The ask is sealed at
the top, with a small capillary inserted in the seal. The potion is heated to the temperature
corresponding to its boiling point under the atmospheric pressure p
a
= 101 325 Pa. By how
much will the level of the potion in the capillary rise? Neglect both the change in the surface
tension with the temperature as well as the thermal expansion of both the potion and the ask.
The acceleration due to gravity is g = 9.81 ms
2
. The ask is placed in vacuum. Assume that
at the beginning of the process, the partial pressure of the potion vapor is zero.
Luk was playing with a PET bottle.
If we heat the potion up to temperature corresponding to its boiling point under the atmospheric
pressure, the partial pressure of its vapor is the same as the atmospheric pressure, hence the
potion will rise to a height of
h =
p
a
g
.
= 759 mm,
because the pressure above the level of the potion in the ask is p
a
and there is zero pressure
above the level of the potion in the capillary.
Luk Ledvina
lukasl@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.25 . . . dimensionless hydrogen
Consider the ground state energy of the hydrogen atom (a system consisting of a proton and
an electron) in the non-relativistic model with the proton xed at a point. If the electron is
in the innite distance from the proton, the energy of the conguration is dened to be zero.
Find the ground state energy in terms of dimensionless units dened by putting the mass of
the electron m
e
= 1, reduced Planck constant = 1 and k
e
e
2
= 1, where k
e
is the Coulombs
constant and e denotes the electrons charge. Jakub was forced to think
Considering the Bohrs model of atom, the energy of the ground state of hydrogen is
E
0
=
m
e
e
4
k
2
e
2
2
.
17
h
Fig. 3: english label 24
We simply substitute 1 for the quantities mentioned in the task to obtain the energy in di-
mensionless units
E
0
=
1
2
(m
e
)
_
k
e
e
2
_
2
()
2
=
1
2
.
Jakub Kock
jakub@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.26 . . . jumping dog
Imagine a marble placed in a height of h = 1 m above the ground. At some point, we release
the marble and simultaneously start to push the ground towards the marble with a speed of
V = 1.2 ms
1
with respect to the initial rest frame of the system. Given that the coecient of
restitution between the marble and the ground is e = 0.3, nd the time needed for the marble
to steady on the moving ground. We dene the coecient of restitution as the ratio of speeds
of the marble with respect to the ground before and after each collision.
Kuba played with a marble.
Let us look at the situation from the inertial frame of reference connected with the moving
ground. The initial speed of the marble in this frame is V . The marble will hit the surface at
18
the time
t
1
=
2
h
g
+
_
V
g
_
2
V/g
having a speed of
v
1
= V +gt
1
=
2gh +V
2
.
Let us take into account the coecient of restitution e. After the collision the marble will have
a speed of v
2
= ev
1
and with this one, it will hit the surface again at the time
t
2
= 2
v
2
g
= 2e
v
1
g
,
subsequently hitting the surface again with a speed of v
3
= ev
2
etc. By induction, write
n N\{1} : t
n
= 2e
(n1)
v
1
g
,
where t
1
is given above. If e < 1 the series

t
n
converges. Let T be the time we are looking
for. Then
T =
n=1
t
n
= t
1
+ 2
v
1
g
n=2
e
(n1)
= t
1
+ 2
v
1
g
n=1
e
n
,
giving
T = t
1
+ 2
v
1
g
e
1 e
=
2gh +V
2
g
1 +e
1 e
V/g .
Plugging in the numbers, we get T
.
= 0.74 s.
Jakub Vomera
kuba@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.27 . . . P5
What is the average number of photons arriving from Plutos spherical moon P5 onto the mirror
of the Hubble Space Telescope every second? Assume the following: the moon has a diameter
of D = 20 km, its distance from the Sun is L = 32 AU and it has an albedo of a = 0.3. The
Hubble Space Telescope is equipped with a mirror of diameter d = 2 m. You can regard the
Sun as being a monochromatic light source, emitting at a wavelength of = 550 nm with the
solar constant being P
S
= 1 400 Wm
2
. Further assume that the Hubble Space Telescope is
also located at a distance of L from P5. Do not consider the absorption in the interplanetary
medium, assume the isotropic scattering of photons by P5 and do not take into account the
photons absorbed and subsequently radiated back by P5.
Luk read some stu about exoplanets.
Let us compute the power that the moon receives from the Sun
P
m
= P
S
1 AU
2
L
2

4
D
2
.
19
This power (reduced by the albedo) is uniformly scattered by the moon onto a sphere with
a radius of L and an area of 4L
2
. However, we detect only that part corresponding to the area
of the telescopes mirror being S
d
= d
2
/4. Hence the power detected is
P
o
= aP
m
d
2
/4
4L
2
= P
S
a
1 AU
2
L
2

4
D
2
d
2
/4
4L
2
= P
S
a

64
1 AU
2
D
2
d
2
L
4
.
= 1.398 10
18
W.
Further we have to determine the energy of one photon of given wavelength. It is true that
E = hc/ = 3.638 10
19
J. Hence, for the number of photons detected every second we have
P
o
/E = 3.842 Bq, where Bq is a unit with the same dimension as Hz. Though this one is used
for random processes, while the latter is for periodic ones. The telescope will receive 3.8 photons
per second on average.
Luk Ledvina
lukasl@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.28 . . . weird gravity
Imagine that you are standing on the inner side of the wall of a huge open-ended cylinder with
a base radius of R = 1000 m, The cylinder is rotating about its axis with a constant angular
speed so that the centrifugal acceleration you can feel is the same as the acceleration due to
gravity on the Earths surface g = 9.81 ms
2
. The cylinder itself is virtually massless and
it is placed in vacuum, outside the inuence of gravitating bodies. Imagine you throw a ball
straight up from the surface you are standing on, giving it an initial speed of v = 10 ms
1
in
a direction perpendicular to the surface. Compute how far from you the ball lands. The distance
is measured along the surface, in the frame of reference connected with the rotating cylinder.
State your answer in metres. Kuba whirling around.
If there is to be a normal acceleration of g on the inner side of the wall, the angular speed must
be =
g/R. We need to remember that there are no forces acting on the ying ball in the
non-rotating reference frame which is thus inertial, so in this frame the ball is either at rest or
it moves in a straight line with constant speed. In fact, in such frame the balls trajectory will
be a straight line which makes an angle with the direction normal to the surface, where
tg =
gR
v
.
The speed of the ball in this frame is
v
v
2
+gR,
so the straight trajectory of the ball hits the wall of the cylinder at time
t =
2Rcos
v
2
+gR
=
2Rv
v
2
+gR
.
But during this time, the cylinder rotates through an angle of t, so the distance to the point
of landing measured along the surface is
d = R( 2 t) = R
_
2 arctg
gR
v

2Rv
v
2
+gR
g
R
_
.
20
Plugging in the numbers, d
.
= 1.36 m.
Jakub Vomera
kuba@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.29 . . . gramme of hexagram
Consider a fractal which resulted from innite plunging of hexagrams into each other (see the
gure). Only the coloured parts have mass and their total mass is exactly one gramme. The
massive parts are made of homogeneous material and the radius of the fractal is one centimetre
(the radius is measured from the centre to the furthermost vertex of the fractal). What is the
moment of inertia with respect to the axis perpendicular to the plane of the fractal and going
through the centre of the fractal? The result should be stated in terms of gcm
2
. The moment
of inertia of an equilateral triangle with a side lenght of a
t
and mass m
t
with respect to the
axis perpendicular to the plane of the triangle and going through its centre of mass is
I
t
=
1
12
ma
2
t
.
Karel was thinking about moments of inertia.
r
Let the radius of the fractal be r. By looking at the geometry of the problem, we note that the
ratio of the dimensions of every inner and outer triangle is q = 1/
3. Let us denote the area

of the coloured part depicted on the rst diagram by S
1
, the area of the coloured part which
was added in the the second diagram will be denoted by S
2
etc. The area is proportional to the
square of the linear dimensions of a tringle, so
S
n+1
= q
2
S
n
.
The total area is then
S =
n=1
S
n
= S
1
1
1 q
2
=
3
2
S
1
.
The lengths of the edges of the equilateral triangles in the rst diagram are a
1
= r/
3, so the
area of the whole fractal is
S =
3
2
S
1
=
3
2
6a
2
1
3
4
= r
2
3
3
4
.
21
Hence the surface density is
=
m
S
=
4
3
3
m
r
2
.
The moment of inertia of the shape depicted on the rst diagram, I
1
, is six times the moment
of inertia of an equilateral triangle with respect to the axis going through the centre of the
fractal. To compute this moment of inertia, we need to employ the parallel axis theorem
I
1
6
= I
t1
+m
t1
l
2
t1
,
where I
t1
is the moment of inertia of the triangle with respect to the axis going through its
centre of mass, m
t1
is its mass and l
t1
is the distance between the centre of mass of the triangle
and the centre of the fractal. We know the dimensions of the triangles as well as their surface
density and l
t1
=
2
3
r. From the geometry of the problem, we can write
I
1
= 6
_
I
t1
+m
t1
l
2
t1
_
=
17
54
mr
2
.
If the surface density is constant, the moment of inertia is proportional to the fourth power of
the dimension (I mr
2
and m r
2
), so for the plunged stars
I
n+1
= q
4
I
n
.
Summing the resulting geometrical progression, we get a nite moment of inertia
I =
n=1
I
n
= I
1
1
1 q
4
=
9
8
I
1
=
17
48
mr
2
.
Substituting the numerical values, we get I = 0.354 gcm
2
.
Dvid Hvizdo
david@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.30 . . . crystal mirror
Consider an aquarium suspended in the air. We can assume that it is innitely big, so no matter
from which direction the rays are coming, they always hit a wall (see the gure). The walls
are made of glass with a refractive index of n
1
> 1. The aquarium is lled with an unknown
transparent liquid with a refractive index of n
2
> 1. The refractive index of air is n = 1. There
is a sheet of paper placed under the aquarium with the solution to this problem written down
on it. Find the smallest refractive index of the liquid so that we would not be able to see the
paper from aside of the aquarium (see the gure).
f(Ale) brought up a problem during the brainstorming.
The light is passing through several layers with dierent refractive indices. For such a situation,
we write
n
1
sin
1
= n
2
sin
2
= = n
N
sin
N
. (3)
Hence when passing through the aquarium wall for the rst time, the rays refract independently
on the refractive index of the glass and the direction in which they are deected is aected by
22
n
1
n
2
42
n
the refractive index of the liquid only. Since we have n
1
> n, the rays always pass into the
aquarium.
The rays can hit the bottom of the aquarium under a range of angles of (0, /2). We see
from the equation (3) that should the total internal reection occur, it will certainly happen no
later than at the last two interfaces. In other words, if there is to be a total internal reection
on the interfaces liquidglass or glass-air, it would occur on the interface liquidair as well.
Hence, it is true that
nsin

2
= n
2
sin
2
,
whence
n
2
=
1
sin
2
,
where
2
is the angle of incidence of the rays passing through the liquid onto the glass. From
the symmetry of the problem, by considering the rays travelling in the opposite direction, we
can write
2
= /4. Hence we end up with a condition
n
2

2 ,
thus n
2
=

2, which is approximately 1.41.
Ale Flandera
Problem FoL.31 . . . running mirror
Consider a system containing a converging lens with a focal lenght of f = 20 cm and a movable
convex mirror with a radius of curvature of 3f (see the gure). At t = 0, when the mirror
and the lens are in contact, we start to move the mirror with a speed of v = 1 ms
1
away
from the lens. What should be the position of the object as a function of time, in order for its
image to stay at a distance of 2f leftwards from the lens? Assume that you can write x(t) =
= f (v
2
t
2
+ vft 3f
2
)/(v
2
t
2
A) for the position of the object. Determine the constant A.
Assume that the speed of light is innite and that you can use the paraxial approximation.
Luk, sitting on an optical bench.
Let us denote the position of the object by x, the position of the image produced by the lens
by x
c
, the position of the image after imaging by the mirror by x
cz
and the position after the
nal imaging by the lens by x
czc
. Further denote by d the distance of the mirror from the lens.
Then we can write
23
x
x = 0
F
F

F
object
x(t)
image
v
x
x = 0
F
F

F
object
x(t)
image
v
1
x
+
1
x
c
=
1
f
, (4)
1
d x
c
+
1
d x
cz
=
2
r
, (5)
1
x
cz
+
1
x
czc
=
1
f
, (6)
Further we have to substitute x
czc
= 2f and r = 3f due to the standard sign convention.
Without these two assumptions, we can write the position of the object as a function of the
position of its nal image and the distance of the mirror from the lense, which yields somewhat
complicated expression. We then have
x =
d
2
f +df
2
3f
3
d
2
5
2
f
2
,
whence, substituting d = vt
x(t) = f
v
2
t
2
+vft 3f
2
v
2
t
2
5
2
f
2
.
We observe that A = 5f
2
/2 = 0.1 m
2
.
This approach to the problem is somewhat technical and we need not have followed this
path on our way to the nal solution, since it is sucient to determine the position of the mirror
for one particular position of the object.
24
For this purpose we choose x = f. Then, by (4), we have x
c
= . Forther we know that
x
czc
= 2f and by (6) we get x
cz
= 2f, hence for d by (5) we have
1
d
+
1
d +f
=
2
3f

1
d 2f
=
2
3f
d =
1
2
f .
This situation occurs at t = d/v = f/(2v). We substituted in to the ansatz given in the task
and having divided by f, we obtain
1 =
v
2
t
2
+vft 3f
2
v
2
t
2
A
v
2
t
2
A = v
2
t
2
+vft 3f
2
A =
5
2
f
2
= 0.1 m
2
.
The numerical value of the sought-after constant A je 0.1 m
2
.
Luk Ledvina
lukasl@fykos.cz
Problem FoL.32 . . . charged robber
A robber weighing m = 50 kg was running away from the policemen. He decided to save himself
by jumping from a cli. Luckily enough, he stole a charge of q = 10 C. There is a homogeneous
magnetic eld below the cli, reaching the height a = 10 m. The eld is perpendicular to the
vertical and its magnitude is B = 10 T. What is the maximum height of the cli h (in metres)
from which the robber can jump without reaching the surface? Do not take into account the
air resistance. The acceleration due to gravity is 9.81 ms
2
and the velocity of the robber at
the moment of entering the magnetic eld has a vertical component only. Assume that the
magnetic eld is pointing in the right direction so the robber does not hit the cli.
From the head of Tom B.
Let us assume that the cli is on the right hand side, so we chose a right-handed cartesian
coordinates system so that the x axis points to the left and y axis is points down. Let the
y = 0 plane be the boundary of the region with the magnetic eld pointing in the direction of
z. Employing the Lorentz force, the equations of motion can be written as
m x = qB y ,
m y = qB x +mg .
Let us start to measure the time at the moment when the robber enters the magnetic eld.
At this moment we have x(0) = 0 and y(0) = 0. After integrating the rst equation and
substituting into the second one, we get
y =
_
qB
m
_
2
y +g .
The vertical motion of the robber can apparently be described by the equation of simple har-
monic oscilator, so
1
2
m y
2
(0) +
1
2
q
2
B
2
m

2
=
1
2
q
2
B
2
m
(a )
2
whence we can obtain
h =
q
2
B
2
a
2
2gm
2
.
= 20.4 m.
Jan Humplk
honza@fykos.cz
25
Problem M.1 . . . drive safely!
Two cars with dierent types of tyres are decelerating in summer on a straight dry road from
a velocity v
0
= 100 kmh
1
. Initially, they are riding next to each other and start braking at
the same time. When the car with summer tyres comes to the rest the other one, with winter
tyres, is still moving with a velocity v
1
= 37 kmh
1
and stops after 6 more meters. What is the
fraction of the horizontal deceleration of the car with winter tyres to the horizontal deceleration
of the other car? Michal heard this on radio.
Let us denote decelerations of the cars with winter and summer tyres a
w
and a
s
respectively.
It obviously holds
v
0
a
w
(v
0
/a
s
) = v
1
.
Thus
(1 a
w
/a
s
) = v
1
/v
0
,
which allows us to obtain the desired fraction a
w
/a
s
.
= 0.63.
Michal Koutn
michal@fykos.cz
Problem M.2 . . . wheelspokes
Consider an eight-spoked wheel with radius r = 30 cm rotating with angular speed =
= 2.5 rads
1
about a xed axle through its centre. There are some boys shooting a bow
in the direction of the wheel, trying to make the arrows pass freely through the gaps between
the spokes. The length of one arrow is l = 23 cm. Assuming that the spokes and the arrows are
negligibly thin, nd the minimal speed of the arrows so that the boys would succeed in their
objective. State your answer in metres per second. Zdenk and his head spinning al l around.
Let us write the frequency in terms of the angular angular speed
f =

2
.
For the arrow not to be hit by a moving spoke, it must pass through the wheel in less than one
eigth of the period T, where
T
8
=
1
8f
.
This must be equal to the time which it takes the arrow to travel through the distance equal
to its length, thus
v = 8fl
.
= 2.3 ms
1
.
Note that the information about the radius is completely redundant, unless we consider the
spokes and arrows to be of nite thickness.
Zdenk Jakub
zdenekjakub@fykos.cz
26
Problem M.3 . . . spleen on a bridge
Bored person is standing on a bridge with the height h = 15 m and is dropping pebbles on cars
passing along a straight road beneath him. In a distance he spots an approaching motorcyclist
and decides to hit him. He estimates the motorcyclistss instantaneous velocity to be v =
= 72 kmh
1
and his horizontal distance d = 500 m. He calculates when he should drop the
pebble and he indeed drops it at the calculated moment. However, when the pebble hits the
ground the motorcyclist is already x = 50 m behind the intended point of collision. What is
the dierence, in kilometers per hour, between the estimate of the motorcyclists velocity and
his actual velocity if we assume that the initial horizontal distance is guessed precisely and the
velocity was constant throughout the motion? Kiki, during a stroll in Brno.
Legthy instructions are compensated by an easy and quick solution. The time t when the pebble
hits the ground is given by t = d/v. If the motorcyclist already drove a distance s = d + x at
that time, then his actual velocity was v
a
= s/t. Therefore it holds
v
a
=
(d +x)
d/v
.
After plugging in numbers in appropriate units we substract the estimated velocity and evaluate
their dierence v = v
a
v which is numerically 7.2 kmh
1
.
Kristna Neporov
kiki@fykos.cz
Problem M.4 . . . broken altimeter
A curious sky observer notices an airplane which is approaching in a way that it eventually
passes exactly above his head. At one point, when the airplane is still approaching, the observer
measures that it is
1
= 1.3 rad above the horizon. However, a noise from its engines is coming
from a direction
2
= 0.5 rad above the horizon. The observer measures an angular velocity of
the airplane at the moment when it is passing above his head = 0.125 rads
1
. Based on these
inputs calculate the height h of the airplane, assuming it is constant throughout the motion.
The speed of sound is c = 340 ms
1
and unvarying with the altitude. Neglect the nite speed
of light. Kuba was crossing half of the globe.
We assume that the airplane is travelling parallelly with the surface of Earth. At the moment
when the airplane is passing above the observer we can write
v = h,
where v is a velocity of the airplane.
Sound which the observer hears under the angle
2
is coming from the distance
d =
h
sin
2
.
And the distance between point which the observer sees under the angle
1
and the point from
which he hears the sound is
s = h
_
1
tg
2
1
tg
1
_
.
27
The airplane travelled the distance s in the same time as the sound covered the distance d.
Therefore it holds
d
c
=
s
v
=
1
_
1
tg
2
1
tg
1
_
.
Substituion for d from the equation above nally yields
h =
c sin
2
_
1
tg
2
1
tg
1
_
.
And after numerical evaluation we get h
.
= 2 025 m.
Dvid Hvizdo
david@fykos.cz
28
Problem E.1 . . . a dierent one
Filip, who is colour blind and equipped with a red HeNe laser (providing light with wavelen-
gth
1
= 633 nm), decided to measure the refractive index of his little glass made of borosilicate
glass (designated as BSC7) for the wavelength of his laser (corresponding to red colour). The
method used was to measure the critical angle of refraction of the laser beam incident on glass-
vacuum interface and to infer the refractive index thereof. However, because of well-sustained
mess in the container where he stores his lasers, he used a green laser (wavelength
2
= 555 nm)
instead of the red one, by mistake. Find the fractional error of his result in terms of permille
(parts per thousand) assuming that the measurement was not subject to other errors of any
kind. For the BSC7 glass we have the respective refractive indices for the wavelengths
1
=
= 633 nm and
2
= 555 nm equal to n
1
= 1.51508 and n
2
= 1.51827.
Honza stumbled upon while in optics lab.
It does not take one too long to nd out that based on the measurement strategy described in
the task, it is possible to nd the refractive index for given wavelength directly, since sin
c
=
1
n
,
where
c
is the critical angle and n is the sought-after refractive index. Hence, in order to nd
the answer we only need to know the refractive indices for given wavelengths in given material.
The answer then reads
p =
n
2
n
1
n
1
.
= 2.1 .
Jan esal
cesilko@fykos.cz
Problem E.2 . . . rey
A neon lamp is connected through a resistor to a rigid source of alternating voltage of a root
mean squre voltage 230 V and frequency 50 Hz. Its ignition voltage (the striking voltage) is 120 V
and the maintaining voltage is 80 V. How long it will stay lit during one half-period? Assume
that all resistors in the circuit are such that you do not have to take drop in the current into
consideration. Please provide the result in ms.
f(Ale) wanted to read in the evening but he didnt have any lamp.
Time dependence of a voltage is given by u(t) = U sin(t). The root mean square voltage is
dened by U
rms
= U
2. Therefore we can write for the ignition voltage

U
I
=

2U
rms
sin(t
1
) ,
where t
1
is the time when the lamp lits, if we start measuring time when the voltage is zero. If
we express the time t
1
t
1
=
arcsin
_
U
I
2U
rms
_
.
Following the same procedure we get time t
2
when the neon lamp goes out
t
2
=
arcsin
_
U
M
2U
rms
_
,
where U
M
is the maintaining voltage. We also put into use a familiar expression = 2f.
29
For both times we get two results. In the case of the time t
1
we are interested in the lesser
one and in the case of the time t
2
in the bigger one in order to determine whole time when the
neon lamp stays lit. Desired answer is then t = t
2
t
1
. Numerically we get
t
1
.
= 1.20 ms ,
t
2
.
= 9.21 ms ,
and thus
t
.
= 8.01 ms .
Finally we round the answer to 8 ms.
Ale Flandera
Problem E.3 . . . shut it down!
A square elevator with mass m = 1000 kg and a side length of a = 3 m is moving in a very long
square shaft of a side length b = 4 m with a speed of v = 2 ms
1
. Since this is the experimental
physics building the elevator has a point charge q = 1 C embedded in the middle of its oor. The
most problematic lab just created a strong homogenous electric eld with potential dierence
between the walls of the shaft U = 1000 V. The electric eld is perpendicular to the motion of
the elevator and also perpendicular to the walls of the shaft. The suspension of the elevator is
so long that you can assumme that it moves along a straight line. What is the maximal time
for which the electric eld can last so the elevator still does not hit the wall of the shaft during
the elds action?
f(Ale) had an afternoon l led with thoughts about elevators and electricity kept meddling into it.
The elevator is subject to the electric force F
e
= qE with electric intensity given by E = U/b.
The acceleration in the perpendicular direction is
a =
qU
mb
.
The elevator cannot move in the perpendicular direction further than s = (b a)/2 which will
take time
t =
2s
a
=
_
2
_
b a
2
_
mb
qU
=
(b a) mb
qU
.
Numerically, we get t =

4 s = 2 s.
Ale Flandera
Problem E.4 . . . anullator
Consider two long parallel conductors {a}
{a}
metres apart, where {a} denotes the numerical
value of a physical quantity a, so a = {a}[a], where we write [a] for the unit of a. Both conductors
are placed in vacuum and the currents through them ow in the directions opposite to one
another. Assume that a current of I
1
= 1 A ows through the conductor nr. 1. Find the current
30
owing through the conductor nr. 2 given that the magnetic eld is zero at a perpendicular
distance of {b}
{b}
from the conductor nr. 1 (that one which is further from the conductor nr.
2). Further assume that the distance a is 30 277 604 100 m longer than one astronomical unit,
that the light travels through the distance b in 10 minutes and that the astronomical unit is
precisely 149 597 870 700 m. f(Ale) wrote a sweet dot.
The magnitude of a magnetic eld B at a distance of r from a conductor can be written as
B =

2
I
r
.
We need to have B
1
+ B
2
= 0, so
2
_
I
1
r
1
I
2
r
2
_
= 0 ,
whence
|I
2
| =
I
1
r
2
r
1
.
Now, let us remember that r
2
= {a}
{a}
m +{b}
{b}
m and r
1
= {b}
{b}
m. Further, the speed of
light is precisely 299 792 458 ms
1
.
Being realistic, you cannot really do power of those huge numbers, so let us rather notice
that both the same, hence
I
2
= 1 A
k +k
k
= 2 A.
Ale Flandera
31
Problem X.1 . . . in the subway
There are two escalators, one is leading out of the subway station, the other one into it. They
move in the opposite dirrections with velocities 0.5 c, where c is speed of light in vacuum. Bob
is in a hurry to get to the platform and hes running with velocity 0.6 c with respect to the
escalator. Bobek, on the other hand, is trying to get out of the subway with velocity 0.4 c,
related to escalator. We are the observers standing on the platform. What is the velocity of
their mutual movement according to our measurement?
Dominika took a subway for the rst time in her life.
The velocities are high enough so we have to think in relativistic terms (since we dont want to
violate the laws of physics by moving faster than light). We use a following formula
u +v
i
1 +uv
i
/c
2
.
u is the velocity of the escalator while v
i
is velocity of Bob (Bobek) with respect to the escalator.
We obtain two velocities
v
Bob
.
= 0.85 c ,
v
Bobek
.
= 0.75 c .
Adding these two will give us velocity we are looking for
v = |v
Bob
+v
Bobek
| =
u +v
1
1 +uv
1
/c
2
+
u +v
2
1 +uv
2
/c
2
.
= 1.596 c .
Rounding this number we get 1.60 c.
Ale Flandera
Problem X.2 . . . crash
A proton with invariant mass of 938 272.0 keV and kinetic enegry of 1 MeV hits a nucleus of the
isotope
7
3
Li with mass of 7.016003 m
u
and induces a decay to two non-excited particles with
invariant mass of 3.727379 GeV c
2
. What will be the total kinetic energy in MeV of these two
particles? Consider m
u
= 931.2720 MeV c
2
and c = 299 792 458 ms
1
.
Even f(Ale) used to play marbles.
We use the energy conservation law which states that
T = T
p
+ (m
Li
+m
p
2m
) c
2
,
where T is the wanted kinetic energy, T
p
is the kinetic energy of the proton, m
Li
is the mass of
the lithium nucleus, m
p
is the proton mass and m
is the mass of the particle.

We convert everything to electronvolts and after evaluating the equation we get T
.
= 18 MeV.
Ale Flandera
32
Problem X.3 . . . blip
A particle has a mass increased sevenfold from its invariant mass due to its movement. You
can follow the particle on a path l = 1 m long with a measuring device. How fast must the
device be to register the particle, i. e., what is the shortest time interval it has to distinguish
in order to register the particle? The speed of light is c = 299 792 458 ms
1
. State the result
in ns. f(Ale) writing when healthy, writing when sick.
The energy of the particle is
E =
m
0
c
2
1
v
2
c
2
= nm
0
c
2
.
From that follows that
1
1
v
2
c
2
= n
2
,
so that
v =
c
2
_
1
1
n
2
_
=
c
n
n
2
1 .
The particle ies through the distance l in time given by
=
l
v
=
l
c
n
n
2
1
.
Evaluation gives v
.
= 3.37021 10
9
s which is v
.
= 3.4 ns.
Ale Flandera
Problem X.4 . . . cracking right now
An unknown sample of rock contains 2 % of thorium, which contains 0.05 % of the
232
90
Th
radionuclide. The weight of the sample is 100 g. What is the activity of this sample if the
half-life of thorium is 1.4 10
10
years? Assume that nothing else decays except the mentioned
thorium. f(Ale) recalled the loading of equipment for a camp.
Let a = 0.2 %, b = 0.05 % and m = 0.1 kg. The atomic mass of thorium is A
r
.
= 232. The
activity is given by
A(t) = N(t) ,
where is the decay constant dened as = ln 2/T and N is the number of decaying nuclei.
These are the nuclei of the radioactive thorium
232
90
Th, whose number can be nd from the ratio
of the weight of the radionuclide in the sample to the mass of one atom of
232
90
Th.
N =
abm
A
r
m
u
,
where A
r
is the atomic mass of thorium and m
u
is the atomic mass unit, explicitly
N =
0.020.05 10
2
0.1
232 1.66 10
27
.
= 2.60 10
18
.
33
If we consider that a year has 3.16 10
7
s, we get
A =
ln 2
1.4 10
10
3.16 10
7
s

0.02 5 10
4
0.1
232 1.66 10
27
.
= 4.07 Bq
So the activity is about 4.1 Bq.
Ale Flandera
34
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Online Physics Brawl December 6, 2012

to the magnetic eld vector. Find the

3. Let us denote the area

2. Therefore we can write for the ignition voltage

is the mass of the particle.

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