MASSEY UNIVERSITY

Institute of Fundamental Science

Physics

124.102 – PHYSICS 1(b)

Semester Test
Wednesday 20 August 2008

Total Marks: 40

Time Allowed: 1.5 hours (plus 5 mins reading time)

There are FOUR (4) questions in this test.

You must answer ALL FOUR questions.

All questions are of equal value.

Use of electronic calculators is permitted

All reference material is forbidden.

Page 1 of 5
1. (a) A uniform disc rotates about an axis through its centre and perpendicular to its
face. The graph below shows how the angular velocity ω of the disc varies with
time.
ω

t
a b c d

For a point on the rim of the disc, which of the four instants a, b, c, d has the
greatest magnitude of

(i) tangential acceleration? [1 mark]

(ii) radial acceleration? [1 mark]

(b) A two-bladed aircraft propeller has mass 8.0 kg and a length from tip to tip of
1.8 m. On start-up the engine applies a constant torque of 104 Nm. The propeller
can be regarded as a uniform slender rod with rotational inertia ML2/12 about the
rotational axis.

(i) Show that the initial angular acceleration of the propeller is

48 rad s–2. [2 marks]

One second after start-up find

(ii) the angular velocity of the propeller, [1 mark]

(iii) the linear speed of the tip of the propeller, [1 mark]

(iv) the angular momentum of the propeller, [1 mark]

(v) the kinetic energy of the propeller. [1 mark]

The kinetic energy you calculated in (v) should be equal to the work done by the
engine W = ∫ τ dθ .

(vi) Check that this is true by calculating the work as an integral of

the torque. [2 marks]

Useful Information:
ω = ω0 + α t
1
θ − θ 0 = ω 0t + α t 2
2
2 2
ω = ω 0 + 2α (θ − θ0 )
1
θ − θ0 = (ω 0 + ω )t
2
v
ω=
r

Page 2 of 5
2. (a) Under what conditions can it be said that the angular momentum of a
system is conserved? [1 mark]

(b) A diver launches herself from a springboard with fixed angular momentum about
a horizontal axis. Explain

(i) how the diver can control the rate at which she somersaults. [1 mark]

(ii) how the diver can ‘twist’ about her vertical axis. [1 mark]

(c) A student stands on a turntable which is free to rotate about the vertical axis with
negligible friction. With one of his arms stretched out, the combined rotational
inertia of the student and the turntable is 1.30 kg m2. Initially the student and the
turntable are at rest. A friend now throws the student a 0.50 kg mass, which the
student catches with his outstretched hand at a distance of 0.75 m from the
vertical axis of the turntable.

(i) Calculate the new rotational inertia of the student plus the
turntable and the mass. [1 mark]

(ii) If the 0.50 kg mass had a speed of 2.5 m s–1 before being caught,
determine the angular momentum of the combined system of
student plus turntable plus mass. [1 mark]

(iii) Show that after catching the mass, the student rotates about the
vertical axis with angular velocity 0.59 rad s–1. [1 mark]

The student now draws the mass in so that he holds it very close to the vertical
axis of the turntable.

(iv) Determine the new angular velocity of the student plus turntable
plus mass system. [1 mark]

(v) Calculate the total kinetic energy of the student plus turntable
plus mass both before and after the student draws the mass in
towards the vertical axis. Explain how any change in the kinetic
energy arises. [3 marks]

Useful Information:

I  =  ∑ mi ri 2
i
 
L = Iω

Page 3 of 5
3. (a) (i) Write down the Zeroth law of thermodynamics. [1 mark]

(ii) Define heat energy. [1 mark]

(b) A Dewar flask is a container designed to minimise heat transfer between the
interior and exterior of the flask, and is able to store either cold or hot liquids for a
long time. The usual construction of a Dewar flask has two walls made of Pyrex
glass, which is silvered. The space between the walls is at very low pressure. Also
the opening of the flask is made as small as practicable.

Explain how these design features minimise heat transfer. [3 marks]

(c) A solar cooker consists of a curved reflecting surface that concentrates sunlight
onto an object. On a day when the solar power per unit area reaching the ground is
600 W m-2, the cooker is used to boil a quantity of water.

(i) If the area of the solar cooker is 0.500 m2, and 40% of the
incident energy is transferred to the water, find the rate of heat
transfer to the water. [1 mark]

(ii) Determine how long it takes to bring 0.500 kg of water, initially

at 20 ºC to 100 ºC. [2 marks]

(iii) If the water in the solar heater is allowed to boil for one hour,
determine the mass of water that is boiled off. [2 marks]

Useful Information:

Specific Heat of water CW = 4190 J kg −1 K −1

Latent Heat of vaporisation of water LW = 2.26 × 10 6 J kg −1

Page 4 of 5
4. A reversible heat engine contains 0.10 mol of an ideal monatomic gas CV = 23 R .( )
Initially the gas is at 600 K and has a volume of 1.0 × 10–3 m3. The gas undergoes the
following cycle:
1 Constant temperature expansion to 3.0 × 10–3 m3.
2 Constant volume cooling to 300 K.
3 Constant temperature compression to 1.0 × 10–3 m3.
4 Constant volume heating to 600 K.

(i) Sketch a P-V graph of this cycle, and identify the processes where
heat energy is exchanged with the environment, and state whether heat
is absorbed or given off by the system. [4 marks]

(ii) Copy the table below to your answer book and fill in the blank spaces.

T/K V/m3 P/Pa Eint/J

A 600 1.0 × 10–3 4.99 × 105

B 600 3.0 × 10–3
C 300 3.0 × 10–3 374
D 300 1.0 × 10–3 [3 marks]

(iii) The work done by the gas in the first constant temperature part of the
cycle is +548 J. Show that the work done by the gas in the second
constant temperature part of the cycle is –274 J, and hence the total
work done by the gas in a cycle is +274 J. [2 marks]

(iv) Calculate the total heat energy absorbed by the gas during the parts of
the cycle in which it absorbs heat. [1 mark]

Useful Information:

Equation of state of ideal gas PV = nRT

Universal gas constant R = 8.31 J kg–1 mol–1

Internal energy of ideal gas E int = nCV T

Vf
Isothermal work done by gas W = nRT n
Vi

++++++++

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