The 1st International Olympiad of Metropolises.

Physics. 7 September 2016

Problem 1: «Three Pulleys».

A light inextensible rope is threaded through three

identical pulleys. Two pulleys are fixed (cannot rotate) while
the third can frictionlessly rotate about an immobile horizontal
axis. The pulleys and the rope lie in the same vertical plane. To
prevent the rope from sliding off the pulleys the latter have
grooves. Coefficient of friction between a pulley groove and the m1 m2
M
ln 2
rope is   . The mass of the rotating pulley is M  4,8 kg.

When evaluating its moment of inertia one can neglect the groove and the central hole and consider
the pulley to be a uniform disk. The left end of the rope (see the Figure) is loaded with a weight
m1  200 g and the right end with a weight m2  m1 . Initially the system is held at rest.
1) Evaluate the ratio of tensions in the sliding rope on both sides of a fixed pulley. Express
your answer via the coefficient of friction and calculate its numerical value. (4 points)
2) Determine the critical value of m2 required for setting the system in motion after it has been
released. Express m2 in terms of the quantities specified in the problem and write down an
explicit formula. (3 points)
3) Evaluate the numerical value of m2 found above. (1 point).
4) Determine an acceleration of m2 (absolute value) after the system has been released if its
mass is greater by the factor n  2 than the critical mass found in 3). Express the answer in
terms of the quantities specified in the problem and write down an explicit formula. (4
points)
5) Express the acceleration found in 4) as a fraction of gravitational acceleration g. (1 point)
6) Determine an acceleration of m2 (absolute value) after the system has been released if its
mass is greater by the factor k  4 than the critical mass found in 3). Express the answer in
terms of the quantities specified in the problem and write down an explicit formula. (4
points)
7) Express the acceleration found in 6) as a fraction of gravitational acceleration g. (1 point)
8) Under the condition specified in 6) evaluate a tangential acceleration (absolute value) of the
rotating pulley circumference right after the system has been released. Express the answer as
a fraction of gravitational acceleration g. (4 points)
9) Suppose a value of m2 exceeds the critical mass found in 3) and now mass M of the rotating
pulley can be varied. Determine the values of M for which a type of relative motion of the
rope and the rotating pulley remain the same for any m2. Write down a formula and express
it in terms of the quantities specified in the problem. (4 points)
10) Evaluate the ratio of rope tensions on both sides of the rotating pulley if the value of m2 is
specified in 4) while the pulley mass is less by the factor k  4 than the value specified in
the problem. The coefficient of friction between the pulley and the rope remains the same.
Write down the answer as a simple fraction. (4 points)
TOTAL score of the problem is 30 points.

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 The 1st International Olympiad of Metropolises.
Physics. 7 September 2016
Problem 2: «Instantaneous switching-on».
A transformer consists of a toroidal ferromagnetic core
(magnetic permeability   1 ) of a length l  1 m and K
cross-sectional area S, a primary winding with the number
of turns N1  20 , and a secondary winding with the N1 N2 R
number of turns N 2  100 . The transformer is a part of the
circuit shown in the Figure. The battery emf equals
  24 V, its internal resistance is r  4 Ohm. The
secondary winding is connected to a resistor of
R  100 Ohm. Initially there is no current in the windings
and the switch K is open. Then the switch is rapidly
closed. Its resistance falls to zero very quickly (although not instantly!) during a time much less
 N 2S
than   0 1  0,05 sec. Electrical resistance of both windings is much less than 1 Ohm.
lr
Dissipation of magnetic flux within the core is negligible.
1) Derive an equation relating a magnetic flux  in the core and currents I1 and I2 in the
primary and secondary windings. Consider a positive direction of current flow in both
windings to be the same. (1 point)
2) Consider the circuit including the primary winding and the internal resistance of the battery.
Suppose that during switch closing the voltage across the circuit varies as U 1  U (t ) . Write
down a complete set of first-order differential equations for functions I1 (t ) and I 2 (t ) which
describe currents in the primary and secondary windings. (2 points)
3) Specify initial values I1 (0) and I 2 (0) (i.e. initial conditions for the set of differential
equations derived above). (1 point)
4) Determine a ratio of the current in secondary winding at t1  2 to the current at t 2  4
after the voltage U(t) has been switched on. Evaluate an approximate numerical value of the
I (2)
ratio 2 . (3 points)
I 2 (4)
5) Determine the maximum value of the current in secondary winding after the switch has been
closed. Derive an equation for I 2max in terms of the quantities specified in the problem and
evaluate an approximate numerical value of I 2max . (4 points)
6) Determine a time dependence I 2 (t ) at t   in terms of the quantities specified in the
problem. (3 points)
7) Plot approximately the dependence I 2 (t ) from the moment the switch starts being closed to
T  0,5 sec. (3 points)
8) What is the maximum current in the primary winding after the switch has been closed?
Derive the equation for I1max in terms of the quantities specified in the problem and evaluate
the numerical value. (2 points)
9) Derive a time dependence I1 (t ) for t   in terms of the quantities specified in the problem.
(3 points)
10) Plot approximately the dependence I1 (t ) from the moment the switch starts being closed to
T  0,5 sec. (3 points)
TOTAL score for the problem is 25 points.

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 The 1st International Olympiad of Metropolises.
Physics. 7 September 2016

Problem 3: «Planet Cronus».

Let us imagine that some civilisation left an artificial planet in the Solar system. The planet
orbit lies beyond the orbit of Pluto, so let us call it «Cronus». The Cronus orbit is very close to a
circle of radius RK = 50 au (1 astronomical unit (au) is roughly equal to the average distance from
the Earth to the Sun), the planet itself is a sphere of radius r  5000 km made of a solid material
with a density   9 g/cm3 and good heat conducting properties, and an average heat capacity
c  0,3 J/(g∙K). A Cronus «year» lasts 20 «solar days», the planet rotates around its axis in the
same direction as its orbital rotation around the Sun, and the Cronus rotation axis is perpendicular to
its orbital plane. (Notice, that a planet «year» is a period of rotation of its centre of mass around the
Sun and «solar day» is the average interval between two «noondays», the moments when the Sun is
at maximum elevation on planet sky). Cronus has no satellites, it has an atmosphere consisting of
nitrogen, helium, neon, and water vapour. At the beginning of observation Cronus is a rather hot
place. This is due to a uniform layer of radioactive material under the planet surface which provides
the heat. The material half-life is 1 / 2  5000 Cronus «years». So, one day a human-made probe
landed on the Cronus surface and measured temperature and relative humidity of atmospheric layer
at the surface. According to the measurements T0  330 K and 0  80 %. It turns out the
temperature within a dense part of Cronus atmosphere (which contains about 99% of its mass)
 h 
decreases with altitude as T (h)  T0  1   , where H  10 km. This distribution remains
 6H 
almost constant (if disturbed the atmosphere returns to this state in about 1 «year»). The atmosphere
is so «pure» that all its water remains in vapour state and there are almost no clouds. Necessary
constants:
• The gravitational constant G  6,67  10 11 m3⋅sec–2⋅kg–1.
• Temperature of the Sun photosphere T1  6000 K, solar radius r1  0,00465 au, the
Stephan-Boltzmann constant   5,67 10 8 W/(m2∙K4).
• The specific heat of evaporation of water can be considered to be almost temperature
independent and approximately equal to   2366 J/g at T0 . The molar mass of water
  18 g/mole and the universal gas constant R  8,31 J/(mole∙K).
• The boiling point of water under the normal atmospheric pressure of 101,3 kPa equals
373 K.
Using the above information you should be able to answer the following questions (indicate
appropriate units of measurement at all numerical results).
1) Determine how many Earth years does a Cronus «year» have. (1 point)
2) Evaluate angular velocity of the planet rotation around its axis relative to the frame of
reference of «distant stars». Evaluate a ratio of the planet centripetal acceleration to the free fall
acceleration at the planet equator. The answer must consist of two numbers calculated with an
accuracy of 1% at least. (2 points)
3) Determine the power of solar radiation absorbed by Cronus by assuming that the planet
absorbs all incident radiation. Express the answer in terms of the quantities specified in the
problem. (1 point)
4) Evaluate a numerical ratio of the absorbed power to the power radiated by Cronus at the
beginning of observations. (2 points)
5) Evaluate a time for which the surface temperature of Cronus would decrease by 4 K if the
radioactive «heating» abruptly vanished. Write down the formula in terms of the quantities
specified in the problem and numerical value in Cronus years. (3 points)

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 The 1st International Olympiad of Metropolises.
Physics. 7 September 2016
6) Use the above estimates to develop a mathematical model of the planet surface cooling
providing the radioactive heating operates all the time and the surface cools naturally.
Determine an approximate time dependence of surface temperature T. Write down the formula
in terms of the quantities specified in the problem. (3 points)
7) Evaluate a time for which the surface temperature of Cronus would decrease by 4 K (with
radioactive heating present). Write down the formula in terms of the quantities specified in the
problem. Obtain a numerical value expressed in Cronus years. (2 points)

Further analysis relies on properties of water vapour. Consider two isotherms of water vapour
on a pV-diagram at temperatures T and T  dT . Let the isotherms correspond to a slow transition
from vapour to water and back (it is well known that vapour pressure does not change along such a
transition). By «closing» these isotherms near their edges with two small adiabatics you should be
able to calculate the following quantities: a) an efficiency of the obtained cycle; b) a work done
during the cycle; and c) a heat taken from a «heater» by vapour during the cycle.

8) Using a relation between the above quantities (a-c) and discarding a volume of the liquid
phase compared to a volume of vapour of the same mass determine a slope of the temperature
dependence of the saturated water vapour pressure at a given point of T and pv . The answer is
dpv
a formula for as a function of T and pv . (3 points)
dT
9) Under the same assumptions and considering the heat of evaporation of water to be
almost independent of temperature determine a temperature dependence of pressure pv of
saturated water vapour near T0 . Write down the formula. (4 points)
10) Using the obtained results determine the planet surface temperature T1 at which water
vapour begin to condense. Write down the formula expressed in terms of the quantities
specified in the problem. Evaluate the numerical value. A loss of water «outside» the
atmosphere is negligible. (5 points)
11) Determine the time after beginning of observation when water vapour starts to condense.
Write down the formula in terms of the quantities specified in the problem and evaluate the
numerical value expressed in Cronus years. (5 points)
12) Evaluate the maximum depth of ocean on the Cronus surface built up of water vapour
condensed from the atmosphere. Write down the formula in terms of the quantities specified in
the problem, the pressure pv (T0 ) of saturated water vapour at T0 , and a density of liquid water
l . (2 points)
13) Determine (under the same assumptions) a relation between the surface temperature and a
ratio of ocean depth to the maximum possible depth at T  T1 but before the complete
condensation took place (i.e. when ocean depth is not close to the maximum value). Write
down the equation in terms of the quantities specified in the problem. (6 points)
14) Determine the time when the average ocean depth on the Cronus surface becomes a
quarter of the maximum. Write down the formula in terms of the quantities specified in the
problem and evaluate its numerical value in Cronus years. (4 points)
15) Is it necessary to take into account the heat of vaporisation when evaluating the time of
planet cooling at T  T1 if the accuracy of calculation is 5%? And if the accuracy is 0,5%?
Answer to both questions «yes» or «no». (2 points)
TOTAL score for the problem is 45 points.