Edexcel A2 Physics

Questions and answers

1.1.1 Momentum Questions

1 What is the momentum of:

a a plane of mass 2 × 105 kg flying at 270 m s−1?
b a horse of mass of 400kg carrying a rider of mass 75 kg, galloping at 10 m s−1?
2 In the worked example on page 12, it was estimated that a cricket batsman might need to use 80 N to
stop a ball dead.
a Explain why a batsman hitting a ball so that it travels away at the same speed might need less
than 80 N force to play his shot.
b Explain why the same batsman playing the same ball might need more than 80 N force to play a
shot.
3 An 800 kg car is travelling at 33 m s−1. How much force must the brakes apply, if they are to stop the car
completely in four seconds?
4 a In a car crash, a passenger with a mass of 82 kg is not wearing a seatbelt. The car is travelling at
45 km h-1. What impulse must the car’s airbag provide in order to stop the passenger’s motion?
b Explain why hitting an airbag will cause less injury than if a passenger hits the dashboard.
5 A wooden mallet is being used to hammer a tent peg into hard ground.

fig. 1.1.5

a The head of the mallet is a cylinder of diameter 0.100 m and length 0.196 m. The density of the
−
wood is 750 kg m 3. Show that the mass of the head is approximately 1.2 kg.
− −
b The head strikes the tent peg as shown at a speed of 4.20 m s 1 and rebounds at 0.58 m s 1.
Calculate the magnitude of its momentum change in the collision.
c The head is in contact with the peg for 0.012 s. Estimate the average force exerted on the peg by
the head during this period.
d Give a reason why your value for the force will only be approximate.
e With reference to your calculations above, discuss whether a mallet with a rubber head of the
same mass would be more or less effective for hammering in tent pegs.
 Edexcel A2 Physics
Questions and answers

1.1.2 Momentum Answers

1)a) 5.4 x 107 kg m s-1

b) 4750 kg m s-1

2)a) If the batsman only changed the ball’s direction very slightly, this is a smaller momentum change than
in the worked example, so less force would be needed.
b) If the ball is returned back in the direction of the bowler, this would be a greater momentum change than
in the worked example, so more force would be needed.

3) 6600 N

4) a) 1025 N s
b) The airbag takes a longer time to remove the passenger’s momentum. This means that it applies less
force to the passenger, reducing injury.

5) a) Mass = 1.15 kg
b) ∆ p = 5.50 or 5.74 kg m s–1/N s
c) F = 458 or 478 N depending on ∆ p above]
d) Handle mass/weight/ head weight/force exerted by user (handle) neglected
e) ∆ t goes up/∆ p goes up ⇒ less force, less effective/more force, more effective
 Edexcel A2 Physics
Questions and answers

1.1.2 Collisions Questions

1 A movie stuntman with a mass of 90 kg stands on a stationary 1 kg skateboard. An actor shoots the
stuntman with a 9 mm pistol. The 8-gram bullet leaves the pistol at 358 m s−1 and embeds completely in
the stuntman’s bulletproof vest. At what speed will the stuntman roll away?
2 A girl in a stationary boat on a still pond has lost her oars in the water. To get the boat moving again,
she throws her rucksack horizontally out of the boat with a speed of 4 m s−1.
Mass of boat = 60 kg; mass of girl = 40 kg; mass of rucksack = 5 kg.
a How fast will this action make the boat move?
b If she throws the rucksack by exerting a force on it for 0.2 s, how much force does she exert?
3 How can Newton’s third law help to explain the problem suffered by the boy stepping out of the boat in
Worked example 2 on page 15?
4 In a stunt for an action movie, the 100 kg actor jumps from a train which is crossing a river bridge. On
the river below, the heroine is tied to a raft floating towards a waterfall at 3 m s−1. The raft and heroine
have a total mass of 200 kg.
a If the hero times his jumps perfectly so as to land on the raft, and his velocity is 12 m s−1 at an
angle of 80° to the river current, what will be the velocity of the raft immediately after he lands?
Draw a vector diagram to show the momentum addition. (Ignore any vertical motion.)
b If the waterfall is 100 m downstream, and the hero landed when the raft was 16 m from the bank,
would they plummet over the fall? (Assume the velocity remains constant after the hero has
landed.)
5 a Define linear momentum.
The principle of conservation of linear momentum is a consequence of Newton’s laws of motion. An
examination candidate is asked to explain this, using a collision between two trolleys as an example. He
gives the following answer, which is correct but incomplete. The lines of his answer are numbered on
the left for reference.
i During the collision the trolleys push each other.
ii These forces are of the same size but in opposite directions.
iii As a result, the momentum of one trolley must increase at the same rate as the
momentum of the other decreases.
iv Therefore the total momentum of the two trolleys must remain constant.
b In which line of his argument is the candidate using Newton’s second law?
c In which line is he using Newton’s third law?
d The student is making one important assumption which he has not stated. State this assumption.
Explain at what point it comes into the argument.
e Describe how you could check experimentally that momentum is conserved in a collision
between two trolleys.
 Edexcel A2 Physics
Questions and answers

1.1.2 Collisions Answers

1) 0.031 m s-1

2) a) 0.2 m s-1 b) 100 N

3) In order to move forward, the boy must experience a force from the boat. There is an equal and opposite
force from him onto the boat which moves the boat backwards away from him.

4 )a)

Ρtotal = 1430 kg m s-1 θ = tan-1 = 55.6°

υafter = 4.77 m s-1

b) twaterfall = 37 s at an angle of 55.6° to the current

tbank = 4 s so they would land safely on the riverbank.

5) a) mass × velocity [Words or defined symbols; NOT ft]

b) iii
c) ii, or i and ii.Line 2 OR 1& 2
d) No (net) external forces/no friction/drag. Line iii. (he assumes the force exerted by the other trolley
is the resultant force)
e) Suitable collision described and specific equipment to measure velocities [e.g. light gates]. Measure
velocities before and after collision. Describes how velocities calculated [e.g. how light gates used].
Measure masses / use known masses/equal masses. Calculate initial and final momenta and compare
OR for equal trolleys in inelastic collision.
 Edexcel A2 Physics
Questions and answers

1.1.3 Energy in collisions Questions

1 A bowling ball travelling at 5 m s−1 strikes the only standing pin straight on. The pin flies backward at 7
m s−1. Calculate:
a the velocity of the bowling ball after the collision
b the loss of kinetic energy in this collision.
(Mass of bowling ball = 6.35 kg; mass of pin = 1.5 kg.)
2 Calculate the kinetic energy of an alpha particle which has a momentum of 1.08 ×10−19 kg m s−1
a in joules
b in electronvolts
c in MeV. (Mass of neutron = mass of proton = 1.67 ×10−27 kg)
3 Explain why the slingshot orbit of a satellite passing near a planet and then flying away at a different
angle as a result of the effect of the planet’s gravity would be an elastic collision.
 Edexcel A2 Physics
Questions and answers

1.1.3 Energy in collisions Answers

1)a) 3.35 m s-1 b) 7.0 J [or 7.1 J]

2)a) 8.73 x 10-13 J b) 5 460 000 eV c) 5.46 MeV

3) Non-contact collisions are always elastic, and no external forces act.

 Edexcel A2 Physics
Questions and answers

1.1.4 Real collisions Questions

1 An alpha particle moving at 3% of the speed of light collides elastically with a stationary aluminium
nucleus (atomic number 13 and mass number 27). If the alpha particle bounces backwards at 0.1% of
the speed of light, what is the velocity of the aluminium nucleus after the collision?
2 In a pool shot, the cue ball of mass 0.17 kg travels at 6 m s−1 and hits the stationary black ball in the
middle of the table. The black ball, also of mass 0.17 kg, travels away at 45º with a speed of 4.24 m s−1,
ending up in the corner pocket. By resolving the components of the black ball’s momentum, find out
what happens to the cue ball.

fig. 1.1.22 2D momentum calculations can be very important in winning at pool.

 Edexcel A2 Physics
Questions and answers

1.1.4 Real collisions Answers

1) 0.46% of the speed of light; 1.38 x 106 m s-1

2) It ends up in the other corner pocket, moving at 4.24 m s-1 at 45º to the original line.