PROBLEMS ON KINEMATICS

Jaan Kalda
Translation partially by Taavi Pungas
Version: 21st November 2014

INTRODUCTION
For a majority of physics problems, solving can be reduced to
using a relatively small number of ideas (this also applies to
other disciplines, e.g. mathematics). In order to become good
at problem solving, one must learn these ideas. However, it is
not enough if you only know the ideas: you also need to learn
how to recognize which ideas are to be used for a given problem With experience it becomes clear that usually problems
actually contain hints about which ideas need to be used.
This text attempts to summarise the main ideas encountered in solving kinematics problems (though, some of
these ideas are more universal, and can be applied to some
problems of other fields of physics). For each idea, there are
one or several illustrative problems. First you should try to
solve the problems while keeping in mind those ideas which
are suggested for the given problem. If this turns out to be
too dicult, you can look at the hints for each problem,
rather detailed hints are given in the respective section. It is
intentional that there are no full solutions: just reading the
solutions and agreeing to what is written is not the best way
of polishing your problem solving skills. However, there is a
section of answers you can check if your results are correct.
There are also revision problems for which there are no suggestions provided in the text: it is your task to figure out which
ideas can be used (there are still hints).
Problems are classified as being simple , normal , and

of reference, some velocity or its component (or acceleration

or its component) vanishes or two velocities are equal. Once
a suitable frame of reference has been found, we may change
back into the laboratory frame and transform the now known
velocities-accelerations using the rule of adding velocities (accelerations). NB! the accelerations can be added in the same
way as velocities only if the frames motion is translational (i.e.
it does not rotate).

pr 1. On a river coast, there is a port; when a barge passed

the port, a motor boat departed from the port to a village at
the distance s1 = 15 km downstream. It reached its destination
after t = 45 min, turned around, and started immediately moving back towards the starting point. At the distance s2 = 9 km
from the village, it met the barge. What is the speed of the
river water, and what is the speed of the boat with respect to
the water? Note that the barge did not move with respect to
the water.
Here, the motion takes place relative to the water, which
gives us a hint: let us try solving the problem when using the
water frame of reference. If we look at things closer, it becomes clear that this is, indeed, a good choice: in that frame,
the speed of the boat is constant, and barge is at rest, i.e. the
motion of the bodies is much simpler than in the coastal frame
of reference.

pr 2. Two planes fly at the same height with speeds v1 =

800 km/h and v2 = 600 km/h, respectively. The planes approach each other; at a certain moment of time, the plane trajectories are perpendicular to each other and both planes are at
the distance a = 20 km from the intersection points of their trajectories. Find the minimal distance between the planes during
their flight assuming their velocities will remain constant.

a = 20 km
dicult (the problem numbers are coloured according to this
colour code). Please keep in mind that diculty levels are relative and individual categories: some problem marked as dicult
v1 = 600 km/h
may be simple for you, and vice versa. As a rule of thumb, a
problem has been classified as a simple one if it makes use of
only one idea (unless it is a really tricky idea), and a dicult
one if the solution involves three or more ideas.
It is assumed that the reader is familiar with the concepts
of speed, velocity and acceleration, radian as the measure for
angles, angular speed and angular acceleration, trigonometric
functions and quadratic equations. In few places, derivatives
and dierentials are used, so a basic understanding of these concepts is also advisable (however, one can skip the appropriate
The idea 1 advises us that we should look for a frame where
sections during the first reading).
some bodies are at rest; that would be the frame of one of the
planes. However, here we have a two-dimensional motion, so
the velocities need to be added and subtracted vectorially.
2

v2 = 600 km/h

a = 20 km

VELOCITIES

idea 1: Choose the most appropriate frame of reference. You

def. 1: A scalar quantity is a quantity which can be fully

described by a single numerical value only; a vector quantity is

can choose several ones, and switch between them as needed.
a quantity which needs to be described by a magnitude (also
Potentially useful frames are where:
referred to as modulus or length), and a direction. The sum
some bodies are at rest;
of two vectors a and b is defined so that if the vectors are in some projections of velocities vanish;
terpreted as displacements (the modulus of a vector gives the
motion is symmetric.
distance, and its direction the direction of the displacement)
It is recommended to investigate process in all potentially use- then the vector a + b corresponds to the net displacement as
ful frames of reference. As mentioned above, in a good frame a result of two sequentially performed displacements a and b.
page 1

This corresponds to the triangle rule of addition, see figure.

Subtraction is defined as the reverse operation of addition: if
a + b = c then a = c b.
~ + b~
a

~
a

v
a

b~
b~
~
a

The idea 4 can be used again in the following problem:

~ b~
a

After having been introduced the concept of vectors, we can

also fix our terminology.

def. 2: Velocity is a vectorial quantity which can be defined

by the projections to the axes
v = (vx , vy , vz ); speed is the

modulus of a vector, v = |v | = vx2 + vy2 + vz2 . Similarly, displacement is a vector pointing from the starting point of a body
to its final position; travelled distance is the sum of the moduli
of all the elementary displacements (the curve length).
For vectorial addition, there are two options. First, we can
select two axes, for instance x and y, and work with the respective projections of the velocity vectors. So, if our frame moves
with the velocity u and the velocity of a body in that frame is
v then its velocity in the lab frame is w
= u + v , which can be
found via projections wx = vx + ux and wy = vy + uy . Alternatively, we can approach geometrically and apply the triangle
rule of addition, see above.
Once we have chosen the reference frame of one of the
planes, the problem 2 can be solved by using the following
idea.

idea 2: For problems involving addition of vectors (velocities,

pr 4. Balloons with constant ascending velocity can be used

to investigate wind velocities at various heights. The given
graph of elevation angle against time was obtained by observing
a such balloon. The balloon was released at distance L = 1 km
from the point of observation and it seemed to be rising directly upwards. Knowing that wind velocity near the ground
was zero, find the balloons height at time t = 7 min after its
start and wind velocity at this height.
/deg

60
40
20

t /min

In order to answer to the first question here, we need also the

following idea.

idea 5: If a graph of y versus x is given, quite often some tandy

gent line and its slope dx
turn out to be useful. In such cases,
dy
unless it is obvious, you have to show that the derivative dx
is
related to a physical quantity z relevant to the solution of the
problem. To this end, you need to express z in terms of small
(infinitesimal) increments dx and dy, and manipulate mathematically until these increments enter the expression only via the
dy
ratio dx
.

forces), the problems can be often reduced to the application of

simple geometrical facts, such as (a) the shortest path from a
point to a line (or plane) is perpendicular to the line (plane); (b)
among such triangles ABC which have two fixed side lengths
|BC| = a and |AC| = b < a, the triangle of largest ABC has
To be mathematically correct, there are two options. First,
BAC = 90 .
in simpler cases, you can say that the increments are infinThe next problem requires the application of several ideas itely small (infinitesimal), and denote these via dierentials dx
and because of that, it is classified as a dicult problem. When and dy. In more complex cases it may be more convenient
switching between reference frames, the following ideas will be to start with small but finite increments x and y, make
useful.
your calculations while keeping only the leading terms (e.g. for
x + x y, the second term is a product of two small quantidea 3: Try to reveal hidden symmetries, and make the probities and can be neglected as compared with the first one), and
lem into a symmetric one.
finally go to the limit of infinitely small increments, x dx,
y dy.
idea 4: It is possible to figure out everything about a velocity
In order to answer the second question, we need one more
or acceleration once we know one of its components and the idea.
direction of the vector.
idea 6: There are calculations which cannot be done in a
Mathematicians way of stating it is that a right-angled triangle generic case, but are relatively easy for certain special values
is determined by one angle and one of its sides. For example, of the parameters. If some unusual coincidence stands out in
if we know that velocity is at angle to the horizontal and its the problem (in this case the slope of the tangent is zero at the
given time) then it is highly probable that this circumstance
horizontal component is w then its modulus is w/ sin .
has to be used.
pr 3. One of two rings with radius r is at rest and the other
moves at velocity v towards the first one. Find how the velocity idea 7: If friction aects the motion then usually the most apof the upper point of intersection depends on d, the distance propriate frame of reference is that of the environment causing
between two rings centres.
the friction.
page 2

pr 5.

A white piece of chalk is thrown onto a black horizontal board moving at constant velocity. Initially, the chalks
velocity was perpendicular to the boards direction of motion.
What is the shape of the chalks trace on the board?
To solve the next problem, in addition to the previous idea we
also need to use 2, which can be rephrased in a slightly more
general (but less specific) way: some minima and maxima can
be found without taking any derivatives, in fact the solution
without a derivative can turn out to be much simpler. For this
problem, an even more narrowed down formulation would be
the following.

idea 8: If one of two vectors is constant and the direction of

It would be a very dicult task (requiring a numerical integration of a dierential equation) to estimate the trajectory of
the ball subject to a turbulent air drag. However, this is not
what you need to do, because the air drag is not described by a
formula for the drag force, but instead, by the final departure
from the corresponding free-fall-trajectory.
So, with the help of idea 9 we conclude that the air drag
cannot be neglected here. Once we have understood that, it
becomes evident that we need to apply the idea 7. However,
even when equipped with this knowledge, you might run into
mathematical diculties as there is no direct way of expressing the flight time t in terms of the given quantities. Instead,
you are advised to write down an equation containing t as an
unknown, and then to solve it.

the other is fixed then the modulus of their sum is minimal if

they form a right-angled triangle.
idea 10: It is often useful first to write down an equation (or
a system of equations) containing the required quantity as an
pr 6. A block is pushed onto a conveyor belt. The belt unknown, instead of trying to express it directly (sometimes
is moving at velocity v0 = 1 m/s, the blocks initial velocity it is necessary to include additional unknowns that later get
u0 = 2 m/s is perpendicular to the belts velocity. During its eliminated).
subsequent motion, what is the minimum velocity of the block
Furthermore, unlike the problems we had thus far, this problem
with respect to the ground? The coecient of friction is large
deals with a 3-dimensional geometry, which makes it dicult
enough to prevent the block from falling o the belt.
to draw sketches on a 2-dimensional sheet of paper. Thus we
The next problem is slightly unusual, specific comments will need one more simple idea.
be given after the problem. To tackle such situation one can
idea 11: It is dicult to analyse three-dimensional motion
give seemingly trivial but very often an overlooked advice.
as a whole, so whenever possible, it should be reduced to two
idea 9: Read carefully the problem text, try to understand dimensions (projecting on a plane, looking at planes of interthe meaning of every statement, dont make hasty assumptions section).
by yourself.
The next problem illustrates
For a well-written problem, there are no redundant sentences.
idea 12: An elastic collision is analysed most conveniently in
Things become more troublesome if that is not the case. Somethe centre of mass frame of the process.
times the problem author wants to educate you more than just
by giving you the very problem, and tells you many things Let us derive from this idea a ready-to-use recipe when a ball
(such as historical background) which are definitely interesting collides with a moving wall. First, since the wall is heavy, the
but unrelated to the solution of the problem. It is OK if you systems centre of mass coincides with that of the wall, hence
are solving the problem as an exercise at home and you have well use the walls frame. In the frame of the centre of mass, if
plenty of time. However, you need to develop skills of parsing the collision is elastic and there is no friction then due to the enfast through such paragraphs at competitions under time pres- ergy and momentum conservation, the bodies will depart with
sure: you need to make sure that there are really no important the same speed as they approached, i.e. the normal component
of the balls velocity is reversed. If we apply the addition of
hints hidden inside.
velocities twice (when we move to the walls frame, and when
pr 7. After being kicked by a footballer, a ball started to we switch back to the lab frame), we arrive at the following
fly straight towards the goal at velocity v = 25 m/s making conclusion.
an angle = arccos 0.8 with the horizontal. Due to side wind
blowing at u = 10 m/s perpendicular the initial velocity of the idea 13: For an elastic bouncing of a ball from a wall which
ball, the ball had deviated from its initial course by s = 2 m by moves with a velocity u in the direction of the surface normal,
the time it reached the plane of the goal. Find the time that the normal component vn of the balls velocity v is increased

it took the ball to reach the plane of the goal, if the goal was by 2u, i.e. vn = vn + 2u.
situated at distance L = 32 m from the footballer.
For this problem we must also remember
A typical problem gives all the parameter values describing a
system and then asks about its behaviour. Here, the system
might seem to be over-described: why do we need the value of s,
couldnt we just use the initial velocity to determine the flight
L
time to deduce t = v cos
? Such a question might arise, first
of all, because you are used to ignoring air friction. However,
no-one mentioned that you can neglect it here! Furthermore, it
is even evident that the air drag cannot be neglected, because
otherwise the ball would not depart from its free-fall trajectory!

fact 1: Angle between velocity vectors depends on the frame

of reference!
pr 8. A tennis ball falls at velocity v onto a heavy racket
and bounces back elastically. What does the rackets velocity
u have to be to make the ball bounce back at a right angle to
its initial trajectory and not start spinning if it did not spin
before the bounce? What is the angle between u and the
normal of the rackets plane, if the corresponding angle for v is

page 3

axis, the direction being given by the screw rule (if the screw is
rotated in the same way as the body, the vector points in the
If we keep in mind the idea 9 and read the text carefully, we
direction of the screw movement).
notice that the racket is heavy so that we can use the idea 13.
Also, pay attention that the ball will not rotate after the colli- idea 17: When switching between rotating frames of refersion this is important for finding the parallel (to the rackets ence, angular velocities are to be added in the same as translaplane) component of the velocity.
tional velocities in the case of translationally moving frames of
Earlier we mentioned that vectors can be dealt with either reference. NB! This remains valid even if the angular velocitgeometrically (e.g. by applying the triangle rule for a sum of ies are not parallel (although non-small rotation angles can be
vectors and solving a trigonometrical problem), or algebraically added only as long as the rotation axis remains unchanged).
using projections. Quite often, geometrical approach provides
shorter solutions, but not always; this observation leads us to This idea is illustrated by a relatively simple problem below.
the following recommendation.

pr 9. Vertical mirror with two reflecting surfaces (front and

idea 14: For vectorial calculations, prefer geometrical ap- back) rotates around a vertical axis as shown in figure, with
proach, but if it seems unreasonable (e.g. some of the conditions angular speed . There is an unmoving point source of light S
are formulated through the projections of the vectors) switch at a distance a from the rotation axis. Find the speed of the
to the algebraic approach and write expressions down in terms image of the point source as a function of time.
of components.

For the algebraic approach, optimal choice of axes is very

important. Optimal means that the conditions are written
in the simplest possible way. Sometimes it may happen that
the most useful coordinate axes are not even at right angles.
For the problem 8, geometrical solution turns out to be simpler, but more dicult to come up with. This is quite typical:
algebraic approach leads to a brute-force-solution when it is
clear from the beginning what you need to do, but the calculations are mathematically long. Still, there are no fundamental
diculties and you just need to execute it. As long as the
mathematical part will not be unreasonably long or leading to
fundamental diculties (such as unsolvable equations), brute
force approach is still OK: figuring out an elegant solution can
also take some time.
Typically, the geometrical solutions of physics problems represent very simple geometrical tasks and hence, finding these
shorter-than-algebraic solutions is also quite easy. In this case,
however, the geometrical task turns out to be quite a tricky
problem. While the idea 14 suggests that the algebraic approach is good for problem 8 (the no-rotation-requirement gives
us a condition for the parallel component of the velocity), it is
recommended that you try both methods here. In both cases
you need one more mathematical idea.

a
S
ACCELERATIONS, DISPLACEMENTS
Thus far we dealt with instantaneous or constant velocities, and
in few cases we applied a simple formula s = vt for displacements. In general, when the velocity vecv is not constant, the
displacement is found as the curve under the graph of the velocity as a function of time. For instance, the displacement along
x-coordinate x is surface area under the graph vx = vx (t);

mathematically we can write it via integral x = vx (t)dt.

You dont need to know more about integrals right now, just
that it represents surface areas under graphs.

idea 18: Calculation of many physical quantities can be reduced (sometimes not in an obvious way) to the calculation of
surface areas under a graph (i.e. to an integral). In particular:
distance is the area under a v t curve (velocity-time), velocity
the area below an a t curve etc.

Note that drawing a graph is not always absolutely necessary (if

you are skilled with integrals, formulae can be derived analytically, without drawing graphs), but doing it helps to imagine the
idea 15: Two vectors a = (ax , ay , az ) and b = (bx , by , bz ) process. Visualisation of this kind is always beneficial, it simare perpendicular if their scalar product is zero, ax bx + ay by + plifies finding the solution and reduces the chances of making
az bz = 0. (This assumes that the axes x, y and z are perpen- mistakes.
dicular to each other.)
pr 10. A particle starts from the origin of coordinates; the
idea 16: For trigonometric problems involving right triangles figure shows its velocity as a function of time. What is its
keep in mind that the circumcentre of a right triangle is at the maximum shift from the origin?
v (m/s)
centre of the hypotenuse, hence the median drawn from the
6
right angle divides the triangle into two isosceles triangles, and
the right angle into the angles equal to the acute angles of the
4
triangle.
2

Idea 1 told us to make use of switching between dierent

frames of reference. This idea can be also used when dealing
with rotational motion.

def. 3: Angular velocity

equals by modulus to the rotation

0
-2

t (s)

10

15

The next problem is much more dicult, although it is also

angle (in radians) per unit time, and is parallel to the rotation reduced to finding a surface area; due to diculty, the full
page 4

solution (apart from replotting the graph and numerical calcu- It should be emphasized that if the frame rotates, the formula
lations) is given under hints.
for acceleration obtains additional terms.

pr 12. Two smooth slides lie within the same vertical plane
and
make angles to the horizontal (see the figure). At some
shown in graph. The boat is given initial speed v0 = 4 m/s.
What is the total distance travelled until the boat will almost moment, two small balls are released from points A and B and
they start sliding down. It took time t1 for the first ball that
come to rest?
started from point A to reach the ground; for the second one
a (m/s2)
the time of descent was t2 . At what time was distance between
the balls the smallest?
pr 11. The acceleration of a boat depends on its speed as

0.6

0.4

0.2

idea 20: Sometimes, it is possible to separate two- or three-

3 v (m/s)

dimensional motion of a body into independent motions in perpendicular directions: (a) motion along x is independent from
the motion along y for 2D geometry; (b) motion along x is independent from the motion along y, which is independent from
the motion along z; (c) motion along x is independent from the
motion in y z-plane. In particular, this can be done for frictionless collisions from a plane1 : if the axis x lies in the plane,
and y is perpendicular to it, you can study separately motion
along x and motion along y.

The idea 18 can be also used to derive basic formulae for

displacement in the case of a motion with constant acceleration. Suppose that a body has initial speed v0 and moves with
constant acceleration a; we want to know to which distance it
travels by the moment of time t. The surface area under the
graph is a right trapezoid (see figure), with surface area equal
to the product of the median v0 + 21 at, and the height t, i.e.
The simplest application of this idea is provided by a twos = v0 t + at2 /2.
dimensional motion of a body in an homogeneous gravity field,
v0+at v
which is studied in every textbook on kinematics: horizontal
and vertical motions are decoupled, because vertical acceleration g does not depend on the horizontal coordinate x and
v0
horizontal velocity vx , and body moves with a constant speed,
t
and
horizontal acceleration (0) does not depend on the vertical
t
Alternatively, if we are given the initial and final velocities (v0 coordinate x and vertical velocity vy . As a result, we obtain
2
and v1 ) instead of the travel time, the median of the trapezoid x = v0x t and y = v0y t gt /2 (where v0x and v0y are the reis expressed as 21 (v0 + v1 ), and the height as t = (v1 v0 )/a. spective initial velocity components); the respective trajectory
This leads us to s = (v0 + v1 )(v1 v0 )/2a = (v12 v02 )/2a. If in x y-plane is a parabola which we obtain if we eliminate t
we rewrite it as as = 1 (v 2 v 2 ), we can call it the energy from the second equation by substituting t = x/v0x .
2

conservation law for unit mass if the free fall acceleration is a. fact 3: Free fall trajectory of the centre of mass a body in
fact 2: If a body moves with initial speed v0 , final speed v1 homogeneous gravity field g is a parabola, parametrically given
2
and constant acceleration a during time t, the distance trav- as x = v0x t and y = v0y t gt /2.
elled

Let us discuss in more details how to apply the idea 20 to

v 2 v02
1
.
s = v0 t + at2 = 1
frictionless
interactions (collisions or sliding) of a body with a
2
2a
plane.
If
the
plane is inclined, we need to take the axes to be
The next problem can be solved in various ways, but the
inclined as well; then, the gravitational acceleration will have
simplest solution involves the following idea.
a non-zero component along both axes, i.e. motion will have
idea 19: Sometimes it is useful to change into a non-inertial acceleration in both directions.
frame of reference: velocities are added just in the usual way,
vlab = vrel +vfr , where vlab is the velocity in the lab frame, vrel fact 4: Free fall problems can be also analysed when using
velocity in the moving frame, and vfr the speed of that point inclined system of axis (this might be useful because of idea
of the moving frame where the body is at the given moment. 20); then, the free fall acceleration is decomposed into two reIf the frame moves translationally (without rotations) then the spective perpendicular components, g = gx +gy with gx = sin
accelerations can be added in the same way, alab = arel +afr . In and gy = cos , being the angle between the surface and the
particular, if a problem involves two or more free-falling bodies horizon.
then using a free-falling frame simplifies calculations signific- During a collision, as there is no friction force, vx (parallel to
antly.
the surface velocity component) does not change, i.e. it does
1 As

long as there is no other mechanism (such as the Lorenz force) which couples the motions in dierent directions

page 5

not notice that there was a collision: in order to analyse the

evolution of the x-coordinate, we can completely forget about
the changes of the y-coordinate (and vice versa).
If the surface is curved, generally such a separation is no
longer possible. Indeed, previously x was independent of y because the dependence of the acceleration on the coordinates is
introduced by the normal force, which is a function of y only,
and has no x-component. If the surface is curved, it is impossible to have the x-axis to be everywhere parallel to the
surface: the acceleration due to the normal force has both nonvanishing x and y components, and depends both on x and y
coordinates. However, in the case of side surfaces of cylinders,
prisms and other generalized cylinders2 , it is still possible to
find one axis x which is everywhere parallel to the surface and
hence, motion along x can be separated from the motion in
y z-plane.

curvature. Within this narrow region, the motion in y- and

z-directions cannot be separated from each other, and we need
one more idea.

idea 21: If a force is perpendicular to the direction of motion

(normal force when sliding along a curved surface, tension in a
rope when a moving body is attached to an unstretchable rope
fixed at the other end, force on a charge in magnetic field) then
the velocity vector can only turn, its modulus will not change.3
pr 15. Three turtles are initially situated in the corners of
an equilateral triangle at distances 1 m from one another. They
move at constant velocity 10 cm/s in such a way that the first
always heading towards the second, the second towards the
third and the third towards the second. After what time will
they meet?

pr 13. An elastic ball is released above an inclined plane Two approaches are possible here: first, we may go into the

2.5m

(inclination angle ) at distance d from the plane. What is frame of reference rotating with the turtles, in which case we
the distance between the first bouncing point and the second? apply the following idea.
Collisions occur without friction.
idea 22: Sometimes even a reference frame undergoing very
The next problem makes also use of the idea 20; however, one complex motion can be useful.
more idea is needed, see below.
Alternatively, we can use
pr 14. A puck slides onto an icy inclined plane with inclination angle . The angle between the planes edge and the idea 23: Instead of calculating physical velocities, it is somepucks initial velocity v0 = 10 m/s is = 60 . The trace left times wise to look at the rate of change of some distance, the
by the puck on the plane is given in the figure (this is only ratio of two lengths, etc.
a part of the trajectory). Find under the assumption that The following problem requires integration4 , so it can be
friction can be neglected and that transition onto the slope was skipped by those who are not familiar with it.
smooth.
pr 16. An ant is moving along a rubber band at velocity
v = 1 cm/s. One end of the rubber band (the one from which
the ant started) is fixed to a wall, the other (initially at distance L = 1 m from the wall) is pulled at u = 1 m/s. Will the

ant reach the other end of the band? If yes then when will it
happen?
Here we need to apply the

idea 24: For some problems, optimal choice of parametrization can simplify mathematical calculations significantly. An
incomplete list of options: Cartesian, polar, cylindrical, and
spherical coordinates; travel distance; Lagrangian coordinates
The last sentence here is very important: if the transition is
(i.e. for fluids flow using the initial coordinate of a fluid particle
sharp, the puck approaches the inclined plane by sliding along
instead of its current coordinate); relative position of a particle
the horizontal and collides with it either elastically in which
according to a certain ranking scheme, etc.
case it jumps up, or plastically. In particular, if the collision
is perfectly plastic then that part of the kinetic energy which Here, the problem itself contains a hint about which type of
is associated with the motion along the surface normal of the parametrization is to be used. It is clear that the Cartesian
inclined plane is lost. More specifically, if we introduce perpen- coordinate of the ant is not good: it does not reflect the prodicular coordinates so that the x-axis is along the contact line gress of the ant in advancing along the rubber band. In order
of the two surfaces and y-axis lays on the inclined surface, x, y, to describe such a progress, we can use the relative position on
and z-motions are all separated; at the impact, vz goes to zero, the band: which fraction k of the rubber is left behind; the ant
and due to the absence of friction, vx and vy are preserved.
starts with k = 0, and k = 1 corresponds to the ant reaching
In this problem, however, the transition from one surface the end of the band. The parameter k is essentially a Lagto the other is smooth: around the line separating the two rangian coordinate: it equals to the initial coordinate of the
flat surfaces, there is a narrow region where the surface has a current rubber point in the units of the initial rubber length.

2.5m

2 Surfaces

with constant cross-sections.

is the energy conservation law using the fact that forces perpendicular to the velocity will not perform work.
dx
4 You may find helpful to know that
= a1 ln(ax + b) + C
ax+b
3 This

page 6

OPTIMAL TRAJECTORIES

from the mirror and represent a small variation of the path s4

(such as the path s6 ), the path s4 is the fastest one and hence,
Majority of the kinematical optimal trajectory problems fall
represents a valid light beam path.
into two categories: the problems of finding the trajectories of
If light can travel from one point to the other along several
shortest travel time, and the problems of finding the smallest
dierent
paths (e.g. from some point through a lens to the
initial speeds of a free-falling body.
optical image of that point) then time along all these paths is
idea 25: In those kinematics problems where velocities in vari- exactly the same.
ous environments are given and the quickest way from point A
In order to apply the idea 25 to kinematics problems, we
to point B is asked, Fermats principle (formulated for geomet- often need the Snells law.
rical optics) can be of help.
Namely, if we have a configuration of bodies with dierent in- fact 5: Let a point A be situated in a medium where the light
dices of refraction, and if a ray of light originating from point propagation speed is v1 , and point B in a medium where the
A passes through point B then the actual path of the ray is speed is v2 . Then, the light propagates from A to B according
the quickest way for light to reach point B from point A (as a to the Snells law: it refracts at the interface so that the angle
reminder, if the index of refraction of some environment is n between the surface normal and the path forms angles 1 and
then the travelling speed of light is c/n). Therefore time along 2 (see figure) satisfying equality sin 1 / sin 2 = v1 /v2 .
path s1 or s2 is longer than along s0 , see figure.

B
2

A s2 s0
s1
n1

A
n2

B
pr 17. A boy lives on the shore OP of a bay M OP (see the

We must clarify that the Fermat principle applies to a local

minimum: the travel time along the path s0 needs to be shorter
than for any other path which departs from the path s0 but
remains in its immediate neighbourhood. Furthermore, it is required that for small path variations, the travel time variations
remain also small. The following figure clarifies in which cases
the Fermat principle is applicable.

mirror
s6
s5

glass
plate
s0
s1

figure). Two shores of the bay make an angle . The boys

house is situated at point A at distance h from the shore and

h2 + l2 from point O. The boy wants to go fishing to the

shore OM . At what distance x from point O should be the
fishing spot, so that it would take as little time as possible
to get there from the house? How long is this time? The boy
moves at velocity v on the ground and at velocity u when using
a boat.

s4

h
A

s2

s3

As the propagation speed in the glass plate is smaller than in

the air, the global minimum of the travel time is achieved for
the path s1 . However, such arbitrarily small variations of the
path s1 which go thorough the glass plate have a non-small
change in the travel time, hence s1 is not a valid light beam
path (the path can be deformed downwards, e.g. into s3 , but upwards deformations incur a jump in travel time due to passing
through the glass plate). Next, the path s0 provides a good
local minimum: the travel time along s0 is smaller than along
any small variation of the path s0 , and if the path variation is
small, the time variation remains also small. Hence, the Fermat principle can be applied: the path s0 provides a valid
light beam path. Finally, in the case of reflections, we need to
compare only those paths which include similar reflections. So,
the path s5 is faster than the path s4 , but the former does not
involve reflections and cannot be included into the set of reference paths. Among those paths which include one reflection

O
Here we can use a small addition to the last idea: if the quickest
way to a plane (in a 3-d problem) or to a line (in 2-d) is asked
then this plane or line can be substituted with a point very far
(at infinity) in the perpendicular direction to it. The reason for
that is quite simple: it takes the same amount of time to reach
any point on the plane (line) from that very-very distant point.
If we think about this in terms of geometrical optics then it
means that a set of light rays normal to the surface falls onto
the plane (line).

pr 18. A boy is situated at point A in a river, at distance

a from the riverbank. He can swim at speed u or run at speed
v on the shore; water flows in the river at velocity w > u. The
boy wants to reach the point C upstream on the riverbank with
minimal time. At what distance x from point B aligned with
point A should he get out of the water?

page 7

The construction of such a wavefront is depicted in the figure

below.

A
u

A
u

a
C

uT

B x

u(t - T )

Here we have two options: first, to use a brute force approach

and express the travel time t as a function of x, and then equate
dt
dx = 0. The second option is to apply the methods of geometrical optics. However, notice that in the lab frame, the speed in
water depends on the direction of swimming, and in the waters
frame, the starting and destination points are moving.

warning: Fermats principle can be applied only if velocities

are the same in all directions and initial and final points are at
rest.

wT

vt - w(T - t)
vT

Here, the green circle corresponds to the set of farthest points

the boy can reach if he starts swimming immediately, and the
cyan dot depicts his position if he continues running along the
coast; the bold black line shows the overall wavefront. If we let
the wavefront evolve, it propagates towards the point A and
reaches it at a certain moment T . Our procedure essentially
tests all the swimming strategies and hence, T equals to the
shortest travel time; what is left to do, is to trace back, which
Huygens sources created that part of the wavefront which met
the point A, i.e. what would be the optimal trajectory of the
boy.

Now we have two sub-options. First, we can try to modify the

problem so that while the answer remains the same, the Fermats principle becomes applicable; try to do this. The second
option is to use the Huygens method of building wavefronts; idea 28: Questions involving optimal ball-throwing can be often reduced to the ballistic range problem: a cannon can shoot
let us consider this approach in more details
projectiles with a fixed launching speed; in which range can
idea 26: When studying a reversible process, sometimes it is
the targets be hit? Therefore, it is useful to know the answer:
easier to analyse the reverse process.
the targets should be within a paraboloidal region, and the canNotice that in the case of the problem 18, the process can be non is at its focus; this paraboloid is the envelope of all the
reversed: if we make all the velocities opposite then the river possible projectile trajectories, see figure (red curve is the enflows from right to left, the boy starts running from point C, velope, the cyan curve trajectories for 45 -launching angles,
and wants to reach the point A in the river as fast as pos- green curves trajectories for 0 -launching angles).
sible. Obviously, if a certain forward-process-trajectory is the
fastest among all the alternatives then the same applies to the
respective reverse process.

idea 27: For the fastest path problems in kinematics, the

approach based on the Huygens principle can be used.
For wave propagation problems, according to the Huygens principle, wave fronts can be constructed step-by-step, by putting a
series of fictitious light sources at a previous wave front. Then,
after a short time period t, around each fictitious light source
a circular wavefront of radius ct is formed (where c stands for
the speed of light); the overall new wavefront is the envelope
of all the small wavefronts, see figure (orange dots are the first
generation Huygens sources, and the orange circles are the respective wavefronts; red lines are the overall wavefronts, and
brown colour corresponds to the second generation Huygens
sources).

wave source

In order to be able to use the full potential of the idea 28, the
following simple facts need to be kept in mind.

fact 6:

The black and cyan curves (in the figure above)

represent the optimal trajectories for hitting targets at the red
parabola: for these trajectories, the projectiles launching speed
at the origin is minimal.
Indeed, for a target inside the region R, the region can be made
smaller by reducing the launching speed in such a way that the
target would still remain inside the shooting range.

fact 7:

When a target is shot with the smallest possible

launching speed, the trajectory and the shooting range boundary (corresponding to the launching speed) are tangent to each
In the case of light waves, once we have the pattern of wave- other at the targets position.
fronts, the rays of light can be found as such curves which are
If you trust what has been stated above (or have proved
everywhere perpendicular to the wavefronts.
it once and now want to use the fact), it is easy to figure
Continuing with the problem 18 (with the reversed velo- out the parameters of the parabola: first, the trajectory for
cities as discussed above), we need to build wavefronts as 90 -launching angle meets the tip of the parabola, and the red
the sets of farthest points which the boy can reach for a given curve needs to have the same shape as the green curve, because
moment of time T once departing from point C and starting the green one represents the optimal trajectory for targets at
swimming at an arbitrary intermediate moment of time t < T . very low altitudes beneath the horizon.
page 8

Trust, but verify: let us solve the following problem.

While there is an extremely simple solution to this problem, it

might not be easy to come up with it, because we need

pr 19. A cannon is situated in the origin of coordinate axes

and can give initial velocity v0 to a projectile, the shooting dir- idea 30: For several problems of kinematics, geometrical soluection can be chosen at will. What is the region of space R tions making use of the properties of a parabola are possible;
typically, such solutions are considerably shorter than the althat the projectile can reach?
ternatives.
This question is an example of a class of problems that seem
easy, but the solution can get very long if brute force is apfact 9: Each parabola has a focus, the properties of which
plied. This can lead to mistakes or giving up on the problem
are most easily expressed in terms of geometrical optics: if
altogether.
the parabola reflects light, all those rays which are parallel
warning: If equations get tediously long then it is the right to the symmetry axis are reflected to the focus (dashed lines
time to pause and think whether there can be an alternative in the figure); due to the Fermat principle, this means also
way to reach the answer. If one exists, it pays to quit and try that for each point on the parabola the distance to the focus
out the other path and see if it is shorter.
plus the distance to the infinitely distant light source are equal,
In such cases, before actual calculations, you should outline a l1 + h1 + d1 = 2h0 + d0 = . . .; since d0 = d1 = . . ., we have
strategy for tackling the problem: you should see in your mind 2h0 = l1 + h1 = l2 = l3 + h3 (see the figure).

h3<0

l1

a road, a sequence of calculations which you hope you are

able to perform, and which, if successful, lead to the answer.
h0
Here a strategy which comes to mind is compiling an equah1
l2
tion for the launching angle required for hitting a target at
F
l3 d2
the coordinates (x, z); if there are solutions to this equation,
d3
d0
d1
the target lies within the region R, and if there are no solutions then it lies outside. Then, formula describing the region
comes from the condition (inequality) which needs to be satpr 21. What is the minimum initial velocity that has to be
isfied for the existence of solutions. Furthermore, it is quite
given to a stone in order to throw it across a sloped roof? The
easy to figure out that if the point T = (x, z) lies inside the reroof has width b, its two edges have heights a and c.
gion R, there should be actually two solutions for the launching
angle. Indeed, the target can be hit both at the rising leg of the
b
projectiles trajectory, and at the descending leg of it5 So, we
expect that the equation has two solutions (T is within R), one
solution (T is at the boundary of R), or no solutions (T is outa
side of R). Such a behaviour is consistent with the quadratic
c
equation, so we can hope that with a good parametrization (c.f.
idea 24), we obtain a quadratic equation. To summarize, let
us formulate

idea 29: If it is asked to find the region in which a solution This problem has two solutions, a brute force one, and a short
exists to a certain problem then the boundary of this region can but tricky one. Both solutions, however, start in the same way,
often be found as a curve for which some discriminant vanishes. by using
The solution of problem 19 can be also used to derive a simple idea 31: To find a minimum (or a maximum), we have to
particular conclusion which we formulate as a fact.
vary free parameters (in this case the throwing point and the
fact 8: If the target is at the same level as the canon, the op- angle) by infinitesimally small increments and see what haptimal shooting angle (corresponding to the smallest launching pens to the quantity of interest. If it increases for all allowed
variations, we have found a minimum.
speed) is 45 .
Indeed, from the solution of problem 19 we have a quadratic You are supposed to use this method for showing that the stone
equation for the shooting angle, where we can put z = 0; the touches both edges of the roof.
Both solutions share also the next step, reducing the probrequired result is immediately obtained if we use the fact that
lem
to the case c = 0. This reduction would be very useful
for optimal shooting, the discriminant of the equation is zero.
because then we know the optimal throwing point the right
pr 20. Under the assumptions of the problem 19, and know- edge of the roof. For this step you need
ing that the boundary of the region R is a parabola, show that
idea 32: For a free-fall of a body, there is an integral of mothe cannon is at the focus of the parabola.
tion (quantity which is conserved), 12 v 2 gh, where v is an
5 This is somewhat simplifying statement; to be more rigorous, we need to consider the two intersection points of the projectiles trajectory with a
horizontal line z = z0 , and how these intersections x = x1 and x = x2 (with x2 > x1 ) move when the launching angle is changed from 90 to 0 : for
= 90 , they are both at x = 0, and start moving to larger values of x with increasing . For a certain value of , x2 reaches its maximal value xmax
and starts decreasing; the two solutions merge and disappear when the trajectory is tangent to the line z = z0 . Hence, during this process, each point
on the segment 0 < x < xmax is passed exactly two times by one of the intersection points (either x1 or x2 ), and the target at that point (x, z0 ) can
be hit by the two corresponding values of .

page 9

instantaneous speed, and h is the current height of the body.

~v1

This, of course, is a particular form of the energy conservation

law, which will be considered in many more details in the other
sections (mainly in Mechanics).

~r
~v

O
Next we need to apply the idea 28; while in the case of the
brute force approach, this is a straightforward mathematical
~v2
application of the idea, the trickier solution makes use of the
idea 30 (and of the fact 9).
This centre of rotation can be reconstructed if
Let us consider one more problem which illustrates the us(a) we know the directions of velocities of two points and these
age of the idea 30.
directions are not parallel - it is where perpendicular lines
drawn from these points intersect;
pr 22. A target is shoot with the smallest possible launching speed; show that the launching velocity is perpendicular to
the terminal velocity (i.e. at the target).

(b) we know the velocities of two points, and the vectors are
parallel and perpendicular to the line connecting these
points - we find the intersection of the line connecting
the points and the line connecting the tips of velocity
vectors (see the figure)

Note that this problem can be also solved without using

the idea 30. Then, instead, you should use the idea 19 by considering the relative motion of two projectiles which are shoot
simultaneously at slightly dierent angles (still, very close to
Note that it is also possible that the velocities of two points
the optimal angle) and with the same speed. You also need to
are equal (by modulus and by direction), in which case the romake use of mathematical observations, formulated below as a
tation centre is at infinity, i.e. the body moves translationally.
facts.
All the other combinations not covered by options (a) and (b)
fact 10: If a function f (x) has a minimum or maximum at are impossible for a rigid body.
Once the centre of rotation has been found then the velocity
x = x0 then for small departures x from x0 , the variation of
of
any
point can be found as a vector perpendicular to the line
the function value f = f (x+x)f (x) remains quadratically
6
drawn from the centre of rotation with modulus proportional
small and can be often neglected.
to distance r from the centre of rotation (see the figure), acfact 11: As it follows from the vector addition rule (c.f. def. cording to the formula v = r, where is the instantaneous
1), if the dierence of two vectors of equal moduli is very small, angular speed.
The last formula can be generalized:
it is almost perpendicular to each of them.

fact 12: if a vector a rotates with an angular speed

so that
Try to solve the problem 22 using this alternative approach, as
the rotation axis is perpendicular to a then the time derivative
well!
a
d
a
a and | d
dt is perpendicular to
dt | = a
RIGID BODIES, HINGES AND ROPES
pr 23. A rigid lump has been squeezed between two plates,
one of which is moving at velocity v1 and the other at v2 . At
the given moment, velocities are horizontal and the contact
points of the lump and plates are aligned. In the figure, mark
all points of the lump with velocity modulus equal to v1 or v2 .

v1

v2
This question is entirely based on

idea 33: The motion of a rigid body can always be considered

as rotation about an instantaneous axis of rotation (for 2D geometry, about a rotation centre) with a certain angular speed.

This formula is derived similarly to the fact 11: we need to

apply the definition 1 and consider a small time increment
a
t. According to the definition of vector derivatives, d
dt equals

a
to t at the limit of infinitesimally small increments a and
t. The increment a is calculated using the definition 1:
this is the base of the isosceles triangle, the equal sides of
which are formed by the initial and final positions of the vector
a. Since the vector rotates at the angular speed , the apex
angle (in radians) is t; therefore,
base length equals to
 a  theat
7


2a tan(t/2) at Thus, t = t = a 8 . Note that
a
the formula can be rewritten via a vector product as d
a.
dt =
Within this booklet, vector products will not be needed; however, it is still useful to know that a vector product of two vectors a and b equals by modulus to the surface area S = ab sin
of the parallelepiped built on the vectors a and b ( is the angle
between a and b); the vector is perpendicular to both a and b,
the direction being given by the screw rule (rotate the screw
from the first vector to the second one).
Now we can apply the fact 12 to a rotating velocity vector: let a point rotate with constant angular speed around
the origin so that its distance to the origin remains constant.

6 This

is the consequence of the Taylor expansion, to be discussed in more details in other booklets.
we have used approximate calculation for small angles: sin tan , where 1 is measured in radians.
8 We have replaced approximate equality by strict equality because the tangent is taken from an infinitely small angle

7 Here

page 10

 r
 = r and
According
we obtain v =  d
dt
 dv  to the formula
2
a =  dt  = v = r. The last equation can be also written for the acceleration vector as a = 2r; the minus sign
means that the acceleration is directed towards the origin; because of this it is called centripetal acceleration. If the angular
velocity is not constant, the point will obtain also a tangential
acceleration (tangent to the trajectory).

The next problem will illustrate this idea. However, the

following idea will be also useful.

idea 35: Since the distance between any two points is fixed in

a rigid body, the projections of velocities of both points on the

line connecting them are equal. NB! the respective projections
of accelerations are not necessarily equal due to the centripetal
acceleration; when dealing with accelerations you need to use
def. 4: Angular acceleration is defined as the time derivative the fact 13 in one points frame of reference, instead.

of the angular velocity, = d

dt .

Let us consider the case when the rotation axis remains fixed;
then, both and
have a fixed direction and hence, are essentially scalar quantities, so that the vector signs can be dropped.
In order to derive an expression for the tangential acceleration,
let us consider a small time increment t; this corresponds to
a small angular speed increment , as well as to a small velocity increment v . Let us decompose the velocity increment
into radial and tangential components, v = vr + vt . Now,
the velocity vector changes both its direction and length, see
figure below.

pr 25. A hinged structure consists of two links of length

2l. One of its ends is attached to a wall, the other is moving
at distance 3l from the wall at constant vertical velocity v0 .
Find the acceleration of the hinge connecting the links when a)
the link closer to the wall is horizontal b) the velocity of the
connection point is zero.
3l
2l

~v

t
~v

v
~t

2l

v
~r
v

Note that in the figure, the increments are exaggerated, actually these are very small. It is easy to see from the figure that for small angle approximation, vr = t v; with
this we recover the expression for the radial (centripetal) acceleration ar = v: we just need to divide the equality
by t. Meanwhile, due to the small angle approximation,
t | |v | |v | = r r = r = tr. Hence, at the
|v
t|
limit of infinitesimal increments, at = |v
t = r. This leads
us to

Now, let us continue with rolling spool problems.

pr 26. Some thread has been wound around a cylinder, the

other end of the thread is fixed to a wall. The cylinder lies
on a horizontal surface that is being pulled with horizontal velocity v (perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder). Find the
velocity of the cylinders axis as a function of , the angle that
fact 13: If a rigid body is rotating about a fixed axis then thread makes with the vertical. The cylinder rolls on the surthe acceleration of any of its points has two components: cent- face without slipping.
ripetal acceleration 2 r = v 2 /r directed towards the axis of

rotation and a component perpendicular to it, the tangential

acceleration r. NB! the formula cannot be applied if we deal
with an instantaneous rotation axis9 (more precisely, the formula can be used if the acceleration of the instantaneous rov
tation axis is zero). The formula v 2 /r can be also used for
the perpendicular to the motion acceleration of a point along
a curved trajectory; then, r is the curvature radius of the tra- This problem can be solved using the idea 33. However it can
be also solved using the following idea (you are encouraged to
jectory.
try both methods). and the spool is rolling along some surface.
pr 24. Cycloid is a curve which can be defined as a traject- In these cases, we need
ory of a point marked on the rim of a rolling wheel or radius idea 36: Problems involving spools and rope (un)wounding
R. Determine the curvature radius of such curve at its highest can be typically solved by writing down the rope balance
point.
equation, i.e. by relating the rope unwinding rate to the velocity of the spool.
idea 34: For kinematics problems, often the tangential acceleration is not known initially, but the rotation speed is known When writing down such equations, it is useful to notice that as
and hence, the centripetal acceleration can be easily calculated long as the unwound rope does not rotate, the rate of unwindusing the fact 13. You may be able figure out the direction of ing equals to R, where is the spools angular speed, and R
the acceleration using other arguments, in which case you can its radius; if the unwound rope rotates, idea 17 can be used
to conclude that now the spools angular speed needs to be
recover the whole acceleration by using the idea 4.
substituted with the dierence of two angular velocities.
9 For

instantaneous axis, r would not be constant, which makes the derivation void.

page 11

In order to relate the rope unwinding rate to the motion of emit fume, the trails of which are depicted by black lines. Dethe spool, the following very general idea (with a wide applic- termine the direction and speed of wind (express the direction
ation scope) is helpful.
of wind as a clock-wise rotation angle from north). You may
idea 37: Draw two very close (infinitesimally close) states of draw lines and measure distances using a ruler in the figure.
the system and examine the change in the quantity of interest
(in this case, the length of the rope).
When doing that, we should not forget that the change was
infinitesimal, so that we can simplify our calculations (e.g. two
subsequent states of the rope can be considered parallel). Note
that we have actually already used this method when deriving
the fact 13.

pr 27. One end of a rod is supported by the floor and the

other leans against a vertical wall. What is the velocity u of
the lower end at the moment when the upper end is sliding
downwards at velocity v and the angle between the floor and
the rod is ?

idea 41: Sometimes it is useful to include a time axis in

addition to spatial coordinates and analyse three-dimensional

graphs for a planar motion (even if the problems text does not
mention time dependence explicitly).

Try to apply this idea to the following problem. Keep in mind

This problem can be solved using the idea 33; however, here the following stereometric facts: 3 points always lie in a plane;
it is suggested to solve it by using the following idea (its full a straight line and one point determine a plane (unless the
solution is given in the section of hints).
point lies on the line).

idea 38: If parts of a system are connected by some ties with

pr 30. Points A, B and C lie on a straight line, so that B is

fixed length then one way of calculating velocities and acceler- situated between A and C. Three bodies a, b and c start from
ations is to write out this relation in terms of coordinates and these points, moving at constant (but dierent) velocities. It
take the time derivative of the whole expression.
is known that i) if c was missing, a and b would collide and ii)
if b was missing, a and c would collide and it would happen
before than in i). Would b and c collide if a was missing?
MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS

In mathematics, for geometrical problems, there is a tech-

idea 39: Some kinematics problems are based on the con- nique called auxiliary constructions: the solution of the prob10

tinuity law : if there is a stationary flow of something and we

lem can be significantly simplified if you draw an additional
consider a certain region of space, as much as flows in, flows
line(s). While in physics, such constructions are less often used,
also out.
but in some cases auxiliary constructions are still useful (in
Let us illustrate the continuity law with the following problem. fact, idea 41 makes use of such construction). The following
idea represents a recipe for one more auxiliary construction.
pr 28. A single-lane road is full of cars which move at the
idea 42: Sometimes it is useful to consider instead of a single
speed v = 90 km/h. The average distance between neighbourparticle, a fictitious ensemble of auxiliary particles.
ing cars is such that a standing observer would measure a time
While the following problem can be solved via a brute force
lapse = 2 s from the head of the first car until the head of
the second car. One car has to stop due to malfunctioning and approach, introducing an ensemble of auxiliary particles (rea queue of standing cars starts forming behind it. Find the leased all over the wheel at the same time) simplifies your calspeed u with which the queue length is growing if the average culations.
distance between the centres of neighbouring cars in the queue
pr 31. A wheel with radius R is situated at height R from
is l = 6 m?
the ground and is rotating at angular velocity . At some point
Pay attention that the flow of cars is not stationary in the lab A, a drop of water separates from the wheel and reaches the
frame of reference; hence, first you need to use the idea 1 to ground at point B situated directly below the wheels axle (see
make it stationary.
the figure). Find the falling time of the drop and the location
of point A (i.e. angle ).
idea 40: In the case of problems involving moving objects
and moving medium (air, water), if the moving objects leave
trails, and you are asked to analyse a sketch (a photo), pay
a
R

attention to the fact that if the objects met, the meeting point
corresponds to an intersection point of the trails.

pr 29. Figure below is copied from an aerophoto: there are

two trains (depicted in red) which both travel with the speed of
v = 50 km/h along a railway (grey dashed line). Their engines
10 The

continuity law plays an important role in physics, in general.

page 12

In addition to the previous ones, there is an idea that helps

solving this problem. However, it is very non-standard, i.e.
there are almost no other problems where to use this idea. To
apply the idea elsewhere, it has to be formulated in a very general form: More specifically for this question: imagine that at
the same time with the given drop, small droplets separated
from all the other points of the wheel as well. It is clear that
in a freely falling frame of reference, this set of droplets forms
a circle at all times; it should not be too dicult to find the
radius of that circle as a function of time. The first droplet
touching the ground is the one that we are interested in. We
can express time from the equation describing the condition of
touching (the height of the lowest point of the circle becomes
zero) - idea 10.

wave vector k and radius vector r equals to kr = kx x+ky y+kz z.

Here is the angular frequency of the wave and the waves
propagation speed v = /k 11 .

pr 33. i) There are two combs which are depicted in the

figure below. The figure renders the proportions of the combs
correctly; the scale of the figure is unknown. The grey comb
moves with a speed of v = 1 cm/s (the direction of its motion is
shown in the figure); the black comb is at rest. Find the speed
and direction of motion of the dark stripes.
dark stripe

idea 43: For some problems, the main diculty is understanding, what is going on; once you understand, the calculations are
1 cm/s
typically quite easy. Keep your mind calm: in physics competii) Now, we have the same situation (and the same question) as
itions, you are not asked to do something impossible: act as a
before, except that the black comb is under a small angle 1
detective by investigating step-by-step what is going on, and
with respect to the grey comb (for numerics, use = 0.1 rad).
narrowing down possibilities by the exclusion method.
How to apply the idea 44 to the problem 33? Pay attention
And here is a test case for the detective inside you!
to the following. Instead of a moving comb, we can take a
pr 32. This photo of a rotating propeller of a plane is taken wave a(x, y, t) = sin(kr t); then, centres of the teeth correswith a phone camera. For such a camera, the image is scanned pond to points where a(x, y, t) = 1. If we have two overlapping
line-by-line: at first, the leftmost column of image pixels is combs, the transparent regions where the centres of the teeth
read, followed by the second column of pixels, etc.
of both combs are at the same position can be found as the
i) in which direction does the propeller rotate as seen by the points where a1 (x, y, t)a2 (x, y, t) = 1, and the regions where
photographer (clockwise, or counterclockwise)?
the teeth are almost at the same position can be found as the
ii) How many blades does the propeller have?
points where a1 (x, y, t)a2 (x, y, t) 1. Now we have a product
iii) How many rotations does the propeller make in one minute of two sinusoidal waves, so we can say that the moir pattern
if the total scanning time of this image was 18 seconds?
(this is how these dark stripes are called) is due to a nonlinear
interaction of waves. Further, in order to answer the question
about what is the propagation speed of the moir pattern, we
need to decompose this product of sinusoids into a sum of sinusoids (for a sinusoid, we can calculate the speed as the ratio
of the angular frequency and the modulus of the wave vector).
idea 45: Well-known conservation laws are the ones of energy, momentum, and angular momentum12 . However, sometimes additional quantities can be conserved (then, of course,
you need to show that it is conserved), which makes otherwise
mathematically very dicult problems easily solvable.
What can be hints that a non-trivial conservation law is valid
for a problem? Well, if you understand clearly that the diculty is mathematical (you understand what is going on, and
are able to write down the equations) and what you have at
The first part of the next problem can be also solved using hand are dierential equation(s)13 then that might be the case.
the idea 43. The second part, however, becomes mathematic- For instance, let us consider the following problem.
ally challenging; it would be much easier to solve it using the pr 34. A dog is chasing a fox running at constant velocity
following idea.
v along a straight line. The modulus of the dogs velocity is

idea 44: Wave propagation problems can be often conveniently analysed using the wave vectors: using orthogonal coordinates (x, y, z), and time t, a sinusoidal wave a(x, y, z, t) can
be represented as sin(kr t), where the scalar product of the

constant and also equal to v, but the vector v is always directed towards the fox. When the dog noticed the fox and started
chasing, the distance between them was L and at the first moment, their velocity vectors formed a right angle. What is the

11 Sinusoidal

waves are studied in more details in the booklet Wave optics.

are typically not applicable to the kinematics problem.
13 These are equations relating derivatives to coordinates (typically, velocities or accelerations as functions of coordinates and/or velocities and which
define the evolution of the system.
12 These

page 13

minimal distance between them during the chase?

Here we can express the velocity components of the dog in
terms of its coordinates (using also the coordinates of the fox,
which are known functions of time); these are dierential equations. Since you are not supposed to be able to solve dierential equations for this booklet, this should not be the way
to go (furthermore, unless properly parametrized, c.f. idea 24,
these equations are actually not easy to solve). Note that at
physics competitions, you should always keep in mind, what
are those mathematical skills with which you are assumed to
be familiar with: when not certain which solving route to take,
this can help you narrowing down the options14 . While extra
skills are sometimes useful, these can also easily lead you to a
wrong (mathematically unnecessarily complex or even unsolvable) path; therefore, apply your extra skills only if you can see
in your mind the whole path to the answer, i.e. when you are
sure that you will not run into mathematical diculties.
Note that such nontrivial conservation laws can include all
these quantities which enter the dierential equations, except
for those derivatives for which these equations are written. For
instance, here, the equations express velocities in terms of coordinates, so velocities cannot be included. If the equations
were expressing accelerations in terms of velocities and coordinates then both velocities and coordinates could enter the law
(but not the accelerations). The conservation law is typically
proved by showing that its time derivative is zero. For instance,
if our conservation law would be a sum of two distances, we
would need to show that the changing rates of those two distances are equal by modulus and have opposite signs.

O
B

pr 37. A small ball is moving at velocity v0 along a smooth

horizontal surface and falls into a cylindrical vertical well at
point A, after which it starts bouncing elastically against the
wall and the smooth horizontal bottom. The well has depth
H and radius R; the angle between v0 and the wells diameter
drawn through point A is . What condition between R, H,
v0 and must be satisfied for the ball to exit from the well
again? Rotation of the ball can be neglected.

~v0

pr 38. A ball A lies on a wedge with angle . It is also

tied to an unstretchable string, the other end of which is attached to a vertical wall at point B (see the figure). What will
be the trajectory of the ball? What is its acceleration if the
acceleration of the wedge is a0 ?

CONCLUSION

Some of the ideas presented here (in particular, 1, 4, 5, 10, 14,

18, 19, 31, 37) are more universal than others. In any case,
they are all worth remembering. Note that it is always useful
pr 39. A dog is chasing a fox running at constant velocity
to summarise the idea(s) in your mind after finding a solution
v1 along a straight line. The modulus of the dogs velocity is
to a new problem; from time-to-time you may be able to come
constant and equal to v2 , but the vector v is always directed
up with some entirely new ideas! For further practice, here are
towards the fox. The distance between the animals was l at the
some additional problems based on aforementioned ideas.
moment when their velocity vectors were perpendicular. What
was the acceleration of the dog at that moment?
pr 35. A boy is swimming in a fast-flowing river of width
L; the water speed is u = 2 m/s, and the boy can swim with pr 40. A spinner having the shape of a cone (height h, raspeed v = 1 m/s. While being at point A near one coast, he
dius r) is moving along a smooth table and spinning rapidly.
wants to reach such a point B near the other coast which is
What
does its translational velocity v have to be in order to
u). Since the river is too fast,
directly across the river (AB
avoid bumping against the edge of the table when it gets there?
he cannot avoid being carried downstream to a certain distance
r
a from point B; what is the smallest possible value of a which
he can achieve for the optimally chosen swimming direction?

v
pr 36.

Rings O and O are slipping freely along vertical

fixed rods AB and A B (see the figure). Some unstretchable
rope has been tied to ring O and pulled through ring O . The
other end of the rope is fixed to point A . At the moment when
AOO = , the ring O is moving downwards at velocity v.
Find the velocity of the ring O at the same moment.
14 Of

course, such arguments are cannot be used for real-life problems.

page 14

pr 41. A uniform rope has been manufactured from an ex- pr 46. One end of a string of a negligible mass has been atplosive material, combustion travels along the rope at velocity
v. The velocity of a shock wave in the air is c, with c < v. Along
which curve should the rope be laid out to make the shock wave
reach a given point at the same time from all points of the rope?
(Finding a quantitative formula for the shape requires solving
a very simple dierential equation.)

tached to the side of a cylinder, not far from the ground. The
cylinder itself has been fixed on smooth slippery horizontal surface, with its axis vertical. The string has been wound k times
around the cylinder. The free end of the string has been tied
to a block, which is given a horizontal velocity v directed along
the radius vector drawn from the cylinders axis. After what
time will the string be fully wound around the cylinder again,
pr 42. A hinged structure consists of rhombi with side this time the other way round? [This problem leads to a very
to solve it,
lengths l, 2l and 3l (see the figure). Point A3 is moving at simple dierential equation; if you dont know how
2
dl
1 d(l )
the
following
equality
can
be
helpful:
l
=
.]
constant horizontal velocity v0 . Find the velocities of points
dt
2 dt
v
A1 , A2 and B2 at the moment when all angles of the structure
are equal to 90 . Also, find the acceleration of point B2.

B3

B2
B1
A3 v0

A2

A1

pr 47. A heavy box is being pulled using two tractors. One

of these has velocity v1 , the other v2 , the angle between velocities is . What is the velocity of the box, if we assume that
the ropes are parallel to velocity vectors?

v2

pr 43. Two motorboats simultaneously depart from two harbours (A and B) at distance l from one another, velocities of
the boats are v1 and v2 , respectively. The angles between their
velocities and the line connecting A and B are and , respectively. What is the minimum distance between the boats?

pr 44. A heavy disk of radius R is rolling downwards, unwinding two strings in the process. The strings are attached to
the ceiling and always remain under tension during the motion.
What was the magnitude of velocity of the disks centre when
its angular velocity was and the angle between the strings
was ?

pr 45. Two boards have been placed at right angles to one

another. Their line of touching is horizontal and one of them
(A) makes an angle to the horizontal. An elastic ball is released at a point at distance a from plane A and b from B.
On the average, how many times does the ball bounce against
wall B for each time it bounces against wall A? Collisions are
absolutely elastic.

b
a

v1

pr 48. A boy is running on a large field of ice with velocity

v = 5 m/s toward the north. The coecient of friction between
his feet and the ice is = 0.1. Assume as a simplification that
the reaction force between the boy and the ice stays constant
(in reality it varies with every push, but the assumption is justified by the fact that the value averaged over one step stays
constant).
i) What is the minimum time necessary for him to change his
moving direction to point towards the east so that the final
speed is also v = 5 m/s?
i) What is the shape of the optimal trajectory called?

pr 49. A ball thrown with an initial speed v0 moves in a

homogeneous gravitational field of strength g; neglect the air
drag. The throwing point can be freely selected on the ground
level z = 0, and the launching angle can be adjusted as needed;
the aim is to hit the topmost point of a spherical building of
radius R (see fig.) with as small as possible initial speed v0
(prior hitting the target, bouncing o the roof is not allowed).
Sketch qualitatively the shape of the optimal trajectory of the
ball. What is the minimal launching speed vmin needed to hit
the topmost point of a spherical building of radius R?
z

ca

page 15

din

sp h eri

B
l
l b ui x

pr 50. The figure represents a photo which was taken using around the point O (which is one of the intersection points
a very long exposure time (camera was pointing directly down). of the two rings) with a constant angular speed . Find the
What you can see is a trace of a blue lamp which burned con- minimal and maximal speeds vmin and vmax of the other intertinuously, but also flashed periodically with a red light (after section point of the two rings.
each t = 0.1 s. The lamp was fixed to the surface of a solid
disk, at the distance a = 4.5 cm from its symmetry axis. The
axis was vertical, and the disk slid and rotated freely on a ho
rizontal smooth ice surface. What was the speed of the centre
of the disk? You can take measurements from the figure using
a ruler.
O

pr 53. A moving bicycle is photographed using a relatively

long exposure time with a motionless camera. As a result, the
bike appears smudged on the photo; however, certain points of
certain spokes appear sharp. Determine the shape of the curve
upon which the sharp points of spokes lie.
pr 54.

pr 51. There is a capital O and three cities A, B and C, connected with the capital via roads 1, 2, and 3 as shown in the left
figure. Each road has length 2a. Two cars travel from one city
to another: they depart from their respective starting points
simultaneously, and travel with a constant speed v. The figure
on the right depicts the increasing rate of the distance between
the cars (negative values means that the distance decreases) as
measured by the GPS devices of the cars. The turns are taken
by the cars so fast that the GPS devices will not record the
behaviour during these periods.
i) Which cities were the starting and destination points of the
cars? Motivate your answer.
ii) What is the surface area between the vdist -graph and the
t-axis for the interval from t = 0 to t = a/v?
iii) Now let us consider a case when three cars (denoted by A,
B, and C) depart simultaneously from their cities (A, B, and
C, respectively) towards the capital; all the cars travel with a
constant speed v. Sketch the graphs for the distance changing
rate for the following car pairs: A B and B C.
iv) Suppose that now the GPS-devices are good enough to record the periods of taking the turns. Sketch a new appropriate
graph for the pair of cars B C. The curvature of the turns is
small enough so that the cars can still keep theirs speed v.
vdist
B
A

A lamp is attached to the edge of a disk, which

moves (slides) rotating on ice. The lamp emits light pulses:
the duration of each pulse is negligible, the interval between
two pulses is = 100 ms. The first pulse is of orange light,
the next one is blue, followed by red, green, yellow, and again
orange (the process starts repeating periodically). The motion
of the disk is photographed using so long exposure time that
exactly four pulses are recorded on the photo (see figure). Due
to the shortness of the pulses and small size of the lamp, each
pulse corresponds to a coloured dot on the photo. The colors
of the dots are provided with the corresponding lettering: o
orange, b blue, r red, g green, and y yellow). The
friction forces acting on the disk can be neglected.
i) Mark on the figure by numbers (14) the order of the pulses
(dots). Motivate your answer. What can be said about the
value of the exposure time?
ii) Using the provided figure, find the radius of the disk R, the
velocity of the center of the disk v and the angular velocity
(it is known that < 60 rad/s). The scale of the figure is
provided by the image of a line of length l = 10 cm;
g

road 1

10 cm

road 2
90o

O
90o

a 90o 0

a
v

2a

vt

pr 55. The photo depicts a jet of water, together with background

grid. The pitch of the grid equals to the diameter of
road 3
the jet at the exit from the horizontal pipe. The water flow
- v0 2
C
a 90o
rate is constant in time, and if a vessel of volume V = 150 cm3
is used to collect the outflowing water, it is filled during the
pr 52. Consider two rings with radius r as depicted in the time period of t = 5 min. Find the diameter of the jet at the
figure: the blue ring is at rest, and the yellow ring rotates exit of the pipe.
a

- v0

page 16

wet is defined as receiving a certain amount of water.

pr 56. On a wide river, two boats move with constant velocities. The velocity of the water in the river is constant across
the whole area depicted in the figure, and parallel to the coastline. The figure is based on a photo which was taken from air,
the camera being directed straight down. The positions of the
boats are marked with a square and a triangle, and the positions of litter fallen from the boats with pentagrams. One
of the boats departed from the point A; it is known that the
boats did meet with each other at a certain moment. From
which coastal point did the other boat depart? Solve the problem using geometrical constructions.

pr 59. A photographer took a photo of a waterfall. Due to

the reflected sunlight, the droplet were seen as speckles. Owing
to the fast falling speed of the droplets, the speckles created
bright stripes on the photo. When the camera was in a normal
landscape position, the length of the stripes was l1 = 120
pixels; when the camera was rotated around the optical axis of
the lens by 180 into a head-down position, the length of the
stripes was l2 = 200 pixels. What was the length of the stripes
when the camera was in a portrait position, i.e. rotated by
90 ? Assume that the exposure time was equal in all three
cases. If there are several possibilities, give all the possible
answers.
Hint. The main components of the camera are the lens which
creates an image on the sensor, and the shutter. The purpose
of the shutter is to limit the time during which the sensor is exposed to the light to a short (and appropriate) period of time:
normally, it covers the sensor, and the image created by the
lens falls on the sensor only when the shutter is opened. The
shutter is made of two curtains: at the beginning, the first curtain covers the sensor; when a photo is taken, it moves down
with a certain speed v opening the sensor; once the sensor has
been opened for the required period of time, the second curtain
moves down with the same speed v, covering again the sensor.
In order to achieve very short exposure times, both curtains
move together, creating a narrow moving slit through which
the light can pass through to reach the sensor.

pr 60. If a stone is thrown into a pond, a circular wave is

created which expands in time. The following figure depicts
the propagation of such a wave: dierent circles correspond
to the position of the wave crest at dierent moments of time;
the underlying snapshots have been taken with a regular (but
unknown) interval.
A

pr 57.

Let us consider the merger of two trac lanes A

and B into a single lane C, see figure. During a rush hour, all
the lanes are filled with cars; the average distance between the
cars can be assumed to be equal for all the lanes. The lengths
of the lanes A, B, and C is respectively equal to LA = 1 km,
LB = 3 km, and LC = 2 km. The average speed of cars on
the lane A is vA = 3 km/h; and the travel time of a car on
the lane B is tB = 36 min. How long will it take for a car to
travel from the beginning of the lane A to the end of the lane C?
A

pr 58. On a windless rainy day, a standing man gets wet

during t = 2 min; if he runs with the speed v2 = 18 km/h, he
gets wet during t2 = 0.5 min. How long will it take for him to
get wet when walking with the speed v1 = 6 km/h? Assume
that the body shape of a man can be approximated (a) with Note that the wave speed depends on the wavelength, and here,
a vertical rectangular prism; (b) with a sphere. Here getting the eective wavelength grows in time: at the beginning, the
page 17

wavelength is of the order of the circle radius, but later, it tends HINTS
towards a value which is of the order of the water depth h. It 1. In the waters frame of reference, it is clear that departing
turns out that at the beginning, the wavecrest moves with acfrom the barge and returning to it took exactly the same
celeration a = g/, where g is the free fall acceleration; later, it
amount of time.

tends towards the value v = hg. Based on this knowledge,

2. In the frame of the red plane, the blue plane moves along
estimate the depth of the pond h assuming that it is constant
a line s which forms an angle = arctan 43 with the horieverywhere; express your answer in terms of the length scale L
zontal dashed line in the figure. The distance of the red
provided in the figure. You can take measurements from the
plane from this line is most conveniently found considering
figure using a ruler.
two similar right triangles, the larger of which is formed
by the line s, and the two dashed lines in the figure.
pr 61. A motorboat approaches a straight coastline perpenv
dicularly, and at a distance L starts turning back by drawing a 3. Use the frame which moves with the speed 2 to find the
horizontal component of the intersection points velocity.
half-circle of radius R; later it departs perpendicularly to the
Now, in the lab frame, we know the direction of this vecoastline. The speed of the boat is constant and equal to v,
locity, as well as the horizontal projection; apply the idea
the water wave speed can be assumed to be constant and equal
4.
to u (with u < v). How long will it take for the waves of the
wake behind the boat to reach the coast (as measured from the 4.
moment when the boat starts turning)?

pr 62.

On a wide river, a motorboat moves with a constant speed v = 7 m/s from village A to village B over the
river. When answering the following questions you may take
measurements from the figure below depicting waves behind
the boat. What is the water speed in the river, and what is 5.
the water depth h? Note: wave speed in shallow water15 is

w = gh, where g = 9.81 m/s2 .

6.

Since the ascending speed is constant, it is sucient to

calculate it for a single position of the balloon when its
height is small and hence, the horizontal velocity is almost
zero; apply the idea 5. For t = 7 min, the angular ascending speed is zero, hence the balloon needs to move along
the line connecting the balloon and the observation point;
apply the idea 4.
In the boards frame of reference, there is only horizontal
force (the friction force) has a constant direction, antiparallel to the velocity.
According to the idea 7, we use the conveyors frame, but
as we are asked about the speed in lab frame, we need
to switch back to the lab frame. In the conveyors frame,
the velocity vector becomes shorter while preserving the
direction, i.e. can be represented as w
= kw
0 , where its
initial value w
0 = v0 u0 and the factor k takes numerical
values from 0 to 1. Hence, the velocity in the lab frame
v = u0 + k w
0 : this is a vector connecting the right angle
of the right triangle defined by its catheti u0 and v0 with a
point on the hypotenuse; the specific position of this point
depends on the value of the factor k (which is a function
of time).

pr 63. Provided sketches (a) and (b) are made on the basis
of satellite images, preserving proportions. They represent 7. Express the lateral displacement of the ball as the sum of
tractors, together with their smoke trails. The tractors were
two components: lateral displacement in the airs frame of
moving along the roads in the direction indicated by the arreference (a trigonometrical task; this does not depend on
rows. The velocity of all the tractors was v0 = 30 km/h. For
t), and the lateral displacement of the moving frame.
sketch (a), the direction of wind is indicated by another arrow.
8. Algebraic approach: take one of the axes (say x) to be
When solving the problem, you may draw lines and measure
perpendicular to the rackets plane and the other one
distances using a ruler.
(y) parallel to it. Absence of rotation means that the yi) Using the provided sketch, find the wind speed for case (a).
components of the balls and rackets velocities are equal,
ii) Using the provided sketch, find the wind speed for case (b).
uy = vy , and there is no parallel force acting on the ball,
hence vy = vy . Using idea 13 we find that vx = vx + 2ux .
(a)
Applying idea 15 to the vectors v and v gives us an equation for finding ux ; apply Pythagoras theorem obtain |u|.
To find angle , express tan = uy /ux .
(b)
Geometric approach: draw a right trapezoid as follows:
we decompose v into parallel and perpendicular components, v = vx + vy ; let us mark points A, B and C so that
= vx and BC
= vy (then, AC
= v ). Next we mark
AB

= vx ,
points D, E and F so that CD = vy = vy , DE
15 when

water depth is noticeably smaller than the wavelength

page 18

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

= 2ux ; then, CF
= vy vx + 2ux v and
and EF
from one plane to the other. Use fact 3 in conjunction

with
the provided graph to figure out the value of gy , the
AF = 2vy + 2ux 2u. Due to the problem conditions,

projection
of the free fall acceleration to the y-axis. Now,
ACF = 90 . Let us also mark point G as the centre of
since we know the full free fall acceleration g = 9.8 m/s2 ,
AF ; then, GC is both the median of the right trapezoid
the relationship gy = g sin allows us to find the angle .
ABDF (and hence, parallel to AB and the x-axis), and
the median of the triangle ACF . What is left to do, is ex- 15. According to the first method, we use the frame which
pressing the hypotenuse of ACF in terms of v = |AC|,
co-rotates with the turtles, so that in the new frame, the
and apply the idea 16.
turtles move radially towards the centre; when applying
the rule of velocity addition, for each of the turtles we
Use the frame where the mirror is at rest: the source S
need to use the local velocity vector of the rotating frame
rotates with angular velocity . Now go back to the lab
at the location of the particular turtle. According to the
frame and find the angular velocity of the image in that
second method, at each moment, let us project the velocitframe.
ies of two turtles on the straight line connecting them
The area under the graph, from t = 0 until the given mothat way we can find the rate of decrease in the distance
ment, gives the displacement, and regions below the t-axis
between two turtles.
make negative contributions. Hence, if a certain moment
t corresponds to a maximal displacement then v(t) = 0 16. Write down the relationship between small increments:
dk = v dt/(L + ut); the answer is obtained upon integ(otherwise, the displacement could be increased somewhat
ration of the left- and right-hand parts of this equality.
by making t slightly smaller or larger, depending on the
sign of v(t). (Alternatively, we can say that extrema cor- 17. Apparently the boy will need to arrive to the coast OM
respond to zero derivative, and the derivative of x is
at the right angle, c.f. idea 2. Now we can apply the idea
v.) The same arguments lead us to the conclusion that
25 together with the fact 5 to the refraction of his trajectfor slightly smaller t-values we must have positive v, and
ory at the coast OP to find the angle at which he needs to
for slightly larger t-values negative v. Hence, the canarrive to the coast OP (the answers are expressed straightdidates are t = 4.7 s, t = 7 s, t = 12.5 s, and t = 18.3 s.
forwardly in terms of this angle).
Calculate the surface areas to see, which of them maxim18. First approach: use the waters frame of reference, because
izes the displacement.
then the swimming speed is independent of the swimming

Let us divide the displacement into small pieces, s = s,

direction. In that frame, the boy moves on the coast with
where s = vt. If the function v(t) were known, the
the speed equal to v + w. It is clear that the boy needs to
last formula would have been completed our task, because
start immediately swimming, i.e. it doesnt matter weather

v(t)t is the sum of rectangles making up the area unthe point A is moving or motionless in the new frame. It
der the v t-graph . However, the acceleration is given
is also clear that if we have found the fastest way of reachto us as a function of v, hence we need to substitute t
ing the point C, the same trajectory would give us the
with v. While trying to do that, we can introduce the
fastest way of reaching any other upstream point on the
acceleration (which is given to as a function of v):
same coast; in particular, we can take a point C which
t
v
v
moves together with the water (is motionless in the waters
t = v
=
=
.
v
v/t
a
frame), and the optimal trajectory would still remain the
This result serves us perfectly well:
same. With these modifications, we have a problem where

v
v
we can apply the Fermat principle; the resulting geomets=
vt =
v
dv,
a
a(v)
rical optics problem is essentially the problem of finding
i.e. the displacement equals to the surface area under a
the angle of total internal reflection. For the second apv
graph which depicts a(v) as a function of v.
proach, once the front meets the point A, the front forms
Use the frame of one of the sliding balls according to
a cathetus of a right triangle AP Q, where Q is the point
the acceleration addition rule, the other one moves with a
where the front meets the riverbank, and P is the position
constant horizontal acceleration. Apply the idea 2 to find
of that Huygens source on the riverbank which creates the
the position where the distance is minimal. Express the
circular wave meeting the point A. Notice that the point
answer in terms of the distance AB; apply the idea 10 for
P is the point where the boy needs to start swimming in
finding the distance AB.
the waters frame of reference, and is displaced by wT from
the corresponding point in the lab frame.
If the axis x is parallel to the plane (and points downwards), the ball performs a free fall along x-axis, the accel- 19. Once you write down trajectory parametrically, x = x(t)
eration being equal to g sin ; if the axis y is perpendicuand z = z(t), time t can be eliminated; as a result, you
lar to the plane, the ball bounces along the y-axis up and
obtain an equation relating x, y, and the shooting angle
down, with the free fall acceleration g cos .
to each other, which we consider as an equation for find-

14. Use perpendicular coordinates so that the x-axis is along

the contact line of the two surfaces and y-axis lays on the
inclined surface; then, motion in the x-direction is independent of the motion in y z-plane. Due to the idea
21, the speed remains constant throughout the transition

ing angle . The angle enters into this equation via two
terms, one containing tan , and the other cos2 . In
order to solve such equations, one possibility is to express
all trigonometric functions via a single one. It is possible
to express tan via cos , but that involves a square root,

page 19

which is inconvenient. Meanwhile, cos2 can be nicely

expressed in terms of tan , and so, this is the way to go;
as a result, youll obtain a quadratic equation for tan .
20. Use the fact that all vertical rays are reflected by the range
boundary so that they will pass through the focus. It is
enough to find the intersection point of two rays. Take one
ray at x = 0, and the other one such that it will hit the
range boundary at the level z = 0 (we know the tangent
of the range boundary at that point due to the fact 8).
21. Step 1, proof by contradiction: if the trajectory doesnt
touch neither of the edges, the throwing speed can obviously be reduced slightly while keeping the angle constant.
If it touches only one edge, let it be the farther edge, the
boy can step slightly forward so that now the trajectory
doesnt touch neither of the edges. Step 2: from the law
v(z)2 2gz = cosnt, we conclude that the speed at the
height z = c [denoted as v(c)] is a uniquely defined growing
function of the speed at the ground level v(0): if the speed
v(0) is minimal then v(c) is also minimal. Step 3, brute
force approach: find the minimal throwing speed from the
right edge F of the roof by
requiring that the other edge
with coordinates P = (ac, b2 (a c)2 belongs to the
parabola found in problem 19. Geometric approach (idea
30: according to the idea 28 (keep in mind the facts 6 and
7), when throwing optimally from the point F to point P ,
the point P belongs to the envelope-parabola (which separates the region where the targets can be hit with the given
speed, see idea 28), and F is its focus; let the respective
minimal throwing speed be u [recall that this is the speed
at the altitude of the point F , i.e. u = v(c)]. According
to the idea 28, when throwing from F , any point of the
envelope-parabola can be reached with the same speed u
if we adjust the throwing angle accordingly; in order to
reach the tip Q of the envelope-parabola we need to throw
straight up. Now it would be a trivial task to find the
throwing speed u from the energy conservation law if the
height h = |F Q| of the envelope-parabola were known. To
obtain h, we use the property of a parabola (see fact 9):
the sum of the distance of a point from the focus and the
points height is constant: b + (a b) = h + h.
22. Due to the idea 28, together with facts 6 ,7, and 9, a
vertical ray directed at the target is reflected by the projectiles trajectory to the focus, i.e. to the cannon. When
making use of the idea 26 we see that this projectiles trajectory is also optimal for shooting the cannons position
from the location of the target; hence, the projectiles trajectory reflects a vertical ray directed to the cannon towards the target. If we combine these two observations we
see that a vertical ray directed to the cannon is rotated
after two reflections from the trajectory by 180 , which
means that the reflecting surfaces must have been perpendicular to each other (showing this mathematically is left
to the reader as a simple geometrical task).
For the alternative solution, we consider the motion of two
projectiles of initial velocities v and v = v + v as suggested above, i.e. with |v | |v |, v v and |v | |v |. In
16 More

the free-falling frame, they depart at a constant velocity

v , the relative velocity which was given at the beginning.
Hence, at the destination, the displacement vector between
the projectiles r = tv (t being the flight time) which is
perpendicular to the initial velocity v . On the other hand,
we can apply the fact 10 by considering the dependence of
the x-coordinate of the projectile at the targets altitude
as a function of the launching angle. Hence, we conclude
that while the first projectile hits the target exactly, the
other one must also come very close to it (at the targets
level, v gives the optimal shooting angle, and hence, v is
nearly optimal): if one of them is at the target, the other
one will be there very soon16 . Recall that when the first
projectile is at the target, the other one is displaced by
tv from it, i.e. its current velocity u tv v .
23. Notice that all those points which have the same speed
lie on the same distance from the instantaneous rotation
center.
24. Equate the acceleration calculated in two inertial frames:
in the lab frame, and in the frame of the wheels centre.
25. a) First we use the idea 35: when applying it to the left
rod we conclude that the joints velocity is vertical, and
when applying the idea to the right rod we conclude that
the modulus is v. Now we can apply the fact 13 to calculate the horizontal projection of the joints acceleration.
In order to use the idea 34, we need to know the direction
of the acceleration, as well. This knowledge is obtained
if we switch to the frame moving up with constant speed
v: the joints speed is zero and hence, the centripetal acceleration is zero. b) Notice that in the frame moving
up with constant speed v, the question b) is the same as
mirror-reflected question a).
26. First method: find the instantaneous centre of rotation by
figuring out the direction of velocities of for two points of
the cylinder: first, point A where the rope meets the cylinder (notice that the velocity of A as a ropes point equals
to the velocity of A as a cylinders point, and apply the
idea 35 to the rope), and point B where the cylinder meets
the plate (what is the vertical component of the velocity
of the cylinders point B?).
Second method: make a drawing with two close positions
of the cylinder and rope: let us mark on the left position
of the rope a point P where the rope meets the cylinder,
and on its right position point P which is at the same
height as point P . Let us denote the point where the rope
is fixed to the wall by Q. Then, the rope segment QP
consists of a straight segment QP and a curved segment
P P . However, since the displacement of the cylinder
P P is small, the length of the curve QP P has almost
the same length as the straight line QP . While the actual
unwound length |QP | |QP | is contributed by two rotations (rotation of the cylinder and rotation of the rope),
the length dierence |QP | |QP | is contributed only by
the cylinders rotation (the point P is at the same relative
position on the cylinder as the point P ), and is, hence,
equal to Rt. On the other hand, we can express this

precisely, the closest distance will be quadratically small; meanwhile, the displacement vector tv is linearly small, i.e. much larger.

page 20

length trigonometrically in terms of the cylinders displacement P P .

ently with a constant speed, hence the horizontal position

on the photo can be used to measure the time.

27. Let us take y to be the coordinate of the upper end 33. i) While the grey combs moves by half of the teeth pitch,
a dark stripe moves to where currently there is a white
and x that of the lower end. Then the rod has length
stripe, i.e. by half of the dark stripe distance. Hence, the
l2 = x2 + y 2 ; l is constant, so its derivative must be zero.
stripe speed is as many times faster as many grey teeth
Let us take the time derivative of the whole expression,
can be counted per one stripe period.
using the chain rule of dierentiation known from mathii) The product of two waves can be expanded as a =
ematics: 0 = xx + y y = xu + yv (a dot on top of a symbol
sin(k1r t) sin(k2r) = 12 {cos[(k1 k2 )r t] cos[(k1 +
means its time derivative). From that, we can express
k2 )r t]}. The bands where a 1 are where the slow
u = vy/x = v tan .
sinusoid is close to one, cos[(k1 k2 )r t] 1; this is a
28. Go to the frame which moves with speed u and where
sinusoidal wave which moves with speed u = /|k1 k2 |.
boundary between the queue and moving cars is stationary; equate the flux of cars (how many cars is passing in a 34. Let us consider the evolution of the vector r pointing from
unit time) in the region of queue to its value in the region
the dog to the fox; calculate the changing rates of the modof moving cars.
ulus |r|, and of rx , the projection of r to the x-axis (taken
parallel to the foxs velocity). Is it possible to make such
29. The intersection point P of two trails corresponds to the
a linear combination of rx and |r| that its time derivative
moment when the heads of the trains met: it was carried
would be zero? If yes, we would obtain a new conservaby wind to where it currently is. So, based on the speeds of
tion law which could be used to obtain immediately the
trains we find their meeting point Q; since the speeds are
answer.
equal, this is the middle point of the segment AB connecting the current positions of the train heads. The segment 35. Use the vector addition rule to draw a rectangle of velocities u + v = w,
where w
is the velocity of the boy relative
AB was covered during the given time interval at the speed
to the coast. Apply the idea 2: if we fix the position of
2v = 100 km/h; this value can be used as a scale for findthe vector u and draw the possible triangles for dierent
ing the wind speed based on the length of segment QP
swimming directions, well see that the possible positions
(you need to measure |AB| and |P Q|).
of the endpoint of v lie on a circle. Now it is not dicult
30. First we conclude, based on the two collisions, that all
to conclude that the optimal swimming corresponds to v
the bodies move on the same plane, henceforth the (x, y)being tangent to the circle.
plane. According to the idea 41, we plot the trajectories
of the bodies in a 3D plot (as lines x = xa (t), y = ya (t); 36. Introduce coordinates x (the vertical position of the ring
O) and y (the vertical position of the ring O ), with the
x = xb (t), y = yb (t); x = xc (t), y = yc (t). Collisions cororigins at A and A , respectively. Also introduce the rope
respond to intersections of these lines, and intersection of
length L and the distance a between the rails (to be elimtwo lines means that the two lines are coplanar (lie on a
inated later from the answer). Relate these quantities to
single plane).
each other via Pythagorean theorem (keep things squared
31. In the free-falling frame, all the particles move with conto avoid square roots for easier manipulation) and apply
stant velocities; each particle had initial velocity equal to
the idea 38.
the wheels velocity at the releasing point, i.e. tangential
to the wheel and equal by modulus to R. Hence the en- 37. Apply idea 20: vertical motion is independent from the
motion in the horizontal plane. The ball can escape the
semble of particle expands as a circle, the radius of which
well
if it hits the upper rim of the well. This will happen if
can be calculated from the Pythagorean theorem. In the
the period of vertical motion relates to the time between
lab frame, the centre of the circle performs a free fall. A
two collisions with the wells walls for the horizontal modroplet reaching the point A corresponds to the expanding
tion as a rational number (ratio of two integers).
circle touching the ground.
32. Useful observations: each column of pixels is obtained very
fast, essentially simultaneously; so, each column of pixels
represents a vertical cut of the real object at the respective
position for a certain moment of time. However, dierent
columns correspond to dierent time. Each vertical curved
shape on the photo is a sequence of vertical cuts and hence
must correspond to the same blade of the propeller. At the
upper half of the photo, the scanning ling moves towards
the motion of blades, and none of the blades is missed:
if we number the blades by 1, 2 and 3 then the blade sequence at the upper half must be 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, . . . . In lower
half of the photo, the scanning line and blades move in the
same direction, and the blades are faster, hence here the
sequence is 3, 2, 1, 3 . . . . The scanning line moves appar-

38. Use the idea 1: switch to the frame of the wedge; determine there the acceleration of the ball; apply the rule for
the addition of accelerations to find the acceleration of
the ball in the lab frame. Once knowing the acceleration
and initial velocity, the trajectory can be also found easily.
39. Apply the fact 12 to calculate the acceleration the time
derivative of the velocity vector. The angular speed of the
rotation of the velocity vector can be found using the idea
37.
40. Apply the idea 1: use the cones (free-falling) frame where
the tables corner moves upwards with the acceleration g.
41. Apply the idea 24 (work with polar coordinates r and ).
Express the squared curve length increment dl2 via the

page 21

squared increments d2 and dr2 (use the Pythagorean thetrivial. Second approach: study the evolution of the boys
v
orem); and relate dr2 to dl2 via the propagation speeds.
velocity vector v in (vx , vy )-plane: acceleration a = d
dt is
Note that dierential equations in the form kdx = xdy
constant by modulus, hence the endpoint of v moves with
a constant speed |a| from its initial position (0, v) to the
(where k is a constant) can be solved by separating variables, i.e. bringing all the x-s and y-s to the respective
final position (v, 0).
sides of equality (here, k dx
=
dy),
and
integrating
leftx
49. There are at least three dierent solutions; the simplest
hand right-hand-sides of the equality (which leads here to
one is based on the idea 30, and is quite similar to the geok ln(x/x0 ) = y, where x0 is a constant emerging when
metric solution of the problem 21. All the solutions start
taking the indefinite integrals17 .
in the same way as the ones of problem 30 by (a) showing
42. Denoting the diagonal length via d, relate the distance of
that the optimal trajectory needs to touch the sphere at
A3 from the wall to d; express the time derivative of d
a certain point P before hitting the sphere at its top T ,
in terms of v (c.f. idea 38 on Pg 12), and use this result
and (b) applying the idea 26 to consider throwing from T
to find the speeds of A1 and A2 . Use the idea 1 (switch
instead of throwing from an unknown point at the ground
to the frame of the centre of the largest rhombus) to find
level.
the direction of the acceleration of B2 . Apply the idea 34
The first method makes use of the geometric properties of
to deduce the modulus of the acceleration: switch to the
the envelope parabola (see ideas 28 and 30, and facts 6, 7
frame where A2 (or A3 ) is at rest and the point B3 moves
and 9): |T P | + |P A| = 2|T Q| + R, where P A is a vertical
along a circle, and determine the centripetal acceleration
line, A lies at the same height as the spheres centre O,
the projection of the whole acceleration to the leg A2 B3 .
and Q is the tip of the envelope parabola. As the shoot43. Apply the ideas 1 (use the frame of one of the boats), and
ing speed is defined by |T Q| (see the hints of problem 21
the idea 2. You need the angle between the line AB and
for more details), we only need calculate |T P | and |P A|.
the relative velocity; note that the tangent of that angle
Since T P is a line coming from the focus, it is reflected
can be expressed quite easily.
by the parabola at P to a vertical line; since parabola is
44. Apply the idea 33: you can find the direction of velocities
tangent to the sphere, it is also reflected by the sphere to
for those two points of disc where the ropes are tangent to
a vertical line which means that T P O = OP A. Since
the disc. Indeed, keep in mind the idea 35 and notice that
T O P A we can conclude that T OP = OP A, and as
the upper ends of the ropes have zero velocities (where in
T OP is isosceles, OT P = T P O; together with equalcontact, the rope and disc points have equal velocities).
ity T P O + T OP + OT P = 180 we conclude that
OT P = 60 , which gives us immediately |T P | = R and
45. Apply the idea 20: the motion along each of the boards are
|P A| = R2 .
independent. Use the fact 4 (the free fall acceleration components will be g cos and g sin ); calculate the jumping
periods for each of the motions.
46. Apply the idea 21 to conclude that the speed of the block
remains constant. Express the angular speed of the unwound part of the rope in terms of its current length l; note
that is also equal to the angular speed of the point P
where the rope is tangent to the cylinder; relate this speed
dl
to the rate at which the rope is unwound, dt
. Apply the
2

provided formula to conclude that d(ldt ) remains constant

during unwinding and winding. Dont forget that there
is also a period when the rope is fully unwound and the
block draws a semicircle.
47. Apply idea 35 to determine the projections of the boxs
velocity v to the directions of the ropes. Using the idea 16
one can conclude that the quadrilateral formed by the vector v as a diagonal and the projections of v as its two sides
is a cyclic one whereas v is the diameter of its circumcircle.
Apply the cosine theorem to determine the length of the
other diagonal, and the sine theorem to determine |v |, the
diameter of the circumcircle.

The second method makes use of the expression for the

envelope parabola (idea 28) with a focus at T : write down
equation for finding the intersection points of the sphere
and the parabola this will be a biquadratic equation.
According to the fact 7, in the optimal case the parabolic
trajectory, envelope parabola, and sphere are tangent to
each other at the same point; hence, at this optimal case
there are exactly two symmetric solutions to the biquadratic equation (if the launching speed is smaller than optimal then there are 4 solutions, and if it is larger then
there are no solutions). Apply idea 29 to find the speed.
The third solution makes use of the result of the problem
22 and idea 24: if we use = T OP as the parameter, we
know that from the point T , the optimal shooting angle
must be equal to 90 . Hence, we can write down the
conditions that the trajectory goes through P and the final, and initial and final velocities are perpendicular (idea
15). This gives us three equations containing , touching
time t, and initial speed v as unknowns. It appears that
this system of equations simplifies nicely.

48. First approach: apply the idea 1: use the inertial frame 50. It can be seen that the red dots are repeated at the same
which moves with the initial velocity of the boy; while the
places of the blue cycloid for each of its periods, and
acceleration of the boy is fixed by modulus, the direction
there are three dots per period; according to the idea 6,
can be adjusted as needed. Since in this frame, the iniwell make use of this fact (in generic case it considerably
tial velocity is zero, the optimizations task becomes quite
longer calculations would be needed) to conclude that the
17 It

is nicer to keep ln(x/x0 ) instead of ln(x) ln(x0 ) as otherwise it would be dicult to check if the dimensionalities of the expressions are OK.

page 22

disks rotation period is three times longer than the flashing period, i.e. 0.3 s. The distance travelled corresponds to
the period length of ca 4 grid units; the value of a grid unit
can be found by noticing that the cycloid height equals to
2a.

the boats from that point is proportional to the speed of

the boats. The distance of A from the point where the trail
of the boat intersects with the coastline gives the distance
carried by the water flow (the frame displacement); from
that moment when the boats met, the frame displacement
was smaller, and can be found geometrically from similar
triangles formed by the following lines: the trail, the line
connecting the boat with its starting point, coastline, and
a parallel line to the coast, drawn through the intersection point of the trails. Analogous construction of similar
triangles for the other boat will complete the task.

51. i) vdist is always negative, hence the overall, the distance

decreased, hence the cars must have started from dierent
cities. O could not have been the starting point of a car
because in that case the final distance would have been the
same or larger than at the beginning. Now we just need
to consider three possibilities, out of which two are easily
57. Apply the idea 39: consider the number of cars passing a
excluded based on the behaviour for 0 < t < av .
given point in unit time (the car frequency), and equate
ii) Use the idea 18.
the sum of car frequencies of the two merging lanes with
iii) and iv) Calculate relative velocity according to the vecthe frequency for the lane C; this will give you the speed
tor subtraction rule and project it to the line connecting
on the lane C (the rest of the calculations are straightforthe cars for dierent positions on their path.
ward).
52. Approach the same way as in the case of problem 3: use
the frame which rotates with the angular speed 2 to obtain 58. Apply the idea 39: introduce the density of water in air;
then, the water flux (mass per unit time) is given by Sv,
the angular speed of the line OP , P being the intersection
where
S is the cross-sectional area, and v is the speed of
point. Consider isosceles triangle QOP (where Q is the
the man relative to the rain droplets. For a rectangular
centre of the blue ring) to obtain the angular speed of the
man we calculate the total flux in two parts water fallline QP .
ing on the horizontal surface due to the vertical velocity of
53. Note that for a spike, such a point P appears sharp for
the rain droplets, and water falling on the vertical surface
which velocity is parallel to the spike. Apply the idea 33:
due to the motion of the man. For a spherical man, we
the instantaneous rotation centre is the lowest point G of
need to calculate the relative speed by using the triangle
the wheel (as it is contact with the ground and has thus
rule for adding the velocities. In either case we obtain
zero speed). Thus, GP must be perpendicular to the spike;
a system of equations from which the surface areas and
recall now the idea 16.
winds speed can be eliminated.
54. i) Use the fact that orange dot is missing; the exposure 59. The length of the trails is defined by the time interval
time must be appropriate for capturing exactly four dots.
during which the droplets image remains within the gap
ii) Use the idea 1: in the frame of the disks centre, the
between the curtains. This, in turn, is inversely propordisplacement vector d between neighbouring flashes has
tional to that component of the images relative velocity
always the same modulus d = 2R sin( /2), and neighwhich is perpendicular to the curtains edge. In one case,
bouring displacement vectors are always rotated by the
the velocity of the curtains v and the velocity of the
same angle . In the lab frame, additional constant disdroplets image u are parallel, in the other case antiplacement vector v is to be added due to the translational
parallel, and in the third case perpendicular. In the
motion of the frame: d = d + v . Because of that, if we
antiparallel case there are two possibilities: we dont know
bring all the displacement vectors to such positions that
which is faster, the curtain or the image. While formally
their starting points coincide, the endpoints will lie on a
we do have three unknown quantities, v, u, and the gaps
circle of radius d. So, we redraw the displacement vectors
width d, these enter the equations only in two combina rg,
br,
and gy,
and draw the circumcircle of the triangle
tions, v/d and u/d, i.e. we have essentially only two unformed by the endpoints of the vectors; from that figure
known parameters. Therefore, the expressions for l1 and
we can measure both the rotation angle (for finding
l2 can be solved with respect to v/d and u/d, which are
), constant displacement a = v (for finding v), and the
further used to calculate the value of l3 .
circles radius d = 2R sin( /2) (for finding R).
60. For small circles, the radii should form a sequence rn =
g 2 2
55. For the parabolic shape y = kx2 of the jet, the factor k can
2 n (withn = 1, 2, . . .); for larger rings we should have
be determined from the figure; this relates the unknown
rn+1 rn = hg . By taking measurements from the fig
g 2 2
grid unit d, the initial speed v of the jet, and g = 9.81 m/s2
ure, we can determine both 2
n and hg as a product
2
to each other. The idea 39 relates the flow rate 4 d v to the
of L and a certain numerical value; this gives us two equavessel filling rate; we have two equations and two unknown
tions from where we can eliminate and express h.
parameters, so the system of equations can be solved.
61. Apply the idea 27 and construct the wave front behind the
56. Using the idea 1 we can conclude that all the litter must lie
boat. Note that locally, the front propagates perpendicuon the same line with that boat from which these fell: this
larly to itself, so that the first to arrive to the coast is that
allows us to conclude, which litter corresponds to which
part of the wave front which was initially (i.e. at the point
boat. Using the idea 40 we mark the point where the boats
of creation behind the boat) parallel to the coast. We can
met the intersection point of two trails. The distance of
also conclude by using the Huygens principle that close
page 23

to the boat, the wavefront forms angle arcsin uv with the

boats trajectory.
62. Apply the idea 1: use the waters frame of reference. We
assume that the water moves as a whole, across the whole
depth, hence in the waters frame, the wave speed is the
same for all the propagation directions. Thus we can conclude that in the waters frame, the boats velocity is parallel to the bisector of the angle formed by the waves. We
know that in lab frame, the boat moves parallel to the
line AB, hence we can deduce the water speed from the
triangle of velocities using the known value of the boats
speed. From the Huygens principle we know that the angle
between the bisector and wave front is arcsin wv , hence we
can measure the angle to find w and calculate the depth
h = w2 /g.
63. i) Use the idea 1: in the airs frame, the trail is parallel to
the relative velocity of the tractor. Hence, vtractor vwind
is parallel to the trail; these two vectors form a triangle
which can be easily constructed (we know the directions
of its two sides, and one length), from where the length of
vwind can be measured.
ii) Following the idea 40 wed like to make use of the intersection point of the trails. However, the tractors didnt
meet. So, we need to draw one more trail which would
have been observed if the tractors were meeting at the
road crossing (shift the left tractor together with its trail
appropriately). Then, the wind speed can be related immediately to the distance of the trails intersection point
from the road crossing (you just need to compare it with
the distance of the tractors from the crossing).

19. z

v02
2g

20.
21. vmin =

gx2
2v02

g(a + b + c)

22.
23. Concentric arcs of radii l1 and l2 , where l1 and l2 are the
distances of the instantaneous rotation centre from the top and
bottom plates, respectively.
24. r = 4R

25. a1 = v02 / 3l; a2 = v02 / 3l

26. v0 = v/(1 + sin )
27. u = v tan
28. u =

v
v /l1

3.4 m/s.

29. u 15 km/h 4.2 m/s, 27 .

30. yes

(
31. t = 2 R
g 1+

R2
g

)
and = arctan(t).

32. counterclockwise; 3; 15 Hz
cm/s
33. 7 cm/s; 12

+1/49

5.7 cm/s.

34. l/2.

35. L 3.

(
)
36. v0 = v cos1 1

37. nv0 2H/g = mR cos with integer n and m

38. a = 2a0 sin(/2)
39. a = v1 v2 /l

40. v r2 g/2h

ANSWERS

41. a logarithmic spiral ( vc )2 1 ln rr0 = .

42. v0 /6, v0 /2, v0 5/6, 2v02 /36l

1. vr = 4 km/h, vb = 16 km/h.
2. 4 km.

3. u = v/2 1 (a/2r)2 .

43. l sin , where tan = |v1 sin v2 sin |/|v2 cos v1 cos |

4. Ascending velocity 4.85 m/s; h = 2000 m; wind velocity 44. R/ cos(/2)

u = 2.8 m/s.
45. a tan /b
5. Straight line.
46. 2 2 kr(2k + 1)/v

6. 2/ 5 m/s

47. v12 + v22 2v1 v2 cos / sin

L
s
7. t = u + v cos = 1.8 s

48. 2v/g; a parabola.

8. u = v/2 cos ; = 180 2

49. 4.5gR
9. v(t) 2a.
50. 20 cm/s.
10. 18.75 m

51. i) from A and C to the capital; ii) a(2 2); iii) for A-B:
0
until turning point, 2v henceforth; for B-C: constantly v 2;
iv) speed drops briefly down to 2v.

11. 78 m

12. t = (t21 t22 )/2

13. 8d tan

52. vmin = vmax = r.

14. = arcsin 0.5 = 30

53. A circle (ring) touching the ground and passing through

the wheels centre.

15. 6.7 s
16. e100 1 seconds

+ l sin
17. x = cos (l h tan ) and t = h cos
v
u , where
= arcsin(v sin /u)
)
(
( w
)
u
18. x = a u cos

tan

,
where

=
arcsin

w+v .

54. blue pulse was the first one; 300 ms < T < 500 ms;
v 65 cm/s, 23 rad/s, R 5 cm
55. We define k 0.014 via the shape of the jet y = kx2 using
(
)
the units of the figure grid; then d = 32V 2 k/ 2 t2 g 1 mm.

page 24

56. Let a line s1 connect the triangle (henceforth T ) with two

lower stars, and a line s2 the square (S) with the remaining
star; draw a horizontal line s3 through the intersection point
of s1 and s2 ; mark the intersection point Q of the lines s3 and
T A; the starting point B of the other boat is the intersection
point of the upper coast with the line SQ.
57. 35 min
58. 1 min;

1.5 min 73 s.

59. 150 or 600 pixels.

60. h 3.2L.
61.

R
v

arccos uv +

L
u

R u2 v 2 .

62. v 1.8 m/s; h 2.0 m

63. i) vwind 13 km/h; ii) vwind 21 km/h

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