NZPMC Sample Questions Senior Mechanics

NZPMC Senior Mechanics

Sample Questions
1. A 4kg vase falls o↵ the top of a 1.2m tall table. What is its velocity right before it hits
the ground? You may assume that air resistance is negligible.

(a) 47.0m/s
(b) 4.84m/s
(c) 11.76m/s
(d) 96m/s
(e) 3.00m/s

2. A person who weighs 780 N steps onto a scale that is on the floor of an elevator
m
car. If the elevator accelerates upward at a rate of 6 2 , what will the scale read?
s
(a) 85.6
(b) 838
(c) 786
(d) 740
(e) 75.6

3. If a ball is thrown with both angular momentum and translational momentum, and
after its first bounce, its first peak height is greater than the height from which it was
dropped. What can explain this apparent discrepancy with the theory of energy conserva-
tion?

(a) The earth is vibrating with a certain frequency at the time of impact, and hence
the bouncing of the ball and the vibration of the ground must have been in phase in order
for a force to be transferred to the ball in the direction of the motion
(b) Work is done by the reaction force from the ground surface, transferring translational
energy to the dropped ball, hence it bounces higher on the first bounce
(c) The ball, when dropped, has both angular momentum and a downwards force on the
ground surface
(d) Work is done to convert Rotational Kinetic Energy to translational kinetic energy,
which adds to the existing kinetic energy, causing a greater maximum bounce height
(e) Work is done to provide an anti-torque on the spinning ball by the ground surface

kg
4. If a ball of weight 10N and rotational inertia of 25 2 is on a straight frictionless surface
m
at an incline of 45 , what is the rotational momentum of the ball when its vertical height
decreases by 5m?

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NZPMC Sample Questions Senior Mechanics

kg · m2
(a) 30
s
kg · m2
(b) 20
s
kg · m2
(c) 10
s
kg · m2
(d) 0
s
kg · m2
(e) 10
s
5. A spring with a force constant K is stretched a distance X. By what factor must the
spring’s elongation be changed so that the elastic potential energy in the spring is doubled?

(a) 2
(b) 4
(c) 2
(d) 0.5
(e) 0.25

The following questions (questions 6-8) requires knowledge of the Ideal Gas Law.

6. By looking at the ideal gas law equation (P V = nRT , where P is pressure, V is

J
volume, n is moles, R is the universal gas constant (unit ) and T is temperature),
molK
what is a correct statement about the Volume of a balloon as Temperature increases?

(a) The volume will remain unchanged - the universal gas constant changes for di↵er-
ent temperatures, hence will decrease as temperature decreases to minimise the e↵ect of
the change
(b) The volume will remain unchanged - the number of moles will increase to minimise the
e↵ect of the change
(c) The balloon’s volume will decrease
(d) The balloon’s Volume will increase
(e) We do not have enough information to answer this question

7. What is the equation for the rate of change of Volume with respect to Temperature?
You may assume that none of the variables are a function of T except for Volume (hint:
recall the ideal gas law is PV = nRT).
✓ ◆
nR
(a) V T = T
P
(b) V T = nRP T

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NZPMC Sample Questions Senior Mechanics

nR
(c) V T =
P
nR
(d) V T =
PT
nR
(e) V T =
PT2
8. What is the unit for pressure when derived from the units of the ideal gas law equation?
J
Note that R is measured in , T is measured in K, V is measured in m3 , n is in mols.
molK
Ideal gas equation is P V = nRT .

J
(a)
L
J
(b) 3
m
(c) pa
(d) kg · m · s
(e) We do not have enough information to answer this question

9. Which of these is one of the fundamental forces?

(a) Nuclear power

(b) Gravity
(c) Light
(d) Elastic force
(e) Coriolis force

10. Which of these are not fundamental forces?

(a) Gravity
(b) Centripetal Force
(c) Strong Interaction Force
(d) Weak Interaction Force
(e) Electromagnetic Force

11. Which of these statements is true about frictional forces?

(a) Even under friction, the total energy in a system is always conserved
(b) Friction on an object due to its contact with a rough surface is constant, regardless of
how strongly a force pulls the object
(c) Rotation of a wheel on the ground will be easier, if friction acting on the wheel is less
(d) Friction always acts on massive objects

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NZPMC Sample Questions Senior Mechanics

(e) If linear friction is the only retarding force, an object on a surface will accelerate in the
direction of the applied force if the force is parallel to the surface of the object and has a
greater magnitude than the reaction force (between the object and the surface on which it
is on) multiplied by the frictional constant.

12. Three forces are acting on a particle. The three forces are 2, 6, and 9 Newtons.
The resultant of the 6 Newton and 9 Newton forces has a magnitude of which of the fol-
lowing?
(a) 2
(b) 16
(c) 9
(d) 3
(e) 17

13. A man weighing 800 Newtons pushes against a box with a force of 60 Newtons,
but the box does not move. The box weighs 2,500 Newtons. The force that the box exerts
on the man is

(a) 1760
(b) 1640N
(c) 60N
(d) 1100N
(e) We do not have enough information to answer this question
m
14. A car with a mass of 3,500kg is moving at 30 , what is the minimum average braking
s
force that needs to be applied if it was to stop in 15 seconds?

(a) 233N
(b) 1250N
(c) 1750N
(d) 7000N
(e) 3500N

The following problems (15-18) will require you to use the theory explained below on
the air resistance formula.

Drag Force (also known air resistance, a type of friction) is typically negligible in High
School Mechanics problems. The air resistance/drag formula is shown below:

(airdensity)(drag)(area)
airresistance = (constantk)(velocity)2 = · (velocity)2
2

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NZPMC Sample Questions Senior Mechanics

⇢CA 2
Otherwise known as F = kv 2 = v .
2
Drag force is a retarding force that acts against the movement of an object in motion in a
fluid (such as air).

15. If it is known that ⇢ is the density of the air that the object is moving through
kg kg
(units 3 ), and the units for the constant (k) is , use dimensional analysis to determine
m m
the units of CD , the drag coefficient. The units for the drag coefficient is:

Note: when using dimensional analysis, we claim that the resulting unit on the left hand
and right hand side of the equation must be equivalent, given they are simplified and are
in SI units. Any physical equation must always agree with such a claim.

kg 2
(a)
m3
kg 2
(b) 2
m
(c) Unitless
m2
(d)
kg 3
m
(e)
kg 2
16. A UFO is flying at a velocity of 250m/s. The area of the UFO’s wings facing the
wind is 500m2, and the drag coefficient is CD = 0.024. At the altitude the UFO is flying,
kg
the density of the air is ⇢ = 0.4500 3 . What is the force of air resistance acting on the
m
UFO?

(a) 168750N
(b) 337500N
(c) 675N
(d) 29.2 ⇥ 107 N
(e) 83.3 ⇥ 104 N

17. Terminal Velocity is the maximum downwards speed an object achieves when it is
in a force equilibrium. A crate of mass 40kg falls from a plane and reached terminal veloc-
kg
ity in an area with air density of 0.5500 3 The crate experiences a certain drag of 0.030.
m
Calculate the Terminal Velocity of the object in free fall.
(Hint, you will not necessarily require kinematics to solve this problem)
m
(a) 5.87
s

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NZPMC Sample Questions Senior Mechanics

m
(b) 34.5
s
m
(c) 1187
s
m
(d) 13
s
m
(e) 96
s
18. Air resistance decreases the terminal velocity of parachutists, and this is used advanta-
geously when parachutists deploy the parachutes to increase their surface area descending
downwards. If the surface area of the parachutist-parachute object increases by a scale
factor 20, how will the air resistance change?

(a) Air resistance will multiply by 400

(b) Air resistance will increase by 20
(c) Air resistance does not change
(d) Air resistance will decrease by 40
(e) Air resistance will multiply by 20

19. An object with a mass of 4.0 kilograms is kept motionless on an inclined plane by
a force parallel to the plane. The angle of the incline is 30 ; the object is at a vertical
height of 35 meters above the ground. The e↵ect of the coefficient of kinetic friction is so
small that you may regard it as negligible. What is the value of the force preventing the
object from sliding down the inclined plane?

(a) 39.2N
(b) 33.9N
(c) 19.6N
(d) 58.8N
(e) 420N

20. A horizontal force of 15 newtons accelerates a 4.0 kg object from rest along a hor-
m
izontal surface at a rate of 3 2 . What is the magnitude of the frictional force that is
s
retarding the forward motion of the object?

(a) 1.33N
(b) 18N
(c) 27N
(d) 14.25N
(e) 3N

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