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Center of Mass & Collision Rg-CM & C-XI-13

EXERCISE # IV

1. Three particles of mass 1kg,2kgand 3kgare placed at the corners A, B and C, respectively of
an equilateral triangle ABC of side1m. Find the distance of their centre of mass from corner
A.

2. Two particles of mass 1kg and 2kg respectively are initially 10m apart. At timet = 0, they
start moving towards each other with uniform speed 2m/s and 1m/s respectively. Find the
displacement of their centre of mass at t = 1 s.

3. A cart of mass Mis at rest on a frictionless horizontal surface and a

pendulum bob of mass m hangs from the roof of the cart (Fig.). The
string breaks, the bob falls on the floor, makes
several collisions on the floor and finally lands up in a small slot
made in the floor. The horizontal distance between the string and the
slot is L. Find the displacement of the cart during this process.
M
4. The balloon, the light rope and the monkey shown in fig. are at rest in the air.
If the monkey reaches the top of the rope, by what distance does the balloon L
descend? Mass of the balloon = M, mass of the monkey = m and the length
of the rope ascended by the monkey = L m

5. Two blocks A and B of equal masses are attached to a string

passing over a smooth pulley fixed to a wedge as shown in figure.
A
Find the magnitude of acceleration of centre of mass of the two B

blocks when they are released from rest. Neglect friction. 60° 30°

6. A man of mass M having a bag of mass m slips from the roof of a tall
building of height H and starts falling vertically (fig.). When at a
heighth from the ground.He notices that the ground below him is pretty H
hard, but there is a pond at a horizontal distance x from the line of fall. h
In order to save himself he throws the bag horizontally (with respect toself) in the
x
direction opposite to the pond. Calculate the minimum horizontal velocity imparted
to the bag so that the man lands in the water. If the man just succeeds to avoid the hard ground pond
hard ground, where will the bag land?

7. A projectile is fired at a speed of 100m s at an angle of 37 above the horizontal. At the highest point,
the projectile breaks into two parts of mass ratio 1:3, the smaller coming to rest.
Find the distance from the projection point to the point where the heavier piece
lands.

8. Find the distance of centre of mass from O of a composite solid cone and solid
cylinder made of same material.

9. Two blocks of equal masses m are released from the top of a smooth fixed
wedge as shown in the figure. Find the magnitude of the acceleration of the
centre of mass of the two blocks.

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10. Two planks each of mass m and length L are connect ed by a frictionless, massless
hinge as shown in the figure. Initially the syst em is at rest on a level frictionless
surface. The vertical plank falls anticlockwise and finally com es t o rest on the
top of the horizontal plank. Find the displacement of the hinge till the two planks
come in contact.

11. Two balls of equal masses are projected upward simultaneousl y, one from the ground with speed
50 m/s and other from a 40 m high tower with initial speed 30 m/s. Find the maximum height attained
by their centre of mass.

12. A uniform thin rod of mass M and lengthL is standing vertically along the y-axis on a
smooth horizontal surface, with its lower end at the origin (0,0). A slight disturbance at
time t = 0 causes the lower end to slip on the smooth surface along the positive x -axis,
and the rod starts falling.
(a) What is the path followed by the centre of mass of the rod during its fall.

(b) Find the equation of trajectory of a point P on the rod located at a distance r from
the lower end. What is the shape of the path of this point?

13. A system consists of two identical cubes, each of mass m, linked together by
the compressed weightless spring of spring constant k. The cubes are
connected by a thread which is burned through at a certain moment. Find
to what maximum height will centre of mass of this system rise if the initial
compression of the spring is 7mg/k.

14. Two particles of massm and 2m moving in opposite directions collide elasticall y with velocities v and
2v. Find their velocities a fter collision.

15. A moving particle of mass mmakes a head on elastic collision with a particle of mass2mwhich is
initially at rest. Find the fraction of kinetic energy lost by the colliding particle after collision.

16. A ball of mass m moving at a speed v makes a head on collision with an identical ball at rest. The kinetic energy of the
balls after the collision is 3/4th of the original. Find the coefficient of restitution.

17. In figure a series of n identical balls is shown on a 

smooth horizontal surface. If number 1 moves 1 2 4 n
horizontally with speed v hit number 2 which in turn
collides with number 3, etc. and if the coefficient of restitution for each impact is e, determine the
speed of the n t h ball.

18. Two pendulum bobs of masses m and 2m collide elasticall y at the

lowest point in their motion. When the centres are at the same level
as shown in the figure. If both the balls are released from a height H
above the lowest point, to what heights do they rise for the first time 2 1 +ve
after collision? v2 v1

19. Three balls A, B and C are placed on a smooth horizontal surface.

Given that m A = m C = 4m B . Ball B collides with ball C with an A B v C
initial velocit y v as shown in figure. Find the total number of collisions
between the balls. All collisions are elastic.

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20. A ball is moving with velocity2 m/s towards a heavy wall moving towards the ball with
speed 1 m/s as shown in figure. Assuming collision to be elastic, find the velocity
of ball immediately after the collision.
2m/s 1m/s

21. A ball of massm=1 kg falling vertically with a velocity v0=2 m/s strikes a wedge
m
of mass M = 2 kgkept on a smooth horizontal surface as shown in figure. The
v0
coeffici ent of restitution between the ball and the wedge is e = 1/2. Find M
30°
the velocit y of the wedge and the ball immediatel y after collision.

22. A smooth sphere is moving on a horizontal surface with velocit y vector 2i+2j immediatel y before it
hits a vertical wall. The wall is parallel to j and the coeffici ent of restitution of the sphere and the
wall is e = 1/2. Find the vel ocit y of the sphere after it hits the wall?

23. A sphere of mass m is moving with a velocit y (4i-j) m/s hits a smooth wall and rebounds with velocit y
(i+3j) m/s . Find (a) the impulse it recei ves (b) the coeffici ent of restitution between the sphere and
the wall.

24. Two sm ooth spheres, Aand B of equal radii, lie on a smooth horizontal table. A is of mass m and B is
of mass 3m. The spheres are projected t owards each other with vel ocit y vectors (5i+2j) m/s and(2i -j)
m/s respectivel y and when they collide the line joi ning their centres is parallel to the vect or i. If th e
coeffici ent of restitution between A and Bis e = 1/ 3, find their vel ocities aft er impact and the loss in
kinetic energy caused by the collision. Find also the magnitude of the impulses that act at the instant
of impact.

25. A sphere A is of mass m and another sphere B of identical size but of mass 2 m, move t owards each
other with velocit y i+2j and –i+3j respectivel y. T hey collide when their line of centr es is parallel to
( i-j ). If e = 1/2, find the velocities of A and B after impact in vector form.

26. A ball moving translationally collides elastically with another, stationary, ball of the same mass. At the
moment of impact the angle between the straight line passing through the centres of the balls and the
direction of the initial motion of the striking ball is equal toθ = 450. Assuming the balls to be smooth. Find the
fraction n of the kinetic energy of the striking ball that turned into potential energy at the moment of the
maximum deformation.

27. Two blocks A and B of masses m and 2m

C A B
respectivel y are placed on a smooth floor. They are v0
m m 2m
connected by a spring. A third block Cof mass m
moves with a vel ocit y v 0 along the line joiningA and
B and collides elastically with A, as shown in figure. At a certain instant of time t 0 after collision, it is
found that the instantaneous velocities of A and B are the same. Further at this instant the compressi on
of the spring is found to be x 0 . Determine
(i ) the common velocit y of A andB at time t 0 , and (ii)the spring constant.

28. A small ball of mass m is placed on top of a “superball” of mass M, and the two
m

balls are dropped to the floor from height h. How high does the small ball rise
M
after the collision? Assume that collisions with the superball are elastic, and that
m<<M. Assume that the balls are slightly separated when the superball hits the

fl oor.

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29. Two balls of mass m 1 = 100 gm and m 2 = 300 gm are suspended from Aby t wo
3
l
equal inextensible threads, each of length l = 32/35 m. Ball of mass m 1 is drawn 2
A
aside and held at the same level as A but at a distance √3l/2, from A, as shown
m1
in Fig. When ball m 1 is released, it collides elasticall y with the stationary ball
of mass m 2 . Calculate l
(i) velocit y u 1 with which the ball of mass m 1 collides with the other ball and
m2
(ii)maximum rise of centre of mass of the ball of mass m 2 . (g = 10 ms – 2 )

30. Two identical bl ocks A and Beach of mass 2 kg are hanging stationary by a light
inextensible string, passing over a light and frictionless pulley, as shown in fig. A
shell C, of mass 1 kg moving vertically upwards wi th vel ocit y 9 ms – 1 collides with
bl ock B and gets stuck to it. Calculate
(i) time after which block B starts moving downwards,
A B
(ii) maximum height reached by B and
C
(iii)loss of mechanical energy upto that instant. (g = 10 ms – 2 )

31. Two identical blocks Aand B each of mass m are connected by a light
spring of spring constant k. The system is placed on a smooth
horizontal surface such that block A touches the rigid wall. Block B is
shifted towards the wall by a distance x and then released, so that the A B C

system moves t owards right. When separation bet ween the blocks A
and B is maximum the block B makes head on elastic collision with an identical block C (mass m).
Find the minimum distance bet ween A and B after collision. Natural length of the spring is L.

32. In the figure shown, each tiny ball has mass m, and the string has length L. One of the
ball is imparted a velocity u, in the position shown, in which the initial distance between
the balls is L/√3. The motion of ball occurs on smooth horizontal plane.Find the impulse
of the tension in the string when it becomes taut .

33. Two masses, nm and m, start simultaneously from the intersection of two straight lines
with velocities v and nv respectively. It is observed that the path of their centre of mass is a
straight line bisecting the angle between the given straight lines. Find the magnitude of the velocity of centre of inertia.
(here θ = angle between the lines)

34. A shell of mass 1 kg is project ed with velocit y20 m/s at an angle 60 0 1m

with horizontal. It collides inelastically with a ball of mass1 kg which is
suspended through a thread of length 1 m. The other end of the thread is 20m/s
16 m
attached to the ceiling of a trolley of mass 18 kgas shown in figure. 60°
Initially the trolley is stationary and it is free to move along horizontal
rails without any friction. What is the maximum deflection of the thread with vertical? Take g =10
m/s 2

35. A block of mass M with a semicircular track of radius R rests on a

horizontal frictionless surface as shown in figure. A uniform cylinder of R

mass m and radius r is released from rest at one of the edges of the
M
semicircular track. The cylinder slips on the frictionless semicircular track.
How far has the block moved when cylinder reaches the bottom of the
track, and how fast is it moving then?

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36. Three particles A,B and C of mass m,2m and 3m respectively lie on a A m B
2m
smooth horizontal table at the vertices of an equilateral triangle. A and B as
well as B and C are connected by light inextensible strings. C is given a
velocity v0 parallel to AB as shown in figure. Show that A eventually
v0
3m
begins to move with a velocity 2v0 19 .
C

37. The figure shows a smooth spherical ball of mass m striking two
identical equilateral triangular wedges of mass M. At the instant of
impact velocity of the ball is v0 . Taking coefficient of restitution
e.Determine the velocities of the sphere & the wedges just after
collision. Neglect friction everywhere.

38. Two particles A and B of equal masses lie close together on a horizontal table and are connected by
a light inextensible string of length L. A is projected vertically upwards with a velocity 10gL . Find the
velocity with which it reaches the table again.

39. A 5.00-g bullet moving with an initial speed of 400 m/s is

fired and passes through a 1.00-kg block, as shown in figure .
The block, initially at rest on a frictionless, horizontal surface,
is connected to a spring of force constant 900 N/m. If the
block moves 5.00 cm to the right after impact, find (a) the
speed at which the bullet emerges from the block and
(b) the energy lost in the collision.

40. A chain of length L and total mass M is released from rest with its lower
end just touching the top of a table, as shown in Figure (a). Find the
force exerted by the table on the chain after the chain has fallen through a
distance x, as shown in figure (b). (Assume each link comes to rest the
instant it reaches the table.)

41. A rocket ejects a steady jet whose velocity is equal to u relative to the rocket. The gas discharge rate
equals  kg/s. Demonstrate that the rocket motion equation in this case takes the form
ma  F  u 
where m is the mass of the rocket at a given moment, a is its acceleration and F is the external force.

42. A rocket moves in the absence of external forces by ejecting a steady jet with velocity u constant
relative to the rocket. Find the velocity v of the rocket at the moment when its mass is equal to m, if
at an initial moment it possessed the mass mo and its velocity was equal to zero. Make use of the
formula given in the foregoing problem.

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43. Sand from a stationary hopper falls onto a moving conveyor belt at the rate of 5.00 kg/s, as shown in
figure.The conveyor belt is supported by frictionless rollers and moves at a constant speed of 0.75
m/s under the action of a constant horizontal external force Fext supplied by the motor that drives
the belt. Find (a) the sand’s rate of change of momentum in the horizontal direction, (b) the force of
friction exerted by the belt on the sand, (c) the external force Fext, (d) the work done by Fext in 1 s,
and (e) the kinetic energy acquired by the falling sand each second due to the change in its
horizontal motion. (f) Why are the answers to parts (d) and (e) different?

44. A car loaded with sand moves along a horizontal plane due to a constant force F coinciding with the
cart’s velocity vector. In the process, sand spills through a hole in the bottom with a constant velocity
m kg/s. Find the acceleration and velocity of the cart at the moment t, if at the initial moment t = 0
the cart loaded with sand had amass m0 and its velocity was equal to zero. The friction is to be
neglected.

45. A chain of length L and mass M lies in a pile on the floor. If its end A is raised vertically
at a constant speed v0 , express in terms of the length y of chain which is off the floor at
any given instant

(a) the magnitude of the force F applied at end A

(b) the reaction of the floor

(c) energy lost during the lifting of the chain

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