2024 F = ma Exam 1

2024 F = ma Exam

25 QUESTIONS - 75 MINUTES

INSTRUCTIONS
DO NOT OPEN THIS TEST UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO BEGIN

• Use g = 10 N/kg throughout, unless otherwise specified.

• You may write in this question booklet and the scratch paper provided by the proctor.

• This test has 25 multiple choice questions. Select the best response to each question, and use a No.2
pencil to completely fill the box corresponding to your choice. If you change an answer, completely
erase the previous mark. Only use the boxes numbered 1 through 25 on the answer sheet.

• All questions are equally weighted, but are not necessarily equally difficult.

• You will receive one point for each correct answer, and zero points for each incorrect or blank
answer. There is no additional penalty for incorrect answers.

• You may use a hand-held calculator. Its memory must be cleared of data and programs. You may
use only the basic functions found on a simple scientific calculator. Calculators may not be shared.
Cell phones may not be used during the exam or while the exam papers are present. You may not
use any external references, such as books or formula sheets.

• The question booklet, answer sheet and scratch paper will be collected at the end of this exam.

• To maintain exam security, do not communicate any information about the questions
or their solutions until after February 24, 2024.

DO NOT OPEN THIS TEST UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO BEGIN

We acknowledge the following people for their contributions to this year’s exams (in alphabetical order):

Tengiz Bibilashvili, Orhun Ciftcioglu, Kellan Colburn, Natalie LeBaron, Brian Skinner, Elena Yudovina and Kevin
Zhou

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 2024 F = ma Exam 2

1. An archer fires an arrow from the ground so that it passes through two hoops, which are both a height h
above the ground. The arrow passes through the first hoop one second after the arrow is launched, and
through the second hoop another second later. What is the value of h?

(A) 5 m
B 10 m
(C) 12 m
(D) 15 m
(E) There is not enough information to decide.

The times t1 and t2 satisfy the equation gt2 /2 − v0 t + h = 0, where v0 is the initial upward velocity.
Therefore, t2 − 2v0 t/g + 2h/g = (t − t1 )(t − t2 ), from which we read off t1 t2 = 2h/g. Plugging in the
numbers gives gives h = 10 m.
Alternatively, notice that if the arrow is at the same height at time t1 = 1 s and t2 = 2 s, then it must
have reached the top of its trajectory at time t = 1.5 s, so it was launched with vertical velocity 15 m/s.
In the first second, the average vertical velocity is therefore (15 + 5)/2 = 10 m/s, giving h = 10 m.

2. An amusement park ride consists of a circular, horizontal room. A rider leans against its frictionless outer
walls, which are angled back at 30◦ with respect to the vertical, so that the rider’s center of mass is 5.0 m
from the center of the room. When the room begins to spin about its center, at what angular velocity
will the rider’s feet first lift off the floor?

A 1.9 rad/s (B) 2.3 rad/s (C) 3.5 rad/s (D) 4.0 rad/s (E) 5.6 rad/s

When the rider’s feet just lift off, the normal force from the floor vanishes, so the riders only experience
a normal force from the walls. That normal force must both cancel the downward gravitational force mg
and provide √the inward centripetal force mv 2 /R = mω 2 R. Thus, tan θ = g/ω 2 R. Solving for ω using
◦
tan 30 = 1/ 3 gives ω = 1.86 rad/s.

3. A simple bridge is made of five thin rods rigidly connected at four vertices.

B C D

The ground is frictionless, so that it can only exert vertical normal forces at B and D. The weight of the
bridge is negligible, but a person stands at its middle, exerting a downward force F at vertex C. In static
equilibrium, each rod can be experiencing either tension or compression. Which of the following is true?

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2024 F = ma Exam 3

(A) Only the vertical rod is in tension.

(B) Only the horizontal rods are in tension.
(C) Both the vertical rod and the diagonal rods are in tension.
D Both the vertical rod and the horizontal rods are in tension.
(E) All of the rods are in tension.

To balance vertical forces at C, the vertical rod has to be in tension. To balance vertical forces at A, the
diagonal rods have to be in compression. And to balance horizontal forces at B and D, the horizontal
rods have to be in tension.

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 2024 F = ma Exam 4

4. A bouncy ball is thrown vertically upward from the ground. Air resistance is negligible, and the ball’s
collisions with the ground are perfectly elastic. Which of the following shows the kinetic energy of the
ball as a function of time? Assume the collisions are too quick for their duration to be seen in the plot.

K K K

(A) (B) (C)

t t t
K K

D (E)

t t

When the ball is in the air, its velocity is v(t) = v0 − gt, so its kinetic energy is proportional to v 2 =
(v0 − gt)2 , which is a concave up parabola. When the ball bounces, its speed stays the same, so the kinetic
energy stays the same and there’s no discontinuity.

5. A massless inclined plane with angle 30◦ to the horizontal is fixed to a scale. A block of mass m is released
from the top of the plane, which is frictionless.

30◦

As the block slides down the plane, what is the reading on the scale?
√ √
(A) 3 mg/4 (B) mg/2 C 3mg/4 (D) 3 mg/2 (E) mg

The scale reading is equal to the vertical component of the normal force of the block on the plane. The
magnitude of the normal force is mg cos θ, and the vertical component is cos θ times this, so the reading
is mg cos2 (30◦ ) = 3mg/4.

6. A pendulum is made with a string and a bucket full of water. When the string is vertical, the bottom of
the bucket is near the ground.

Then, the pendulum is set swinging with a small amplitude, and a very small hole is opened at the bottom
of the bucket, which leaks water at a constant rate. After a few full swings, which of the following best
shows the amount of water that has landed on the ground as a function of position?
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 2024 F = ma Exam 5

(A) (B) C

(D) (E)

The amount of water at each location is proportional to how long the bucket spends there, so it is inversely
proportional to the velocity. Therefore, it is the lowest (but nonzero) at the middle, where the bucket has
maximum velocity, and highest at the endpoints, where the bucket is turning around.

7. A particle travels in a straight line. Its velocity as a function of time is shown below.

v(t)

Which of the following shows the velocity as a function of distance x from its initial position?

v(x) v(x) v(x)

(A) (B) C

x x x
v(x) v(x)

(D) (E)

x x

The particle accelerates uniformly, then travels at a constant velocity for some time, then decelerates
uniformly down to resting. As a function of distance, then, the velocity must also increase, then stay
constant for some time, then decrease down to 0. Since velocity vs. time is symmetric, velocity vs.
distance must be symmetric as well; if the movie were played backwards, it should look the same. When
the particle is accelerating uniformly, its velocity is proportional to t, while the distance is proportional
to t2 (e.g. as in free fall): consequently, velocity is proportional to the square root of distance.

8. A rod of length L is sliding down a frictionless wall.

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 2024 F = ma Exam 6

When the rod makes an angle of 45◦ to the horizontal, the bottom of the rod has speed v. At this moment,
what is the speed of the middle of the rod?

√ √
(A) v/2 B v/ 2 (C) v (D) 2v (E) 2v

The bottom of the rod has rightward velocity v, so by symmetry, the top of the rod has downward velocity
√
v. The velocity of the middle of the rod is the average of these velocities, and thus has magnitude v/ 2.

9. When a car’s brakes are fully engaged, it takes 100 m to stop on a dry road, which has coefficient of kinetic
friction µk = 0.8 with the tires. Now suppose only the first 50 m of the road is dry, and the rest is covered
with ice, with µk = 0.2. What total distance does the car need to stop?

(A) 150 m (B) 200 m C 250 m (D) 400 m (E) 850 m

When the road is dry, the work done on the car by friction is equal to µd mgx, where µd is the coefficient
of friction with the dry road and x = 100 m is the braking distance. This work should be equal to the
car’s initial kinetic energy, mv 2 /2. Equating them gives v 2 /2 = µd gx. When the car partially skids on
ice, this same energy balance is mv 2 /2 = µd gx/2 + µi gy, where µi is the coefficient of friction on ice and
y is the portion of the braking distance that takes place on ice. Inserting the result for v 2 /2 from the
previous equation and solving for y gives y = (x/2) × (µd /µi ) = 200 m. So the total braking distance is
50 + 200 = 250 m.

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 2024 F = ma Exam 7

10. A block of mass m is connected to the walls of a frictionless box by two massless springs with relaxed
lengths ℓ and 2ℓ, and spring constants k and 2k respectively. The length of the box is 3ℓ. The system
rotates with a constant angular velocity ω about one of its walls.

m
ℓ, k 2ℓ, 2k

Suppose the block stays at a constant distance r from the axis of rotation, without touching either of the
walls. What is the value of r?

2kℓ 2kℓ 2kℓ 3kℓ 3kℓ

(A) (B) (C) D (E)
2k − mω 2 2k + mω 2 3k + mω 2 3k − mω 2 3k + mω 2

We balance forces on the block in the reference frame rotating with the box, to give mω 2 r = k(r − ℓ) +
2k(r − ℓ). Solving for r gives the answer.

11. Two hemispherical shells can be pressed together to form a airtight sphere of radius 40 cm. Suppose the
shells are pressed together at a high altitude, where the air pressure is half its value at sea level. The
sphere is then returned to sea level, where the air pressure is 105 Pa. What force F , applied directly
outward to each hemisphere, is required to pull them apart?

A 25,000 N (B) 50,000 N (C) 100,000 N (D) 200,000 N (E) 400,000 N

The inward pressure force on each hemisphere is πr2 ∆P , where r = 40 cm and ∆P = (105 Pa)/2. Plugging
in the numbers gives a force of 25, 000 N.

12. A space probe with mass m at point P traverses through a cluster of three asteroids, at points A, B, and
C. The masses and locations of the asteroids are shown below.

3M C

m P

d
A d d B

M 2M

What is the torque on the probe about point C?

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2024 F = ma Exam 8
√
1 GM m 1 GM m 1 GM m GM m 2 GM m
A √ (B) (C) √ (D) (E)
2 2 d 2 d 2 d d d

Only asteroids A and B contribute to the torque. Using the standard formula for torque, we have
 
GM m d d 1 GM m
τ= √ 2√ −√ = √ .
( 2 d)2 2 2 2 2 d

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 2024 F = ma Exam 9

13. Two frictionless blocks of mass m are connected by a massless string which passes through a fixed massless
pulley, which is a height h above the ground. Suppose the blocks are initially held with horizontal
separation x, and the length of the string is chosen so that the right block hangs in the air as shown.

h
x

If the blocks are relased, the tension in the string immediately afterward will be T . Which of the following
shows a plot of T versus x?

T T T

mg mg mg

(A) x B x (C) x
T T

mg mg

(D) x (E) x

This problem can be solved with limiting cases. When x = 0, this reduces to an Atwood’s machine
with equal masses. Both masses are static, so the tension T = mg. When x → ∞, the string becomes
horizontal, so equating the accelerations of the two masses gives
T T
a=g− =
m m
which yields T = mg/2. The only choice satisfying these limits is (B). Alternatively, with a little trigonom-
etry, you can show that the tension in general is

h2 + x2
T = mg.
h2 + 2x2
Note that in general, the tension also depends on the initial speeds of the blocks. In this problem, we
have made the simplifying assumption that the initial speeds vanish.

14. A bead of mass m can slide frictionlessly on a vertical circular wire hoop of radius 20 cm.

m
m

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2024 F = ma Exam 10

The hoop is attached to a stand of mass m, which can slide frictionlessly on the ground. Initially, the
bead is at the bottom of the hoop, the stand is at rest, and the bead has velocity 2 m/s to the right. At
some point, the bead will stop moving with respect to the hoop. At that moment, through what angle
along the hoop has the bead traveled?

(A) 30◦ (B) 45◦ C 60◦ (D) 90◦ (E) 120◦

When the bead stops moving with respect to the hoop, they must have the same velocity. By conservation
of horizontal momentum, that velocity must be half the initial velocity. Thus, by conservation of energy,
1 1
mv 2 = (2m)(v/2)2 + mg∆h
2 2
where ∆h is the change in height of the bead. Solving gives ∆h = 10 cm, which implies the bead slides
by 60◦ along the hoop.

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 2024 F = ma Exam 11

15. The viscous force between two plates of area A, with relative speed v and separation d, is F = ηAv/d,
where η is the viscosity. In fluid mechanics, the Ohnesorge number is a dimensionless number proportional
to η which characterizes the importance of viscous forces, in a drop of fluid of density ρ, surface tension
γ, and length scale ℓ. Which of the following could be the definition of the Ohnesorge number?
r
ηℓ ρ ρ ρℓ η
r r
(A) √ (B) ηℓ (C) η (D) η E √
ργ γ γℓ γ ργℓ

From the definition of viscosity, the units of η are kg m/s2 . In addition, the units of ρ are kg/m3 and
the units of ℓ are 2
√ m. As for the surface tension, it is a force per length, so its units are kg/s . We thus
conclude that ργℓ has the same units as η, so that choice (E) is the only possibility proportional to η
that is properly dimensionless.

16. A child of mass m holds onto the end of a massless rope of length ℓ, which is attached to a pivot a height
H above the ground. The child is released from rest when the rope is straight and horizontal.

m
ℓ
H

At some point, the child lets go of the rope, flies through the air, and lands on the ground a horizontal
distance d from the pivot. On Earth, the maximum possible value of d is dE . If the setup is moved to the
Moon, which has 1/6 the gravitational acceleration, what is the new maximum possible value of d?

√ √
(A) dE /6 (B) dE / 6 C dE (D) 6 dE (E) 6 dE

This is most easily solved by dimensional analysis: d has to be some function of l, H, m, and g. Of
these, g is the only quantity with seconds in it; since d doesn’t have any seconds in it, the distance cannot
depend on the value of g.

17. Consider the following system of massless and frictionless pulleys, ropes, and springs.

k 2k

3k m

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2024 F = ma Exam 12

Initially, a block of mass m is attached to the end of a rope, and the system is in equilibrium. Next the
block is doubled in mass, and the system is allowed to come to equilibrium again. During the transition
between these equilibria, how far does the end of the rope (where the block is suspended) move?

7 mg 11 mg 13 mg 7 mg 11 mg
(A) (B) (C) (D) E
12 k 12 k 12 k 6 k 6 k

When the block is doubled in mass, it increases the tension in the bottom string by mg, so the third
spring’s length increases by ∆x3 = mg/3k. Since the bottom pulley has two ropes pulling down on it,
the downward force on it increases by 2mg, which means the upward force on the top pulley also has to
increase by 2mg, so the tension in the top string also increases by mg. Then the first and second springs
increases in length by ∆x1 = mg/k and ∆x2 = mg/2k.
Finally, by considering how changes in length of each spring affect the position of the mass, we conclude
11mg
∆x = ∆x1 + ∆x2 + ∆x3 = .
6k

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 2024 F = ma Exam 13

18. A satellite is initially in a circular orbit of radius R around a planet of mass M . It fires its rockets to
instantaneously increase its speed by ∆v, keeping the direction of its velocity the same, so that it enters
an elliptical orbit whose maximum distance from the planet is 2R.

start

2R

end
What is the value of ∆v? (Hint: when the satellite is in an elliptical orbit with semimajor axis a, its total
energy per unit mass is −GM/2a.)
r r r r r
GM GM GM GM GM
(A) 0.08 B 0.15 (C) 0.22 (D) 0.29 (E) 0.41
R R R R R

p
The initial speed in the circular orbit is vi = GM/R. In the elliptical orbit, the semimajor axis is
a = 3R/2, so the total energy per satellite mass is

GM GM 1
− =− + vf2
3R R 2
which implies
4 GM
vf2 = .
3 R
Computing vf − vi gives the answer.

19. A wheel of radius R has a thin rim and four spokes, each of which have uniform density.

m
m

m m

3m

The entire rim has mass m, three of the spokes each have mass m, and the fourth spoke has mass 3m.
The wheel is suspended on a horizontal frictionless axle passing through its center. If the wheel is slightly
rotated from its equilibrium position, what is the angular frequency of small oscillations?
r r r r r
g g 2g g 7g
A (B) (C) (D) (E)
3R 2R 3R R 6R
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2024 F = ma Exam 14

This system is a physical pendulum. The moment of inertia about the center is
1
I = mR2 + (m + m + m + 3m) R2 = 3mR2 .
3
When the system is rotated a small angle θ from equilibrium, the restoring torque comes from the difference
in masses of the top and bottom spokes, so
R
τ = −(3m − m)g sin θ ≈ −mgRθ.
2
p
As a result, we have α = −(g/3R)θ from which we read off ω = g/3R.

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 2024 F = ma Exam 15

20. Four massless rigid rods are connected into a quadrilateral by four hinges. The hinges have mass m, and
allow the rods to freely rotate. A spring of spring constant k is connected across each of the diagonals, so
that the springs are at their relaxed length when the rods form a square.

k
m m
k

Assume the springs do not interfere with each other. If the square is slightly compressed along one of its
diagonals, its shape will oscillate over time. What is the period of these oscillations?
r r r r r
m m m 2m 4m
(A) 2π B 2π (C) 2π (D) 2π (E) 2π
4k 2k k k k

Suppose that one of the masses has moved a distance x from its original position, and it currently has
speed v. By symmetry, all of the other masses have also moved a distance x, and also have a speed v, so
the total kinetic energy is K = (4m)v 2 /2. Each spring is either stretched or compressed by a distance 2x,
so the total elastic potential energy is U = (8k)x2 /2. Thus, the kinetic and potential energy are the same
as p
that of a system
p of mass meff = 4m on a spring of spring constant keff = 8k, so the angular frequency
is keff /meff = 2k/m.

21. A syringe is filled with water of density ρ and negligible viscosity. Its body is a cylinder of cross-sectional
area A1 , which gradually tapers into a needle with cross-sectional area A2 ≪ A1 . The syringe is held in
place and its end is slowly pushed inward by a force F , so that it moves with constant speed v. Water
shoots straight out of the needle’s tip. What is the approximate value of F ?

ρv 2 A21 ρv 2 A21 ρv 2 A31 ρv 2 A31

(A) ρv 2 A1 (B) (C) D (E)
2A2 A2 2A22 A22

If the water has speed v ′ when it leaves the needle tip, then A1 v = A2 v ′ . The water outside the syringe
has atmospheric pressure, so by Bernoulli’s principle, the pressure P of the water inside the syringe obeys

1 1 ρv 2 A21
P − Patm = ρ(v ′2 − v 2 ) ≈ ρv ′2 = .
2 2 2A22

The required force is the area times the pressure difference.

Incidentally, if you don’t know Bernoulli’s principle, you can also solve the problem by equating the power
F v with the rate of change of kinetic energy of the water. However, if you try to equate the force F to
the rate of change of momentum of the water, you’ll get F = ρv 2 A21 /A2 which is incorrect. The reason
this method is wrong is that it doesn’t account for the other forces needed to hold the syringe in place.

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 2024 F = ma Exam 16

22. A spherical shell is made from a thin sheet of material with a mass per area of σ. Consider two points,
P1 and P2 , which are close to each other, but just inside and outside the sphere, respectively. If the
accelerations due to gravity at these points are g1 and g2 , respectively, what is the value of |g1 − g2 |?

(A) πGσ (B) 4πGσ/3 (C) 2πGσ D 4πGσ (E) 8πGσ

Suppose the shell has radius R. By the shell theorem, the gravitational field vanishes inside, so g2 = 0.
The gravitational field just outside has magnitude g1 = GM/R2 where M = 4πσR2 is the total mass of
the shell. Thus, the unknown variable R cancels out, and the answer is 4πGσ.
Note that this is actually a universal statement. Above, we found that it didn’t depend on the sphere’s
radius, but more generally, it is true regardless of the shell’s shape. The reason is that |g1 − g2 | is solely
determined by the mass near P1 and P2 , and if one zooms in enough to a patch of any surface, then it
always looks like an infinite plane, so the answer doesn’t depend on the shape of the surface away from
that patch.

23. Collisions between ping pong balls and paddles are not perfectly elastic. Suppose that if a player holds
a paddle still and drops a ball on top of it from any height h, it will bounce back up to height h/2. To
keep the ball bouncing steadily, the player moves the paddle up and down, so that it is moving upward
with speed 1.0 m/s whenever the ball hits it. What is the height to which the ball is bouncing?

(A) 0.21 m
(B) 0.45 m
(C) 1.0 m
D 1.7 m
(E) There is not enough information to determine the height.

In the reference frame of the paddle, the ball√ loses half its energy during the collision, so the speed of
the ball immediately after the collision is 1/ 2 of its speed immediately before the collision. Let v be
the ball relative to the ground immediately before the collision, then we have (v − 1 m/s) =
the speed of √
(v + 1 m/s)/ 2, or v = 5.83 m/s. The height of the bouncing is v 2 /(2g) = 1.7 m.

24. When a projectile falls through a fluid, it experiences a drag force proportional to the product of its
cross-sectional area, the fluid density ρf , and the square of its speed. Suppose a sphere of density ρs ≫ ρf
of radius R is dropped in the fluid from rest. When the projectile has reached half of its terminal velocity,
which of the following is its displacement proportional to?

(C) R (ρs /ρf )3/2 (D) R (ρs /ρf )2 (E) R (ρs /ρf )3
p
(A) R ρs /ρf B R ρs /ρf

√
If the ball falls a distance d, then its speed in the absence of drag would be v ∼ gd. Thus, if the
drag force has not had a large effect yet, then its magnitude would be Fd ∼ ρf Av 2 ∼ ρf R2 gd, while the
gravitational force has magnitude Fg ∼ ρs R3 g. The object begins to approach terminal velocity when
these are comparable, ρf R2 gd ∼ ρs R3 g, which implies d ∼ (ρs /ρf )R.

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 2024 F = ma Exam 17

25. A yo-yo consists of two massive uniform disks of radius R connected by a thin axle. A thick string is
wrapped many times around the axle, so that the end of the string is initially a distance R from the axle.
Then, the end of the string is held in place and the yo-yo is dropped from rest. Assume that energy losses
are negligible, and that the string has negligible mass and always remains vertical. Below, we show a
cross-section of the yo-yo partway through its descent.

Between the moment the yo-yo is released and the moment the string completely unwinds, which of the
following is true regarding the yo-yo’s acceleration?

(A) It is always zero.

(B) It points downward, but decreases in magnitude over time.
(C) It points downward and has constant magnitude.
(D) It points downward, but increases in magnitude over time.
E None of the above.

As the string unwinds, the radius r of the string remaining about the axle decreases. Specifically, if the
yo-yo has fallen a distance z, and the string has total length ℓ, then

r2 ℓ−z
2
= .
R ℓ
This change in r affects how the energy of the yo-yo is divided between translational and rotational motion.
If the discs have total mass m, conservation of energy gives
1 1
mgz = mv 2 + Iω 2
2 2
where I = mR2 /2 but ω = v/r. Solving for v gives
s
2gz
v= ℓ
1 + 2(ℓ−z)

which has a maximum at around z = 0.6ℓ. Intuitively, in the beginning the yo-yo has roughly constant
acceleration downward, but as the string unwinds, more of the energy goes into the yo-yo’s rotational
motion. In fact, the translational speed of the yo-yo goes to zero when the string completely unwinds, at
which point it’s just spinning in place! Therefore, during the latter part of its fall, the yo-yo has upward
acceleration, so the answer is “none of the above”.
This remains true regardless of the details of the yo-yo, because it only depends on the fact that the radius
r starts equal to R and then becomes very small, since the axle is thin. In particular, changing how r
depends on z, or the moment of inertia of the disc, won’t change the answer.

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