Fall 2004 Part 1

Fall 2004 Qualifying Exam
Part I
Calculators are allowed. No reference material may be used.

Please clearly mark the problems you have solved and want to be graded.
Do only mark the required number of problems.
Physical Constants:
Planck constant: h = 6.6260755 10-34 Js, = 1.05457266 10-34 Js
Boltzmann constant: kB = 1.380658 10-23 J/K
Elementary charge: e = 1.60217733 10-19 C
Avogadro number: NA = 6.0221367 1023 particles/mol
Speed of light: c = 2.99792458 108 m/s
Electron rest mass: me = 9.1093897 10-31 kg
Proton rest mass: mp = 1.6726231 10-27 kg
Neutron rest mass: mn = 1.6749286 10-27 kg
Bohr radius a0 = 5.29177 10-11 m
Compton wavelength of the electron: c = h/(me c) = 2.42631 10-12 m
Permeability of free space: 0 = 4 10-7 N/A2
Permittivity of free space: 0 = 1/0c2
Useful integral:
x
0
e ax dx
m!
a m 1
Section I:
Work 4 out of 5 problems, problem 1 problem 5. (7 point each)
Problem 1:
An experimentalist makes independent measurements of the length and height of a
rectangular feature. The values and their standard deviations are 10.62 0.46 microns
and 12.46 0.52 microns. Calculate the perimeter P and the area A of the feature
including the standard deviation of each.
Problem 2:
What is the charge on one square kilometer of the earths surface if an electric field of
300 volts per meter is directed vertically downward near the surface?
Problem 3:
A particle of mass m strikes a frictionless, smooth, hard surface at an angle from the
surface normal. The particle bounces off with coefficient of restitution . (The
coefficient of restitution is defined as the ratio of the velocity components along the
normal to the plane of contact after and before the collision.) Find the rebound angle for
the particle as it leaves the surface.
Problem 4:
A rod of length L0 is inclined at angle from the x-axis in its rest frame. Find the
inclination angle of the rod as measured by an observer moving with relativistic speed
v in the x-direction.
Problem 5:
Phonons are quantized lattice vibrations, and many aspects of these excitations can be
understood in terms of simple mode counting.
(a) Estimate the number of phonon modes in 1 cm3 of a crystalline material with an interatomic spacing of 2.
(b) Assuming that in thermal equilibrium each phonon mode has kBT of energy, give a
numerical estimate of the heat capacity E/T of this 1 cm3 of material, in [J/K].
Section II:
Work 6 out of the 9 problems, problem 6 problem 14. (12 points each)
Problem 6:
You have a system of two electrons whose orbital quantum numbers are l1 = 2 and l2 = 4
respectively.
(a) Find the possible values of L (total orbital angular momentum quantum number) for
the system.
(b) Find the possible values of S (total spin angular momentum quantum number) for the
system.
(c) Find the possible values of J (total angular momentum quantum number) for the
system
Problem 7:
A carousel 5.0 m in radius has a pair of 600 Hz sirens mounted on posts at opposite ends
of a diameter. The carousel rotates within an angular velocity of 0.80 rad/s. A stationary
listener is located at a distance of 200 m from the carousel. The speed of sound is 350
m/s.
a) What is the highest siren frequency heard by the listener?
b) What is the maximum beat frequency of the sirens at the position of the listener?
Problem 8:
Two balloons have been filled up with air under atmospheric pressure to volumes V1 and
V2, respectively. They are now submerged under water. A thin string of length L, which
is run through a pulley at a fixed depth H, connects the balloons. (The radii of the pulley
and the balloons are much smaller than the length of the string.) By setting the initial
positions of the balloons, one can achieve a state of equilibrium. Neither balloon is rising
or going down. Determine the difference in the depth of the balloons (in terms of H and
L) under those conditions. The mass of the balloon skins, of the string, and of the air is
negligible. The temperature of the water is constant and equal to the temperature of the
air.
Problem 9:
Galileo wants to demonstrate that unequal masses fall with a uniform acceleration by
dropping two spherically symmetric masses simultaneously from the same height z.
Ideally we know that they should hit the ground at the same time, t = (2z/g)1/2, where g is
the acceleration due to gravity.
Unfortunately for Galileo, the surface of the first sphere is slightly irregular, so the
otherwise negligible air drag induces a rotation with an angular frequency proportional to
the velocity, = v1. The second sphere does not rotate. Assume that is constant and
ignore possible heating of the air by friction.
Find the ratio of impact times t1/t2 of the two spheres. The answer should involve only the
coefficient and the mass m1 and moment of inertia I1 of the first sphere.
Problem 10:
A uniform heavy chain of mass per unit length hangs vertically so that the low end just
touches a horizontal table. The upper end is released and the chain falls on the table.
Find the force the chain exerts on the table after it has fallen a distance x.
Problem 11:
In an idealized problem, a quantum-mechanical particle of mass m is assumed to be in a
one-dimensional square well potential of width a, and infinite walls. Assume that at t = 0
the momentum of the particle is zero and there is a uniform probability of finding the
particle at any location within the well.
(a) Write down a normalized wave function for the particle at t = 0.
(b) A measurement is made of the energy of the particle. What would be the possible
results of the measurement, and what would be the probabilities of each possible value?
Problem 12:
A closed loop shown in the figure below, with a cross section of 0.1 m2, is placed in an
external magnetic field changing with time as B = kt, where k is equal to 1 T/sec. The
magnetic flux is confined to the region inside the loop. R1 has resistance of 3 and R2
has resistance of 2 . Calculate
(a) the value of the current I in the circuit, and
(b) the readings of the voltmeters V1 and V2 and compare those values.
V1
R1
R2
V2
Problem 13:
A spherical region of space of radius a contains a charge Q which is uniformly distributed
within the volume.
(a) Use Gauss's law to determine the magnitude of the electric field at any radius r from
the center of the sphere.
(b) The total electrostatic energy of the sphere may be calculated from the electric field,
using
U 0 E E dV
(SI units).
2 all _ space
Evaluate this expression for the uniformly charged sphere.
(c) Calculate the work required to bring a test charge +q from infinity to the center of the
sphere, using dW = F dr = +qEdr.
Problem 14:
A proton is accelerated, in vacuum, from rest through a potential U and directed
horizontally at a point midway between two horizontal parallel plates which are separated
by 0.80 cm and 5 cm long. An electric field is established between the plates by a 10 kV
voltage supply and causes downward deflection. Find the minimum accelerating
potential U that will avoid the proton striking the lower plate.

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Fall 2004 Qualifying Exam

Calculators are allowed. No reference material may be used.

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