Anglo-Chinese School (Independent)

Year 5 IBDP Physics 2016

2.2 Forces

1 The diagram shows five bodies (a)-(e) together with the mass of each. Calculate the
acceleration of each body.

[(a) 5.0 m s-2 (b) 4.0 m s-2 (c) 7.5 m s-2 (d) 1.2 m s-2 (e) 5.0 m s-2]

2 Two women push a car of mass 800 kg to get it started. Each pushes with a force of 300
N and the resistance forces are equivalent to an opposing force of 160 N. What is the
acceleration of the car? [0.55 m s-2]

3 A person is unlikely to be killed in a car crash if, held by a

seatbelt, he or she accelerates at -250 m s-2 or less.
(a) What is the pull exerted by the seatbelt on
(i) a man of mass 84 kg,
(ii) a child of mass 32 kg,
at this maximum safe acceleration.
(b) Express your answers to (a) as a multiple of the person’s weight.
[(a)(i) 21 kN (ii) 8.0 kN (b) both 26 times]

4 A tractor pulls a log of mass 2000 kg. When the tractor is pulling with a force of 1300 N
the acceleration of the log is 0.050 m s-2. What resistance force does the ground exert
on the log? [1200 N]

5 In a 10 minute interval during the Apollo 11 flight to the Moon the spacecraft’s speed
decreased from 5374 m s-1 to 5102 m s-1 (with the rocket motors not in use). The mass
of the spacecraft was 4.4 x 104 kg. Calculate the average force exerted on the spacecraft
during this time. [2.0 x 104 N]

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6 A boy catches a cricket ball of mass 160 g which is moving at 20 m s-1.
(a) Find the force which he must exert to stop it in
(i) 0.10 s,
(ii) 0.50 s. [(a)(i) 32 N (ii) 6.4 N]
(b) Describe how he can vary the time in this way, and explain the advantage of
lengthening the time in which the ball is stopped.

7 A free-body force diagram for a rear wheel drive car is shown in the diagram.
a. Write a phase describing each of the forces S and T.
b. How are S and T related when the car is moving
(i) at a constant velocity,
(ii) at a constant acceleration a?
(c) Describe what happens to the forces S and T when the drive
applies the brakes and slows the car down.

8 A sprinter of mass 60 kg reaches her top speed of 12 m s-1 in the first 15 m of her run.
a. Calculate her average acceleration during this process.
b. Hence calculate the horizontal force (assumed to be constant) which the ground
has been exerted on her.
c. What size horizontal force has she been exerting on the ground? Explain.

9 A lift has a mass of 1200 kg. Calculate the tension in the cable supporting the lift when
the lift is
a. ascending at a constant velocity,
b. ascending with an upward acceleration of 2.0 m s-2,
c. descending with a downward acceleration of 3.0 m s-2,
d. descending with an upward acceleration of 3.0 m s-2.

10 A pendulum bob hangs by a thread from the roof of a railway carriage. Describe and
explain, using free-body diagrams for the pendulum bob, what happens to the bob
when the train is
a. accelerating forward,
b. moving at a constant velocity,
c. slowing down.
For (a) make any possible calculations if the train acceleration is 0.80 m s-2.

11 The diagram shows a block on a horizontal frictionless table. A thread attached to it runs
horizontally to a pulley at the edge of the table, passes over the pulley, and supports a
load of mass 1.0 kg. The size of the acceleration of both the block and the load is
2.0 m s-2.

a. Draw free-body force diagrams for

(i) the block
(ii) the load,
labeling as T the pull of the thread on each of these
bodies.
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 b. Use the free-body force diagram for the load to find the size of T.
c. Now use the free-body force diagram for the block to find the mass of the
block.

12 A balloon is used to carry scientific equipment. The diagram represents a balloon just
before take-off. The balloon’s basket is attached to the ground by two fixing ropes.

There is a force F vertically upwards of 2.15x103 N on the balloon. The total

mass of the balloon and its basket is 1.95x102 kg.

(a) State the magnitude of the resultant force on the balloon when it is attached to the
ground.

(b) If the tension in one of the fixing ropes is T. Write an expression for the vertical
component of the tension.

(c) Calculate the tension in either of the fixing ropes.

(d) The fixing ropes are quickly released and the balloon accelerates upwards.
Calculate the magnitude of the initial acceleration.

(e) The balloon reaches a terminal speed 10 seconds after take-off. The upward force F
remains constant. Describe how the magnitude of air friction (air resistance) on the
balloon varies during the first 10 seconds of the flight.

13 The coefficient of kinetic friction between a 35-kg crate and the floor is 0.30.

(a) What horizontal force is required to move the crate at a steady speed across
the floor?

(b) What horizontal force is required if  k is zero? [100 N, 0 N]

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14 A force of 48.0 N is required to start a 5.0-kg box moving across a horizontal
concrete floor.

(a) What is the coefficient of static friction between the box and the floor?

(b) If the 48.0-N force continues, the box accelerates at 0.70 m s-2. What is the
coefficient of kinetic friction? [0.98, 0.91]

15 The coefficient of static friction between hard rubber and normal street pavement is
about 0.8. On how steep a hill (maximum angle) can you leave a car parked? [400]

16 A 15.0-kg box is released on a 32º incline and accelerates down the incline at 0.30 m s-2.

(a) Find the friction force impeding its motion.

(b) What is the coefficient of kinetic friction? [73 N, 0.59]

17 A box is given a push so that it slides across the floor. How far will it go, given that the
coefficient of kinetic friction is 0.20 and the push imparts an initial speed of 4.0 m s-1?
[ 4.1 m]

18 Police investigators, examining the scene of an accident involving two cars, measure 72-
m-long skid marks of one of the cars, which nearly came to a stop before colliding. The
coefficient of kinetic friction between rubber and the pavement is about 0.80. Estimate
the initial speed of that car assuming a level road. [33.6 m s-1]

19 A 65-kg ice skater coasts with no effort for 75 m until she stops. If the coefficient of
kinetic friction between her skates and the ice is  k  0.10, how fast was she moving at
the start of her coast? [12 m s-1]