FACULTY OF SCIENCE

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS (APK)

MODULE: PHYE0A1

Paper A

2022

EXAMINER: Prof ARE Prinsloo

Dr O Alimi
Ms C van Niekerk
MODERATOR: Mr P Molefe

TIME: 120 min MARKS: 100

_________________________________________________________________________

INSTRUCTIONS: Question Marks

1 20
1. This is a fill in paper.
2. Write with black or blue pen. 2 20
3. No pencil answers will be accepted. 3 9
4. Write neatly.
5. If you need more space write on the back of the 4 10
question page and indicate that for the marker.
5 17
6. If a section is rough work indicate as such.
7. Answer all questions. 6 6
8. This paper consists of 15 pages with 7 questions.
7 18
9. Programmable calculators are not allowed.
10. Remember, explanations also count marks.
Total: 100

Surname and Initial:________________________________________

Student Number:___________________________________________

ID/ Passport Number:_______________________________________

Venue: ___________________________________________________
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 QUESTION 1 [20]
Instructions: This is a multiple choice question. Indicate your answer by UNDERLINE
and CIRCLE the correct answer. Each question counts two marks.

1. Four vectors �𝐴𝐴⃗, 𝐵𝐵

�⃗ , 𝐶𝐶⃗, 𝐷𝐷
�⃗� all have the same magnitude. The angle between adjacent
vectors is 45° as shown. The correct vector equation is:

A) 𝐴𝐴⃗ − 𝐵𝐵
�⃗ − 𝐶𝐶⃗ + 𝐷𝐷
�⃗ = 0
�⃗ − √2𝐶𝐶⃗ = 0
�⃗ + 𝐷𝐷
B) 𝐵𝐵
C) 𝐴𝐴⃗ + 𝐵𝐵
�⃗ = 𝐶𝐶⃗ + 𝐷𝐷
�⃗

D) 𝐴𝐴⃗ + 𝐵𝐵
�⃗ + 𝐶𝐶⃗ + 𝐷𝐷
�⃗ = 0
𝐴𝐴⃗+𝐶𝐶⃗
E) �⃗
= −𝐵𝐵
√2

2. The velocity of a particle moving along the x-axis varies according to the expression
𝑣𝑣𝑥𝑥 = 40 − 5𝑡𝑡 2 , where 𝑣𝑣𝑥𝑥 is in meters per second and t is in seconds. What is the average
acceleration in the time interval t = 0 to t = 2.0 s?
A) 10 m/s 2 B) −10 m/s 2
C) −5 m/s 2 D) 5 m/s2
E) 3 m/s 2

3. A car drives in a straight line on a level road with a constant acceleration of 3 m/s2. A ball
is suspended by a string from the ceiling of the car; the ball does not swing, being at rest
with respect to the car. What angle does the string make with the vertical?
A) 17° B) 35°
C) 52° D) 73°
E) Cannot be found without knowing the length of the string

4. A student cleaning the floor of his room pulls a

vacuum cleaner with a force of magnitude F = 50.0 N
at an angle of 30° with the horizontal (as shown in the
figure). Calculate the work done by the force on the
vacuum cleaner as the vacuum cleaner is displaced
3.00 m to the right.
A) 110 J B) 180 J
C) 160 J D) 200 J
E) 130 J

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 5. In a particular crash test, a car of mass 1500 kg collides with a wall. The initial and final
velocities of the car are 𝑣𝑣
���⃗=
𝚤𝚤 − 15.0 𝒊𝒊̂ m/s and ����⃗
𝑣𝑣𝑓𝑓 = 2.60 𝒊𝒊̂ m/s, respectively. If the collision
lasts 0.150 s, find the impulse caused by the collision.
A) 4.81 × 104 𝒊𝒊̂ kg.m/s B) 2.64 × 104 𝒊𝒊̂ kg.m/s
C) 1.65 × 104 𝒊𝒊̂ kg.m/s D) 0.77 × 104 𝒊𝒊̂ kg.m/s
E) 3.21 × 104 𝒊𝒊̂ kg.m/s

6. A wheel rotates with a constant angular acceleration of 3.50 rad/s2 . If the angular speed
of the wheel is 2.00 rad/s at 𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑖 = 0, through what angular displacement does the wheel
rotate in 2.00 s?
A) 11.0 rad B) 16.6 rad
C) 18.4 rad D) 12.3 rad
E) 19.5 rad

7. Mars has a mass of 0.1075 times the mass of Earth and a diameter of 0.533 times the
diameter of Earth. The acceleration of a body falling near the surface of Mars is:
A) 0.30 m/s2 B) 1.4 m/s2
C) 2.0 m/s2 D) 3.7 m/s2
E) 26 m/s2

8. A wire 4 m long, stretches by 1.6 mm when under a tension of 200 N. How much will an
equally thick wire 8 m long, under the same tension and of the same material stretch?
A) 3.2 mm. B) 1.6 mm.
C) 0.8 mm. D) 0.4 mm.
E) 6.4 mm

9. A submarine (sub A) travels through water at a speed of 8.00 m/s, emitting a sonar wave at
a frequency of 1400 Hz. The speed of sound in the water is 1533 m/s. A second submarine
(sub B) is located such that both submarines are traveling directly toward each other. The
second submarine is moving at 9.00 m/s. What frequency is detected by an observer riding
on sub B as the subs approach each other?
A) 2108 Hz B) 1533 Hz
C) 1355 Hz D) 1416 Hz
E) 3012 Hz

10. A surveyor's 30-m steel tape is correct at 20°C. On a hot day, the tape has expanded to
30.02 m. On that day, the tape indicates a distance of 15.52 m between two points. The
true distance between these points is:
A) 15.50 m B) 15.51 m
C) 15.52 m D) 15.53 m
E) 15.54 m

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Question 2 [20]
Answer the following conceptual questions using physics arguments and if possible
support your discussions using equations.

2.1 Consider the one-dimensional motion of a spacecraft that drifts through space at
constant velocity. Is there any point(s) in the motion of the craft that the instantaneous
velocity has the same value as the average velocity over the entire motion? Explain
your answer. (2)

2.2 Two projectiles are thrown with the same initial speed, one at an angle 𝜃𝜃 with respect
to the level ground and the other at angle 90° − 𝜃𝜃. Both projectiles strike the ground at
the same distance from the projection point. Are both projectiles in the air for the same
length of time? Explain your reasoning. (3)

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2.3 Suppose you are driving a car at a high speed. Why should you avoid slamming on
your brakes when you want to stop in the shortest possible distance? What will be the
best approach? (Note: newer cars have antilock brakes that avoid this problem.) (3)

2.4 An open box slides across a frictionless, icy surface of a frozen lake. What happens
to the speed of the box as water from a rain shower falls vertically downward into the
box? Explain. (2)

2.5 A massless string with a masses tied to both ends rotates about a fixed axis through
the center. Can the total acceleration of the string/mass combination be zero if the
angular velocity is constant? Explain your answer. (2)

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2.6 If you stretch a rubber hose and pluck it, you can observe a pulse traveling up and
down the hose. What happens to the speed of the pulse if you stretch the hose more
tightly? What happens to the speed if you fill the hose with water? (4)

2.7 Some picnickers stop at a convenience store to buy bags of potato chips. They then
drive up into the mountains to their picnic site. When they unload the food, they notice
that the bags of chips are puffed up like balloons. Explain why this happened? (2)

2.8 Suppose the volume of an ideal gas is doubled while the pressure is reduced by half.
Does the internal energy of the gas increase, decrease, or remain the same?
Explain. (2)

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Question 3 [9]
3.1 The position of an object as a function of time is given by

𝒙𝒙(𝑡𝑡) = (4 + 6𝑡𝑡 − 𝑡𝑡 2 )𝒊𝒊̂ m

a) When is the object momentarily stationary? (3)

b) Calculate the average acceleration of the object between 𝑡𝑡 = 1 s and 𝑡𝑡 = 4 s. (3)

3.2 An athlete runs in a 200 m race. When the starting pistol fires, the position of the
athlete is 𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒊 = (−100 m)𝒊𝒊̂ − (16 m)𝒋𝒋̂. The position of the finish line is 𝒓𝒓𝒇𝒇 = 16 m𝒋𝒋̂.
Calculate the magnitude of the displacement of the athlete between start and finish.
(3)

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Question 4 [10]
4.1 A simple, non-deformable, unbreakable object is accelerated by a varying force along the
x-direction from an initial point, xi, to a point, xf, having an initial velocity, vi, to a final
velocity, vf. Make use of this information to derive the work-kinetic energy theorem. (4)

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4.2 In the figure, a block slides along a track from one level to a higher level after passing
through an intermediate valley. The track is frictionless until the block reaches the
higher level. There a frictional force stops the block in a distance d. he block’s initial
speed 6.0 m/s, the height difference h is 1.1 m, and 𝜇𝜇𝑘𝑘 is 0.60. Make use of the needed
equations and physics arguments to the distance d the block travelled. (6)

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Question 5 [17]
5.1 An object with mass 𝑚𝑚1 interacts with a second object 𝑚𝑚2 through a mutual attractive
force. At the instant shown in the diagram below, object 𝑚𝑚1 has a velocity 𝒗𝒗1 while 𝑚𝑚2
has a velocity 𝒗𝒗𝟐𝟐 . Show that the total momentum of the system 𝒑𝒑 = 𝑚𝑚1 𝒗𝒗𝟏𝟏 + 𝑚𝑚2 𝒗𝒗𝟐𝟐 does
not change with time. (4)

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5.2 If the net force on a rigid body is zero and the net torque around a certain axis of
rotation is zero, show that the net torque around any other axis is zero. (6)

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5.3 A 15 m long ladder is resting against a frictionless wall as shown in the diagram below.
The angle between the floor and the ladder is 60°. The weight of the ladder is 500 N.
A 800 N student wants to climb up the ladder in order to get to the bag of cheese
flavoured snacks at its top. Just as the student has climbed 5 m up the ladder, the
ladder starts to slip. Calculate the coefficient of static friction between the floor and the
ladder. (7)

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Question 6 [6]
6.1 Let us analyzed a cable used to support an actor as he swung onto the stage.
Suppose the tension in the cable is 940 N as the actor reaches the lowest point.
a) What diameter should a 10-m-long steel cable have if we do not want it to stretch more
than 0.50 cm under these conditions? (5)
Given: Ycable = 20 ×10¹⁰ N/m²

b) Suggest with motivations how the cable’s strength properties can be improved? (1)

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Question 7 [18]
7.1 A 0.500 kg cart connected to a light spring for which the force constant is 20.0 N/m
oscillates on a frictionless, horizontal air track.
a) Calculate the maximum speed of the cart if the amplitude of motion is 3.00 cm. (4)

b) What is the velocity of the cart when the position is 2.00 cm? (4)

c) Calculate the kinetic and potential energies of the system when the position of the cart
is 2.00 cm. (4)

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7.2 Determine the speed and direction of propagation of the following sinusoidal wave,
assuming that x and y are measured in meters and t is in seconds:
y = 1.5 sin(12t + 3x). (2)

7.4 Two small speakers emit sound waves. Speaker A has an output of 2 milli-Watt (mW),
and speaker B has an output of 1.5 mW. Determine the sound level at point C, which
is 4 m from A and 5 m from B. (4)

END OF PAPER

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