A10289W1

FIRST PUBLIC EXAMINATION

Trinity Term

Preliminary Examination in Physics

Paper CP4: MATHEMATICAL METHODS 2

also

Preliminary Examination in Physics and Philosophy

Thursday 11 June 2015, 2.30 pm – 5 pm

Time allowed: 2 12 hours

Answer all of Section A and three questions from Section B.

The use of calculators is permitted.

A list of physical constants, mathematical formulae

and conversion factors accompanies this paper.

The numbers in the margin indicate the weight that the Moderators expect to
assign to each part of the question.

Do NOT turn over until told that you may do so.

1
 Section A

1. State Gauss’ theorem and use it to evaluate

I
I= A · n̂ dS ,
S

where A = 4xz î y 2 ĵ + yz k̂ and n̂ is a unit vector locally perpendicular to the surface

elements dS of the cube that is bounded by x = 0, x = 1, y = 0, y = 1, z = 0, z = 1. [4]

2. Evaluate the limits


sin x x
(a) lim ,
x!0 x3

1 1
(b) lim .
x!0 x ex 1 [5]

3. Use series expansions for sin x and cos x to obtain the first three non-zero terms
of the series expansion for tan x. Hence find the first three non-zero terms of the series
expansion for exp(tan x). [5]

4. A central force field in three-dimensional space may be written as

F(r) = rf (r)

where r is a radial vector and where f (r) is a function only of radius r. Obtain an
expression for r · F in terms of f (r) and its derivative df
dr .
Hence calculate r · F for the case f (r) = r n 1 and discuss what happens to the
divergence for the case n = 2. [6]

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 5. Define the phase velocity and group velocity of a sinusoidal wave in terms of its
angular frequency ! and wavenumber k. The phase velocity of light in glass increases
with wavelength: show whether the group velocity is greater than or less than the phase
velocity. [4]

6. Evaluate the integral Z Z

I= x dx dy,
A

where A is the finite area enclosed by the parabola y = x2 and the straight line
2x y + 8 = 0. [4]

7. Sketch the region of integration in the (x, y) plane for the integral
Z 1Z p 2 (1 x )
x2 y 2
I= dx e dy
0 0

and evaluate I. [6]

8. Make the change of variables r = x + vt and s = x vt in the wave equation

@2F 1 @2F
= 0,
@x2 v 2 @t2
and hence obtain the solution for the wave equation in terms of functions of r and s. [6]

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 Section B

9. Consider the function of two variables,

z(x, y) = f (x)g(x, y) ,

where f (x) = cos x and g(x, y) = exp( x2 y 2 ).

(a) Show that there are multiple stationary points of the function, that these lie
along the x-axis and that their positions satisfy an equation of the form tan x = k(x).
Give the expression for k(x). [5]
(b) Write down the general expression for a Taylor series expansion of a function
of two variables, to second order. Expand the function z(x, y), given above, as a Taylor
series in (x, y) about a general stationary point to second order, writing the value of z
at a stationary point (xs , 0) as zs . [3]
(c) State the general criteria for determining the nature of the stationary values
of functions of two variables. [4]
(d) Use those criteria to evaluate the nature of all the stationary points of the
function z(x, y). [4]
(e) Show that the function

w(x, y) = h(x)g(x, y) ,

where h(x) = x3 and g(x, y) = exp( x2 y 2 ), has a stationary value at the origin whose
nature cannot be determined by only considering derivatives up to second order. [4]

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 10. (a) Two masses, of mass m1 and m2 , are connected together by a spring, and two
further springs connect each mass to a fixed point, as shown in the figure below. The
masses and springs are aligned horizontally, along the x-axis. The masses are free to
move, free from friction and subject only to the forces imparted by the springs, along
the x-axis only. Each spring may be considered to have negligible mass, and they have
spring constants k1 , k2 and k3 as indicated in the figure.

k1 k2 k3
m1 m2

(i) Obtain an expression for the angular frequencies of the normal modes of the
system, assuming k1 , k2 and k3 are all di↵erent. [5]
(ii) Give a simpler form for these angular frequencies for the case when both
k1 = k3 and m1 = m2 . [2]
(iii) Find the ratio of the amplitude of the motion of mass m1 to that of mass m2
for each of the normal modes in part (ii) above. Describe how the masses move for each
normal mode. [6]
(b) A small mass m is connected to a larger mass M by a spring of spring constant
k as shown in the figure below. The larger mass is subject to an oscillating force
F = F0 cos !t along the x-axis, where ! is the angular frequency, t is time, and F0 is
a constant. The masses are free to move along the x-axis only and are subject only to
the force F and the force imparted by the spring.

F k
M m

Show that the amplitude of the forced oscillations of mass M may be made small
by a suitable choice for the value of k. By considering the dependence of the amplitude
of the forced oscillations on the value of k, discuss what would limit the usefulness of
this result for the damping of forced oscillations? [7]

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 11. (a) Derive the wave equation

@ 2 y(x, t) @ 2 y(x, t)
c2 = 0,
@t2 @x2
describing small amplitude transverse waves on a uniform string of mass per unit length
⇢ and tension T . Derive also a formula for the wave speed c. You may assume that
@y/@x is small and that gravity can be neglected. [4]
(b) Show that the energy transported per unit time by a sinusoidal wave on a
uniform string is
1
P = T !kA2 ,
2
where ! is the angular frequency of the wave, k its wavenumber and A its amplitude. [5]
(c) A string of mass density per unit length ⇢1 is connected to a second string of
mass density per unit length ⇢2 , where ⇢2 = 4⇢1 . A sinusoidal wave propagates along
the lighter string towards the boundary between the strings, where some of the wave is
transmitted into the more massive string, and some is reflected.
Obtain expressions for the amplitudes of the transmitted and reflected waves, and
hence find the values of the transmission and reflection coefficients. Explain your choice
of boundary conditions. [4]
(d) Use the result from part (b) to find: (i) the ratio of the transmitted to incident
power; and (ii) the ratio of the reflected to incident power, in the string system from
part (c). Show that the sum of the reflected and transmitted power equals the incident
power. [3]
(e) Describe what would happen if (i) ⇢1 = ⇢2 , (ii) ⇢1 ⌧ ⇢2 , or (iii) ⇢1 ⇢2 , in
the string system of part (c). Give an interpretation of the sign of the reflection and
transmission coefficients in these cases. [4]

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 12. (a) Show by explicit calculation that r ⇥ F = 0 when

F = 2yz 2 î + 2xz 2 ĵ + 4xyz k̂ .

[2]
(b) Given the result from part (a), discuss why we expect F · dr to be an exact
di↵erential of a scalar function (x, y, z), where dr is a vector line element, and obtain
an expression for . [4]
R
(c) Evaluate F · dr by integrating along the following two paths:

i) along the curve x = t2 , y = 2t, z = t3 , where t varies from t = 0 to t = 1;

ii) along a path that proceeds first along the x-axis, then the y-axis, then
the z-axis, from the origin to the point (1, 2, 1).
[4]
(d) Compare the results from part (c) with the di↵erence in the value of at the
two ends of each path and comment on your results. [4]
(e) State Stokes’ theorem for the case of a vector field A over a surface S with a
closed boundary C. Verify Stokes’ theorem for the case where

A = (2x y)î yz 2 ĵ y 2 z k̂

where S is the upper half surface (z > 0) of the sphere x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 1 and C is its
boundary in the xy plane. [6]

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