Name ___________________________________

last

I.

Student ID Number ____________

first

Lab questions.
Consider a cart on a track similar to the
setup used in the lab. The track has a soft
foam stop at the end. The cart is initially
held at rest and is released at some time
after the measurement was started.
The recorded velocity vs. time graph is shown below.

1. [3 pts] What distance has the cart traveled at t = 2.5 s?

A. 0.25 m

B. 0.5 m

C. 0.75 m

D. 1.0 m

E. 1.5 m

2. [3 pts] What is the average velocity of the cart from release until t =3.0 s?
A. 0.2 m/s

B. 0.4 m/s

C. 0.8 m/s

D. 1.6 m/s

E. 8 m/s

3. [3 pts] At what instant of time is the magnitude of the carts acceleration maximum?
A. 1.5 s

B. 2.0 s

C. 2.9 s

D. 3.1 s

E. 3.3 s

4. [3 pts] What is the average acceleration of the cart between t = 2.0 s and t = 2.75 s?
A. 0.25 m/s2

Physics 121, Autumn 2014

B. 0.4 m/s2

C. 0.5 m/s2

D. 0.6 m/s2

E. 0.75 m/s2

Exam 1, page 1

Name ___________________________________
last

II.

Student ID Number ____________

first

Basketball. A basketball player makes a shot from the

free-throw line at a horizontal distance of 4.3 m away
from the hoop. The hoop is suspended 3.1 m above the
ground, and the ball leaves the players hands 2.2 m
above the ground. With a good stopwatch, you
determine that it takes the ball 0.55 s to reach the top of
its trajectory, and another 0.36 s to go through the hoop.
You have no information about the angle or velocity of
the ball, but you decide to make some calculations.
Ignore air drag, and assume constant gravitational
acceleration equal to 9.8 m/s2.

q0
3.1 m

2.2 m
4.3 m

5. (3 pts) Which choice best represents the speed of the ball when it is at the top of its
trajectory?
a. Zero

B. 4.2 m/s

C. 4.7 m/s

D. 5.0 m/s

E. None of these

6. (3 pts) Which choice best represents the magnitude of acceleration of the ball when it
is at the top of its trajectory?
a. Zero

B. 9.8 m/s2

C. 4.9 m/s2

D. 20. m/s2

E. None of these

7. (4 pts) Which choice best represents the vertical component of the balls initial
velocity?
A. Zero

B. 3.7 m/s

C. 4.9 m/s

D. 5.4 m/s

E. None of these

8. (4 pts) Which choice best represents the initial angle (0) of the balls trajectory
above horizontal?
I. 45

B. 47

Physics 121, Autumn 2014

C. 49

D. 51

E. None of these

Exam 1, page 2

Name ___________________________________
last

III.

Student ID Number ____________

first

Kayaks. Two kayaks start simultaneously at point O and head

toward Marsh Island for a picnic. The distance between point O
and point Q is 150 m. Point Q is directly south of O.
Kayak A points directly south, but a uniform westward current
of speed vwg = 0.89 m/s causes the resultant velocity of the
kayak relative to the ground, , to point = 25 degrees W of
S. Kayak A arrives at point P, directly west of Q, 79 s later.
Kayak B aims E of S such that its velocity relative to
ground, , points = 25 degrees E of S. It arrives at point R
directly east of Q at the same time as kayak A arrives at point P.

9. (3 pts) Which of the following statements about the speeds of each kayak relative to the
water (w) and the ground (g) is true?
A. vaw = vbw and vag > vbg
B. vaw < vbw and vag = vbg
C. vaw < vbw and vag > vbg
D. vaw > vbw and vag = vbg
E. None of these
10. (4 pts) Which choice best represents the velocity
North directions, respectively)
A. (1.9 m/s) j

B.
C.
D.
E.

(2.1 m/s) j
(0.89 m/s) i (1.9 m/s) j
(0.89 m/s) i (2.1 m/s) j
None of these

11. (5 pts) What is the velocity

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.

? (take i and j to point in the East,

of kayak B relative to kayak A?

(0.89 m/s) i
(1.8 m/s) i
(1.8 m/s) i
(0.89 m/s) i - (1.8 m/s) j
None of these

12. (5 pts): If the velocity of kayak B relative to the water had the same magnitude vbw as above
but
pointed 25 degrees E of S (along segment OR), kayak B would land somewhere west
of point R. Where would it end up relative to point Q?
A. West of Q
B. At Q
C. East of Q
D. Not enough information

Physics 121, Autumn 2014

Exam 1, page 3

Name ___________________________________
last

Student ID Number ____________

first

IV. Race circuit. A car races around the track shown to the
right at constant speed v. Curves BC, DE, and HA all have
a radius of curvature of 35 m, while curve FH has radius
of curvature 25 m.
The figure is an overhead view (top view).

13. (3 pts) Over which segment does the car have the largest
magnitude of acceleration?
A. AB

B. BC

C. FG

D. HA

E. None of these.

14. (4 pts) The magnitude of the centripetal acceleration along segment HA is 17 m/s2. Find v.
A. 24 m/s

B. 21 m/s

C. 590 m/s

D. 31 m/s

E. Not enough info

15. (5 pts) The cars tires wont skid as long as the magnitude of the centripetal acceleration is
less than or equal to 27 m/s2. What is the minimum time it takes the car to pass through the
half-circular segment HA without skidding?
A. 3.6 s

B. 3.0 s

Physics 121, Autumn 2014

C. 0.12 s

D. 7.2 s

E. Not enough info

Exam 1, page 4

Name ___________________________________
last

V.

Student ID Number ____________

first

Ski Jump. An 80-kg skier enters the ski ramp at the

far left, slides down the surface and is launched into
the air as shown. The end of the jump is a straight
ramp inclined at an angle of 26 to the horizontal. At
point P the skier is on the ramp but has not started
his jump, and at point Q the skier is at maximum
altitude in the air after leaving the ramp.

26

16. (9 pts) Draw a free-body diagram for the skier at: (a) point P on the ramp, and (b) point Q
in the air. Include all forces that might be acting on the skier at each location. Place a
unique symbol next to each force arrow on your diagrams. In the space between diagrams,
list for each symbol the type of force (normal, gravitational, etc.) it represents, the object
the force acts ON, and the object the force is exerted BY.

Fsrnorm

Fsrnorm = normal on skier by ramp

Fsrfric

Fsadrag

FsEgrav = gravitational on skier by Earth

FsEgrav

At Point P

Fsadrag = drag (air resistance) on skier by air

Fsrfric = friction on skier by ramp

Fsadrag

FsEgrav

At Point Q

17. (10 pts) Make an estimate of the magnitude and direction of the acceleration of the skier
at (a) Point P, and (b) Point Q. Show your work, explain your reasoning, and state any
assumptions that you make in order to obtain numerical values and directions.
Assuming that friction and air drag are negligibly small, we ignore them. (We have no firm basis
as yet to come up with numbers for their values, so there is little choice).
The acceleration of the skier at point P is known to be parallel to the ramp because the motion in
that region is in a straight line, so velocity and acceleration must be tangent to the ramp. 2 forces
remain on the FBD: gravity, and normal. The net force (their vector sum) must be along the ramp
to match acceleration, and if we add the two we obtain for the component parallel to the ramp:
2
F|| mg sin 80(9.8)sin 26 344 N ma 80a a 4.3 m/s (left 26 below horiz)
At point Q our assumptions leave only gravity, so the acceleration is 9.8 m/s2 straight down.
18. (6 pts) How would the real-world accelerations at P and Q compare to your estimates?
[Real-world values larger? Smaller? In a different direction?]. Explain your reasoning.
At point P the direction we obtained is correct in the real world: the two forces we ignored are in
that direction, so the magnitude of the acceleration should be larger than our estimate.
At point Q the direction of acceleration should be at a pretty steep angle downward and to the
left, not straight down. The magnitude of the acceleration should be at least slightly larger than
our estimate due to the added horizontal component.

Physics 121, Autumn 2014

Exam 1, page 5

Name ______________________________________ Student ID _______________

last
first
IV.

[20 points] A student throws a ball straight downward at the ground with an initial
velocity at instant 1. The ball bounces off of the ground at instant 3 and reaches its
highest point at instant 8 above the students head before falling back down. A
strobe diagram showing the location of the ball at each instant for part of the
motion is shown at right. Recall that for a strobe diagram, the positions of the
object are shown at instants separated by equal time intervals.

Score________

8 - turnaround
7

10

A. [9 pts]
i.

How does the magnitude of average velocity between instants 1 and 2

compare with the magnitude of average velocity between instants 6 and 7?
Explain your reasoning. Base your answer on the strobe diagram.

Average
velocity is v = x / t . The magnitude of x12 is greater than

x67 while the time intervals are the same. Thus, the magnitude average
velocity between instants 1 and 2 is greater than the magnitude of average
velocity between instants 6 and 7.

3 - bounce

ii. How does the magnitude of average velocity between instants 2 and 6 compare with the
magnitude of average velocity between instants 2 and 10? Explain your reasoning. Base your
answer on the strobe diagram.

Again, theaverage
velocity is v = x / t . The displacements vectors are the same, but t26 is
less than a = v / t . Thus, the magnitude of average velocity between instants 2 and 6 is
greater than the magnitude of average velocity between instants 2 and 10.
B. [4 pts] In the box at right, draw a vector indicating the direction of the change in
velocity between instants 7 and 8. If the change in velocity is zero, state so
explicitly. Explain in words or by using a vector diagram.

v7,8

The velocity at instant 7 is pointing up, and the velocity at instant

8 is zero

v
=
v

v
v
because it is the turnaround point. Change
in
velocity
is
.
f
i
f is

zero and vi points downwards, so v points downwards.

C. [7 pts] In the box at right, draw a vector indicating the direction of the average
acceleration between instants 1 and 5. If the average acceleration is zero, state so
explicitly. Explain.

aavg,1,5

Average
acceleration is a = v /t , so
of the change in velocity
the
direction

v
=
v

v
of
.
.
The
initial velocity
v1 is down,
v determines the direction
a
f
i

and the final velocity v5 is up, so v is pointing up. Therefore, a points up.

Physics 121X, Fall 2014

Exam 1

ME_UWA121X144T_E1(A1D)sol.doc