Tutorial 1

Question 1
A boy stands at the peak of a hill which slopes downwards uniformly at an angle as
shown in Figure 1. At what angle from the horizontal should he throw a rock so that
it has the greatest range, R?
v

Figure 1: Calculating the angle for maximum distance

[Ans: = /4 /2]

Question 2
A particle leaves the origin at t = 0 with an initial velocity ~v0 = 3.6 i ms1 along the

x-axis. It experiences an acceleration ~a = 1.2t i 1.4 j ms2 . At what

time T does

the particle
reach
its
maximum
x
value?

[Ans: t = 6 2.45 s ]

Question 3
A car moving at 18.1 ms1 enters a curve that describes a quarter turn of radius 120
m from A to B as shown in Figure 2.

A
R
Figure 2: Turning a corner

The driver gently applies the brakes, slowing the car down at a constant rate of
0.65 ms2 . Just before emerging from the turn at B, what is the angle between the
acceleration vector and the direction of motion?
[Ans: 133 ]

Question 4
A small boat is headed for a harbour 32 km north-west of its current position when
it is suddenly engulfed in a heavy fog. The captain maintains a compass bearing of
north-west and a speed of 10 km/hr relative to the water. Three hours later the fog
lifts and the captain notes that he is now exactly 4.0 km south of the harbour. Taking
to be directed along east and to be directed north, what is the velocity ~v of the
current during those three hours? (You may assume that ~v is a constant.)
[Ans: ~v = (0.47 km/hr) (0.86 km/hr) ]

Question 5: For Practice

A particle has a position vector given by


(1)
~r(t) = 3.0t2 i + 4.0t3 5.0t4 j

where ~r is in meters and t is in seconds. Find the average velocity and average acceleration from t = 2.0 s to t = 4.0 s.
[Ans: ~vavg = 18 488
m/s, ~aavg = 6.0 488 m/s2 ]

Question 6: For Practice

An Engineering Physics student buys a plastic dart gun. Being a clever student she
decides to do a quick calculation to find its maximum horizontal range. To find out,
she shoots the gun straight up, and it takes 5.0 seconds for the dart to land back in the
barrel. What is the maximum horizontal range of the gun? Ignore air resistance.
[Ans: 61.3 m]