NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCES & TECHNOLOGY (NUST)

H-12 Islamabad
Website: http://camp.edu.pk, Email: info@camp.edu.pk

School of Natural Sciences

Due date: December 19, 2014

Assignment 9

Q1. Let us model a human leg to be a combination of two uniform rods (one starting from the
hip joint to the knee and the other starting from knee to the foot) of equal lengths. For a 70.0
kg person, the mass of the upper leg would be 8.6 kg, while that of the lower leg would be
5.25kg. Find the centre of mass of the leg relative to the hip joint if it is stretched out
horizontally (b) bent at the knee to form a right angle with the upper leg remaining horizontal.
Q2. A rocket has total mass Mi = 360 kg, including 330 kg of fuel and oxidizer. In interstellar
space it starts from rest, turns on its engine at time t = 0, and puts out exhaust with relative
speed ve = 1500 m/s at the constant rate k = 2.50 kg/s. The fuel will last for an actual burn
time of 330 kg/(2.5 kg/s) = 132 s, but define a projected depletion time as Tp = Mi/k = 144 s.
(This would be the burn time if the rocket could use its payload and fuel tanks as fuel, and
even the walls of the combustion chamber.)
(a) Show that during the burn the velocity of the rocket is given as a function of time by

(b) Make a graph of the velocity of the rocket as a function of time for times running from 0
to 132 s.
(c) Show that the acceleration of the rocket is

(d) Graph the acceleration as a function of time.

(e) Show that the position of the rocket is

(f) Graph the position during the burn.

Q3. Three identical thin rods, each of length L and mass m, are welded perpendicular to one
another as shown in Figure 1. The assembly is rotated about an axis that passes through the
end of one rod and is parallel to another. Determine the moment of inertia of this structure.

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCES & TECHNOLOGY (NUST)

H-12 Islamabad
Website: http://camp.edu.pk, Email: info@camp.edu.pk

P1
Q4. A sphere consists of a solid wooden ball of uniform density 800 kg/m3 and radius 0.30 m
and is covered with a thin coating of lead foil with area density 20 kg/m 2 .Calculate the
moment of inertia of this sphere about an axis passing through its center.
Q5. The density of the Earth, at any distance r from its center, is approximately

= [14.2 - 11.6(r/R)] + 103 kg/m3

where R is the radius of the Earth. Show that this density is equivalent to one half of the
moment of inertia of a thin walled shell of radius same as that of earth (I = 2/3MR2) about an
axis through the center, where M is the mass of the Earth.
Q6. A wagon wheel is constructed as shown in Fig. 2. The radius of the wheel is 0.300 m, and
the rim has mass 1.40 kg. Each of the eight spokes that lie along a diameter and are 0.300 m
long has mass 0.280 kg. What is the moment of inertia of the wheel about an axis through its
center and perpendicular to the plane of the wheel?

Fig. 2
Q7. Two metal disks, one with radius R1 = 2.50 cm and mass M1 = 0.80 kg and the other with
radius R2 = 5.00 cm and mass M2 = 1.6 kg are welded together and mounted on a frictionless
axis through their common center (Fig. 3).
(a) What is the total moment of inertia of the two disks?
(b) A light string is wrapped around the edge of the smaller disk, and a 1.50-kg block is
suspended from the free end of the string. If the block is released from rest at a distance of
2.00 m above the floor, what is its speed just before it strikes the floor?

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCES & TECHNOLOGY (NUST)

H-12 Islamabad
Website: http://camp.edu.pk, Email: info@camp.edu.pk

(c) Repeat the calculation of part (b), this time with the string wrapped around the edge of the
larger disk. In which case is the final speed of the block greater? Explain why this is so.

Fig. 3
Q8. In the system shown in Fig. 4, a 12.0-kg mass is released from rest and falls, causing the
uniform 10.0-kg cylinder of diameter 30.0 cm to turn about a frictionless axle through its
center. How far will the mass have to descend to give the cylinder 480 J of kinetic energy?

Fig. 4