PHYSICS

2014 Australian Science Olympiads Exam

Time Allowed:
Reading Time: 10 minutes
Examination Time: 120 minutes

INSTRUCTIONS
• Attempt ALL questions in both sections of this paper.
• Permitted materials: a non-programmable, non-graphical calculator, blue and
black pens, lead pencils, an eraser, and a ruler.
• Answer SECTION A on the MULTIPLE CHOICE ANSWER SHEET pro-
vided.
• Answer SECTION B in the answer booklet provided. Write your answers to
each question on the pages indicated. If you need additional space use the spare
pages at the back of the booklet. Write in pen and use pencil only for diagrams
and graphs.
• You may attempt the questions in Section B in any order. Make sure that you
label which parts are for which questions.
• Do not write on this question paper. It will not be marked.
• Do not staple the multiple choice answer sheet or the writing booklet to any-
thing. They must be returned as they are.
• Ensure that your diagrams are clear and labelled.
• All numerical answers must have correct units.
• Marks will not be deducted for incorrect answers.

MARKS

Section A 10 multiple choice questions 10 marks

Section B 4 written answer questions 50 marks
60 marks
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2014 Physics Australian Science Olympiads Examination
c Australian Science Innovations 2014 ABN 81731558309

 SECTION A: MULTIPLE CHOICE
USE THE ANSWER SHEET PROVIDED

Throughout, take the acceleration due to gravity to be 9.8 m s−2 .

Question 1
A cricketer leaps into the air and catches a ball while both are in mid air. Which of the cricketer or the
ball undergoes the smaller change in momentum?

a. The cricketer does.

b. The ball does.
c. The change in momentum is the same for both the cricketer and the ball.
d. You can’t tell without knowing the final velocity of the combined cricketer-ball mass.
e. The result depends on the energy absorbed by the cricketer’s hands while catching the ball.

Question 2
Just before the cricketer caught the ball her kinetic energy was the same as the ball’s kinetic energy. Just
before the cricketer catches the ball, which of the following statements is true?

a. The ball has a greater speed than the cricketer.

b. The cricketer has a greater speed than the ball.
c. The cricketer and the ball have the same speed.
d. The kinetic energy cannot give information about their speeds.
e. The directions of the cricketer and the ball must be taken into account to compare their speeds.

Question 3
Tara likes playing with bubbles and watching the bright colours in them change. She notices that bubbles
which have dark patches pop sooner than those with no dark patches. She concludes that dark patches
cause bubbles to pop. Which of the following is the best statement of the flaw in Tara’s argument?

a. It ignores the effects of bubbles colliding with other objects.

b. It assumes that because dark patches occur just before popping, dark spots cause popping.
c. It ignores the fact that some bubbles pop when there are no dark patches.
d. It ignores the effects of other colours on whether bubbles pop.
e. There is no flaw in Tara’s argument. Dark patches cause popping.

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2014 Physics Australian Science Olympiads Examination
c Australian Science Innovations 2014 ABN 81731558309

Question 4
A large truck breaks down on the freeway and receives a push to the nearest exit by a small car as shown
below.

While the car, still pushing the truck, is speeding up to get to cruising speed

a. the amount of force with which the car pushes on the truck is equal to that with which the truck
pushes back on the car.
b. the amount of force with which the car pushes on the truck is smaller than that with which the
truck pushes back on the car.
c. the amount of force with which the car pushes on the truck is greater than that with which the
truck pushes back on the car.
d. the car’s engine is running so the car pushes against the truck, but the truck’s engine is not running
so the truck cannot push back against the car. The truck is pushed forward simply because it is in
the way of the car.
e. neither the car nor the truck exert any force on the other. The truck is pushed forward simply
because it is in the way of the car.

Question 5
An elevator is being lifted up an elevator shaft at a constant speed by a steel cable as shown in the figure
below. All frictional effects are negligible. In this situation, the forces on the elevator are such that:

a. the upwards force of the cable is greater than the downward force of gravity.
b. the upward force of the cable is equal to the downward force of gravity.
c. the upward force of the cable is smaller than the downward force of gravity.
d. the upward force of the cable is greater than the sum of the downward force of gravity and a
downward force due to air.
e. none of the above. (The elevator goes up because the cable is being shortened, not because an
upwards force is exerted on the elevator by the cable.)
steel cable

Elevator going up at constant speed

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2014 Physics Australian Science Olympiads Examination
c Australian Science Innovations 2014 ABN 81731558309

Question 6
A donkey pulls a wooden box along rough flat ground at a constant speed by means of a force ~P
(magnitude P) as shown. In the diagram, f is the magnitude of the frictional force, N is the magnitude of
the normal force, and Fg is the magnitude of the force of gravity. Which of the following options must be
true?

a. P = f and N = Fg
b. P = f and N > Fg
c. P > f and N < Fg
d. P > f and N = Fg
e. none of these.

Question 7
The donkey of Question 6 now pulls harder and doubles the magnitude of the force P. Which of the
following options must be true?

a. Fg and N remain constant but f increases to counter the increase in P.

b. Fg , N and f all remain constant despite the increase in P.
c. Fg and f remain constant but N decreases due to the increase in P.
d. Fg remains constant but N and hence f decrease due to the increase in P.
e. none of these.

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2014 Physics Australian Science Olympiads Examination
c Australian Science Innovations 2014 ABN 81731558309

 Question 8
The positions of two runners, Helen and Con, are shown below. The runners are shown at successive
0.20 second intervals, and they are moving towards the right.

Helen 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Con
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Do Helen and Con ever have the same speed?

a. No.
b. Yes, at instant 2.
c. Yes, at instant 7.
d. Yes, at instants 2 and 7.
e. Yes, at some time during the interval 4 to 5.

Question 9
The positions of two runners, Helen and Con, are shown below. The runners are shown at successive
0.20 second intervals, and they are moving towards the right.

Helen 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Con
1 2 3 4 5 6

Which of the following statements best describes how the accelerations of the runners are related.

a. The acceleration of Con in greater than the acceleration of Helen.

b. The acceleration of Helen is greater than the acceleration of Con.
c. The accelerations of Helen and Con are equal. Both accelerations are equal to zero.
d. The accelerations of Helen and Con are equal. Both accelerations are greater than zero.
e. Not enough information is given to answer the question.

Question 10
Which of the following is the best estimate of the volume of an orange.

a. 3 × 10−5 m3
b. 3 × 10−4 m3
c. 3 × 10−3 m3
d. 3 × 10−2 m3
e. 3 × 10−1 m3

Page 5 of 12
2014 Physics Australian Science Olympiads Examination
c Australian Science Innovations 2014 ABN 81731558309

 SECTION B: WRITTEN ANSWER QUESTIONS
USE THE ANSWER BOOKLET PROVIDED
Note: Suggested times are given for section B as a general guide only. You may take more or less time on any
question – everyone is different.

Question 11
Suggested Time: 35 min
Maria is a connoisseur of fine teas. She is preparing her new tea with boiling water in her cylindrical
mug with inner radius r = 4 cm and height h = 10 cm. Her mug has a lid for better insulation.
In a short time ∆t the amount of heat which flows out of the tea is given by
κ S(Ttea − Troom )
∆Q = ∆t , (1)
d
where S in the inner surface area of the mug and d = 5 mm is the thickness of the mug walls.
As heat flows from the tea the change in its temperature ∆T given by

∆Q = m · c · ∆T , (2)

where m is the mass of the water.

Data

Temperature of boiling water: Tboil = 100 ◦ C

Thermal conductivity of mug: κ = 1.0 W m−1 K−1
Room temperature: Troom = 25 ◦ C
Density of water: ρ = 1000 kg m−3
Specific heat capacity of water: c = 4180 J kg−1 K−1

Maria pours her tea, filling her mug completely, and immediately places the lid on her mug.

a) (i) Find the temperature T30 of Maria’s tea after 30 seconds have elapsed and fill in the first line
of the table on p. 2 of the Answer Booklet.
(ii) Complete the rest of the table on p. 2 of the Answer Booklet.
Hint: use your answers from one line to help you with the next line.
(iii) Plot a graph of Ttea vs. time on p. 3 of the Answer Booklet. Include times from 0 s up to and
including 5 min.
b) Find the time it takes Maria’s tea to reach 55 ◦ C.
c) Maria decides to reheat her tea from 55 ◦ C to 70◦ C with a small 1.1 kW heater she places into the
tea. How long will it take the tea to reach 70◦ C? You may neglect the heat flow out of the tea.
d) Estimate the size of the error in your answer to part (c) due to neglecting heat flow out of the tea.
Use your estimate to comment on whether your answer to part (c) is reasonable.

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2014 Physics Australian Science Olympiads Examination
c Australian Science Innovations 2014 ABN 81731558309

Question 12
Suggested Time: 30 min
A block of mass m sits against an unextended spring with spring constant k1 on a frictionless surface as
shown below. A short distance beyond the mass, there is a vertical cliff of height h that drops off to a
rough surface with kinetic friction coefficient µk .

k1 m

h μk

When compressed or extended, the spring exerts a restoring force

F = −kx ,

where k is the spring constant and x is the change in length of the spring. The elastic potential energy
stored in the spring during this deformation is given by
1
U = kx2 .
2
The block is pushed against the spring with displacement x1 and then released at time t = 0.

a) What is the velocity of the block immediately after it loses contact with the spring?
b) After reaching the cliff, the block continues to move through the air until it hits the rough surface
below. Once it hits the rough surface, a frictional force acts against the horizontal motion of the
block.
On the axes given on p. 4 of the Answer Booklet sketch as functions of time, starting when the
block is released and ending when the block is at rest again, the

(i) kinetic energy,

(ii) gravitational potential energy, and
(iii) elastic potential energy.

Use the same axes for all three sketches and label each line clearly.

Page 7 of 12
2014 Physics Australian Science Olympiads Examination
c Australian Science Innovations 2014 ABN 81731558309

c) A section of the rough ground a distance d from the cliff is made smooth (frictionless) and a
second spring, with constant k2 = 2k1 is placed on it, as shown below.

k1 m

h μk k2

smooth
d

(i) On the axes on p. 5 of the Answer Booklet, sketch the maximum compression of the new
spring as a function of the maximum compression of the launching spring. Only consider
compressions causing the block to land before the second spring.
(ii) Find an expression for the largest possible maximum compression of the second spring that
you marked on your sketch for part (c)(i).

Page 8 of 12
2014 Physics Australian Science Olympiads Examination
c Australian Science Innovations 2014 ABN 81731558309

Question 13
Suggested Time: 18 min
A lolly factory produces shiny delicious spherical chocolates of radius r. It packs the chocolates in
layers arranged as shown in Figure 1; each layer is stacked directly on top of the one below.

Figure 1: Neatly packed chocolates.

The packing fraction is defined to be the ratio of the volume of some objects divided by the total volume
of space which they occupy.
When arranged randomly the chocolates have a packing fraction of 0.64.

a) Find the packing fraction of the chocolates when they are neatly packed in stacked layers with the
arrangement shown in Figure 1.
b) Do the same number of chocolates occupy more space when neatly packed as in Figure 1 or when
randomly arranged?

To sell the chocolates the factory packs them into bags which are filled through funnels like that shown
in Figure 2. As the bags are filled chocolates are added into the top of the funnel at an average rate of 5
chocolates per second and the level in of chocolates in the top of the funnel is steady.

2R
c) (i) How many bags of 30 can be filled per minute
through each funnel?
(ii) How fast do the chocolates shoot out of the funnel
into a bag?
(iii) What is the average downwards speed of the choco-
lates in the top of the funnel? 2r

Figure 2: Funnel for filling

bags.

Page 9 of 12
2014 Physics Australian Science Olympiads Examination
c Australian Science Innovations 2014 ABN 81731558309

Question 14
Suggested Time: 18 min
Astrophysical systems such as galaxies (which contain large numbers of stars) are generally very far
from the Earth and solar system, and are moving away from us with some relative velocity v. Individual
stars can be moving with respect to the galaxy; the velocity of this motion is known as the peculiar
velocity. Figure 3 shows a galaxy which is moving away from us as a whole; stars in this galaxy orbit its
centre and have peculiar velocities.
velocity of galaxy
away from Earth

peculiar velocity of star

relative to host galaxy

peculiar velocity of star

relative to host galaxy

Figure 3: Peculiar velocities of a stars in a galaxy.

The energy from the peculiar motion within a galaxy, rather than its overall movement, is interesting.
One way to measure the typical peculiar speed of a star, is to look at the spread in velocities. The
standard deviation of the peculiar speeds is called the velocity dispersion, σ , and it becomes an estimate
of the typical peculiar speed of a star.

a) The virial theorem applied to an astrophysical system with very large mass M gives that
GM
v2 = ,
R
where v is the average speed of an object orbiting at a radius R, and G is the universal gravitational
constant. Use the virial theorem to estimate the mass M of a galaxy, where a population of stars at
radius R from the centre of the galaxy are observed to have velocity dispersion σ .

When the source of a wave is approaching or retreating from an observer the wavelength changes. The
size of this change is proportional to the speed of the source. This is known as the Doppler effect and is
useful in astrophysics because elements emit light within narrow wavelength regions meaning peaks are
observed in objects’ spectra.

7
Relative Intensity

6
5
4
3
2
1
0
645 650 655 660 665
Wavelength HnmL

Figure 4: Hydrogen alpha emission spectrum.

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2014 Physics Australian Science Olympiads Examination
c Australian Science Innovations 2014 ABN 81731558309

 b) (i) Explain, with sketches, how the Doppler effect causes broadening of the Hydrogen alpha
emission lines in the fast-rotating broad-line regions of galaxies. On the diagram on p. 8 of
the Answer Booklet, draw what the Hydrogen alpha peak in Figure 4 would look like if its
source is gas in the broad-line region of a galaxy.
(ii) Hence, explain how observations of spectra can be used to measure the velocity dispersion
of stars in a galaxy.

Most galaxies have supermassive black holes at their centres, which can be a billion times more massive
than the Sun. Sometimes a violent event in the supermassive black hole causes changes throughout the
fast-rotating region around the centre, called the broad-line region; these changes appear some time later.
A technique called reverberation mapping uses the time it takes light to travel across the broad-line
region to estimate its radius. The light travel time τ is the measured time between observing changes in
the front and in the back of the region. The speed of light is c and the velocity dispersion of the
broad-line region is σBLR .

c) (i) Find an expression for the radius RBLR of the broad-line region.
(ii) Estimate the mass MBH of a supermassive black hole using reverberation mapping and the
virial theorem. You may assume that supermassive black holes are so massive that they
account for most of the mass in the centre of a galaxy.

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2014 Physics Australian Science Olympiads Examination
c Australian Science Innovations 2014 ABN 81731558309

 Integrity of Competition

If there is evidence of collusion or other academic dishonesty, students will be

disqualified. Markers’ decisions are final.

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2014 Physics Australian Science Olympiads Examination
c Australian Science Innovations 2014 ABN 81731558309