The scalar (dot) product

1. Evaluate the dot product for the following pairs of vectors:

Recall our definition of the scalar product:
a . b=|a||b|cos θ=a x b x +a y b y

i) A=4 i – 2 j , B=−2 i – 3 j

A . B= A x B y + A y B y

¿( 4 ×−2)+(−2×−3)
¿−8+6=−2

ii) A=3i + 4 j , B=2 i – 6 j

A . B= A x B y + A y B y

¿( 3× 2)+(4 ×−6)
¿ 6−24=−18

iii)

The answer for this is zero – the vectors are at 90 ° to one another, and cos 90°=0.

iv)

2 ×4 cos 110 °=−2.74

2. For the vector pairs in parts i) and ii) of the previous question, find the angle
between the vectors.
Rearranging our definition of the scalar product gives:

θ=c 0 s
1
[[ ]]
[ a. b ]
|a||b|
.

We have already calculated the dot product in the first question, so we already have the
numerator on the right hand side. We just need to calculate the magnitudes of the vectors in
each part. Recall the magnitude is given by ¿ a∨¿ √[a + a ] .
2
x
2
y

i) ¿ A∨¿ 4.47 ,∨B∨¿ 3.61∧ A . B=−2 , so θ=97.1 °

ii) ¿ A∨¿ 5 ,∨B∨¿ 6.32∧A . B=−18 , so θ=124.7°

Energy and Work

3. A cyclist of mass 100 kg is freewheeling down a hill inclined at 10° to the

horizontal. She keeps her brakes on so that she travels at a steady speed of 6
m/s, with the brakes providing the only force opposing the motion.
Draw a diagram showing all the forces acting on the cyclist.

Calculate:
a) the component of the weight acting down the hill,
The component of the weight acting down the slope should be
mg sin θ=100 × 9.81sin 10=170 N .

b) the braking force,

The cyclist is travelling at a steady speed, which means she is NOT accelerating. Newton’s
second law tells us that the net force on her must therefore be zero. So the braking force
applied must have the same magnitude as in part a) i.e. 170 N , but is directed up the slope.

c) the work done by the brakes in 3 s .

The work done, W, is given by:
W =∫ [ F . dr ]

where F is the force applied. In our case, the force is constant so we can replace the integral
with just the force times the distance travelled, ∆ r .∈3 s , the cyclist travels 18 m as she is
travelling at 6 m/s . With a constant force of −170 N (remember the force is acting in the
OPPOSITE direction to distance travelled through), the work done is:
W =F ∆ r
¿−170× 18
¿−3060 J .

4. A 10 kg child slides down a 3m long slide inclined at 35° to the horizontal. A

friction force of 30 N acts along the slide. Calculate:
a) the potential energy lost in reaching the bottom,
The potential energy lost, ∆ PE , is given by:
∆ PE=mg ∆ h
where ∆ h is the change in height. The slide is 3 m long and inclined at 35 ° to the horizontal,
meaning it has a vertical height of h=3 sin 35=1.72 m. The potential energy lost is then:
∆ PE =mg ∆ h
¿ 10 ×9.81 ×1.72
¿ 169 J .
Already specified that this is the energy lost, so I do not need to worry about a minus sign
here.

b) the work done against friction on the slide,

The child slides 3 m with a constant frictional force of 30 N . The work done by the friction is
thus:
 W =F ∆ r
¿ 30 ×3
¿ 90 J

c) the child’s kinetic energy at the bottom of the slide,

To solve this question we must think about energy and work done. In the absence of friction,
conservation of energy would be applied, and the increase in the child’s kinetic energy would
be equal to the potential energy lost. But friction does work against the system, removing a
certain amount of this energy. The final kinetic energy will be the potential energy lost, less
the work done by the friction. This gives:
KE=∆ PE −W
¿ 169−90=79 J

d) the child’s velocity at the bottom of the slide.

1 2
To get the final velocity, we use the fact that KE= m v :
2

v=
√[ ]
2 KE
m

¿ [√ [ ] ]
2 ×79
10
= 3.97 m/ s

5. An 8 kg block is pulled 5m up an incline angled at 30° to the horizontal by a

rope that runs parallel to the slope. If the tension in the rope is 120 N, and the
crate’s coefficient of (kinetic) friction on the incline is 0.25, calculate the work
done by:
This question has a couple of red herrings in it. We don’t need to use all the information we
are given.

i) gravity,
We need to find the component of the weight that lies parallel to the slope. As with other
problems of this type, this is given by mg sin θ. This force acts in the opposite direction to
themotion, so:
W =F ∆ x
¿−mg sinθ ∆ x
¿−8 ×9.81 sin 30 ×5=−196 J
 ii) the tension in the rope,
This is straightforward: the tension lies in the direction the block is moving, so the work done
is just F ∆ x =120× 5=600 J .

iii) the normal force.

The normal force is perpendicular to the direction the block is moving. It therefore does zero
work.
Be careful with your signs, and be sure to specify your units! Hint – draw yourself a diagram
to help you get all the forces correct.

Springs
6. A 10cm long spring is hung from the ceiling. When a 2kg mass is attached to
the spring, the spring stretches to a length of 15cm.
Springs obey Hooke’s law, where the restoring force of the spring is given by F=−kx , where
x is the displacement from equilibrium.

a) What is the spring constant of this spring? Don’t forget to give the units!
The string is stretched by 5 cm from its original length, and this is achieved by a force of
mg=2× 9.81=19.6 N . This means:

F
k=
x
19.6
¿ =392 N /m
0.05

b) How long is the spring when a 3 kg mass is hung from it?

A 3 kg mass exerts a force of mg=3 × 9.81=29.4 N . Applying Hooke’s law:
F
x=
k
29.4
¿ =0.075 m .
392

7. A 5 kg mass is hanging from a spring scale and is slowly lowered onto a

vertical spring. The scale reads in Newtons (i.e. it gives the force pulling on it).
 a) What does the scale read immediately before the mass makes contact
with the spring?
Prior to contacting the spring, the only force acting on the scale is the weight of the object,
mg=5 × 9.81=49.1 N .

b) The scale reads 20N when the vertical spring is compressed by 2 cm.
What is the value of the spring constant for the vertical spring?
The reading on the scale is the net force. We already know the weight of the object, so the
spring must be providing a restoring force of F=49.1−20=29.1 N . We can then apply
Hooke’s Law to find k:
F
k=
x
29.1
¿ =1455 N /m.
0.02

c) At what compression does the scale read zero?

For the scale to read zero, the spring must provide a restoring force equal to the weight of
the mass. Using the spring constant we have just calculated, and Hooke’s Law, we can find
the compression required:
F
x=
k
49.1
¿ =0.0337 m.
1455

d) What is the energy stored in the spring at this point?

The energy stored in a spring is given by:
1 2
E= k x
2
1 2
¿ ×1455 ×0.0337
2
¿ 0.828 J

Collisions
8. A 50g ball of clay travelling at a speed of v hits and sticks to a 1kg brick
sitting at rest on a frictionless surface.
a) What kind of collision is this?
This is an inelastic collision.

b) Derive an expression for the speed of the brick after the collision.
mv
V= , where V is the final speed, and m,M are the masses of the ball and brick
m+ M
respectively

c) What fraction of energy is lost in this collision?

1 2
The kinetic energy before collision is given by Ei = mv . After the collision it is:
2
1 2
E f = ( m+ M ) V
2

( )
2
1 mv
¿ ( m+ M )
2 [ m+ M ]
1 2 m
¿ mv
2 [ m+ M ]
m
¿ E,
[ m+ M ] i
1 2
where we have used our definition for Ei to get rid of the m v . Putting in the numbers
2
gives 0.0476 as the numerical factor, so we have lost about 95 % of the energy in the
collision

9. A package of mass m slides down a frictionless chute which is 3m in height.

At the bottom of the chute, it collides with a package of mass 2m.
a) If the collision is perfectly inelastic, calculate the speed of the packages after
the collision.
For an inelastic collision, we have already worked out the necessary formula in question 8b).
We just need to work out what the initial speed of the parcel is. For this we use the
conservation of energy:
1
m v 2=mgh
2

v=√ [ 2 gh ] .
Putting this into our expression from question 8b) gives:
mv
V=
[ m+ M ]
[ m √ [ 2 gh ] ]
¿
[ m+2 m ]
1
¿
3
√ [ 2× 9.81× 3 ] =2.56 m/s .

b) If the collision is perfectly elastic, how far up the chute does the lighter
package rebound?
The recoil of a particle hitting a stationary target in an elastic collision is given by:
[ m−M ] −1
v= u= u
[ m+ M ] 3

assuming m=m, and M =2 m and u is the initial speed of the moving particle. We now need
to apply conservation of energy twice to solve this problem. Firstly, just as we did in part a)
we use it to find the initial speed of the parcel – this is just u=√ [ 2 gh ] as above. After the
collision, the KE of the parcel determines how far back up the chute it goes:

1 1 v2 −1
m v 2=mgH =H = ,∧v= u , so
2 2 g 3

¿ ()
1 u 2
2g 3
1
, but u= √[ 2 gh ] = h=0.33 m
9