Module 10 Physics Problems

Lesson 1 Work and Energy 12. A horizontal force of 300.0 N is used to

push a 145-kg mass 30.0 m horizontally in
Mastering Concepts 3.00 s.
1. In what units is work measured? a. Calculate the work done on the mass.
b. Calculate the power developed.
2. A satellite orbits Earth in a circular orbit.
Does Earth’s gravity do work on the 13. Wagon A wagon is pulled by a force of
satellite? Explain. 38.0 N exerted on the handle at an angle of
42.0° with the horizontal. If the wagon is
3. An object slides at constant speed on a pulled for 157 m, how much work is done on
frictionless surface. What forces act on the the wagon?
object? What is the work done by each
force on the object? 14. Lawn Mower To mow the yard, Shani
pushes a lawn mower 1.2 km with a
4. Define work and power.
horizontal force of 66.0 N. Does all of the
applied force do work on the mower and
5. What is a watt equivalent to in terms of
how much work does Sani do on the
kilograms, meters, and seconds?
mower?

Mastering Problems 15. A 17.0-kg crate is to be pulled a distance of

6. The third floor of a house is 8 m above 20.0 m, requiring 1210 J of work to be done.
street level. How much work must a pulley The job is done by attaching a rope and
system do to lift a 150-kg oven at a constant pulling with a force of 75.0 N. At what angle
speed to the third floor? is the rope held?

7. Haloke does 176 J of work lifting himself 16. Lawn Tractor The lawn tractor in
0.300 m at a constant speed. What is goes up a hill at a constant velocity.
Haloke’s mass? Calculate the power that is developed by
the tractor.
8. Tug-of-War During a tug-of-war, team A
does 2.20×105 J of work in pulling team B
8.00 m. What average force did team A
exert?

9. To travel at a constant velocity, a car exerts

a 551-N force to balance air resistance. How
Copyright ©McGraw-Hill Education

much work does the car do on the air as it

travels161 km from Columbus to Cincinnati?

10. Cycling A cyclist exerts a 15.0-N force 17. You slide a crate up a ramp at an angle of
while riding 251 m in 30.0 s. What power 30.0° to a vertical height of 1.15 m. You
does the cyclist develop? exert a 225-N force parallel to the ramp and
the crate moves at a constant speed. The
11. A student librarian lifts a 2.2-kg book coefficient of friction is 0.28. How much
from the floor to a height of 1.25 m. He work do you do on the crate?
carries the book 8.0 m to the stacks and
places the book on a shelf that is 0.35 m 18. A 4.2×103-N piano is wheeled up a 3.5-m
above the floor. How much work does he ramp at a constant speed. The ramp makes
do on the book? an angle of 30.0° with the horizontal. Find
the work done by a man wheeling the
piano up the ramp.

Inspire Physics 1 Physics Problems

 Module 10 continued

19. Sled Diego pulls a sled across level snow 23. Maricruz slides a crate up an inclined ramp
as shown. If the sled moves a distance of that is attached to a platform as shown. A
65.3 m, how much work does Diego do on 400.0-N force, parallel to the ramp, is
the sled? needed to slide the crate up the ramp at a
constant speed.

20. Escalator Sau-Lan’s mass is 52 kg. She a. How much work does Maricruz do in
rides up the escalator at Ocean Park in sliding the crate up the ramp?
Hong Kong. This is the world’s longest b. How much work would be done on the
escalator, with a length of 227 m and an crate if Maricruz simply lifted the crate
average inclination of 31°. straight up from the floor to the platform
a. How much work does the escalator do at a constant speed?
on Sau-Lan?
b. Sue’s a mass is 65 kg and she rides the 24. A worker pushes a 93-N crate up an
escalator too. How much work does the inclined plane at a constant speed. As
escalator do on Sue? shown in the diagram, the worker pushes
parallel to the ground with a force of 85 N.
21. Lawn Roller A lawn roller is pushed across
a lawn by a force of 115 N along the
direction of the handle, which is 22.5°
above the horizontal. If 64.6 W of power is
developed for 90.0 s, what distance is the
roller pushed?

22. Boat Engine An engine moves a boat

through the water at a constant speed of 15
m/s. The engine must exert a force of 6.0
kN to balance the force that the water a. How much work does the worker do?
exerts against the hull. What power does
Copyright ©McGraw-Hill Education

b. How much work is done by gravity? (Be

the engine develop?
careful with the signs you use.)
c. The coefficient of friction is µ = 0.20.
How much energy is transformed by
friction? (Be careful with the signs you
use.)

Inspire Physics 2 Physics Problems

 Module 10 continued

25. In the graph, the magnitude of the force 27. The graph shows the force exerted on and
necessary to stretch a spring is plotted displacement of an object being pulled.
against the distance the spring is stretched.

a. Find the work done to pull the object

a. Calculate the slope of the graph, k, and 7.0 m.
show that F = kd, where k = 25 N/m.
b. Calculate the power that would be
b. Use the graph to find the work done in developed if the work was done in 2.0 s.
stretching the spring from 0.00 m to
0.20 m. 28. Oil Pump In 35.0 s, a pump delivers
c. Show that the answer to part b can be 0.550 m3 of oil into barrels on a platform
1
calculated using the formula W = 2 kd2, 25.0 m above the intake pipe. The oil’s
density is 0.820 g/cm3.
where W is the work, k = 25 N/m (the
slope of the graph), and d is the distance a. Calculate the work done by the pump.
the spring is stretched (0.20 m). b. Calculate the power produced by the
pump.
26. Use the graph to find the required work to
stretch the spring from 0.12 m to 0.28 m. 29. Conveyor Belt A 12.0-m-long conveyor
belt, inclined at 30.0°, is used to transport
bundles of newspapers from the mail room
up to the cargo bay to be loaded onto
delivery trucks. The mass of a newspaper is
1.0 kg, and each bundle has 25
newspapers. Find the power that the
Copyright ©McGraw-Hill Education

conveyor develops if it delivers 15 bundles

per minute.

Lesson 2 The Many Forms of

Energy
Mastering Concepts
30. Explain how work and energy change are
related.

31. Explain how force and energy change are

related.

Inspire Physics 3 Physics Problems

 Module 10 continued

32. What form of energy does a system that 41. Tony has a mass of 45 kg and a speed of
contains a wound-up spring toy have? What 10.0 m/s.
form of energy does the toy have when it is a. Find Tony’s kinetic energy.
going? When the toy runs down, what has
b. Tony’s speed decreases to 5.0 m/s. Now
happened to the energy?
what is his kinetic energy?
33. A ball is dropped from the top of a building. c. Find the ratio of the kinetic energies in
You choose the top of the building to be parts a and b. Explain how this ratio
the reference level, while your friend relates to the change in speed.
chooses the bottom. Explain whether the
energy calculated using these two 42. A racing car has a mass of 1525 kg. What is
reference levels is the same or different for its kinetic energy if it has a speed of
the following situations. 108 km/h?
a. the ball-Earth system’s potential energy
43. Katia and Angela each has a mass of
b. the change in the system’s potential 45 kg and are moving together with a
energy as a result of the fall speed of 10.0 m/s.
c. the kinetic energy of the system at any a. What is their combined kinetic energy?
point
b. What is the ratio of their combined mass
to Katia’s mass?
34. Can a baseball’s kinetic energy ever be
negative? c. What is the ratio of their combined
kinetic energy to Katia’s kinetic energy?
35. Can a baseball-Earth system ever have a Explain how this ratio relates to the ratio
negative gravitational potential energy? of their masses.
Explain without using a formula.
44. Train In the 1950s an experimental train
36. If a sprinter’s velocity increases to three with a mass of 2.50×104 kg was powered
times the original velocity, by what factor along 509 m of level track by a jet engine
does the kinetic energy increase? that produced a thrust of 5.00×105 N.
Assume friction is negligible.
37. What energy transformations take place a. Find the work done on the train by the
when an athlete is pole-vaulting? jet engine.
b. Find the change in kinetic energy.
38. The sport of pole-vaulting was drastically
changed when the stiff, wooden poles were c. Find the final kinetic energy of the train if
replaced by flexible fiberglass poles. it started from rest.
Copyright ©McGraw-Hill Education

Explain why. d. Find the final speed of the train.

Mastering Problems 45. Car Brakes The driver of the car in the
image suddenly applies the brakes and the
39. A 1600-kg car travels at a speed of 12.5 m/s.
car slides to a stop. The average force
What is its kinetic energy?
between the tires and the road is 7100 N.
How far will the car slide after the brakes
40. Shawn and his bike have a combined mass
are applied?
of 45.0 kg. Shawn rides his bike 1.80 km in
10.0 min at a constant velocity. What is
Shawn’s kinetic energy?

Inspire Physics 4 Physics Problems

 Module 10 continued

46. A 15.0-kg cart moves down a level hallway 54. Pam has a mass of 45 kg. Her rocket pack
with a velocity of 7.50 m/s. A constant 10-N supplies a constant force for 22.0 m, and
force acts on the cart, slowing its velocity to Pam acquires a speed of 62.0 m/s as she
3.20 m/s. moves on frictionless ice.
a. Find the change in the cart’s kinetic a. What is Pam’s final kinetic energy?
energy. b. What is the magnitude of the force?
b. How much work was done on the cart?
c. How far did the cart move while the 55. Collision A 2.00×103-kg car has a speed of
force acted? 12.0 m/s when it hits a tree. The tree
doesn’t move, and the car comes to rest as
47. DeAnna, with a mass of 60.0 kg, climbs shown.
3.5 m up a gymnasium rope. How much
energy does a system containing DeAnna
and Earth gain from this climb?

48. A 6.4-kg bowling ball is lifted 2.1 m to a

shelf. Find the increase in the ball-Earth
system’s energy.
a. Find the change in kinetic energy of the
49. Mary weighs 505 N. She walks down a
car.
5.50-m high flight of stairs. What is the
change in the potential energy of the Mary- b. Find the amount of work done by the
Earth system? tree on the car as the front of the car
crashes into the tree.
50. Weightlifting A weightlifter raises a 180-kg c. Find the magnitude of the force that
barbell to a height of 1.95 m. What is the pushed in the front of the car by
increase in the potential energy of the 50.0 cm.
barbell-Earth system?
56. A science museum display about energy
51. A 10.0-kg test rocket is fired vertically from has a small engine that pulls on a rope to lift
Cape Canaveral. Burning all of the fuel a block 1.00 m. The display indicates that
gives it a kinetic energy of 1960 J. After the 1.00 J of work is done. What is the mass of
fuel is burned, what additional height will the block?
the rocket rise?
57. A constant net force of 410 N is applied
52. Antwan raised a 12.0-N book from a table upward to a stone that weighs 32 N. The
Copyright ©McGraw-Hill Education

75 cm above the floor to a shelf 2.15 m upward force is applied through a distance
above the floor. Find the change in the of 2.0 m, and the stone is then released. To
system’s potential energy. what height, from the point of release, will
the stone rise?
53. Tennis A professional tennis player serves
a ball. The 0.060-kg ball is in contact with Lesson 3 Conservation
the racket strings, as shown in the image,
for 0.030 s. If the ball starts at rest, what is of Energy
its kinetic energy as it leaves the racket? Mastering Concepts
58. You throw a clay ball at a hockey puck on
ice. The smashed clay ball and the hockey
puck stick together and move slowly.
a. Is momentum conserved in the collision?
Explain.
b. Is kinetic energy conserved? Explain.

Inspire Physics 5 Physics Problems

 Module 10 continued

59. Draw energy bar diagrams for the following 64. A rock sits on the edge of a cliff, as shown.
processes.
a. An ice cube, initially at rest, slides down
a frictionless slope.
b. An ice cube, initially moving, slides up a
frictionless slope and comes
momentarily to rest.

60. Describe the transformations from kinetic

energy to potential energy and vice versa a. What potential energy does the rock-
for a roller-coaster ride. Earth system possess relative to the
base of the cliff?
61. Describe how the kinetic energy and elastic b. The rock falls from the cliff. What is its
potential energy of a bouncing rubber ball kinetic energy just before it strikes the
decreases. What happens to the ball’s ground?
motion? c. What is the rock’s speed as it hits the
ground?
Mastering Problems
62. A 98.0-N sack of grain is hoisted to a 65. Archery An archer fits a 0.30-kg arrow to
storage room 50.0 m above the ground the bowstring. He exerts an average force
floor of a grain elevator. of 201 N to draw the string back 0.5 m.
a. How much work was done? a. If all the energy goes into the arrow, with
b. What is the increase in potential energy what speed does the arrow leave the
of a system containing the sack of grain bow?
and Earth? b. The arrow is shot straight up and
c. The rope being used to lift the sack of reaches a height of 10 m above the bow.
grain breaks just as the sack reaches the What is the arrow’s speed at the top of
storage room. What kinetic energy does its flight?
the sack have just before it strikes the
ground floor?

63. A 2.0-kg rock is initially at rest. The rock

falls, and the potential energy of the rock-
Earth system decreases by 407 J. How
much kinetic energy does the system gain
Copyright ©McGraw-Hill Education

as the rock falls?

Inspire Physics 6 Physics Problems

 Module 10 continued

66. Railroad Car A 5.0×105-kg railroad car 71. Hakeem throws a 10.0-g ball straight down
collides with a stationary railroad car of from a height of 2.0 m. The ball strikes the
equal mass. After the collision, the two cars floor at a speed of 7.5 m/s. Find the ball’s
lock together and move off as shown. initial speed.

72. A 635-N person climbs a ladder to a height

of 5.0 m. Use the person and Earth as the
system.
a. Draw energy bar diagrams of the system
before the person starts to climb and
after the person stops at the top. Has
the mechanical energy changed? If so,
a. Before the collision, the first railroad car by how much?
was moving at 8.0 m/s. What was its b. Where did this energy come from?
momentum?
b. What was the total momentum of the Lesson 4 Machines
two cars after the collision?
Mastering Concepts
c. What were the kinetic energies of the
73. Is it possible to get more work out of a
two cars before and after the collision?
machine than you put into it?
d. Account for the change of kinetic
energy. 74. Explain how bicycle pedals are a simple
machine.
67. Slide Lorena’s mass is 28 kg. She climbs
the 4.8-m ladder of a slide and reaches a
velocity of 3.2 m/s at the bottom of the
Mastering Problems
slide. How much work was done by friction 75. Piano Takeshi raises a 1200-N piano a
on Lorena? distance of 5.00 m using a set of pulleys.
He pulls in 20.0 m of rope.
68. From what height would a compact car a. How much effort force would Takeshi
have to be dropped to have the same apply if this were an ideal machine?
kinetic energy that it has when being driven b. What force is used to balance the friction
at 1.00×102 km/h? force if the actual effort is 340 N?
c. What is the output work?
69. Problem Posing Complete this problem so
that it can be solved using each concept d. What is the input work?
Copyright ©McGraw-Hill Education

listed below: “A cartoon character is holding e. What is the mechanical advantage?

a 50-kg anvil at the edge of a cliff…”
76. Because there is very little friction, the lever
a. Conservation of mechanical energy is an extremely efficient simple machine.
b. Newton’s second law Using a 90.0-percent-efficient lever, what
input work is needed to lift an 18.0-kg mass
70. Kelli weighs 420 N, and she sits on a a distance of 0.50 m?
playground swing that hangs 0.40 m above
the ground. Her mom pulls the swing back 77. A student exerts a force of 250 N on a lever
and releases it when the seat is 1.00 m through a distance of 1.6 m as he lifts a 150-
above the ground. kg crate. If the efficiency of the lever is 90.0
percent, how far is the crate lifted?
a. How fast is Kelli moving when the swing
passes through its lowest position?
b. If Kelli moves through the lowest point at
2.0 m/s, how much work was done on
the swing by friction?

Inspire Physics 7 Physics Problems

 Module 10 continued

78. Reverse Problem Write a physics problem 82. Bicycle Luisa pedals a bicycle with the
with real-life objects for which the following wheel shown. If the wheel revolves once,
equation would be part of the solution: what is the length of the chain that was
1 used?
(12.5 N)d = (6.0 kg)(0.05 m/s)2
2
1
− (6.0 kg)(1.10 m/s)2
2

79. A pulley system is used to lift a 1345-N

weight a distance of 0.975 m. Paul pulls the
rope a distance of 3.90 m, exerting a force
of 375 N.
a. What is the IMA of the system?
b. What is the mechanical advantage?
c. How efficient is the system?
83. A motor with an efficiency of 88 percent
runs a crane with an efficiency of
80. A force of 1.4 N is exerted on a rope in a
42 percent. The power supplied to the
pulley system. The force is exerted through
motor is 5.5 kW. At what constant speed
a distance of 40.0 cm, lifting a 0.50-kg
does the crane lift a 410-kg crate?
mass 10.0 cm. Calculate the following.
a. the MA 84. What work is required to lift a 215-kg mass a
b. the IMA distance of 5.65 m, using a machine that is
c. the efficiency 72.5 percent efficient?

81. Use the image to answer the following 85. Problem Posing Complete this problem so
questions. that it can be solved using power: “While
rearranging furniture, Opa needs to move a
50-kg sofa…”

86. A compound machine is made by attaching

a lever to a pulley system. Consider an ideal
compound machine consisting of a lever
with an IMA of 3.0 and a pulley system with
an IMA of 2.0.
Copyright ©McGraw-Hill Education

a. Show that the compound machine’s IMA

a. What force, parallel to the ramp (FA), is is 6.0.
required to slide a 25-kg box at constant
speed to the top of the ramp? Ignore b. If the compound machine is
60.0 percent efficient, how much effort
friction.
must be applied to the lever to lift a
b. What is the IMA of the ramp? 540-N box?
c. What are the actual MA and the c. If you move the effort side of the lever
efficiency of the ramp if a 75-N parallel 12.0 cm, how far is the box lifted?
force is needed?

Applying Concepts
87. Which requires more work—carrying a
420-N backpack up a 200-m-high hill or
carrying a 210-N backpack up a 400-m-high
hill? Why?

Inspire Physics 8 Physics Problems

 Module 10 continued

88. Lifting You slowly lift a box of books from 97. The driver of a speeding car applies the
the floor and put it on a table. Earth’s gravity brakes and the car comes to a stop. The
exerts a force, magnitude mg, downward, system includes the car but not the road.
and you exert a force, magnitude mg, Apply the work-energy theorem to the
upward. The two forces have equal following situations to describe the changes
magnitudes and opposite directions. It in energy of the system.
appears that no work is done, but you know a. The car’s wheels do not skid.
that you did work. Explain what work was
b. The brakes lock and the car’s wheels
done.
skid.
89. You have an after-school job carrying
98. A compact car and a trailer truck are
cartons of new copy paper up a flight of
traveling at the same velocity. Did the car
stairs and then carrying recycled paper
engine or the truck engine do more work in
back down the stairs. The mass of the
accelerating its vehicle?
paper is the same in both cases. Your
physics teacher says that you did no work,
99. Catapults Medieval warriors used
so you should not be paid. In what sense is
catapults to assault castles. Some catapults
the physics teacher correct? What
worked by using a tightly wound rope to
arrangement of payments might you make
turn the catapult arm. What forms of energy
to ensure that you are properly
are involved in catapulting a rock into the
compensated?
castle wall?
90. Once downstairs, you carry the cartons of
100. Two cars collide and come to a complete
paper along a 15-m-long hallway. Are you
stop. Where did all of their kinetic energy
doing work by carrying the boxes down the
go?
hall? Explain.
101. Skating Two skaters of unequal mass have
91. Climbing Stairs Two people of the same
the same speed and are moving in the
mass climb the same flight of stairs. The first
same direction. If the ice exerts the same
person climbs the stairs in 25 s; the second
frictional force on each skater, how will the
person does so in 35 s.
stopping distances of their bodies
a. Which person does more work? Explain. compare?
b. Which person produces more power?
Explain. 102. You swing a mass on the end of a string
92. Show that power can be written as around your head in a horizontal circle at
P = Fv cos θ. constant speed, as shown.
Copyright ©McGraw-Hill Education

93. How can you increase the ideal mechanical

advantage of a machine?

94. Orbits Explain why a planet orbiting the

Sun does not violate the work-energy
theorem.

95. Claw Hammer A standard claw hammer is

used to pull a nail from a piece of wood.
Where should you place your hand on the
a. How much work is done on the mass by
handle and where should the nail be
the tension of the string in one
located in the claw to make the effort force
revolution?
as small as possible?
b. Is your answer to part a in agreement
96. Wedge How can you increase the with the work-energy theorem? Explain.
mechanical advantage of a wedge without
changing its ideal mechanical advantage?
Inspire Physics 9 Physics Problems
 Module 10 continued

103. Roller Coaster You have been hired to 108. A 805-N horizontal force is needed to drag
make a roller coaster more exciting. The a crate across a horizontal floor at a
owners want the speed at the bottom of the constant speed. You drag the crate using a
first hill doubled. How much higher must rope held at a 32° angle.
the first hill be built? a. What force do you exert on the rope?
b. How much work do you do on the crate
104. Two identical balls are thrown from the top
if you move it 22 m?
of a cliff, each with the same initial speed.
One is thrown straight up, the other straight c. If you complete the job in 8.0 s, what
down. How do the kinetic energies and power is developed?
speeds of the balls compare as they strike
the ground? 109. Dolly and Ramp A dolly is used to move a
115-kg refrigerator up a ramp into a house.
105. Give specific examples that illustrate the The ramp is 2.10 m long and rises 0.850 m.
following processes. The mover pulls the dolly with a force of
496 N parallel to the ramp. The dolly and
a. Work is done on a system, increasing
ramp constitute a machine.
kinetic energy with no change in
potential energy. a. What work does the mover do on the
dolly?
b. Potential energy is changed to kinetic
energy with no work done on the b. What is the work done on the
system. refrigerator by the machine?
c. Work is done on a system, increasing c. What is the efficiency of the machine?
potential energy with no change in
kinetic energy. 110. Sally does 11.4 kJ of work dragging a
wooden crate 25.0 m across a floor at a
d. Kinetic energy is reduced, but potential
constant speed. The rope she uses to pull
energy is unchanged. Work is done by
the crate makes an angle of 48.0° with the
the system.
horizontal.
a. What force does the rope exert on the
Mixed Review crate?
106. Ramps Isra has to get a piano onto a b. Find the force of friction acting on the
2.0-m-high platform. She can use a crate.
3.0-m-long frictionless ramp or a 4.0-m-long
frictionless ramp. Which ramp should Isra c. How much energy is transformed by the
use if she wants to do the least amount of force of friction between the floor and
work? the crate?
Copyright ©McGraw-Hill Education

107. Brutus, a champion weightlifter, raises 111. Sledding An 845-N sled is pulled a
240 kg of weights a distance of 2.35 m at a distance of 185 m. The task requires
constant speed. 1.20×104 J of work and is done by pulling on
a rope with a force of 125 N. At what angle
a. Find the work Brutus does on the is the rope held?
weights.
b. How much work is done by Brutus on 112. An electric winch pulls an 875-N crate up a
the weights holding the weights above 15° incline at 0.25 m/s. The coefficient of
his head? friction between the crate and incline is
c. How much work is done by Brutus on 0.45.
the weights lowering them back to the a. What power does the winch develop?
ground? b. How much electrical power must be
d. Does Brutus do work if he lets go of delivered to the winch if it is 85 percent
the weights and they fall back to the efficient?
ground?

Inspire Physics 10 Physics Problems

 Module 10 continued

113. Suppose a chimpanzee swings through the 119. A cart travels down a hill as shown. The
jungle on vines. If it swings from a tree on a distance that the cart must roll to the
13-m-long vine that starts at an angle of 45°, bottom of the hill is 0.50 m/sin 30.0° = 1.0
what is the chimp’s velocity when it reaches m. The surface of the hill exerts a frictional
the ground? force of 5.0 N on the cart. Does the cart
reach the bottom of the hill?
114. An 0.80-kg cart rolls down a frictionless hill
of height 0.32 m. At the bottom of the hill,
the cart rolls on a flat surface, which exerts
a frictional force of 2.0 N on the cart. How
far does the cart roll on the flat surface
before it comes to a stop?

115. A stuntwoman finds that she can safely

break her fall from a one-story building by
landing in a box filled to a 1-m depth with 120. Object A, sliding on a frictionless surface at
foam peanuts. In her next movie, the script 3.2 m/s, hits a 2.0-kg object, B, which is
calls for her to jump from a five-story motionless. The collision of A and B is
building. How deep a box of foam peanuts completely elastic. After the collision, A and
should she prepare? B move away from each other in opposite
directions at equal speeds. What is the
116. Football A 110-kg football linebacker mass of object A?
collides head-on with a 150-kg defensive
end. After they collide, they come to a
complete stop. Before the collision, which Thinking Critically
player had the greater kinetic energy? 121. Apply Concepts A 75-kg sprinter runs the
Which player had the greater momentum? 50.0-m dash in 8.50 s. Assume the
sprinter’s acceleration is constant
117. A 2.0-kg lab cart and a 1.0-kg lab cart are throughout the race.
held together by a compressed spring. The a. Find the sprinter’s average power for the
lab carts move at 2.1 m/s in one direction. race.
The spring suddenly becomes
b. What is the maximum power the sprinter
uncompressed and pushes the two lab
develops?
carts apart. The 2-kg lab cart comes to a
stop, and the 1.0-kg lab cart moves ahead.
122. Apply Concepts The sprinter in the
How much energy did the spring add to the
previous problem runs the 50.0-m dash
lab carts? (Level 2?)
Copyright ©McGraw-Hill Education

again in 8.50 s. This time, however, the

sprinter accelerates in the first second and
118. A 55.0-kg scientist roping through the
runs the rest of the race at a constant
treetops in the jungle sees a lion about to
velocity.
attack an antelope. She swings down from
her 12.0-m-high perch and grabs the a. Calculate the average power produced
antelope (21.0 kg) as she swings. They for that first second.
barely swing back up to a tree limb out of b. What is the maximum power that the
the lion’s reach. How high is the tree limb? sprinter now generates?

Inspire Physics 11 Physics Problems

 Module 10 continued

123. Analyze and Conclude You are carrying 126. Apply Concepts A fly hitting the
boxes to a storage loft that is 12 m above windshield of a moving pickup truck is an
the ground. You need to move 30 boxes example of a collision in which the mass of
with a total mass of 150 kg as quickly as one of the objects is many times larger than
possible. You could carry more than one up the other. On the other hand, the collision
at a time, but if you try to move too many at of two billiard balls is one in which the
once, you will go very slowly and rest often. masses of both objects are the same. How
If you carry only one box at a time, most of is energy transferred in these collisions?
the energy will go into raising your own Consider an elastic collision in which billiard
body. The power that your body can ball m1 has velocity v1 and ball m2 is
develop over a long time depends on the motionless.
mass that you carry, as shown in the graph. a. If m1 = m2, what fraction of the initial
Find the number of boxes to carry on each energy is transferred to m2?
trip that would minimize the time required.
What time would you spend doing the job? b. If m1 >> m2, what fraction of the initial
Ignore the time needed to go back down energy is transferred to m2?
the stairs and to lift and lower each box. c. In a nuclear reactor, neutrons must be
slowed down by causing them to collide
with atoms. (A neutron is about as
massive as a proton.) Would hydrogen,
carbon, or iron atoms be more desirable
to use for this purpose?

127. Reverse Problem Write a physics problem

with real-life objects for which the energy
bar diagram would be part of the solution.

124. Ranking Task A 20-kg boy interacts with a

bench as shown in the diagram. Rank each
interaction according to the work the boy
does on the bench, from least to greatest.
Clearly indicate any ties. 128. Reverse Problem Write a physics problem
Copyright ©McGraw-Hill Education

with real-life objects for which the following

equation would be part of the solution:
1
(6.0 kg)v2 = (6.0 kg)(9.8 N/kg)(0.92 m)
2

129. Analyze and Conclude In a perfectly

elastic collision, both momentum and
kinetic energy are conserved. Two balls,
with masses mA and mB, are moving toward
each other with speeds vA and vB,
respectively. Solve the appropriate
equations to find the speeds of the two
125. Apply Concepts A golf ball with a mass of balls after the collision.
0.046 kg rests on a tee. It is struck by a golf
club with an effective mass of 0.220 kg and
a speed of 44 m/s. Assuming that the
collision is elastic, find the speed of the ball
when it leaves the tee.

Inspire Physics 12 Physics Problems

 Module 10 continued

130. Ranking Task Five clay pots are dropped

or thrown from the same rooftop as
described below. Rank them according to
their speed when they strike the ground,
from least to greatest. Specifically indicate
any ties.
a. 1 kg, dropped from rest
b. 1 kg, thrown downward with vi = 2 m/s
c. 1 kg, thrown upward with vi = 2 m/s
d. 1 kg, thrown horizontally with vi = 2 m/s
e. 2 kg, dropped from rest

131. Analyze and Conclude A 25-g ball is fired

with an initial speed of v1 toward a 125-g ball
that is hanging motionless from a 1.25-m
string. The balls have a perfectly elastic
collision. As a result, the 125-g ball swings
out until the string makes an angle of 37.0°
with the vertical. What is v1i?

Writing in Physics
132. Just as a bicycle is a compound machine,
so is an automobile. Find the efficiencies of
the component parts of the power train
(engine, transmission, wheels, and tires).
Explore possible improvements in each of
these efficiencies.

133. The terms force, work, power, and energy

are often used as synonyms in everyday
use. Obtain examples from radio, television,
print media, and advertisements that
illustrate meanings for these terms that
differ from those used in physics.
Copyright ©McGraw-Hill Education

134. All energy comes from the Sun and allows

us to live and to operate our society. In
what forms does this solar energy come to
us? Research how the Sun’s energy is
turned into a form that we can use. After we
use the Sun’s energy, where does it go?
Explain.

135. All forms of energy can be classified as

either kinetic or potential energy. How
would you describe nuclear, electric,
chemical, biological, solar, and light energy,
and why? For each of these types of
energy, research what objects are moving
and how energy is stored due to the
interactions between those objects.

Inspire Physics 13 Physics Problems