by

Alvin Halpern, Ph.D.

Brooklyn College

SCHAUM'S OUTLINE SERIES

McGraw-Hili
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 Alvin Halpern. Ph.D . Professor of Physics at Brooklyn College
Dr. Halpern has extensive teaching experience in physics and is the chairman of
the physics department at Brooklyn College. He is a member of the executive
committee for the doctoral program in physics at CUNY and has written numerous
research articles.

Project supervision was done by The Total Book.

Index by Hugh C. Maddocks, Ph.D.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Halpern, Alvin M.
Schaum's 3000 solved problems in physics.

I. Physics-Problems, exercises, etc. I. Title.

II. Title: Schaum's three thousand solved problems
in physics.
QC32.H325 1988 530'.076 87-31075
ISBN 0-07-025636-5

14 15 16 17 18 19 VLP VLP 0 5 4 3 2

ISBN 0-07-025734-5 (Formerly published under ISBN 0-07-025636-5.)

Copyright 1988 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed
in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States
Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or
distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a data base or retrieval
system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

McGraw-Hill ~
A Division ofTheMcGrawHiU Companies
 CONTENTS

CHAPTER SKELETONS WITH EXAMS ix

Chapter 1 MATHEMATICAL INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Planar Vectors, Scientific Notation, and Units / 1.2 Three-Dimensional Vectors; Dot
and Cross Products

Chapter 2 EQUILIBRIUM OF CONCURRENT FORCES 21

2.1 Ropes, Knots, and Frictionless Pulleys / 2.2 Friction and Inclined Planes /
2.3 Graphical and Other Problems

Chapter 3 KINEMATICS IN ONE DIMENSION 36

3.1 Dimensions and Units; Constant-Acceleration Problems

Chapter 4 NEWfON'S LAWS OF MOTION 51

4.1 Force, Mass, and Acceleration / 4.2 Friction; Inclined Planes; Vector
Notation / 4.3 Two-Object and Other Problems

Chapter 5 MOTION IN A PLANE I 76

5.1 Projectile Motion / 5.2 Relative Motion

Chapter 6 MOTION IN A PLANE II 94

6.1 Circular Motion; Centripetal Force / 6.2 Law of Universal Gravitation; Satellite
Motion / 6.3 General Motion in a Plane

Chapter 7 WORK AND ENERGY 111

7.1 Work Done by a Force / 7.2 Work, Kinetic Energy,. and Potential
.Energy / 7.3 Conservation of Mechanical Energy / 7.4 Additional Problems

Chapter 8 POWER AND SIMPLE MACHINES 136

8.1 Power / 8.2 Simple Machines

Chapter 9 IMPULSE AND MOMENTUM 146

9.1 Elementary Problems / 9.2 Elastic Collisions / 9.3 Inelastic Collisions and Ballistic
Pendulums / 9.4 Collisions in Two Dimensions / 9.5 Recoil and Reaction / 9.6 Center
of Mass (see also Chap. 10)

Chapter 10 STATICS OF RIGID BODIES 176

10.1 Equilibrium of Rigid Bodies / 10.2 Center of Mass (Center of Gravity)

Chapter 11 ROTATIONAL MOTION I: KINEMATICS AND DYNAMICS 207

11.1 Angular Motion and Torque / 11.2 Rotational Kinematics / 11.3 Torque and
Rotation / 11.4 Moment of Inertia / 11.5 Translational-Rotational Relationships /
11.6 Problems Involving Cords Around Cylinders, Rolling Objects, etc.

Chapter 12 ROTATIONAL MOTION II: KINETIC ENERGY, ANGULAR IMPULSE,

ANGULAR MOMENTUM 228
12.1 Energy and Power / 12.2 Angular Impulse; the Physical Pendulum /
12.3 Angular Momentum

Chapter 13 MATIER IN BULK 247

13.1 Density and Specific Gravity / 13.2 Elastic Properties

iii
iv D CONTENTS

Chapter 14 SIMPLE HARMONIC MOTION 256

14.1 Oscillations of a Mass on a Spring / 14.2 SHM of Pendulums and Other Systems

Chapter 15 HYDROSTATICS 271

15.1 Pressure and Density / 15.2 Pascal's and Archimedes' Principles; Surface Tension

Chapter 16 HYDRODYNAMICS 285

16.1 Equation of Continuity, Bernoulli's Equation, Torricelli's Theorem /
16.2 Viscosity, Stokes' Law, Poiseuille's Law, Turbulence, Reynolds Number

Chapter 17 TEMPERATURE AND THERMAL EXPANSION 297

17.1 Temperature Scales; Linear Expansion / 17.2 Area and Volume Expansion

Chapter 18 HEAT AND CALORIMETRY 307

18.1 Heat and Energy; Mechanical Equivalent of Heat / 18.2 Calqrimetry, Specific
Heats, Heats of Fusion and Vaporization

Chapter 19 HEAT TRANSFER 316

19.1 Conduction / 19.2 Convection / 19.3 Radiation

Chapter 20 GAS LAWS AND KINETIC THEORY 326

20.1 The Mole Concept; the Ideal Gas Law / 20.2 Kinetic Theory / 20.3 Atmospheric
Properties; Specific Heats of Solids

Chapter 21 THE FIRST LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS 345

21.1 Basic Thermodynamic Concepts / 21.2 The First Law of Thermodynamics, Internal
Energy, p - V Diagrams, Cyclical Systems

Chapter 22 THE SECOND LAW OF THERMODYNAMICS 357

22.1 Heat Engines; Kelvin - Planck and Clausius Statements of the Second
Law / 22.2 Entropy

Chapter 23 WAVE MOTION 366

23.1 Characteristic Properties / 23.2 Standing Waves and Resonance

Chapter 24 SOUND 379

24.1 Sound Velocity; Beats; Doppler Shift / 24.2 Power, Intensity, Reverberation Time,
Shock Waves

Chapter 25 COULOMB'S LAW AND ELECTRIC FIELDS 387

25.1 Coulomb's Law of Electrostatic Force / 25.2 The Electric Field; Continuous Charge
Distributions; Motion of Charged Particles in an Electric Field / 25.3 Electric Flux and
Gauss's Law

Chapter 26 ELECTRIC POTENTIAL AND CAP ACIT ANCE 407

26.1 Potential Due to Point Charges or Charge Distributions / 26.2 The Potential
Function and the Associated Electric Field / 26.3 Energetics; Problems with Moving
Charges / 26.4 Capacitance and Field Energy / 26.5 Capacitors in Combination

Chapter 27 SIMPLE ELECTRIC CIRCUITS 432

27.1 Ohm's Law, Current, Resistance / 27.2 Resistors in Combination / 27.3 EMF
and Electrochemical Systems / 27.4 Electric Measurement / 27.5 Electric Power /
27.6 More Complex Circuits, Kirchhoff's Circuit Rules, Circuits with Capacitance

Chapter 28 THE MAGNETIC FIELD 467

28.1 Force on a Moving Charge / 28.2 Force on an Electric Current / 28.3 Torque and
Magnetic Dipole Moment / 28.4 Sources of the Magnetic Field; Law of Biot and
Savart / 28.5 More Complex Geometries; Ampere's Law
 CONTENTS D v

Chapter 29 MAGNETIC PROPERTIES OF MATTER 510

29.1 The Hand M Fields; Susceptibility; Relative Permeability / 29.2 Magnets; Pole
Strength

Chapter 30 INDUCED EMF: GENERA TORS AND MOTORS 526

30.1 Change in Magnetic Flux, Faraday's Law, Lenz's Law / 30.2 Motional
EMF; Induced Currents and Forces / 30.3 Time-Varying Magnetic and Induced
Electric Fields / 30.4 Electric Generators and Motors

Chapter 31 INDUCTANCE 552

31.1 Self-Inductance / 31.2 Mutual Inductance: The Ideal Transformer

Chapter 32 ELECTRIC CIRCUITS 566

32.1 R-C, R-L, L-C and R-L-C Circuits; Time Response / 32.2 AC Circuits in the
Steady State / 32.3 Time Behavior of AC Circuits

Chapter 33 ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES 590

33.1 Displacement Current, Maxwell's Equations, the Speed of Light / 33.2
Mathematical Description of Waves in One and Three Dimensions / 33.3 The
Component Fields of an Electromagnetic Wave; Induced EMF / 33.4 Energy and
Momentum Fluxes

Chapter 34 LIGHT AND OPTICAL PHENOMENA 607

34.1 Reflection and Refraction / 34.2 Dispersion and Color / 34.3 Photometry
and Illumination

Chapter 35 MIRRORS, LENSES, AND OPTICAL INSTRUMENTS 634

35.1 Mirrors / 35.2 Thin Lenses / 35.3 Lensmaker's Equation; Composite
Lens Systems / 35.4 Optical Instruments: Projectors, Cameras, the Eye / 35.5
Optical Instruments: Microscopes and Telescopes

Chapter 36 INTERFERENCE, DIFFRACTION, AND POLARIZATION 668

36.1 Interference of Light / 36.2 Diffraction and the Diffraction Grating / 36.3
Polarization of Light

Chapter 37 SPECIAL RELATIVITY 688

37.1 Lorentz Transformation, Length Contraction, Time Dilation, and Velocity
Transformation / 37.2 Mass-Energy Relation; Relativistic Dynamics

Chapter 38 PARTICLES OF LIGHT AND WAVES OF MATTER 708

38.1 Photons and the Photoelectric Effect / 38.2 Compton Scattering; X-rays; Pair
Production and Annihilation / 38.3 de Broglie Waves and the Uncertainty
Principle

Chapter 39 MODERN PHYSICS: ATOMS, NUCLEI, SOLID-STATE ELECTRONICS 720

39.1 Atoms and Molecules / 39.2 Nuclei and Radioactivity / 39.3 Solid-State
Electronics

INDEX 737
 TO THE STUDENT

This book is intended for use by students of general physics, either in calculus- or noncalculus-
based courses. Problems requiring real calculus (not merely calculus notation) are marked with a
small superscript c.
The only way to master general physics is to gain ability and sophistication in problem-solving.
This book is meant to make you a master of the art - and should do so if used properly. As a
rule, a problem can be solved once you have learned the ideas behind it; sometimes these very ideas
are brought into sharper focus by looking at sample problems and their solutions. If you hav.e difficulty
with a topic, you can select a few problems in that area, examine the solutions carefully, and then
try to solve related problems before looking at the printed solutions.
There are numerous ways of posing a problem and, frequently, numerous ways of solving one. You
should try to gain understanding of how to approach various classes of problems, rather than memorizing
particular solutions. Understanding is better than memory for success in physics.
The problems in this book cover every important topic in a typical two- or three-semester general
physics sequence. Ranging from the simple to the complex, they will provide you with plenty of practice
and food for thought.
The Chapter Skeletons with Exams, beginning on the next page, was devised to help students with
limited time gain maximum benefit from this book. It is hoped that the use of this feature is self-
evident; still, the following remarks may help:
The Chapter Skeletons divide the problems in this book into three categories: SCAN,
HOMEWORK and EXAMS. (Turn to page ix to see an example.)
To gain a quick overview of the basic ideas in a chapter, review the SCAN problems and
study their printed solutions.
HOMEWORK problems are for practicing your problem-solving skills; cover the solution with
an index card as you read, and try to solve, the problem. Do both sets if your course is
calculus based.
No problem from SCANor HOMEWORKis duplicated in EXAMS,and no two Exams overlap.
Calculus-based students are urged also to take the Hard Exam. Exams run about 60 minutes,
unless otherwise indicated.
Still further problems constitute the two groups of Final Exams. Stay in your category(ies), and
good luck.

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