Exercise 1

1. Kinetic energy of a particle moving along elliptical trajectory is given by K =as2 where s is
the distance travelled by the particle. Determine dimensions of a.
2.

3.

4. From the observations speed of sound in medium maybe affected by density d, wavelength
, and Young Modulus E. Derive an equation for the speed of sound in the medium. ([E]
=ML-1T-2)

5.
6.
(a) Given below are the equation of the liquid flow inside the horizontal pipe.

(1) p  Av  W
2

BTg
p X
(2) v2

(3) p  Cgv  Y
Where;
W,X,Y have the dimension as same as pressure
A,B,C are the constant without dimension.
g represent gravitational acceleration.
T represent liquid surface tension (it’s dimension is MT-2)
 represent liquid density
v represent liquid velocity
p represent the pressure change
Determine the homogeneity of the above equation.

(b) Below are the reading for p and v :

p (Nm-2) 2.0  1.5  1.2  0.7  0.3 

103 103 103 103 103
v (m s-2) 1.0 1.4 1.6 1.9 2.1

Table 1- 1

Using the above reading ,

(i) Determine the correct equation.
(ii) Determine the constant for the correct equation using the information below.
[ = 1.0  103 kg m-3, T = 7.4  10-2 N m-1]
Answer
Q1

Q2

Q3

Q4
It’s observe that vd a b E c suppose the a,b and c are dimensionless constant.
Then v  kd a b E c

Assume that k is the dimensionless constant.

LHS : v   LT 1
RHS :

d   (ML
a 3 a
)  M a L3a
   L
b b

E   (ML T
c 1 2 c
)  M c LcT 2c

d  E   M
a b c a c 3a b
L T 2c

So LHS  RHS
LT 1  M a c L3a bT 2c
Pairing the similar physical quantities Dimension indices of both sides.
LHS RHS
M0 Ma+c
L1 L-3a+b
T-1 T-2c

Table 1- 2

M: 0  a  c
L : 1  3a  c
T :  1  2c
Solve the above equation :
1 1
a   , b  0 and c 
2 2
So the equation v  kd a b E c will become :
1 1

v  kd  E 2 0 2

Meaning that the equation of v is

E
vk
d
Q5
Q6
(a) Equation (1),
has no dimension so it’s should be term P and Av2 have the same dimension.
[P] = M L-1 T-2

[v2] = M L-3 x L2 T-2 = M L-1 T-2

Equation (2)
Tg
X has no dimension so it’s should be term P and have the same dimension.
v2
 Tg  2 2 1 1  2
 v 2   MT  LT  L2T 2  ML T

Equation (3)
Y has no dimension so it’s should be term P and gv have the same dimension.

gv  LT 2  ML3  LT 1  ML1T 3

It’s meant that equation (3) is dimensionally wrong.

(b) Verily we can conclude that equation (1) and equation (2) are dimensionally correct.
(i) Equation (1) and equation (2) have to be rearrange into y = mx + c
 (1) p   Av 2  W meaning graph p vs v2 is should be a straight line

BTg 1
(2) p   2
 X meaning graph p vs 2 is should be a straight line
v v
To confirm which equation is correct the we have to plot both of the graph according to the data given in the
table.

p (Nm-2) 2.0  103 1.5  103 1.2  103 0.7  103 0.3  103
v (m s-2) 1 1.4 1.6 1.9 2.1
v2 1 1.96 2.56 3.61 4.41
1
1.000 0.510 0.391 0.277 0.227
v2

Table 1- 3

P, Pressure(103)Nm-2
2.5

equation (1)
equation (2)
1.5
Linear (equation (1))
Log. (equation (2))

0.5

y = -0.5011x + 2.5 v2
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5

Graph 1

From the graph it’s confirm that the equation (1) is correct because it is a linear graph with negative gradient.

(ii) to find A ;
From the graph the gradient is -0.5011.
From the equation (1) the gradient is  A

  A  0.5011
0.5011
A  = 1.0  103 kg m-3

0.5011
A  5  10  4
1.0  10 3