300 CREATIVE

PHYSICS PROBLEMS
with Solutions
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LASZLO HOLIeS
 300 CREATIVE
PHYSICS PROBLEMS
with Solutions

Laszlo Holies

ANTHEM PR ESS
LONDON· NEWYOR.K · DELH I
 Anthem Press
An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company
www.anthempress.com

This edition first published in UK and USA 20 I 0

by ANTHEM PRESS
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or PO Box 9779 , London SWI9 7ZG, UK
and
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Copyright © Laszl6 Holics 20 I 0

English translation © A. Gr6f, A. Salamon, A. Tasnadi , T. Tasnadi , Cs. T6th

Sponsored by Graphisoft Foundation

The moral right of the authors has been asserted.

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ISBN-13 : 978 I 84331 869 9 (H bk)

ISBN-IO: 1843318695 (Hbk)
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

How to Use This Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v

Physical Constants alld Other Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi

Part I. PROBLEMS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

I . Mechanics Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
I. I Kinematics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3 Statics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
1.4 Fluids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

2. T hermodynam ics Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

2. I Thermal expansion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.2 Ideal gas processes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.3 Fi rst law of thermodynamics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

3. E lectrodynamics Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3. I Electrostatics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.2 Direct current. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

4. Magnetism Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
4. I Magnetic field. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
4.2 Induction (motional eml) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
4.3 Induction (transformer emt) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
4.4 A lternating current. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

5. Optics Proble ms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

III
 Part II. SOLUT IONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

6. Mechanics So luti ons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

6.1 Kinem ati cs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
6.2 Dynami cs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
6.:1 Stat ics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :12:1
6.4 Fluid s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3:14

7. Thermodynamics So luti ons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . :142

7. 1 Th ermal expa nsion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
7.2 Ideal gas processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
7.:1 Fi rst law of therm odynami cs .. ..... . ......... .. ....... . ... . . :197

8. Electrodynami cs So luti ons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429

8. 1 Elec trostatics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
8.2 Direct cu rrent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 1

9. Mag neti sm So lut ion s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470

9. 1 Magnetic field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 470
9.2 In duc ti on (moti onal em l) ... . .. . .... .... ........ .. . ........ . 477
9.:1 Inducti on (transformer emf) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49:1
9.4 Alte rn ating current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508

10. Opti cs Sol uti ons.. . . . . . . ... .... . .... . . ... ..... ... . .. . . .. ... . . . .. . 520

IV
 How to Use This Book

The bes t way of understandin g the laws of phys ics and learnin g how to so lve ph ys ics
problem s is th ro ugh prac ti ce. Thi s book features almost three hundred probl ems and
soluti ons worked out in detail. In Pa rt I, Problell1 s are arranged themati call y, starling
in Charter I with probl e ms about mechanics, the branch of phys ics co ncerned with
the behav iour of phys ica l bodies when subj ec ted to forces or disp lacements, and the
subseque nt e nec t of the bodies on their enviro nme nt. Chapter 2 offers problems in
thermodynamics, the study o f e nergy conversion between heat and mec hanical work ,
while the electrodynamics prob lems in Chapter :1 deal with the phenomena assoc iated
with mov in g electrica l charges and their interac ti on with el ectric and mag neti c fields.
Chapter 4 ' s rroble ms on magnetism seek to understand how materi als respond on the
mi croscopi c le vel to an appli ed magneti c field . Lastl y, the optics probl ems in Chapt er 5
address the branch of ph ys ics th at studies the behav iour and phys ica l pro perti es of li ght.

While the pro bl ems are arranged by topi c, the pro bl e ms within a sin gle topi c are ofte n
arran ged by in creas in g le ve l of diOicull y. Indeed, many of these phys ics problem s are
diOicult - ye t we e nco urage stude nts to try and solve the prob lems on their ow n, and
to onl y co nsult the SO IUliO/ ls sec ti on in order to compare their ow n alle mpts with the
correct results. We e ncourage creativ ity in problem- so lvin g, and these phys ics probl ems
are intended as a means of deve lopin g the stude nt' s knowl edge of phys ics by appl yin g
them to co nc rete prohlems.

v
 Physical Constants and Other Data

Gravitational constant G 6.673 X 10 - 11 Nm 2 kg- 2

Speed of light (in vacuum) c 2. 998 x 10 8 ms- 1
Elementary charge e 1.602 x 10 - 19 C
Electron mass 9. 109 X 10 - 3 1 kg (5 11 .0 keV)
Proton mass 1.673 x 10 - 27 kg (938 .3 MeV)
Neutron mass 1.675 x 10 - 27 kg (939.6 MeV)
Charge-to-mass ratio of electron 1.759 x 1011 Ckg - 1
Unified atomic mass constant 1.661 X 10- 27 kg
Boltzmann constant 1.381 X 10- 23 JK - 1
Plank constant 6.626 X 10 - 34 Js
A vogadro constant 6.022 X 10 23 mo] - l
Gas constant 8.315 Jmol- 1 K- 1
Permittivity of free space 8.854 x 10- 12 CV-1m- 1
2
Permeability of free space 411 x 10 - 7 Vs C - 1 m - 1

Coulomb constant 8.987 x 10 9 VmC - 1

Compton wavelength of electron 2.426 x 10 - 12 m

Mean radius of the Earth R 6371 km

Sun-Earth distance (Astronomical Unit, AU) 1.49 x 10 8 km
Mean density of the Earth p 5520 kgm - 3
Acceleration due to gravity 9 9.807 ms- 2
Mass of the Earth 5.978 x 10 2 4 kg
Mass of the Sun 1.989 X 10 30 kg
I light year 9.461 X 10 15 m

Surface tension of water 'Y 0.073 Nm - 1

Heat of vaporisation of water L 2256 kJkg - 1 = 40.6 kJmol - 1

Tensile strength of steel 500-2000 MPa

vi
 Part I

PROBLEMS
 Chapter 1
Mechanics Problems

1.1 Kinematics

Problem 1. A tra in is mo vin g at a speed o f v to ward s the railway man nex t to the
rails. The tra in whi stles for a time o f T . H o w lo ng d oes the railwayman hear the
whi stl e? The speed o f sound is c = 330 m /s; v = 108 km / hour = 30 m is, T = 3 s; the
train does not reach the ra ilway ma n until the end o f the whi stl e.

Problem 2. The speed o f a moto rboat in still wate r is fo ur times the speed o f a ri ver.
Normally , the motorboat takes o ne minute to c ross the ri ver to the port straig ht ac ross
on the other bank. One time, du e to a moto r probl e m, it was not able to run at full
power, and it took four minutes to cross the ri ver al o ng the same path. By wh at fac tor
was the speed of the boat in stili water reduced ? (Assume that the speed of the water is
uniform throughout the wh o le width o f the river.)

Problem 3. Consider a trough o f a se micircular cross

secti on, and an inclined pl ane in it that lead s fro m a po int
A to point B ly ing lo we r th an A . Prove that wherever
point C is chosen o n the arc AB , an object will always
get from A to B faster a lo ng the slopes AC B than alo ng
the origin al s lope A B . The c ha nge o f direc ti o n at C does
not involve a ch ange in speed . The e ffects of fricti o n are
negli g ibl e.

Problem 4. The acce le rati o n of a n objec t is unifo rml y Inc reas ing, and it is ao =
2
== 2 m /s at to = 0 sa nd al = 3 m /s 2 at t l = 1 s . The speed o f the obj ect at to = 0 s
is Vo = 1 m /s .
a) De termine the speed of the o bject at t2 = 10 s.
b) De termin e the v -t fun cti o n o f the mo ti o n, a nd the n plot it in the v - t coordin ate
syste m.
c) Estimate the di stance covered by the object in the first and last seco nd o f the time
interval 0 < t < 10 s .