PH1140 – Problem Set #1

Problem #1: Suppose that the Earth has a uniform volume mass density given by the symbol “ρ” and take the
Earth to be a sphere of radius “R.” An excavation team drills a hole perfectly from one side of the Earth to its
opposite end (ignore all of the obvious issues with that statement). At one of the holes, an excavation team
member drops an object of mass “m” from rest. As a reminder, Newton’s Law of Gravity is given by, in terms of
magnitude: FG = GMm/r2, where “G” is the universal gravitation constant, “M” is some large mass, “m” is some
smaller mass, and “r” is the center-to-center distance between two objects (one of mass M and the other of
mass m). It is also helpful to remember that mass-volume density is given by ρ = mass/volume. You can assume
Earth is a perfect sphere for this problem.

a. Show that the force of gravity in this circumstance would obey Hooke’s Law, and determine what the
corresponding spring constant would be in terms of the given quantities and fundamental constants.
b. What would be the period of oscillation for the mass? Show your work/reasoning.
c. Sketch a graph of the acceleration due to gravity versus distance from the center of the planet (“g” vs. “r”),
and clearly label any major points where graphical shifts take place. What is the acceleration due to gravity at
the center of Earth in this model?
d. How much work would be done by the force of gravity as the ball is dropped from rest and descends towards
the center of the planet? As a hint, this can be easily answered from your graphical sketch to the previous part.
e. Determine the speed of the object as it reaches the center of Earth.

Problem #2: The figure below depicts a torsion pendulum, which is created through connecting a disk of some
rotational mass “I” to a flexible rod and then to a rigid support. These were used to make ornate mechanical
clocks that required great skill to produce. When the disk is twisted through some small angle “θ,” the twisting
in the rod exerts a restoring torque “τ” that is proportional to the angular displacement. The formula can be
given as τ = -κθ, where “κ” represents a torsion constant for the torsion pendulum (kind of like a spring constant).

a. In terms of the given quantities and any fundamental constants, write a differential equation that can be
used to determine the angular displacement of the torsion pendulum as a function of time.
b. Determine the period of oscillation for the torsion pendulum in terms of the given quantities and any
fundamental constants. Remember to apply the analogy of the mass on a spring or of the simple pendulum.

The torsion constant can be determined experimentally, much like we had to experimentally determine the
spring constant in our in-class experiment. Suppose various disks of different rotational masses were used, and
a group of students determined the period of oscillation for these different rotational masses as given in the
table below:
Rotational Mass of Disk (kg·m2) Average Time for 10 Oscillations (s) Period (s)
0.025 22.4 2.24
0.036 26.8 2.68
0.049 29.5 2.95
0.064 33.3 3.33
0.081 35.9 3.59
c. Using the collected data, determine what quantities must be plotted to yield a straight-line relationship
between period and the rotational mass of the disk. Explain your reasoning.
d. Using the quantities determined in the previous part, plot a graph using the collected data to yield a
straight-line relationship between period and rotational mass. Then, determine how you can use this graph to
find the torsion constant κ.
e. What is the physical significance of the y-intercept of your graph? Explain your reasoning.

Problem #3: This question is meant to put together many elements of your introductory mechanics class with
your new knowledge of simple harmonic motion. However, systems that are about to be described, which may
read as a silly problem, can actually be used in practice. For example, ballistic gels are used in forensics and
follow the same principles as the following problem, albeit in a somewhat different manner (although ballistic
pendulums are essentially the exact same system). Suppose we fire a chunk of clay with a mass of 0.20 kg at a
stationary mass (M = 2.3 kg) that is suspended from a 3.0 meter long, weightless string. The chunk of clay is
launched from the ground with an initial speed of 12 m/s directed at 30° above the horizontal. The chunk of
clay will strike the stationary mass at the top of its trajectory, and upon impact, the two objects will stick
together and the system will then swing freely. See the picture below.

a. Calculate the horizontal distance “D” between the launching point of the clay and a point on the floor
directly below the initial position of the block.
b. Calculate the speed of the block-clay system immediately after the collision with the clay.
c. Calculate the angle θ through which the block-clay system will rise before coming momentarily to rest.
d. Calculate the time between when the block is struck and when it first returns to its original position.
e. Suppose this procedure is repeated with a chunk of clay of greater mass. Does the angle calculated in part
“c” change in this circumstance? Why or why not? Explain your answer.

Problem #4: In your education, and specifically in a chemistry class, you might have heard about something
called the van der Waals interaction (sometimes dubbed as the van der Waals force or van der Waals attraction).
When two atoms are separated by just a few atomic diameters, they can exert an attractive force onto one
another due to temporary fluctuations in electron distribution. However, when they get sufficiently close, their
electron shells can then overlap and exert a repulsive force onto one another. Between these limits, there can
be an equilibrium separation distance at which two atoms form a molecule. If the atoms are displaced slightly
from this equilibrium position, they will undergo an oscillation that obeys Hooke’s Law. It is not necessarily easy
to see how this will be the case, but will some manipulation of equations we can get there. For the purposes of
this problem in particular, it will be important to apply the binomial theorem, and we’ll only use the first two
terms. If you’re not familiar with the binomial theorem, it states that (1 + u) n ≅ 1 + nu if |u| << 1. I have
neglected higher-order terms in this expansion because we will not need them (they will be negligible for the
purposes of our problem).
An approximation for the potential energy of a potassium chloride molecule (KCl) is given by the following
function:

𝑅𝑜7 1
𝑈 = 𝐴( 8 − )
8𝑟 𝑟

In this equation, “U” stands for potential energy, “Ro” stands for the equilibrium position, “r” is the center-to-
center distance between the atoms, and “A” is a constant. In this function, Ro = 2.67 x 10-10 m and A = 2.31 x
10-28 J·m. Another helpful reminder is that F = -dU/dr, and equilibrium is established where the potential
energy is minimized, i.e., where F = 0.

a. Show that the radial component of the force on each atom is given by:

𝑅𝑜7 1
𝐹𝑟 = 𝐴 ( − )
𝑟9 𝑟2

b. Show that RO is the equilibrium position.

c. Find the minimum potential energy.
d. Now we are on to making our force equation look like Hooke’s Law. Suppose that we displace the atoms
slightly from the equilibrium position, some very small distance “x,” where x << Ro. We can now claim that,
within our force function, r = Ro + x. This can now be substituted within the force equation, and with some
algebraic manipulation, the binomial theorem can be applied to yield:

7𝐴
𝐹𝑟 ≈ − ( )𝑥
𝑅𝑜3

Where, using the analogy to a spring, k = 7A/Ro3. Show that this relationship is true and detail all algebraic
steps needed to apply the binomial theorem.
e. With both K and Cl atoms vibrating in opposite directions on opposites sides of the molecule’s center of mass,
m1m2/(m1 + m2) = 3.06 x 10-26 kg is the mass to use in calculating the frequency (this is known as the reduced
mass of the two-body system and can also be used in astronomy). Calculate the frequency of small-amplitude
vibrations.