1. A ball of mass m falls from rest on to a horizontal plate and bounces off it.

The magnitudes of its

velocity just before and just after the bounce are v1 and v2 respectively. The variation with time t
of the velocity v of the ball is shown below.

v
v1

0
0 t1 t2 t3 t

– v2

The magnitude of the net force on the ball is given by which one of the following?

mv1
A. t1

mv2
B. (t 3 – t 2 )

mv1  v 2 
C.
t 2  t1 

mv1  v 2 
D. t 2  t1 
(1)

2. A constant force is applied to a ball of mass m. The velocity of the ball changes from v1 to v2.
The impulse received by the ball is

A. m(v2 + v1).

B. m(v2 – v1).

2 2
C. m(v2 + v1 ).

2 2
D. m(v2 – v1 ).
(1)

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3. This question is about the collision between two railway trucks (carts).

(a) Define linear momentum.

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(1)

In the diagram below, railway truck A is moving along a horizontal track. It collides with a
stationary truck B and on collision, the two join together. Immediately before the collision, truck
–1
A is moving with speed 5.0ms . Immediately after collision, the speed of the trucks is v.

5 .0 m s – 1

B
A

Im m ed iately b efo re co llisio n

B
A

Im m ed iately after co llisio n

The mass of truck A is 800 kg and the mass of truck B is 1200 kg.

(b) (i) Calculate the speed v immediately after the collision.

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(3)

(ii) Calculate the total kinetic energy lost during the collision.

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(2)

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 (c) Suggest what has happened to the lost kinetic energy.

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(2)
(Total 8 marks)

–1
4. A ball of mass 2.0 kg falls vertically and hits the ground with speed 7.0 ms as shown below.

7 .0 m s – 1

3 .0 m s – 1

before after
–1
The ball leaves the ground with a vertical speed 3.0 ms .

The magnitude of the change in momentum of the ball is

A. zero.

B. 8.0 Ns.

C. 10 Ns.

D. 20 Ns.
(1)

5. This question is about conservation of momentum and conservation of energy.

(a) State Newton’s third law.

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(1)

(b) State the law of conservation of momentum.

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(2)

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The diagram below shows two identical balls A and B on a horizontal surface. Ball B is at rest
and ball A is moving with speed V along a line joining the centres of the balls. The mass of each
ball is M.
v

B e fo re c o llisio n A B

During the collision of the balls, the magnitude of the force that ball A exerts on ball B is FAB
and the magnitude of the force that ball B exerts on ball A is FBA.

(c) On the diagram below, add labelled arrows to represent the magnitude and direction of the
forces FAB and FBA.

D u rin g th e co llisio n A B

(3)

The balls are in contact for a time Δt. After the collision, the speed of ball A is +vA and the
speed of ball B is +vB in the directions shown.
vA vB

A fter th e co llisio n A B

As a result of the collision, there is a change in momentum of ball A and of ball B.

(d) Use Newton’s second law of motion to deduce an expression relating the forces acting
during the collision to the change in momentum of

(i) ball B.

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(2)

(ii) ball A.

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(2)

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(e) Apply Newton’s third law and your answers to (d), to deduce that the change in
momentum of the system (ball A and ball B) as a result of this collision, is zero.

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(4)

(f) Deduce, that if kinetic energy is conserved in the collision, then after the collision, ball A
will come to rest and ball B will move with speed V.

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(3)
(Total 17 marks)

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6
6 Two spheres X and Y are moving towards each other along the same straight line with momenta
of magnitude PX and PY respectively. The spheres collide and move off with momenta pX and
pY respectively, as illustrated below.

Px PY px pY

X Y X Y

B efo re co llisio n A fter co llisio n

Which one of the following is a correct statement of the law of conservation of momentum for
this collision?

A. PX + PY = pX + pY

B. PX – PY = pX + pY

C. PX – PY = pX – pY

D. PX + PY = pX – pY
(1)

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7. A stone on a string is moving in a circle as shown below.

x– d irectio n

P y– d irectio n

Q v

At point P, the stone of mass m has speed v in the y-direction. A quarter of a revolution later, the
stone at point Q has speed v in the x-direction.

What is the change, in the y-direction only, of the magnitude of the momentum of the stone?

A. zero

B. mv

C. 2mv

D. 2mv
(1)

8. This question is about momentum and the kinematics of a proposed journey to Jupiter.

(a) State the law of conservation of momentum.

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(2)

A solar propulsion engine uses solar power to ionise atoms of xenon and to accelerate them. As
a result of the acceleration process, the ions are ejected from the spaceship with a speed of
4 –1
3.0 × 10 ms .

x en o n io n s sp acesh ip
sp eed = 3 .0 × 1 0 4 m s – 1 m ass = 5 .4 × 1 0 2 k g

8
(b) The mass (nucleon) number of the xenon used is 131. Deduce that the mass of one ion of
–25
xenon is 2.2 × 10 kg.

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(2)

18
(c) The original mass of the fuel is 81 kg. Deduce that, if the engine ejects 77 × 10 xenon
7
ions every second, the fuel will last for 1.5 years. (1 year = 3.2 × 10 s)

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(2)

2
(d) The mass of the spaceship is 5.4 × 10 kg. Deduce that the initial acceleration of the
–5 –2
spaceship is 8.2 × 10 m s .

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(5)

9
 The graph below shows the variation with time t of the acceleration a of the spaceship. The solar
–
propulsion engine is switched on at time t = 0 when the speed of the spaceship is 1.2 × 103 m s
1
.

1 0 .0

9 .5

a / × 1 0 – 5m s – 2
9 .0

8 .5

8 .0
0 .0 1 .0 2 .0 3 .0 4 .0 5 .0 6 .0
t / × 107 s

(e) Explain why the acceleration of the spaceship is increasing with time.

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(2)

(f) Using data from the graph, calculate the speed of the spaceship at the time when the
xenon fuel has all been used.

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(4)

10
(g) The distance of the spaceship from Earth when the solar propulsion engine is switched on
is very small compared to the distance from Earth to Jupiter. The fuel runs out when the
–11
spaceship is a distance of 4.7 × 10 m from Jupiter. Estimate the total time that it would
take the spaceship to travel from Earth to Jupiter.

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(2)
(Total 19 marks)

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12
9. The momentum of a system is conserved if

A. no external forces act on the system.

B. no friction forces act within the system.

C. no kinetic energy is lost or gained by the system.

D. the forces acting on the system are in equilibrium.

(1)

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