AP PHYSICS 1 Scoring Guide

Unit 5 Progress Check: FRQ 4

1. Show all your work for each part of the question. The parts within the question may not have equal weight.

A uniform bar of mass has seven evenly spaced holes labeled through , as shown in Figure . The bar’s
center of mass is located at the center of Hole . The bar is placed on a fixed horizontal peg by sliding the bar
over the peg at Hole , and the bar can rotate around the peg with negligible friction. A cylinder with the same
mass as the bar can be hung from any of the open holes.

In the first of two experimental trials, the bar is held at rest horizontally and the cylinder is hung from Hole , as
shown in Figure . The bar is then released, resulting in an initial angular acceleration of magnitude for the
bar-cylinder system. In the second trial, the cylinder is hung from Hole and the system has an initial angular
acceleration of magnitude immediately after the bar is released in the horizontal position.

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 Scoring Guide

Unit 5 Progress Check: FRQ 4

(a) Indicate how and compare to one another.

_____ _____ _____

Justify your answer using qualitative reasoning beyond referencing equations.

Consider the general case where the cylinder can hang from any one of the holes. Let be the position of the
cylinder, where

corresponds to the position of the peg, and

is positive for positions to the right of the peg.

Additionally,

is the distance between the center of the peg and the bar’s center of mass at the center of Hole .

is the rotational inertia of the bar about the center of the peg.

(b) Starting with Newton’s second law in rotational form, derive a general expression for the initial angular
acceleration of the bar-cylinder system immediately after the bar is released in the horizontal position. Express
your answer in terms of , , , , and physical constants, as appropriate. Begin your derivation by writing a
fundamental physics principle or an equation from the reference booklet.

(c) Justify how the expression you derived for angular acceleration in part (b) either is or is not consistent with the
claim you selected in part (a).

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Unit 5 Progress Check: FRQ 4

Part A

Select a point value to view scoring criteria, solutions, and/or examples and to score the response.

0 1 2 3

The response accurately includes all of the following criteria.

1 point is earned for selecting , with an attempt at a relevant justification.

◦ indicating that the net torque is greater in the second trial because the two torques are in
opposite directions in the first trial and in the same direction in the second trial,

AND

◦ correctly connecting net torque and angular acceleration.

Example Response

Selection:

Since the cylinder is the same distance from the pivot point in both trials, the torque from the cylinder’s weight has the
same magnitude but will be in opposite directions. In the first trial, the weights of the cylinder and the bar cause torques
in opposite directions, so the net torque is the difference in their magnitudes. In the second trial, the cylinder and bar
weights cause torques in the same direction (clockwise), so the net torque is the sum of their magnitudes and is greater
than in the first trial. The rotational inertia is the same in both trials because the cylinder is the same distance from the
peg, so the greater torque in the second trial means that the angular acceleration is greater in the second trial.

Part B

Select a point value to view scoring criteria, solutions, and/or examples and to score the response.

0 1 2 3

The response accurately includes all of the following criteria.

1 point is earned for a multi-step derivation that uses Newton’s second law in rotational form.
1 point is earned for substituting either of the following into an equation:

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Unit 5 Progress Check: FRQ 4

◦ for the rotational inertia of the bar-cylinder system,

OR

◦ AND for the torque magnitudes due to the weights of the bar and the cylinder,
respectively.

1 point is earned for

◦ a net torque expression that indicates the net torque is greater in magnitude for a positive value
of than for a negative value of with the same magnitude
− i.e., the expression implies that for all ,

AND

◦ an angular acceleration expression that is in terms of the indicated quantities and physical
constants, as appropriate.

Example Response

Part C

Select a point value to view scoring criteria, solutions, and/or examples and to score the response.

0 1 2

The response accurately includes both of the following criteria.

1 point is earned for a claim and justification that addresses the functional dependence between angular
acceleration and in the expression derived in part (b).
Scoring Note: To earn this point it is not necessary to use the functional dependence correctly.
1 point is earned for

◦ a correct statement about the consistency between the claim selected in part (a) and the equation
derived in part (b),

AND

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Unit 5 Progress Check: FRQ 4

◦ a justification that correctly uses the functional dependence between angular acceleration and
in the equation derived in part (b).

Scoring Note: Parts (a) and/or (b) need not be correct to earn this point. The statement about consistency
should relate the answers as written in parts (a) and (b).

Example Response:

Yes, the expression derived in (b) is consistent with the selected claim in (a).

In the equation from part (b):

is the variable and is positive in the second trial and negative in the first trial, but with the same absolute value (2 hole
spacings) each time. The denominator has so it is the same for both trials. In the numerator, is greater when
is positive like in the second trial, so the angular acceleration is greater in the second trial as I claimed in part (a).

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