CLASS – XI NCERT PART - I
1. The moon is observed from two diametrically opposite points A and B on Earth. The angle θ subtended at the
moon by the two directions of observation is 1o 54′. Given the diameter of the Earth to be about 1.276 × 107 m,
compute the distance of the moon from the Earth.
2. Two clocks are being tested against a standard clock located in a national laboratory. At 12:00:00 noon by the
standard clock, the readings of the two clocks are :
Clock 1 Clock 2
Monday 12:00:05 10:15:06
Tuesday 12:01:15 10:14:59
Wednesday 11:59:08 10:15:18
Thursday 12:01:50 10:15:07
Friday 11:59:15 10:14:53
Saturday 12:01:30 10:15:24
Sunday 12:01:19 10:15:11
If you are doing an experiment that requires precision time interval measurements, which of the two clocks will
you prefer?
3. We measure the period of oscillation of a simple pendulum. In successive measurements, the readings turn out to
be 2.63 s, 2.56 s, 2.42 s, 2.71s and 2.80 s. Calculate the absolute errors, relative error or percentage error.
4. Two resistors of resistances R1 = 100 ±3 ohm and R2 = 200 ± 4 ohm are connected
a) in series
b) in parallel
Find the equivalent resistance of the
a) series combination
b) parallel combination.
Use for
a) the relation R = R1 + R2, and for
1 1 1 △𝑅′ △𝑅1 △𝑅2
b) 𝑅′ = 𝑅1
+ 𝑅2
and 𝑅′2
= 𝑅12
+ 𝑅22
5. State the number of significant figures in the following:
a) 0.007 m2
b) 2.64 × 1024 kg
c) 0.2370 g cm–3
d) 6.320 J
e) 6.032 N m–2
f) 0.0006032 m2
6. A physical quantity P is related to four observables a, b, c and d as follows:
The percentage errors of measurement in a, b, c and d are 1%, 3%, 4% and 2%, respectively. What is the percentage
error in the quantity P? If the value of P calculated using the above relation turns out to be 3.763, to what value
should you round off the result?
7. It is claimed that two caesium clocks, if allowed to run for 100 years, free from any disturbance, may differ by only
about 0.02 s. What does this imply for the accuracy of the standard caesium clock in measuring a time-interval of
1 s?
KESHAV KOTHARI
8. The position of an object moving along x-axis is given by x = a + bt2 where a = 8.5 m, b = 2.5 m s–2 and t is measured
in seconds. What is its velocity at t = 0 s and t = 2.0 s. What is the average velocity between t = 2.0 s and t = 4.0 s?
9. A drunkard walking in a narrow lane takes 5 steps forward and 3 steps backward, followed again by 5 steps forward
and 3 steps backward, and so on. Each step is 1 m long and requires 1 s. Plot the x-t graph of his motion. Determine
graphically and otherwise how long the drunkard takes to fall in a pit 13 m away from the start.
10. Two towns A and B are connected by a regular bus service with a bus leaving in either direction every T minutes.
A man cycling with a speed of 20 km h–1 in the direction A to B notices that a bus goes past him every 18 min in
the direction of his motion, and every 6 min in the opposite direction. What is the period T of the bus service and
with what speed (assumed constant) do the buses ply on the road?
11. A police van moving on a highway with a speed of 30 km h–1 fires a bullet at a thief’s car speeding away in the
same direction with a speed of 192 km h–1. If the muzzle speed of the bullet is 150 m s–1, with what speed does
the bullet hit the thief’s car? (Note: Obtain that speed which is relevant for damaging the thief’s car).
12. On a long horizontally moving belt (Fig. given below), a child runs to and fro with a speed 9 km h –1 (with respect
to the belt) between his father and mother located 50 m apart on the moving belt. The belt moves with a speed
of 4 km h–1. For an observer on a stationary platform outside, what is the
a) speed of the child running in the direction of motion of the belt?
b) speed of the child running opposite to the direction of motion of the belt?
c) time taken by the child in (a) and (b)?
Which of the answers alter if motion is viewed by one of the parents?
13. Two stones are thrown up simultaneously from the edge of a cliff 200 m high with initial speeds of 15 m s –1 and
30 m s–1. Verify that the graph shown in (Fig given below) correctly represents the time variation of the relative
position of the second stone with respect to the first. Neglect air resistance and assume that the stones do not
rebound after hitting the ground. Take g = 10 m s–2. Give the equations for the linear and curved parts of the plot.
14. The speed-time graph of a particle moving along a fixed direction is shown in (Fig given below). Obtain the distance
traversed by the particle between
a) t = 0 s to 10 s
b) t = 2 s to 6 s.
KESHAV KOTHARI
15. The position of a particle is given by
r = 3.0t 𝑖̂ + 2.0t2 𝑗̂ + 5.0 𝑘̂
where t is in seconds and the coefficients have the proper units for r to be in metres.
a) Find v(t) and a(t) of the particle.
b) Find the magnitude and direction of v(t) at t = 1.0 s.
16. A hiker stands on the edge of a cliff 490 m above the ground and throws a stone horizontally with an initial speed
of 15 m s-1. Neglecting air resistance, find the time taken by the stone to reach the ground, and the speed with
which it hits the ground. (Take g = 9.8 m s-2).
➢ FOR READING ONLY –
Neglecting air resistance
While treating the topic of projectile motion, we have stated that we assume that the air resistance has no effect
on the motion of the projectile. You must understand what the statement really means. Friction, force due to
viscosity, air resistance are all dissipative forces. In the presence of any of such forces opposing motion, any object
will lose some part of its initial energy and consequently, momentum too. Thus, a projectile that traverses a
parabolic path would certainly show deviation from its idealised trajectory in the presence of air resistance. It will
not hit the ground with the same speed with which it was projected from it. In the absence of air resistance, the
x-component of the velocity remains constant and it is only the y-component that undergoes a continuous change.
However, in the presence of air resistance, both of these would get affected. That would mean that the range
𝑉02
would be less than the one given by Eq. Rm = . Maximum height attained would also be less than that predicted
𝑔
by Eq. . Can you then, anticipate the change in the time of flight? In order to avoid air resistance,
we will have to perform the experiment in vacuum or under low pressure, which is not easy. When we use a phrase
like ‘neglect air resistance’, we imply that the change in parameters such as range, height etc. is much smaller than
their values without air resistance. The calculation without air resistance is much simpler than that with air
resistance.
17. An insect trapped in a circular groove of radius 12 cm moves along the groove steadily and completes 7 revolutions
in 100 s.
a) What is the angular speed, and the linear speed of the motion?
b) Is the acceleration vector a constant vector? What is its magnitude?
18. Rain is falling vertically with a speed of 30 m s-1. A woman rides a bicycle with a speed of 10 m s-1 in the north to
south direction. What is the direction in which she should hold her umbrella?
19. The ceiling of a long hall is 25 m high. What is the maximum horizontal distance that a ball thrown with a speed of
40 m s-1 can go without hitting the ceiling of the hall?
20. A stone tied to the end of a string 80 cm long is whirled in a horizontal circle with a constant speed. If the stone
makes 14 revolutions in 25 s, what is the magnitude and direction of acceleration of the stone?
21. An aircraft executes a horizontal loop of radius 1.00 km with a steady speed of 900 km/h. Compare its centripetal
acceleration with the acceleration due to gravity.
22. A bullet fired at an angle of 30° with the horizontal hits the ground 3.0 km away. By adjusting its angle of projection,
can one hope to hit a target 5.0 km away? Assume the muzzle speed to be fixed, and neglect air resistance.
KESHAV KOTHARI
23. A fighter plane flying horizontally at an altitude of 1.5 km with speed 720 km/h passes directly overhead an anti-
aircraft gun. At what angle from the vertical should the gun be fired for the shell with muzzle speed 600 m s-1 to
hit the plane? At what minimum altitude should the pilot fly the plane to avoid being hit? (Take g = 10 m s -2).
24. A cyclist is riding with a speed of 27 km/h. As he approaches a circular turn on the road of radius 80 m, he applies
brakes and reduces his speed at the constant rate of 0.50 m/s every second. What is the magnitude and direction
of the net acceleration of the cyclist on the circular turn?
25. A circular racetrack of radius 300 m is banked at an angle of 15°. If the coefficient of friction between the wheels
of a race-car and the road is 0.2, what is the
a) optimum speed of the race car to avoid wear and tear on its tyres, and
b) maximum permissible speed to avoid slipping?
26. A rocket with a lift-off mass 20,000 kg is blasted upwards with an initial acceleration of 5.0 m s -2. Calculate the
initial thrust (force) of the blast.
27. A truck starts from rest and accelerates uniformly at 2.0 m s-2. At t = 10 s, a stone is dropped by a person standing
on the top of the truck (6 m high from the ground). What are the
a) velocity, and
b) acceleration of the stone at t = 11s? (Neglect air resistance.)
28. A batsman deflects a ball by an angle of 45° without changing its initial speed which is equal to 54 km/h. What is
the impulse imparted to the ball? (Mass of the ball is 0.15 kg.)
29. Figure given below, shows a man standing stationary with respect to a horizontal conveyor belt that is accelerating
with 1 m s-2. What is the net force on the man? If the coefficient of static friction between the man’s shoes and
the belt is 0.2, up to what acceleration of the belt can the man continue to be stationary relative to the belt? (Mass
of the man = 65 kg.)
30. A stream of water flowing horizontally with a speed of 15 m s-1 gushes out of a tube of cross-sectional area 10-2
m2, and hits a vertical wall nearby. What is the force exerted on the wall by the impact of water, assuming it does
not rebound?
31. A block of mass 25 kg is raised by a 50 kg man in two different ways as shown in Fig given below. What is the action
on the floor by the man in the two cases? If the floor yields to a normal force of 700 N, which mode should the
man adopt to lift the block without the floor yielding?
KESHAV KOTHARI
32. Two bodies A and B of masses 5 kg and 10 kg in contact with each other rest on a table against a rigid wall (Fig
given below). The coefficient of friction between the bodies and the table is 0.15. A force of 200 N is applied
horizontally to A. What are
a) the reaction of the partition
b) the action-reaction forces between A and B? What happens when the wall is removed? Does the answer to
b) change, when the bodies are in motion? Ignore the difference between µs and µk.
33. The rear side of a truck is open and a box of 40 kg mass is placed 5 m away from the open end as shown in Fig
given below. The coefficient of friction between the box and the surface below it is 0.15. On a straight road, the
truck starts from rest and accelerates with 2 m s-2. At what distance from the starting point does the box fall off
the truck? (Ignore the size of the box).
34. A 70 kg man stands in contact against the inner wall of a hollow cylindrical drum of radius 3 m rotating about its
vertical axis with 200 rev/min. The coefficient of friction between the wall and his clothing is 0.15. What is the
minimum rotational speed of the cylinder to enable the man to remain stuck to the wall (without falling) when
the floor is suddenly removed?
➢ FOR READING ONLY –
An experiment on head-on collision
In performing an experiment on collision on a horizontal surface, we face three
difficulties. One, there will be friction and bodies will not travel with uniform
velocities. Two, if two bodies of different sizes collide on a table, it would be
difficult to arrange them for a head-on collision unless their centres of mass are at
the same height above the surface. Three, it will be fairly difficult to measure
velocities of the two bodies just before and just after collision. By performing this
experiment in a vertical direction, all the three difficulties vanish. Take two balls,
one of which is heavier (basketball/football/volleyball) and the other lighter
(tennis ball/rubber ball/table tennis ball). First take only the heavier ball and drop
it vertically from some height, say 1 m. Note to which it rises. This gives the
velocities near the floor or ground, just before and just after the bounce (by using
v2= 2gh). Hence you will get the coefficient of restitution. Now take the big ball and
a small ball and hold them in your hands one over the other, with the heavier ball below the lighter one, as shown
here. Drop them together, taking care that they remain together while falling, and see what happens. You will find
that the heavier ball rises less than when it was dropped alone, while the lighter one shoots up to about 3 m. With
practice, you will be able to hold the ball properly so that the lighter ball rises vertically up and does not fly
sideways. This is head-on collision. You can try to find the best combination of balls which gives you the best effect.
You can measure the masses on a standard balance. We leave it to you to think how you can determine the initial
and final velocities of the balls.
KESHAV KOTHARI
35. Underline the correct alternative:
a) When a conservative force does positive work on a body, the potential energy of the body
increases/decreases/remains unaltered.
b) Work done by a body against friction always results in a loss of its kinetic/potential energy.
c) The rate of change of total momentum of a many-particle system is proportional to the external force/sum of
the internal forces on the system.
d) In an inelastic collision of two bodies, the quantities which do not change after the collision are the total kinetic
energy/total linear momentum/total energy of the system of two bodies.
36. State if each of the following statements is true or false. Give reasons for your answer.
a) In an elastic collision of two bodies, the momentum and energy of each body is conserved.
b) Total energy of a system is always conserved, no matter what internal and external forces on the body are
present.
c) Work done in the motion of a body over a closed loop is zero for every force in nature.
d) In an inelastic collision, the final kinetic energy is always less than the initial kinetic energy of the system.
37. Answer carefully, with reasons:
a) In an elastic collision of two billiard balls, is the total kinetic energy conserved during the short time of collision
of the balls (i.e., when they are in contact)?
b) Is the total linear momentum conserved during the short time of an elastic collision of two balls?
c) What are the answers to (a) and (b) for an inelastic collision?
d) If the potential energy of two billiard balls depends only on the separation distance between their centres, is
the collision elastic or inelastic? (Note, we are talking here of potential energy corresponding to the force during
collision, not gravitational potential energy).
38. A body is initially at rest. It undergoes one-dimensional motion with constant acceleration. The power delivered
to it at time t is proportional to
i) t 1/2
ii) t
iii) t3/2
iv) t2
39. A body is moving unidirectionally under the influence of a source of constant power. Its displacement in time t is
proportional to
i) t 1/2
ii) t
iii) t3/2
iv) t2
40. A rain drops of radius 2 mm falls from a height of 500 m above the ground. It falls with decreasing acceleration
(due to viscous resistance of the air) until at half its original height, it attains its maximum (terminal) speed, and
moves with uniform speed thereafter. What is the work done by the gravitational force on the drop in the first
and second half of its journey? What is the work done by the resistive force in the entire journey if its speed on
reaching the ground is 10 m s–1?
41. A body of mass 0.5 kg travels in a straight line with velocity v =a x3/2 where a = 5 m–1/2 s–1. What is the work done
by the net force during its displacement from x = 0 to x = 2 m?
42. The blades of a windmill sweep out a circle of area A.
a) If the wind flows at a velocity v perpendicular to the circle, what is the mass of the air passing through it in time
t?
b) What is the kinetic energy of the air?
KESHAV KOTHARI
c) Assume that the windmill converts 25% of the wind’s energy into electrical energy, and that A = 30 m2, v = 36
km/h and the density of air is 1.2 kg m–3. What is the electrical power produced?
43. Which of the following potential energy curves in Fig given below cannot possibly describe the elastic collision of
two billiard balls? Here r is the distance between centres of the balls.
44. Consider the decay of a free neutron at rest: n -> p + e–
Show that the two-body decay of this type must necessarily give an electron of fixed energy and, therefore, cannot
account for the observed continuous energy distribution in the β-decay of a neutron or a nucleus (Fig given below).
[Note: The simple result of this exercise was one among the several arguments advanced by W. Pauli to predict
the existence of a third particle in the decay products of β-decay. This particle is known as neutrino. We now know
that it is a particle of intrinsic spin ½ (like e—, p or n), but is neutral, and either massless or having an extremely
small mass (compared to the mass of electron) and which interacts very weakly with matter. The correct decay
process of neutron is: n -> p + e– + ν]
➢ FOR READING ONLY –
An experiment with the bicycle rim
Take a bicycle rim and extend its axle on both sides. Tie two strings at both ends
A and B, as shown in the adjoining figure. Hold both the strings together in one
hand such that the rim is vertical. If you leave one string, the rim will tilt. Now
keeping the rim in vertical position with both the strings in one hand, put the
wheel in fast rotation around the axle with the other hand. Then leave one string,
say B, from your hand, and observe what happens. The rim keeps rotating in a
vertical plane and the plane of rotation turns around the string A which you are
holding. We say that the axis of rotation of the rim or equivalently its angular
momentum processes about the string A. The rotating rim gives rise to an
angular momentum. Determine the direction of this angular momentum. When
you are holding the rotating rim with string A, a torque is generated. (We leave
KESHAV KOTHARI
it to you to find out how the torque is generated and what its direction is.) The effect of the torque on the angular
momentum is to make it process around an axis perpendicular to both the angular momentum and the torque.
Verify all these statements.
45. A cord of negligible mass is wound round the rim of a fly wheel of mass 20 kg and radius
20 cm. A steady pull of 25 N is applied on the cord as shown in Fig. given below. The
flywheel is mounted on a horizontal axle with frictionless bearings.
a) Compute the angular acceleration of the wheel.
b) Find the work done by the pull, when 2m of the cord is unwound.
c) Find also the kinetic energy of the wheel at this point. Assume that the wheel starts from
rest.
d) Compare answers to parts (b) and (c).
46. Three bodies, a ring, a solid cylinder and a solid sphere roll down the same inclined plane without slipping. They
start from rest. The radii of the bodies are identical. Which of the bodies reaches the ground with maximum
velocity?
47. Torques of equal magnitude are applied to a hollow cylinder and a solid sphere, both having the same mass and
radius. The cylinder is free to rotate about its standard axis of symmetry, and the sphere is free to rotate about an
axis passing through its centre. Which of the two will acquire a greater angular speed after a given time.
48. Find
a) A child stands at the centre of a turntable with his two arms outstretched. The turntable is set rotating with an
angular speed of 40 rev/min. How much is the angular speed of the child if he folds his hands back and thereby
reduces his moment of inertia to 2/5 times the initial value? Assume that the turntable rotates without friction.
b) Show that the child’s new kinetic energy of rotation is more than the initial kinetic energy of rotation. How do
you account for this increase in kinetic energy?
49. A solid sphere rolls down two different inclined planes of the same heights but different angles of inclination.
a) Will it reach the bottom with the same speed in each case?
b) Will it take longer to roll down one plane than the other?
c) If so, which one and why?
50. A hoop of radius 2 m weighs 100 kg. It rolls along a horizontal floor so that its centre of mass has a speed of 20
cm/s. How much work has to be done to stop it?
51. As shown in Fig. given below, the two sides of a step ladder BA and CA are 1.6 m long and hinged at A. A rope DE,
0.5 m is tied half way up. A weight 40 kg is suspended from a point F, 1.2 m from B along the ladder BA. Assuming
the floor to be frictionless and neglecting the weight of the ladder, find the tension in the rope and forces exerted
by the floor on the ladder. (Take g = 9.8 m/s2) (Hint: Consider the equilibrium of each side of the ladder separately.)
KESHAV KOTHARI
52. A man stands on a rotating platform, with his arms stretched horizontally holding a 5 kg weight in each hand. The
angular speed of the platform is 30 revolutions per minute. The man then brings his arms close to his body with
the distance of each weight from the axis changing from 90cm to 20cm. The moment of inertia of the man together
with the platform may be taken to be constant and equal to 7.6 kg m2.
a) What is his new angular speed? (Neglect friction.)
b) Is kinetic energy conserved in the process? If not, from where does the change come about?
53. A bullet of mass 10 g and speed 500 m/s is fired into a door and gets embedded exactly at the centre of the door.
The door is 1.0 m wide and weighs 12 kg. It is hinged at one end and rotates about a vertical axis practically without
friction. Find the angular speed of the door just after the bullet embeds into it. (Hint: The moment of inertia of the
door about the vertical axis at one end is ML2/3.)
54. A disc rotating about its axis with angular speed ωo is placed lightly (without any translational push) on a perfectly
frictionless table. The radius of the disc is R. What are the linear velocities of the points A, B and C on the disc
shown in Fig. given below? Will the disc roll in the direction indicated?
55. A cylinder of mass 10 kg and radius 15 cm is rolling perfectly on a plane of inclination 30o. The coefficient of static
friction µs = 0.25.
a) How much is the force of friction acting on the cylinder?
b) What is the work done against friction during rolling?
c) If the inclination θ of the plane is increased, at what value of θ does the cylinder begin to skid, and not roll
perfectly?
56. Read each statement below carefully, and state, with reasons, if it is true or false;
a) During rolling, the force of friction acts in the same direction as the direction of motion of the CM of the body.
b) The instantaneous speed of the point of contact during rolling is zero.
c) The instantaneous acceleration of the point of contact during rolling is zero.
d) For perfect rolling motion, work done against friction is zero.
e) A wheel moving down a perfectly frictionless inclined plane will undergo slipping (not rolling) motion.
57. Find the potential energy of a system of four particles placed at the vertices of a square of side l. Also obtain the
potential at the centre of the square.
58. Two uniform solid spheres of equal radii R, but mass M and 4 M have a centre-to-centre separation 6 R, as shown
in Fig. given below. The two spheres are held fixed. A projectile of mass m is projected from the surface of the
sphere of mass M directly towards the centre of the second sphere. Obtain an expression for the minimum speed
v of the projectile so that it reaches the surface of the second sphere.
KESHAV KOTHARI
59. The planet Mars has two moons, phobos and delmos.
i) phobos has a period 7 hours, 39 minutes and an orbital radius of 9.4 ×103 km. Calculate the mass of mars.
ii) Assume that earth and mars move in circular orbits around the sun, with the martian orbit being 1.52 times the
orbital radius of the earth. What is the length of the martian year in days?
60. Weighing the Earth:
You are given the following data: g = 9.81 ms–2, RE = 6.37×106 m, the distance to the moon R = 3.84×108 m and the
time period of the moon’s revolution is 27.3 days. Obtain the mass of the Earth ME in two different ways.
61. A Saturn year is 29.5 times the earth year. How far is the Saturn from the sun if the earth is 1.50 × 10 8 km away
from the sun?
62. A rocket is fired vertically with a speed of 5 km s-1 from the earth’s surface. How far from the earth does the rocket
go before returning to the earth? Mass of the earth = 6.0 × 1024 kg; mean radius of the earth = 6.4 × 106 m; G =
6.67 × 10–11 N m2 kg–2.
63. Two stars each of one solar mass (= 2×1030 kg) are approaching each other for a head on collision. When they are
a distance 109 km, their speeds are negligible. What is the speed with which they collide? The radius of each star
is 104 km. Assume the stars to remain undistorted until they collide. (Use the known value of G).
64. A star 2.5 times the mass of the sun and collapsed to a size of 12 km rotates with a speed of 1.2 rev. per second.
(Extremely compact stars of this kind are known as neutron stars. Certain stellar objects called pulsars belong to
this category). Will an object placed on its equator remain stuck to its surface due to gravity? (mass of the sun =
2×1030 kg).
65. A rocket is fired ‘vertically’ from the surface of mars with a speed of 2 km s–1. If 20% of its initial energy is lost due
to martian atmospheric resistance, how far will the rocket go from the surface of mars before returning to it? Mass
of mars = 6.4×1023 kg; radius of mars = 3395 km; G = 6.67×10-11 N m2 kg–2.
KESHAV KOTHARI
