Exercises

LEVEL 1
Assertion and Reason
Directions Choose the correct option.
(a) If both Assertion and Reason are true and the Reason is correct explanation of the Assertion.
(b) If both Assertion and Reason are true but Reason is not the correct explanation of Assertion.
(c) If Assertion is true, but the Reason is false.
(d) If Assertion is false but the Reason is true.
1. Assertion : A car moving on a horizontal rough road with velocity v can be stopped in a
minimum distance d. If the same car, moving with same speed v takes a circular turn, then
minimum safe radius can be 2d.
v2 v2
Reason : d = and minimum safe radius =
2 µg µg
2. Assertion : A particle is rotating in a circle with constant speed as B
shown. Between points A and B, ratio of average acceleration and average
velocity is angular velocity of particle about point O.
Reason : Since speed is constant, angular velocity is also constant. O A

3. Assertion : A frame moving in a circle with constant speed can never be

an inertial frame.
Reason : It has a constant acceleration.
4. Assertion : In circular motion, dot product of velocity vector ( v ) and acceleration vector (a)
may be positive, negative or zero.
Reason : Dot product of angular velocity vector and linear velocity vector is always zero.
5. Assertion : Velocity and acceleration of a particle in circular motion at some instant are:
v = ( 2i$ ) ms−1 and a = ( − i$ + 2$j) ms−2, then radius of circle is 2 m.
Reason : Speed of particle is decreasing at a rate of 1 ms−2.
6. Assertion : In vertical circular motion, acceleration of bob at position A is greater than ‘g’.

Reason : Net acceleration at A is resultant of tangential and radial components of

acceleration.
 Chapter 10 Circular Motion — 461

7. Assertion : A pendulum is oscillating between points A, B and C. Acceleration of bob at

points A or C is zero.

A C

Reason : Velocity at these points is zero.

8. Assertion : Speed of a particle moving in a circle varies with time as, v = ( 4t − 12). Such type
of circular motion is not possible.
Reason : Speed cannot change linearly with time.
9. Assertion : Circular and projectile motions both are two dimensional motion. But in circular
motion, we cannot apply v = u + at directly, whereas in projectile motion we can.
Reason : Projectile motion takes place under gravity, while in circular motion gravity has no
role.
10. Assertion : A particle of mass m takes uniform horizontal circular motion inside a smooth
funnel as shown. Normal reaction in this case is not mg cosθ.

Reason : Acceleration of particle is not along the surface of funnel.

11. Assertion : When water in a bucket is whirled fast overhead, the water does not fall out at the
top of the circular path.
Reason : The centripetal force in this position on water is more than the weight of water.

Objective Questions
Single Correct Option
1. A particle is revolving in a circle with increasing its speed uniformly. Which of the following is
constant ?
(a) Centripetal acceleration (b) Tangential acceleration
(c) Angular acceleration (d) None of these
2. A particle is moving in a circular path with a constant speed. If θ is the angular displacement,
then starting from θ = 0, the maximum and minimum change in the linear momentum will
occur when value of θ is respectively
(a) 45° and 90° (b) 90° and 180°
(c) 180° and 360° (d) 90° and 270°
3. A simple pendulum of length l has maximum angular displacement θ. Then maximum kinetic
energy of a bob of mass m is
1 1 1
(a) mgl (b) mgl cos θ (c) mgl (1 − cos θ ) (d) mgl sin θ
2 2 2
462 — Mechanics - I

4. A particle of mass m is fixed to one end of a light rigid rod of length l and rotated in a vertical
circular path about its other end. The minimum speed of the particle at its highest point must
be
(a) zero (b) gl
(c) 1.5 gl (d) 2 gl
5. A simple pendulum of length l and mass m is initially at its lowest position. It is given the
minimum horizontal speed necessary to move in a circular path about the point of suspension.
The tension in the string at the lowest position of the bob is
(a) 3 mg (b) 4 mg
(c) 5 mg (d) 6 mg
6. A point moves along a circle having a radius 20 cm with a constant tangential acceleration
5 cm/ s2. How much time is needed after motion begins for the normal acceleration of the point
to be equal to tangential acceleration?
(a) 1 s (b) 2 s
(c) 3 s (d) 4 s
7. A ring of mass ( 2 π ) kg and of radius 0.25 m is making 300 rpm about an axis through its
perpendicular to its plane. The tension in newton developed in ring is approximately
(a) 50 (b) 100
(c) 175 (d) 250
8. A car is moving on a circular level road of curvature 300 m. If the coefficient of friction is 0.3 and
acceleration due to gravity is 10 m/ s2 , the maximum speed of the car can be
(a) 90 km/h (b) 81 km/h
(c) 108 km/h (d) 162 km/h
9. A string of length 1 m is fixed at one end with a bob of mass 100 g and the string makes
 2 −1
  rev s around a vertical axis through a fixed point. The angle of inclination of the string
 π
with vertical is
 5  3
(a) tan −1   (b) tan −1  
 8  5
 3  5
(c) cos −1   (d) cos −1  
 5  8

10. In the previous question, the tension in the string is

5 8
(a) N (b) N
8 5
50 80
(c) N (d) N
8 5
11. A small particle of mass 0.36 g rests on a horizontal turntable at a distance 25 cm from the axis
1
of spindle. The turntable is accelerated at a rate of α = rad s−2. The frictional force that the
3
table exerts on the particle 2 s after the startup is
(a) 40 µN (b) 30 µN
(c) 50 µN (d) 60 µN
 Chapter 10 Circular Motion — 463

12. A simple pendulum of length l and bob of mass m is displaced from its equilibrium position O to
a position P so that height of P above O is h. It is then released. What is the tension in the string
when the bob passes through the equilibrium position O ? Neglect friction. v is the velocity of the
bob at O.
 v2 2 mgh
(a) m  g +  (b)
 l l
 h  2 h
(c) mg 1 +  (d) mg 1 + 
 l  l 
13. Two particles revolve concentrically in a horizontal plane in the same direction. The time
required to complete one revolution for particle A is 3 min, while for particle B is 1 min. The
time required for A to complete one revolution relative to B is
(a) 2 min (b) 1 min
(c) 1.5 min (d) 1.25 min
14. Three particles A, B and C move in a circle in anticlockwise direction with speeds 1 ms−1,
2.5 ms−1 and 2 ms−1 respectively. The initial positions of A, B and C are as shown in figure. The
ratio of distance travelled by B and C by the instant A, B and C meet for the first time is
B

A C
O

(a) 3 : 2 (b) 5 : 4 (c) 3 : 5 (d) data insufficient

Subjective Questions
1. A car is travelling along a circular curve that has a radius of 50 m. If its speed is 16 m/s and is
increasing uniformly at 8 m/ s2. Determine the magnitude of its acceleration at this instant.
2. 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. 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?
3. A particle is projected with a speed u at an angle θ with the horizontal. Consider a small part of
its path near the highest position and take it approximately to be a circular arc. What is the
radius of this circle? This radius is called the radius of curvature of the curve at the point.
4. Find the maximum speed at which a truck can safely travel without toppling over, on a curve of
radius 250 m. The height of the centre of gravity of the truck above the ground is 1.5 m and the
distance between the wheels is 1.5 m, the truck being horizontal.
5. A hemispherical bowl of radius R is rotating about its axis of symmetry which is kept vertical. A
small ball kept in the bowl rotates with the bowl without slipping on its surface. If the surface of
the bowl is smooth and the angle made by the radius through the ball with the vertical is α.Find
the angular speed at which the bowl is rotating.
6. Show that the angle made by the string with the vertical in a conical pendulum is given by
g
cos θ = , where L is the length of the string and ω is the angular speed.
Lω 2
464 — Mechanics - I

7. A boy whirls a stone of small mass in a horizontal circle of radius 1.5 m and at height 2.9 m
above level ground. The string breaks and the stone flies off horizontally and strikes the ground
after travelling a horizontal distance of 10 m. What is the magnitude of the centripetal
acceleration of the stone while in circular motion ?
8. A block of mass m is kept on a horizontal ruler. The friction coefficient between the ruler and
the block is µ. The ruler is fixed at one end and the block is at a distance L from the fixed end.
The ruler is rotated about the fixed end in the horizontal plane through the fixed end.
(a) What can the maximum constant angular speed be for which the block does not slip ?
(b) If the angular speed of the ruler is uniformly increased from zero at an angular acceleration α ,
at what angular speed will the block slip ?
9. A thin circular wire of radius R rotates about its vertical diameter with an angular frequency ω.
Show that a small bead on the wire remains at its lowermost point for ω ≤ g / R . What is angle
made by the radius vector joining the centre to the bead with the vertical downward direction
for ω = 2g / R ? Neglect friction.
10. Two blocks tied with a massless string of length 3 m ω
are placed on a rotating table as shown. The axis of
rotation is 1 m from 1 kg mass and 2 m from 2 kg mass.
The angular speed 2m 1m
22kg 1kg
ω = 4 rad/s. Ground below 2 kg block is smooth and
below 1 kg block is rough. ( g = 10 m/ s2 )
(a) Find tension in the string, force of friction on 1 kg
block and its direction.
(b) If coefficient of friction between 1 kg block and ground is µ = 0.8. Find maximum angular speed
so that neither of the blocks slips.
(c) If maximum tension in the string can be 100 N, then find maximum angular speed so that
neither of the blocks slips.

Note Assume that in part (b) tension can take any value and in parts (a) and (c) friction can take any value.

11. A small block slides with velocity 0.5 gr on the horizontal frictionless surface as shown in the
figure. The block leaves the surface at point C. Calculate angle θ in the figure.
A v0 B
C
θ
r

12. The bob of the pendulum shown in figure describes an arc of circle in a vertical plane. If the
tension in the cord is 2.5 times the weight of the bob for the position shown. Find the velocity
and the acceleration of the bob in that position.
O

2.0 m
30°
 Chapter 10 Circular Motion — 465

13. The sphere at A is given a downward velocity v0 of magnitude 5 m/s and swings in a vertical
plane at the end of a rope of length l = 2 m attached to a support at O. Determine the angle θ at
which the rope will break, knowing that it can withstand a maximum tension equal to twice the
weight of the sphere.
B

A l O
θ
v0

LEVEL 2
Objective Questions
Single Correct Option
1. A collar B of mass 2 kg is constrained to move along a horizontal smooth and fixed circular track
of radius 5 m. The spring lying in the plane of the circular track and having spring constant
200 Nm −1 is undeformed when the collar is at A. If the collar starts from rest at B, the normal
reaction exerted by the track on the collar when it passes through A is
B

5m
A C

7m

(a) 360 N (b) 720 N

(c) 1440 N (d) 2880 N
2. A particle is at rest with respect to the wall of an inverted cone rotating with uniform angular
velocity ω about its central axis. The surface between the particle and the wall is smooth.
Regarding the displacement of particle along the surface up or down, the equilibrium of particle
is
ω

(a) stable (b) unstable

(c) neutral (d) None of these