Problem Set 7: Potential Energy and Conservation of Energy

AP Physics C Supplementary Problems

1. Approximately 5.5 x 106 kg of water drops 50 m over Niagara Falls every second.
(a) Calculate the amount of potential energy lost every second by the falling
water. (b) Calculate the power output of an electric generating plant that could
convert all of the water’s potential energy. (c) If the utility company sold this
energy at an industrial rate of 1 cent/kW.h, what would be their yearly income
from this source?

2. You drop a physics textbook, whose mass is 2.0 kg, to a friend who is standing on
the ground 10 m below. (a) Calculate the potential energy of the book just before
you release it. (b) Calculate its kinetic energy just before your friend catches it in
her outstretched hands, which are 1.5 m above the ground level. (c) How fast is
the book moving as it is caught?

3. A frictionless roller coaster car starts at point A with speed vo. Calculate the
speed of the car (a) at point B, (b) at point C, and (c) at point D. Assume that the
car can be considered a particle and that it always remains on the track.

A B
vo

h h
h/2
D

4. A volcanic ash flow is moving across horizontal ground when it encounters a 10o
upslope. It is observed to travel 920 m on the upslope before coming to rest. The
volcanic ash contains trapped gas, so the force of friction with the ground is very
small and can be ignored. At what speed was the ash flow moving just before
encountering the upslope?

5. The magnitude of the gravitational force of attraction between a particle of mass

m1 and one of mass m2 is given by

m1m 2
F (r ) = G ,
r2

where G is a constant and r is the distance between the particles. (a) Determine
the potential energy function U(r). Assume that U (r ) → 0 as r → ∞ . (b) How
much work is required to increase the separation of the particles from r = r1 to
r = r1+d?

Problems selected from Halliday, D., & Resnick, R. (1993). Fundamentals of Physics (4th ed.). New
York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Potential Energy and Conservation of Energy 2

6. A ball with mass m is attached to the end of a very light rod with length L. The
other end of the rod is pivoted so that the ball can move in a vertical circle. The
rod is pulled aside to the horizontal and given a downward push so that the rod
swings down and just reaches the vertically upward position. (a) Calculate the
change in potential energy of the ball. (b) Calculate the initial speed imparted to
the ball.

7. The graph below shows the force in newtons as a function of stretch or

compression in centimeters for a cork gun containing a spring, also shown. The
spring is compressed by 5.5 cm and used to propel a cork of mass 3.8 g from the
gun. (a) Calculate the speed of the cork if it is released as the spring passes
through its relaxed position. (b) Suppose now that the cork sticks to the spring,
causing the spring to extend 1.5 cm beyond its unstretched length before
separation occurs: Calculate the speed of the cork at the time of release in this
case.
force (N)
0.4

0.2

stretch (cm)
-4 -2 2 4

-0.2

-0.4

8. An ideal massless spring can be compressed 2.0 cm by a force of 270 N. A block

whose mass is 12 kg is released from rest at the top of an incline, the angle of the
incline being 30o. The block comes to rest mementarily after is has compressed
this spring by 5.5 cm. (a) How far has the block moved down the incline at this
moment? (b) Calculate the speed of the block just as it touches the spring.

30o
Potential Energy and Conservation of Energy 3

9. A 2.0 kg block is dropped from a height of 40 cm onto a spring of force constant

k = 1960 N/m. Find the maximum distance the spring will be compressed.

40 cm

10. A projectile whose mass is 9.4 kg is fired vertically upward. On its upward flight,
an energy of 68 kJ is dissipated because of air resistance. How much higher
would it have gone if the air resistance had been made negligible?

11. During a rockslide, a 520 kg rock slides from rest down a hillslope that is 500 m
long and 300 m high. The coefficient of kinetic friction between the rock and the
hill surface is 0.25. (a) Calculate the potential energy of the rock just before the
slide. (Take y = 0 to be at the bottom of the hill.) (b) Calculate the work done on
the rock by frictional forces during the slide. (c) Calculate the kinetic energy of
the rock as it reaches the bottom of the hill. (d) Calculate its speed.

12. A 2.5 kg block collides with a horizontal massless spring whose force constant is
320 N/m. The block compresses the spring a maximum distance of 7.5 cm from
its rest position. The coefficient of kinetic friction between the block and the
horizontal surface is 0.25. (a) Calculate the work done by the spring in bringing
the block to rest. (b) Calculate the work done by the force of friction while the
block was being brought to rest by the spring. (c) Calculate the speed of the block
when it hit the spring.

13. Two blocks are connected by a string. They are released from rest. Show that,
after they have moved a distance L, their common speed is given by

2(m2 − µm1 ) gL
v=
m1 + m2
in which µ is the coefficient of kinetic friction between the upper block and the
surface.

m1

m2
Potential Energy and Conservation of Energy 4

14. A certain spring is found not to conform to Hooke’s law. The force (in newtons)
it exerts when stretched a distance x (in meters) is found to have a magnitude
52.8 x + 38.4 x 2 in the direction opposing the stretch. (a) Compute the total work
required to stretch the spring from x = 0.50 m to x = 1.00 m. (b) With one end of
the spring fixed, a particle of mass 2.17 kg is attached to the other end of the
spring when it is extended by an amount x = 1.00 m. If the particle is then
released from rest, compute its speed at the instant the spring has returned to the
configuration in which the extension is x = 0.50 m. (c) Is the force exerted by the
spring conservative or nonconservative? Explain.

15. A small particle slides along a track with elevated ends and a flat central part.
The flat part has a length L = 2.0 m. The curved portions of the track are
frictionless. For the flat part, the coefficient of kinetic friction is µk = 0.20. The
particle is released at point A which is a height h = 1.0 m above the flat part of the
track. Where does the particle finally come to rest?

h
L

16. Below is a simple pendulum of length L. Its bob is observed to have a speed vo
when the cord makes an angle θ with the vertical. (a) Derive an expression for
the speed of the bob when it is in its lowest position. Calculate the least value that
vo can have if the cord is to swing up to (b) a horizontal position and (c) a vertical
position with the cord remaining straight.

θ L

vo
Potential Energy and Conservation of Energy 5

17. A small block of mass m slides along a frictionless loop-the-loop track. (a) The
block is released from rest at point P. Calculate the net force acting on it at point
Q. (b) Calculate the height above the bottom of the loop from which the block
should be released so that it is on the verge of losing contact with the track at the
top of the loop.

5R R
Q

Answers:
1. a) 2.7 x 109 J/s b) 2.7 x 109 W c) $2.4 x 108
2. a) 196 J b) 167 J c) 12.9 m/s
3. a) vo b) vo2 + gh c) vo2 + 2 gh
4. 55.9 m/s
Gm1 m2 Gm1 m2 d
5. a) − b) −
r r1 (r1 + d )
6. a) mgL b) 2 gL
7. a) 2.8 m/s b) 2.7 m/s
8. a) 0.35 m b) 1.7 m/s
9. 10 cm
10. 738 m
11. a) 1.5 x 106 J b) -5.1 x 105 J c) 9.9 x 105 J d) 62 m/s
12. a) -0.90 J b) -0.46 J c) 1.0 m/s
13. proof
14. a) 31 J b) 5.3 m/s
c) conservative because only dependent on position.
15. in the middle, after 2 ½ oscillations.
16. a) 2 gL(1 − cos θ ) + vo2 b) 2gL cos θ
c) gL(3 + 2 cos θ )
5
17. a) 8mg toward center; mg downward b) R
2