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PhysicsWOOT

Students enrolling in PhysicsWOOT should know some basic calculus and be familiar with the physics
covered on the AP Physics 1 exam. If you are comfortable with the concepts and problems below, you
will be ready for PhysicsWOOT.
If you can solve 18+ problems correctly, you will be very well-prepared for PhysicsWOOT. If you can
solve 12-17 problems correctly, you will still learn from the course, but will probably find it extremely
challenging. If you cannot solve at least 11 of the problems, PhysicsWOOT is probably not for you at
this stage, but you may be interested in taking our F=ma Problem Series course.
1. Two balls of putty roll toward each other along a collision course. Ball A weighs 60 g and is rolling
at 5 m/s, and ball B weighs 65 g. After they collide, the combined putty superball rolls away at a
37◦ angle from ball A’s original trajectory. Find the original speed of ball B, rounded to the nearest
half of a meter per second. (Source: Sir Isaac Newton 1988 #4)

5 m/s 37◦
A

? m/s

(a) 3.0 m/s

(b) 3.5 m/s
(c) 4.0 m/s
(d) 4.5 m/s
(e) 5.0 m/s
2. A box slides down the ramp below under the force of gravity alone. If the acceleration of the box
is 2 m/s2 , what is the coefficient of friction between the box and the ramp?

40◦

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(a) 0.26
(b) 0.31
(c) 0.58
(d) 0.80
(e) 0.88

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3. A mass is attached to one end of a spring, and the other end of the spring is attached to an
immovable wall. The system oscillates with period T . If the wall is removed and replaced with a
second mass identical to the first, what is the new period of oscillation of the system?
(a) 2T
(b) T
(c) T /2
√
(d) T / 2
√
(e) T 2
4. The velocity (in m/s) of a mosquito flying along a straight line is graphed below. At what time (in
s) did the mosquito first return to its initial position?
m/s

10

s
5 10 15 20
−5

−10

(a) 5 s
(b) 10 s
(c) 15 s
(d) 17.5 s
(e) The mosquito never returns to its initial position.
5. A charge q is fixed at x = 0 and a charge 4q is fixed at x = 1m. At what value of x would a third
charge feel no net force from the two fixed charges?
(a) 1
5 m
(b) 1
3 m
(c) 1
2 m
(d) 4
5 m
(e) 6
5 m

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6. Two identical blue weights and two identical red weights are suspended in a mobile as shown
below. The mobile is in equilibrium, and the wires and rods are of negligible mass. Find the length
x in cm.

7 cm 5 cm

x cm 2 cm 2 cm

(a) 4 cm
(b) 6 cm
(c) 7 cm
(d) 12 cm
(e) 14 cm
7. Mike is standing on a 10-meter-long, 10 kg sled sitting atop a sheet of ice. The sled experiences
negligible friction against the ice below it. Mike, who weighs 100 kg, then walks to the other end
of the sled. Rounded to the nearest meter, how far does the sled move during Mike’s walk?

(a) 0 m
(b) 1 m
(c) 5 m
(d) 9 m
(e) 10 m

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8. A weight with a mass of 6 kg is suspended from a system of 3 identical springs as shown below.
The weight displaces the system by 20 cm. In kg/s2 , what is the constant of each of the springs?

6 kg

(a) 100 kg/s2

(b) 150 kg/s2
(c) 200 kg/s2
(d) 300 kg/s2
(e) 450 kg/s2
9. A solid sphere ball of mass m and radius r rolls down a ramp. When it reaches the bottom, it is not
slipping against the floor. What percentage of its total kinetic energy is rotational? (It may help to
2
remember that the moment of inertia of the ball is mr2 .)
5
(a) 13.8%
(b) 28.6%
(c) 50%
(d) 85.7%
(e) 99.6%
10. James is driving a car with a mass of 500 kg at a speed of 20 m/s. At the instant he passes a
“SPEED LIMIT: 30 m/s” sign, he accelerates at a constant rate until, 100 m later, he reaches 30
m/s. What was the force (in N) of thrust on James’s car?
(a) 1000 N
(b) 1250 N
(c) 1500 N
(d) 2500 N
(e) 5000 N

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11. What fraction of the current passing through the circuit below goes through the topmost 2 ohm
resistor?

3Ω 2Ω

2Ω

4Ω

(a) 1/2
(b) 2/11
(c) 1/4
(d) 2/5
(e) 2/3
12. A certain “double star” consists of two identical stars each of mass 3 × 1030 kg separated by a
distance of 2 × 1011 m between their centers. How many seconds does it take the stars to
complete one full cycle? (Source: Sir Isaac Newton 1970 #10)

2 × 1011 m

(a) 3.6 × 10−6 s

(b) 8.1 × 102 s
(c) 4.6 × 105 s
(d) 1.4 × 107 s
(e) 2.8 × 107 s

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13. A polar bear with mass 1250 kg is sleeping on a chunk of ice floating in the ocean. The top of the
ice chunk is level with the water. If the densities of the ice and water are 917 and 1025 kg/m3 ,
respectively, what is the mass of the ice chunk, to the nearest 100 kilograms? (Source: Sir Isaac
Newton 1990 #3)
(a) 9,500 kg
(b) 10,600 kg
(c) 15,200 kg
(d) 26,900 kg
(e) 41,300 kg
14. Three balls of equal sizes but different masses are lined up as shown. From left to right, the balls
have masses of 40, 20, and 10 grams, respectively. (Source: Sir Isaac Newton 1984 #5)

The leftmost ball is hit so that it begins to move to the right at 15 m/s, whereupon it hits the
middle ball, which in turn hits the rightmost one. If all collisions are perfectly elastic and
one-dimensional and there is no friction on the straight and level path, calculate the ending speed
of the smallest ball, rounded to the nearest m/s.
(a) 3 m/s
(b) 8 m/s
(c) 10 m/s
(d) 18 m/s
(e) 27 m/s
15. Riley shoots a basketball from a distance of 10 meters toward a 3-meter-high hoop, releasing the
ball at a height of 0.5 meters. If she releases the ball with a speed of 12 m/s, what was its speed
as it passed through the hoop, to the nearest tenth of a m/s? (Source: Sir Isaac Newton 1985 #3)
(a) 4.9 m/s
(b) 6.9 m/s
(c) 8.4 m/s
(d) 9.7 m/s
(e) 10.8 m/s

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16. Three boxes are suspended in the frictionless pulley system below. The middle box is stationary.
Find the mass of the rightmost box, rounded to the nearest 5 kg. (Source: Sir Isaac Newton 1985
#11)

35 kg ? kg

95 kg

(a) 35 kg
(b) 60 kg
(c) 75 kg
(d) 95 kg
(e) 130 kg
Z 4
1
17. Compute dx.
2 (1 + 2x)2
(a) 2/45
(b) 4/45
(c) 1/4
(d) 14/45
(e) 1/2

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18. A train car filled with water is coasting down a straight, level, and frictionless track. As it goes,
water spills out vertically in the train car’s frame of reference at a rate of 100 kg/s. The car is
moving at 10 m/s when its total mass is 10000 kg. What is its acceleration at that instant in m/s2 ?
(a) -0.1 m/s2
(b) -0.01 m/s2
(c) 0 m/s2
(d) 0.01 m/s2
(e) 0.1 m/s2
19. As a sound wave moves from hot to cold air, the speed of sound goes down from 340 m/s to 320
m/s. If the original frequency of the sound was 440 Hz (in the hot air), what is its wavelength in
the cool air?
(a) 71 cm
(b) 73 cm
(c) 75 cm
(d) 77 cm
(e) 81 cm
20. A certain cylindrical rod is 1 meter long. The mass density in the rod is proportional to the square
of the distance from its left endpoint. How many meters from the left endpoint is the center of
mass of the rod?
(a) 1/3 m
(b) 1/2 m
√
(c) 2/2 m
(d) 2/3 m
(e) 3/4 m

Don’t look at the next page until you’ve attempted all the problems!

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Scoring Guide
• 18+ questions correct: You are very well-prepared for PhysicsWOOT. We hope to see you in class!
• 12–17 questions correct: You’ll need to work extra diligently to keep up if you enroll in
PhysicsWOOT. Be sure to review the questions you got wrong, and read the appropriate sections
of your textbook.
• 0–11 questions correct: PhysicsWOOT is probably not for you at this stage.
1. Before the collision, the rightward momentum of the system was 300 g·m/s. By the Law of
3
Conservation of Momentum, the same is true post-collision. Since tan(37◦ ) ≈ , the upward
4
3
momentum of the system is 300 · = 225 g·m/s. The initial speed of ball B, then, must have been
4
225
≈ 3.5 m/s .
65
2. Let m be the mass of the box. The gravitational force in the direction down the ramp has
magnitude mg sin(40◦ ) and the normal force has magnitude mg cos(40◦ ). If the friction coefficient
is µ, then the net force on the box in the direction down the ramp gives us the equation

2m = mg sin(40◦ ) − mg cos(40◦ )µ.

Solving for µ gives µ ≈ 0.58 .

3. When the spring is connected to a wall with one side, that side doesn’t move at all. When both
sides of the spring are connected to masses, both move equally, and each mass moves only half
as much for the same total stretch of the spring. So for a given displace of the mass, the force is
twice as much when connected to another mass as when connected to a wall. √ This is the same
effect as doubling the spring constant, which cuts the period by a factor of 2. Thus, the new
√
period is T 2 .
4. In the first 10 seconds, the mosquito travels 50 m/s in its initial direction. It then reverses course
and flies 25 meters in the opposite direction over the next 5 seconds. It takes an additional 2.5
seconds flying at a speed of 10 m/s to reach its initial position. In total, in took
10 + 5 + 2.5 = 17.5 seconds .
5. The forces from the two charges must be equal in magnitude. The larger charge has four times
the charge, so the denominator in Coulomb’s law must be four times as large for this charge.
Because the denominator is the square of the distance from the charge, we need a point twice as
far from the larger charge as from the smaller charge. This is a point 1/3 of the distance between
the charges away from the smaller charge and 2/3 of that distance away from the larger charge.
1
Thus, a third charge would feel no net force at x = m.
3
6. Let b and r be the masses of the blue and red weights, respectively. Since the bottom rod is not
rotating, we know that −x · r + 2 · b + 4 · r = 0. Since the top rod is not rotation, we have
−7 · b + 5(2r + b) = 0. The second equation tells us that b = 5r, which, when plugged into the first
equation, gives x = 14 cm . (Note that the diagram is not to scale.)

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7. Before Mike starts walking, the center of mass of the system is 5/11 meters to Mike’s right. By
symmetry, after his walk, the center of mass is 5/11 meters to his left. The Law of Conservation of
Momentum
  tells us that the center of mass does not move, so the sled must have moved
5 5
10 − m− m≈ 9m.
11 11
8. Let k be the spring constant of each spring. The two-spring system is equivalent to a single spring
with constant 2k. Then, springs of constants k and 2k connected in series have an equivalent
2k
constant equal to their harmonic mean, . By Hooke’s Law, we know that (2k/3) · (0.2 m) is equal
3
to the force of gravity, 60 N. Therefore, k = 450 N/m = 450 kg/s2 .

9. Let v and ω be the velocity and angular velocity of the ball at the end, respectively. The lack of
1
slippage implies that v = rω. The linear kinetic energy of the ball at the end is mv 2 , while the
2
rotational kinetic energy is  
1 2 1 2 2 1
Iω = mr ω 2 = mv 2 .
2 2 5 5
1/5 2
The ratio of rotational kinetic energy to the total is = , which is approximately 28.6% .
1/2 + 1/5 7
10. Let magnitude of the thrust force be F N. Then the work done on James’s car is
(100 m) · (F N) = 100F J. On the other hand, work is equal to the change in energy, which is
1 1
(500 kg)(30 m/s)2 − (500 kg)(20 m/s)2 = 225000 − 100000 J = 125000 J. Therefore, F = 1250 N .
2 2
11. The two parallel 2 ohm resistors have a combined resistance of 1 ohm, which combined with the
3 ohm resistor in series creates an equivalent resistance of 4 ohms. Since the other branch of the
circuit has the same resistance, by symmetry, half of the total current passes through each
branch. Applying symmetry again, we see that half of the current in the outer branch passes
1 1 1
through the topmost 2 ohm resistor, which makes · = of the total current passing through
2 2 4
it.
12. Let r = 1011 m be the radius of the system and m = 3 × 1030 kg be the mass of each star. If G is
m2 G
the universal gravitational constant, then the force of gravity between the stars is . The
(2r)2
m2 G/4r2 mG
gravitational acceleration on each star is = 2 . Since centripetal acceleration is equal
r r m 4r
mG mG
to v /r, we have v = r · 2 =
2 . The circumference of each star’s orbit is 2πr, so the time
4r 4r
for each cycle is

2πr 2πr 4πr3/2 12.6 × 1016.5

=p = √ ≈√ s ≈ 2.8 × 107 s .
v mG/4r mG 20 × 1030−11

13. If the chunk has a volume of V m3 , then the buoyant force can withstand an object of mass
(1025 − 917 kg/m3 ) · V m3 = 108V kg. Since the top of the ice and the water are level, we have

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625
108V kg = 1250 kg, or V = . Multiplying volume by density shows that the ice chunk’s mass is
54
625 3
m · 917 kg/m3 ≈ 10, 600 kg .
54
14. We have two collisions in which a ball strikes another one with half the mass from rest.
Combining the Laws of Conservation of Momentum and Energy, we see that each collision leaves
the heavier ball with one-third of its original velocity and the lighter one moving with four times
4 4 80
that speed. After the two collisions, the smallest ball’s speed is 15 m/s · · = m/s ≈ 27 m/s .
3 3 3
15. We use the Law of Conservation of Energy. Let m represent the mass of the ball. As Riley releases
1 1
the ball, it has a kinetic energy of m · (12 m/s)2 and a gravitational potential energy of mg
2 2
(where g is gravitational acceleration). If v is the velocity as the ball goes through the hoop, then
1
the total energy of the ball at that time is mv 2 + 3mg. Setting these quantities equal (and
√2
approximating g ≈ 9.8 m/s2 ), we get v = 95 m/s ≈ 9.7 m/s .
16. Let m be the mass of the rightmost box in kg. The middle pulley wheel is pulled down by the
weight of the orange box, (95 kg)g ≈ 930 N, and up by the tension in the rope on both sides. Since
that wheel is stationary, the tension in the rope is 465 N. Then the net force on the leftmost box is
465 N − (35 kg)g = 122 N upward, so it is accelerating upward at a rate of 3.49 m/s2 . The rightmost
box must accelerate downward at the same rate, so the net force on it is 3.49m N downward. A
free body diagram shows that the net force on it is also mg − 465 N, and solving
3.49m N = mg − 465 N gives m ≈ 75 kg .
17. Using the substitution u = 1 + 2x, we get
4 9
−1 9
Z Z
1 1 du 1 1 2
dx = =  =− + = .
2 (1 + 2x)2 5 u2 2 2u 5 18 10 45

18. In the train’s frame of reference, the system containing the train car and water has no forward or
backward momentum. Since the spilling water falls vertically in the train’s frame, by the Law of
Conservation of Momentum, the train car and remaining water also has no forward or backward
momentum. So the acceleration of the train car is 0 m/s .
19. The frequency does not change as the speed of sound changes, so we can apply the equation
v = f λ directly in the slower region. Using the numbers given in the problem gives λ ≈ 0.73 m or
73 cm .
20. Let f (x) be the mass density of the rod at a distance of x meters from the left endpoint. We know
that f (x) = kx2 for some real number k, so the center of mass is at
R1 R1
x · f (x) dx kx3 dx k/4 3
c= 0
R1 m= 0
R1 m= m= m.
f (x) dx 2 k/3 4
0 0 kx

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