Ap Physics C 2002 M2?

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1 Answer
Jun 11, 2018

a) They nicely give us the rotational inertia of a disk, so all we have to do is substitute the given values into the formula. We know that each tire has a mass of m4 and a radius of r. Thus

Itire=12(m4)r2=18r2

There is 4 tires on the cart, so to find the total rotational inertia we must multiply by 4.

4(18mr2)=12mr2

b) As soon as I see "find the height of the incline", I think of conservation of energy. Since there is rotation in the tires there will be translational AND rotational kinetic energies.

mgh=12mv2+12Iω2

We know the value of I from part a. The total mass of the cart is m+4(m4)=2m

2mgh=12(2m)v2+12(12mr2)ω2

2mgh=mv2+14mr2ω2

2gh=v2+14r2w2

We know that ω=vr.

2gh=v2+14r2(vr)2

2gh=v2+14v2

2gh=54v2

85gh=v2

v=85gh

c) Once again conservation of energy is required here. Recall the potential energy of a spring is

12kx2

If we equate this to the kinetic energy of the cart, we can get the value of x.

12kx2=54mv2

12kx2=54m(85gh)

kx2=4mgh

x=2mghk

d) An example response would be "mechanical energy was lost in the collision and as a result less was transferred to the spring, reducing the compression of the spring" .

Hopefully this helps!