PHY 101 Introductory Physics Test 3 Study Questions Well Answered Latest Update 2025-
2026
A 20-g bullet is fired into a 2.0-kg block of wood placed on a horizontal surface. The bullet stops
in the block. The impact moves the block (+ bullet) a distance of 5 m before it comes to rest. If
the coefficient of kinetic friction between the block and surface is 0.25, calculate the speed of
the bullet immediately before the impact. - Answers 500 m/s
Two asteroids are drifting in space with trajectories shown in the diagram. The collision at point
O between them is completely inelastic. At what angle from its original direction is the larger
asteroid deflected? - Answers 80° above the +x axis
A helium atom (mass = 4m) moving with speed V collides elastically with a tritium (hydrogen 3 )
atom (mass = 3m) at rest. Calculate the speed of the tritium atom after the collision. - Answers
1.14V
A 20-kg object sitting at rest is struck elastically in a head-on collision with a 10-kg object
initially moving at +3.0 m/s. Find the final velocity of the 20-kg object after the collision. -
Answers +2.0 m/s
Glider A, traveling at 10 m/s on an air track, collides elastically with glider B traveling at 8.0 m/s
in the same direction. The gliders are of equal mass. The final speed of glider B is - Answers 10
m/s
A Ferris wheel, rotating initially at an angular speed of 0.500 rad/s, accelerates over a 7.00-s
interval at a rate of 0.040 0 rad/s2. What angular displacement does the Ferris wheel undergo in
this 7-s interval? - Answers 4.48 rad
The mean radius of Earth is about 6.436x106 m. A satellite in a circular orbit 3.20x106 m above
the surface of Earth has a centripetal acceleration of approximately - Answers 4.3 m/s2
A woman whose weight on Earth is 500 N is lifted to a height of two Earth radii above the
surface of Earth. Her weight - Answers decreases to one-ninth of the original amount.
What is the angular velocity about the rotational axis of the Earth for a person standing on the
surface? - Answers 7.3x10^-5 rad/s
During the lunar mission of Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin descended to the
moon's surface in the lunar module while Michael Collins remained in orbit in the command
module. If the command module's period was 2 hours and 20 minutes, how high above the
moon's surface did it orbit? (mmoon = 7.35x1022 kg and Rmoon = 1.74x106 m) - Answers
3.22x10^5 m
A conical pendulum of length 1.2 m with a mass of 2.5 kg is set in motion. The angle the
pendulum makes with the vertical is 33o. What is the period of the mass? - Answers 2.0 s
, Starting from rest, a disk rotates with constant angular acceleration. If it takes 10 rev to reach
an angular velocity ω, then how many additional revolutions are required to reach an angular
velocity 2ω? - Answers 30 rev
A rocket whose initial mass is 850 kg consumes fuel at a rate of 2.3 kg/s. The speed of the
exhaust gasses relative to the rocket engine is 2,800 m/s. The rocket is initially at rest and the
rocket engine is fired while it is in deep space. The mass of the rocket when the fuel runs out is
180 kg. What is the final speed of the rocket? - Answers 4,300 m/s
A 0.065-kg tennis ball moving to the right with a speed of 15 m/s is struck by a tennis racket,
causing it to move to the left with a speed of 15 m/s. If the ball remains in contact with the
racquet for 0.020 s, what is the magnitude of the average force experienced by the ball? -
Answers 98N
In the game of billiards, all the balls have approximately the same mass, about 0.17 kg. In the
figure, the cue ball strikes another ball such that it follows the path shown. The other ball has a
speed of 1.5 m/s immediately after the collision. What is the speed of the cue ball after the
collision? - Answers 2.6m/s
A particle of unknown mass has a momentum of 73 kgm/s. At a time 7.3 s later, the momentum
of the particle is 38 kgm/s. What is the magnitude of the force acting on the particle during the
interval, assuming the motion is in a straight line? - Answers 4.8N
A block that has a mass M = 4.25 kg is hanging at rest on a light string. A projectile with a mass
m = 250 g moving horizontally strikes M and sticks to it. The block and its projectile swing up
and the center of mass rises a distance h = 12.0 cm. The speed of the projectile is
approximately - Answers 28m/s
A uranium nucleus (mass 238 units) at rest decays into a helium nucleus (mass 4.0 units) and a
thorium nucleus (mass 234 units). If the speed of the helium nucleus is 6.0x105 m/s, what is
the speed of the thorium nucleus? - Answers 1.0x10^4 m/s
A projectile is launched with 200 kgm/s of momentum and 1,000 J of kinetic energy. What is the
mass of the projectile? - Answers 20kg
At liftoff, the engines of the Saturn V rocket consumed 13,000 kg/s of fuel and exhausted the
combustion products at 2,900 m/s. What was the total upward force (thrust) provided by the
engines? - Answers 3.77x10^7N
A block of wood with a mass M = 4.65 kg is resting on a horizontal surface when a bullet with a
mass m = 18 g and moving with a speed v = 725 m/s strikes it. The coefficient of friction
between the block and the surface is µ = 0.35. The distance the block moves across the surface
is - Answers 1.1m
A bullet, m = 2.5 g, traveling with a velocity of a velocity, v strikes and embeds itself in the bob of
2026
A 20-g bullet is fired into a 2.0-kg block of wood placed on a horizontal surface. The bullet stops
in the block. The impact moves the block (+ bullet) a distance of 5 m before it comes to rest. If
the coefficient of kinetic friction between the block and surface is 0.25, calculate the speed of
the bullet immediately before the impact. - Answers 500 m/s
Two asteroids are drifting in space with trajectories shown in the diagram. The collision at point
O between them is completely inelastic. At what angle from its original direction is the larger
asteroid deflected? - Answers 80° above the +x axis
A helium atom (mass = 4m) moving with speed V collides elastically with a tritium (hydrogen 3 )
atom (mass = 3m) at rest. Calculate the speed of the tritium atom after the collision. - Answers
1.14V
A 20-kg object sitting at rest is struck elastically in a head-on collision with a 10-kg object
initially moving at +3.0 m/s. Find the final velocity of the 20-kg object after the collision. -
Answers +2.0 m/s
Glider A, traveling at 10 m/s on an air track, collides elastically with glider B traveling at 8.0 m/s
in the same direction. The gliders are of equal mass. The final speed of glider B is - Answers 10
m/s
A Ferris wheel, rotating initially at an angular speed of 0.500 rad/s, accelerates over a 7.00-s
interval at a rate of 0.040 0 rad/s2. What angular displacement does the Ferris wheel undergo in
this 7-s interval? - Answers 4.48 rad
The mean radius of Earth is about 6.436x106 m. A satellite in a circular orbit 3.20x106 m above
the surface of Earth has a centripetal acceleration of approximately - Answers 4.3 m/s2
A woman whose weight on Earth is 500 N is lifted to a height of two Earth radii above the
surface of Earth. Her weight - Answers decreases to one-ninth of the original amount.
What is the angular velocity about the rotational axis of the Earth for a person standing on the
surface? - Answers 7.3x10^-5 rad/s
During the lunar mission of Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin descended to the
moon's surface in the lunar module while Michael Collins remained in orbit in the command
module. If the command module's period was 2 hours and 20 minutes, how high above the
moon's surface did it orbit? (mmoon = 7.35x1022 kg and Rmoon = 1.74x106 m) - Answers
3.22x10^5 m
A conical pendulum of length 1.2 m with a mass of 2.5 kg is set in motion. The angle the
pendulum makes with the vertical is 33o. What is the period of the mass? - Answers 2.0 s
, Starting from rest, a disk rotates with constant angular acceleration. If it takes 10 rev to reach
an angular velocity ω, then how many additional revolutions are required to reach an angular
velocity 2ω? - Answers 30 rev
A rocket whose initial mass is 850 kg consumes fuel at a rate of 2.3 kg/s. The speed of the
exhaust gasses relative to the rocket engine is 2,800 m/s. The rocket is initially at rest and the
rocket engine is fired while it is in deep space. The mass of the rocket when the fuel runs out is
180 kg. What is the final speed of the rocket? - Answers 4,300 m/s
A 0.065-kg tennis ball moving to the right with a speed of 15 m/s is struck by a tennis racket,
causing it to move to the left with a speed of 15 m/s. If the ball remains in contact with the
racquet for 0.020 s, what is the magnitude of the average force experienced by the ball? -
Answers 98N
In the game of billiards, all the balls have approximately the same mass, about 0.17 kg. In the
figure, the cue ball strikes another ball such that it follows the path shown. The other ball has a
speed of 1.5 m/s immediately after the collision. What is the speed of the cue ball after the
collision? - Answers 2.6m/s
A particle of unknown mass has a momentum of 73 kgm/s. At a time 7.3 s later, the momentum
of the particle is 38 kgm/s. What is the magnitude of the force acting on the particle during the
interval, assuming the motion is in a straight line? - Answers 4.8N
A block that has a mass M = 4.25 kg is hanging at rest on a light string. A projectile with a mass
m = 250 g moving horizontally strikes M and sticks to it. The block and its projectile swing up
and the center of mass rises a distance h = 12.0 cm. The speed of the projectile is
approximately - Answers 28m/s
A uranium nucleus (mass 238 units) at rest decays into a helium nucleus (mass 4.0 units) and a
thorium nucleus (mass 234 units). If the speed of the helium nucleus is 6.0x105 m/s, what is
the speed of the thorium nucleus? - Answers 1.0x10^4 m/s
A projectile is launched with 200 kgm/s of momentum and 1,000 J of kinetic energy. What is the
mass of the projectile? - Answers 20kg
At liftoff, the engines of the Saturn V rocket consumed 13,000 kg/s of fuel and exhausted the
combustion products at 2,900 m/s. What was the total upward force (thrust) provided by the
engines? - Answers 3.77x10^7N
A block of wood with a mass M = 4.65 kg is resting on a horizontal surface when a bullet with a
mass m = 18 g and moving with a speed v = 725 m/s strikes it. The coefficient of friction
between the block and the surface is µ = 0.35. The distance the block moves across the surface
is - Answers 1.1m
A bullet, m = 2.5 g, traveling with a velocity of a velocity, v strikes and embeds itself in the bob of
