Question

Suppose you push a hockey puck of mass m across frictionless ice for a time \Delta t, starting from rest, giving thepuck speed v after traveling distance d. If you repeat the experiment with a puck of mass2m,
1. How long will you have to push for the puck to reach the samespeed v?
t/ (delta t) = ?
2.How long will you have to push for the puck to travel the samedistance d?
t/ (delta t) = ?

Answer 1

Answer:

1. $t_2 = 2t_1$

2. $t_2 = t_1\sqrt{2}$

Explanation:

1. According to Newton's law of motion, the puck motion is affected by the acceleration, which is generated by the push force F.

In Newton's 2nd law: F = ma

where m is the mass of the object and a is the resulted acceleration. So in the 2nd experiment, if we double the mass, a would be reduced by half.

$a_1 = 2a_2$

Since the puck start from rest, in the 1st experiment, to achieve speed of v it would take t time

$t = v / a_1$

Now that acceleration is halved:

$t = \frac{v}{2a_2}$

$\frac{v}{a_2} = 2t$

You would need to push for twice amount of time $t_2 = 2t_1$

2. The distance traveled by the puck is as the following equation:

$d = at^2$

So if the acceleration is halved while maintaining the same d:

$\frac{d_1}{d_2} = \frac{a_1t_1^2/2}{a_2t_2^2/2}$

As $d_1 = d_2$, then $d_1/d_2 = 1$. Also $a_1 = 2a_2$

$1 = \frac{2a_2t_1^2}{a_2t_2^2}$

$t_2^2 = 2t_1^2$

$t_2 = t_1\sqrt{2}\approx 1.14t_1$

So t increased by 1.14