Motion in a Plane
Uttar Pradesh Board · Class 11 · Physics
NCERT Solutions for Motion in a Plane — Uttar Pradesh Board Class 11 Physics.
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EXERCISES
3.1State, for each of the following physical quantities, if it is a scalar or a vector: volume, mass, speed, acceleration, density, number of moles, velocity, angular frequency, displacement, angular velocity.Show solution
Concept: Scalar quantities have only magnitude; vector quantities have both magnitude and direction.
| Physical Quantity | Type |
|---|---|
| Volume | Scalar |
| Mass | Scalar |
| Speed | Scalar |
| Acceleration | Vector |
| Density | Scalar |
| Number of moles | Scalar |
| Velocity | Vector |
| Angular frequency | Scalar |
| Displacement | Vector |
| Angular velocity | Vector |
Explanation:
- Scalars: Volume, mass, speed, density, number of moles, and angular frequency are completely described by their magnitude alone.
- Vectors: Acceleration, velocity, displacement, and angular velocity require both magnitude and direction for complete description.
3.2Pick out the two scalar quantities in the following list: force, angular momentum, work, current, linear momentum, electric field, average velocity, magnetic moment, relative velocity.Show solution
Concept: Scalars have only magnitude; vectors have magnitude and direction.
Examining each quantity:
- Force → Vector
- Angular momentum → Vector
- Work → Scalar (dot product of two vectors gives a scalar)
- Current → Scalar (though current has a direction of flow, it does not obey vector addition laws and is treated as a scalar)
- Linear momentum → Vector
- Electric field → Vector
- Average velocity → Vector
- Magnetic moment → Vector
- Relative velocity → Vector
Answer: The two scalar quantities are work and current.
3.3Pick out the only vector quantity in the following list: Temperature, pressure, impulse, time, power, total path length, energy, gravitational potential, coefficient of friction, charge.Show solution
Concept: A vector quantity has both magnitude and direction and obeys vector addition laws.
Examining each quantity:
- Temperature → Scalar
- Pressure → Scalar (it is force per unit area, but acts equally in all directions — treated as scalar)
- Impulse → Vector (Impulse = Force × time; since force is a vector, impulse is also a vector)
- Time → Scalar
- Power → Scalar
- Total path length → Scalar
- Energy → Scalar
- Gravitational potential → Scalar
- Coefficient of friction → Scalar
- Charge → Scalar
Answer: The only vector quantity is impulse.
3.4State with reasons, whether the following algebraic operations with scalar and vector physical quantities are meaningful: (a) adding any two scalars, (b) adding a scalar to a vector of the same dimensions, (c) multiplying any vector by any scalar, (d) multiplying any two scalars, (e) adding any two vectors, (f) adding a component of a vector to the same vector.Show solution
(a) Adding any two scalars:
Meaningful — only if they represent the same physical quantity (same dimensions). For example, adding two masses or two lengths is meaningful. Adding mass and temperature is not meaningful.
(b) Adding a scalar to a vector of the same dimensions:
Not meaningful — A scalar and a vector are fundamentally different mathematical objects. Even if they have the same dimensions, they cannot be added (e.g., you cannot add speed (scalar) to velocity (vector)).
(c) Multiplying any vector by any scalar:
Meaningful — The product of a vector and a scalar is always a vector. For example, force (mass × acceleration). The result has magnitude equal to the product of the magnitudes and direction same as (or opposite to) the original vector.
(d) Multiplying any two scalars:
Meaningful — The product of two scalars is always a scalar. For example, work = pressure × volume.
(e) Adding any two vectors:
Meaningful — only if they represent the same physical quantity (same dimensions). For example, two displacement vectors or two force vectors can be added using vector addition rules. Adding a force vector and a velocity vector is not meaningful.
(f) Adding a component of a vector to the same vector:
Not meaningful — A component of a vector is itself a vector, but it lies along one axis. Adding it to the original vector would be like adding two vectors of the same type, which is mathematically possible, but physically this operation is not meaningful because the component is already a part of the vector.
3.5Read each statement below carefully and state with reasons, if it is true or false: (a) The magnitude of a vector is always a scalar, (b) each component of a vector is always a scalar, (c) the total path length is always equal to the magnitude of the displacement vector of a particle. (d) the average speed of a particle (defined as total path length divided by the time taken to cover the path) is either greater or equal to the magnitude of average velocity of the particle over the same interval of time, (e) Three vectors not lying in a plane can never add up to give a null vector.Show solution
True. The magnitude of a vector is a positive real number with no direction. For example, is a scalar (speed). Magnitude is always a non-negative scalar quantity.
(b) Each component of a vector is always a scalar.
False. The components of a vector (e.g., , ) are themselves vectors directed along the respective axes. The scalar parts and are scalars, but the components and are vectors.
(c) The total path length is always equal to the magnitude of the displacement vector of a particle.
False. The total path length is the actual distance travelled along the path, while displacement is the shortest straight-line distance between the initial and final positions. They are equal only when the particle moves in a straight line without reversing direction. In all other cases, path length |displacement|.
(d) The average speed of a particle is either greater or equal to the magnitude of average velocity of the particle over the same interval of time.
True.
Since total path length magnitude of displacement, average speed magnitude of average velocity. Equality holds when the particle moves in a straight line without reversing direction.
(e) Three vectors not lying in a plane can never add up to give a null vector.
True. For three vectors to add up to a null vector, they must form a closed triangle (head-to-tail). A triangle is always a planar figure. Therefore, three vectors that do not lie in the same plane cannot form a closed triangle and hence cannot give a null (zero) vector.
3.6Establish the following vector inequalities geometrically or otherwise: (a) , (b) , (c) , (d) . When does the equality sign above apply?Show solution
Let be the angle between vectors and .
By the parallelogram law:
(a)
Since :
Equality holds when , i.e., — both vectors are parallel and in the same direction.
(b)
Since :
Equality holds when , i.e., — both vectors are antiparallel.
(c)
Write . The magnitude of is .
Applying result (a) with in place of :
Equality holds when and are antiparallel (i.e., ), so and are parallel.
(d)
Applying result (b) with in place of :
Equality holds when and are parallel (same direction, ).
3.7Given , which of the following statements are correct: (a) a, b, c, and d must each be a null vector, (b) The magnitude of equals the magnitude of , (c) The magnitude of can never be greater than the sum of the magnitudes of , , and , (d) must lie in the plane of and if and are not collinear, and in the line of and , if they are collinear?Show solution
(a) a, b, c, and d must each be a null vector.
Incorrect. The sum of four vectors can be zero without each being a null vector. For example, if , , , are four sides of a closed quadrilateral (taken in order), their vector sum is zero, yet none need be zero.
(b) The magnitude of equals the magnitude of .
Correct. From the given condition:
Taking magnitudes: . ✓
(c) The magnitude of can never be greater than the sum of the magnitudes of , , and .
Correct. From the given condition:
(by triangle inequality applied repeatedly). So can never exceed . ✓
(d) must lie in the plane of and if and are not collinear, and in the line of and , if they are collinear.
Correct. From the given condition:
The vector lies in the plane defined by and (if they are not collinear), or along their common line (if they are collinear). Hence must lie in the plane of and when they are not collinear, and along the line of and when they are collinear. ✓
Correct statements: (b), (c), and (d).
3.8Three girls skating on a circular ice ground of radius 200 m start from a point P on the edge of the ground and reach a point Q diametrically opposite to P following different paths as shown in Fig. 3.19. What is the magnitude of the displacement vector for each? For which girl is this equal to the actual length of path skate?Show solution
- Radius of circular ground, m
- Starting point: (on the edge)
- Ending point: (diametrically opposite to )
Displacement:
Displacement is the straight-line distance from the initial position to the final position .
Since and are diametrically opposite:
The magnitude of displacement for each girl is 400 m, regardless of the path taken, because displacement depends only on the initial and final positions.
For which girl is path length = displacement?
Path length equals displacement only when the girl moves along a straight line from to without changing direction. This is the girl who skates along the diameter (straight line path).
From the figure description, the girl who follows the straight-line path (diameter) has her path length equal to the displacement of 400 m.
Answer: Displacement = 400 m for all three girls. The displacement equals the actual path length only for the girl who skates along the straight-line diameter from to .
3.9A cyclist starts from the centre O of a circular park of radius 1 km, reaches the edge P of the park, then cycles along the circumference, and returns to the centre along QO as shown in Fig. 3.20. If the round trip takes 10 min, what is the (a) net displacement, (b) average velocity, and (c) average speed of the cyclist?Show solution
- Radius of circular park, km m
- The cyclist goes: (radius), then along arc to (quarter circumference), then (radius)
- Total time, min s
Path length calculation:
- to : distance km
- Arc to (quarter of circumference): distance km
- to : distance km
Total path length:
(a) Net Displacement:
The cyclist starts at and returns to .
(b) Average Velocity:
(c) Average Speed:
Answers:
- (a) Net displacement = zero
- (b) Average velocity = zero
- (c) Average speed 5.95 m/s (approximately 6 m/s)
3.10On an open ground, a motorist follows a track that turns to his left by an angle of 60° after every 500 m. Starting from a given turn, specify the displacement of the motorist at the third, sixth and eighth turn. Compare the magnitude of the displacement with the total path length covered by the motorist in each case.Show solution
- The motorist turns left by after every m.
- Each straight segment has length m.
Understanding the geometry:
At each turn, the motorist turns left by . The exterior angle is , so the interior angle of the polygon traced is . This means the motorist traces a regular hexagon (since turns complete a full cycle).
Let the starting point be , and let the motorist move along directions making angles with the initial direction (turning left = counterclockwise).
Let each segment be along unit vectors. Taking initial direction as :
- Segment 1: direction
- Segment 2: direction
- Segment 3: direction
- Segment 4: direction
- Segment 5: direction
- Segment 6: direction
- Segment 7: direction (same as segment 1, cycle repeats)
- Segment 8: direction
At the 3rd turn (after 3 segments, i.e., 1500 m of path):
Displacement = sum of 3 vectors of magnitude 500 m at , , :
-component: m
-component: m
Direction: from initial direction.
Total path length at 3rd turn m
At the 6th turn (after 6 segments, i.e., 3000 m of path):
The 6 segments complete a full regular hexagon, returning to the starting point.
-component:
-component:
Total path length at 6th turn m
The displacement is zero at the 6th turn.
At the 8th turn (after 8 segments, i.e., 4000 m of path):
Segments 7 and 8 repeat directions and (same as segments 1 and 2).
Net displacement = displacement after 6 turns + displacement due to segments 7 and 8
m
Direction: from initial direction.
Total path length at 8th turn m
Summary:
| Turn | Displacement | Path Length | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd | 1000 m at 60° | 1500 m | 2/3 |
| 6th | 0 m | 3000 m | 0 |
| 8th | m ≈ 866 m at 30° | 4000 m | |
3.11A passenger arriving in a new town wishes to go from the station to a hotel located 10 km away on a straight road from the station. A dishonest cabman takes him along a circuitous path 23 km long and reaches the hotel in 28 min. What is (a) the average speed of the taxi, (b) the magnitude of average velocity? Are the two equal?Show solution
- Displacement (straight-line distance from station to hotel) km
- Total path length (circuitous route) km
- Time taken min h h
(a) Average speed of the taxi:
Converting to m/s: m/s
(b) Magnitude of average velocity:
Converting to m/s: m/s
Are the two equal?
No, the average speed ( km/h) is not equal to the magnitude of average velocity ( km/h). They would be equal only if the path length equals the displacement, which is not the case here since the cabman took a circuitous route.
3.12The ceiling of a long hall is 25 m high. What is the maximum horizontal distance that a ball thrown with a speed of 40 m s⁻¹ can go without hitting the ceiling of the hall?Show solution
- Maximum height allowed (ceiling height), m
- Initial speed of ball, m/s
- m/s²
Concept: For projectile motion, the maximum height reached is:
For the ball not to hit the ceiling:
Horizontal range:
The maximum horizontal distance the ball can travel without hitting the ceiling is approximately m.
3.13A cricketer can throw a ball to a maximum horizontal distance of 100 m. How much high above the ground can the cricketer throw the same ball?Show solution
- Maximum horizontal range, m
- m/s²
Step 1: Find the initial speed.
Maximum range occurs at :
Step 2: Find maximum height.
Maximum height is achieved when the ball is thrown vertically upward ():
The cricketer can throw the ball to a maximum height of m above the ground.
*Note:* The maximum height is half the maximum range, i.e., .
3.14A stone tied to the end of a string 80 cm long is whirled in a horizontal circle with a constant speed. If the stone makes 14 revolutions in 25 s, what is the magnitude and direction of acceleration of the stone?Show solution
- Length of string (radius), cm m
- Number of revolutions in s
- Frequency, rev/s
Step 1: Find angular speed.
Step 2: Find centripetal acceleration.
More precisely:
Magnitude of acceleration m/s²
Direction: The acceleration (centripetal acceleration) is always directed towards the centre of the circular path, i.e., along the string towards the point of suspension, directed inward (centripetal direction).
3.15An aircraft executes a horizontal loop of radius 1.00 km with a steady speed of 900 km/h. Compare its centripetal acceleration with the acceleration due to gravity.Show solution
- Radius of loop, km m
- Speed, km/h m/s
- m/s²
Centripetal acceleration:
Comparison with :
The centripetal acceleration of the aircraft is approximately 6.38 times the acceleration due to gravity.
3.16Read each statement below carefully and state, with reasons, if it is true or false: (a) The net acceleration of a particle in circular motion is always along the radius of the circle towards the centre (b) The velocity vector of a particle at a point is always along the tangent to the path of the particle at that point (c) The acceleration vector of a particle in uniform circular motion averaged over one cycle is a null vectorShow solution
False. This is true only for uniform circular motion (constant speed), where the only acceleration is the centripetal acceleration directed towards the centre. In non-uniform circular motion, there is also a tangential component of acceleration (due to changing speed). The net acceleration is then the vector sum of centripetal and tangential accelerations, which is not directed purely towards the centre.
(b) The velocity vector of a particle at a point is always along the tangent to the path of the particle at that point.
True. The instantaneous velocity is defined as , which gives the direction of motion at that instant. For any curved path, the direction of motion at any point is along the tangent to the curve at that point. This is a general result valid for any type of motion.
(c) The acceleration vector of a particle in uniform circular motion averaged over one cycle is a null vector.
True. In uniform circular motion, the centripetal acceleration vector continuously changes direction (always pointing towards the centre, but the centre is fixed while the particle revolves). Over one complete cycle, the acceleration vectors are symmetrically distributed in all directions. By symmetry, their vector sum (and hence the average) over one complete revolution is zero:
(since after one complete cycle, the velocity returns to its initial value). Hence the average acceleration is a null vector.
3.17The position of a particle is given by m, where is in seconds and the coefficients have the proper units for to be in metres. (a) Find the and of the particle? (b) What is the magnitude and direction of velocity of the particle at s?Show solution
(a) Finding velocity and acceleration :
Velocity is the time derivative of position:
Acceleration is the time derivative of velocity:
The acceleration is constant and directed along the negative -axis.
(b) Magnitude and direction of velocity at s:
At s:
Magnitude:
Direction:
Let be the angle with the positive -axis:
The velocity makes an angle of approximately 69.4° below the positive -axis (i.e., with the -axis in the fourth quadrant, or equivalently from the direction).
3.18A particle starts from the origin at s with a velocity of m/s and moves in the - plane with a constant acceleration of m/s². (a) At what time is the -coordinate of the particle 16 m? What is the -coordinate of the particle at that time? (b) What is the speed of the particle at the time?Show solution
- Initial position: origin,
- Initial velocity: m/s (so , m/s)
- Constant acceleration: m/s² (so m/s², m/s²)
Equations of motion:
(a) Time when m:
-coordinate at s:
(b) Speed at s:
Velocity components:
Speed:
Answers:
- (a) s; -coordinate m
- (b) Speed m/s
3.19 and are unit vectors along - and -axis respectively. What is the magnitude and direction of the vectors , and ? What are the components of a vector along the directions of and ? [You may use graphical method]Show solution
Direction: with the positive -axis.
Part 2: Magnitude and direction of
Direction: with the positive -axis (i.e., below the -axis).
Part 3: Components of along and
Unit vector along :
Unit vector along :
Component of along :
Component of along :
Summary:
- , directed at to -axis
- , directed at to -axis
- Component of along direction
- Component of along direction
3.20For any arbitrary motion in space, which of the following relations are true: (a) , (b) , (c) , (d) , (e) Show solution
(a)
False (in general). This relation holds only for uniformly accelerated motion (constant acceleration), where velocity changes linearly with time. For arbitrary motion, the average velocity is not simply the arithmetic mean of initial and final velocities.
(b)
True. This is the definition of average velocity — it is the ratio of displacement to the time interval. This holds for any type of motion, arbitrary or otherwise.
(c)
False (in general). This relation is valid only for uniformly accelerated motion (constant ). For arbitrary motion, acceleration may vary with time, so this equation does not hold in general.
(d)
False (in general). This kinematic equation is valid only for constant acceleration. For arbitrary motion with variable acceleration, this equation does not apply.
(e)
True. This is the definition of average acceleration — the change in velocity divided by the time interval. This holds for any type of motion.
Correct relations: (b) and (e)
3.21Read each statement below carefully and state, with reasons and examples, if it is true or false: A scalar quantity is one that (a) is conserved in a process (b) can never take negative values (c) must be dimensionless (d) does not vary from one point to another in space (e) has the same value for observers with different orientations of axes.Show solution
False. Being a scalar has nothing to do with conservation. A scalar is defined by having only magnitude (no direction). Many scalars are not conserved (e.g., kinetic energy is a scalar but is not conserved in an inelastic collision). Conversely, some vector quantities (like momentum) are conserved.
(b) A scalar quantity can never take negative values.
False. Scalars can be negative. For example, temperature can be negative (e.g., ), potential energy can be negative, and work done can be negative. The sign of a scalar indicates whether it is above or below a reference value.
(c) A scalar quantity must be dimensionless.
False. Scalars can have dimensions. For example, mass has dimensions , temperature has dimensions , and energy has dimensions . Dimensionless quantities (like refractive index, strain) are a special subset of scalars.
(d) A scalar quantity does not vary from one point to another in space.
False. Scalar quantities can vary from point to point in space. For example, temperature, pressure, and gravitational potential energy all vary with position. These are called scalar fields.
(e) A scalar quantity has the same value for observers with different orientations of axes.
True. This is the defining property of a scalar. A scalar quantity is invariant under rotation of the coordinate system. For example, the mass of an object, its temperature, or the distance between two points remains the same regardless of how the coordinate axes are oriented. This distinguishes scalars from vectors (whose components change with axis orientation, though the magnitude remains the same).
3.22An aircraft is flying at a height of 3400 m above the ground. If the angle subtended at a ground observation point by the aircraft positions 10.0 s apart is 30°, what is the speed of the aircraft?Show solution
- Height of aircraft above ground, m
- Time interval, s
- Angle subtended at the observation point,
Setting up the geometry:
Let be the observation point on the ground directly below the aircraft's path. Let and be the two positions of the aircraft, 10 s apart.
The aircraft flies horizontally at height m. The observation point is on the ground.
Assume the observation point is directly below the midpoint of (for simplicity, or the aircraft passes directly overhead).
Actually, the standard interpretation: The aircraft flies horizontally. Let the observation point be on the ground. The aircraft is at height . The two positions and subtend an angle of at .
Let the foot of the perpendicular from the aircraft's path to the ground be directly above (i.e., the aircraft passes directly overhead). Then by symmetry, each position makes an angle of with the vertical.
The horizontal distance from to each position:
Total horizontal distance :
Using
Speed of aircraft:
Converting to km/h: km/h
The speed of the aircraft is approximately m/s (or about 656 km/h).
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