A cyclist (including the bicycle) has a total mass of and is moving on a straight…
PHYSICS · Multi-part · A Level · Physics · Mechanics and materials · Mechanics and materials
Problem
A cyclist (including the bicycle) has a total mass of 60kg and is moving on a straight road with a speed of 4ms−1. A scooter and its rider together have a mass of 120kg and move in the same direction with a speed of 2ms−1. Answer the following questions.
(i) Calculate the momentum of (a) the cyclist and (b) the scooter–rider system.
(ii) Which of the two has greater inertia? State the reason in one sentence.
(iii) The scooter is brought to rest uniformly in 4s. Find the magnitude of the average unbalanced force acting on it during this interval.
(iv) If the cyclist were also stopped uniformly in the same time of 4s, would the magnitude of force required be greater than, less than, or equal to the force found in part (iii)? Justify your answer with calculation.