A frictionless air-hockey puck of mass slides on a horizontal table with an initial…

PHYSICS · Multi-part · AP · Physics 1: Algebra-based · Force and Translational Dynamics · Force and Translational Dynamics

Problem

A frictionless air-hockey puck of mass

0.25\,\text{kg}

slides on a horizontal table with an initial velocity of

2.0\,\text{m/s}

in the

+x

direction. At

t=0

, a blower mounted beneath the table begins pushing air upward through a small angled nozzle that exerts a constant

0.90\,\text{N}

force on the puck at an angle of

30^{\circ}

above the

+x

axis (into the first quadrant of the

x

–

y

plane). Ignore all other forces, including friction and gravity components parallel to the surface. (a) Resolve the constant force into its

x

and

y

components. (b) Derive expressions for the

x

and

y

components of the puck’s velocity as functions of time for

t>0

. (c) Determine the time at which the puck’s velocity vector points exactly

15^{\circ}

above the

+x

axis. (d) Explain whether the direction of the puck’s acceleration ever changes during the motion, and compare it with the direction of the net force.

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