Skip to ContentGo to accessibility pageKeyboard shortcuts menu
OpenStax Logo
University Physics Volume 1

Challenge Problems

University Physics Volume 1Challenge Problems
Search for key terms or text.

Challenge Problems

120.

The pressure on the dam shown early in the problems section increases with depth. Therefore, there is a net torque on the dam. Find the net torque.

121.

The temperature of the atmosphere is not always constant and can increase or decrease with height. In a neutral atmosphere, where there is not a significant amount of vertical mixing, the temperature decreases at a rate of approximately 6.5 K per km. The magnitude of the decrease in temperature as height increases is known as the lapse rate (Γ).(Γ). (The symbol is the upper case Greek letter gamma.) Assume that the surface pressure is p0=1.013×105Pap0=1.013×105Pa where T=293KT=293K and the lapse rate is (−Γ=6.5Kkm)(−Γ=6.5Kkm). Estimate the pressure 3.0 km above the surface of Earth.

122.

A submarine is stranded on the bottom of the ocean with its hatch 25.0 m below the surface. Calculate the force needed to open the hatch from the inside, given it is circular and 0.450 m in diameter. Air pressure inside the submarine is 1.00 atm.

123.

Logs sometimes float vertically in a lake because one end has become water-logged and denser than the other. What is the average density of a uniform-diameter log that floats with 20.0% of its length above water?

124.

Scurrilous con artists have been known to represent gold-plated tungsten ingots as pure gold and sell them at prices much below gold value but high above the cost of tungsten. With what accuracy must you be able to measure the mass of such an ingot in and out of water to tell that it is almost pure tungsten rather than pure gold?

125.

The inside volume of a house is equivalent to that of a rectangular solid 13.0 m wide by 20.0 m long by 2.75 m high. The house is heated by a forced air gas heater. The main uptake air duct of the heater is 0.300 m in diameter. What is the average speed of air in the duct if it carries a volume equal to that of the house’s interior every 15 minutes?

126.

A garden hose with a diameter of 2.0 cm is used to fill a bucket, which has a volume of 0.10 cubic meters. It takes 1.2 minutes to fill. An adjustable nozzle is attached to the hose to decrease the diameter of the opening, which increases the speed of the water. The hose is held level to the ground at a height of 1.0 meters and the diameter is decreased until a flower bed 3.0 meters away is reached. (a) What is the volume flow rate of the water through the nozzle when the diameter is 2.0 cm? (b) What is the speed of the water coming out of the hose? (c) What does the speed of the water coming out of the hose need to be to reach the flower bed 3.0 meters away? (d) What is the diameter of the nozzle needed to reach the flower bed?

127.

A frequently quoted rule of thumb in aircraft design is that wings should produce about 1000 N of lift per square meter of wing. (The fact that a wing has a top and bottom surface does not double its area.) (a) At takeoff, an aircraft travels at 60.0 m/s, so that the air speed relative to the bottom of the wing is 60.0 m/s. Given the sea level density of air as 1.29kg/m31.29kg/m3, how fast must it move over the upper surface to create the ideal lift? (b) How fast must air move over the upper surface at a cruising speed of 245 m/s and at an altitude where air density is one-fourth that at sea level? (Note that this is not all of the aircraft’s lift—some comes from the body of the plane, some from engine thrust, and so on. Furthermore, Bernoulli’s principle gives an approximate answer because flow over the wing creates turbulence.)

128.

Two pipes of equal and constant diameter leave a water pumping station and dump water out of an open end that is open to the atmosphere (see the following figure). The water enters at a pressure of two atmospheres and a speed of (v1=1.0m/s)(v1=1.0m/s). One pipe drops a height of 10 m. What is the velocity of the water as the water leaves each pipe?

Figure is the schematic drawing of two pipes of equal and constant diameter. They are open to the atmosphere at one side and are connected to a tank filled with the water at another side. The connection for a bottom pipe is 10 meter above the ground.
129.

Fluid originally flows through a tube at a rate of 100cm3/s100cm3/s. To illustrate the sensitivity of flow rate to various factors, calculate the new flow rate for the following changes with all other factors remaining the same as in the original conditions. (a) Pressure difference increases by a factor of 1.50. (b) A new fluid with 3.00 times greater viscosity is substituted. (c) The tube is replaced by one having 4.00 times the length. (d) Another tube is used with a radius 0.100 times the original. (e) Yet another tube is substituted with a radius 0.100 times the original and half the length, and the pressure difference is increased by a factor of 1.50.

130.

During a marathon race, a runner’s blood flow increases to 10.0 times her resting rate. Her blood’s viscosity has dropped to 95.0% of its normal value, and the blood pressure difference across the circulatory system has increased by 50.0%. By what factor has the average radii of her blood vessels increased?

131.

Water supplied to a house by a water main has a pressure of 3.00×105N/m23.00×105N/m2 early on a summer day when neighborhood use is low. This pressure produces a flow of 20.0 L/min through a garden hose. Later in the day, pressure at the exit of the water main and entrance to the house drops, and a flow of only 8.00 L/min is obtained through the same hose. (a) What pressure is now being supplied to the house, assuming resistance is constant? (b) By what factor did the flow rate in the water main increase in order to cause this decrease in delivered pressure? The pressure at the entrance of the water main is 5.00×105N/m25.00×105N/m2, and the original flow rate was 200 L/min. (c) How many more users are there, assuming each would consume 20.0 L/min in the morning?

132.

Gasoline is piped underground from refineries to major users. The flow rate is 3.00×10−2m3/s3.00×10−2m3/s (about 500 gal/min), the viscosity of gasoline is 1.00×10−3(N/m2)⋅s1.00×10−3(N/m2)⋅s, and its density is 680kg/m3.680kg/m3. (a) What minimum diameter must the pipe have if the Reynolds number is to be less than 2000? (b) What pressure difference must be maintained along each kilometer of the pipe to maintain this flow rate?

PreviousNext
Order a print copy
Citation/Attribution

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/university-physics-volume-1/pages/1-introduction
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/university-physics-volume-1/pages/1-introduction
Citation information

© Jan 27, 2025 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.