3.4 Mechanics and Materials

Practice questions on Mechanics and Materials

• A car is travelling along a straight, level road at a constant velocity of 20 m/s. The dri… (5 marks, Explain)
• A rubber band and a steel rod are both described as elastic materials. Explain what the te… (5 marks, Explain and Describe)
• A nylon climbing rope and a cast iron rod are both subjected to increasing tensile forces … (5 marks, Explain)
• A student compares two materials: a steel spring and a strip of polythene. The steel sprin… (5 marks, Explain)
• A glass rod and a copper rod are each subjected to increasing tensile forces. The glass ro… (5 marks, Describe)
• A person stands on a set of bathroom scales inside a lift. The scales show a reading great… (5 marks, Explain)
• A student pushes a heavy box across a rough horizontal floor at a constant velocity. The s… (5 marks, Explain)
• A shopping trolley is pushed from rest along a flat supermarket car park. The person pushi… (5 marks, Explain)
• A boat is travelling at constant velocity across a lake. The boat's engine then increases … (5 marks, Explain)
• A bungee cord is made from a polymer material. When a person jumps and the cord stretches,… (5 marks, Explain)
• Explain what is meant by the limit of proportionality and describe how the extension of a … (5 marks, Explain)
• Explain why a steel cable used to suspend a bridge is described as stiff, and describe wha… (5 marks, Explain)
• Explain why a rubber band is described as having elastic behaviour and describe what happe… (5 marks, Explain)
• A student stretches a copper wire by hanging different weights from it. At first, the wire… (5 marks, Explain)
• A rocket is launched vertically upwards from the ground. At the moment of launch, the thru… (5 marks, Explain)
• A tennis ball is dropped from rest and falls vertically downward. It hits the ground and b… (5 marks, Explain)
• A cyclist is travelling along a flat road at a steady speed. The cyclist then stops pedall… (5 marks, Describe and Explain)
• A skydiver jumps from an aircraft and falls vertically downwards. Describe how the velocit… (5 marks, Describe)
• Explain why a car travelling at a higher speed takes a longer distance to stop when the dr… (5 marks, Explain)
• Explain what is meant by a material being described as brittle and describe how a brittle … (5 marks, Explain)