International Physics Olympiad

IPhO 1970

Moscow, USSR · 4 theory problems with complete solutions

  1. Problem 1: Motor-driven carriage on a bar sliding on a table

    A long bar with the mass \(M = 1\) kg is placed on a smooth horizontal surface of a table where it can move frictionless. A carriage equipped with a motor can slide along the upper horizontal panel of the bar, the mass of the carriage is \(m = 0.1\) kg. The friction coefficient of the carriage is \(\mu = 0.02\).

    The motor is winding a thread around a shaft at a constant speed \(v_0 = 0.1\) m/s. The other end of the thread is tied up to a rather distant stationary support in one case (Fig.1, a), whereas in the other case it is attached to a picket at the edge of the bar (Fig.1, b). While holding the bar fixed one allows the carriage to start moving at the velocity \(V_0\) then the bar is let loose.

    Figure 1

    Fig. 1

    By the moment the bar is released the front edge of the carriage is at the distance \(l = 0.5\) m from the front edge of the bar. For both cases find the laws of movement of both the bar and the carriage and the time during which the carriage will reach the front edge of the bar.

    Official English text of the problem.

  2. Problem 2: Mass of the hydrogen atom from the NaCl unit cell

    A unit cell of a crystal of natrium chloride (common salt- NaCl) is a cube with the edge length \(a=5.6\cdot10^{-10}\,\mathrm{m}\) (Fig.2). The black circles in the figure stand for the position of natrium atoms whereas the white ones are chlorine atoms. The entire crystal of common salt turns out to be a repetition of such unit cells. The relative atomic mass of natrium is 23 and that of chlorine is 35,5. The density of the common salt \(\rho=2.22\cdot10^{3}\,\mathrm{kg/m^{3}}\). Find the mass of a hydrogen atom.

    Figure 1

    Fig. 2

    Official English text of the problem.

  3. Problem 3: Earthed metal ball inside a charged spherical shell

    Inside a thin-walled metal sphere with radius \(R=20\ \mathrm{cm}\) there is a metal ball with the radius \(r = 10\ \mathrm{cm}\) which has a common centre with the sphere. The ball is connected with a very long wire to the Earth via an opening in the sphere (Fig. 3). A charge \(Q = 10^{-8}\ \mathrm{C}\) is placed onto the outside sphere. Calculate the potential of this sphere, electrical capacity of the obtained system of conducting bodies and draw out an equivalent electric scheme.

    Figure 1

    Fig. 3

    Official English text of the problem.

  4. Problem 4: Spherical telescope mirror and a disk receiver in its focus

    A spherical mirror is installed into a telescope. Its lateral diameter is \(D=0{,}5\ \mathrm{m}\) and the radius of the curvature \(R=2\ \mathrm{m}\). In the main focus of the mirror there is an emission receiver in the form of a round disk. The disk is placed perpendicular to the optical axis of the mirror (Fig. 4). What should the radius \(r\) of the receiver be so that it could receive the entire flux of the emission reflected by the mirror? How would the received flux of the emission decrease if the detector’s dimensions decreased by 8 times?

    Directions: 1) When calculating small values \(\alpha\) (\(\alpha\ll1\)) one may perform a substitution \(\sqrt{1-\alpha}\approx1-\dfrac{\alpha}{2}\); 2) diffraction should not be taken into account.

    Figure 1

    Fig. 4

    Official English text of the problem.