International Physics Olympiad

IPhO 1992

Espoo (Helsinki), Finland · 3 theory problems with complete solutions

  1. Problem 1: A Rotating Satellite

    The figure shows a satellite which is circling the Earth in an approximately circular orbit in the Earth’s equatorial plane. The satellite consists of a massless central body P and four small peripheral bodies B. The four bodies B each have mass \(m\): they are fastened to P by means of long thin wires of length \(r\) that do not stretch. All these five bodies, P and the four bodies B, are coplanar with the equatorial plane, and they can rotate within this plane. The four radial wires are linked to each other by further thin wires which keep the angles between the radial wires constant at \(90^\circ\).

    Figure 1

    The link wires are included in the system in order to prevent oscillatory movement of the individual bodies B which would otherwise make the analysis of the movements extremely complicated. All the bodies B rotate around P at the same angular velocity, which is \(\omega\) with respect to the fixed stars. Thus, the satellite behaves as a rigid body.

    Analyze the following questions for the general case, considering all possible situations, including both senses of rotation of the bodies B. Also obtain numerical values for certain of the quantities found in questions (1) and (2)—the quantities required and the necessary numerical data are listed at the end of the problem.

    1) The drawing shows the satellite in the position where for the various wires, \(\mathbf r\) is parallel, anti-parallel or perpendicular to \(\mathbf R\). (The vector \(\mathbf r\) runs from body P to a body B and has length \(r\); the vector \(\mathbf R\) runs from the centre of mass of the Earth to the body P.)

    Determine the force exerted by a radial wire on one of the bodies B in each of these four positions. These positions correspond approximately to the maximum and minimum forces.

    2) Inside the four bodies B there are four identical machines, powered by solar energy, connected to the radial wires. Each machine pulls the wire in, towards B, for a short time whenever there is near maximum force in the wire (as indicated in the previous question), and lets the same length of wire out again when the tension is at a minimum. The length of wire that is pulled in and let out is \(1\%\) of the mean length of the radial wire. The mean length does not change with time.

    What is the net power converted by one machine, averaged over one rotation of the satellite?

    The net power is defined as \(\dfrac{W_1-W_2}{T}\), where \(W_1\) is the work that the machine performs on the wire when pulling it in, \(W_2\) is the work that the wire performs on the machine when it is reeled out and \(T\) is the period of rotation.

    3) Discuss the changes in the motion of the satellite that are caused by the action of the machines. In particular, analyze any changes that may occur in each of the situations listed in the table overleaf.

    Fill in the table with your results and comments, and don’t forget to hand it in.

    Data:

    Numerical answers are required in the following situation:

    The radius of the orbit of the central body is given by \(R=R_E+500\ \mathrm{km}\).

    The mean length of the radial wires is \(r=100\ \mathrm{km}\).
    Thus the diameter of the satellite system is \(200\ \mathrm{km}\).

    The bodies B have masses \(m=1000\ \mathrm{kg}\).

    Initially the four bodies B rotate, as referred to the stars, around the central body P at \(10\) revolutions/hour.

    The masses of the wires are negligible and the central body P is massless.

    Advice:

    Consider both senses of rotation for \(\omega\).
    Exact solutions are not expected. Results with \(5\%\) accuracy are fully acceptable.
    Ignore the gravitational effect of the moon and the sun.

    Useful data:

    Quantity Value
    Mass of Earth \(M_E=5.97\times10^{24}\ \mathrm{kg}\)
    Gravitational constant \(G=6.673\times10^{-11}\ \mathrm{m^3\,kg^{-1}\,s^{-2}}\)
    Radius of Earth at the equator \(R_E=6378\ \mathrm{km}\)
    Denote the product \(M_EG\) by \(K\). \(K=3.983\times10^{14}\ \mathrm{m^3\,s^{-2}}\)

    Country code:

    ANSWER TABLE

    Fill in this table as part of your answer. Write down equalities or inequalities and/or short explanations where necessary.

    The quantity indicated below … increases if … decreases if … stays unchanged if … stays unchanged in all situations.
    orbital velocity of the satellite Yes ☐ No ☐
    radius \(R\) of the orbit of the satellite Yes ☐ No ☐
    angular velocity \(\omega\) of the satellite Yes ☐ No ☐
    gravitational potential energy of the satellite Yes ☐ No ☐

    Could the satellite reach a higher orbit as a result of the work done by the machines?

    Yes ☐
    No ☐

    Could the satellite reach an arbitrarily high orbit, practically leaving the gravitational influence of Earth? Why?

    Answer: ……………………………………………………………………

    Official English text of the problem.

  2. Problem 2: The Longitudinal Motion of a Linear Molecule

    In this problem you will analyze the longitudinal motion of a linear molecule, i.e., the motion along the molecular axis. The rotational motion and the bending of the molecule are not considered. The molecule is assumed to consist of \(N\) atoms of mass \(m_1, m_2, \ldots, m_N\), respectively. Each atom is assumed to be connected to its neighbors by a chemical bond. Each bond is approximated by a massless spring which obeys Hooke’s law with spring constants \(k_1, k_2, \ldots, k_{N-1}\). The molecule is shown in Fig. 1.

    Figure 1

    Fig.1. A linear molecule with \(N\) atoms.

    Use the following facts when solving this problem: The longitudinal vibrational motion of a linear molecule consists of a superposition of separate vibrational motions called normal vibrations, or normal modes. In a normal mode all atoms vibrate in simple harmonic motion with the same frequency and pass through their equilibrium positions simultaneously.

    Questions

    1) Let \(x_i\) be the displacement of atom \(i\) from its equilibrium position. Express the force \(F_i\) acting on each atom as a function of the displacements \(x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_N\) and the spring constants \(k_1, k_2, \ldots, k_{N-1}\). What relationship is there among the forces \(F_1, F_2, \ldots, F_N\)? Using this relationship, derive a relationship between the displacements \(x_1, x_2, \ldots, x_N\) and give a physical interpretation of this relationship.

    2) Analyze the motion of a diatomic molecule AB (Fig. 2). The value of the spring constant is \(k\). Derive an expression for the forces acting on atoms A and B. Determine the possible types of motion of the molecule. Determine the corresponding vibrational frequencies and interpret the result. In particular, how is it possible for the atoms to vibrate with the same frequency even though their masses are not the same?

    Figure 2

    Fig.2. The diatomic molecule AB

    3) Analyze the motion of the triatomic molecule \(\mathrm{BA_2}\) (Fig. 3)

    Figure 3

    Fig.3. The triatomic molecule \(\mathrm{BA_2}\).

    Express the net force on each atom as a function of its displacement only. Deduce the possible motions of the molecule and the corresponding vibrational frequencies.

    4) The frequencies of the two longitudinal modes of vibration of the \(\mathrm{CO_2}\) molecule are \(3.998\times10^{13}\ \mathrm{Hz}\) and \(7.042\times10^{13}\ \mathrm{Hz}\), respectively. Determine a numerical value for the spring constant of the CO bond.

    How well do you think this approximation for the bond structure of the molecule describes the vibrational motion of the real molecule?

    The atomic mass of the carbon atom = \(12\ \mathrm{amu}\) and that of the oxygen atom = \(16\ \mathrm{amu}\). The atomic mass unit = \(1.660\times10^{-27}\ \mathrm{kg}\).

    Official English text of the problem.

  3. Problem 3: A Satellite in Sunshine

    In this problem you will calculate the temperature of a space satellite. The satellite is assumed to be a sphere with a diameter of 1 m. All of the satellite remains at a uniform temperature. All of the spherical surface of the satellite is coated with the same kind of coating. The satellite is located near the earth but is not in the earth's shadow.

    The surface temperature of the sun (its blackbody surface temperature) \(T_{\mathrm{sun}} = 6000\ \mathrm{K}\) and its radius is \(6.96 \times 10^8\ \mathrm{m}\). The distance between the sun and the earth is \(1.5 \times 10^{11}\ \mathrm{m}\). The sunlight heats the satellite to a temperature at which the blackbody emission from the satellite equals the power absorbed from the sunlight. The power per unit area emitted by a black body is given by Stefan-Boltzmann's law \(P = \sigma T^4\) where \(\sigma\) is the universal constant \(5.67 \times 10^{-8}\ \mathrm{W\,m^{-2}K^{-4}}\). In the first approximation, you can assume that both the sun and the satellite absorb all electromagnetic radiation incident upon them.

    1) Find an expression for the temperature \(T\) of the satellite. What is the numerical value of this temperature?

    2) The blackbody radiation spectrum \(u(T,f)\) of a body at temperature \(T\) obeys Planck's radiation law

    \[ u(T,f)\,df = \frac{8\pi k^4T^4}{c^3h^3} \frac{\eta^3\,d\eta}{e^\eta-1} \]

    where \(\eta = hf/kT\) and \(u(T,f)df\) is the energy density of the electromagnetic radiation in a frequency interval \([f,f+df]\). In the equation \(h = 6.6 \times 10^{-34}\ \mathrm{J\,s}\) is Planck's constant, \(k = 1.4 \times 10^{-23}\ \mathrm{J\,K^{-1}}\) is Boltzmann's constant and \(c = 3.0 \times 10^8\ \mathrm{m\,s^{-1}}\) is the speed of light.

    The blackbody spectrum, integrated over all frequencies \(f\) and directions of emission, gives the total radiated power per unit area \(P = \sigma T^4\) as expressed in the Stefan-Boltzmann law given above.

    \[ \sigma = \frac{2\pi^5k^4}{15c^2h^3} \]

    The figure shows the normalized spectrum

    \[ \frac{c^3h^3}{8\pi k^4}\frac{u(T,f)}{T^4} \]

    as a function of \(\eta\).

    In many applications it is necessary to keep the satellite as cool as possible. To cool the satellite, engineers use a reflective coating that reflects light above a cut-off frequency but does not prevent heat radiation at lower frequency from escaping. Assume that this (sharp) cut-off frequency corresponds to \(hf/k = 1200\ \mathrm{K}\).

    What is the new equilibrium temperature of the satellite? The exact answer is not needed. Therefore, do not perform any tedious integrations; make approximations where necessary. The integral over the entire range is

    \[ \int_0^\infty \frac{\eta^3\,d\eta}{e^\eta-1} = \frac{\pi^4}{15} \]

    and the maximum of \(\eta^3/(e^\eta-1)\) occurs at \(\eta = 2.82\). For small \(\eta\) you can expand the exponential function as \(e^\eta \simeq 1+\eta\).

    3) If we now have a real satellite, with extending solar panels that generate electricity, the dissipated heat in the electronics inside the satellite acts as an extra source of heat. Assuming that the power of the internal heat source is 1 kW, what is the equilibrium temperature of the satellite in case 2 above?

    4) A manufacturer advertises a special paint in the following way:

    "This paint will reflect more than 90% of all incoming radiation (both visible light and infrared) but it will radiate at all frequencies (visible light and infrared) as a black body, thus removing lots of heat from the satellite. Thus the paint will help keep the satellite as cool as possible."

    Can such paint exist? Why or why not?

    5) What properties should a coating have in order to raise the temperature of a spherical body similar to that of the satellite considered here above the temperature calculated in 1)?

    Figure 1

    Official English text of the problem.