quickQuiz #4 (physics)

A chain of mass M and length L is suspended vertically with it's lower end touching a scale. The chain is released and falls onto the scale. What is the reading of the scale when a length x of the chain has fallen? Neglect the size of the individual links.

For non-english speakers:
scale - that thing you sit on, and it tells you your weight

Hint:
When the chain falls, do not consider it as an elastic impact. Take it as a plastic impact, i.e. the momentum of the falling piece after the impact is zero.

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Ppuuu, where are youuu?!?

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P.S. Watch http://www.gamestv.org/war.php?wid=3543 tonight!
Comments
37
i hate physics =[[
9th grader :p
you mean 9th grade problem, i hope?
coz' i finished high-school a while back ;)
Parent
something with mgh = 1/2m(v)2 WTF
close... not :(
Parent
What are those things for ? I can't even understand the text in this langage =] Is it to impress evrybody u'r doin it ? To show how good u can be by doing again the things ur teacher told u ? :D

edit : countrys dont even have the same notation sometimes : [
some people like challenges...
so if you don't like em.. just don't solve em..
Parent
OuuUUuuuh what an exiting chalenge !
Parent
speaking english is chalenging
Parent
This is easy as fuck.
<enter random bullshit here and watch quad go horny>
:) correct ... NOT!
Parent
Whats not correct? Its more correct than a 1+1=2 is
Parent
Here is 1 for u!

A large birthday cake was baked to celebrate the 6th birthday of Mimi. It was a round cake, made of two layers of vanilla cake; each layer was 18 inches in diameter and 3.5 inches tall. Between the two layers was a quarter inch of chocolate frosting. And covering the top and side of the cake was 3/8" of buttercream frosting.


If the vanilla cake has 140 calories per cubic inch, and the chocolate frosting has 320 calories per cubic inch, and the buttercream frosting has 470 calories per cubic inch, how many 800-calorie servings are in the cake? Please round down to the nearest serving.
i left my calculator in my room, i'm in the kitchen now... and i have a repulsion towards calc.exe so.. laterz ;)
Parent
I keep my calculator in my pocket ALLTIMES
Parent
I think it can be done like this:

Normally mass is descripted by a formula: M = V*d but we can take V as f*L where f = transversive field of the chain(treating it as a rope now, i don't think that's a problem), L = lenght .

M=f*L*d now and f and d are constans cause we are messing with the same chain all the time.

So you count how many times the first mass is bigger than the seeked one:

M/Mx = f*L*d/f*x*d = L/x, where Mx is the mass we seek now.

Mx=M*x/L

[Mx] = kg*m/m = kg

If there is something wrong plz correct me.
you would be right... if the chain wasn't falling (if it was stationary).
Parent
you are just looking at two different cases of a stationary chain on a scale imo
Parent
No, you're looking at the scale actually stopping the chain from falling (you have to take account for the speed the chain is falling with) thus receiving some extra force.
Parent
[Mx] = kg NICE
Parent
lol dude so you don't think that the unit of mass is kg? congrats
Parent
not with the x :P
Parent
I don;t think you read what I wrote in the first post - Mx - the MASS WE SEEK

if you meant Mx as mass quantified by x you are wrong - it would be M*x. Mx is just M with x in index(just a sign of the mass we are looking for in this task)
Parent
Mx=M*x/L = kg?:<
Parent
replace Mx with N for example, it will be the same and you maybe will understand.

x is in metres
L is in metres
M is in kilograms

SO

[N] = kg QUANTIFIED BY m DIVIDED BY m = kg
Parent
He meant M (subscript x), not M times x
Parent
I have some questions for you! Firstly, how is Sheffield Uni, and if you come to Leeds any time drop me a pm

Secondly, answers please!

It was: Solve for x.

2^(x^2) - (x^2+5x+299) * log_5(|x|) = 0

Now I had no chance of solving it, and I practically gave up, but I ended up after school in a revision session where I brought it up.

The logarithmic rule of:

log_n(a) = log_10(a) / log_10(n) came up, but we weren't sure if that actually gets it anywhere :P

2^(x^2) = [log(|x|) / log(5)] * (x^2+5x+299) <-- is that anywhere near the right way? or...

log_x(5^2^x^2) = x^2 + 5x + 299 ?? o.O

we're way off aren't we?

Anyway....

What's the answer? How is it solved? and Where is it used? :P
Parent
This is right:
2^(x^2) = [log(|x|) / log(5)] * (x^2+5x+299)
The log can be in any base you want:
Log_x(y) = Log_b(x) / Log_b(y)
Usually, the most used logarithm is of base e = 2.718281828... But base 10 is okay as well...

This one is best solved numerically.
Try reading these links for ideas:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_finding
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisection_method
Either you start entering numbers in your calculator, or you write a program in C, Pascal, PHP, JavaScript, or whatever you know best to implement that algorithm (that's why i said maths or PC)

Uni of Sheffield.. depends on what you want to do.. It's pretty good in electronics (A+ teaching and research, was their rating last year), nice city (kinda quiet, i like that). What course are you thinking about?
Parent
Ok... uh... so it was practically impossible to solve in my head anyway? :\

what's the answer out of curiosity, and is it actually used for anything in particular?


And I'm still totally unsure what I want to take. Thinking about something on the lines of Physics/Maths/Engineering but I'm not committed to any field yet. Leaning towards physics.

Oh btw... Are you native to England or did you move there?
Parent
No, i don't think it's possible to find an expression for the result. Just a number. That particular question was just made up by me, but root finding is quite useful, in general.

Physics... nice, I'm good with physics, but you should really like it if you want to do something useful with it. Otherwise I'd suggest go towards engineering, you can use it more readily do do something in your life. Well.. I might be somewhat biased here, because I did *a lot* of physics in highschool, i still love it, but i got somewhat bored of it, pure theory.

No, I'm not british. I've came to britain just before my first year of university, that is 1 and a half years ago. I'm from Romania.
Parent
Did you have 'chavs' in Romania? :oD
Parent
Lol, name a country that doesn't have them :D
Parent
No idea couldn't give a fuck
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