MECHANICS (MATH235)
TUTORIAL 2 (28 FEBRUARY 2025)
1. Let A = −2i + 3j + k, B = i + 4j − 3k and C = 2i − j + 5k.
(a) Obtain the vector triple products (i) A × (B × C) and (ii) (A × B) × C. (Ans:
(i) −16i − j − 29k and (ii) −36i + 43j + 23k)
Note, in general, A × (B × C) ̸= (A × B) × C.
(b) Find (A · C)B − (A · B)C.
This demonstrates the general formula A × (B × C) = (A · C)B − (A · B)C.
∫ 4
1 1 1
2. Evaluate A(u) du if A(u) = i + j + k. (Ans: (ln 4)i + (ln 4)j + (ln 2)k)
1 u 5−u 2u
3. A particle moves along the curve parametrized by x = 2t2 , y = t2 − 4t, z = −t − 5 (t is
time in seconds).
√
(a) Determine
√ its speed and magnitude of acceleration at t = 1s. (Ans: 21 m/s and
20 m/s2 )
(b) What is the particle’s velocity in the direction of vector A = i − 2j + 2k at time
t = 1 s? (Ans: (2/3)i − (4/3)j + (4/3)k m/s)
4. The velocity of a particle is given by v(t) = 16t2 i + 4t3 j + (5t + 2)k m/s. If the particle
is at the origin when t = 0, determine the magnitude of the particle’s acceleration when
t = 2 s. What is the position of the particle at this instant? (Ans: 80.16 m/s2 and
42.67i + 16j + 14k m)
5. The acceleration of a particle at time t is given by a(t) = 6ti − 48t2 j + 12k. Find the
particle’s displacement at any time t > 0 given that at time t = 0 the particle is located
at point (2, 0, −3) and is moving with velocity i + 5j. (Ans: (t3 + t + 2)i + (5t − 4t4 )j +
(6t2 − 3)k)
6. If A(u) is a differentiable vector function of u and |A(u)| is constant for all u, prove that
dA
is normal to A.
du
7. Identify where the tangent line to the curve r(t) = e−2t i + cos tj + 3 sin tk at the point
(1, 1, 0) intersects the yz plane. (Ans: At the point (0, 1, 3/2))
8. A particle’s path is described by the curve C: r(t) = et cos ti + et sin tj + et k.
(a) Obtain the
√unit tangent
√ vector and
√ unit principal√ normal vector
√ to curve C at t = 0.
(Ans: (1/ 3)i + (1/ 3)j + (1/ 3)k and (−1/ 2)i + (1/ 2)j)
√
(b) What is the curvature of the above curve at t = 0? (Ans: 2/3)
(c) Find the acceleration of√the particle
√ in terms of tangential and normal components
at time t = 0. (Ans: 3T + 2N)
9. (a) Show that a moving particle will travel in a straight line if the normal component
of its acceleration is zero.
(b) If a particle is moving with constant speed could it be accelerating? Explain.
10. Show that the normal
√ component aN of a particle’s acceleration can also be found using
the formula aN = |a|2 − a2T , where a is the acceleration vector of the particle and aT is
the tangential component of acceleration.
11. The position of a particle at any time t is r(t) = (t + 1)i + 2tj + t2 k.
(a) Find
√ the tangential component of the particle’s acceleration at time t. (Ans:
4t/ 5 + 4t2 )
(b) Use the formula √
in question
√ 10 to find the normal component of its acceleration at
time t. (Ans: 20/ 5 + 4t2 )
(c) Use the
√ above result to obtain the curvature of the particle’s path at any time t.
2 3/2
(Ans: 20/(5 + 4t ) )
12. A particle is travelling at 3600 revolutions per minute in a circle of radius 100 cm. At
time t = 0 its starts to slow down with constant angular deceleration of 5 rad/s 2 .
(a) How long will it take to come to rest? (Ans: 75.40 s)
(b) How far will it have travelled in this time? (Ans: 1421223.03 cm)
13. A particle, starting from rest, travels along a circular path of radius 400 m. Its speed
increases at a rate of 2 + 0.2t m/s2 .
(a) Determine the particle’s velocity and acceleration in terms of normal and tangential
components at t = 5 s. (Ans: v = 12.5T m/s, a = 3T + 0.39N m/s2 )
(b) What distance s has the particle moved along the path at t = 5 s? (Ans: 29.17
m)
