Physics 1 International—Tutorial 1
Dimensions, units, vectors, functions
1. An engine is powered by a liquid fuel that has a density of 980 kg/m3.
The U.S. manufacturer claims that the engine uses one gallon (G) of fuel
per day while providing its maximum output of 200 horsepower (hp).
(1 G = 3.79 liters, 1 liter = 10-3m3, 1 hp = 33 000 foot *pound / minute, 1
foot =0.31 m, 1 pound = 0.45 kg, the weight of 1 kg is 9.81 Newtons)
a) Convert 100 hp into standard units. You should find that the result is
not equivalent to Watts, so explain why the hp unit is used to
measure power output.
b) An office building uses about 3 * 109 J per day of energy. How many
engines would be needed to provide this energy and what is the total
mass of fuel that would be consumed in a year doing so?
100 hp = 100*33 000 foot*pound/minute
= 100*33 000*m*(kg/s) *(foot/m)*(pound/kg)*(s/minute)
= 100*33000*(mkg/s)*(0.31)*(0.45)(1/60)
=7672.5 m kg/s
The unit of power is W=kg m2/s3 so we must multiply horsepower
by some quantity with units of m/s2 to get power. The obvious
choice is g (each mass m is associated with a force mg). Multiplying
by g=9.81 m/s2 we get
100 hp = 7.5 * 104 W.
The engine provides a maximum output of 200 hp, which is (15 * 104
J/s)*(60*60*24 s)=12.8*109 J of energy each day, much greater than
the 3*109 J required. Thus one engine, working well below
maximum capacity, would suffice.
We can only approximate the fuel use since we don’t know how
much fuel the engine needs when operating below maximum
power. The fuel density is ρ =980 kg/m3. At maximum power it
needs 1 G/day, which corresponds to a yearly mass of
1 G/day=980 (kg/m3)*1 m3 * (L/m3)(G/L)=980 kg *(10-3)(3.79)=3.7 kg
for one day and 1350 kg for a year. The required fuel is significantly
less than this (if a linear relationship is assumed then
1350 kg (3/12.8)=310 kg is the needed mass.
2. You are sick in bed, watching a mosquito flying around the room. You
define the tip of your nose as (0,0,0) where the x axis points east, the y
axis north and the z axis up. The mosquito starts from the position
(0,0,0.5) meters, then flies 1 meter north before stopping and flying 0.5
meters west, then it stops and flies a distance of one meter in the
direction parallel to (1,-2,-1). How far is it from your nose now?
The final position is
(0,0,0.5)+(0,1,0)+(-0.5,0,0)+1*(1,-2,-1)/(12+[-2]2+[-1]2)1/2=(-0.1,0.2,0.1)
meters, a distance of ([-0.1]2+[0.2]2+[0.1]2)0.5=0.25 m from your nose
tip.
