Edexcel M3 Specimen — Question 2

Exam BoardEdexcel
ModuleM3 (Mechanics 3)
SessionSpecimen
TopicWork, energy and Power 2

2. \begin{figure}[h]
\captionsetup{labelformat=empty} \caption{Figure 2} \includegraphics[alt={},max width=\textwidth]{e256678d-89e8-48eb-aa8a-b8e027b62ef1-2_310_1122_1178_466}
\end{figure} Two elastic ropes each have natural length 30 cm and modulus of elasticity \(\lambda \mathrm { N }\). One end of each rope is attached to a lead weight \(P\) of mass 2 kg and the other ends are attached to two points \(A\) and \(B\) on a horizontal ceiling, where \(A B = 72 \mathrm {~cm}\). The weight hangs in equilibrium 15 cm below the ceiling, as shown in Fig. 2. By modelling \(P\) as a particle and the ropes as light elastic strings,
  1. find, to one decimal place, the value of \(\lambda\).
  2. State how you have used the fact that \(P\) is modelled as a particle.