OCR MEI M1 2009 January — Question 8

Exam BoardOCR MEI
ModuleM1 (Mechanics 1)
Year2009
SessionJanuary
TopicNon-constant acceleration

8 A toy boat moves in a horizontal plane with position vector \(\mathbf { r } = x \mathbf { i } + y \mathbf { j }\), where \(\mathbf { i }\) and \(\mathbf { j }\) are the standard unit vectors east and north respectively. The origin of the position vectors is at O . The displacements \(x\) and \(y\) are in metres. First consider only the motion of the boat parallel to the \(x\)-axis. For this motion $$x = 8 t - 2 t ^ { 2 }$$ The velocity of the boat in the \(x\)-direction is \(v _ { x } \mathrm {~m} \mathrm {~s} ^ { - 1 }\).
  1. Find an expression in terms of \(t\) for \(v _ { x }\) and determine when the boat instantaneously has zero speed in the \(x\)-direction. Now consider only the motion of the boat parallel to the \(y\)-axis. For this motion $$v _ { y } = ( t - 2 ) ( 3 t - 2 )$$ where \(v _ { y } \mathrm {~m} \mathrm {~s} ^ { - 1 }\) is the velocity of the boat in the \(y\)-direction at time \(t\) seconds.
  2. Given that \(y = 3\) when \(t = 1\), use integration to show that \(y = t ^ { 3 } - 4 t ^ { 2 } + 4 t + 2\). The position vector of the boat is given in terms of \(t\) by \(\mathbf { r } = \left( 8 t - 2 t ^ { 2 } \right) \mathbf { i } + \left( t ^ { 3 } - 4 t ^ { 2 } + 4 t + 2 \right) \mathbf { j }\).
  3. Find the time(s) when the boat is due north of O and also the distance of the boat from O at any such times.
  4. Find the time(s) when the boat is instantaneously at rest. Find the distance of the boat from O at any such times.
  5. Plot a graph of the path of the boat for \(0 \leqslant t \leqslant 2\).