Physics Practice Test 2: Kinematics
- Kinematics
- 10 questions
- 15 minutes
This second kinematics set uses new situations: slowing cars, objects thrown upward, angled projectiles and two moving objects. Use g = 9.8 m/s² and ignore air resistance. Before you calculate, write down which three of v0, v, a, t and Δx you know.
Tap an option to mark your answer. You can change your mind, or tap the same option again to leave the question blank. The correct answers and explanations appear when you finish the test.Tap an option to answer; tap it again to leave the question blank.
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Question 1
A car slows from 30 m/s to 10 m/s in 5.0 s while moving in the positive direction. What is its acceleration?
Correct answer: B
a = (v − v0)/t = (10 − 30)/5.0 = −4.0 m/s². The negative sign shows the acceleration points opposite to the motion; 4.0 m/s² drops that sign.
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Question 2
A train moving at 5.0 m/s speeds up at 2.0 m/s² over a distance of 50 m. What is its final speed?
Correct answer: D
v² = v0² + 2aΔx = 25 + 200 = 225, so v = 15 m/s. Leaving out the initial speed gives √200 ≈ 14 m/s.
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Question 3
A ball is thrown straight up at 14.7 m/s and caught at the same height. How long is it in the air?
Correct answer: A
It takes 14.7/9.8 = 1.5 s to reach the top and the same time to come back down, so 3.0 s in total. 1.5 s is only the trip up.
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Question 4
A stone is dropped from rest. How far does it fall during the third second of its fall (from t = 2.0 s to t = 3.0 s)?
Correct answer: C
After 3.0 s it has fallen ½(9.8)(9) = 44.1 m, and after 2.0 s ½(9.8)(4) = 19.6 m, so during the third second it falls 44.1 − 19.6 = 24.5 m. 44.1 m is the total distance, not the distance in that one second.
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Question 5
A driver covers 60 km at 60 km/h and then another 60 km at 30 km/h. What is the average speed for the whole 120 km trip?
Correct answer: B
The first part takes 1 h and the second 2 h, so the average speed is 120 km ÷ 3 h = 40 km/h. 45 km/h is the average of the two speeds, which ignores that more time is spent at the slower speed.
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Question 6
A ball is kicked from level ground at 20 m/s, 30° above the horizontal. About how far away does it land?
Correct answer: A
vy = 20 sin 30° = 10 m/s, so the flight time is 2(10)/9.8 ≈ 2.04 s, and the range is (20 cos 30°)(2.04) ≈ 17.3 × 2.04 ≈ 35 m. 41 m is v²/g, which forgets the angle.
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Question 7
Two identical balls are launched from level ground at the same speed, one at 30° and one at 60° above the horizontal. Ignoring air resistance, how do their horizontal ranges compare?
Correct answer: D
Range depends on sin 2θ, and sin 60° = sin 120°, so complementary angles give the same range. The 60° ball rises higher and stays up longer, but it moves more slowly horizontally.
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Question 8
A boat points straight across a river and moves at 4.0 m/s relative to the water. The river flows at 3.0 m/s. What is the boat's speed relative to the shore?
Correct answer: C
The two velocities are perpendicular, so the resultant is √(4.0² + 3.0²) = 5.0 m/s. Adding them as plain numbers (7.0 m/s) would only be right if they pointed the same way.
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Question 9
A car starts from rest at a traffic light and accelerates at 3.0 m/s². At that moment a truck moving at a constant 15 m/s passes it. How long does the car take to catch up with the truck?
Correct answer: A
They meet when ½(3.0)t² = 15t, so t = 10 s (both have traveled 150 m). At 5.0 s the car only matches the truck's speed; it is still behind.
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Question 10
On an acceleration-time graph, what does the area between the graph and the time axis represent?
Correct answer: B
Area under a-t equals the sum of a × Δt, which is Δv. Displacement is the area under a velocity-time graph, one step further.
Questions you leave blank are not counted as wrong.
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