Name: ____________________________
Physics Department
Post Enrolment Task
This task contains material from the physics A-level course.
It is vital that you complete this activity as it includes information and
material which you may later be examined upon.
All of the required reading material and questions are contained within this
document.
Instructions:
1. Print this document.
2. Read the excerpts from the course textbook (Chapter 7.1 – Speed and Velocity;
and Chapter 7.2 – Acceleration).
3. Complete all of the questions, making sure that you:
a. write in pencil;
b. use a ruler when drawing graphs;
c. write your solutions directly on this sheet;
d. show all of your working out.
4. Bring your completed solutions to your first physics lesson ready for
submission.
Page 1
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Peter Symonds College
1
Physics Department
Post Enrolment Task
An athlete runs a 1500 m race in a time of 210 seconds. What is their average speed?
[1]
2
The speed of light is 3.0 x 108 ms-1. If it takes light from the sun 8.3 minutes to reach us, what is the
distance from the Earth to the Sun.
[2]
3
The planet Neptune is 4.498 billion km from the sun. How long does it take light from the sun to
reach it in minutes?
[3]
4
A snail crawls at a speed of 0.24 cm per second. How long does it take the snail to travel 1.5 m?
[2]
5
How long does it take a train travelling with a speed of 50 ms-1 to travel 1 km?
[1]
6
If someone runs at a speed of 7.50 ms-1, what is their displacement after 15.0 seconds?
[1]
Page 5
Peter Symonds College
7
Physics Department
Post Enrolment Task
A car travels a distance of 60 km in 45 min at constant speed.
Calculate its speed in:
a) kmh-1
[1]
b) ms-1
[1]
8
Use the graph to calculate:
a) the instantaneous speed of the object at X
[3]
b) the average speed of the object between 0 and Y
[2]
Page 6
Peter Symonds College
9
Physics Department
Post Enrolment Task
A satellite moves round the Earth at constant speed on a circular orbit of radius 8000 km with a time
period of 120 min.
Calculate its orbital speed in:
a) kmh-1
[3]
b) ms-1
[2]
10
A vehicle joins a motorway and travels at a steady speed of 25 ms-1 for 30 min.
Then it travels a further distance of 40 km in 20 min before leaving the motorway.
Calculate the distance travelled:
a) in the first 30 min.
[2]
b) its average speed whilst on the motorway.
[3]
Page 7
Peter Symonds College
11
Physics Department
Post Enrolment Task
A police car joins a straight motorway at Junction 4 and travels 12 km at a constant speed in 400 s.
It then leaves at Junction 5 and rejoins on the opposite side and travels for 8 km at a constant speed
for 320 s to reach the scene of an accident.
Calculate:
a) The displacement from Junction 4 to the accident.
[1]
b) The velocity of the car on each side of the motorway.
[2]
c) Draw an accurate displacement-time graph for the journey.
[5]
Page 8
Peter Symonds College
12
Physics Department
Post Enrolment Task
A train has an initial velocity of 12.8 ms-1 to the left. After 22.0 seconds it is moving to the right at
18.3 ms-1.
What was its average acceleration during this time?
[3]
13
A ship accelerates at a uniform rate of 0.18 ms-2 east. If its initial velocity is 1.5 ms-1 east and its final
velocity is 4.5 ms-1 in the same direction, for how long was it accelerating?
[3]
14
A rabbit is hopping at a constant speed when he begins decelerating at a rate of 0.41 ms-2. What was
the rabbit’s initial hopping speed if it takes it 3.7 seconds to come to a stop?
[2]
Page 9
Peter Symonds College
15
Physics Department
Post Enrolment Task
a) An aeroplane taking off accelerates uniformly on a runway from a velocity of 4 ms-1 to a velocity of
64 ms-1 in 40 s.
Calculate its acceleration.
[2]
b) A car travelling at a velocity of 20 ms-1 brakes sharply to a standstill in 8.0 s.
Calculate its deceleration, assuming its velocity decreases uniformly.
[3]
16
A cyclist accelerates uniformly from a velocity of 2.5 ms-1 to a velocity of 7.0 ms-1 in a time of 10 s.
Calculate:
a) their acceleration.
[2]
b) their velocity 2.0 s later if they continued to accelerate at the same rate.
[2]
Page 10
Peter Symonds College
17
Physics Department
Post Enrolment Task
A train on a straight journey between two stations accelerates uniformly from rest for 20 s to a
velocity of 12 ms-1. It then travels at constant velocity for a further 40 s before decelerating uniformly
to rest in 30 s.
a) Sketch a velocity-time graph to represent its journey.
[5]
b) Calculate its acceleration in each part of the journey.
[3]
c) Calculate the total distance travelled by the train during this journey.
[3]
Page 11
Peter Symonds College
18
Physics Department
Post Enrolment Task
The velocity of an object released in water increased as shown:
Describe how:
a) The velocity of the object changed with time.
[1]
b) the acceleration of the object changed with time.
[1]
Page 12