Examination-style questions
1
A car accelerates uniformly from rest to a speed of 100 km h–1 in 5.8 s.
(a) Calculate the magnitude of the acceleration of the car in m s–2.
(b) Calculate the distance travelled by the car while accelerating.
(3 marks)
(2 marks)
AQA, 2005
2
Figure 1 shows how the velocity of a toy train moving in a straight line varies over a
period of time.
v /m s–1
0 A
B
C
D
H
t/s
E
F
G
Figure 1
(a) Describe the motion of the train in the following regions of the graph.
AB BC CD DE EF
(b) What feature of the graph represents the displacement of the train?
(c) Explain, with reference to the graph, why the distance travelled by the train is
different from its displacement.
(5 marks)
(1 mark)
(2 marks)
AQA, 2002
3
A vehicle accelerates uniformly from a speed of 4.0 m s–1 to a speed of 12 m s–1 in 6.0 s
(a) Calculate the vehicle’s acceleration.
(b) Sketch a graph of speed against time for the vehicle covering the 6.0 s period in
which it accelerates.
(c) Calculate the distance travelled by the vehicle during its 6.0 s period of
acceleration.
(2 marks)
(2 marks)
(2 marks)
AQA, 2002
4
–1
A supertanker, cruising at an initial speed of 4.5 m s , takes one hour to come to rest.
(a) Assuming that the force slowing the tanker down is constant, calculate
(i) the deceleration of the tanker,
(ii) the distance travelled by the tanker while slowing to a stop.
(b) Sketch a distance–time graph representing the motion of the tanker until it stops.
(c) Explain the shape of the graph you have sketched in part (b).
(4 marks)
(2 marks)
(2 marks)
AQA, 2006
5
130
–1
(a) A cheetah accelerating uniformly from rest reaches a speed of 29 m s in 2.0 s and
then maintains this speed for 15 s. Calculate:
(i) its acceleration,
(ii) the distance it travels while accelerating,
(iii) the distance it travels while it is moving at constant speed.
(b) The cheetah and an antelope are both at rest and 100 m apart. The cheetah starts
to chase the antelope. The antelope takes 0.50 s to react. It then accelerates
uniformly for 2.0 s to a speed of 25 m s–1 and then maintains this speed. Figure 2
shows the speed–time graph for the cheetah.
(4 marks)
AQA Examination-style questions
speed/m s–1 40
35
30
cheetah
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
5
10
15
20
time/s
Figure 2
(i) Using the same axes plot the speed–time graph for the antelope during the chase.
(ii) Calculate the distance covered by the antelope in the 17 s after the cheetah
started to run.
(iii) How far apart are the cheetah and the antelope after 17 s?
(6 marks)
AQA, 2007
6
The following data were obtained when two students performed an experiment to
determine the acceleration of free fall. One student released a lump of lead the size of
a tennis ball from a window in a tall building and the other measured the time for it to
reach the ground.
distance fallen by lump of lead = 35 m
time to reach the ground = 2.7 s
(a) Calculate a value for the acceleration of free fall, g, from these observations.
(b) State and explain the effect on the value of g obtained by the students if a tennis
ball were used instead of the lump of lead.
(c) The graph in Figure 3 shows how the velocity changes with time for the lump of
lead from the time of release until it hits the ground. Sketch on the same axes a
graph to show how the velcity would change with time if a tennis ball were used
by the students instead of a lump of lead.
(2 marks)
(3 marks)
velocity/m s–1
20
10
0
Figure 3
0
10
20
30
time/s
(2 marks)
AQA, 2004
7
–1
(a) A man jumps from a plane that is travelling horizontally at a speed of 70 m s . If
air resistance can be ignored, and before he opens his parachute, determine
(i) his horizontal velocity 2.0 s after jumping,
(ii) his vertical velocity 2.0 s after jumping,
(iii) the magnitude and direction of his resultant velocity 2.0 s after jumping.
(5 marks)
AQA, 2003
131