AP Physics 1 : AP Physics 1

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Physics 1

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Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Understanding Kinetic Energy

car starting from rest accelerates at  for five seconds. What is the kinetic energy of this car after this period of acceleration?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The first thing we need to find is the final velocity of the car. We know it starts from rest and has an acceleration of for five seconds. We can calculate the final velocity using these values and the appropriate kinematics equation.

The formula for kinetic energy is:

We can use the calculated final velocity and the mass of the car to determine its final kinetic energy.

Example Question #31 : Ap Physics 1

A crane lifts a  steel beam to a height of . If the task is accomplished in , what was the average power provided by the crane? 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

To find average power, we find the total work done by the crane in lifting the steel beam, and then divide it by the time taken to complete the task.

In this case, the total work done is equal to the change in potential energy of the steel beam. for this, we use the potential energy equation:

We then divide the work by  to find average power:

Example Question #1 : Understanding Elastic And Inelastic Collisions

Ball A, traveling  to the right, collides with ball B, traveling  to the left. If ball A is 4kg and ball B is 6kg, what will be the final velocity and direction after a perfectly inelastic collision?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

A perfectly inelastic collision is when the two bodies stick together at the end. At the beginning the two balls are traveling separately with individual momentum values. Using the momentum equation , we can see that ball A has a momentum of (4kg)(7m/s) to the right and ball B has a momentum of (6kg)(8m/s) to the left. The final momentum would be the mass of both balls times the final velocity, (4+6)(vf). We can solve for vf through conservation of momentum; the sum of the initial momentum values must equal the final momentum.

Note: ball B's velocity is negative because they are traveling in opposite directions.

The negative sign indicates the direction in which the two balls are traveling. Since the sign is negative and we indicated that traveling to the left is negative, the two balls must be traveling 2m/s to the left after the perfectly inelastic collision.

Example Question #1 : Newtonian Mechanics And Motion

Two astronauts, Ann and Bob, conduct a collision experiment in a weightless, frictionless environment. Initially Ann moves to the right with a momentum of , and Bob is initially at rest. In the collision, the two astronauts push on each other so that Ann's final momentum is  to the left. What is Bob's final momentum?

Possible Answers:

 to the right

 to the left

 to the right

 to the left

 to the right

Correct answer:

 to the right

Explanation:

Apply conservation of momentum before and after the collision.

.

Taking left to be the negative direction, and noting that Bob's initial momentum is 0 since he is at rest, we can use the provided information to see that  .

Solving for , we get . Since this answer is positive, Bob's momentum is in the positive direction (to the right).

Example Question #1 : Universal Gravitation

The moon's distance from the center of the Earth was decreased by a multiple of three. How would this affect the gravitational force of the Earth on the moon? 

Possible Answers:

The gravitational force would not be affected, because the moon's mass is the same

It would increase by a factor of three

It would decrease by a factor of nine

It would increase by a factor of nine

Correct answer:

It would increase by a factor of nine

Explanation:

The law of gravitation is written as , with G being equal to .

Since the radius of the two masses acting on each other is squared, and is found in the denominator, a decrease in the radius by a multiple of three will cause a nine-fold increase in the gravitational force.

Example Question #1 : Newton's Second Law

What is the acceleration due to gravity on a planet on which an object with a mass of 20.0kg has a weight of 270N?

Possible Answers:

0.074m/s2

10m/s 2

27m/s2

13.5m/s2

Correct answer:

13.5m/s2

Explanation:

Solve the following equation for acceleration, using the values given in the question.





Example Question #1 : Newtonian Mechanics

A car moving at 40m/s suddenly applies a braking force and comes to rest in 20s, with constant deceleration. If the car has a mass of 2000kg, what is the braking force? 

Possible Answers:

4000N

–8000N

40000N

–4000N

–2000N

Correct answer:

–4000N

Explanation:

First we can calculate the acceleration.

Using F = ma with the magnitude of the acceleration we can find the force.

Example Question #31 : Ap Physics 1

A baseball pitcher throws a baseball at  horizontally in the positive direction to a batter, who hits the ball in the opposite direction at . What is the change in momentum of the baseball if the baseball has a mass of ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

In order to calculate the change in momentum, we must find the initial and final momentum of the baseball, and then find the difference.

Use the given velocities and mass to calculate the initial and final values.

The initial momentum is positive because the problem states that the ball was originally thrown in the positive direction. The final momentum is negative due to the change in direction.

Now we find the change in momentum:

Example Question #1 : Understanding Friction

A 2kg box is at the top of a ramp at an angle of 60o. The top of the ramp is 30m above the ground. The box is sitting still while at the top of the ramp, and is then released.

Imagine that the net force on the box is 16.5N when sliding down the ramp. What is the coefficient of kinetic friction for the box?

Possible Answers:

The kinetic coefficient of friction cannot be determined while the box is moving

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Since the box is moving when the net force on the box is determined, we can calculate the coefficient of kinetic friction for the box. The first step is determining what the net force on the box would be in the absence of friction. The net force on the box is given by the equation .

The difference between the frictionless net force and the net force with friction is 0.8N. This means that the force of kinetic friction on the box is 0.8N, acting opposite the direction of motion. Knowing this, we can solve for the coefficient of kinetic friction using the equation 

Example Question #1 : Work, Energy, And Power

A bodybuilder is in the midst of a an intense training session. He is currently bench pressing a bar with a mass of . If he does six reps of this mass and his arms are  long, how much work has been done on the bar between the time the bar was removed from its rack and placed back on the rack?

Possible Answers:

None of the other answers here

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The most important part of this question is noticing that it asks how much work has been done on the bar, not how much work the bodybuilder has exerted. Therefore we can use the work energy theorem:

Since the bar is initially at rest and returns to rest, the net work on the bar is zero. All of the energy exerted by the bodybuilder is counteracted by gravity.

Think about the system practically. Comparing the initial and final states, the bar is in the exact same position.

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