AP Physics 1 : Linear Motion and Momentum

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for AP Physics 1

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Example Questions

Example Question #61 : Motion In Two Dimensions

A batter hits a ball at an angle of \displaystyle 50^{\circ} to the horizontal. If the home run fence is \displaystyle 120m away with a height the same as when the batter hits the ball, what is the minimal initial velocity that will result in a home run? 

 \displaystyle g = 10\frac{m}{s^2}

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 41.3\frac{m}{s}

\displaystyle 34.9\frac{m}{s}

\displaystyle 38.2\frac{m}{s}

\displaystyle 44.4\frac{m}{s}

\displaystyle 31.7\frac{m}{s}

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 34.9\frac{m}{s}

Explanation:

This problem is greatly simplified since the home run fence has the same height as the initial height of the ball. Therefore, we can use this range equation to solve this problem in one calculation: 

\displaystyle R = \frac{v_o^2sin(2\theta)}{g}

Rearranging for velocity, we get:

\displaystyle v_o = \sqrt{\frac{R\cdot g}{sin(2\theta)}}

Plugging in our values, we get:

\displaystyle v_o = \sqrt{\frac{(120m)\left ( 10\frac{m}{s^2}\right )}{sin(100^{\circ})}}

\displaystyle v_o = 34.9\frac{m}{s}

Example Question #62 : Motion In Two Dimensions

A batter hits a ball at an angle of \displaystyle 50^{\circ} to the horizontal. If the home run fence is \displaystyle 120m away with a height of \displaystyle 5m, and the ball is hit from an initial height of \displaystyle 1m, what is the minimal initial velocity that will result in a home run? 

\displaystyle g = 10\frac{m}{s^2}

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 35.4\frac{m}{s}

\displaystyle 25.0\frac{m}{s}

\displaystyle 27.9\frac{m}{s}

\displaystyle 34.6\frac{m}{s}

\displaystyle 31.8\frac{m}{s}

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 35.4\frac{m}{s}

Explanation:

There are multiple ways to attack this problem, so don't worry if you took a different route. However, no matter which way you go, you'll be substituting small expressions into larger ones.

First, let's develop an expression of how long it takes the ball to reach the home run fence. We know that:

 \displaystyle d = v_x\cdot t

Rearranging for time:

\displaystyle t = \frac{d}{v_x}

Then we can substitute the following expression in for horizontal velocity:

\displaystyle v_x = vcos(\theta)

\displaystyle t = \frac{d}{vcos(\theta)}

Now that we have an expression for time, we can use the following expression:

\displaystyle \Delta y= v_{y_i}t+\frac{1}{2}at^2

Plugging in an expression for initial vertical velocity, we get:

\displaystyle \Delta y= vsin(\theta)t+\frac{1}{2}at^2

Plugging in our expression for time, we get:

\displaystyle \Delta y=vsin(\theta)\left (\frac{d}{vcos(\theta)} \right )+\frac{1}{2}a\left ( \frac{d}{vcos(\theta)}\right )^2

Now let's simplify this a bit:

\displaystyle \Delta y =d\cdot tan(\theta)+\frac{a\cdot d^2}{2v^2cos^2(\theta)}

Rearranging:

\displaystyle \Delta y -d\cdot tan(\theta)=\frac{a\cdot d^2}{2v^2cos^2(\theta)}

And some more:

\displaystyle 2v^2cos^2(\theta)=\frac{a\cdot d^2}{\Delta y -d\cdot tan(\theta)}

One last time:

\displaystyle v = \sqrt{\frac{a\cdot d^2}{\left ( \Delta y - d\cdot tan\theta\right )\left ( 2cos^2\theta\right )}}

It may look a bit nasty, but we know all of these values, so time to plug and chug:

\displaystyle v = \sqrt{\frac{\left ( 10\frac{m}{s^2}\right )(120m)^2}{\left ( 4m-(120m)tan(50^\circ)\right )(2cos^2(50^{\circ}))}}

\displaystyle v_i = 35.4\frac{m}{s}

Example Question #71 : Motion In Two Dimensions

A home run derby is being held in a stadium where the home run wall is \displaystyle 100m from home plate. The wall itself has a height of \displaystyle 5m. The stands begin at the wall and with equal height, and rise at an angle of \displaystyle 30^{\circ} to the horizontal.

\displaystyle g = 10\frac{m}{s^2}

If a home run is hit a total distance of \displaystyle 120 m from an initial height of \displaystyle 1m and an angle of \displaystyle 50^{\circ} to the horizontal, what is the ball's initial velocity?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 45.9\frac{m}{s}

\displaystyle 14.3\frac{m}{s}

\displaystyle 29.9\frac{m}{s}

\displaystyle 21.2\frac{m}{s}

\displaystyle 36.8\frac{m}{s}

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 36.8\frac{m}{s}

Explanation:

From the problem statement, we can use the following piecewise function to express the effective "height" at any point within the stadium:

If   \displaystyle x < 100m   then   \displaystyle y = 0m

If   \displaystyle x\geq 100m   then   \displaystyle y = 5m+(x-100)sin(30^{\circ})

Before, moving on, make sure you understand the reasoning of this function. The wall begins at a distance of \displaystyle 100m, a height of \displaystyle 5m, and rises at an angle of \displaystyle 30^{\circ}.

Using the total horizontal distance traveled, we can calculate the ball's final height using the above expression:

\displaystyle y = 5m+(120m-100m)sin(30^{\circ}) = 15m

Now we can use the following two kinematics expression:

\displaystyle \Delta y = v_{y_{i}}t+\frac{1}{2}at^2

\displaystyle t = \frac{d}{v_{x_{i}}}

Where d is the horizontal distance traveled. Replacing out component velocities, we get:

\displaystyle \Delta y = v_isin(\theta)t+\frac{1}{2}at^2

\displaystyle t = \frac{d}{v_icos(\theta)}

Substituting our expression for time into the other expression, we get:

\displaystyle \Delta y = dtan(\theta)+\frac{1}{2}a\left ( \frac{d}{v_icos(\theta)}\right )^2

Simplifying, we get:

\displaystyle \Delta y = dtan(\theta)+\frac{ad^2}{2v_i^2cos^2(\theta)}

Rearranging:

\displaystyle \frac{ad^2}{2v_i^2cos^2(\theta)} = dtan(\theta)-\Delta y

And again:

\displaystyle \frac{ad^2}{dtan(\theta)-\Delta y} = 2v_i^2cos^2(\theta)

One last time:

\displaystyle v_i = \sqrt{\frac{ad^2}{2cos^2(\theta)\left (dtan(\theta)-\Delta y \right )}}

It's nice and messy, but we have all of these values, so time to plug and chug:

\displaystyle v_i = \sqrt{\frac{\left ( 10\frac{m}{s^2}\right )(120m)^2}{2cos^2(50^{\circ})((120m)tan(50^{\circ})-14m)}}

\displaystyle v_i = 36.8\frac{m}{s}

Example Question #72 : Motion In Two Dimensions

A home run derby is being held in a stadium where the home run wall is \displaystyle 100m from home plate. The wall itself has a height of \displaystyle 5m. The stands begin at the wall and with equal height, and rise at an angle of \displaystyle 30^{\circ} to the horizontal.

\displaystyle g = 10\frac{m}{s^2}

A ball is hit with an initial vertical velocity of \displaystyle 25\frac{m}{s}  from a height of \displaystyle 1m. If it takes \displaystyle 4s for the ball to land in the stands, what is the total horizontal distance traveled?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 92m

\displaystyle 161m

\displaystyle 101m

\displaystyle 132m

\displaystyle 116m

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 132m

Explanation:

From the problem statement, we can use the following piecewise function to express the effective "height" at any point within the stadium:

If   \displaystyle x < 100m   then   \displaystyle y = 0m

If   \displaystyle x\geq 100m   then   \displaystyle y = 5m+(x-100)sin(30^{\circ})

Before, moving on, make sure you understand the reasoning of this function. The wall begins at a distance of \displaystyle 100m, a height of \displaystyle 5m, and rises at an angle of \displaystyle 30^{\circ}.

We can use the following expression to calculate the final height of the ball:

\displaystyle y_f= y_i + v_{y_{i}}t+\frac{1}{2}at^2

Plugging in our values, we get:

\displaystyle y_f = 1m + \left ( 25\frac{m}{s}\right )(4s)+\frac{1}{2}\left ( -10\frac{m}{s^2}\right )(4s)^2

\displaystyle y_f = 21m

Then we can use the piecewise expression to determine to total horizontal distance traveled:

\displaystyle 21m = 5m+ (x-100m)sin(30^{\circ})

\displaystyle x = \frac{16m}{sin(30^{\circ})}+100m

\displaystyle x = 132m

Example Question #73 : Motion In Two Dimensions

A home run derby is being held in a stadium where the home run wall is \displaystyle 100m from home plate. The wall itself has a height of \displaystyle 5m. The stands begin at the wall and with equal height, and rise at an angle of \displaystyle 30^{\circ} to the horizontal.

\displaystyle g = 10\frac{m}{s^2}

A ball is hit with an initial horizontal velocity of \displaystyle 30\frac{m}{s} and takes \displaystyle 3.5s for the ball to hit the stands. If the ball was hit from an initial height of \displaystyle 1m, at what angle to the horizontal was the ball hit at?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 32.8^{\circ}

\displaystyle 57.2^{\circ}

\displaystyle 45^{\circ}

\displaystyle 43.8^{\circ}

\displaystyle 46.2^{\circ}

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 32.8^{\circ}

Explanation:

From the problem statement, we can use the following piecewise function to express the effective "height" at any point within the stadium:

If   \displaystyle x < 100m   then   \displaystyle y = 0m

If   \displaystyle x\geq 100m   then   \displaystyle y = 5m+(x-100)sin(30^{\circ})

Before, moving on, make sure you understand the reasoning of this function. The wall begins at a distance of \displaystyle 100m, a height of \displaystyle 5m, and rises at an angle of \displaystyle 30^{\circ}.

We can quickly determine the horizontal distance traveled by the ball:

\displaystyle x = v_xt = \left ( 30\frac{m}{s}\right )(3.5s) = 105m

Then we can use the piecewise function to calculate the final height of the ball. Since \displaystyle x\geq 100m, we will use the second expression:

\displaystyle y = 5m + (105m-100m)sin(30^{\circ}) = 7.5m

Then we can use the following kinematics equation:

\displaystyle \Delta y = v_{y_i}t+\frac{1}{2}at^2

Rearranging, we get:

\displaystyle v_{y_{i}}= \frac{\Delta y}{t}-\frac{at}{2}

Plugging in our values, we get:

\displaystyle v_{y_{i}}=\frac{7.5m-1m}{3.5s} - \frac{\left ( -10\frac{m}{s^2}\right )(3.5s)}{2}

\displaystyle v_{y_{i}}=19.4357\frac{m}{s}

Then we can use the following expression to determine the initial angle of the ball:

\displaystyle tan(\theta_i)=\frac{v_{y_{i}}}{v_{x_{i}}}

Rearranging and plugging in our values, we get:

\displaystyle \theta_i = tan^{-1}\left ( \frac{19.4357\frac{m}{s}}{30\frac{m}{s}}\right )

\displaystyle \theta_i = 32.8^{\circ}

Example Question #74 : Motion In Two Dimensions

A home run derby is being held in a stadium where the home run wall is \displaystyle 100m from home plate. The wall itself has a height of \displaystyle 5m. The stands begin at the wall and with equal height, and rise at an angle of \displaystyle 30^{\circ} to the horizontal.

\displaystyle g = 10\frac{m}{s^2}

If a ball is hit with an initial horizontal velocity of \displaystyle 25\frac{m}{s} and it takes \displaystyle 3.5s to land, what is the final height of the ball?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 0m

\displaystyle 2.4m

\displaystyle 5.1m

\displaystyle 11.2m

\displaystyle 7.6m

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 0m

Explanation:

From the problem statement, we can use the following piecewise function to express the effective "height" at any point within the stadium:

If   \displaystyle x < 100m   then   \displaystyle y = 0m

If   \displaystyle x\geq 100m   then   \displaystyle y = 5m+(x-100)sin(30^{\circ})

Before, moving on, make sure you understand the reasoning of this function. The wall begins at a distance of \displaystyle 100m, a height of \displaystyle 5m, and rises at an angle of \displaystyle 30^{\circ}.

We can calculate the total horizontal distance traveled by the ball using the following expression:

\displaystyle x = v_xt = \left ( 25\frac{m}{s}\right )(3.5s)

\displaystyle x = 87.5

The ball has yet to reach the home run wall, so it will land back on the ground with a final height of \displaystyle 0m.

Example Question #71 : Motion In Two Dimensions

A brick is dropped from the top floor of a building. The brick takes \displaystyle 10 s to reach the bottom. How tall is the building? Ignore air resistance.

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 388m

\displaystyle 435m

\displaystyle 490m

\displaystyle 135m

\displaystyle 670m

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 490m

Explanation:

We know that the brick is dropped from rest \displaystyle (v_{0}=0) at the top of the building and, ignoring air friction, we know the only relevant force is due to gravity \displaystyle (a_{g} = -9.81\frac{m}{s}).  Using the kinematic equation \displaystyle \Delta x=v_{0}t+\frac{1}{2}at^{2}, plug in our known values for \displaystyle v_{0}\displaystyle a, and \displaystyle t, then solve to get \displaystyle \Delta x = 490m.

Example Question #76 : Motion In Two Dimensions

A brick is thrown at \displaystyle 10\frac{m}{s} from the top of a \displaystyle 100m building at an angle of  above horizontal. How long does it take to reach the ground below?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 4.50s

\displaystyle 1.02s

\displaystyle 5.05 s

\displaystyle 3.50 s

\displaystyle 6.05s

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 5.05 s

Explanation:

The problem can be split into two parts: when the brick is in the air above the building, and when the brick begins its descent past the top of the building once more. Since we are finding the time the brick takes to travel in the vertical direction, only the y-component of the velocity is relevant, .

To find the time the brick is in the air for the first part, use the kinematic equation \displaystyle v_y = v_{y,0}+a_{y}t. The time the brick takes to reach its peak is given by  \displaystyle 0 = 5\frac{m}{s} - (9.81\frac{m}{s^2})t, so \displaystyle t=0.51s. Doubling this \displaystyle t gives the time the brick takes to rise then fall again to the height from which it was thrown, so \displaystyle t_{1} = 2t = 1.02s.

To find the time the brick takes to fall from the top of the building to the ground, use the kinematic equation \displaystyle \Delta y = v_{y,0}t+\frac{1}{2}a_{y}t^2. We know that the initial velocity for this part, which is now pointing downward, is equal in magnitude to when the brick was first thrown, \displaystyle v_{y,0} = -5\frac{m}{s}. The height of the building is given by \displaystyle \Delta y = -100m. Hence our equation becomes \displaystyle -100m = (-5 \frac{m}{s})t + \frac{1}{2}(-9.81 \frac{m}{s^2})t^2. Solving for \displaystyle t gives \displaystyle t_{2}=4.03s.

Adding the two times together, \displaystyle t_{final} = t_{1} + t_{2} = 1.02s + 4.03s = 5.05s.

Example Question #441 : Ap Physics 1

A cannonball is shot at an angle. During the first \displaystyle 2s the cannonball moves \displaystyle 100m horizontally.

How much horizontal distance has the cannonball covered after \displaystyle 4s of motion?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 150m

\displaystyle 200m

\displaystyle 300m

\displaystyle 250m

\displaystyle 50m

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 200m

Explanation:

In projectile motion, there are no horizontal forces acting on the object during its flight. By Newton's Second Law we know that if no force is applied to an object, it does not accelerate.

So, the cannonball's horizontal velocity remains constant. Twice the time of flight leads to twice the horizontal distance.

Example Question #78 : Motion In Two Dimensions

Jennifer is trying to catch a baseball. The ball is launched at \displaystyle 40\frac{m}{s} from a machine, \displaystyle 60^\circ above the horizontal. How far away from the machine should she be?

Possible Answers:

\displaystyle 41.8m

\displaystyle 17.5m

\displaystyle 91.98m

\displaystyle 141.2m

Correct answer:

\displaystyle 141.2m

Explanation:

Determining the time for the upward velocity to equal zero:

\displaystyle v_i+at=v_f

\displaystyle 40*sin60^\circ-9.8*t=0

\displaystyle t=3.53s

The ball will take the same amount of time to descend back to it's initial height, the height of Jennifer.

Determining how far horizontally the ball will travel in that time.

\displaystyle 2t*v_x=d_x

\displaystyle 3.53*2*40cos 60^\circ=d_x

\displaystyle 141.2m

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