High School Physics : Motion and Mechanics

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for High School Physics

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Example Questions

Example Question #22 : Understanding Distance, Velocity, And Acceleration

An object starts at rest and reaches a velocity of  after  seconds. What is the average acceleration of the object?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

The relationship between acceleration and velocity is:

Acceleration is equal to the change in velocity over the change in time. If the object starts from rest, then we can set up an equation to solve for the change in velocity.

Using the terms from the question, we can see that the acceleration will be equal to the final velocity divided by the time.

Example Question #26 : Understanding Distance, Velocity, And Acceleration

You are given a graph of velocity vs. time. Which of the following ways can be used to determine acceleration at any given point?

Possible Answers:

The acceleration is the total change in velocity over the total time

The acceleration is the area under the curve for any given time interval

The acceleration is the y-intercept of the velocity vs time graph

The acceleration cannot be determined from the graph

The acceleration is the slope at any particular point in time

Correct answer:

The acceleration is the slope at any particular point in time

Explanation:

The important thing to note is that the question asks for the acceleration at any given point. The average acceleration will be equal to the net change in velocity divided by the total time, but the question is asking for the instantaneous acceleration.

Acceleration is calculated by a change in velocity over a change in time. In a velocity versus time graph, this is equal to the slope.

This tells us that the slope at a certain time will be equal to the acceleration at that time.

In calculus terms, acceleration is the derivative of the function for velocity in terms of time. What this means is that at any point on the graph, the instantaneous slope is the acceleration for that given time. To determine acceleration, one must find the slope of the line at that particular time interval.

Example Question #23 : Understanding Distance, Velocity, And Acceleration

Sam throws a  rock off the edge of a  tall building at an angle of  from the horizontal. The rock has an initial speed of .

If Sam then threw a  rock instead, how would this affect its total horizontal distance travelled? 

Possible Answers:

The distance would be quartered

The distance would be doubled

The distance would not change

The distance would be zero

The distance would quadruple

Correct answer:

The distance would not change

Explanation:

The equation for distance travelled in the x-direction with parabolic motion is .

The mass of the object is not a variable in this calculation, and will not alter the horizontal velocity.

This can also be observed by analyzing the units for the velocity calculation.

Kilograms are not involved in the units, so mass will not be involved.

Changing the mass will not change the distance travelled; the rock will travel the same distance.

Example Question #24 : Understanding Distance, Velocity, And Acceleration

Laurence throws a  rock off the edge of a  tall building at an angle of  from the horizontal with an initial speed of .

.

A rock is thrown with the same initial velocity and angle from the top of the building. How would the horizontal distance traveled by this rock compare to the horizontal distance traveled by the lighter rock?

Possible Answers:

The heavier rock would travel twice as far

The heavier rock would travel  times as far

The heavier rock would not move

They would travel the same distance

The heavier rock would travel half as far

Correct answer:

They would travel the same distance

Explanation:

The equation for distance travelled in the horizontal direction is:

There is no acceleration in the horizontal direction, so this velocity is constant throughout flight.

There is no place for mass in this equation. Any objects thrown with the same velocity will travel the same distance. The two rocks with thus travel the same horizontal distance.

Example Question #24 : Understanding Distance, Velocity, And Acceleration

While traveling along a highway, a specific automobile is capable of an acceleration of about .  At this rate, how long does it take to accelerate from  to ?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Knowns:

 

 

 

 

Unknowns:

 

 

Equation:

 

The most important thing to recognize here is that the initial and final velocities are not in the correct units.  The first step is to convert both of these values to .

 

 

 

Then rearrange your equation to solve for  (the missing variable).

 

 

Now plug in the variables and solve.

 

 

 

 

Example Question #31 : Understanding Distance, Velocity, And Acceleration

Two locomotives approach each other on parallel tracks.  They both have the same speed of  with respect to ground. If they are initially  apart, how long will it be before they reach each other?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Knowns:

 



 

Unknowns: 

 

 

Equation:

 

Since both trains are traveling at a constant velocity and there is no acceleration the equation is

 

 

Rearrange this equation to solve for time.

 

 

Since both trains are traveling at the same speed, the trains will meet up in the middle of the total distance between the trains.

 

Plug this distance into the equation to find the time that it takes to travel the distance.

 

 

The answers provided are in minutes, so the final step is to convert the time to minutes.



Example Question #32 : Understanding Distance, Velocity, And Acceleration

Derek rolls a ball along a flat surface with an initial velocity of . If it stops after 12 seconds, what was the acceleration on the ball?

 

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Knowns:

 

 

 

 

Unknowns:

 

 

Equation:

 

Since the ball starts with a positive velocity and ends at rest, we can predict that the acceleration will be negative. Using the values given in the question and the equation below, we can solve for the acceleration.

 

 

 

 

 

Example Question #33 : Understanding Distance, Velocity, And Acceleration

A car starts from rest, speeds up with constant acceleration and travels  in . What is the final velocity and the acceleration of the car?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Knowns:


 

 

 

Unknowns:

 



 

Equation:

 

The easiest way to approach this problem is find the average velocity, multiply by 2 because the car started from rest, and then divide the final velocity by time to get the acceleration. 

 

Average velocity:

 

 

 

 

The final velocity is  because the car started from rest. This is evident from the equation for average velocity if we solve for final velocity:

 

 

 



 

To find the acceleration use the acceleration equation with the final velocity that was just calculated.

 

 



 

Example Question #121 : Linear Motion

A dog sits in a basket attached to the handlebars of a bicycle. If an outside observer sees the bicycle move with a velocity , what is the velocity of the dog relative to the observer?

Possible Answers:

We need to know more information to be able to solve

Correct answer:

Explanation:

If the observer sees the bicycle moving with a uniform velocity , then that means all the parts of the bicycle together are moving with the same velocity. The dog, the cyclist, the handlebars, everything in the system (that is not moving independently, such as the pedals or the wheels) is moving with the same velocity .

Example Question #35 : Understanding Distance, Velocity, And Acceleration

In which of the following cases does an object have a negative velocity and a positive acceleration?  An object that is traveling in the

Possible Answers:

 direction a constant 

 direction increasing in speed

  direction decreasing in speed

  direction decreasing in speed

 direction increasing in speed

Correct answer:

  direction decreasing in speed

Explanation:

To have a negative velocity the object must be traveling in the  direction.  The direction on the velocity vector indicates the direction of the motion of the object

 

If the velocity vector and acceleration vectors are pointing in opposite directions, then the object must be slowing down as the acceleration vector is opposing the motion of the object.

 

Therefore the object is traveling in the  direction and decreasing in speed.

 

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