4th Form Motion

4th Form Motion

1. A car driver sees a dog on the road ahead and has to make an emergency stop.

The graph shows how the speed of the car changes with time after the driver first sees the dog.

30

25 B
A
Speed of
car
(m/s) 20

15

10

C
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time (seconds)

(a) Which part of the graph represents the “reaction time” or “thinking time” of the driver?

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[1]

(b) (i) What is the thinking time of the driver? Time ........................ seconds
[1]

(ii) Calculate the distance travelled by the car in this thinking time.

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Distance ..................................... m
[3]
 4th Form Motion

(c) Calculate the acceleration of the car after the brakes are applied.

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Acceleration ............................................
[4]

(d) Calculate the distance travelled by the car during braking.

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Distance ................................................ m
[3]

(e) The mass of the car is 800 kg. Calculate the braking force.

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Braking force ........................................ N

[3]
 4th Form Motion

2. The diagram shows a diver diving from the end of a diving board.

4m

The height of the diving board above the poolside is 4 m. The mass of the diver is 50 kg. Gravitational
field strength is 10 N/kg.

(a) Calculate the gain of gravitational potential energy as the diver climbs from the poolside to the
diving board.

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[4]

(b) The diver enters the water at a speed of 8 m/s.

Calculate the kinetic energy of the diver as she hits the water.

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[4]

(c) As she hits the water her kinetic energy is different from the potential energy she gained as she
climbed to the diving board. Explain why.

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[2]
 4th Form Motion

3. A hot air balloon called Global Challenger was used to try to break the record for travelling round the
world.
The graph shows how the height of the balloon changed during the flight.

10 000 A
B

F
8 000

C
6 000
height
(metres)

4 000

2 000 E

D
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
time after burners were lit (hours)

The balloon took off from Marrakesh one hour after the burners were lit and climbed rapidly.

(a) Use the graph to find:

(i) the maximum height reached.

Maximum height .............................. metres.

(ii) the total time of the flight.

Total time ........................................... hours.

[2]

(b) Several important moments during the flight are labelled on the graph with the letters A, B, C, D, E
and F.
At which of these moments did the following happen?

(i) The balloon began a slow controlled descent to 2500 metres. ........................

(ii) The crew threw out all the cargo on board in order to stop
a very rapid descent. .......................

(iii) The balloon started to descend from 9000 metres. .......................

[3]
 4th Form Motion

4. (a) The graph shows how the distance travelled by a car changes with time during a short journey.

1800
1600

1400
1200

Distance 1000
in metres
800
600
400
200

0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5
Time in minutes
(i) Describe fully the motion of the car during the first two minutes of the journey.

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[3]

(ii) During the last minute of the journey the velocity of the car changes although the speed
remains constant. How is this possible?

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[1]

(iii) “During the journey the car engine is 22% efficient.” Explain what this statement means.

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[3]

(b) The diagram shows a spanner being used to undo a tight nut.
 4th Form Motion

Force
m
50 c

30 cm

40 cm

The nut was tightened using a moment of 120 newton metres.

Use the following equation to calculate the force needed to undo the nut. Show clearly how you
work out your answer.

moment = force × perpendicular distance from pivot

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Force = ............................................. N
[2]
Total 9 marks
 4th Form Motion

5. (a) A cyclist goes on a long ride. The graph shows how the distance travelled changes with time during
the ride.

60 E
50
40 D
Distance
in km 30

20 B
C
10 A
0
0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
Time in hours

(i) Between which two points on the graph was the cyclist moving at the fastest speed?

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[1]

(ii) State one way cyclists can reduce the air resistance acting on them.

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[1]

(iii) How long did the cyclist stop and rest?

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[1]

(iv) Write down the equation which links distance, speed and time.

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[1]

(v) Calculate, in km/hr, the average speed of the cyclist while moving.

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Average speed = .............................. km/hr

[3]
 4th Form Motion

(b) For part of the ride the cyclist pushed on the pedals with a constant vertical force of
300 N. The simplified diagrams show the pedals in three different positions.

300 N 300 N

300 N
14 cm 16 cm

16 cm

A B C

(i) Which position, A, B, or C, gives the largest moment on the pedal?

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[1]

(ii) Use the following equation to calculate, in Newton metres, the size of the largest moment on
the pedal.

moment = force × perpendicular distance from pivot

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Moment = ................................... Nm
[2]
Total 10 marks
 4th Form Motion

6. (a) A shopping trolley is being pushed at a constant speed. The arrows

represent the horizontal forces on the trolley.

P
(i) How big is force P compared to force F?

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[1]

(ii) Which one of the distance-time graphs, K, L or M, shows the

motion of the trolley? Draw a circle around your answer. F
K L M
5 5 5
4 4 4
Distance Distance Distance
in 3 in 3 in 3
metres 2 metres 2 metres 2
1 1 1
0 0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Time in seconds Time in seconds Time in seconds
[1]

(b) Complete the sentence by crossing out the two words in the box that are wrong.

energy.
Acceleration is the rate of change of speed.
velocity.

[1]

(c) Three trolleys, A, B and C, are pushed using the same size force. The force causes each trolley to
accelerate.

A B C

Which trolley will have the smallest acceleration?

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Give a reason for your answer.

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[2]

Total 5 marks
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7. The van is being driven along a road.

(a) The van has a fault and leaks one drop of oil every second.
The diagram below shows the oil drops left on the road as the van moves from W to Z.

W X Y Z

Describe the motion of the van as it moves from:

W to X ........................................................................................................................

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X to Y .........................................................................................................................

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Y to Z .........................................................................................................................

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[3]

(b) The van was travelling at 30 m/s. It slowed to a stop in 20 seconds. Calculate the van’s deceleration.
Write the equation you are going to use, show clearly how you get to your answer and give the unit.

Equation ....................................................................................................................

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.......................................................................................... Deceleration ...................

[4]
Total 7 marks
 4th Form Motion

8. The table shows part of the flight plan for one of the manned Apollo flights to the Moon.

TIME
(hours/minutes) FORCES AND VELOCITIES

00 00 Lift off.
Vehicle in Earth orbit. Height 160 km.
00 11 Speed 28 000 km/h. Rocket motor shut off.

01 35 Ignite rocket motor to achieve escape velocity.

01 40 Achieve escape velocity – 40 000 km/h.

01 41 Rocket motor shut off. Vehicle on way to Moon.

18 40 Speed has fallen to 8 700 km/h.

63 16 Turn vehicle so that rocket motor faces Moon. Ignite rocket motor.

Shut down motor. Vehicle has slowed to 3 700 km/h and is in orbit
63 23
130 km above the surface of the Moon.

(a) Between 00 11 and 01 35 hours the vehicle was in Earth orbit.

Explain as fully as you can why the vehicle was able to remain in orbit.

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[4]

(b) Explain why the speed of the space vehicle fell from 40 000 km/h at 01 40 hours
to 8 700 km/h at 18 40 hours.

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[3]

(c) Explain what would have happened to the speed of the vehicle if the motor had not been ignited at
63 16 hours.

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[2]
 4th Form Motion

Physics Challenge Questions

1990