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The Physics Classroom(/) Physics Tutorial(/class) 1-D Kinematics(/Physics-Tutorial/1-D-Kinematics) Sample

Physics Tutorial(/class)

Sample Problems and Solutions

1-D
Kinematics(/PhysicsTutorial/1-DKinematics)
Newton's
Laws(/PhysicsTutorial/Newton-sLaws)
Vectors - Motion and
Forces in Two
Dimensions(/class/vectors)
Momentum and Its
Conservation(/class/momentum)
Work, Energy, and
Power(/class/energy)
Circular Motion and
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Motion(/class/circles)
Thermal

Problems and Solutions

1-D Kinematics - Lesson 6 - Describing Motion with Equations

Kinematic Equations(/class/1DKin/Lesson-6/Kinematic-Equations)
Kinematic Equations and Problem-Solving(/class/1DKin/Lesson-6/Kinematic-Equations-andProblem-Solving)
Kinematic Equations and Free Fall(/class/1DKin/Lesson-6/Kinematic-Equations-and-Free-Fall)
Sample Problems and Solutions
Kinematic Equations and Graphs(/class/1DKin/Lesson-6/Kinematic-Equations-and-Graphs)

Earlier in Lesson 6, four kinematic

equations(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6a.cfm) were introduced
and discussed. A useful problem-solving
strategy(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6b.cfm) was presented for
use with these equations and two examples were given that illustrated the use of the
strategy. Then, the application of the kinematic equations and the problem-solving
strategy to free-fall motion(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6c.cfm)

Physics(/class/thermalP)
Static
Electricity(/class/estatics)
Current
Electricity(/class/circuits)
Waves(/class/waves)
Sound Waves and
Music(/class/sound)
Light Waves and
Color(/class/light)
Reflection and the
Ray Model of
Light(/class/refln)
Refraction and the
Ray Model of
Light(/class/refrn)

was discussed and illustrated. In this part of Lesson 6, several sample problems will be
presented. These problems allow any student of physics to test their understanding of
the use of the four kinematic equations to solve problems involving the one-dimensional
motion of objects. You are encouraged to read each problem and practice the use of the
strategy in the solution of the problem. Then click the button to check the answer or use
the link to view the solution.

Check Your Understanding

1. An airplane accelerates down a runway at 3.20 m/s2 for 32.8 s until is nally lifts off
the ground. Determine the distance traveled before takeoff.
See Answer

Physics Interactives(/Physics-Interactives)
Shockwave Studios(/shwave)
Multimedia Studios(/mmedia)

See solution below.

(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#sol1)

2. A car starts from rest and accelerates uniformly over a time of 5.21 seconds for a
distance of 110 m. Determine the acceleration of the car.
See Answer

The Review Session(/reviews)

See solution below.

(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#sol2)

Minds on Physics(/mop)
Minds On Physics the App(/MOP-the-App)
The Calculator Pad(/calcpad)

3. Upton Chuck is riding the Giant Drop at Great America. If Upton free falls for 2.60
seconds, what will be his nal velocity and how far will he fall?

Physics Help(/morehelp)

See Answer

ACT Test Center(/actprep)

See solution below.

(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#sol3)

Curriculum Corner(/curriculum)
Question Bank CD(/testbank)
NGSS Corner(/NGSS-Corner)

4. A race car accelerates uniformly from 18.5 m/s to 46.1 m/s in 2.47 seconds.
Determine the acceleration of the car and the distance traveled.

Teacher Toolkits(/Teacher-Toolkits)
Reasoning Center(/reasoning)

See Answer

See solution below.

(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#sol4)

The Laboratory(/lab)

The Photo Gallery(/gallery)

Share The News(/Share)

5. A feather is dropped on the moon from a height of 1.40 meters. The acceleration of
gravity on the moon is 1.67 m/s2. Determine the time for the feather to fall to the
surface of the moon.
See Answer

See solution below.

6. Rocket-powered sleds are used to test the human response to acceleration. If a

rocket-powered sled is accelerated to a speed of 444 m/s in 1.83 seconds, then what
is the acceleration and what is the distance that the sled travels?
See Answer

See solution below.

(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#sol6)

7. A bike accelerates uniformly from rest to a speed of 7.10 m/s over a distance of 35.4
m. Determine the acceleration of the bike.
See Answer

See solution below.

(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#sol7)

8. An engineer is designing the runway for an airport. Of the planes that will use the
airport, the lowest acceleration rate is likely to be 3 m/s2. The takeoff speed for this

plane will be 65 m/s. Assuming this minimum acceleration, what is the minimum
allowed length for the runway?
See Answer

See solution below.

(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#sol8)

9. A car traveling at 22.4 m/s skids to a stop in 2.55 s. Determine the skidding distance
of the car (assume uniform acceleration).
See Answer

See solution below.

(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#sol9)

10. A kangaroo is capable of jumping to a height of 2.62 m. Determine the takeoff speed
of the kangaroo.
See Answer

See solution below.

(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#sol10)

11. If Michael Jordan has a vertical leap of 1.29 m, then what is his takeoff speed and his
hang time (total time to move upwards to the peak and then return to the ground)?
See Answer

See solution below.

(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#sol11)

12. A bullet leaves a rie with a muzzle velocity of 521 m/s. While accelerating through

the barrel of the rie, the bullet moves a distance of 0.840 m. Determine the
acceleration of the bullet (assume a uniform acceleration).
See Answer

See solution below.

(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#sol12)

13. A baseball is popped straight up into the air and has a hang-time of 6.25 s. Determine
the height to which the ball rises before it reaches its peak. (Hint: the time to rise to
the peak is one-half the total hang-time.)
See Answer

See solution below.

(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#sol13)

14. The observation deck of tall skyscraper 370 m above the street. Determine the time
required for a penny to free fall from the deck to the street below.
See Answer

See solution below.

15. A bullet is moving at a speed of 367 m/s when it embeds into a lump of moist clay. The
bullet penetrates for a distance of 0.0621 m. Determine the acceleration of the bullet
while moving into the clay. (Assume a uniform acceleration.)
See Answer

See solution below.

(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#sol15)

16. A stone is dropped into a deep well and is heard to hit the water 3.41 s after being
dropped. Determine the depth of the well.
See Answer

See solution below.

(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#sol16)

17. It was once recorded that a Jaguar left skid marks that were 290 m in length.
Assuming that the Jaguar skidded to a stop with a constant acceleration of -3.90
m/s2, determine the speed of the Jaguar before it began to skid.
See Answer

See solution below.

(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#sol17)

18. A plane has a takeoff speed of 88.3 m/s and requires 1365 m to reach that speed.
Determine the acceleration of the plane and the time required to reach this speed.
See Answer

See solution below.

(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#sol18)

19. A dragster accelerates to a speed of 112 m/s over a distance of 398 m. Determine the
acceleration (assume uniform) of the dragster.
See Answer

See solution below.

(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#sol19)


20. With what speed in miles/hr (1 m/s = 2.23 mi/hr) must an object be thrown to reach a
height of 91.5 m (equivalent to one football eld)? Assume negligible air resistance.
See Answer

See solution below.

(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#sol20)

Solutions to Above Problems

Given:
a = +3.2 m/s2

Find:
t = 32.8 s

vi = 0 m/s

d = ??

d = vi*t + 0.5*a*t2
d = (0 m/s)*(32.8 s)+ 0.5*(3.20 m/s2)*(32.8 s)2
d = 1720 m
Return to Problem 1

Given:
d = 110 m

Find:
t = 5.21 s

vi = 0 m/s

d = vi*t + 0.5*a*t2
110 m = (0 m/s)*(5.21 s)+ 0.5*(a)*(5.21 s)2
110 m = (13.57 s2)*a
a = (110 m)/(13.57 s2)
a = 8.10 m/ s2
Return to Problem 2

a = ??

Find:

Given:
a = -9.8 m

t = 2.6 s

d = ??
vf = ??

vi = 0 m/s

d = vi*t + 0.5*a*t2
d = (0 m/s)*(2.60 s)+ 0.5*(-9.8 m/s2)*(2.60 s)2
d = -33.1 m (- indicates direction)
vf = vi + a*t
vf = 0 + (-9.8 m/s2)*(2.60 s)
vf = -25.5 m/s (- indicates direction)
Return to Problem 3

Find:

Given:
vi = 18.5 m/s

vf = 46.1 m/s

d = ??
a = ??

t = 2.47 s

a = (Delta v)/t
a = (46.1 m/s - 18.5 m/s)/(2.47 s)
a = 11.2 m/s2
d = vi*t + 0.5*a*t2
d = (18.5 m/s)*(2.47 s)+ 0.5*(11.2 m/s2)*(2.47 s)2
d = 45.7 m + 34.1 m
d = 79.8 m
(Note: the d can also be calculated using the equation vf2 = vi2 + 2*a*d)
Return to Problem
4(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#q4)

Given:
v = 0 m/s

Find:
d = -1.40 m

a = -1.67 m/s2

t = ??

d = vi*t + 0.5*a*t2
-1.40 m = (0 m/s)*(t)+ 0.5*(-1.67 m/s2)*(t)2
-1.40 m = 0+ (-0.835 m/s2)*(t)2
(-1.40 m)/(-0.835 m/s2) = t2
1.68 s2 = t2
t = 1.29 s
Return to Problem
5(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#q5)

Find:

Given:
vi = 0 m/s

vf = 444 m/s

a = ??
d = ??

t = 1.83 s

a = (Delta v)/t
a = (444 m/s - 0 m/s)/(1.83 s)
a = 243 m/s2
d = vi*t + 0.5*a*t2
d = (0 m/s)*(1.83 s)+ 0.5*(243 m/s2)*(1.83 s)2
d = 0 m + 406 m
d = 406 m
(Note: the d can also be calculated using the equation vf2 = vi2 + 2*a*d)
Return to Problem
6(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#q6)

Given:
vi = 0 m/s

Find:
vf = 7.10 m/s

d = 35.4 m
a = ??
vf2 = vi2 + 2*a*d

(7.10 m/s)2 = (0 m/s)2 + 2*(a)*(35.4 m)

50.4 m2/s2 = (0 m/s)2 + (70.8 m)*a
(50.4 m2/s2)/(70.8 m) = a
a = 0.712 m/s2
Return to Problem
7(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#q7)

Given:

Find:

vi = 0 m/s

a = 3 m/s2

vf = 65 m/s

d = ??

vf2 = vi2 + 2*a*d

2
2

(65 m/s) = (0 m/s) + 2*(3 m/s2)*d

4225 m2/s2 = (0 m/s)2 + (6 m/s2)*d
(4225 m2/s2)/(6 m/s2) = d
d = 704 m
Return to Problem
8(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#q8)

Given:

Find:

vi = 22.4 m/s

vf = 0 m/s

t = 2.55 s

d = ??

d = (vi + vf)/2 *t
d = (22.4 m/s + 0 m/s)/2 *2.55 s
d = (11.2 m/s)*2.55 s
d = 28.6 m
Return to Problem
9(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#q9)

Given:

Find:

a = -9.8 m/s2

vf = 0 m/s

d = 2.62 m

vi = ??

vf2 = vi2 + 2*a*d

(0 m/s)2 = vi2 + 2*(-9.8 m/s2)*(2.62 m)
0 m2/s2 = vi2 - 51.35 m2/s2
51.35 m2/s2 = vi2
vi = 7.17 m/s
Return to Problem
10(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#q10)

Find:

Given:
a = -9.8 m/s2

vf = 0 m/s

d = 1.29 m

vi = ??
t = ??

vf2 = vi2 + 2*a*d

(0 m/s)2 = vi2 + 2*(-9.8 m/s2)*(1.29 m)
0 m2/s2 = vi2 - 25.28 m2/s2
25.28 m2/s2 = vi2
vi = 5.03 m/s
To nd hang time, nd the time to the peak and then double it.
vf = vi + a*t
0 m/s = 5.03 m/s + (-9.8 m/s2)*tup
-5.03 m/s = (-9.8 m/s2)*tup
(-5.03 m/s)/(-9.8 m/s2) = tup
tup = 0.513 s
hang time = 1.03 s
Return to Problem
11(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#q11)


Given:

Find:

vi = 0 m/s

vf = 521 m/s

d = 0.840 m

a = ??

vf2 = vi2 + 2*a*d

(521 m/s)2 = (0 m/s)2 + 2*(a)*(0.840 m)
271441 m2/s2 = (0 m/s)2 + (1.68 m)*a
(271441 m2/s2)/(1.68 m) = a
a = 1.62*105 m /s2
Return to Problem
12(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#q12)

Given:

Find:

a = -9.8 m/s2
a.

vf = 0 m/s

t = 3.13 s

d = ??

(NOTE: the time required to move to the peak of the trajectory is one-half the
total hang time - 3.125 s.)

First use:vf= vi+ a*t

0 m/s = vi+ (-9.8m/s2)*(3.13 s)
0 m/s = vi- 30.7 m/s
vi= 30.7 m/s (30.674 m/s)
Now use:vf2= vi2+ 2*a*d
(0 m/s)2= (30.7 m/s)2+ 2*(-9.8m/s2)*(d)
0 m2/s2= (940 m2/s2) + (-19.6m/s2)*d
-940m2/s2= (-19.6m/s2)*d
(-940m2/s2)/(-19.6m/s2) = d
d = 48.0 m
Return to Problem
13(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#q13)


Given:

Find:

vi = 0 m/s

a = -9.8 m/s2

d = -370 m

t = ??

d = vi*t + 0.5*a*t2
-370 m = (0 m/s)*(t)+ 0.5*(-9.8 m/s2)*(t)2
-370 m = 0+ (-4.9 m/s2)*(t)2
(-370 m)/(-4.9 m/s2) = t2
75.5 s2 = t2
t = 8.69 s
Return to Problem
14(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#q14)

Given:

Find:

vi = 367 m/s

vf = 0 m/s

d = 0.0621 m

a = ??

vf2 = vi2 + 2*a*d

(0 m/s)2 = (367 m/s)2 + 2*(a)*(0.0621 m)
0 m2/s2 = (134689 m2/s2) + (0.1242 m)*a
-134689 m2/s2 = (0.1242 m)*a
(-134689 m2/s2)/(0.1242 m) = a
a = -1.08*106 m /s2
(The - sign indicates that the bullet slowed down.)
Return to Problem
15(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#q15)

Given:
a = -9.8 m/s2

Find:
t = 3.41 s

v = 0 m/s

d = ??

d = vi*t + 0.5*a*t2
d = (0 m/s)*(3.41 s)+ 0.5*(-9.8 m/s2)*(3.41 s)2
d = 0 m+ 0.5*(-9.8 m/s2)*(11.63 s2)
d = -57.0 m
(NOTE: the - sign indicates direction)
Return to Problem
16(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#q16)

Given:

Find:

a = -3.90 m/s2

vf = 0 m/s

d = 290 m

vi = ??

vf2 = vi2 + 2*a*d

(0 m/s)2 = vi2 + 2*(-3.90 m/s2)*(290 m)
0 m2/s2 = vi2 - 2262 m2/s2
2262 m2/s2 = vi2
vi = 47.6 m /s
Return to Problem
17(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#q17)

Find:

Given:
vi = 0 m/s

vf = 88.3 m/s

d = 1365 m

vf2 = vi2 + 2*a*d

(88.3 m/s) = (0 m/s)2 + 2*(a)*(1365 m)
2

7797 m2/s2 = (0 m2/s2) + (2730 m)*a

7797 m2/s2 = (2730 m)*a
(7797 m2/s2)/(2730 m) = a
a = 2.86 m/s2

a = ??
t = ??

vf = vi + a*t
88.3 m/s = 0 m/s + (2.86 m/s2)*t
(88.3 m/s)/(2.86 m/s2) = t
t = 30. 8 s
Return to Problem
18(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#q18)

Given:

Find:

vi = 0 m/s

vf = 112 m/s

d = 398 m

a = ??

vf2 = vi2 + 2*a*d

(112 m/s)2 = (0 m/s)2 + 2*(a)*(398 m)
12544 m2/s2 = 0 m2/s2 + (796 m)*a
12544 m2/s2 = (796 m)*a
(12544 m2/s2)/(796 m) = a
a = 15.8 m/s2
Return to Problem
19(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#q19)

Find:

Given:
a = -9.8 m/s2

vf = 0 m/s

d = 91.5 m

First, nd speed in units of m/s:

vf2 = vi2 + 2*a*d
(0 m/s)2 = vi2 + 2*(-9.8 m/s2)*(91.5 m)
0 m2/s2 = vi2 - 1793 m2/s2
1793 m2/s2 = vi2
vi = 42.3 m/s

vi = ??
t = ??

Now convert from m/s to mi/hr:

vi = 42.3 m/s * (2.23 mi/hr)/(1 m/s)
vi = 94.4 mi/hr
Return to Problem
20(http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/1DKin/U1L6d.cfm#q20)

Next Section:
Kinematic Equations and Graphs(/class/1DKin/Lesson-6/Kinematic-Equations-and-Graphs)

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