Name _______________________________ Period _______ Date ___________

AP Physics I: Kinematics in One Dimension

Study Guide
1. Analyzing motion with graphs.
A minivan travels along a straight road. It initially starts moving toward the east. Below is
the position-time graph of the minivan. Use the information in the graph to answer the
questions.

Questions 1 7 refer to the figure above.

1. Does the minivan move to the east? If so, during which time interval(s)?
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2. Does the minivan move to the west? If so, during which time interval(s)?
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3. Is the minivans speed between t1 and t2 greater than, less than, or equal to its
speed between t2 and t3?
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4. Is the minivans speed between t4 and t5 greater than, less than, or equal to its
speed between t6 and t7?
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5. Does the minivan ever stop completely? If so, at which time(s)?
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6. Does the minivan ever move with a constant velocity? If so, at which time(s)?
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7. What is the total displacement of the minivan during the trip?
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8. Below is the velocity-time graph of an object moving along a straight path. Use
the information in the graph to fill in the table below.

9. For each of the lettered intervals below, indicate the motion of the object
(whether it is speeding up, slowing down, constant velocity, or at rest), the
direction of the velocity (+,, or 0), and the magnitude and direction of the
acceleration (+, , or 0).
Time
interval

Motion

A
B
C
D
E
What is the total displacement of the object over the entire time interval?

2. Analyzing motion with equations.

Velocity

Acceleration

Using the definitions above we obtain the following equations for motion with
constant acceleration:

Practice problems: Applying the kinematic equations

1. An automobile that set the world record for acceleration increased speed
from rest to 96 km/h in 3.07 s. How far had the car traveled by the time the
final speed was achieved? (ans. 41 m)

2. Some tropical butterflies can reach speeds of up to 11 m/s. Suppose a butterfly

flies at a speed of 6.0 m/s while another flying insect some distance ahead
flies in the same direction with a constant speed. The butterfly then increases
its speed at a constant rate of 1.4 m/s2 and catches up to the other insect 3.0 s
later. How far does the butterfly travel during the race? (ans. 24 m)

3. In 1994, a human-powered submarine was designed in Boca Raton, Florida. It

achieved a maximum speed of 3.06 m/s. Suppose this submarine starts from
rest and accelerates at 0.800 m/s2 until it reaches maximum speed. The
submarine then travels at constant speed for another 5.00 s. Calculate the total
distance traveled by the submarine. (ans. 21.1 m)

4. The distance record for someone riding a motorcycle on its rear wheel
without stopping is more than 320 km. Suppose the rider in this unusual
situation travels with an initial speed of 8.0 m/s before speeding up. The
rider then travels 40.0 m at a constant acceleration of 2.00 m/s2. What is
the riders speed after the acceleration? (ans. 15 m/s)

5. With a cruising speed of 2.30 103 km/h, the French supersonic passenger
jet Concorde is the fastest commercial airplane. Suppose the landing speed
of the Concorde is 20.0 percent of the cruising speed. If the plane
accelerates at 5.80 m/s2, how far does it travel between the time it lands
and the time it comes to a complete stop? (ans. 1.41 km)

6. Two cars are traveling along a straight road. Car A maintains a constant
speed of 80 km/h and car B maintains a constant speed of 110 km/h. At t =
0, car B is 45 km behind car A. (a) How much farther will car A travel
before car B overtakes it? (b) How much ahead of A will B be 30 s after it
overtakes A? (ans. a) 1.2 105 m b) 0.25 km)

3. Falling Objects

If an object moves under the influence of gravity only, and no other forces,
we call the resulting motion free fall.
Any two objects in free fall, regardless of their mass, have the same
acceleration (in cases where we can neglect air resistance).
2

The symbol for this acceleration is g and its value is 9.81 m/s

We can rewrite the kinematic equations for the case of free fall as follows:
1
y= v 0 t g(t)2
2
v = v0 g(t)

v 2 = v 0 2 2gy

Practice Problems: Falling Bodies

1. The John Hancock Center in Chicago is the tallest building in the United
States in which there are residential apartments. The Hancock Center is
343 m tall. Suppose a resident accidentally causes a chunk of ice to fall
from the roof. What would be the velocity of the ice as it hits the ground?
Neglect air resistance. (ans. 82.0 m/s)

2. The Westin Stamford Hotel in Detroit is 228 m tall. If a worker on the roof
drops a sandwich, how long does it take the sandwich to hit the ground,
assuming there is no air resistance? (ans. 6.82 s)

3. A baby squirrel falls out of a nest in the tallest Sequoia tree in Redwood
National Park. 4.75 seconds elapse before it makes a dull thud when it hits
the ground. How tall is the tree? (ans. 111 m)

4. A ball is launched directly upward from ground level with an initial

speed of 20 m/s. (Air resistance is negligible.) (a) How long is the ball in
the air? (b) What is the greatest height reached by the ball? (c) How many
seconds after launch is the ball 15 m above the release point?
(ans. a) 4.1s b) 20m c) 0.99 s and 3.1 s)

5. A rock is thrown vertically downward from a 100 m cliff with an initial

speed of 15 m/s. (a) with what speed does it reach the bottom of the cliff
and b) how long does it take to get there? c) what is the position of the rock
after 2 seconds? (ans. a) 47 m/s, b) 3.3 s c) 49.6 m (Neglect air resistance)