1D Motion with Constant Acceleration

Name: ____________________________

Date: _____________________________

Show all work on a separate sheet of paper.

1. From rest, a car accelerated at 8 m/s2 for 10 seconds.

a) What is the position of the car at the end of the 10 seconds?

b) What is the velocity of the car at the end of the 10 seconds?

2. With an initial velocity of 20 km/h, a car accelerated at 8 m/s2 for 10 seconds.

a) What is the position of the car at the end of the 10 seconds?

b) What is the velocity of the car at the end of the 10 seconds?

3. A car accelerates uniformly from 0 to 72 km/h in 11.5 seconds.

a) What is the acceleration of the car in m/s2?

b) What is the position of the car by the time it reaches the velocity of 72 km/h?

4. A train brakes from 40 m/s to a stop over a distance of 100 m.

a) What is the acceleration of the train?

b) How much time does it take the train to stop?

5. Giancolli Textbook

Pg.43 (19-21, 25)

 1D Motion with Constant Acceleration

1. From rest, a car accelerated at 8 m/s2 for 10 seconds.

a) What is the position of the car at the end of the 10 seconds?

b) What is the velocity of the car at the end of the 10 seconds?

Solution to Problem 1:

a) The car starts from rest therefore the initial speed u = 0. Nothing is said about the initial
position and we therefore assume it is equal to 0. Hence the position x is given by the equation

x = (1/2) a t 2

where a is the acceleration (=8 m/s2) and t is the period of time between initial and final
positions

x = (1/2)8 (10)2 = 400 m

b) The velocity v of the car at the end of the 10 seconds is given by

v = a t = 8 * 10 = 80 m/s

Problem 2: With an initial velocity of 20 km/h, a car accelerated at 8 m/s2 for 10 seconds.

a) What is the position of the car at the end of the 10 seconds?

b) What is the velocity of the car at the end of the 10 seconds?

Solution to Problem 2:

a) The car has an initial velocity of 20 km/h, therefore the initial speed u = 20 km/h. Nothing is said
about the initial position and we therefore assume it is equal to 0. Hence the position x is given by the
equation

x = (1/2) a t 2 + u t

where a is the acceleration (=8 m/s2) and t is period of time between initial and final positions and u is
the initial velocity.
 1D Motion with Constant Acceleration

Since the time is given in seconds, we need to convert 20 km/h into m/s as follows:

20 * 1km 1000 m 1 hour

u = 20 km/h = 1 hour 1 km 3600 seconds

= 5.6 m/s

We now have

x = (1/2) (8) 102 + 5.6*10 = 456 m

b) v = at + u = 8*10 + 5.6 = 85.6 m/s

Problem 3: A car accelerates uniformly from 0 to 72 km/h in 11.5 seconds.

a) What is the acceleration of the car in m/s2?

b) What is the position of the car by the time it reaches the velocity of 72 km/h?

Solution to Problem 3:

a) The acceleration a is a measure if the rate of change of the velocity within a period of time. Hence

change in velocity v - u
72 km/h - 0
u = change in time t
11.5 seconds
= =

We now convert 72 km/h into m/s

72 * 1km 1000 m 1 hour

u = 72 km/h = 1 hour 1 km 3600 seconds

= 20 m/s

We now calculate the acceleration a

a = (20 m/s) / (11.5 s) = 1.74 m/s2 (approximetd)

b) Two ways to find the position x:

1) x = (1/2)(v + u) t or 2) x = (1/2) a t 2 + u t

1) We first use: x = (1/2)(v + u) t = 0.5*(20 m/s + 0)*11.5 = 115 m

 1D Motion with Constant Acceleration

2) We now use: (1/2) a t2 + u t = 0.5*1.74*(11.5) 2 + 0*t = 115 m

Problem 4: A train brakes from 40 m/s to a stop over a distance of 100 m.

a) What is the acceleration of the train?

b) How much time does it take the train to stop?

Solution to Problem 5:

a) We are given the initial velocity u = 40 m/s, the final velocity v = 0 (train stops) and the distance.
Hence the formula that relates these 3 quantities and the acceleration is given by

v2 = u2 + 2 a x

02 = 402 + 2 a (100)

Solve for the acceleration a

a = -1600 / 200 = - 8 m/s2

b) There two ways to find the time:

1) Use: x = (1/2)(v + u) t

100 = 0.5(0 + 40) t

Solve for t: t = 5 seconds.

2) Use x = (1/2) a t2 + ut

100 = 0.5 ( - 8) t2 + 40t

4 t2 - 40 t + 100 = 0

4 (t2 - 10 t + 25) = 0

4(t - 5)2 = 0

t = 5 seconds.
1D Motion with Constant Acceleration