Answers to Study Guide for CPSE Ch.

2: Motion & Newton’s 1st Law (Science Honors)

1. Speed is the ratio of the distance an object moves to the amount of time needed to

travel the distance.

2. The difference between speed and velocity is that velocity includes direction.

3. When a speed skater travels around a circular track at constant speed, his velocity is

changing.

4. Constant speed in a constant direction is defined as constant velocity

5. The speed you read on a speedometer is instantaneous speed.

6. A horizontal line on a distance-time graph means the object is at rest.

7. The slope of a line on a distance-time graph is speed.

8. What is the speed of a bobsled whose distance-time graph indicates that it traveled 50

m in 25 s? 2 m/s

9. A high speed train travels for 2 h with an average speed of 200 km/h. How far does it

travel? 400 km

10.Velocity is speed with direction; velocity is a vector quantity.

11.Two or more velocities add by vector addition.

12.Acceleration is the rate at which velocity changes; acceleration is a vector quantity.

13.Write the formula for acceleration: a = change in velocity/time interval = (v f-vi)/(tf-ti)

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14.Acceleration can be described as changes in speed, changes in direction, or changes in

both.

15.The slope of a speed-time graph is the acceleration.

16.Newton's first law of motion is also called the law of inertia.

17.The property of matter that resists changes in motion is called inertia.

18.A sheet of paper can be withdrawn from under a container of milk without toppling it if

the paper is jerked quickly. This best demonstrates that the milk carton has inertia.

19.A hockey puck is set in motion across a frozen pond. If ice friction and air resistance are

neglected, the force required to keep the puck sliding at constant velocity is zero.

20.Force is a vector quantity because it has both magnitude and direction.

21.Is weight a force? Yes, it is the force of gravity acting on a mass; The SI unit for weight is

newtons (N).

22.Whenever the net force on an object is zero, its state of motion is not changed.

23.A truck is moving at constant velocity. Inside the storage compartment, a rock is

dropped from the midpoint of the ceiling and strikes the floor below. The rock hits the

floor exactly below the midpoint of the ceiling.

24.When you stand at rest on a pair of bathroom scales, the readings on the scales will

always add up to equal your weight.

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25.Hang from a pair of gym rings and the upward support forces of the rings will always add

up to equal your weight.

26.Whirl a rock at the end of a string and it follows a circular path. If the string breaks, the

rock tends to follow a straight-line path.

27.An object which is either at rest or moving at constant velocity is said to be in

mechanical equilibrium.

28.An object in mechanical equilibrium has no change in its state of motion as there is zero

net force acting on it.

29.The force of friction on a sliding object is 20 N. The applied force needed to maintain a

constant velocity is 20 N.

30.An object is pulled northward with a force of 10 N and southward with a force of 25 N.

The magnitude of the net force on the object is 15 N.

31.The force required to maintain an object at a constant velocity in outer space is equal to

zero.

32.The force that supports an object against gravity is called the support force.

33.A horizontal force of 100 N pushes a box across a floor at constant speed in a straight

line path. The net force acting on the box is zero; the force of friction acting on the box is

100 N.

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34.Can an object be in mechanical equilibrium when only a single force acts on it? No

Explain: A single nonzero force cannot produce a zero net force and therefore the object

cannot be in equilibrium.

35.Determine the speed of the object as portrayed by the graph below.

Answer: Speed = distance ÷ time = (25 – 5) m ÷ (5 - 0) s = 4 m/s

36.Free-body diagrams for four situations are shown below. In each case, the net force is

known. However, the magnitudes of some of the individual forces are not known.

Analyze each situation individually to determine the magnitude of the unknown forces.

Answers:

A = 50 N; B = 200 N; C = 1100 N; D = 20 N; E = 300 N; F = H; G = 50 N

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