Edexcel IGCSE Physics
Chapter-3 Force and movement
Study question
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. A student wrote ‘my weight ¡s 67 kg’. What is wrong
with this statement, and what do you think his weight
really ¡s ?
2. A hammer has a mass of 1 kg. What is its weight
a) on Earth, b) on the Moon, c) ¡n outer space ?
3 .Explain this observation: ‘when a sheet of paper is
dropped ¡t flutters down to the ground, but when the
same sheet of paper is screwed up into a ball it
accelerates rapidly downwards when dropped’.
4. Refer to Figure 6.2 and explain the following.
a) Why is the red ball falling at a constant speed ?
b) Why does the blue ball fall with an acceleration of
9 m/s2 ?
5. This question refers to the speed—time graph in
Figure 6.4.
a) Determine the speed of the sky diver when she hit
the ground.
b) Why is her acceleration over the part AB less than ¡t
was at the beginning of her fall?
c) Use the graph to estimate roughly how far she fell
during her dive. Was it nearer loo m, 1000 m, or 10 000
m?
d) Use the information ¡n the graph at point E to make a
rough estimate of the acceleration on landing.
6. The graph (right) shows how the force of air
resistance on our sky diver’s parachute changes with
her speed of fall.
a) State the resistive force acting on her when she is
travelling at a constant speed of 5 m/s.
b) Explain why your answer to part a) must be the same
size as her weight.
c) Use the graph to predict the terminal velocity of the
following people using the same parachute:
j) a boy of weight 400 N
ii) a man of weight 1000 N.
d) Make a copy of the graph and add to ¡t a sketch to
show how you think the air resistance force would vary
on a parachute with twice the area of the one used by
our sky diver.
 11. The diagram shows the stages in the descent of a
7. List three features that affect: skydiver.
a) The thinking distance for a driver a) Describe and explain the motion of the skydiver in
b) The breaking distance of a car. each case. (4 marks)
b) n stage 5 explain why the parachutist does not sink
8 .Copy Table 1 and add to ¡t two further columns into the ground. (1 mark)
headed ‘thinking distance’ and ‘stopping distance’.
a) Calculate the thinking distances for the speeds listed,
assuming your reaction time is 0.6 s.
b) Now fill ¡n the stopping distances where you can.
c) Plot a graph to show the stopping distances (y-axis)
against the speed (x-axis).

d) Use your graph to predict the stopping distance for a

speed of 25 m/s. Now also fill ¡n the braking
distance for a speed of 25 m/s.

e) Calculate the maximum safe speed ¡f the visibility is

limited to 50 m.

9. A balance has 30 N on the left hand side and 50 N on

the right hand side. What weight must be added so that
the sides are balanced, and to which side ?

10. The height that you can jump has an inverse

relationship to gravitational field strength. So if the field
strength doubles, the height halves. If the Olympic
Games were held on Mars in a large dome to provide air to
breathe, what would happen to the records for:
a) weightlifting (weight in N) (2 marks)
b) high jump (height) (2marks)
c) pole vault (height) (2 marks)
d) throwing the javelin (distance) (2 marks)
e) the loo m race (time)? (2 marks)

In every case, describe what is likely to happen to the

record, choosing between:

(i) increase, ii) stay similar or iii) decrease and explain

your choice.