Equations of Motion and Projectile Worksheet Answers

1. A car starts from rest and accelerates uniformly for 8.0 s. It reaches a final speed of
16 m s–1.
a) What is the acceleration of the car?
b) What is the average velocity of the car?
c) Calculate the distance travelled by the car.

2. A new model BMW can start from rest and travel 400 m in 16 s.
a) What is its acceleration during this time?
b) Calculate the final speed of the car.
c) How fast is this final speed in km h–1?

3. A space-rocket is launched and accelerates uniformly from rest to 160 m s–1 in 4.5 s.

a) Calculate the acceleration of the rocket.
b) How far does the rocket travel in this time?
c) What is the final speed of the rocket in km h–1?

4. A cyclist, whilst overtaking another bike, increases his speed uniformly from 4.2 m s–1
to 6.3 m s–1 over a time interval of 5.3 s.
a) Calculate the acceleration of the cyclist during this time.
b) How far does the cyclist travel whilst overtaking?
c) What is the average velocity of the cyclist during this time?

5. A car is travelling along a straight road at 75 km h–1. In an attempt to avoid an accident,

the motorist has to brake to a sudden stop.
a) What is the car’s initial speed in m s–1?
b) Once the brakes are applied, the car has an acceleration of –6.0 m s –2.
How far does the car travel while pulling up?

6. A pool ball rolls from rest down a smooth ramp that is 8.0 m long. The acceleration of
the ball is constant at 2.0 m s–2.
a) What is the speed of the ball when it is halfway down the ramp?
b) What is the final speed of the ball?
c) How long does the ball take to roll the first 4.0 m?
d) How long does the ball take to travel the final 4.0 m?

7. An object is dropped from a height of 55m. Calculate

a) The time taken to reach the ground
b) The maximum velocity of the ball as it hits the ground.

8. Johnothan decides to flip a coin to determine whether to do his physics or English

homework first. The coin is flipped straight up.
a) What is the velocity of the coin at the top of its trajectory?
b) If the coin reaches a high point of 0.25 m above where it is released, what is the
initial velocity?
c) If the coin is caught at the same height as you released it, how much time did it spend
in the air?

9. A ball is kicked horizontally at 8.0 ms-1 from a cliff 80m high.

How far from the base of the cliff will the stone strike the ground?

10. A water balloon is thrown horizontally off the roof of a building, which is 60 meters
high, with an initial velocity of 6.5 mis.
a) How long does it take to hit the ground?
b) How far does it go in the x direction?
Answers:

A1.
a a = 2.0 m s–2
b average velocity = 8.0 m s–1
c s = 64 m

A2.
a a = 3.1 m s–2
b v = 50 m/ s
c v = 180 km h–1

A3.
a a = 35.6 m s–2
b s = 360 m
c v = 576 km h–1

A4.
a a = 0.396 m s–2
b s = 28 m
c Average velocity =5.25 m s–1

A5.
a v = 21 m s–1
b s = 37 m

A6.
a v = 4.0 m s–1
b v = 5.7 m s–1
c t = 2.0 s
d t = 2.83 s (Time to travel final 4.0 m is 2.83 s – 2.0 s = 0.83 s.)

A7.
a t = 3.35 s
b v = 32.9 m

A8
a v = 0 ms-1
b u = 2.21 ms-1
c t = 0.23 s

A9
t = 4s and s = 32m

A10
a t = 3.5 s
b s = 21 m