Physics Exam

Motion Graphs
July 21, 2022

§1 Problem 1
a. Define speed and velocity and use these definitions to explain why one of these
quantities is a scalar and the other is a vector.
Speed: Speed represents the rate of change of distance of an object with respect to
time.
Velocity: Velocity represents the rate of change of displacement of an object with
respect to time.
The speed of an object defines the rate of change of distance, where only magnitude
of an object’s distance is considered, and the direction is disregarded. On the
other hand, the velocity of an object makes consideration of the direction and the
magnitude as well. Thus, while speed is only a scalar quantity, velocity is a vector
quantity.

b. A ball is released from rest and falls vertically. The ball hits the ground and
rebounds vertically.
(i) Without calculation, describe the variation with time t of the velocity of the
ball from t = 0 to t = 2.1s.
From time t = 0 s to time t = 2.1 s, the velocity goes through three consecutive
accelerations. At t = 0 s, the velocity of the ball is 0 ms−1 , which accelerates
uniformly to a velocity of 10.8 ms−1 at t = 1.1 s. It then decelerates from the
velocity 10.8 ms−1 to a velocity of −8.8 ms−1