PHYSICS FOR THE IB DIPLOMA: WORKSHEET 1.

Name Date

1.1 Kinematics 1
1 Match each description to the correct term.

Description Term

a The change in position vector. instantaneous acceleration

b The rate of change of displacement. position vector

c The rate of change of velocity. average speed

d The magnitude of velocity vector. instantaneous speed

e The displacement experienced by a body displacement

over the time.

f The distance covered by a body over distance

the time.
g A straight line vector that connects the
point of reference to the location of a body instantaneous velocity
at a certain time.
h The actual length of the trajectory travelled average velocity
by a body.

2 Answer these questions using one or two sentences.

a What does ‘motion is relative’ mean in physics?

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b What is kinematics?

3 Match the quantity to the correct part of a graph that represents that quantity.

Quantity Represented by …

a instantaneous acceleration the area under a velocity against time graph.

b instantaneous velocity area under an acceleration against time graph.

c displacement of a moving body the gradient of a velocity against time graph.

d the change of velocity of a moving body the gradient of a position against time graph.

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Name Date

1.2 Kinematics 2
Occasionally, everyday words take on new scientific meanings. Translate these daily life definitions into
scientific words and scientific definitions.
Word bank:
acceleration velocity position vector displacement distance kinematics

Everyday definition Key term Scientific definition

Speeding up or slowing down

How fast an object moves
in a certain direction

A study about motion

The location of a body

The total movement of a body without

considering the direction

How far a body is displaced in motion

Give some examples based on your definitions.

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Name Date

1.3 Kinematics 3
It is important to understand the correct units for a quantity so that you can answer exam questions
correctly. Write down the correct quantities that are measured in these units.

Units (SI or non-SI base units) Correct quantities

km, cm, m

m s−1, km h−1

m s−2

s, h

It is also important to understand the type of quantities in this kinematics chapter: is the quantity scalar or
vector? State whether each of these quantities is a scalar or a vector. The first one has been done for you.

Quantity Scalar or vector?

average speed scalar

average velocity

acceleration

velocity

distance

displacement

speed

position

average acceleration

time

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