RELATIVE MOTION

PART - I : SUBJECTIVE QUESTIONS

SECTION : (A) RELATIVE MOTION IN ONE DIMENSION
A 1. Two parallel rail tracks run north-south. Train A moves due north with a speed of 54 km h–1 and train B moves
due south with a speed of 90 km h–1. A monkey runs on the roof of train A with a velocity of 18 km/h w.r.t. train
A in a direction opposite to that of A. Calculate the (a) relative velocity of B with respect to A (b) relative
velocity of ground with respect to B (c) velocity of a monkey as observed by a man standing on the ground.
(d) velocity of monkey as observed by a passenger of train B.

A 2. A train is moving at speed of 40 km/h. As soon as another train going in the opposite direction passes by the
window, the passenger of the first train started his stopwatch and noted that other train passed the window
in 3 s. Find the speed of the train going in the opposite direction if its length is 75 m.
A 3. An elevator is descending at a constant speed. A passenger drops a coin on the floor. What acceleration
would (a) a passenger and (b) a person at rest with respect to the elevator, shall observe for the falling
coin.

A 4. An object A is moving with 10 m/s and B is moving with 5 m/s in the same
direction of positive x-axis. A is 100 m behind B as shown. Find time taken
by A to meet B

SECTION : (B) RELATIVE MOTION IN TWO DIMENSION

 
B 1_ A particle a moves with a velocity 4 î and another particle B moves with a velocity – 3 ĵ . Find VAB , VBA and
their magnitude.
B 2. A ship is steaming due east at 12 ms–1. A woman runs across the deck at 5 ms–1 in a direction at right angles
to the direction of motion of the ship towards north. Calculate the velocity of the woman relative to sea.
B 3. Two perpendicular rail tracks have two trains A & B respectively. Train A moves north with a speed of 54 km
h–1 and train B moves west with a speed of 72 km h–1 . Assume that both trains starts from same point.
Calculate the
(a) relative velocity of ground with respect to B
(b) relative velocity of A with respect to B.
(c) rate of separation of the two trains
B 4. A man is swimming in a lake in a direction of 30° East of North with a speed of 5 km/h and a cyclist is
going on a road along the lake shore towards East at a speed of 10 km/h. In what direction and with
what speed would the man appear to swim to the cyclist.

SECTION : (C) RELATIVE MOTION IN RIVER FLOW & AIR FLOW

C 1. A swimmer’s speed in the direction of flow of river is 16 km h–1. Against the direction of flow of river; the
swimmer’s speed is 8 km h–1. Calculate the swimmer’s speed in still water and the velocity of flow of the river.
C 2. A man can swim with a speed of 4 km h–1 in still water. How long does he take to cross a river 1 km wide if
the river flows steadily at 3 km h–1 and he makes his strokes normal to the river current ? How far down the
river does he go when he reaches the other bank ?
C 3. A river is flowing from west to east at a speed of 5 m/min. A man on the south bank of the river, capable of
swimming at 10 m/min in still water, swims across the shortest part distance. In what direction should he
swim ?
1
C 4. An airplane pilot sets a compass course due west and maintains an air speed of 240 km/h. After flying for
2
h, he finds himself over a town that is 150 km west and 40 km south of his starting point. Find the wind
velocity, in magnitude and direction.

PSC SIR
 RELATIVE MOTION
SECTION : (D) RELATIVE MOTION IN RAIN AND WIND
D 1. A pipe which can rotate in a vertical plane is mounted on a cart. The cart
moves uniformly along a horizontal path with a speed v1 = 2 m/s. At what
angle  to the horizontal should the pipe be placed so that drops of rain falling
with a velocity v2 = 6m/s move parallel to the walls of the pipe without touching
them? Consider the velocity of the drops as constant due to the resistance of
the air.

D 2. To a man walking at the rate of 2 km/hour the rain appears to fall vertically, when he increases his speed
to 4 km/hour it appears to meet him at an angle of 45º, find the real direction and speed of the rain.

SECTION : (E) VELOCITY OF SEPERATION & APPROACH

E 1_ A particle is kept at rest at origin. Another particle starts from (5, 0) with a velocity of – 4 î + 3 ĵ . Find their

closest distance of approach.

E 2. Four particles situated at the corners of a square of side ‘a’ move at a constant speed v. Each particle
maintains a direction towards the next particle in succession. Calculate the time the particles will take to
meet each other.

PART - II : OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS

SECTION : (A) RELATIVE MOTION IN ONE DIMENSION
A 1. A stone is thrown upwards from a tower with a velocity 50 ms–1. Another stone is simultaneously thrown
downwards from the same location with a velocity 50 ms–1. When the first stone is at the highest point, the
relative velocity of the second stone w.r.t. the first stone is (assume that second stone has not yet reachead
the ground) :
(A) Zero (B) 50 ms–1 (C) 100 ms–1 (D) 150 ms–1

A 2. A thief is running away on a straight road in a jeep moving with a speed of 9 m s –1. A police man chases him
on a motor cycle moving at a speed of 10 m s–1. If the instantaneous separation of the jeep from the
motorcycle is 100m, how long will it take for the police man to catch the thief ?
(A) 1s (B) 19s (C) 90s (D) 100s

A 3. Shown in the figure are the displacement time graph for two children going home from the school. Which of
the following statements about their relative motion is true after both of them started moving ?
Their relative velocity :
(A) first increases and then decreases
(B) first decreases and then increases
(C) is zero
(D) is non zero constant.

A 4. Shown in the figure are the velocity time graphs of the two particles P1 and P2. Which of the following
statements about their relative motion is true?
Their relative velocity :
(A) is zero

(B) is non-zero but constant

(C) continuously decreases

(D) continuously increases

PSC SIR
 RELATIVE MOTION
A 5. Two trains A & B 100 km apart are travelling towards each other on different tracks with starting speed of 50
km/h for both. The train A accelerates at 20 km/h2 and the train B retards at the rate 20 km/h2 . The distance
covered by the train A when they cross each other is :
(A) 45 km (B) 55 km (C) 65 km (D) 60 km

A 6. Two cars get closer by 8 m every second while travelling in the opposite directions. They get closer by 0.8 m
while travelling in the same directions. What are the speeds of the cars?
(A) 4 ms–1 and 4.4 ms–1 (B) 4.4 ms–1 and 3.6 ms–1
(C) 4 ms–1 and 3.6 ms–1 (D) 4 ms–1 and 3 ms–1

SECTION : (B) RELATIVE MOTION IN TWO DIMENSION

B-1. A helicopter is flying south with a speed of 50 kmh–1. A train is moving with the same speed towards east. The
relative velocity of the helicopter as seen by the passengers in the train will be towards.
(A) north east (B) south east (C) north west (D) south west

B 2. Two particles are moving with velocities v1 and v2. Their relative velocity is the maximum, when the angle
between their velocities is :
(A) zero (B) /4 (C) /2 (D) 
B 3. A ship is travelling due east at 10 km/h. A ship heading 30° east of north is always due north from the first
ship. The speed of the second ship in km/h is -

(A) 20 2 (B) 20 3 / 2 (C) 20 (D) 20/ 2

B 4. Two billiard balls are rolling on a flat table. One has velocity components vx = 1m/s, vy = 3 m/s and the other
has components vx = 2m/s and vy = 2 m/s. If both the balls start moving from the same point, the angle
between their path is -
(A) 60° (B) 45° (C) 22.5° (D) 15°

SECTION : (C) RELATIVE MOTION IN RIVER FLOW

C 1. A boat, which has a speed of 5 km/h in still water, crosses a river of width 1 km along the shortest possible
path in 15 minutes. The velocity of the river water in km/h is -

(A) 1 (B) 3 (C) 4 (D) 41

C 2. A boat can go across a lake and return in time T0 at a speed V. On a rough day there is uniform current at
speed v to help the onward journey and impede the return journey. If the time taken to go across and return
on the rough day be T, then T/T 0 =

v2 1 v2 1
(A) 1 – (B) (C) 1 + (D)
V 2
v 2
V 2
v2
1 1
V2 V2

C 3. To cross the river in shortest distance, a swimmer should swim making angle  with the upstream. What is
the ratio of the time taken to swim across in the shortest time to that in swimming across over shortest
distance. [Assume speed of swimmer in still water is greater than the speed of river flow]
(A) cos (B) sin  (C) tan  (D) cot 

C 4_ A boat is rowed across a river at the rate of 4.5 km/hr. The river flows at the rate of 6 km/hr. The velocity
of boat in m/s is :
(A) 3.1 (B) 2.1 (C) 2.9 (D) 5

PSC SIR
 RELATIVE MOTION
C 5_ A boat which can move with a speed of 5 m/s relative to water crosses a river of width 480 m flowing
with a constant speed of 4 m/s. What is the time taken by the boat to cross the river along the shortest
path.
(A) 80 s (B) 160 s (C) 240 s (D) 320 s

SECTION : (D) RELATIVE MOTION IN RAIN AND WIND

D 1. It is raining vertically downwards with a velocity of 3 km h–1 . A man walks in the rain with a velocity of
4 kmh–1. The rain drops will fall on the man with a relative velocity of ;
(A) 1 kmh–1 (B) 3 kmh–1 (C) 4 kmh–1 (D) 5 kmh–1

D 2. A man walks in rain with a velocity of 5 kmh–1. The rain drops strike at him at an angle of 45° with the
horizontal. Velocity of rain if it is falling vertically downward -
(A) 5 kmh–1 (B) 4 kmh–1 (C) 3 kmh–1 (D) 1 kmh–1

D 3. Raindrops are falling vertically with a velocity of 10 m/s. To a cyclist moving on a straight road the
raindrops appear to be coming with a velocity of 20 m/s. The velocity of cyclist is :

(A) 10 m/s (B) 10 3 m/s (C) 20 m/s (D) 20 3 m/s

D 4_ An aeroplane is to go along straight line from A to B, and back again. The relative speed with respect
to wind is V.. The wind blows perpendicular to line AB with speed . The distance between A and B is
. The total time for the round trip is :

2 2 v 2V  2
(A) 2 2 (B) 2 2 (C) 2 2 (D)
V v V v V v V 2 v 2

SECTION : (E) VELOCITY OF SEPERATION & APPROACH

   
E 1. For two particles A and B, given that rA = 2 î + 3 ĵ , rB = 6 î + 7 ĵ , v A = 3 î – ĵ and v B = x î – 5 ĵ . What

is the value of x if they collide.

(A) 1 (B) – 1 (C) 2 (D) –2

E 2_ Two particles A and B move with velocities v1 and v2 respectively along the x & y axis. The initial
separation between them is ‘ d ‘ as shown in the fig. Find the least distance between them during their
motion.

d.v 12 d.v 22 d.v 1 d.v 2

(A) (B) (C) (D)
v 12  v 22 v 12  v 22 v 12  v 22 v 12  v 22

10. An aeroplane has to go from a point A to another point B,500 km away due 30º east of north. A wind is

PSC SIR
 RELATIVE MOTION

PART - I PART - II
SECTION (A) SECTION (A)
A 1. (a) 144 km/h due south A 1. (C) A 2. (D) A 3. (D)
(b) 90 km/hdue north A 4. (D) A 5. (D) A 6. (B)
(c) 36 km/h due north SECTION (B)
(d) 126 km/h due north
B-1. (D) B 2. (D) B 3. (C)
A 2. 50 km/h
B 4. (D)
A 3. 9.8 m/s 2 downward in both cases.
SECTION (C)
A 4. 20 sec.
C 1. (B) C 2. (B) C 3. (B)
SECTION (B)
C 4. (B) C 5. (B)
B 1. –4 î – 3 ĵ , 4 î + 3 ĵ , 5 unit, 5 unit. SECTION (D)
D 1. (D) D 2. (A) D 3. (B)
 5 
B 2. 13 m/s, tan–1   = 22°37 north of east D 4. (A)
 12 
SECTION (E)
B 3. (a) 20 m/s or 72 km/h due east (b) 25 m/s or
E 1. (B) E 2. (C)
90 km/h at 37°N of E (c) 25 m/s or 90 km/h

B 4. 30º N of W at 5 3 km/h.

SECTION (C)
C 1. 12 km/h , 4km/h

1
C 2. h, , 0.75 km
4

C 3. At an angle 30° west of north.( 50 î  50 ĵ ),

where î  north ĵ  west

C 4. 100 km/h, 37° W of S

SECTION (D)

D 1.  = tan-1 3

D 2. 2 2 m/s , 45º with vertically

SECTION (E)
E 1. 3m E 2. a/v

PSC SIR