Lesson practice: Kinematics

1. The graph below shows the velocity of an object v traveling over a certain time period. The
displacement of the object is 0.0 m at t = 0.0 s.

v / m s-1

8.0
5.0
3.0 9.0 12.0 14.5 17.0
0
t/s
- 4.0

(a) Sketch the Displacement –time graph of the object from t = 0 to t = 17 s

s/m

9.0 12.0 14.5 17.0 t/s

3.0
0

(b) Sketch the acceleration–time graph of the object from t = 0 to t =17 s

a / m s-2

3.0 9.0 12.0 14.5 17.0

0
t/s

2. A car moving at 90 km h-1 decelerates uniformly at 1.8 m s-2. Calculate

a) the time it takes to stop,

b) the distance it travels before it stops,
c) the time it takes to halve its initial speed and
d) its speed when it travels half its total distance.

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3. When fire-fighters encourage victims to jump off a burning building, they would usually place a
safety net below to catch the victims as they land. In a particular fire, the victim jumps horizontally
off the window of the sixth storey. Assume that the window is 22.8 m from the ground and that the
net was placed 1.00 m above ground level.

a) Determine the duration the victim takes to fall to the safety net placed at the base of the building.

b) At what minimum speed did the fire-fighter expect the victim to jump out of the building if the
safety net was 5.00 m away from the base of the building?

4. A group of extreme sport divers jump from a cliff 42 m high into the sea. At the base of the cliff there
is a bed of rocky ledge which sticks out a distance of 7.3 m as shown below. Air resistance can be
neglected.

a) If a diver runs off the cliff top horizontally, what must his minimum speed be for him to miss the
ledge and enter the sea?

One diver jumps off with a speed of 5.0 m s-1 at 60o above horizontal.

b) What is the maximum height above the cliff - top reached by this diver?

c) What is his velocity as he enters the sea?

5. A body is projected downward at an angle of 30o with the horizontal from the top of a building 170 m
high. Its initial speed is 40 m s–1.

a) How long will it take before it strikes the ground?

b) How far from the foot of the building will it strike?

c) At what velocity and at what angle with the horizontal will it strike?

6. A car is parked overlooking the ocean on an incline that makes an angle 37.00 with the horizontal.
The distance from where the car is parked to the bottom of the incline is 50.0 m, and the incline
terminates at a cliff that is 30.0 m above the ocean surface. The negligent driver leaves the car in
neutral and the parking brakes are defective. If the car rolls from rest down the incline with a
constant acceleration of 4.00 m s-2, find

a) the speed of the car just as it reaches the cliff and the time it takes to get there.

b) the velocity of the car just as it lands in the ocean.

c) the total time the car is in motion.

d) the position of the car relative to the base of the cliff just as it lands in the ocean.

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7. Below shows how the acceleration of a car varies with time. Assuming the car starts from rest
initially. Sketch a graph of how the velocity of the car varies with time.

8. A boy throws a stone, in a direction inclined at an angle tan-1 2.4 to the horizontal, directly towards a
building with a large flat roof. The near edge of the roof is at a horizontal distance of 7.5 m from the
boy and the roof is 4.0 m above the point of projection. If the stone passes vertically above the near
edge of the roof 1.5 s after being thrown, find

a) the velocity of projection

b) the height of the stone above the roof as it passes over its near edge

c) the distance from the near edge of the point where the stone hits the roof

d) the velocity of the stone when it hits the roof

9 A boy throws his slipper from a height of 1.0 m at 75o above the horizontal in an attempt to hit a
durian hanging on a tree which is 4.75 m above the ground. The slipper reached its maximum
height of 0.25 m directly below the durian. Neglect air resistance.

(i) Calculate the velocity of the slipper when the slipper leaves the boy’s hand.

(ii) Calculate the horizontal distance travelled when his slipper hits the ground.

(iii) Sketch a labelled velocity - time graph for the vertical component of the slipper from the
time it leaves the boy to the time when it hits the floor.

(iv) If the velocity calculated in part (b)(i) is the maximum velocity he can provide when
throwing his slipper, suggest with a reason what he should do in order to ensure his
slipper hits the durian.

10 An aeroplane is flying horizontally at a steady speed of 67 m s-1 and an object is

dropped off from the aeroplane.

(a) Assume that the air resistance is negligible.

(i) Show that the vertical component of the velocity of the object is
approximately 40 m s-1 when it has fallen 80 m.

(ii) Determine the magnitude and direction of the resultant velocity of the
object at this point.

(b) In practice, air resistance acts on the object during the fall. The air resistance
may be assumed to be proportional to the square of the speed.

(i) State and explain how the magnitude of the horizontal and vertical
components of the velocity of the object vary with time.

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 (c) Sketch and label the path of the object in Fig. 10

(i) without air resistance,

(ii) with air resistance.

Horizontal distance from the point of drop off

Start of fall

vertical
distance from
the point of
drop off

Fig. 10

[Answers for selected questions: 2a) 14 s, 2b) 170 m, 2c) 7.0 s, 2d) 18 m s-1, 3a) 2.11 s, 3b) 2.37 m s-1, 4a) 2.5 m s-1,
4b) 0.96 m, 4a) 29 m s-1, 85.1o, 5a) 4.2 s, 5b) 145 m, 5c) 60.5o, 6a) 20 m s-1, 5.00 s, b) 31.4 m s-1, 59.5o, c) 6.53 s, d)
24.5 m, 8a) 13 m s-1, b) 2.9 m, c) 2.8 m, d) 9.5 m s-1, 58.3o]