Content check — College Physics (AP), Chapter 2: Kinematics

Every problem in the chapter beside the book’s answer, a chapter at a time as you scroll.

Chapter 2: Kinematics

40 problems · 13 figures

Find the following for path A in Figure 2.57: (a) The distance traveled. (b) The magnitude of the displacement from start to finish. (c) The displacement from start to finish.

An x axis starts at 0 meters and ends at 12 meters. There are four points on the graph with position paths. Path A starts at 0 and stops at 7. Path B starts at 12 and ends at 7. Path C starts at 2, goes to 10, turns around and goes back to 8, then turns around again and stops at 10. Path D starts at 9, goes to 3, then turns around and stops at 5. — Figure 2.57 in the book ↗

Answer

(a) 7 m

(b) 7 m

2-3 §2.1 source ↗

Find the following for path C in Figure 2.57: (a) The distance traveled. (b) The magnitude of the displacement from start to finish. (c) The displacement from start to finish.

Answer

a. $8 m +$ $2 m +$ $3 m =$ $\underline{13 m}$

b. $\underline{9 m}$

c. $Δ x =$ $11 m -$ $2 m =$ $\underline{9 m}$

2-5 §2.3 source ↗

(a) Calculate Earth’s average speed relative to the Sun. (b) What is its average velocity over a period of one year?

Answer

(a) $3 . 0 \times 10^{4} m/s$

(b) 0 m/s

2-7 §2.3 source ↗

The North American and European continents are moving apart at a rate of about 3 cm/y. At this rate how long will it take them to drift 500 km farther apart than they are at present?

Answer

2 \times 10^{7} years

2-9 §2.3 source ↗

On May 26, 1934, a streamlined, stainless steel diesel train called the Zephyr set the world’s nonstop long-distance speed record for trains. Its run from Denver to Chicago took 13 hours, 4 minutes, 58 seconds, and was witnessed by more than a million people along the route. The total distance traveled was 1633.8 km. What was its average speed in km/h and m/s?

Answer

34 . 689 m/s =

124 . 88 km/h

2-11 §2.3 source ↗

A student drove to the university from their home and noted that the odometer reading of their car increased by 12.0 km. The trip took 18.0 min. (a) What was their average speed? (b) If the straight-line distance from their home to the university is 10.3 km in a direction

25 . 0º

south of east, what was their average velocity? (c) If they returned home by the same path 7 h 30 min after they left, what were their average speed and velocity for the entire trip?

Answer

(a) $40 . 0 km/h$

(b) 34.3 km/h, $25º S of E .$

2-13 §2.3 source ↗

Conversations with astronauts on the lunar surface were characterized by a kind of echo in which the earthbound person’s voice was so loud in the astronaut’s space helmet that it was picked up by the astronaut’s microphone and transmitted back to Earth. It is reasonable to assume that the echo time equals the time necessary for the radio wave to travel from the Earth to the Moon and back (that is, neglecting any time delays in the electronic equipment). Calculate the distance from Earth to the Moon given that the echo time was 2.56 s and that radio waves travel at the speed of light

(3 . 00 \times 10^{8} m/s)

Answer

384,000 km

2-15 §2.3 source ↗

The planetary model of the atom pictures electrons orbiting the atomic nucleus much as planets orbit the Sun. In this model you can view hydrogen, the simplest atom, as having a single electron in a circular orbit

1.06 \times 10^{- 10} m

in diameter. (a) If the average speed of the electron in this orbit is known to be

2 . 20 \times 10^{6} m/s

, calculate the number of revolutions per second it makes about the nucleus. (b) What is the electron’s average velocity per revolution?

Answer

(a) $6 . 61 \times 10^{15} rev/s$

(b) 0 m/s

2-16 §2.4 source ↗

A cheetah can accelerate from rest to a speed of 30.0 m/s in 7.00 s. What is its acceleration?

Answer

4.29 {m/s}^{2}

2-18 §2.4 source ↗

A commuter backs her car out of her garage with an acceleration of

1 . {40 m/s}^{2}

. (a) How long does it take her to reach a speed of 2.00 m/s? (b) If she then brakes to a stop in 0.800 s, what is her deceleration?

Answer

(a) $1 . 43 s$

(b) $- 2 . 50 {m/s}^{2}$

2-20 §2.5 source ↗

An Olympic-class sprinter starts a race with an acceleration of

4 . {50 m/s}^{2}

. (a) What is her speed 2.40 s later? (b) Sketch a graph of her position vs. time for this period.

Answer

(a) $10.8 m/s$

(b)

Line graph of position in meters versus time in seconds. The line begins at the origin and is concave up, with its slope increasing over time.

2-21 §2.5 source ↗

A well-thrown ball is caught in a well-padded mitt. If the deceleration of the ball is

2.10 \times 10^{4} {m/s}^{2}

, and 1.85 ms

(1 ms = 10^{- 3} s)

elapses from the time the ball first touches the mitt until it stops, what was the initial velocity of the ball?

Answer

38.9 m/s (about 87 miles per hour)

2-23 §2.5 source ↗

(a) A light-rail commuter train accelerates at a rate of

1 . {35 m/s}^{2}

. How long does it take to reach its top speed of 80.0 km/h, starting from rest? (b) The same train ordinarily decelerates at a rate of

1 . {65 m/s}^{2}

. How long does it take to come to a stop from its top speed? (c) In emergencies the train can decelerate more rapidly, coming to rest from 80.0 km/h in 8.30 s. What is its emergency deceleration in

{m/s}^{2}

Answer

(a) $16 . 5 s$

(b) $13 . 5 s$

2-25 §2.5 source ↗

At the end of a race, a runner decelerates from a velocity of 9.00 m/s at a rate of

2 . {00 m/s}^{2}

. (a) How far does she travel in the next 5.00 s? (b) What is her final velocity? (c) Evaluate the result. Does it make sense?

Answer

(a) $20 . 0 m$

(b) $- 1 . 00 m/s$

(c) This result does not really make sense. If the runner starts at 9.00 m/s and decelerates at $2 . {00 m/s}^{2}$ , then she will have stopped after 4.50 s. If she continues to decelerate, she will be running backwards.

2-27 §2.5 source ↗

In a slap shot, a hockey player accelerates the puck from a velocity of 8.00 m/s to 40.0 m/s in the same direction. If this shot takes

3.33 \times 10^{- 2} s

, calculate the distance over which the puck accelerates.

Answer

0 . 799 m

2-29 §2.5 source ↗

Freight trains can produce only relatively small accelerations and decelerations. (a) What is the final velocity of a freight train that accelerates at a rate of

0 . {0500 m/s}^{2}

for 8.00 min, starting with an initial velocity of 4.00 m/s? (b) If the train can slow down at a rate of

0 . {550 m/s}^{2}

, how long will it take to come to a stop from this velocity? (c) How far will it travel in each case?

Answer

(a) $28 . 0 m/s$

(b) $50 . 9 s$

2-31 §2.5 source ↗

A swan on a lake gets airborne by flapping its wings and running on top of the water. (a) If the swan must reach a velocity of 6.00 m/s to take off and it accelerates from rest at an average rate of

0 . {350 m/s}^{2}

, how far will it travel before becoming airborne? (b) How long does this take?

Answer

(a) $51.4 m$

(b) $17 . 1 s$

2-33 §2.5 source ↗

An unwary football player collides with a padded goalpost while running at a velocity of 7.50 m/s and comes to a full stop after compressing the padding and his body 0.350 m. (a) What is his deceleration? (b) How long does the collision last?

Answer

(a) $- 80 . 4 {m/s}^{2}$

(b) $9 . 33 \times 10^{- 2} s$

2-35 §2.5 source ↗

Consider a grey squirrel falling out of a tree to the ground. (a) If we ignore air resistance in this case (only for the sake of this problem), determine a squirrel’s velocity just before hitting the ground, assuming it fell from a height of 3.0 m. (b) If the squirrel stops in a distance of 2.0 cm through bending its limbs, compare its deceleration with that of the airman in the previous problem.

Answer

(a) $7 . 7 m/s$

(b) $- 15 \times 10^{2} {m/s}^{2}$ . This is about 3 times the deceleration of the pilots, who were falling from thousands of meters high!

2-37 §2.5 source ↗

Dragsters can actually reach a top speed of 145 m/s in only 4.45 s—considerably less time than given in Example 2.10 and Example 2.11. (a) Calculate the average acceleration for such a dragster. (b) Find the final velocity of this dragster starting from rest and accelerating at the rate found in (a) for 402 m (a quarter mile) without using any information on time. (c) Why is the final velocity greater than that used to find the average acceleration? Hint: Consider whether the assumption of constant acceleration is valid for a dragster. If not, discuss whether the acceleration would be greater at the beginning or end of the run and what effect that would have on the final velocity.

Example 2.10 Calculating Displacement of an Accelerating Object: Dragsters in the book ↗

Example 2.11 Calculating Final Velocity: Dragsters in the book ↗

Answer

(a) $32 . {6 m/s}^{2}$

(b) $162 m/s$

(c) $v > v_{max}$ , because the assumption of constant acceleration is not valid for a dragster. A dragster changes gears, and would have a greater acceleration in first gear than second gear than third gear, etc. The acceleration would be greatest at the beginning, so it would not be accelerating at $32 . {6 m/s}^{2}$ during the last few meters, but substantially less, and the final velocity would be less than 162 m/s.

2-39 §2.5 source ↗

In 1967, New Zealander Burt Munro set the world record for an Indian motorcycle, on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, with a maximum speed of 183.58 mi/h. The one-way course was 5.00 mi long. Acceleration rates are often described by the time it takes to reach 60.0 mi/h from rest. If this time was 4.00 s, and Burt accelerated at this rate until he reached his maximum speed, how long did it take Burt to complete the course?

Answer

104 s

2-40 §2.5 source ↗

(a) A world record was set for the men’s 100-m dash in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing by Usain Bolt of Jamaica. Bolt “coasted” across the finish line with a time of 9.69 s. If we assume that Bolt accelerated for 3.00 s to reach his maximum speed, and maintained that speed for the rest of the race, calculate his maximum speed and his acceleration. (b) During the same Olympics, Bolt also set the world record in the 200-m dash with a time of 19.30 s. Using the same assumptions as for the 100-m dash, what was his maximum speed for this race?

Answer

(a) $v = 12 . 2 m/s$ ; $a = 4 . {07 m/s}^{2}$

(b) $v = 11 . 2 m/s$

2-41 §2.7 source ↗

Assume air resistance is negligible unless otherwise stated.

Calculate the displacement and velocity at times of (a) 0.500, (b) 1.00, (c) 1.50, and (d) 2.00 s for a ball thrown straight up with an initial velocity of 15.0 m/s. Take the point of release to be $y_{0} = 0$ .

Answer

(a) $y_{1} = 6 . 28 m$ ; $v_{1} = 10 . 1 m/s$

(b) $y_{2} = 10 . 1 m$ ; $v_{2} = 5 . 20 m/s$

(d) $y_{4} = 10 .4 m$ ; $v_{4} = - 4 .60 m/s$

2-43 §2.7 source ↗

Assume air resistance is negligible unless otherwise stated.

A basketball referee tosses the ball straight up for the starting tip-off. At what minimum velocity must a basketball player leave the ground to rise 1.25 m above the floor in an attempt to get the ball?

Answer

v_{0} = 4 . 95 m/s

2-45 §2.7 source ↗

Assume air resistance is negligible unless otherwise stated.

A dolphin in an aquatic show jumps straight up out of the water at a velocity of 13.0 m/s. (a) List the knowns in this problem. (b) How high does his body rise above the water? To solve this part, first note that the final velocity is now a known and identify its value. Then identify the unknown, and discuss how you chose the appropriate equation to solve for it. After choosing the equation, show your steps in solving for the unknown, checking units, and discuss whether the answer is reasonable. (c) How long is the dolphin in the air? Neglect any effects due to his size or orientation.

Answer

(a) $a = - 9 . {80 m/s}^{2}$ ; $v_{0} = 13 . 0 m/s$ ; $y_{0} = 0 m$

(b) $v = 0 m/s$ . Unknown is distance $y$ to top of trajectory, where velocity is zero. Use equation $v^{2} =$ $v_{0}^{2} +$ $2 a y - y_{0}$ because it contains all known values except for $y$ , so we can solve for $y$ . Solving for $y$ gives

\begin{array}{l} v^{2} - v_{0}^{2} & = & 2 a y - y_{0} \\ \frac{v^{2} - v_{0}^{2}}{2 a} & = & y - y_{0} \\ y & = & y_{0} + \frac{v^{2} - v_{0}^{2}}{2 a} = 0 m + \frac{{0 m/s}^{2} - {13.0 m/s}^{2}}{2 - 9.80 m {/s}^{2}} = 8.62 m \end{array}

Dolphins measure about 2 meters long and can jump several times their length out of the water, so this is a reasonable result.

2-47 §2.7 source ↗

Assume air resistance is negligible unless otherwise stated.

(a) Calculate the height of a cliff if it takes 2.35 s for a rock to hit the ground when it is thrown straight up from the cliff with an initial velocity of 8.00 m/s. (b) How long would it take to reach the ground if it is thrown straight down with the same speed?

Answer

Path of a rock being thrown off of cliff. The rock moves up from the cliff top, reaches a transition point, and then falls down to the ground.

(a) 8.26 m

(b) 0.717 s

2-49 §2.7 source ↗

Assume air resistance is negligible unless otherwise stated.

You throw a ball straight up with an initial velocity of 15.0 m/s. It passes a tree branch on the way up at a height of 7.00 m. How much additional time will pass before the ball passes the tree branch on the way back down?

Answer

1.91 s

2-51 §2.7 source ↗

Assume air resistance is negligible unless otherwise stated.

Standing at the base of one of the cliffs of Mt. Arapiles in Victoria, Australia, a hiker hears a rock break loose from a height of 105 m. He can’t see the rock right away but then does, 1.50 s later. (a) How far above the hiker is the rock when he can see it? (b) How much time does he have to move before the rock hits his head?

Answer

(a) 94.0 m

(b) 3.13 s

2-53 §2.7 source ↗

Assume air resistance is negligible unless otherwise stated.

There is a 250-m-high cliff at Half Dome in Yosemite National Park in California. Suppose a boulder breaks loose from the top of this cliff. (a) How fast will it be going when it strikes the ground? (b) Assuming a reaction time of 0.300 s, how long will a tourist at the bottom have to get out of the way after hearing the sound of the rock breaking loose (neglecting the height of the tourist, which would become negligible anyway if hit)? The speed of sound is 335 m/s on this day.

Answer

(a) -70.0 m/s (downward)

(b) 6.10 s

2-55 §2.7 source ↗

Assume air resistance is negligible unless otherwise stated.

Suppose you drop a rock into a dark well and, using precision equipment, you measure the time for the sound of a splash to return. (a) Neglecting the time required for sound to travel up the well, calculate the distance to the water if the sound returns in 2.0000 s. (b) Now calculate the distance taking into account the time for sound to travel up the well. The speed of sound is 332.00 m/s in this well.

Answer

(a) $19 . 6 m$

(b) $18 . 5 m$

2-57 §2.7 source ↗

Assume air resistance is negligible unless otherwise stated.

A coin is dropped from a hot-air balloon that is 300 m above the ground and rising at 10.0 m/s upward. For the coin, find (a) the maximum height reached, (b) its position and velocity 4.00 s after being released, and (c) the time before it hits the ground.

Answer

(a) 305 m

(b) 262 m, -29.2 m/s

2-59 §2.8 source ↗

Note: There is always uncertainty in numbers taken from graphs. If your answers differ from expected values, examine them to see if they are within data extraction uncertainties estimated by you.

(a) By taking the slope of the curve in Figure 2.58, verify that the velocity of the jet car is 115 m/s at $t = 20 s$ . (b) By taking the slope of the curve at any point in Figure 2.59, verify that the jet car’s acceleration is $5 . {0 m/s}^{2}$ .

Line graph of position over time. Line has positive slope that increases over time. — Figure 2.58 in the book ↗

Line graph of velocity versus time. Line is straight with a positive slope. — Figure 2.59 in the book ↗

Answer

(a) $115 m/s$

(b) $5 . {0 m/s}^{2}$

2-61 §2.8 source ↗

Note: There is always uncertainty in numbers taken from graphs. If your answers differ from expected values, examine them to see if they are within data extraction uncertainties estimated by you.

Using approximate values, calculate the slope of the curve in Figure 2.60 at $t = 10.0 s$ and at $t = 30 s$ find the velocity at these times. (b) Using your answer to part a, find the approximate acceleration at $t = 20 s$ . Assume all values are known to 2 significant figures.

Line graph of position versus time. Line is straight with a positive slope. — Figure 2.60 in the book ↗

Answer

(a)At

t = 10

v = 0.208 m/s

; at

t = 30

v = 0.238 m/s

. (b) 0.0015 m/s²

2-63 §2.8 source ↗

Note: There is always uncertainty in numbers taken from graphs. If your answers differ from expected values, examine them to see if they are within data extraction uncertainties estimated by you.

Construct the position graph for the subway shuttle train as shown in Figure 2.18(a). Your graph should show the position of the train, in kilometers, from t = 0 to 20 s. You will need to use the information on acceleration and velocity given in the examples for this figure.

In part (a), a subway train moves from left to right from an initial position of x equals 4 point 7 kilometers to a final position of x equals 6 point 7 kilometers, with a displacement of 2 point 0 kilometers. In part (b), the train moves toward the left, from an initial position of 5 point 25 kilometers to a final position of 3 point 75 kilometers. — Figure 2.18 in the book ↗

Answer

Line graph of position versus time. Line begins with a slight positive slope. It then kinks to a much greater positive slope.

2-65 §2.8 source ↗

Note: There is always uncertainty in numbers taken from graphs. If your answers differ from expected values, examine them to see if they are within data extraction uncertainties estimated by you.

A graph of $v t$ is shown for a world-class track sprinter in a 100-m race. (See Figure 2.65). (a) What is his average velocity for the first 4 s? (b) What is his instantaneous velocity at $t = 5 s$ ? (c) What is his average acceleration between 0 and 4 s? (d) What is his time for the race?

Line graph of velocity versus time. The line has two legs. The first has a constant positive slope. The second is flat, with a slope of 0. — Figure 2.65 in the book ↗

Answer

(a) 6 m/s

(b) 12 m/s

(d) 10 s

2-67 §2.8 source ↗

Note: There is always uncertainty in numbers taken from graphs. If your answers differ from expected values, examine them to see if they are within data extraction uncertainties estimated by you.

Critical Thinking Two cars are side by side on a path where friction is negligible. Car A starts from rest and has a positive, constant acceleration while car B travels at a constant speed. The cars reach the same check point down the road at the same time. (a) Which car is traveling faster at the check point? Briefly explain your reasoning. (b) Based on experimental data, an equation that fits the data is suggested for the speed of car A at the check point, V, which may not be correct: $V = K V_{0}$ , where K is a constant with appropriate units and $V_{0}$ is the initial velocity of car B. Is this equation consistent with your answer from part a? Explain why or why not. Does this equation make sense? Explain why or why not. (c) Graph the velocity of car A and the velocity of car B vs. distance along the path, starting when the cars are side by side.

Answer

(a) Car A is traveling faster at the checkpoint because it must go past the speed of car B to reach the same distance.

(b) i. Yes, the equation is consistent with the answer because the speed of car A is only a constant away from the correct answer. ii. Yes, the equation makes sense because $V = 2 V_{0}$ .

(c)

The figure shows velocity v graphed as a function of position x. The plot of V sub A is linear, with a positive slope, starting at the origin and ending at a maximum velocity of 2 times v sub 0 at velocity v sub zero. The plot of V sub B is a constant at velocity v sub zero.

Figure 2.67

AP Test Prep 2.1 §2.1 source ↗

Which of the following statements comparing position, distance traveled, and displacement is correct?

a.
An object may record a distance traveled of zero while recording a non-zero displacement.
b.
An object may record a non-zero distance traveled while recording a displacement of zero.
c.
An object may record a non-zero distance traveled while maintaining a position of zero.
d.
An object may record a non-zero displacement while maintaining a position of zero.

Answer

B. An object may record a non-zero distance traveled while recording a displacement of zero.

AP Test Prep 2.3 §2.3 source ↗

A group of students has two carts, A and B, with wheels that turn with negligible friction. The two carts travel along a straight horizontal track and eventually collide. Before the collision, cart A travels to the right and cart B is initially at rest. After the collision, the carts stick together.

(a) Describe an experimental procedure to determine the velocities of the carts before and after the collision, including all the additional equipment you would need. You may include a labeled diagram of your setup to help in your description. Indicate what measurements you would take and how you would take them. Include enough detail so that another student could carry out your procedure.

(b) There will be sources of error in the measurements taken in the experiment both before and after the collision. Which velocity will be more greatly affected by this error: the velocity prior to the collision or the velocity after the collision? Or will both sets of data be affected equally? Justify your answer.

Answer

(a) Use tape to mark off two distances on the track — one for cart A before the collision and one for the combined carts after the collision. Push cart A to give it an initial speed. Use a stopwatch to measure the time it takes for the cart(s) to cross the marked distances. The speeds are the distances divided by the times.

(b) If the measurement errors are of the same magnitude, they will have a greater effect after the collision. The speed of the combined carts will be less than the initial speed of cart A. As a result, these errors will be a greater percentage of the actual velocity value after the collision occurs. (Note: Other arguments could properly be made for ‘more error before the collision' and error that ‘equally affects both sets of measurement.')

AP Test Prep 2.5 §2.4 source ↗

Push a book across a table and observe it slow to a stop.

Draw graphs showing the book's position vs. time and velocity vs. time if the direction of its motion is considered positive.

Draw graphs showing the book's position vs. time and velocity vs. time if the direction of its motion is considered negative.

Answer

The position vs. time graph should be represented with a positively sloped line whose slope steadily decreases to zero. The y-intercept of the graph may be any value. The line on the velocity vs. time graph should have a positive y-intercept and a negative slope. Because the final velocity of the book is zero, the line should finish on the x-axis.

The position vs. time graph should be represented with a negatively sloped line whose slope steadily decreases to zero. The y-intercept of the graph may be any value. The line on the velocity vs. time graph should have a negative y-intercept and a positive slope. Because the final velocity of the book is zero, the line should finish on the x-axis.]

AP Test Prep 2.7 §2.7 source ↗

Observing a spacecraft land on a distant asteroid, scientists notice that the craft is falling at a rate of 5 m/s. When it is 100 m closer to the surface of the asteroid, the craft reports a velocity of 8 m/s. According to their data, what is the approximate gravitational acceleration on this asteroid?

a.
0 m/s²
b.
0.03 m/s²
c.
0.20 m/s²
d.
0.65 m/s²
e.
33 m/s²

Answer

C. 0.20 m/s²

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Problems and answers are adapted from College Physics for AP® Courses 2e by Gregg Wolfe, Erika Gasper, John Stoke, Julie Kretchman, David Anderson and others, OpenStax, and are used under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence. Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/college-physics-ap-courses-2e/pages/1-connection-for-ap-r-courses. Illustrations: Copyright Rice University, OpenStax, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. This adaptation is released under the same licence, is non-commercial, and is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by OpenStax or Rice University.