Thomson Higher Ed  |  Thomson Learning |  Thomson
Home | Contact Us | Find Your Rep | 1Pass
Discipline Home
Student Book
Companion Sites
Instructor Book
Companion Sites
Browse New Texts
JoinIn on TurningPoint
PhysicsNow
Media Showcase
WebAssign
A2LC
Show All Courses
Liberal Arts Physics
Introductory Physics
Introduction to Physical Science
Mathematical Physics
Modern Physics
Nuclear and Subatomic Physics
Specialized Courses
Musical Acoustics

Kinematics Online Quiz

1. A car with speed 35 miles per hour drives by a road sign. The driver holds a cigarette butt in her hand and her hand out of the window. Just as she passes the sign, she lets go of the cigarette. In which section will the cigarette butt touch the ground? (Here we show the position of the car at the instant the cigarette touches the ground. Assume that no wind is blowing!)
a. a
b. b
c. c
d. d

2. A car with speed 35 miles per hour drives by a road sign. The driver holds a bowling ball in her hand and her hand out of the window. Just as she passes the sign, she lets go of the ball. In which section will the ball touch the ground? (Here we show the position of the car at the instant the ball touches the ground. Assume that no wind is blowing!)
a. a
b. b
c. c
d. d

3. Two heavy solid metal spheres are released from the same height from rest. Sphere 2 has a mass twice as big as that of sphere 1.
a. Sphere 1 will take twice as long to hit the ground as sphere 2.
b. Sphere 2 will take twice as long to hit the ground as sphere 1.
c. Both spheres hit the ground at about the same time.
d. Sphere 1 will take about 10% longer to hit the ground.

4. Two identical heavy metal spheres are released from the same height. Sphere 1 is at rest, and sphere 2 has a velocity of 10 m/s in horizontal direction.
a. Both spheres hit the ground at the same time.
b. Sphere 1 will take much longer than sphere 2 to hit the ground.
c. Sphere 2 will take much longer than sphere 1 to hit the ground
d. Sphere 2 will take about 10% longer than sphere 1 to hit the ground.

5. In the graph of displacement versus time below,
a. the velocity is positive and constant.
b. the velocity is positive and increasing.
c. the velocity is negative and increasing.
d. the velocity is negative and constant.

6. In this graph of displacement vs time,
a. the acceleration and velocity are always positive.
b. the velocity is first negative and then positive.
c. the acceleration is first negative and then positive.
d. the acceleration is positive, and the velocity changes from negative to positive.

7. In basketball, the time that a player can spend in the air during a jump shot is called "hangtime". The hangtime depends on
a. the height of the jump only.
b. both, the height and distance of the jump.
c. the jumping ability of the player, independent of the height of the jump.
d. the ability of the player to extend his time in the air, independent of the height of the jump.

8. In baseball, the distance from home plate to the pitcher's mound is 60' 6". If the pitcher throws a 90 mph fastball, how long will the ball take to travel this distance? (Please ignore wind resistance of the baseball and assume a constant speed.)
a. 0.032 s
b. 0.131 s
c. 0.458 s
d. 0.925 s

9. In baseball, the distance between bases is 90' (= 27.42 m). Many fans swear that a second baseman with a strong arm can throw the ball on a straight line to first base. We know (hopefully) that the true trajectory is closer to a parabola. Question: If the ball leaves the hand of the second baseman at the same height as it enters the glove of the first baseman, and the intial speed of the throw was 90 mph (= 40.2 m/s), how much higher than the initial height of release does the baseball have to rise at the highest point of the trajectory
a. 5.7 mm
b. 57 mm
c. 57 cm
d. 5.7 m

10. Suppose a baseball player hits a ball at an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal. The ball just clears the fence of the ballpark 400 ft away. What was the initial velocity the ball was given by the bat? (We neglect air resistance here.)
a. 35 m/s
b. 51 m/s
c. 60 m/s
d. 73 m/s

11. The SI unit of acceleration is:
a. m/s
b. kg m/s
c. m / s2
d. rad / s2

12. The figure below shows the position of a car (black circles) at one second intervals. What is the velocity at the time t = 4 s?
a. -12 m/s
b. -4 m/s
c. 8 m/s
d. 0 m/s

13. The figure below shows the position of a car (black circles) at one second intervals. What is the acceleration at t = 4 s?
a. -2 m/s2
b. -1 m/s2
c. 0
d. 1 m/s2

14. Vector A has a length of 5 and an angle of 30 degrees with respect to the positive x-axis. Vector B has a length of 5 and an angle of 150 degrees with respect to the positive x-axis. What is the angle with respect to the positive x-axis for the vector C = A - B?
a. 0 degrees
b. 30 degrees
c. 90 degrees
d. 135 degrees

15. In this graph of distance vs. time, which of the following is true (chose one)?
a. The speed is negative.
b. The velocity is negative.
c. The acceleration is positive.
d. The acceleration is negative.

16. In this graph of distance vs. time, which of the following is true (chose one)?
a. The acceleration is first positive, then negative.
b. The acceleration is always 0.
c. The acceleration is always negative.
d. The acceleration is always positive.

17. If you let a golf ball fall from a height of 10m, how long will it take for the ball to hit the ground?
a. 0.72 s
b. 1.00 s
c. 1.43 s
d. 1.88 s

18. You shoot a projectile three times with the same initial velocity. The three shots have initial angles of 30, 40, and 50 degrees. Neglect air resistance for this problem. Which of the following statements is true?
a. All three shots will go the same distance, because they have the same kinetic energy.
b. All three shots will go the same distance, because they have the same initial speed.
c. The 50_ and the 40_ shot will have the same range, but the 30_ shot will fall shorter.
d. The 40_ shot will travel farthest, and the 50_ and 30_ shots will both have the same range.

19. If you go from the origin to x = 10.0 m in 5.0 s, stay there for 2.0 s, and then go to x =-2.0 m in 3.0 s, what is your average speed and velocity?
a. speed 1.2 m/s, velocity -0.2 m/s
b. speed 1.2 m/s, velocity -2.2 m/s
c. speed 2.2 m/s, velocity -0.2 m/s
d. speed 2.2 m/s, velocity -2.2 m/s

20. An object is thrown upwards with a velocity v. It reaches a maximum height and then comes back to the point from which it was thrown. Assuming upwards to be the positive direction, which of the following statements is true?
a. The acceleration is always positive.
b. The acceleration is positive on the way up, negative on the way down.
c. The velocity is always positive.
d. the velocity is positive on the way up, negative on the way down.

21. A ball is thrown horizontally from a 49.0 m high building with a speed of 23.0 m/s. What is the horizontal component of the velocity when it hits the ground?
a. 49 m/s
b. 23 m/s
c. 11.5 m/s
d. -49 m

22. A ball is thrown with an initial angle of 60_ degrees with respect to the horizontal and speed 23.0 m/s from the top of a 49.0 m high building. What is the horizontal component of the velocity when it hits the ground?
a. 49 m/s
b. 23 m/s
c. 11.5 m/s
d. -49 m/s

23. A plane lands at 50.0 m/s, and its brakes are capable of slowing it down at 10.0 m/s2? How far does it go between touching down and stopping?
a. 5 m
b. 50 m
c. 125 m
d. 250 m

24. A cannon is shot downward from a 195.0 m high cliff at an angle of 34.0_ with respect to the horizontal. The initial speed is 40.0 m/s. What is its speed when it hits the ground?
a. 40 m/s
b. 48.3 m/s
c. 73.6 m/s
d. 59.3 m/s

25. The wind is blowing from east to west with a speed of 16 m/s, and a pilot with a 30 m/s plane wants to fly due north. Which picture below best describes what the heading of the plane should be?
a. a
b. b
c. c
d. d

26. A gun is fired horizontally from the top of a cliff with a velocity of 325 m/s. How far does the bullet drop in meters below the horizontal in 1.2 seconds?
a. 0.021 m
b. 390 m
c. 0.37 m
d. 7.1 m

27. If I throw a ball into the air at some angle with respect to the horizontal, which of the following statements about the ball is true?
a. The acceleration is zero at the top of the motion.
b. The velocity is zero at the top of the motion
c. The vertical component of the velocity is zero at the top of the motion.
d. The horizontal component of the velocity is zero at the top of the motion.

28. A jet can accelerate from zero to 164 m/s over a distance of 469 meters. How long does it take to do this?
a. 1.2 s
b. 2.3 s
c. 5.7 s
d. 13.2 s

29. A ball is thrown directly down from the top of a building with a speed of 12 m/s, and it lands on the ground with a velocity 3 times the initial velocity. How high is the building (in meters) ?
a. 12 m
b. 59 m
c. 112 m
d. 234 m

30. A ball with mass m is thrown off a building of height h above the ground with a speed vo at an angle q above the horizontal as shown below. The angle q is greater than 0_ and less than 90_.Neglect friction for this problem. Which one of the following statements is true?
a. The speed at which the ball strikes the ground depends on q.
b. The speed at which the ball strikes the ground depends on vo.
c. The distance the ball strikes the ground from the building does not depend on q.
d. The speed at which the ball strikes the ground depends on the mass of the ball.

31. A baseball, after being struck by a bat, is traveling to the outfield. Neglecting the effect of friction, which of the following is a true statement?
a. The acceleration is the same during the entire flight.
b. The acceleration changes sign at the highest point in the motion.
c. The speed is greatest at the highest point of the motion.
d. The vertical velocity is a constant during the motion.

32. A bicyclist accelerates from 11 m/s to 16 m/s in 6 seconds. How far did she go during this process?
a. 13.5 m
b. 66 m
c. 81 m
d. 96 m

33. A football resting on the ground is kicked at an angle of 35.0_ towards the uprights with an initial speed of 20.0 m/s. What is the maximum height (in m) reached by the ball?
a. 1.75 m
b. 3.12 m
c. 6.71 m
d. 9.33 m

34. A ball of mass 5.00 kg is thrown from the ground at an angle of 20.0_ from the vertical with a speed of 20.0 m/s. The ball lands on top of a building that is 10.0 m tall. What is the speed of the ball just before it lands on the roof of the building?
a. 8.95 m/s
b. 10.0 m/s
c. 12.5 m/s
d. 14.3 m/s

35. What is your average speed, when you start from the origin and go along the x-axis at v = 10 m/s for 2 s, then stops for 5 s, and then travels at v = -4 m/s for 3 s?
a. 0 m/s
b. 0.8 m/s
c. 3.2 m/s
d. 6 m/s

36. What is your average velocity, when you start from the origin and go along the x-axis at v = 10 m/s for 2 s, then stops for 5 s, and then travel at v = -4 m/s for 3 s?
a. 0 m/s
b. 0.8 m/s
c. 3.2 m/s
d. 6 m/s

37. A boat crosses a stream which is flowing at 10.0 m/s. The driver of the boat wants to cross the river and arrive directly across the river from where he departed (point A to point B). What boat speed is needed to go directly across the river if the driver steers upstream with ( = 30_ as shown below?
a. 5 m/s
b. 10 m/s
c. 20 m/s
d. 25 m/s

38. A ball is thrown upward with an initial velocity of 17.0 m/s at an angle of 50.0_ with respect to the horizontal. What will be its speed in m/s after 0.800 seconds?
a. 9.15 m/s
b. 12.1 m/s
c. 17.0 m/s
d. 24.8 m

39. A cart slides down an incline without friction and then bounces off a bumper at the bottom. Assume that the coordinate system runs along the track with positive to the right.
a. The acceleration of the cart is g sinq along the track on the way down and -g sinq on the way back.
b. The acceleration of the cart is -g sinq along the track on the way down and g sinq on the way back.
c. The acceleration of the cart is g sinq along the track on the way down and g sinq on the way back.
d. The acceleration of the cart is -g sinq along the track on the way down and -g sinq on the way back.

40. Two balls A and B are thrown off a building of height h above the ground with a speed vo at angles qA and qB above the horizontal as shown below. Which one of the following statements is true?
a. The two balls reach the same maximum height.
b. The two balls hit the ground at the same time.
c. The two balls hit the ground with the same speed.
d. The two balls hit the ground at the same spot.

41. It takes a runner 10 seconds to run the curve (100 meter arc length, semicircle) in a race. The centripetal acceleration acting on her is
a. 1.00 m/s2
b. 1.57 m/s2
c. 1.92 m/s2
d. 3.14 m/s2

42. A toy train moves with uniform speed clockwise on a circular track. Which of the following statements is true?
a. The angular acceleration is always positive.
b. The angular acceleration is always negative.
c. The centripetal acceleration is 0.
d. The centripetal acceleration does not change in magnitude.

43. In polar coordinates, a point is specified by r=2.0 and q=135_. What are its x and y coordinates?
a. x = 1.41, y = 1.41
b. x = 2, y = -2
c. x = -1.41, y = 1.41
d. x = -2, y = 2

44. A point has coordinates x = 1 and y = -1. What are its polar coordinates?
a. r = 1.41, q = 315_
b. r = 2, q = 270_
c. r = 2, q = 135_
d. r = -2, q = 135_

45. A wheel is rotating with an initial angular velocity 100 rads/s and at t = 10 seconds has a an angular velocity 70 rads/s . Assuming uniform angular acceleration, what will its angular velocity be at t = 15 seconds?
a. 60 rad/s
b. 55 rad/s
c. 40 rad/s
d. 30 rad/s

46. A persons stands on the top of a 100 m high tower and drops a watermelon just at the same time as another person at the foot of the tower shoots an arrow upwards with initial speed of 50 m/s. The arrow hits the melon. How much time has passed since the arrow was fired?
a. 1.49 s
b. 1.73 s
c. 2.00 s
d. 2.41 s

47. "Shoot the monkey"; here is the story: A monkey has escaped from the zoo, and the zoo keeper wants him back. The monkey hangs from a branch of a tree, 10 m above the ground. The zoo keeper has a tranquilizer gun, aims it directly at the monkey, and fires. In just this moment, the monkey lets go of the branch. Here are some data: the zoo keeper is on level ground and 50 m away from where the monkey will drop. The muzzle velocity of the gun is 100 m/s. What happens?
a. The shot will miss far above the monkey.
b. The shot will hit the monkey at a height of 5 m.
c. The shot will hit the monkey at a height of 8.72 m
d. The shot will hit the monkey at a height of almost 10 m.

48. Two flies sit on the wheel of a car that drives down the street with a speed of 10 m/s. The radius of the wheel is 0.4 m. Fly 1 sits at the perimeter (= 0.4 m away from the center), and fly 2 sits 0.2 m away from the center. What are their angular velocities?
a. 1: 25 rad/s;2: 12.5 rad/s
b. 1: 12.5 rad/s; 2: 12.5 rad/s
c. 1: 25 rad/s;2: 25 rad/s
d. 1: 50 rad/s;2: 12.5 rad/s

49. Track-and-field has a competition called "hammer throw". In it, the athlete rotates a metal ball (gray circle) connected metal wire about 1 m long around his body (orange circle).Then the athlete lets go and the hammer flies off. Which trajectory below best describes the actual path the hammer will take, when released at point A. The sketch is a top-view, and the hammer is rotated counter-clockwise around the body.
a. a.
b. b.
c. c.
d. d.

50. A runner runs around a circular track with constant velocity. The force that is needed to keep her going around the circle points
a. inward toward the center of the circle.
b. outwards away from the center of the circle.
c. tangential to the circle in the direction she is running.
d. tangential to the circle in the opposite direction she is running.