Name: ____________________________
Period: _____
Physics Unit 2: One Dimensional Motion – Practice Problems
Solve each problem in the space provided. Be sure to show all work (GUESS) and box your answer(s).
Part 1 – Horizontal Motion Problems
1. Kathy is pushing a shopping cart with an initial velocity of 0.5 m/s to the right
when she increases the velocity to 2.4 m/s in a time of 6.1 seconds. What was
the acceleration of the cart?
2. George is running with an initial velocity of 9.9 m/s to the right when he begins to accelerate at 2.2
m/s2 to the left for a time of 4.5 seconds. How far did George travel before coming to a stop?
3. A racecar starts from rest and accelerates to the right at 11.8 m/s2 for a time of
10.5 seconds. What is the final velocity of the car after that time?
4. A car is moving to the right with an initial velocity of 35 m/s when the driver slams on the brakes,
causing an acceleration of 17.4 m/s2 to the left. What is the velocity of the car after it travels 15.0 m
while slowing?
Page 1 of 5
Physics - 1D Motion Practice Problems
5. An airplane on a runway starts from rest and accelerates to the left at 15.9 m/s2 for a time of 11.0 s
before take-off. What is the displacement of the airplane?
6. Josh is driving his go-kart with a velocity of 18 m/s to the right when he begins to slow down by
applying an acceleration of 7.3 m/s2 to the left. How far has Josh travelled after 1.5 seconds?
7. Batman is chasing The Joker with a velocity of 2.4 m/s to the left when he begins to accelerate to
the left at 3.7m/s2. How long will it take him to reach a velocity of 9.5 m/s to the left?
8. A ball starts from rest and rolls straight down a hill. It took the ball 1.33 seconds to reach the bottom
with a velocity of 11.3 m/s to the right. What is the displacement of the ball?
Page 2 of 5
Physics - 1D Motion Practice Problems
Part 2 – Free Fall Problems
9. Wile-E-Coyote drops an Acme Anvil from the edge of a cliff and sees that it hits the ground 3.7
seconds later. What is the height of the cliff at that spot?
10. Hillary Clinton throws a stapler straight up into the air with a velocity of 12.0 m/s. Hillary noted that
it took the stapler 1.2 seconds to reach the highest point before falling back to earth. What is the
maximum height the stapler reaches at the apex?
11. A disgruntled teacher drops a water balloon out of the window of a huge skyscraper and aims for a
student. If the window is 123.4 meters up, how fast is the water balloon travelling when it hits the
student on the head?
12. Fluffy the kitten is stuck in a tree! You decide that the best way to get her out is to poke her with a
giant stick until she falls to the ground. You also know she will be OK because she will be moving at
14.3 m/s when she hits the ground, and cats always land on their feet. For how many seconds will
she be in free-fall?
Page 3 of 5
Physics - 1D Motion Practice Problems
13. Jeff fires a gun straight up into the air. The bullet leaves the gun with a velocity of 900 m/s. How high
up is the bullet after 1.3 seconds?
14. Susie throws a ball straight down with a speed of 12 m/s from the edge of a building that is 98
meters tall. How fast is the ball moving when it hits the ground?
Part 3 – More 1D Motion Problems
15. Steve is riding his bike! He accelerates from rest at 4.1 m/s2 to the right for a time of 4.3 seconds.
a. What is his final velocity after accelerating?
b. How far does he travel during this time?
Page 4 of 5
Physics - 1D Motion Practice Problems
16. You are standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon and want to see how deep it is at that spot. Since
your teacher taught you well, you know you can drop a rock off the side and just count the seconds
until it hits, and then use physics to find the height! You drop the rock and count 9.66 seconds until
it hits the bottom.
a. How deep is the canyon?
b. How fast is the rock traveling when it hits the ground?
17. A shell starts from rest and accelerates in an artillery gun barrel as it is shot out to the right. It took
the shell 0.09 seconds to leave the barrel with a velocity of 450 m/s. How long is the barrel of the
gun?
18. Barry kicked a ball straight into the air. The ball was in the air for 3.95 seconds
before reaching the apex and falling back to Earth. What was the initial velocity
of the ball?
Page 5 of 5