Science 10 – Physics of Motion Unit Practice Problems
Complete the following motion problems. Remember the proper problems solving
procedure:
 Show formula
 Show values inputted into formula
 Show final answer with appropriate units
1. Polar bears are extremely good swimmers. If a polar bear is swimming with
an average speed of 2.6 m/s, how far will it travel after 120 seconds?
2. Tree sloths are the slowest moving mammals. On average, their velocity is
0.743 m/s. How long does it take a tree sloth moving at this velocity to move
22.3 m?
3. The cheetah, the fastest of all land mammals, can run a distance of 274m in
8.65 seconds at its top speed. What is the cheetah’s top speed?
4. The fastest supersonic jet is the Concorde. How long would it take the
Concorde to travel the 6265 km between New York City and London, England
assuming that the jet travels at its maximum speed of 2,150 km/hr during
the entire trip? Express your answer in minutes.
5. The fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an ocean linder was made on
July 7th, 1952. The ship, S.S. United States, traveled 4247 km east in 3.4 days.
What was the average velocity of the shop in km/hr?
6. The longest distance in a track and field event is the 10.0 km run. The record
holder for the women’s 10.0 km run is Wang Junxia of China. Assuming that
she ran a distance of 10.0 km with an average speed of 5.644 m/s, what was
her time?
7. Bonnie Blair set the world record for women’s speed skating in 1995, with an
average velocity of 12.9 m/s. How far would Blair have traveled at this speed
in a time of 5.00 minutes?
8. The space shuttle releases a space telescope into orbit around the earth. The
telescope goes from being stationary to traveling at a speed of 1700 m/s in
25 seconds. What is the acceleration of the satellite?
9. A ball is rolled at a velocity of 12 m/sec. After 36 seconds, it comes to a
stop. What is the acceleration of the ball?
10. A ball rolls down a straight ramp for 15 seconds. If the ball started rolling at
0.8 m/s and after 15 seconds was moving at 7.0 m/sec, what was the
acceleration of the ball?
Graphing Practice
11. Answer the following questions based on the position-time graph below.
Assume the object is moving either to the east or west.
a. How far did the object travel in the first 10 seconds? What direction
was it travelling in? How fast was it moving during this time interval?
b. Briefly describe the object’s motion between 10 and 15 seconds.
c. How far did the object travel between 15 and 40 seconds? What
direction was it travelling in? How fast was it moving during this time
interval?
d. How far did the object travel between 40 and 50 seconds? What
direction was it travelling in? How fast was it moving during this time
interval?
e. When was the object moving the fastest?
f. What was the total distance the object travelled?
g. What is the object’s total displacement?
12. Answer the following questions based on the velocity-time graph below.
a. Describe the motion of the object between 0 and 5 seconds.
b. Describe the motion of the object between 5 and 7 seconds.
c. Describe the motion of the object between 7 and 8 seconds.
d. Describe the motion of the object between 8 and 9 seconds.
e. Calculate the acceleration of the object during each interval.
13. Draw a position-time graph based on the following situation.
Brett leaves his house on a bike and travels 10 metres east in 4 seconds. He stops at a
red light and has to wait 6 seconds for it to turn green. While waiting for the light to
change, Brett decides to see if his friend his home. He changes direction and rides 8
metres to the west in 5 seconds. When he arrives at his friend’s house, he gets off his
bike and knocks on the door. After waiting 4 seconds, Brett decides that no one is
home. He begins riding east again, and travels 15 metres in 8 seconds until he reaches
the corner store. After texting his friend, he decides to wait at the store until his friend
arrives.
a.
b.
c.
d.
What was the total distance travelled by the student?
What was the student’s total displacement?
What was the student’s total time interval?
Find the velocity of the student at each section in the journey.