Kinematics Study Guide
Kinematics- the study of how motion occurs without consideration to why it occurs
● One-dimensional motion is motion along a straight line
● Two-dimensional motion is motion along multiple directions
Practice Problems
1) A car travels at a constant 50km/h for 100km. It then specs up to 100km/h and is driven
another 100 km. What is the car’s average speed for the 200-km trip?
2) The observation deck of the Empire State Building is 400m above the street. Determine
the time required for a penny to free fall from the deck to the street below.
3) A truck accelerates uniformly from rest to a speed of 10 m/s over a distance of 26.2 m.
Determine the acceleration of the truck.
4) A runner accelerates to 4.2 m/s2 for 10 seconds before winning the race. How far did
he/she run?
5) A plane starts from rest and accelerates uniformly over a time of 20 s for a distance of
300 m. Determine the plane’s acceleration.
6) True or False? Consider a deer that runs from point A to point B. The distance the deer
runs can be greater than the magnitude of its displacement, but the magnitude of the
displacement can never be greater than the distance it runs.
7) A runner ran the marathon (around 42 km) in 2 hours and 57 min. What was the average
speed of the runner in m/s?
8) A car is traveling north at 17.7 m/s. After 12s its velocity is 14.1 m/s in the same direction.
Find the magnitude and direction of the car’s average acceleration.
9) Which of the following quantities has units of a displacement? (There could be more than
one correct choice.)
a. 32 ft/s2 vertically downward
b. 40 km southwest
Kinematics- the study of how motion occurs without consideration to why it occurs
● One-dimensional motion is motion along a straight line
● Two-dimensional motion is motion along multiple directions
Practice Problems
1) A car travels at a constant 50km/h for 100km. It then specs up to 100km/h and is driven
another 100 km. What is the car’s average speed for the 200-km trip?
2) The observation deck of the Empire State Building is 400m above the street. Determine
the time required for a penny to free fall from the deck to the street below.
3) A truck accelerates uniformly from rest to a speed of 10 m/s over a distance of 26.2 m.
Determine the acceleration of the truck.
4) A runner accelerates to 4.2 m/s2 for 10 seconds before winning the race. How far did
he/she run?
5) A plane starts from rest and accelerates uniformly over a time of 20 s for a distance of
300 m. Determine the plane’s acceleration.
6) True or False? Consider a deer that runs from point A to point B. The distance the deer
runs can be greater than the magnitude of its displacement, but the magnitude of the
displacement can never be greater than the distance it runs.
7) A runner ran the marathon (around 42 km) in 2 hours and 57 min. What was the average
speed of the runner in m/s?
8) A car is traveling north at 17.7 m/s. After 12s its velocity is 14.1 m/s in the same direction.
Find the magnitude and direction of the car’s average acceleration.
9) Which of the following quantities has units of a displacement? (There could be more than
one correct choice.)
a. 32 ft/s2 vertically downward
b. 40 km southwest
