Physics 30S

Motion Graphs

Date Due: _______________

For each of the following questions choose the best answer. Write the letter of your choice on the
accompanying answer sheet. There is only one correct answer to each question.

1. A straight line on a position-time graphs means that the object . . .

(a) is not moving.
(b) is speeding up.
(c) has a constant velocity.
(d) is slowing down.

2. On a velocity-time graph, the motion of a car travelling along a straight road with a constant
velocity of 2 m/s would appear as a . . .
(a) horizontal straight line.
(b) straight line sloping upward to the right.
(c) straight line sloping downward to the right.
(d) curved line curving upward to the right.

3. On a velocity-time graph, the area under the curve between two points represents . . .
(a) rise divided by run.
(b) change in the displacement between the two points.
(c) average velocity between the two points.
(d) average acceleration between the two points.
(e) the rate at which the velocity is changing with respect to time.

4. Which one of the following graphs best represents the motion of an object whose speed is
increasing?

Graph A Graph B Graph C Graph D

posiiton posiiton posiiton posiiton

time time time time

(a) graph A
(b) graph B
(c) graph C
(d) graph D
(e) None of the above.

5. The graph below shows the velocity versus time for an object moving in a straight line.
 2

Velocity 1
(m/s)
0 Time (s)
1 2 3 4
-1

-2

At what time after t = 0 does the object again pass through its initial position at zero seconds?
(a) Between 0 and 1 s
(b) 1s
(c) Between 1 and 2 s
(d) 2s
(e) Between 2 and 3 s

6. During which one of the following time intervals is the object in the previous question
slowing down?
(a) 0 to 0.5 s.
(b) 0.5 to 1 s.
(c) 1 to 2 s.
(d) 0 to 1 s.
(e) The object is not slowing down during any of the time intervals listed.

7. During which one of the following times intervals is the object in the previous two questions
stopped?
(a) from 0 to 1 s.
(b) at 1 s.
(c) from 2 to 4 s.
(d) The object is not stopped during the time interval shown on the graph.

THE NEXT THREE QUESTIONS REFER TO THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION.

The graph below shows the relationship between velocity and time for a moving car.
40

30

V e locity
(m/ s) 20

10

0
0 1 2 3 4
T ime (s)

8. At t = 2.5 s, the velocity of the car is . . .

(a) 10 m/s.
(b) 20 m/s.
(c) 25 m/s.
(d) 31.25 m/s.
9. The rate at which the velocity is changing as a function of time is obtained by finding the
value of . . .
 (a) slope.
(b) y-intercept.
(c) area under the curve.
(d) average velocity.

10. The car’s change in position during the first three seconds is . . .
(a) +10 m.
(b) +30 m.
(c) +45 m.
(d) not possible to determine without further information.

The next 3 questions refer to the following position-time graph for a moving object.

11. What was the object’s position at 3.5 s?

(a) 0 m.
(b) 2 m.
(c) 4 m.
(d) –4 m.

12. The object is travelling at the fastest speed between . . .

(a) 0 and 2 s.
(b) 2 and 3 s.
(c) 3 and 5 s.
(d) 5 and 7 s.

13. The average velocity of the object between 0 and 3 seconds is . . .

(a) 1.33 m/s.
(b) 2.00 m/s.
(c) 4.00 m/s.
(d) not possible to determine from this graph.
The next 5 questions refer to the following position-time graph for a moving object.

14. What was the position of the object at t = 1 s?

(a) 0m
(b) 0.1 m
(c) 0.2 m
(d) 0.3 m
(e) 0.4 m

15. At which of the following points in time is the object stopped?

(a) 0s
(b) 3s
(c) 6s
(d) 10 s
(e) It was stopped at all of the above times.

16. Between which points in time was the object travelling at the fastest speed?
(a) between 0 s and 2 s
(b) between 2 s and 4 s
(c) between 4 s and 7 s
(d) between 7 s and 10 s

17. If the object was moving to the right at t = 0 s, then at t = 10 s it was located . . .
(a) at the same place where it was at t = 0 s.
(b) to the left of where it was at t = 0 s.
(c) to the right of where it was at t = 0 s.
(d) It is not possible to tell from the information given.

18. What was the average velocity of the object between 4 s and 5 s?
(a) -0.3 m/s
(b) 0 m/s
(c) 0.2 m/s
(d) 0.3 m/s
(e) It is not possible to tell from the information given.
THE NEXT TWO QUESTIONS REFER TO THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION.
Casey is playing with his toy train, running it back and forth on a straight section of track. The graph
below shows the changes in velocity of the train over a period of time.
0.4

0.3

0.2

0.1
Velocity
(m/s) 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
-0.1

-0.2

-0.3

-0.4

Time (s)

19. At which point(s) in time did the train change direction?

(a) At 3 seconds only.
(b) At 4 seconds only.
(c) At 9 seconds only.
(d) At 3 seconds and at 10 seconds.
(e) The train does not change direction during this time.

20. The train started traveling in a northward direction. At the end of the 12 seconds the train is
located . . .
(a) north of where it started from.
(b) at the same place it started from.
(c) south of where it started from.
(d) It is not possible to tell without further information.

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 Physics 30S
Weekly Assignment 7
Motion Graphs
Answer Sheet

Name: ________________________________ Mark (/10): _______

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