AP Physics 1 Multiple Choice Questions

The position vs. time graph for an object moving in a straight line is shown above. What is the instantaneous velocity at t = 2 s?

-2 m/s

What was the instantaneous velocity of the cart at 96 centimeters from the start?

4.8 m/s

The graph above represents position x versus time t for an object being acted on by a constant force. The average speed during the interval between 1 s and 2 s is most nearly

6 m/s

Shown above is the velocity vs. time graph for a toy car moving along a straight line. What is the maximum displacement from start for the toy car?

7 m

Two identical bowling balls A and B are each dropped from rest from the top of a tall tower as shown in the diagram above. Ball A is dropped 1.0 s before ball B is dropped but both balls fall for some time before ball A strikes the ground. Air resistance can be considered negligible during the fall. After ball B is dropped but before ball A strikes the ground, which of the following is true?

The distance between the two balls increases

A 50.0 N box is at rest on a horizontal surface. The coefficient of static friction between the box and the surface is 0.50 and the coefficient of kinetic friction is 0.30. A horizontal 20.0 force is then exerted on the box. The magnitude of the acceleration of the box is most nearly

0.0 m/s^2

The diagram below represents a toy car starting from rest and uniformly accelerating across the floor. The time and distance traveled from the start are shown in the diagram. What was the acceleration of the cart during the first 0.4 seconds?

12 m/s^2

A car starts from rest and uniformly accelerates to a final speed of 20.0 m/s in a time of 15.0 s. How far does the car travel during this time?

150 m

If a ball is thrown directly upwards with twice the initial speed of another, how much higher will it be at its apex?

4 times

A ball which is dropped from the top of a building strikes the ground with a speed of 30 m/s. Assume air resistance can be ignored. The height of the building is approximately:

45 m

Consider the motion of an object described by the position-time graph above. When is the speed of the object the greatest?

At time 4.0 s

A stone of mass m is thrown upward at a 30° angle to the horizontal. At the instant the stone reaches its highest point, why is the stone neither gaining nor losing speed?

Because the angle between the stone's velocity and the net force exerted upon the stone is 90°

The position-time graph above represents a cart moving on a track. The positive direction is right. Which of the following lists two labeled points at which the cart is moving to the left?

C and E

At time t = 0, car X traveling with speed v0 passes car Y which is just starting to move. Both cars then travel on two parallel lanes of the same straight road. The graphs of speed v versus time t for both cars are shown above. Which of the following is true at time t = 20 seconds?

Car Y is behind car X

From time t = 0 to time t = 40 seconds, the areas under both curves are equal. Therefore, which of the following is true at time t = 40 seconds?

Car Y is passing car X

A block is held at rest against a wall by a force of magnitude F exerted at an angle θ from the horizontal, as shown in the figure above. Let Fg be the gravitational force exerted by Earth on the block, FN be the normal force exerted by the wall on the block, and Ff be the frictional force exerted by the wall on the block. Which of the following statements about the magnitudes of the forces on the block must be true? Select two answers.

Fcosθ = FN Fsinθ = Fg ± Ff

A lion is running at constant speed toward a gazelle that is standing still, as shown in the top figure above. After several seconds the gazelle notices the lion and accelerates directly toward him, hoping to pass the lion and force him to reverse direction. As the gazelle accelerates toward and past the lion, the lion changes direction and accelerates in pursuit of the gazelle. The lion and the gazelle eventually each reach constant but different speeds. Which of the following sets of graphs shows a reasonable representation of the velocities of the lion and the gazelle as functions of time?

Lion graph starts below zero at a constant speed and accelerates upward past zero and eventually has a constant velocity. Gazelle graph starts at zero at a constant speed and accelerates upward and eventually has a constant velocity.

Assume the elevator has upward acceleration a, and consider the stack that has two boxes of mass M. What is the magnitude of the force exerted on the top box by the bottom box?

M(a+g)

A small cart is rolling freely on an inclined ramp with a constant acceleration of 0.50 m/s^2 in the -x-direction. At time t=0, the cart has a velocity of 2.0 m/s in the +x-direction. If the cart never leaves the ramp, which of the following statements correctly describes the motion of the cart at a time t > 5 s?

The cart is traveling in the -x-direction and is speeding up

A crate is on a horizontal frictionless surface. A force of magnitude F is exerted on the crate at an angle θ to the horizontal, as shown in the figure above, causing the crate to slide to the right. The surface exerts a normal force of magnitude FN on the crate. While F is kept constant, the angle θ is now doubled but is still less than 90°. Assume the crate remains in contact with the surface. How does the new normal force exerted on the crate compare to FN?

The new normal force is less than FN

A ladder at rest is leaning against a wall at an angle. Which of the following forces must have the same magnitude as the frictional force exerted on the ladder by the floor?

The normal force exerted on the ladder by the wall

The stack of boxes shown in the figure above are inside an elevator that is moving upward. The masses of the boxes are given in terms of the mass M of the lightest box. How does the magnitude of the force exerted by the top box on the bottom box compare with the magnitude of the force exerted by the bottom box on the top box for each of the stacks?

The two magnitudes are always equal in each of the stacks

Is it possible for an object's velocity to increase while its acceleration decreases?

Yes, an example would be an object falling in the presence of air resistance

Assume the elevator is moving at a constant speed and consider the bottom box in the stack that has two boxes of mass 2M. Let Ffloor be the force exerted by the floor on the box, Fg be the force exerted by gravity on the box, and Fbox be the force exerted by the top box on the bottom box. Which of the following best represents the forces exerted on the bottom box?

the top force is Ffloor, while the bottom forces are Fg and Fbox, both of equal lengths. The top force is larger than each of the two bottom forces.