IGCSE/O LEVEL

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KINEMATICS

Past Papers
(2011-2021)
Including Variants
1 A body moves in a straight line such that, t s after passing through a fixed point O, its For
displacement from O is s m. The velocity v ms–1 of the body is such that v = 5cos4t. Examiner’s
Use

(i) Write down the velocity of the body as it passes through O. [1]

(ii) Find the value of t when the acceleration of the body is first equal to 10 ms–2. [4]

(iii) Find the value of s when t = 5. [4]

© UCLES 2011 4037/11/M/J/11 [Turn over

2 A particle moves in a straight line so that, t s after passing through a fixed point O, its velocity, For
60 .
v ms–1, is given by v = ––––––– Examiner’s
(3t + 4)2 Use

(i) Find the velocity of the particle as it passes through O. [1]

(ii) Find the acceleration of the particle when t = 2. [3]

(iii) Find an expression for the displacement of the particle from O, t s after it has passed
through O. [4]

© UCLES 2011 4037/22/M/J/11

3 A particle travels in a straight line so that, t s after passing through a fixed point O, its velocity, For

()
v ms–1, is given by v = 12cos t .
3
Examiner’s
Use

(i) Find the value of t when the velocity of the particle first equals 2 ms–1. [2]

(ii) Find the acceleration of the particle when t = 3. [3]

(iii) Find the distance of the particle from O when it first comes to instantaneous rest. [4]

© UCLES 2011 4037/22/O/N/11

4 A particle moves in a straight line so that, t s after passing through a fixed point O, its velocity, For
v ms–1, is given by v = 2t – 11 + 6 . Find the acceleration of the particle when it is at Examiner’s
t+1 Use
instantaneous rest. [7]

© UCLES 2012 4037/21/M/J/12 [Turn over

5 A particle P moves along the x-axis such that its distance, x m, from the origin O at time t s is For
Examiner’s
t
given by x = 2 for t  0. Use
t +1
(i) Find the greatest distance of P from O. [4]

(ii) Find the acceleration of P at the instant when P is at its greatest distance from O. [3]

© UCLES 2012 4037/13/O/N/12

6 The acceleration, a m s–2, of a particle, t s after passing through a fixed point O, is given by For
a = 4 – 2t, for t > 0. The particle, which moves in a straight line, passes through O with a Examiner’s
velocity of 12 m s–1. Use

(i) Find the value of t when the particle comes to instantaneous rest. [5]

(ii) Find the distance from O of the particle when it comes to instantaneous rest. [3]

© UCLES 2012 4037/22/O/N/12 [Turn over

7 AparticlePmovesinastraightlinesuchthat,tsafterleavingapointO,itsvelocityvms–1is For
givenbyv=36t–3t2fort H0. Examiner’s
Use

(i) FindthevalueoftwhenthevelocityofPstopsincreasing. [2]

(ii) FindthevalueoftwhenPcomestoinstantaneousrest. [2]

(iii) FindthedistanceofPfromOwhenPisatinstantaneousrest. [3]

©UCLES2013 4037/12/M/J/13
 (iv) FindthespeedofPwhenP isagainatO. [4] For
Examiner’s
Use

©UCLES2013 4037/12/M/J/13
8
For
v ms–1 Examiner’s
Use
16

O 5 20 24 ts

The velocity-time graph represents the motion of a particle moving in a straight line.

(i) Find the acceleration during the first 5 seconds. [1]

(ii) Find the length of time for which the particle is travelling with constant velocity. [1]

(iii) Find the total distance travelled by the particle. [3]

© UCLES 2013 4037/21/M/J/13

9 (a) The diagram shows the velocity-time graph of a particle P moving in a straight line with velocity
v ms -1at time t s after leaving a fixed point.

v ms–1
15

10

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 t s
Find the distance travelled by the particle P . [2]

(b) The diagram shows the displacement-time graph of a particle Q moving in a straight line with
displacement s m from a fixed point at time t s.
sm
20

15

10

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 t s

© UCLES 2014 4037/11/M/J/14

 On the axes below, plot the corresponding velocity-time graph for the particle Q. [3]

v ms–1
3

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 t s

(c) The displacement s m of a particle R, which is moving in a straight line, from a fixed point at
time t s is given by s = 4t - 16 ln ^t + 1h + 13.

(i) Find the value of t for which the particle R is instantaneously at rest. [3]

(ii) Find the value of t for which the acceleration of the particle R is 0.25ms -2 . [2]

© UCLES 2014 4037/11/M/J/14 [Turn over

10 A particle moving in a straight line passes through a fixed point O. The displacement, x metres, of the
particle, t seconds after it passes through O, is given by x = t + 2 sin t.

(i) Find an expression for the velocity, v ms -1 , at time t. [2]

When the particle is first at instantaneous rest, find

(ii) the value of t, [2]

(iii) its displacement and acceleration. [3]

© UCLES 2014 4037/22/O/N/14

11 A particle moves in a straight line such that its displacement, x m, from a fixed point O after t s, is
given by x = 10 ln ^t 2 + 4h - 4t .

(i) Find the initial displacement of the particle from O. [1]

(ii) Find the values of t when the particle is instantaneously at rest. [4]

© UCLES 2015 4037/12/M/J/15

 (iii) Find the value of t when the acceleration of the particle is zero. [5]

© UCLES 2015 4037/12/M/J/15 [Turn over

12 A particle P is projected from the origin O so that it moves in a straight line. At time t seconds after
projection, the velocity of the particle, v ms–1, is given by v = 2t 2 - 14t + 12 .

(i) Find the time at which P first comes to instantaneous rest. [2]

(ii) Find an expression for the displacement of P from O at time t seconds. [3]

(iii) Find the acceleration of P when t = 3. [2]

© UCLES 2015 4037/21/M/J/15

13 A particle is moving in a straight line such that its velocity, vms–1, t seconds after passing a
fixedpointOisv = e 2t - 6e -2t - 1.

(i) Findanexpressionforthedisplacement,sm,fromOoftheparticle aftert seconds. [3]

(ii) Usingthesubstitutionu = e 2t , orotherwise,findthetimewhentheparticleisatrest. [3]

(iii) Findtheaccelerationatthistime. [2]

©UCLES2015 4037/22/O/N/15
14 The velocity, v ms -1 , of a particle travelling in a straight line, t seconds after passing through a fixed
10
point O, is given by v = .
(2 + t) 2
(i) Find the acceleration of the particle when t = 3. [3]

(ii) Explain why the particle never comes to rest. [1]

(iii) Find an expression for the displacement of the particle from O after time t s. [3]

(iv) Find the distance travelled by the particle between t = 3 and t = 8. [2]

© UCLES 2015 4037/23/O/N/15

15 (a)

v ms–1

30

20

10

O 10 20 30 40 50 60 ts

The diagram shows the velocity-time graph of a particle P moving in a straight line with velocity
v ms–1 at time t s after leaving a fixed point.

(i) Find the distance travelled by the particle P. [2]

(ii) Write down the deceleration of the particle when t = 30. [1]

© UCLES 2016 4037/12/M/J/16

 (b) The diagram shows a velocity-time graph of a particle Q moving in a straight line with velocity
v ms–1, at time t s after leaving a fixed point.

v ms–1
6

O 5 10 15 20 t s

The displacement of Q at time t s is s m. On the axes below, draw the corresponding

displacement-time graph for Q. [2]

sm

90

60

30

O 5 10 15 20 t s

Question 11(c) is printed on the next page.

© UCLES 2016 4037/12/M/J/16

 (c) The velocity, v ms–1, of a particle R moving in a straight line, t s after passing through a fixed
point O, is given by v = 4e 2t + 6 .

(i) Explain why the particle is never at rest. [1]

(ii) Find the exact value of t for which the acceleration of R is 12 ms–2. [2]

(iii) Showing all your working, find the distance travelled by R in the interval between t = 0.4
and t = 0.5. [4]

© UCLES 2016 4037/12/M/J/16

16 (a)

v ms–1

U
2

0 20 30 ts

The diagram shows part of the velocity-time graph for a particle, moving at v ms -1 in a straight
line, t s after passing through a fixed point. The particle travels at U ms -1 for 20 s and then
U
decelerates uniformly for 10 s to a velocity of ms -1 . In this 30 s interval, the particle travels
2
165 m.

(i) Find the value of U. [3]

(ii) Find the acceleration of the particle between t = 20 and t = 30. [2]

© UCLES 2016 4037/12/O/N/16

 (b) A particle P travels in a straight line such that, t s after passing through a fixed point O, its
J t2 N3
-1
velocity, v ms , is given by v = e - 4O .
K 8

L P
(i) Find the speed of P at O. [1]

(ii) Find the value of t for which P is instantaneously at rest. [2]

(iii) Find the acceleration of P when t = 1. [4]

© UCLES 2016 4037/12/O/N/16

17 A particle moving in a straight line has a velocity of v ms–1 such that, t s after leaving a fixed point,
v = 4t 2 - 8t + 3.

(i) Find the acceleration of the particle when t = 3. [2]

(ii) Find the values of t for which the particle is momentarily at rest. [2]

(iii) Find the total distance the particle has travelled when t = 1.5. [5]

© UCLES 2016 4037/13/O/N/16

18 A particle P moves in a straight line, such that its displacement, x m, from a fixed point O, t s after
passing O, is given by x = 4 cos (3t) - 4 .

(i) Find the velocity of P at time t. [1]

(ii) Hence write down the maximum speed of P. [1]

(iii) Find the smallest value of t for which the acceleration of P is zero. [3]

(iv) For the value of t found in part (iii), find the distance of P from O. [1]

© UCLES 2017 4037/12/M/J/17

19 (a)

xm

60

40

20

0 10 20 30 ts

The diagram shows the displacement-time graph of a particle P which moves in a straight line
such that, t s after leaving a fixed point O, its displacement from O is x m. On the axes below, draw
the velocity-time graph of P.

velocity
ms–1
6

0 10 20 30 ts

[3]

© UCLES 2017 4037/12/O/N/17

 (b) A particle Q moves in a straight line such that its velocity, v ms–1, t s after passing through a fixed
3t
point O, is given by v = 3e -5t + , for t H 0.
2
(i) Find the velocity of Q when t = 0. [1]

(ii) Find the value of t when the acceleration of Q is zero. [3]

(iii) Find the distance of Q from O when t = 0.5. [4]

© UCLES 2017 4037/12/O/N/17

20 A particle moving in a straight line passes through a fixed point O. Its velocity, v ms -1 , t s after passing
through O, is given by v = 3 cos 2t - 1 for t H 0 .

(i) Find the value of t when the particle is first at rest. [2]

r
(ii) Find the displacement from O of the particle when t = . [3]
4

(iii) Find the acceleration of the particle when it is first at rest. [3]

© UCLES 2017 4037/23/O/N/17

21 A particle P moves so that its displacement, x metres from a fixed point O, at time t seconds, is given by
x = ln (5t + 3) .

(i) Find the value of t when the displacement of P is 3m. [2]

(ii) Find the velocity of P when t = 0. [2]

(iii) Explain why, after passing through O, the velocity of P is never negative. [1]

(iv) Find the acceleration of P when t = 0. [2]

© UCLES 2018 4037/12/M/J/18

22
v ms–1

10

O 4 k k+6 ts

The velocity-time graph represents the motion of a particle travelling in a straight line.

(i) Find the acceleration during the last 6 seconds of the motion. [1]

(ii) The particle travels with constant velocity for 23 seconds. Find the value of k. [1]

(iii) Using your answer to part (ii), find the total distance travelled by the particle. [3]

© UCLES 2019 4037/21/M/J/19

23 The velocity, v m s−1, of a particle travelling in a straight line, t seconds after passing through a fixed
4
point O, is given by v = 3.
`t + 1j
(i) Explain why the direction of motion of the particle never changes. [1]

(ii) Showing all your working, find the acceleration of the particle when t = 5 . [3]

(iii) Find an expression for the displacement of the particle from O after t seconds. [3]

(iv) Find the distance travelled by the particle in the fourth second. [2]

© UCLES 2019 4037/22/M/J/19

24 (a) A particle P moves in a straight line such that its displacement, x m, from a fixed point O at time t s
is given by x = 10 sin 2t - 5.

(i) Find the speed of P when t = r . [1]

(ii) Find the value of t for which P is first at rest. [2]

(iii) Find the acceleration of P when it is first at rest. [2]

© UCLES 2020 4037/12/M/J/20

 (b)
v ms–1
V

0 5 10 15 20 25 ts

The diagram shows the velocity–time graph for a particle Q travelling in a straight line with
velocity v ms-1 at time t s. The particle accelerates at 3.5 ms-2 for the first 10 s of its motion and
then travels at constant velocity, V ms-1, for 10 s. The particle then decelerates at a constant rate
and comes to rest. The distance travelled during the interval 20 G t G 25 is 112.5 m.

(i) Find the value of V. [1]

(ii) Find the velocity of Q when t = 25. [3]

(iii) Find the value of t when Q comes to rest. [3]

© UCLES 2020 4037/12/M/J/20

25 A particle travels in a straight line. As it passes through a fixed point O, the particle is travelling at a
velocity of 3 ms–1. The particle continues at this velocity for 60 seconds then decelerates at a constant
rate for 15 seconds to a velocity of 1.6 ms–1. The particle then decelerates again at a constant rate for
5 seconds to reach point A, where it stops.

(a) Sketch the velocity-time graph for this journey on the axes below. [3]

v ms–1

O ts

(b) Find the distance between O and A. [3]

(c) Find the deceleration in the last 5 seconds. [1]

© UCLES 2020 4037/21/M/J/20

26 (a)
v ms–1
V

30

0 20 60 90 ts

The diagram shows the velocity–time graph of a particle P that travels 2775 m in 90 s, reaching a
final velocity of V ms -1 .

(i) Find the value of V. [3]

(ii) Write down the acceleration of P when t = 40 . [1]

© UCLES 2020 4037/12/O/N/20

 (b) The acceleration, a ms -2 , of a particle Q travelling in a straight line, is given by a = 6 cos 2t at
time t s. When t = 0 the particle is at point O and is travelling with a velocity of 10 ms -1 .

(i) Find the velocity of Q at time t. [3]

(ii) Find the displacement of Q from O at time t. [3]

© UCLES 2020 4037/12/O/N/20

27 (a)

xm
150

100

50

0 50 65 85 125 ts

The diagram shows the x–t graph for a runner, where displacement, x, is measured in metres and
time, t, is measured in seconds.

(i) On the axes below, draw the v–t graph for the runner. [3]

v ms–1

4
3
2
1

0 50 65 85 125 ts
-1
-2
-3
-4

(ii) Find the total distance covered by the runner in 125 s. [1]

© UCLES 2020 4037/13/O/N/20

 (b) The displacement, x m, of a particle from a fixed point at time t s is given by x = 6 cos b3t + l.
r
3
2r
Find the acceleration of the particle when t = . [3]
3

© UCLES 2020 4037/13/O/N/20

28 A particle moves in a straight line so that, t seconds after passing through a fixed point O, its velocity,
v ms -1 , is given by v = 3t 2 - 30t + 72 .

(a) Find the distance between the particle’s two positions of instantaneous rest. [6]

(b) Find the acceleration of the particle when t = 2 . [2]

© UCLES 2021 4037/22/M/J/21 [Turn over

 14

11 In this question all lengths are in kilometres and time is in hours.

A particle P moves in a straight line such that its displacement, s, from a fixed point at time t is given by
s = (t + 2) (t - 5) 2 , for t H 0 .

(a) Find the values of t for which the velocity of P is zero. [4]

(b) On the axes, draw the displacement–time graph for P for 0 G t G 6 , stating the coordinates of the
points where the graph meets the coordinate axes. [2]

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 t

© UCLES 2022 4037/12/M/J/22

 15

(c) On the axes below, draw the velocity–time graph for P for 0 G t G 6 , stating the coordinates of the
points where the graph meets the coordinate axes. [2]

velocity

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 t

(d) (i) Write down an expression for the acceleration of P at time t. [1]

(ii) Hence, on the axes below, draw the acceleration–time graph for P for 0 G t G 6 , stating the
coordinates of the points where the graph meets the coordinate axes. [2]

acceleration

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 t

© UCLES 2022 4037/12/M/J/22

 A
n
s
w
e
r
s
1.(i)5 12.(i)𝑡 = 1 20.(i) 𝑡 = 0.615
!" #' )$' !
(ii)𝑡 = (ii) & − + 12𝑡 (ii)0.715
#$ #

(iii)𝑠 = 1.14 (iii)−5.66

(iii)−2
2.(i)3.75 ) 21.(i)𝑡 = 3.41
13. (i)𝑠 = # 𝑒 #' + 3𝑒 +#' − 𝑡 − 3.5
(ii)−0.36 (ii)1.67
)
(ii)𝑡 = # 𝑙𝑛3
#% (iii)𝑡 > 0, 𝑠𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑠 (+𝑣𝑒)
(iii)5 − &'($
(iii)10 (iv)−2.78
3.(i)4.21 +#
14.(i)𝑎 = −0.16𝑚𝑠 )%
22.(i)−
(ii)−3.36 )%
*
(iii)𝑠 = '(# + 5
(iii)36 (ii)27

))
(iv)1 (iii)280
4. *
15a.(i) 1275 )#
) 23.(ii)𝑎 = −
('())"
5.(i)𝑥 =
# (ii)1.5
#
(ii)−0.5 (iii)𝑠 = − ('())! + 2
c.(i) 𝑒 #' 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 (+𝑣𝑒)
.
6.(i)𝑡 = 6 & (iv)#%%
(ii)𝑙𝑛E
#
(ii)𝑠 = 72 24a.(i) 𝑣 = 20
7. (i)𝑡 = 6 (iii)1.59 "
(ii)𝑡 = $
(ii)𝑡 = 12 16a.(i)𝑢 = 6
(iii)−40
(iii)𝑠 = 864 (ii)−0.3
b.(i) 𝑣 = 35
(iv)324 b.(i)27
(ii)𝑣 = 10
8. (i)3.2 (ii)3.33
(iii)𝑡 = 27
(ii)15 (iii)𝑎 = 6.98
25b. 2185
(iii)312 17.(i) 𝑎 = 16
c. 0.32
9a. 480 (ii)0.5,1.5
$ 26a.(i)𝑣 = 55
c.(i)𝑡 = 3 (iii)&
(ii)0
(ii) 𝑡 = 7 18.(i)−12 sin 3𝑡
b.(i)𝑣 = 3 sin 2𝑡 + 10
10.(i)𝑣 = 2 cos 𝑡 + 1 (ii)12 & &
(ii)𝑠 = − # cos 2𝑡 + 10𝑡 + #
#"
(ii)𝑡 = (iii)0.524
&
27a.(ii) 300
(iv)4
(iii)𝑎 = −√3
27b. -27
19b.(i)3
11.(i)𝑥 = 13.9
28a. 4𝑚
(ii)𝑡 = 0.461
(ii)𝑡 = 4, 𝑡 = 1
b. −18𝑚𝑠 +#
(iii)0.738
(iii)𝑡 = 2
23.(ii)15.3
(iii)9.58 − 9.59
12.(ii)48.7
24.(i) 1.48