AP Physics C Multiple Choice Practice – Kinematics

1 An object slides off a roof 10 meters above the ground with an initial horizontal speed of 5 meters per second as
shown above. The time between the object's leaving the roof and hitting the ground is most nearly
1 1
(A) 2 s (B) 2s (C) 2 s (D) 2 s (E) 5 2 s

Questions 2-3

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.

2 Which of the following is true at time t = 20 seconds?

3 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?
(A) Car Y is behind car X. (B) Car Y is passing car X. (C) Car Y is in front of car X.
(D) Both cars have the same acceleration. (E) Car X is accelerating faster than car Y.

4 A body moving in the positive x direction passes the origin at time t = 0. Between t = 0 and t = 1 second, the
body has a constant speed of 24 meters per second. At t = 1 second, the body is given a constant acceleration of
6 meters per second squared in the negative x direction. The position x of the body at t = 11 seconds is
(A) +99 m (B) +36 m (C) -36 m (D) -75 m (E) -99 m

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5 Which of the following pairs of graphs shows the distance traveled versus time and the speed versus time for an
object uniformly accelerated from rest?
Distance Speed Distance Speed
(A) (B)

t t t t
o o o o
Speed Distance Speed
Distance
(C) (D)

t t t
t o
o o o
Distance Speed
(E)

t t
o o

6 An object released from rest at time t = 0 slides down a frictionless incline a distance of 1 meter during the first
second. The distance traveled by the object during the time interval from t = 1 second to t = 2 seconds is
(A) 1 m (B) 2 m (C) 3 m (D) 4m (E) 5 m

7 Two people are in a boat that is capable of a maximum speed of 5 kilometers per hour in still water, and wish to
cross a river 1 kilometer wide to a point directly across from their starting point. If the speed of the water in
the river is 5 kilometers per hour, how much time is required for the crossing?
(A) 0.05 hr (B) 0.1 hr (C) 1 hr (D) 10 hr
(E) The point directly across from the starting point cannot be reached under these conditions.

8 Vectors V 1 and V 2 shown above have equal magnitudes. The vectors represent the velocities of an object at
times t 1 , and t 2 , respectively. The average acceleration of the object between time t 1 and t 2 was
(A) zero (B) directed north (C) directed west (D) directed north of east (E) directed north of west

9 A projectile is fired from the surface of the Earth with a speed of 200 meters per second at an angle of 30°
above the horizontal. If the ground is level, what is the maximum height reached by the projectile?
(A) 5 m (B) 10 m (C) 500 m (D) 1,000 m (E) 2,000 m

10 A particle moves along the x-axis with a nonconstant acceleration described by a = 12t, where a is in meters per
second squared and t is in seconds. If the particle starts from rest so that its speed v and position x are zero
when t = 0, where is it located when t = 2 seconds?
(A) x = 12 m (B) x = 16m (C) x = 24 m (D) x = 32 m (E) x = 48 m

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Questions 11-12
An object moving in a straight line has a velocity v in meters per second that varies with time t in seconds according
to the following function. v = 4 + 0.5 t2

11 The instantaneous acceleration of the object at t = 2 seconds is

12 The displacement of the object between t = 0 and t = 6 seconds is

13 A rock is dropped from the top of a 45-meter tower, and at the same time a ball is thrown from the top of the
tower in a horizontal direction. Air resistance is negligible. The ball and the rock hit the level ground a
distance of 30 meters apart. The horizontal velocity of the ball thrown was most nearly
(A) 5 m/s (B) 10 m/s (C) 14.1 m/s (D) 20 m/s (E) 28.3 m/s

14 In the absence of air friction, an object dropped near the surface of the Earth experiences a constant acceleration
of about 9.8 m/s2. This means that the
(A) speed of the object increases 9.8 m/s during each second
(B) speed of the object as it falls is 9.8 m/s
(C) object falls 9.8 meters during each second
(D) object falls 9.8 meters during the first second only
(E) derivative of the distance with respect to time for the object equals 9.8 m/s2

15 A 500-kilogram sports car accelerates uniformly from rest, reaching a speed of 30 meters per second in 6
seconds. During the 6 seconds, the car has traveled a distance of
(A) 15 m (B) 30 m (C) 60 m (D) 90 m (E) 180 m

16 At a particular instant, a stationary observer on the ground sees a package falling with speed v1 at an angle to
the vertical. To a pilot flying horizontally at constant speed relative to the ground, the package appears to be
falling vertically with a speed v2 at that instant. What is the speed of the pilot relative to the ground?
2 2
(A) v 1 + v 2 (B) v 1 – v 2 (C) v 2 – v 1 (D) v1 − v 2 (E)
2
v1 + v 2
2

17 An object is shot vertically upward into the air with a positive initial velocity. Which of the following correctly
describes the velocity and acceleration of the object at its maximum elevation?
Velocity Acceleration
(A) Positive Positive
(B) Zero Zero
(C) Negative Negative
(D) Zero Negative
(E) Positive Negative

18 A spring-loaded gun can fire a projectile to a height h if it is fired straight up. If the same gun is pointed at an
angle of 45° from the vertical, what maximum height can now be reached by the projectile?
h h
(A) h/4 (B) (C) h/2 (D) (E) h
2 2 2

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19 The velocity of a projectile at launch has a horizontal component vh and a vertical component vv. Air resistance
is negligible. When the projectile is at the highest point of its trajectory, which of the following show the
vertical and horizontal components of its velocity and the vertical component of its acceleration?
Vertical Horizontal Vertical
Velocity Velocity Acceleration
(A) vv vh 0
(B) vv 0 0
(C) 0 vh 0
(D) 0 0 g
(E) 0 vh g

20. The graph above shows the velocity v as a function of time t for an object moving in a straight line. Which of
the following graphs shows the corresponding displacement x as a function of time t for the same time interval?

21. A target T lies flat on the ground 3 m from the side of a building that is 10 m tall, as shown above. A student
rolls a ball off the horizontal roof of the building in the direction of the target. Air resistance is negligible. The
horizontal speed with which the ball must leave the roof if it is to strike the target is most nearly
3 5
(A) 3/10 m/s (B) 2 m/s (C) m/s (D) 3 m/s (E) 10 m/s
2 3

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22 The graph above shows velocity v versus time t for an object in linear motion. Which of the following is a
possible graph of position x versus time t for this object?

23 An object is dropped from rest from the top of a 400 m cliff on Earth. If air resistance is negligible, what is the
distance the object travels during the first 6 s of its fall?
(A) 30 m (B) 60 m (C) 120 m (D) 180 m (E) 360 m

24 The position of an object is given by the equation x = 3.0 t2 + 1.5 t + 4.5, where x is in meters and t is in
seconds. What is the instantaneous acceleration of the object at t = 3.0 s?
(A) 3.0 m/s2 (B) 6.0 m/s2 (C) 9.0 m/s2 (D) 19.5 m/s2 (E) 36 m/s2

25 A student is testing the kinematic equations for uniformly accelerated motion by measuring the time it takes for
light-weight plastic balls to fall to the floor from a height of 3 m in the lab. The student predicts the time to fall
using g as 9.80 m/s2 but finds the measured time to be 35% greater. Which of the following is the most likely
cause of the large percent error?
(A) The acceleration due to gravity is 70% greater than 9.80 m/s2 at this location.
(B) The acceleration due to gravity is 70% less than 9.80 m/s2 at this location.
(C) Air resistance increases the downward acceleration.
(D) The acceleration of the plastic balls is not uniform.
(E) The plastic balls are not truly spherical.

26 An object is thrown with velocity v from the edge of a cliff above level ground. Neglect air resistance. In order
for the object to travel a maximum horizontal distance from the cliff before hitting the ground, the throw should
be at an angle θ with respect to the horizontal of
(A) greater than 60° above the horizontal
(B) greater than 45° but less than 60° above the horizontal
(C) greater than zero but less than 45° above the horizontal
(D) zero
(E) greater than zero but less than 45° below the horizontal

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Questions 27-28
Starting from rest, a vehicle accelerates on a straight level road at the rate of 4.0 m/s2 for 5.0 s.

27 What is the speed of the vehicle at the end of this time interval?
(A) 1.3 m/s (B) 10 m/s (C) 20 m/s (D) 80 m/s (E) 100 m/s

28 What is the total distance the vehicle travels during this time interval?
(A) 10 m (B) 20 m (C) 25 m (D) 40 m (E) 50 m

29 An object is thrown vertically upward in a region where g is constant and air resistance is negligible. Its speed is
recorded from the moment it leaves the thrower's hand until it reaches its maximum height. Which of the
following graphs best represents the object's speed υ versus time t ?

(A) (B) (C)

(D) (E)

30 If air resistance is negligible, the speed of a 2 kg sphere that falls from rest through a vertical displacement of
0.2 m is most nearly
(A) 1 m/s (B) 2m/s (C) 3 m/s (D) 4 m/s (E) 5 m/s

31 A projectile is launched from level ground with an initial speed υ0 at an angle θ with the horizontal. If air
resistance is negligible, how long will the projectile remain in the air?
(A) 2v 0 / g (B) 2v 0 cos θ / g (C) v 0 cos θ / g (D) v 0 sin θ / g (E) 2v 0 sin θ / g

32 An object of unknown mass is initially at rest and dropped from a height h. It reaches the ground with a velocity
v 1 . The same object is then raised again to the same height h but this time is thrown downward with velocity υ 1
It now reaches the ground with a new velocity υ 2 . How is v 2 related to v 1 ?
(A) v 2 = v 1 /2 (Β) v 2 = v 1 (C) v 2 = v1 (D) v 2 = 2v 1 (E) v 2 = 4v 1

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AP Physics C Free Response Practice – Kinematics

1 2
1983M1. A particle moves along the parabola with equation y = x shown above.
2
a. Suppose the particle moves so that the x-component of its velocity has the constant value v x = C; that is, x = Ct
i. On the diagram above, indicate the directions of the particle's velocity vector v and acceleration vector a at
point R, and label each vector.
ii. Determine the y-component of the particle's velocity as a function of x.
iii. Determine the y-component of the particle's acceleration.
b. Suppose, instead, that the particle moves along the same parabola with a velocity whose x-component is given
by v x = C/(1+x²)½
i. Show that the particle's speed is constant in this case.
ii. On the diagram below, indicate the directions of the particle's velocity vector v and acceleration
vector a at point S, and label each vector. State the reasons for your choices.

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