What is the difference between distance and displacement?
Distance = total path length (scalar), Displacement = change in position (vector)
Define speed
Rate of change of distance (scalar)
What is acceleration?
The rate of change of velocity
What does the slope of a position–time graph represent?
Velocity
What is the acceleration due to gravity on Earth?
~9.8 m/s² downward
An object moves 5 m east, then 3 m west. What is its displacement?
+2 m east
Define velocity
Rate of change of displacement (vector, includes direction)
A jet turns left at a constant 800 mph. Is it accelerating? Why?
Yes, because its direction is changing
What does the slope of a velocity–time graph represent?
acceleration
Write the equation for final velocity with constant acceleration
vf=vi+aΔt
A skateboarder starts at –4 m and ends at +3 m. What is the displacement?
+7 m
A whale swims 8 m/s for 17 s. How far does it travel?
136 m
A roller coaster speeds up from 4 m/s to 22 m/s in 3 s. What is its acceleration?
6 m/s²
On a v–t graph, what does a flat line above the x-axis mean?
Constant positive velocity
Write the equation for displacement with constant acceleration.
x=x0+vit+(1/2)at2
A runner begins at x = –2 m and moves to x = +5 m. What is their final position relative to the origin?
+5 m (5 m to the right of the origin)
A student walks 4 m east, then 4 m west in 8 s. What is their average speed and velocity?
Speed = 1 m/s, Velocity = 0 m/s
A car slows from 20 m/s to 5 m/s in 2 s. What is the acceleration?
–7.5 m/s²
A v–t graph shows a sloping line downward toward zero. What does this represent?
Deceleration (negative acceleration)
A car starts from rest and accelerates at 2 m/s² for 4 s. How far does it travel?
16 m
A skateboarder starts at –3.5 m, skates to +6.2 m, then back to +1.3 m.
What is the net displacement and the total distance traveled?
Displacement = +4.8 m, Distance = 14.6 m
A student moves 304 m north in 180 s. What is their average velocity?
1.7 m/s north
A Ferrari accelerates from 10 m/s at 50 m/s² for 3 s. What is its final velocity?
160 m/s
On a v–t graph, what does the area under the curve represent?
displacement
A ball is dropped from rest. How fast is it moving after 2 s?
19.6 m/s2