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Year 10 Science — Distance, displacement, speed and velocity

Separate distance from displacement and speed from velocity, work out average speed, average velocity and average acceleration, and say what stays fixed in uniform circular motion.

Name: ________________________

Before you start

Slide along the track. The starting line sits at 0 and the far end at 100.

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Positions to the right of the starting line count as positive. A runner who goes out to 100 and comes back to 40 has covered a long path but ended up 40 from where she started.

  1. 1.A coach drives down a straight motorway at a steady 25 m/s for half an hour. What is its acceleration over that half hour?

    • a) 25 m/s², because that is how fast it is going
    • b) Large, because it covers a lot of ground
    • c) Impossible to tell without knowing the mass of the coach
    • d) Zero, because its velocity is not changing

  2. 2.Sort each quantity by whether stating it takes a direction as well as a number.

    Groups: Number on its own · Number and a direction

    • Total distance travelled
    • Displacement
    • Average speed
    • Average acceleration
    • Average velocity

  3. 3.A walker's displacement is 240 m due north, made in 60 s. What is the magnitude of his average velocity, in m/s? Answer with a number.

  4. 4.A child on a merry-go-round rides exactly once round the circle and stops where she got on. What is the magnitude of her displacement, in metres? Answer with a number.

  5. 5.A stone is dropped from a height. Put its speeds in order, starting from 0 m/s, at the instant it is released.

    • 0 m/s, at the instant it is released
    • 29.4 m/s, after three seconds
    • 9.8 m/s, one second later
    • 19.6 m/s, after two seconds

  6. 6.A train speeds up from 8 m/s to 20 m/s in 6 s. What is the magnitude of its average acceleration, in m/s²? Answer with a number.

  7. 7.A cyclist rides round a circular track at a steady 8 m/s. What is happening to her velocity?

    • a) Its magnitude keeps changing while its direction stays fixed
    • b) Both its direction and its magnitude stay fixed
    • c) Its direction keeps changing while its magnitude stays fixed
    • d) It falls to zero each time she completes a lap

  8. 8.A cyclist covers 300 m of path in 60 s. What is her average speed, in m/s? Answer with a number.

Answer key — Year 10 Science — Distance, displacement, speed and velocity

  1. 1. d) Zero, because its velocity is not changing
  2. 2. Total distance travelled → Number on its own; Average speed → Number on its own; Displacement → Number and a direction; Average velocity → Number and a direction; Average acceleration → Number and a direction
  3. 3. 4
  4. 4. 0
  5. 5. 1. 0 m/s, at the instant it is released 2. 9.8 m/s, one second later 3. 19.6 m/s, after two seconds 4. 29.4 m/s, after three seconds
  6. 6. 2
  7. 7. c) Its direction keeps changing while its magnitude stays fixed
  8. 8. 5