Practice Acceleration in Physics

Use these practice problems to test your method after reviewing the concept explanation and worked examples.

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Quick Recap

The rate at which an object's velocity changes over time, measured in metres per second squared (m/s²).

How quickly your speed (or direction) is changing. The 'push back' you feel when a car speeds up.

Showing a random 20 of 50 problems.

Example 1

challenge
A drag racer accelerates uniformly from rest and covers 400  m400\;\text{m} in 8.0  s8.0\;\text{s}. Find (a) the acceleration and (b) the top speed.

Example 2

easy
A car accelerates from 10 m/s10 \text{ m/s} to 30 m/s30 \text{ m/s} in 5 s5 \text{ s}. What is the acceleration?

Example 3

easy
An object near Earth's surface is in free fall. What is its acceleration?

Example 4

hard
A car accelerates from rest at a1=3  m/s2a_1=3\;\text{m/s}^2 for 4  s4\;\text{s}, then at a2=2  m/s2a_2=2\;\text{m/s}^2 for 6  s6\;\text{s}. Find its final velocity and total distance traveled.

Example 5

medium
A roller coaster speeds up uniformly from 5  m/s5\;\text{m/s} to 25  m/s25\;\text{m/s} over 40  m40\;\text{m}. Find the acceleration.

Example 6

medium
An object starts from rest and accelerates at 3 m/s23 \text{ m/s}^2 for 8 s8 \text{ s}. What is the final velocity and distance traveled?

Example 7

medium
A cyclist accelerates uniformly from 4 m/s4 \text{ m/s} to 12 m/s12 \text{ m/s} over 8 seconds8 \text{ seconds}. (a) What is the acceleration? (b) How far does the cyclist travel during this time?

Example 8

easy
Define acceleration in one sentence and state its SI units.

Example 9

hard
An elevator accelerates upward at 1.5  m/s21.5\;\text{m/s}^2. A passenger of mass 70  kg70\;\text{kg} stands on a bathroom scale. What reading does the scale show? (Use g=9.8  m/s2g = 9.8\;\text{m/s}^2.)

Example 10

easy
An object's velocity is zero but its acceleration is nonzero. Give one physical example.

Example 11

medium
From rest at a=6a=6 m/s2^2, find the distance after 22 s.

Example 12

easy
A car cruises at a steady 30  m/s30\;\text{m/s} down a straight highway. What is its acceleration?

Example 13

easy
An object's acceleration is constant at −3  m/s2-3\;\text{m/s}^2 while moving at +12  m/s+12\;\text{m/s}. Find the velocity 2 s later.

Example 14

medium
A car accelerates uniformly from 55 m/s to 2525 m/s in 44 s. Find the distance covered.

Example 15

medium
A car at 88 m/s accelerates at 22 m/s2^2 for 55 s. Find its final velocity.

Example 16

medium
A bike at 10  m/s10\;\text{m/s} accelerates at 1.5  m/s21.5\;\text{m/s}^2 for 6  s6\;\text{s}. Find the distance traveled.

Example 17

hard
Two sprinters start side-by-side. Sprinter A accelerates from rest at 2  m/s22\;\text{m/s}^2; sprinter B starts 1.5  s1.5\;\text{s} later from rest at 3  m/s23\;\text{m/s}^2. When does B catch A?

Example 18

easy
A car slows from 3030 m/s to 1010 m/s in 55 s. Find its acceleration.

Example 19

challenge
An object moves in a circle of radius 2  m2\;\text{m} at a constant speed of 4  m/s4\;\text{m/s}. Find its acceleration.

Example 20

medium
On a velocity-time graph, a straight line rises from 4  m/s4\;\text{m/s} at t=0t=0 to 14  m/s14\;\text{m/s} at t=5  st=5\;\text{s}. Find the acceleration and the distance covered.
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