Problems based on distance and displacement

Basic level
1.

A body moves 6 m north. 8 m east and 10m vertically upwards, what is its resultant displacement from initial position
(a) 10 2m

2.

(b) 10m

(c)

10
2

[DCE 2000]

(d) 10 2m

An athlete completes one round of a circular track of radius R in 40 seconds. What will be his displacement at the end of 2 minutes 20
[NCERT 1990]
seconds
(a) Zero

(b) 2R

(c) 2R

(d) 7R

3.

A boy stops after travelling 3 km towards east and then goes 4 km towards north along a plane road. The resultant displacement of the
boy is

4.

If the displacement of a particle is zero, then what can we say about its distance covered

(a) 7 km
(a) It must be zero
5.

(b) 4 km
(b) It cannot be zero

(c) 5 km
(c) It is negative

(d) 15 km
(d) It may or may not be zero

The location of a particle has changed. What can we say about the displacement and the distance covered by the particle
(a) Both cannot be zero

(b) One of the two may be zero

(c) Both must be zero

(d) If one is positive, the other is negative and vice versa

Advance level
6.

A particle moves along a circular arc of radius R making an angle of at centre. The magnitude of displacement is
(a)

2R sin / 2

(b)

2R sin

(c)

R sin / 2

(d)

R sin

Problems based on speed and velocity

Basic level
7.

The ratio of the numerical values of the average velocity and average speed of a body is always
(a) Unity

8.

(c) Unity or more

(d) Less than unity

A particle moves along a semicircle of radius 10m in 5 seconds. The velocity of the particle is
(a)

9.

(b) Unity or less

[MP PET 2002]

2 ms 1

(b)

4 ms 1

(c)

2 ms 1

[Kerala (Engg.) 2001]

(d) 4 ms 1

A 150 m long train is moving with a uniform velocity of 45 km/h. The time taken by the train to cross a bridge of length 850 meters is
[CBSE PMT 2001]

(a)
10.

56 sec

(b) 68 sec

(c) 80 sec

(d) 92 sec

A car moves for half of its time at 80 km / h and for rest half of time at 40 km / h. Total distance covered is 60 km. What is the average
[RPET 1996]
speed of the car
(a) 60 km / h

(b) 80 km / h

(c) 120 km / h

(d) 180 km / h

11.

A particle moves along x-axis in such a way that its coordinate x varies with time t according to the equation x = (2 5 t + 6 t 2 ) m.
[MNR 1987; MP PET 1996]
The initial velocity of the particle is

(a) 5 m/s
12.

(d) 3 m/s

(b) 60 km / hour

(c) 50 km / hour

(d) 48 km / hour

A car travels a distance S on a straight road in two hours and then returns to the starting point in the next three hours. Its average
velocity is
(a)

14.

(c) 3 m/s

A car travels a distance of 2000 m. If the first half distance is covered at 40 km / hour and the second half with speed v and the average
speed is 48 km / hour, then the value of v is
[CBSE PMT 1989]
(a) 56 km / hour

13.

(b) 6 m/s

S/5

(b)

(c)

2S / 5

S/2+ S/3

(d) None of the above

When a particle moves with uniform velocity, which of the following relations are correct
(I)

Average speed = average velocity

(II) Instantaneous speed = instantaneous velocity

(III) Distance covered = magnitude of displacement
(a) I, II, III
15.

(b) I, II

(c) II, III

(d) I, III

When a particle moves with variable velocity, which of the following statements are not correct
(I)

Average speed = average velocity

(II) Instantaneous speed = instantaneous velocity

(III) Distance covered = magnitude of displacement
(a) I, II,III
16.

(b) I, II

(c) II, III

A particle moves along the sides AB, BC, CD of a square of side 25 m with a velocity of 15 ms 1 . Its average velocity is
C

(a) 15 ms 1
17.

(d) I, III

(b) 10 ms 1

(c) 7.5 ms 1

(d) 5 ms 1

A body has speed V, 2V and 3V in first 1/3 of distance S, seconds 1/3 of S and third 1/3 of S respectively. Its average speed will be
(a) V

(b) 2V

(c)

18
V
11

(d)

11
V
18

Advance level
18.

A particle moving in a straight line covers half the distance with speed of 3 m/s. The other half of the distance is covered in two equal
time intervals with speed of 4.5 m / s and 7.5 m / s respectively. The average speed of the particle during this motion is [IIT-JEE 1992]
(a) 4.0 m / s

19.

(c) 5.5 m / s

(d) 4.8 m / s

If the body covers one-third distance at speed v1, next one third at speed v2 and last one third at speed v3, then average speed will be
(a)

20.

(b) 5.0 m / s

1 2 + 2 3 + 3 1
1 + 2 + 3

(b)

1 + 2 + 3
3

(c)

1 2 3
1 2 + 2 3 + 3 1

The displacement of the particle varies with time according to the relation x =
(a)

k (e bt )

(b)

k
2 bt

b e

(c)

(d)

31 2 3
1 2 + 2 3 + 3 1

k
[1 e bt ] . Then the velocity of the particle is
b

k b e bt

(d) None of these

21.

The displacement of a particle is given by

(a) It is zero

x = t + 1. Which of the following statements about its velocity is true

(b) It is constant but not zero

(c) It increases with time

(d) It decreases with time

Problems based on acceleration

Basic level
22.

A particle moves along a straight line such that its displacement at any time t is given by S = t 3 6 t 2 + 3t + 4 metres .The velocity
when the acceleration is zero is
(a)

23.

3 ms 1

[CBSE PMT 1994; JIPMER 2001, 02]

(b) 12 ms 1

(c) 42 ms 1

(d) 9 ms 1

A body is moving according to the equation x = at + bt 2 ct 3 where x = displacement and a, b and c are constants. The
acceleration of the body is

(a) a + 2bt
24.

(b) 2b + 6ct

(d) 3b 6ct 2

(c) 2b 6ct

The displacement is given by x = 2t 2 + t + 5, the acceleration at t = 2s is

(a) 4 m / s 2

25.

[BHU 2000]

(b) 8 m / s 2

[EAMCET (Engg.)1995]

(c) 10 m / s 2

(d) 15 m / s 2

The velocity of a body depends on time according to the equation v = 20 + 0.1t 2 . The body is undergoing
[MNR 1995; UPSEAT 2000]

(a) Uniform acceleration

26.

(b) Uniform retardation

(c) Non-uniform acceleration

(d) Zero acceleration

The displacement of a body is given to be proportional to the cube of time elapsed. The magnitude of the acceleration of the body is
[NCERT 1990]

(a) Increasing with time

27.

(b) Decreasing with time

(c) Constant but not zero

(d) Zero

The correct statement from the following is

[MP PET 1993]

(a) A body having zero velocity will not necessarily have zero acceleration
(b) A body having zero velocity will necessarily have zero acceleration
(c) A body having uniform speed can have only uniform acceleration
(d) A body having non-uniform velocity will have zero acceleration
28.

A particle moves along a straight line such that its displacement at any time t is given by s = t 3 3t 2 + 2 meter. The displacement
when the acceleration becomes zero is
[MP PMT 2001]
(a) 0 meter

29.

(b) 2 meter

(c) 3 meter

(d) 2 meter

What is the angle between instantaneous displacement and acceleration during the retarded motion
(a) Zero

(b)

(c)

(d)

Advance level
30.

The acceleration of a particle starting from rest, varies with time according to the relation A = a2 sint. The displacement of this
particle at a time t will be
(a)

31.

1
a 2 sin t t 2
2

(b) a sin t

(c)

a cos t

(d) a sin t

If the velocity of a particle is (10 + 2t2) m/s, then the average acceleration of the particle between 2s and 5 s is
(a)

2 m/s 2

(b)

4 m/s 2

(c)

12 m/s 2

(d) 14 m/s 2

Problems based on position time graph

Basic level
32.

The displacement versus time graph for a body moving in a straight line in shown in figure. Which of the following regions represents
the motion when no force is acting on the body
[NCERT 1971]
e

x
d

(a) ab

(b) bc
(c) cd

(d) de

Time

(b)

(c)

(d)

Which of the following displacement time graphs is not possible

(a)

(b)

36.

Time

Which of the following can not be the distance time graph

(a)

35.

(d)

Time

Time

34.

(c)

Displacement

(b)

Displacement

(a)

Displacement

A car dealcelerates at a constant rate during a period commencing at t = 0. Which of the displacement time graphs represents the
displacement of the car
Displacement

33.

(c)

(d)

The graph between the displacement x and time t for a particle moving in a straight line is shown in figure. During the interval OA, AB,
[CPMT 1986]
BC and CD, the acceleration of the particle is
OA AB BC
(a) +
(b)

0
0

CD

(c) +

(d)

x
C
A

37.

The xt graph in figure represents

Displacement

(a) Constant velocity

(b) Velocity of the body continuously changing
(c) Instantaneous velocity

t1

(d) The body travels with constant speed upto time t1 and then stops

Time (t)

Problems based on velocity time graph

Basic level
38.

An object is moving with a uniform acceleration which is parallel to its instantaneous direction of motion. The displacement (s)
velocity (v) graph of this object is
[SCRA 1998; DCE 2000]
s

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(a) 60 m
(b) 55 m

30
20
10

(c) 25 m

2 3 4
1
Time in second

(d) 30 m
40.

The variation of velocity of a particle with time moving along a straight line is illustrated in the following figure. The distance travelled
by the particle in four seconds is
[NCERT 1973]
velocity (m/s)

39.

A car accelerates from rest at a constant rate for some time, after which it decelerates at a constant rate and comes to rest. If the
total time elapsed in t, then the maximum velocity acquired by the car is
(a)

2 2

(b)

(c)

( + ) t

(d)

t
+

A rocket is projected vertically upwards, whose velocity-time graph is shown in fig. The maximum height reached by the rocket is
Velocity (m/sec)

41.

2 + 2

[IIT-JEE 1978; CBSE PMT 1994]

(a) 1 km
(b) 10 km
(c) 20 km

1000

C
20 40

B
60

80 100 120

140

Time (sec)

(d) 60 km
42.

In the above problem the mean velocity of rocket in reaching the maximum height will be
(a) 100 m/s

43.

(b) 50 m/s

(c) 500 m/s

(d) 25/3 m/s

(c) 500 m/s2

(d) 250 m/s2

In the above problem the acceleration of rocket will be

(a) 50 m/s2

(b) 100 m/s2

A lift is going up. The variation in the speed of the lift is as given in the graph. What is height to which the lift takes the passenger
[IIT-JEE 1970]

Velocity (m/sec)

44.

(a) 3.6 m
(b) 28.8 m
(c) 36.0 m

3.6

(d) Cannot be calculated from the above graph

45.

The figure shows the velocity of a particle plotted against time t

10

Time (sec)

12

(a) The displacement of the particle is zero

O

(b) The particle changes its direction of motion at some point

2T

(c) The initial and final speeds of the particle are same
(d) All of the above statements are correct

The t plot of a moving object is shown in the figure. The average velocity of the object during the first 10 seconds is

Velocity (ms-1)

(a) 0
(b) 2.5 ms1
(c) 5 ms

Time (sec)
0

10

(d) 2 ms1
Which of the following velocity time graphs is possible.
v

Time

(c)

Velocity

(b)

Velocity

(a)

Time

(d)

Velocity

47.

Velocity

46.

Time

Time

Advance level
48.

A particle starts from rest, accelerates at 2 m/s2 for 10s and then goes for constant speed for 30s and then decelerates at 4 m/s2 till it
[DCE 2001; AIIMS 2002]
stops. What is the distance travelled by it
(a) 750 m

49.

(b) 800 m

(c) 700 m

(d) 850 m

The graph below shows the velocity versus time graph for a body

Which of the following graphs represents the corresponding acceleration versus time graphs
a

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

50.

The acceleration-time graph for a body is shown in the following graph. Which of the following graphs would probably represent the
velocity of the body plotted against time
a

(a)

(b)

(c)

51.

(d)

A particle is moving in such a way that its displacement is related with time by the equation x = (10 4 t + 6 t 2 ) m. The diagram

Time

Time

(d)

Velocity

(c)

Velocity

(b)

Time

Velocity

(a)

Velocity

showing variation of velocity of particle with time is

Time

Problems based on equation of kinematics (Uniform acceleration)

Basic level
52.

A body of 5 kg is moving with a velocity of 20 m/s. If a force of 100 N is applied on it for 10s in the same direction as its velocity, what
will now be the velocity of the body
[MP PMT 2000; RPET 2001]
(a) 200 m/s

53.

54.

(b) 220 m/s

(c) 240 m/s

(d) 260 m/s

A particle is constrained to move on a straight line path. It returns to the starting point after 10 sec. The total distance covered by the particle
during this time is 30 m. Which of the following statements about the motion of the particle is false
[CBSE PMT 2000; AFMC 2001]
(a) Displacement of the particle is zero

(b) Average speed of the particle is 3 m/s

(c) Displacement of the particle is 30 m

(d) Both (a) and (b)

A constant force acts on a body of mass 0.9 kg at rest for 10s. If the body moves a distance of 250 m, the magnitude of the force is
[EAMCET (Engg.) 2000]

(a)
55.

3N

(b)

3.5 N

(c) 4.0 N

(d) 4.5 N

Two cars A and B are at rest at same point initially. If A starts with uniform velocity of 40 m/sec and B starts in the same direction with
constant acceleration of 4 m / s 2 , then B will catch A after how much time
(a) 10 sec

56.

(c) 30 sec

(d) 35 sec

If a train travelling at 72 kmph to be brought to rest in distance of 200 metres, then its retardation should be
(a) 20 ms 2

57.

(b) 20 sec

[RPET 1999]

(b) 10 ms 2

(c) 2 ms 2

(d) 1 ms 2

If a body starts from rest and travels 120 cm in the 6th second, then what is the acceleration
(a) 0.20 m / s 2

(b) 0.027 m / s 2

(c) 0.218 m / s 2

[SCRA 1998]

[AFMC 1997]

(d) 0.03 m / s 2