A Space, time and motion

Practice questions on Space, time and motion

• A ball is thrown vertically upwards and returns to its starting position. Explain why the … (4 marks, Explain)
• A cyclist travels along a straight road. For the first part of the journey the cyclist mov… (4 marks, Explain)
• A car travels along a straight road. Its velocity changes from +20 m s⁻¹ to −8 m s⁻¹ in a … (4 marks, Explain)
• Explain why a passenger in a car experiences a sideways force from the car seat when the c… (4 marks, Explain)
• A stationary ice skater catches a heavy ball thrown horizontally towards them. Explain why… (4 marks, Explain)
• A tennis ball is dropped from rest onto a hard floor and bounces back to a height lower th… (4 marks, Explain)
• Explain why the work done by the gravitational force on a satellite moving in a circular o… (4 marks, Explain)
• Explain why a spinning ice skater rotates faster when they pull their arms close to their … (4 marks, Explain)
• A gymnast performs a somersault by tucking their body into a compact ball shape during the… (4 marks, Explain)
• Explain why a torque applied to a rigid body for a given time interval produces a greater … (4 marks, Explain)
• Explain how the concept of simultaneity in special relativity leads to the conclusion that… (4 marks, Explain)
• Explain how the Lorentz transformation for time differs from the Galilean transformation f… (4 marks, Explain)
• Explain why the Michelson–Morley experiment is inconsistent with the Galilean model of rel… (4 marks, Explain)
• Explain why a muon created in the upper atmosphere by cosmic-ray collisions can be detecte… (4 marks, Explain)
• Explain why two observers in different inertial frames of reference will disagree on wheth… (4 marks, Explain)
• Explain why a uniform solid sphere and a uniform solid cylinder of the same mass and radiu… (4 marks, Explain)
• Explain why a uniform solid cylinder and a uniform hollow cylinder of the same mass and ou… (4 marks, Explain)
• Explain why the work done by the normal contact force on a skier travelling down a frictio… (4 marks, Explain)
• Explain why the power output of a car engine must increase if the car is to maintain a con… (4 marks, Explain)
• Explain why the elastic potential energy stored in a compressed spring is equal to the wor… (4 marks, Explain)