Kinematics Practice Problems

Motion along x – axis (Horizontal motion)

1. An airplane accelerates down a runway at 3.20 m/s 2 for 32.8 s until is finally lifts off the
ground. Determine the distance traveled before takeoff.
Ans. d = 1,721 m

2. A car starts from rest and accelerates uniformly over a time of 5.21 seconds for a
distance of 110 m. Determine the acceleration of the car.
Ans. a = 8.10 m/s2

3. Upton Chuck is riding the Giant Drop at Great America. If Upton free falls for 2.60
seconds, what will be his final velocity and how far will he fall?
Ans. 1) vf = 25.5 m/s
2) d = 33 m

4. A race car accelerates uniformly from 18.5 m/s to 46.1 m/s in 2.47 seconds. Determine
the acceleration of the car and the distance traveled.
Ans. 1) a = 11.2 m/s2
2) d = 79.9 m

5. It was once recorded that a Jaguar left skid marks that were 290 m in length. Assuming
that the Jaguar skidded to a stop with a constant acceleration of -3.90 m/s 2, determine
the speed of the Jaguar before it began to skid.
Ans. vf = 47.6 m/s

6. A Rocket-powered sleds are used to test the human response to acceleration. If a

rocket-powered sled is accelerated to a speed of 444 m/s in 1.83 seconds, then what is
the acceleration and what is the distance that the sled travels?
Ans. 1) a = 243 m/s2
2) d = 407 m

7. A bike accelerates uniformly from rest to a speed of 7.10 m/s over a distance of 35.4 m.
Determine the acceleration of the bike.
Ans. a = 0.712 m/s2

8. An engineer is designing the runway for an airport. Of the planes that will use the
airport, the lowest acceleration rate is likely to be 3 m/s 2. The takeoff speed for this
plane will be 65 m/s. Assuming this minimum acceleration, what is the minimum
allowed length for the runway?
Ans. d = 704 m

9. A car traveling at 22.4 m/s skids to a stop in 2.55 s. Determine the skidding distance of
the car (assume uniform acceleration).
Ans. d = 28.6 m

10. A bullet leaves a rifle with a muzzle velocity of 521 m/s. While accelerating through the
barrel of the rifle, the bullet moves a distance of 0.840 m. Determine the acceleration
of the bullet (assume a uniform acceleration).
Ans. a = 161,572 m/s2
Kinematics Practice Problems

Motion along y – axis (Vertical motion)

11. A kangaroo is capable of jumping to a height of 2.62 m. Determine the takeoff speed of
the kangaroo.
Ans. vf = 7.2 m/s

12. If Michael Jordan has a vertical leap of 1.29 m, then what is his takeoff speed and his
hang time
(total time to move upwards to the peak and then return to the ground)?
Ans. 1) vf = 5.03 m/s
2) t = 1.02 s (we multiply the time twice, one for moving upwards and one for moving
downwards)

13. A baseball is popped straight up into the air and has a hang-time of 6.25 s. Determine
the height to which the ball rises before it reaches its peak. (Hint: the time to rise to the
peak is one-half the total hang-time.)
Ans. d = 49 m

14. The observation deck of tall skyscraper 370 m above the street. Determine the time
required for a penny to free fall from the deck to the street below.
Ans. t = 8.7 m

15. A stone is dropped into a deep well and is heard to hit the water 3.41 s after being
dropped. Determine the depth of the well.
Ans. d = 57 m

16. With what speed in miles/hr. (1 m/s = 2.23 mi/hr.) must an object be thrown to reach a
height of 91.5 m (equivalent to one football field)? Assume negligible air resistance.
Ans. vf = 94.4 mi/hr. (vf = 42.35 m/s in converted to mi/hr.)

17. A feather is dropped on the moon from a height of 1.40 meters. The acceleration of
gravity on the moon is 1.67 m/s2. Determine the time for the feather to fall to the
surface of the moon.
Ans. t = 1.29 s

18. One feather is allowed to free fall from the top of a building. Calculate the distance
travelled by a feather, if the time taken by a feather to reach the ground is 20 s. Also
calculate the velocity of a feather. (Take the value of gravitational acceleration, g = 9.8
m/s2)
Ans. vf = 196 m/s
19. One ball is allowed to free fall from the top of a tower. In order to reach the ground, a
ball has to travel the distance of 600 m. After what time, a ball reaches the ground and
what is the velocity of a ball? (Take the value of gravitational acceleration, g = 9.8
m/s2)
Ans. 1) t = 11.07 m/s2
2) vf = 108 m
20. One small piece of paper is allowed to free fall from the 10th floor of a building. If a
piece of paper is falling with the velocity of 26 m/s, then how much time will it take to
reach the ground? And what is the distance travelled by a piece of paper? (Take the
value of gravitational acceleration, g = 9.8 m/s 2)
Ans. 1) t = 2.65 m/s2
2) d = 34.5 m