Kinematics in Two Dimensions

1. A park ranger wanted to measure the height of a tall tree. The ranger stood 9.50 m from the base of
the tree; and he observed that his line of sight made an angle of 65.2 above the horizontal as he looked
at the top of the tree. The park ranger's eyes are 1.80 m above the ground. What is the height of the
tree?
A) 5.84 m
B) 8.77 m
C) 11.7 m
D) 17.3 m
E) 22.4 m
Answer: E
2. A toolbox is carried from the base of a ladder at point A as shown in the figure. The toolbox comes to
a rest on a scaffold 5.0 m above the ground. What is the magnitude of the displacement of the toolbox in
its movement from point A to point B?
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)

15 m
19 m
8.1 m
11 m
13 m

Answer: E
3. A delivery truck leaves a warehouse and travels 2.60 km north. The truck makes a left turn and
travels 1.25 km west before making another right turn to travel 1.40 km north to arrive at its destination.
What is the magnitude and direction of the truck's displacement from the warehouse?
A) 4.00 km, 18.2 north of west
B) 5.25 km, 59.8 north of west
C) 6.33 km, 70.2 north of west
D) 3.40 km, 55.0 north of west
E) 4.19 km, 72.6 north of west
Answer: E
4. A car travels due east at 22 m/s. It makes a turn due south and continues to travel at 22 m/s.
What is the change in velocity of the car?
A) 22 m/s, due east
B) 22 m/s, due south
C) 31 m/s, 45 south of west
D) 31 m/s, 45 south of east
E) zero m/s

Answer: C
5. A train travels due south at 60 m/s. It reverses its direction and travels due north at 60 m/s.
What is the change in velocity of the train?
A) 120 m/s, due north
B) 120 m/s, due south
C) 60 m/s, due north
D) 60 m/s, due south
E) zero m/s
Answer: A
During a one-hour trip, a small boat travels 80.0 km north and then travels 60.0 km east.
6. What is the boat's displacement for the one-hour trip?
A) 20 km
B) 100 km
C) 140 km
D) 280 km
E) 10 000 km
Answer: B
7. What is the boat's average speed during the one-hour trip?
A) 20 km/h
B) 100 km/h
C) 140 km/h
D) 280 km/h
E) 10 000 km/h
Answer: C
8. What is the magnitude of the boat's average velocity for the one-hour trip?
A) 20 km/h
B) 100 km/h
C) 140 km/h
D) 10 000 km/h
E) 20 000 km/h
Answer: B

9. What is the direction of the boat's average velocity for the one-hour trip?
A) due east
B) 36.9 north of east
C) 41.7 north of east
D) 49.2 north of east
E) 53.1 north of east
Answer: E
10. An eagle is flying due east at 8.9 m/s carrying a gopher in its talons. The gopher manages to break
free at a height of 12 m. What is the magnitude of the gopher's velocity as it reaches the ground? Note:
effects of air resistance are not included in this calculation.
A) 22 m/s
B) 18 m/s
C) 11 m/s
D) 9.8 m/s
E) 8.9 m/s
Answer: B
11. A football is kicked at an angle with respect to the horizontal. Which one of the following
statements best describes the acceleration of the football during this event if air resistance is neglected?
A) The acceleration is zero m/s2 at all times.
B) The acceleration is 9.8 m/s2 at all times.
C) The acceleration is zero m/s2 when the football has reached the highest point in its trajectory.
D) The acceleration is positive as the football rises, and it is negative as the football falls.
E) The acceleration starts at 9.8 m/s2 and drops to some constant lower value as the ball
approaches the ground.
Answer: B
12. A baseball is hit upward and travels along a parabolic arc before it strikes the ground. Which one of
the following statements is necessarily true?
A) The acceleration of the ball decreases as the ball moves upward.
B) The velocity of the ball is zero m/s when the ball is at the highest point in the arc.
C) The acceleration of the ball is zero m/s2 when the ball is at the highest point in the arc.
D) The x-component of the velocity of the ball is the same throughout the ball's flight.
E) The velocity of the ball is a maximum when the ball is at the highest point in the arc.
Answer: D
A projectile is fired at an angle of 55.0 above the horizontal with an initial speed of 35.0 m/s.

13. What is the magnitude of the horizontal component of the projectile's displacement after of 2 s?
A) 30 m
B) 40 m
C) 10 m
D) 20 m
E) 50 m
Answer: B
14. How long does it take the projectile to reach the highest point in its trajectory?
A) 1.5 s
B) 2.4 s
C) 4.0 s
D) 6.2 s
E) 9.8 s
Answer: B
A projectile fired from a gun has initial horizontal and vertical components of velocity equal to 30 m/s
and 40 m/s, respectively.
15. Determine the initial speed of the projectile.
A) 40 m/s
B) 50 m/s
C) 60 m/s
D) 70 m/s
E) 80 m/s
Answer: B
16. At what angle is the projectile fired (measured with respect to the horizontal)?
A) 37
B) 40
C) 45
D) 53
E) 60
Answer: D
17. Approximately how long does it take the projectile to reach the highest point in its trajectory?
A) 1 s
B) 2 s
C) 4 s

D) 8 s
E) 16 s
Answer: C
18. What is the speed of the projectile when it is at the highest point in its trajectory?
A) 0 m/s
B) 20 m/s
C) 30 m/s
D) 40 m/s
E) 50 m/s
Answer: C
19. What is the acceleration of the projectile when it reaches its maximum height?
A) zero m/s2
B) 9.8 m/s2, downward
C) 4.9 m/s2, downward
D) less than 9.8 m/s2 and non-zero.
E) Its magnitude is 9.8 m/s2; and its direction is changing.
Answer: B
20. What is the magnitude of the projectile's velocity just before it strikes the ground?
A) zero m/s
B) 9.8 m/s
C) 30 m/s
D) 40 m/s
E) 50 m/s
Answer: E
21. A quarterback throws a pass at an angle of 35 above the horizontal with an initial speed of 25 m/s.
The ball is caught by the receiver 2.55 seconds later. Determine the distance the ball was thrown.
A) 13 m
B) 18 m
C) 36 m
D) 52 m
E) 72 m
Answer: D

22. A projectile is fired horizontally with an initial speed of 57 m/s. What are the horizontal and vertical
components of its displacement 3.0 s after it is fired?
horizontal
vertical
A) 44 m 29 m
B) 170 m zero m
C) 170 m 44 m
D) 210 m 44 m
E) 210 m zero m
Answer: C
23. A spring-loaded gun is aimed horizontally and is used to launch identical balls with different initial
speeds. The gun is at a fixed position above the floor. The balls are fired one at a time.

If the speed of the second ball fired is twice the speed of the first ball fired, how is the horizontal range
(denoted R in the figure) affected?
A) The range for both balls will be the same.
B) The range of the second ball will be half as much as that of the first ball.
C) The range of the second ball will be twice as large as that of the first ball.
D) The range of the second ball is about 1.4 times larger than that of the first ball.
E) The range of the second ball will be smaller than that of the first ball by a factor of 1.4.
Answer: C
A shell is fired with a horizontal velocity in the positive x direction
from the top of an 80-m high cliff. The shell strikes the ground
1330 m from the base of the cliff. The drawing is not to scale.
24. Determine the initial speed of the shell.
A) 4.0 m/s
B) 9.8 m/s
C) 82 m/s
D) 170 m/s
E) 330 m/s
Answer: E
25. What is the magnitude of the velocity of the shell as it hits the ground?
A) 4.0 m/s

B)
C)
D)
E)

9.8 m/s
82 m/s
170 m/s
330 m/s

Answer: E
26. What is the magnitude of the acceleration of the shell just before it strikes the ground?
A) 4.0 m/s2
B) 9.8 m/s2
C) 82 m/s2
D) 170 m/s2
E) 330 m/s2
Answer: B
27. An arrow is shot horizontally from a height of 4.9 m above the ground. The initial speed of the
arrow is 45 m/s. Neglecting friction, how long will it take the arrow to hit the ground?
A) 9.2 s
B) 6.0 s
C) 1.0 s
D) 1.4 s
E) 4.6 s
Answer: C
28. A cannonball at ground level is aimed 30.0 above the horizontal and is fired with an initial speed of
125 m/s. How far away from the cannon will the cannonball hit the ground?
A) 125 m
B) 138 m
C) 695 m
D) 1040 m
E) 1380 m
Answer: E
29. A basketball is launched with an initial speed of 8.0 m/s
and follows the trajectory shown. The ball enters the basket
0.96 s after it is launched. What are the distances x and y?
Note: The drawing is not to scale.

A)
B)
C)
D)
E)

x
5.4 m
7.7 m
5.4 m
5.7 m
5.4 m

y
0.73 m
0.91 m
0.91 m
0.73 m
5.4 m

Answer: C
30. A bullet is aimed at a target on the wall a distance L away from the firing position. Because of
gravity, the bullet strikes the wall a distance y below the mark as suggested in the figure.
Note: The drawing is not to scale.

If the distance L was half as large and the bullet had the same initial velocity, how would y be
affected?
A) y will double.
B) y will be half as large.
C) y will be four times larger.
D) y will be one fourth as large.
E) y is not possible to determine unless numerical values are given for the distances.
Answer: D