KEY - Basic Motion (x, vave, aave)

1.

Can an object have a varying velocity if the speed is constant? If yes, give examples.

Yes, the object can be traveling in a circle (constantly changing direction) at a constant speed.
2. A hospital nurse walks 25 m to a patients room in 0.50 min. She talks to the patient for 4.0 min, and
then walks back to the nursing station at the same rate she came. What is the nurses average speed?

(0.17m/s)

speed =

dist
25m + 25m
50 min 1min
=
=

= 0.17m / s
time 0.5 min+ 4.0 min+ 0.5 min 5.0 min 60 sec

3. Calculate the average speed and average velocity of a complete round trip in which the outgoing 250 km
is covered at 95 km/h, followed by a 1.0-hour lunch break, and the return 250 km trip is covered at 55
km/h. (63km/h; 0km/h)

v=

d
d
t =
t
v

speed =

tout =

250km
= 2.36hr
95km /h

tout =

250km
= 4.55hr
55km /h

dist
250km + 250km
=
= 63km /h
time 2.36hr +1.0hr + 4.55hr

V = 0km/hr (round trip)

4. How far (in miles) can a cyclist travel in 2.5 hours along a straight road if her average velocity is 18
km/hr? (28mi)

v=

d
1mi
d = vt = 18km /h 2.5hr = 45km
= 28mi
t
1.6km

5. If the acceleration of an object is zero, does that mean that the velocity is zero? Explain.

No, the object could be traveling at a constant velocity (setting cruise control in the car)
6. A bowling ball traveling with constant speed hits the pins at the end of a bowling lane 16.5 m long. The
bowler hears the sound of the ball hitting the pins 2.50 s after the ball is released from his hands.
What is the speed of the ball? (The speed of sound is 340.m/s) (6.73m/s)

The Plan: The bowling ball leaves the persons hand, travels 16.5 m down the lane where it hits
the bins. The sound from the crash then travels 16.5 m up the lane to the persons ears. All
this happens in 2.50s. To know how fast the ball is going, we need to know how long it took
the ball to travel down the lane. We know the total time. If we could calculate how long the
sound took to reach the bowlers ears we could find the time it took for the ball.

v=

d
d
t =
t
v

tsound =

16.5m
= 0.0485s
340m / s

tball = ttotal tsound = 2.50s = 0.0485s = 2.45s

vball =

d ball 16.5m
=
= 6.73m / s
tball 2.45s

7. When an object moves at constant velocity, does its average velocity during any time interval differ
from its instantaneous velocity at any instant? Explain.

No. In this case, the average velocity will be the same as the constant velocity the person
traveled at. At any point in time, the person will be traveling at that constant, average,
velocity.
8. A motorboat traveling on a straight course slows uniformly from 60.0 km/h to 40.0 km/h in 30. sec.
What is the boats acceleration? (-0.19m/s2)

60

km 1hr 1000m

= 16.7m / s
h 3600s 1km

a=

40

km 1hr 1000m

= 11.1m / s
h 3600s 1km

v f vi 11.1m / s 16.7m / s
=
= 0.19m / s 2
30 sec
t

9. One swimmer in a relay race has a 0.50s lead and is swimming at a constant speed of 4.00 m/s. He has

50.0 m to swim before reaching the end of the pool. A second swimmer moves in the same direction as
the leader. What constant speed must the second swimmer have in order to catch up to the leader at
the end of the pool? (4.16m/s)

The Plan:
1. how long will it take the first swimmer to finish?
2. How far did the first swimmer get in the 0.50s head start?
3. How fast must the second swimmer swim to finish the total pool length in the given time?

d
d
50m
t = =
= 12.5 sec
v 4.00m / s
t

1.

v=

2.

d head _ start = vt = (4.00m / s)(0.50s) = 2.0m

3.

v=

d 50m + 2m
=
= 4.16m / s
t
12.5s