Chapter 1

Making measurements

IN THIS CHAPTER YOU WILL:

• learn how to take measurements of length, volume and time
• perform experiments to determine the density of an object
• predict whether an object will float

predict whether one liquid will float on another.

GETTING STARTED
In pairs, either take the measurements or write down how you would do the
following:
• measure the length, width and thickness of this book and work out its
volume
• measure the thickness of a sheet of paper that makes up this book
• measure the length of a journey (for example, on a map) that is not
straight.
Now discuss how you would work out the density of:
• a regular-shaped solid
• an irregular-shaped solid
• a liquid.

ARE WE CLEVERER THAN OUR ANCESTORS WERE?

People tend to dismiss people who lived in the past as less intelligent than
we are. After all, they used parts of their bodies for measuring distances. A
cubit was the length of the forearm from the tip of the middle finger to the
elbow. However, the ancient Egyptians knew this varied between people.
Therefore, in around 3000 BCE, they invented the royal cubit (Figure 1.1),
marked out on a piece of granite and used this as a standard to produce
cubit rods of equal length.

Figure 1.1: Cubit rod.

The Ancient Egyptians were experts at using very simple tools like the
cubit rod. This enabled them to build their pyramids accurately.
Eratosthenes, a brilliant scientist who lived in Egypt in about 300 BCE,
showed the same care and attention to detail. This allowed him to work out
that the Earth has a circumference of 40 000 km (Figure 1.2).

Figure 1.2: Eratosthenes used shadows and geometry to work out the
circumference of the Earth.

In contrast, there are many recent examples where incorrect measurements

have led to problems. Although the Hubble Space Telescope had the most
precisely shaped mirror ever made, the original images it produced were
not as clear as expected. Tiny mistakes in measuring meant that it had the
wrong shape and it took a lot of effort to account for these errors.
Discussion questions
1 You cannot always depend on your eyes to judge lengths. Look at
Figure 1.3 and decide which line is longer? Check by using a ruler.

Figure 1.3: Which line is longer?

2 Eratosthenes may have hired a man to pace the distance between

Alexandria and Syene (present-day Aswan) to calculate the Earth’s
circumference. People have different stride lengths so some people
take longer steps than others. Discuss the possible ways that anyone
with any stride length could have measured the distance between these
towns accurately.
1.1 Measuring length and volume
In physics, we make measurements of many different lengths, for example, the
length of a piece of wire, the height of liquid in a tube, the distance moved by an
object, the diameter of a planet or the radius of its orbit. In the laboratory,
lengths are often measured using a ruler (such as a metre ruler).
Measuring lengths with a ruler is a familiar task. But when you use a ruler, it is
worth thinking about the task and just how reliable your measurements may be.
Consider measuring the length of a piece of wire (Figure 1.4).

Figure 1.4: Simple measurements still require careful technique, for example,
finding the length of a wire.

• The wire must be straight, and laid closely alongside the ruler. (This may be
tricky with a bent piece of wire.)
• Look at the ends of the wire. Are they cut neatly, or are they ragged? Is it
difficult to judge where the wire begins and ends?
• Look at the markings on the ruler. They are probably 1 mm apart, but they
may be quite wide. Line one end of the wire up against the zero on the
scale. Because of the width of the mark, this may be awkward to judge.
• Look at the other end of the wire and read the scale. Again, this may be
tricky to judge.
Now you have a measurement, with an idea of how precise it is. You can
probably determine the length of the wire to within a millimetre. But there is
something else to think about – the ruler itself. How sure can you be that it is
correctly calibrated? Are the marks at the ends of a metre ruler separated by
exactly one metre? Any error in this will lead to an inaccuracy (probably small)
in your result.
The point here is to recognise that it is always important to think critically about
the measurements you make, however straightforward they may seem. You have
to consider the method you use, as well as the instrument (in this case, the ruler).

More measurement techniques

If you have to measure a small length, such as the thickness of a wire, it may be
better to measure several thicknesses and then calculate the average. You can
use the same approach when measuring something very thin, such as a sheet of
paper. Take a stack of 500 sheets and measure its thickness with a ruler (Figure
1.5). Then divide by 500 to find the thickness of one sheet.

Figure 1.5: Making multiple measurements.

For some measurements of length, such as curved lines, it can help to lay a
thread along the line. Mark the thread at either end of the line and then lay it
along a ruler to find the length. This technique can also be used for measuring
the circumference of a cylindrical object such as a wooden rod or a measuring
cylinder.

Measuring volumes
There are two approaches to measuring volumes, depending on whether or not
the shape is regular.
For a cube or cuboid, such as a rectangular block, measure the length, width and
height of the object and multiply the measurements together. For objects of other
regular shapes, such as spheres or cylinders, you may have to make one or two
measurements and then look up the equation for the volume.
For liquids, measuring cylinders can be used as shown in Figure 1.6. (Recall that
these are designed so that you look at the scale horizontally, not at an oblique
angle, and read the level of the bottom of the meniscus.) The meniscus is the
curved upper surface of a liquid, caused by surface tension. It can curve up or
down but the surface of water in a measuring cylinder curves downwards. Think
carefully about the choice of cylinder. A 1 litre (or a 1 dm3) cylinder is unlikely
to be suitable for measuring a small volume such as 5 cm3. You will get a more
accurate answer using a 10 cm3 cylinder.

Figure 1.6: A student measuring the volume of a liquid. Her eyes are level with
the scale so that she can accurately measure where the meniscus meets the scale.

Measuring volume by displacement

Most objects do not have a regular shape, so we cannot find their volumes
simply by measuring the lengths of their sides. Here is how to find the volume of
an irregularly shaped object. This technique is known as measuring volume by
displacement.
• Select a measuring cylinder that is about three or four times larger than the
object. Partially fill it with water (Figure 1.7), enough to cover the object.
Note the volume of the water.

Figure 1.7: Measuring volume by displacement.

• Immerse the object in the water. The level of water in the cylinder will
increase, because the object pushes the water out of the way and the only
way it can move is upwards. The increase in its volume is equal to the
volume of the object.

Units of length and volume

In physics, we generally use SI units (this is short for Le Système International
d’Unités or The International System of Units). The SI unit of length is the
metre (m). Table 1.1 shows some alternative units of length, together with some
units of volume. Note that the litre and millilitre are not official SI units of
volume, and so are not used in this book. One litre (1 l) is the same as 1 dm3, and
one millilitre (1 ml) is the same as 1 cm3.
Quantity Units
length metre (m)
1 decimetre (dm) = 0.1 m
1 centimetre (cm) = 0.01 m
1 millimetre (mm) = 0.001 m
1 micrometre (µm) = 0.000 001 m
 1 kilometre (km) = 1000 m
volume cubic metre (m3)
1 cubic centimetre (cm3) = 0.000 001 m3
1 cubic decimetre (dm3) = 0.001 m3
Table 1.1: Some units of length and volume in the SI system.

Questions
1 The volume of a piece of wood which floats in water can be measured as
shown in Figure 1.8.
a Write a paragraph to describe the procedure.
b State the volume of the wood.

Figure 1.8: Measuring the volume of an object that floats.

2 A stack of paper contains 500 sheets of paper. The stack has dimensions of
0.297 m × 21.0 cm × 50.0 mm.
a What is the thickness of one sheet of paper?
b What is the volume of the stack of paper in cm3?
1.2 Density
Our eyes can deceive us. When we look at an object, we can judge its volume.
However, we can only guess its mass. We may guess incorrectly, because we
misjudge the density. You may offer to carry someone’s bag, only to discover
that it contains heavy books. A large box of chocolates may have a mass of only
200 g.
The mass of an object is the quantity (amount) of matter it is made of. Mass is
measured in kilograms. But density is a property of a material. It tells us how
concentrated its mass is. You will learn more about the meaning of mass and
how it differs from weight in Chapter 3.
In everyday speech, we might say that lead is heavier than wood. We mean that,
given equal volumes of lead and wood, the lead is heavier. In scientific terms,
the density of lead is greater than the density of wood. So we define density as
shown, in words and as an equation.
Density is the mass per unit volume for a substance.

KEY EQUATION
mass
density = volume
m
p = v

The symbol for density is ρ, the Greek letter rho. The SI unit of density is kg/m3
(kilograms per cubic metre). You may come across other units, as shown in
Table 1.2.
Unit of mass Unit of volume Unit of density Density of water
kilograms per
kilogram, kg cubic metre, m3 1000 kg/m3
cubic metre
cubic decimetre, kilograms per
kilogram, kg 1.0 kg/dm3
dm3 cubic decimetre
cubic centimetre, grams per cubic
gram, g 1.0 g/cm3
cm3 centimetre
Table 1.2: Units of density.

Values of density
Some values of density are shown in Table 1.3. Gases have much lower densities
than solids or liquids.
Material Density / kg/m3
Gases air 1.29
hydrogen 0.09
helium 0.18
carbon dioxide 1.98
Liquids water 1000
alcohol (ethanol) 790
mercury 13 600
Solids ice 920
wood 400–1200
polyethene 910–970
glass 2500–4200
steel 7500–8100
lead 11 340
silver 10 500
gold 19 300
Table 1.3: Densities of some substances. For gases, these are given at a
temperature of 0 °C and a pressure of 1.0 × 105 Pa.

An object that is less dense than water will float. Ice is less dense than water
which explains why icebergs float in the sea, rather than sinking to the bottom.
Only about one tenth of an iceberg is above the water surface. If any part of an
object is above the water surface, then it is less dense than water.
Many materials have a range of densities. Some types of wood, for example, are
less dense than water and will float. Other types of wood (such as mahogany) are
more dense and will sink. The density depends on the nature of the wood (its
composition).
Gold is denser than silver. Pure gold is a soft metal, so jewellers add silver to
make it harder. The amount of silver added can be judged by measuring the
density.
It is useful to remember that the density of water is 1000 kg/m3, 1.0 kg/dm3 or
1.0 g/cm3.

Calculating density
To calculate the density of a material, we need to know the mass and volume of
a sample of the material.

WORKED EXAMPLE 1.1

A sample of ethanol has a volume of 240 cm3. Its mass is found to be 190.0 g.
What is the density of ethanol?
Step 1: Write down what you know and what you want to know.
mass m = 190.0 g
volume V = 240 cm3
density ρ = ?
Step 2: Write down the equation for density, substitute values and
calculate ρ.
ρ = mv
190 g
=
240 cm3
= 0. 79 g/ cm3
Answer
Density of ethanol = 0.79 g/cm3

Measuring density
The easiest way to determine the density of a substance is to find the mass and
volume of a sample of the substance.
For a solid with a regular shape, find its volume by measurement (see Section
1.1). Find its mass using a balance. Then calculate the density.

Questions
3 A brick is shown in Figure 1.9. It has a mass of 2.8 kg.

Figure 1.9: A brick labelled with its dimensions.

a Give the dimensions of the brick in metres.

b Calculate the volume of the brick.
c Calculate the density of the brick.
4 A box full of 35 matches has a mass of 6.77 g. The box itself has a mass of
3.37 g.
a What is the mass of one match in grams?
b What is the volume (in cm3) of each match. A match has dimensions
of 42 mm × 2.3 mm × 2.3 mm?
c What is the density of the matches?
d How do you know if these matches will float?
5 The Earth has a mass of 6 × 1024 kg and a radius of about 6400 km. What
is the density of the Earth (in kg/m3)? The volume of a sphere is given by
the equation V = 4 πr3 , where r is the radius.
3
6 40 drawing pins (thumb tacks) like those shown in Figure 1.10 have a
mass of 17.55 g. What is the volume (in mm3) of one pin when they are
made of metal with a density of 8.7 g/cm3?

Figure 1.10: A pair of drawing pins (thumb tacks).

7 A young girl from the Kayan people in northern Thailand wears a neck
ring made of brass (Figure 1.11). It looks as if there are 21 individual rings
but the ring is actually one continuous length of brass fashioned (bent) into
a coil. The height of the brass coil is 12 cm and its average circumference
is 40 cm. Neck rings are usually only removed to be replaced with a
bigger one as the girl grows. However, we can estimate the mass of this
neck ring without removing it.
Figure 1.11: A Kayan girl wearing a neck ring.

a What looks like 21 individual rings around the girl’s neck is actually
21 turns of a coil of brass. Each turn has a circumference of 40 cm.
Calculate (in cm) the total length of brass used to make the girl’s neck
ring.
b The coil has a height of 12 cm and the coil has 21 turns. Calculate the
radius of the brass in cm.
c If the brass coil is unwound from the girl’s neck and straightened out,
it would be a long, thin, cylinder. Calculate the volume of this cylinder
in cm3. The volume of a cylinder is given by the equation V = πr2h,
where
r = radius and h = height.
d Calculate the mass of brass used to make the neck ring and express
 your answer in kg. The density of brass = 8.73 g/cm3.

Finding the density of a liquid

Figure 1.12 shows one way to find the density of a liquid. Place a measuring
cylinder on a balance. Set the balance to zero. Now pour liquid into the cylinder.
Read the volume from the scale on the cylinder. The balance shows the mass.

Figure 1.12: Measuring the mass of a liquid.

When liquids with different densities are poured into the same container, they
will arrange themselves so that the liquid with the lowest density will be at the
top and the ones with the highest density will be at the bottom. This is because
the denser liquids displace the less dense liquids. This is easier to see when each
liquid is given a different colour. In Figure 1.13, the green liquid is less dense
than the red liquid and so on.
Figure 1.13: Liquid density towers.

When a distinct layer forms in a mixed solution, the liquids are said to be
immiscible, which means they do not mix. This is why oil floats on water.
However, not all liquids stay separated so you would be disappointed if you tried
this at home with squash and water, for example. When liquids mix, it is usually
because one liquid dissolves in the other. For example, orange squash is a
concentrated syrup that is diluted by dissolving it in water.
Apart from making colourful liquid density towers, do variations in the density
of liquids have practical consequence? In Chapter 11, you will learn about
convection currents in fluids (liquids and gases), which are driven by differences
in density. These convection currents include the thermohaline circulation in the
oceans. Colder and saltier water sinks, displacing (pushing up) warmer and less
salty water.

ACTIVITY 1.1
Finding the density of a regularly shaped solid
In pairs, create a worksheet on the computer for finding the density of a
regularly shaped solid object (for example, a rectangular block) using a
ruler and a mass balance. Your worksheet should include:
• a method for measuring the mass and working out the volume
• the equation for calculating density
• a table to record the data.
You could include an optional task to work out the density of a liquid.
After your allotted time, another pair is going to test a copy of your
worksheet (perhaps by doing the experiment). They are going to add any
steps that are missing or make suggestions to make your worksheet clearer.
When you get your worksheet returned, edit and save a new version of it.
Finding the density of an irregularly shaped solid
Before you start, make a copy of your previous worksheet and save it under
a new name. Some of what you included in the previous worksheet can be
kept and some will need to be edited.
In pairs, create a worksheet for finding the density of an irregularly shaped
solid object using a mass balance, a measuring cylinder, some thread, a pair
of scissors and a eureka can (if you have access to one). Your method
explaining how to measure the mass and how to calculate the density
should be the same. However, you should:
• explain how to measure volume by displacement
• say something about choosing a suitably sized measuring cylinder
• change your previous table
You could include an optional task to work out the density of an irregularly
shaped solid object that is less dense than water. Finding its mass and
calculating the density is straightforward. The challenging part is
explaining how to work out the volume of an object that floats.
Design a flowchart or decision-tree (optional)
Design a flowchart or decision-tree for use by anyone who wants to work
out the density of any liquid or any solid object. Ensure that your flowchart
includes enough information so that someone could take the measurements.
Ask your partner or someone else who has completed the first two parts to
check and correct your flowchart.
REFLECTION
Write down one thing that you did really well in this activity.
Write down one thing that you will try to do better next time. How will you
do this?
1.3 Measuring time
The athletics coach in Figure 1.14 is using his stopwatch to time a sprinter. For a
sprinter, a fraction of a second (perhaps just 0.01 s) can make all the difference
between winning and coming second or third. It is different in a marathon, where
the race lasts for more than two hours and the runners are timed to the nearest
second.

Figure 1.14: An athletics coach uses a stopwatch to time a hurdler, who can then
learn whether she has improved.

ACTIVITY 1.2

How dense can you be?

In groups of three, write a method showing how you could work out your
own density, or that of a friend or of a younger sibling. Alternatively, plan
out your strategy and be prepared to share it with the class. There are at
least two methods: a dry method and a wet method. Discuss one or both of
them.
You will need to include:
 • a method that is detailed enough for someone to follow (this should
include advice about how a measurement should be taken)
• any calculations
• possible sources of uncertainty in the measurements
• what you expect your answer to be.
If you actually carried out the experiment, comment on how close your
measurement was to what you expected.

In the laboratory, you might need to record the temperature of a container of

water every minute, or find out how long an electric current is flowing. For
measurements like these, stopclocks and stopwatches can be used. You may
come across two types of timing device.
An analogue clock (Figure 1.15) is like a traditional clock whose hands move
round the clock’s face. You find the time by looking at where the hands are
pointing on the scale. It can be used to measure time intervals to no better than
the nearest second.

Figure 1.15: An analogue clock.

A digital clock (Figure 1.16) or stopwatch is one that gives a direct reading of
the time in numerals. For example, a digital clock might show a time of 9.58 s. A
digital clock records time to a precision of at least one hundredth of a second.
You would never see an analogue watch recording times in the Olympic Games.

Figure 1.16: A digital clock started when the gun fired and stopped 9.58 s later
when Usain Bolt crossed the finishing line to win the 100 m at the 2009 World
Championships in world record time.

When studying motion, you may need to measure the time taken for a rapidly
moving object to move between two points. In this case, you might use a device
called a light gate connected to an electronic timer. This is similar to the way in
which runners are timed in major athletics events. An electronic timer starts
when the marshal’s gun is fired, and stops as the runner crosses the finishing
line.
You will learn more about how to use electronic timing instruments in Chapter
2.

Measuring short intervals of time

Figure 1.17 shows a typical lab pendulum. A mass, called a plumb bob, hangs
on the end of a string. The string is clamped tightly at the top between two
wooden jaws. If you pull the bob gently to one side and release it, the pendulum
will swing from side to side.

Figure 1.17: A simple pendulum.

The time for one oscillation of a pendulum (when it swings from left to right
and back again) is called its period. A single period is usually too short a time to
measure accurately. However, because a pendulum swings at a steady rate, you
can use a stopwatch to measure the time for a large number of oscillations
(perhaps 20 or 50), and calculate the average time per oscillation.
Any inaccuracy in the time at which the stopwatch is started and stopped will be
much less significant if you measure the total time for a large number of
oscillations.
Questions
8 High-speed video can record sporting events at a frame rate of 60 frames
per second (frame/s).
a What is the time interval between one frame and the next?
b If we can see 24 frame/s as continuous motion, by what factor can the
action recorded at 60 frame/s be slowed down and still look
continuous?
9 A student was investigating how the period of a pendulum varied with the
length of the string and obtained the results in Table 1.4.

Time for 20 oscillations /

Length of string / m Time for 1 oscillation / s
s
0.00 0.0
0.20 18.1
0.40 25.1
0.60 28.3
0.80 39.4
1.00 40.5
1.20 44.4
1.40 47.9

Table 1.4

a Why did the student record the time for 20 swings?

b Make a copy of Table 1.4 and, for each length of the pendulum,
calculate the time for one oscillation and record the value in the third
column of the table.
c Plot a graph of the period of the pendulum against its length (that is,
plot the length of the pendulum on the x -axis).
d Use the graph to work out the length of the pendulum when the period
is 2 seconds. This is the length of pendulum used in a grandfather
clock.
ACTIVITY 1.3
Using a pendulum as a clock
In 1656 the Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens invented a clock based on a
swinging pendulum. Clocks like these were the most precise in the world
until the 1930s. One oscillation of a pendulum is defined as the time it takes
for a plumb bob at the bottom of the string to return to its original position
(Figure 1.18).

Figure 1.18: One oscillation is when the plumb bob swings one way and
then the other and returns back to its original position.

You need to develop a worksheet so that students can plot a graph of how
the period of oscillation of a pendulum varies with the length of the string.
They then need to use the graph to find the length the pendulum needs to be
to give a period of one second (useful for a clock). Your worksheet needs
to:
• define what an oscillation means (so that a student knows when to
start and stop the stopwatch)
• explain why we take the time for 10 or 20 oscillations when we only
need the time for one oscillation
• provide a labelled diagram of the assembled apparatus (not just a list
of equipment) so that students know how to put the equipment
together
• a method (step-by-step instructions).
Swap copies of your worksheet with a classmate. Write down suggestions
for any improvements on the worksheet you receive before returning it to
its owner. Note down any improvements if you have a class discussion.

PROJECT
In groups of three or four, produce a podcast (no more than five minutes
long) on one of the following options.
Option 1: Can we build on what we have learned about density?
This is opportunity to revise what you have learned about density and then
consolidate that knowledge and understanding by applying it to one of the
two examples below.
• You must explain how density is calculated, including the equation.
• You should describe how to measure the mass and volume of both
regular and irregular shaped objects.
• You could describe how to work out the density of an object that can
float.
1 RSS Titanic
It was claimed that the RSS Titanic was unsinkable. However the ship sank
in 1912 on its first voyage.
• You must explain why a ship can float despite being made of material
that is denser than water.
• You should explain why a ship can sink, in terms of changes in
density.
• Do some research to find out about bulkheads in ships: what are they
and what are they for? Why did the RSS Titanic sink despite being
fitted with bulkheads?
2 Submarines and scuba divers
You could describe one phenomenon that depends on changes or
differences in density. You could think of your own or select one of these:
• Explain how a submarine or scuba diver moves up and down in the
water column (or perhaps explain how a Cartesian diver demonstration
works).
• Explain how differences in fluid density can lead to convection
(something you will meet in Chapter 11). You might want to go on to
discuss how this relates to ocean currents or wind.
Option 2: What was the solution to the longitude problem?
A clock based on a pendulum is impractical on the moving deck of a
(sailing) ship but knowing the time is important for navigation as this
provides your longitude on a spinning Earth. Lines of longitude are the
vertical lines on a map. When you move east or west you are changing your
longitude; move far enough and you change time zone.
• You must start with a short description of the longitude problem.
• You could describe the various suggested solutions to the longitude
problem.
• You could describe the final solution to the longitude problem. For
this, you would need to look up John Harrison and his marine
chronometer.
Option 3: How did the Ancient Egyptians build their pyramids so
accurately?
The pyramids are an incredible feat of engineering, even by today’s
standards. Using very basic tools, the Egyptians' pyramids are perfectly
symmetrical.
• You could start by introducing the dimensions of the Giza pyramid
and the number of blocks required to build it.
• You could explain how the Egyptians managed to get the sides of their
pyramids lined up with true north (without a compass) and how they
got the base of them absolutely level (flat) without a (spirit) level.
Option 4: How did Eratosthenes work out the circumference of the
Earth?
Eratosthenes was a brilliant scientist. He was told that, at the same time
every year (12 noon on 21 June), vertical columns in Syene (present day
Aswan) cast no shadows while columns where he lived in Alexandria cast
shadows. He used this to work out that the Earth is round. Eratosthenes
may have hired a man to measure out the distance between Alexandria and
Syene.
• You could start with a short biography of Eratosthenes.
• You should explain why the observation with the shadows shows that
the Earth is a sphere. You might want to include a diagram like Figure
1.2.
• You should try and show how the man hired by Eratosthenes could
have worked out his stride-length (the distance of each step) and kept
count of his strides (steps). Think about his possible journey: did he
follow a straight line; were there any hills in the way? Could this have
introduced errors in measuring the distance between Alexandria and
Syene?
• Finally, you could show how Eratosthenes did the calculation.
Option 5: How did Archimedes really work out that the goldsmith had
replaced some of the gold in Hiero’s crown with silver?
Archimedes was probably the most brilliant scientist of his era. He is
supposed to have solved the problem of how to work out the density of the
crown while having a bath. Legend has it that he then ran into the streets
shouting ‘eureka’ (I’ve solved it).
• You could start with a short biography of Archimedes.
• You could then describe the usual explanation of how he worked out
that some gold had been stolen. Silver is less dense than gold so the
same mass of silver has a bigger volume and will displace a bigger
volume of water. However, it would be difficult to measure the
difference in volume, especially since bubbles of air could cling to the
submerged crown and there could be other sources of error.
• You could describe a better method, which uses a mass balance. You
would need to explain why, when the masses are equal, the balance
tips towards the denser mass when lowered into water.
• Gold needs some silver impurity or it would be too soft and would be
easy to bend out of shape. Perhaps the goldsmith was falsely accused?
Perhaps this idea could form part of a piece of creative writing (some
prose or a play) but be sure to include the physics.

REFLECTION
• For your project, write down some thoughts about what you feel went
well and areas where you could improve.
• Give yourself a score out of ten for how much you know and
understand the physics you included. If you scored ten, write down
how you could have produced a more ambitious project. If you scored
less, do you need to thoroughly review the material or are you making
careless errors? Write down what concrete steps you need to take to
improve for next time.
• Give yourself a score out of ten for the quality of your presentation.
Write down what you thought was good about the other presentations
or any effective presentation ideas that you might use next time you
present.
SUMMARY

Length can be measured using a ruler.

The period of one oscillation can be measured by measuring the time for
20 oscillations and then dividing the time by 20.
The volume of a cube or cuboid can be found by measuring the length of
the three sides and multiplying the measurements together.
The volume of a liquid can be measured using a measuring cylinder where
the bottom of the meniscus appears on the scale when looked at
horizontally.
All objects that sink in water displace their own volume of water.
The volume of an irregularly shaped object can be found from the change
in the height of liquid in a measuring cylinder when it is immersed in the
liquid.
m
Density is the ratio of mass to volume for a substance: ρ = V
.
The density of water is 1000 kg/m3 or 1.0 g/cm3.
Anything less dense than water will float in water and anything denser
than water will sink in water.
Ice floats because it is less dense than water.
One liquid will float on top of another liquid if it is less dense.
Time can be measured using a clock or watch.
An analogue clock has hands and can only measure time to the nearest
second.
A digital clock displays numbers and records time to a precision of at least
one hundredth of a second.
EXAM-STYLE QUESTIONS
Use this table to answer questions 1 and 2.
Metal Density / g/cm3
gold 19.30
silver 10.49
lead 11.34

1 Three metal cubes have the same volume but are made of
different metals. Each one is lowered into a beaker of water.
Use the data in the table to decide which one will cause the
biggest rise in water level.
[1]
A gold
B silver
C lead
D all will cause the same rise in water level

2 Three metal cubes have the same mass but are made of
different metals. Each one is lowered into a beaker of water.
Use the data in the table to decide which one will cause the
biggest rise in water level.
[1]
A gold
B silver
C lead
D all will cause the same rise in water level

3 Astronauts land on another planet and measure the density of

the atmosphere on the planet surface. They measure the mass
of a 500 cm3 conical flask plus stopper as 457.23 g. After
removing the air, the mass is 456.43 g (1 m3 = 1000 litres).
What is the best estimate of the density of the air? [1]
 A 0.000 001 6 kg/m3
B 0.0016 kg/m3
C 0.16 kg/m3
D 1.6 kg/m3

4 The graph shows the mass and volume of several different

objects.

Which two objects have the same density? [1]

A 2 and 3
B 1 and 4
C 2 and 4
D 3 and 4
5 A student measures the circumference of a circular copper pipe.
He wraps a length of string four times around the pipe and marks it
with ink, as shown in the photograph.
 a The student unwraps the string and holds it against a ruler with a
centimetre scale.
The photograph shows the first two ink marks on the string.

i Use the photograph to estimate the circumference of

the pipe. [1]
ii The student finds that the total length of string for 4
turns is 354 mm. Calculate the average (mean)
circumference of the pipe using this value. [1]
[Total: 2]

6 Suggest how you would work out the thickness of a single

sheet of paper if the only measuring device available was a
ruler and its smallest division was 1 mm. [1]
7 What is the mass of a microscope slide that has dimensions of
75 mm × 26 mm × 1 mm and has a density of 2.24 g/cm3?
[2]
8 Four different liquids are poured into a 100 cm3 measuring cylinder
that is 10 cm tall. Each liquid has a different density and each has a
different colour.

a Calculate the missing values in the table. [4]

Volume / Density /
Liquid Mass / g
cm3 g/cm3
clear ethanol i 20.00 0.79
red glycerin 20.00 ii 1.26
green olive oil 25.90 28.80 iii
blue turpentine 30.00 35.30 iv

b Copy the diagram below. Using the data from the table
above, write down the colour of the liquid you would
expect to find in each layer and how thick the layer would
be. [2]

Thickness of layer /
Colour of layer
cm

9 Metals are denser than water. Explain why a metal ship can
float. [1]
10 Suggest how you could work out the density of a drawing pin.
[3]
SELF-EVALUATION CHECKLIST
After studying this chapter, think about how confident you are with the
different topics. This will help you to see any gaps in your knowledge and
help you to learn more effectively.
Needs Confident
See Almost
I can more to move
Topic... there
work on
Measure length, volume and time. 1.1, 1.3
Calculate the volume of a cube or
cuboid from measurements using a 1.1
ruler.
Determine the volume of an
1.1
irregularly shaped object.
Measure the size of tiny objects (for
example, the thickness of a sheet of 1.1
paper, the volume of a drawing pin).
Calculate density. 1.2
Predict whether an object will float or
1.2
sink in water based on its density.
Describe an experiment to find the
1.2
density of a liquid.
Predict whether a liquid will float on
top of another liquid if their densities 1.2
are known and they cannot mix.
Describe an experiment to find the
1.2
density of a cube or cuboid.
Describe an experiment to find the
density of an irregularly shaped 1.2
object.
Describe the differences between
analogue and digital watches or 1.3
clocks.
 Chapter 2
Describing motion

IN THIS CHAPTER YOU WILL:

• define speed and calculate average speed
• plot and interpret distance–time and speed–time graphs
• work out the distance travelled from the area under a speed–time graph
• understand that acceleration is a change in speed and the gradient of a
speed–time graph

distinguish between speed and velocity

define and calculate acceleration; understand deceleration as a
negative acceleration
use the gradient of a distance–time graph to calculate speed and the
gradient of a speed–time graph to calculate acceleration.
GETTING STARTED
Work in pairs.
On your own, quickly sketch a distance–time graph, perhaps based on your
journey to school. Then ask your partner to write a description of it on a
separate sheet of paper. Discuss each other’s answers.
Sketch a speed–time graph for a sprinter running the 100 m in a time of
9.58 s. Label it with as much information as you know. Show how your
graph could be used to work out the sprinter’s acceleration at the start of
the race and the distance he travelled. Compare your sketch with your
partner’s and add to or correct your own work. Be prepared to share your
thoughts with the class.

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS

The first known circumnavigation (trip around the world) was completed
by a Spanish ship on 8 September 1522. It took more than three years. The
French writer Jules Verne wrote the book Le tour du monde en quatre-
vingts jours (which means Around the World in Eighty Days) in 1873. In
honour of the writer, the Jules Verne Trophy is a prize for the fastest
circumnavigation by a yacht, now held by the yacht IDEC Sport, which did
it in just under 41 days in 2017. In 2002, the American Steve Fossett was
the first to make a solo circumnavigation in a balloon, without stopping,
taking just over 13 days. In 2006, he flew the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer
(Figure 2.1), the first fixed-wing aircraft to go around the world without
stopping or refuelling. It took him just under three days. Hypersonic jets are
being developed that could fly at 1.7 km per second so they could
circumnavigate the globe in an incredible six and a half hours.
Figure 2.1: The Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer passes over the Atlas
Mountains.

Sometimes these epic adventures inspire those who do them to campaign

for a better world. The British sailor Ellen MacArthur (Figure 2.2) is just
such a person. She held the world record for the fastest solo
circumnavigation, achieved on 7 February 2005. However, she retired from
competitive sailing to set up the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a charity that
works with business and education to accelerate the transition to a circular
economy. A circular economy would create less waste as things should be
designed to last a long time and be easy to maintain, repair, reuse or
recycle.
Figure 2.2: Ellen MacArthur celebrates after completing her record solo
round the world journey on 7 February 2005 in Falmouth, England.

Discussion questions
1 What were the speeds of the six journeys mentioned in the first
paragraph? Assume that the Earth’s circumference is 40 000 km.
2 How could the fastest boat not win a round-the-world yacht race?
2.1 Understanding speed
Measuring speed
If you travel on a major highway or through a large city, the chances are that
someone is watching you. Cameras by the side of the road and on overhead road
signs keep an eye on traffic as it moves along. Some cameras are there to
monitor the flow, so that traffic managers can take action when blockages
develop, or when accidents occur. Other cameras are equipped with sensors to
spot speeding motorists, or those who break the law at traffic lights. In some
busy places, traffic police may observe the roads from helicopters.
In this chapter, we will look at ideas of motion and speed. In Chapter 3, we will
look at how physicists came to understand the forces involved in motion, and
how to control them to make our everyday travel possible.

Distance, time and speed

There is more than one way to determine the speed of a moving object. Several
methods to determine speed rely on making two measurements:
• the total distance travelled between two points
• the total time taken to travel between these two points.
We can then work out the average speed between the two points.

KEY EQUATION
total distance travelled
average speed = total time taken

We can use the equation for speed in the definition when an object is travelling
at a constant speed. If it travels 10 metres in 1 second, it will travel 20 metres in
2 seconds. Its speed is 10 m/s.
We cannot say whether it was travelling at a steady speed, or if its speed was
changing. For example, you could use a stopwatch to time a friend cycling over
a fixed distance, for example, 100 metres (see Figure 2.3). Dividing distance by
time would tell you their average speed, but they might have been speeding up
or slowing down along the way.
Figure 2.3: Timing a cyclist over a fixed distance. Using a stopwatch involves
making judgements as to when the cyclist passes the starting and finishing lines.
This can introduce an error into the measurements. An automatic timing system
might be better.

Table 2.1 shows the different units that may be used in calculations of speed. SI
units are the standard units used in physics. The units m/s (metres per second)
should remind you that you divide a distance (in metres, m) by a time (in
seconds, s) to find speed. In practice, many other units are used. In US space
programmes, heights above the Earth are often given in feet, while the
spacecraft’s speed is given in knots (nautical miles per hour). These awkward
units did not prevent them from reaching the Moon!
Quantity SI unit Other units
distance metre, m kilometre, km
time second, s hour, h
speed metres per second, m/s kilometres per hour, km/h
Table 2.1: Quantities, symbols and units in measurements of speed.

WORKED EXAMPLE 2.1

A cyclist completed a 1500 metre stage of a race in 37.5 s. What was her
average speed?
Step 1: Start by writing down what you know, and what you want to
know.
distance = 1500 m
time = 37.5 s
speed = ?
Step 2: Now write down the equation.
speed = distance
time
Step 3: Substitute the values of the quantities on the right-hand side.
speed = 1500 m
37.5 s
Step 4: Calculate the answer.
speed = 40 m/s
Answer
The cyclist’s average speed was 40 m/s.

Questions
1 a What was Usain Bolt’s average speed when he achieved his 100 m
world record of 9.58 s in 2009?
b How do you know that his top speed must have been higher than this?
2 A cheetah runs 100 m in 3.11 s. What is its speed?
3 Information about three trains travelling between stations is shown in
Table 2.2.

Vehicle Distance travelled / km Time taken / minutes

train A 250 120
train B 72 50
 train C 400 150

Table 2.2

a Which train has the highest average speed?

b Which train has the lowest average speed?

Determining speed in the laboratory

There are many experiments you can do in the laboratory if you can measure the
speed of a moving trolley or toy car. Figure 2.4 shows how to do this using one
or two light gates connected to an electronic timer (or to a computer). The light
gate has a beam of (invisible) infrared radiation.
Figure 2.4: Using light gates to measure the speed of a moving trolley in the
laboratory.

In the first part of Figure 2.4, the peg attached to the trolley breaks the beam of
one light gate to start the timer. It breaks the second beam to stop the timer. The
timer then shows the time taken to travel the distance between the two light
gates.
In the second part of Figure 2.4, a piece of card, called an interrupt card, is
mounted on the trolley. As the trolley passes through the gate, the leading edge
of the interrupt card breaks the beam to start the timer. When the trailing edge
passes the gate, the beam is no longer broken and the timer stops. The faster the
trolley is moving, the shorter the time for which the beam is broken. Given the
length of the interrupt card, the trolley’s speed can be calculated.

Rearranging the equation

It is better to remember one version of an equation and how to rearrange it than
to try to remember three different versions. The equation
distance
speed = time
allows us to calculate speed from measurements of distance and time. This
equation can also be written in symbols:
v= s
t

KEY EQUATION
distance
speed = time
s
v = t

This is sometimes known as the instantaneous speed, which is the speed at a

particular instant or moment in time, whereas average speed is worked out over a
longer time interval. Beware, s in this equation means distance (or displacement)
and not speed. We can rearrange the equation to allow us to calculate distance or
time.
For example, a railway signaller might know how fast a train is moving, and
needs to be able to predict where it will have reached after a certain length of
time:
distance = speed × time or s = vt
Similarly, the crew of an aircraft might want to know how long it will take for
their aircraft to travel between two points on its flight path:
time = distance
time
or t = s
v

WORKED EXAMPLE 2.2

A spacecraft is orbiting the Earth at a steady speed of 8.0 km/s (see Figure
2.5). How long will it take to complete a single orbit, a distance of 44 000
km?

Figure 2.5

Step 1: Start by writing down what you know, and what you want to
know.
speed (v) = 8.0 km/s
distance (s) = 40 000 km
 time (t) = ?
Step 2: Choose the appropriate equation, with the unknown quantity, time,
as the subject (on the left-hand side).
s
t= v
Step 3: Substitute values – it can help to include units.
40000 km
t=
8.0 km/s

Step 4: Perform the calculation.

t = 5000 s
Answer
The time to complete a single orbit (44 000 km) is 5500 s. This is about 92
minutes (5500 ÷ 60 = 91.667). So, the spacecraft takes 92 minutes to orbit the
Earth once.

Worked Example 2.2 illustrates the importance of looking at the units. Because
speed is in km/s and distance is in km, we do not need to convert to m/s and
metres. We would get the same answer if we did the conversion:
40 000 000 m
time =
8000 m/s
= 5000 s

Questions
4 An aircraft travels 900 metres in 3.0 seconds. What is its speed?
5 A car travels 400 km in 3.5 hours. What is the speed of the car in km/h
and m/s?
6 The Voyager spacecraft is moving at 17 000 m/s. How far will it travel in
one year? Give your answer in km.
7 Calculate how many minutes it takes sunlight to reach us from the Sun.
Light travels at 3 × 108 m/s and the Sun is about 144 million km away.
8 A cheetah can maintain its top speed of 31 m/s over a distance of 100
metres while some breeds of gazelle, such as Thomson’s gazelle, have a
top speed of 25 m/s. This question considers how close the cheetah needs
 to be to catch the gazelle if they have both just reached top speed.
a How long does it take a cheetah to cover 100 m?
b What is the closing speed of the cheetah, that is, what is the difference
in speed between the cheetah and the gazelle?
c How far ahead of the cheetah would the gazelle need to be to escape?
(Hint: you need the time you calculated in a and the closing speed you
calculated in b.)
d How long would it take the cheetah to catch the gazelle with the
closing speed you calculated in b and the distance apart you calculated
in c?

ACTIVITY 2.1
Running with the wind behind you
In 2011, Justin Gatlin ran 100 metres in 9.45 seconds (faster than Usain
Bolt’s world record by 0.13 seconds). However, he was pushed along by a
20 m/s tailwind generated by giant fans as part of a Japanese game show. A
100 m or 200 m sprint record can stand only if a tailwind does not exceed 2
m/s. Why does this rule not apply to longer events?
First, think about how you might approach this problem.
The day Roger Bannister ran a mile in four minutes (6 May 1954) he
almost decided not to race because it was too windy. Imagine there is a
tailwind along the final straight section of a 400 m track which speeds you
up, and a headwind on the opposite straight section which slows you down.
Why do the effects of the tailwind and headwind not cancel out? (Hint: you
need to think about the time it would take you to run the straight sections.)
1 Imagine that you are a 400 m runner who can run the distance in 40 s
(a new world record) at the same average speed of 10 m/s. Assume
that the 400 m track is equally divided so that the straight sections and
bends are each 100 m long.
Plot your time for the 400 m (y-axis) against wind speed (x-axis).
When you are running against the wind on the straight section
opposite the finish line, subtract the wind speed from your normal
running speed. When you are running with the wind on the final
 straight section before the finish line, add the wind speed to your
normal running speed.
For example, if there is a wind speed of 1 m/s, your speed along the
straight opposite the finish line will be 9 m/s while it will be 11 m/s
along the straight section before the finish line. Then you need to add
the times for each straight section to the 20 s for the bends. Repeat
this, increasing the wind speed by 1 m/s each time, until you reach 10
m/s.
2 Could you have reached the answer without plotting a graph?
3 Discuss whether it is realistic to add or subtract the wind speed to your
normal running speed.
4 Design an experiment to test how wind speed affects running speed.
You might need to include equipment that you do not have access to
(such as the giant fans used on the Japanese game show).

REFLECTION
Discuss your answers to the activity with the person sitting next to you.
Have they thought of anything you haven’t included in your answer?
Would you add anything to your answers after your discussion?
2.2 Distance–time graphs
You can describe how something moves in words, ‘The coach drove away from
the bus stop. It travelled at a steady speed along the main road, leaving town.
After five minutes, it reached the highway, where it was able to speed up. After
ten minutes, it was forced to stop because of traffic.’
We can show the same information in the form of a distance–time graph, as
shown in Figure 2.6a. This graph is in three sections, corresponding to the three
sections of the coach’s journey.

Figure 2.6 a and b: A graph to represent the motion of a coach, as described in

the text. The slope of the graph tells us about the coach’s speed.

In section A, the graph slopes up gently, showing that the coach was travelling at
a slow speed.
In section B, the graph becomes steeper. The distance of the coach from its
starting point is increasing more rapidly. It is moving faster.
In section C, the graph is flat (horizontal). The distance of the coach from its
starting point is not changing. It is stationary.
The slope of the distance–time graph tells us how fast the coach is moving. The
steeper the graph, the faster it is moving (the greater its speed). When the graph
becomes horizontal, its slope is zero. This tells us that the coach’s speed is zero
in section C. It is not moving.
Figure 2.6a shows abrupt (instant) changes in speed between A, B and C. It
would not be a very comfortable ride for the passengers! Instead of abrupt
changes in speed, the speed would change more slowly in the real world and
there would be smooth curves joining the sections (Figure 2.6b). The increasing
gradient of the upward-sloping curve between A and B would show that the
coach was speeding up (accelerating) and the decreasing gradient of the curve
between B and C would show that the coach was slowing down (decelerating).
However, we will only look at graphs with angled edges as in Figure 2.6a.

Questions
9 A car pulled away from the lights and travelled at a steady speed along an
empty road. After 8 minutes it joined a main road, where it travelled at
about twice the original speed for 12 minutes. The car then met a traffic
jam and had to quickly slow down and stop. The traffic cleared after
5 minutes but then the car travelled slowly, at about half the original
speed.
Sketch a distance–time graph to show the car’s journey.
10 Figure 2.7 shows the distance–time graph for a woman running a
mountain marathon.
Figure 2.7: Distance–time graph

a How far did she travel?

b What was her average speed in km/h?
c How many stops did she make?
d The rules said she had to stop for half an hour for food. When did she
take her break?
e Later she stopped to help an injured runner. When did this happen?
f What would her average speed have been if she had not stopped at all?
g What was her highest speed and over what section did this happen?

Express trains, slow buses

An express train is capable of reaching high speeds, perhaps more than 300
km/h. However, when it sets off on its journey, it may take several minutes to
reach this top speed. Then it takes a long time to slow down when it approaches
its destination. The French TGV trains (Figure 2.8) run on lines that are reserved
solely for their operation, so that their high-speed journeys are not disrupted by
slower, local trains.
Figure 2.8: France’s high-speed trains, the TGVs (Trains à Grande Vitesse), run
on dedicated tracks. Their speed has made it possible to travel 600 km from
Marseille in the south to Paris in the north, attend a meeting, and return home
again within a single day.

A bus journey is full of accelerations and decelerations. The bus accelerates

away from the stop. Ideally, the driver hopes to travel at a steady speed until the
next stop. A steady speed means that you can sit comfortably in your seat. Then
there is a rapid deceleration as the bus slows to a halt. A lot of accelerating and
decelerating means that you are likely to be thrown about as the bus changes
speed. The gentle acceleration of an express train will barely disturb the drink in
your cup. The bus’s rapid accelerations and decelerations would make it
impossible to avoid spilling the drink (Figure 2.9).

Figure 2.9: It can be uncomfortable on a packed bus as it accelerates and

decelerates along its journey.
2.3 Understanding acceleration
Some cars, particularly high-performance ones, are advertised according to how
rapidly they can accelerate. An advert may claim that a car goes ‘from 0 to 100
km/h in 5 s’. This means that, if the car accelerates at a steady rate, it reaches 20
km/h after 1 s, 40 km/h after 2 s, and so on. We could say that it speeds up by 20
km/h every second. In other words, its acceleration is 20 km/h per second.
So, we say that an object accelerates if its speed increases. Its acceleration tells
us the rate at which its speed is changing, that is, the change in speed per unit
time.
When an object slows down, its speed is also changing. We say that it is
decelerating. Instead of an acceleration, it has a deceleration.

Speed and velocity, vectors and scalars

In physics, the words ‘speed’ and ‘velocity’ have different meanings, although
they are closely related: velocity is an object’s speed in a particular stated
direction. So, we could say that an aircraft has a speed of 200 m/s but a velocity
of 200 m/s due north. We must give the direction of the velocity or the
information is incomplete.
Velocity is an example of a vector quantity. Vectors have both magnitude (size)
and direction. Another example of a vector is weight – your weight is a force
that acts downwards, towards the centre of the Earth.
Speed is an example of a scalar quantity. Scalars only have magnitude.
Temperature is an example of another scalar quantity.
You will learn more about vectors and scalars in Chapter 3.

Speed–time graphs
Just as we can represent the motion of a moving object by a distance–time graph,
we can also represent it by a speed–time graph. A speed–time graph shows how
the object’s speed changes as it moves. Always check any graph by looking at
the axes to see the labels. A speed–time graph has speed on the vertical axis and
time on the horizontal axis.
Figure 2.10 shows a speed–time graph for a bus. The graph frequently drops to
zero because the bus stops to let people on and off. Then the line slopes up, as
the bus accelerates away from the stop. Towards the end of its journey, the bus is
moving at a steady speed (horizontal graph), as it does not have to stop. Finally,
the graph slopes downwards to zero again as the bus pulls into the terminus and
stops.

Figure 2.10: A speed–time graph for a bus on a busy route. At first, it has to halt
frequently at bus stops. Towards the end of its journey, it maintains a steady
speed.

The slope of the speed–time graph tells us about the bus’s acceleration:
• the steeper the slope, the greater the acceleration
• a negative slope means a deceleration (slowing down)
• a horizontal graph (slope = 0) means a constant speed.

Graphs of different shapes

Speed–time graphs can show us a lot about an object’s movement. Was it
moving at a steady speed, or speeding up, or slowing down? Was it moving at
all?
Figure 2.11 represents a train journey. The graph is in four sections. Each section
illustrates a different point:
Figure 2.11: An example of a speed–time graph for a train during part of its
journey.

• A: sloping upwards, so the speed increases and the train is accelerating

• B: horizontal, so the speed is constant and the train is travelling at a steady
speed
• C: sloping downwards, so the speed decreases and the train is decelerating
• D: horizontal, so the speed has decreased to zero and the train is stationary.
The fact that the graph lines are curved in sections A and C tells us that the
train’s acceleration was changing. If its speed had changed at a steady rate, these
lines would have been straight.

Questions
11 Two students live in the same apartment block in Hometown and attend
the same school in Schooltown, as shown in Figure 2.12. For this question,
work in km and hours.
Figure 2.12

a Arun gets a lift to school in his mother’s car. The traffic is heavy so
the average speed for the journey is 40 km/h. How many minutes does
it take Arun to get to school?
b Sofia leaves home at the same time as Arun but she walks the 0.3 km
to Hometown station, waits 3 minutes (0.05 hour) for the train, travels
on the train to Schooltown station (journey distance 22 km) and walks
the 0.7 km from Schooltown station to the school. The train averages
88 km/h and Sofia walks at 5 km/h. How many minutes does it take
Sofia to get to school?
c How many minutes shorter is Sofia’s journey time than Arun’s?
d Draw a speed–time graph for their journeys on the same axes but
assume that any change in speed is instant (do not show the
acceleration).
12 Look at the speed–time graph in Figure 2.13.
Figure 2.13

Name the sections that represent:

a steady speed
b speeding up (accelerating)
c being stationary
d slowing down (decelerating).
13 A car is travelling at 20 m/s. The driver sees a hazard. After a reaction
time of 0.7 s, she performs an emergency stop by applying the brakes. The
car takes a further 3.3 s to come to a stop. Sketch a speed–time graph for
her journey from the moment she sees the hazard to the moment she
brings her car to a stop. Label the graph with as many details as you can.
14 a Copy Table 2.3 and sketch the motion graphs for each motion
described.

Motion of body Distance–time graph Speed–time graph

at rest
moving at constant speed
constant acceleration
(speeding up)
 constant deceleration
(slowing down)

Table 2.3

b Copy Table 2.4 and sketch the speed–time graphs for each acceleration
described.
constant increasing decreasing
Motion of body
acceleration acceleration accleration
accelerating
decelerating
Table 2.4

Finding distance travelled

A speed–time graph represents an object’s movement. It tells us about how its
speed changes. We can also use the graph to deduce (work out) how far the
object travels. To do this, we have to make use of the equation:
distance = area under speed–time graph
The area under any straight-line graph can be broken down into rectangles and
triangles. Then you can calculate the area using:
area of rectangle = width × height
1
area of a triangle = 2
× base × height
To understand this equation, consider Worked Examples 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5.

WORKED EXAMPLE 2.3

Calculate the distance you travel when you cycle for 20s at a constant speed
of 10 m/s (see Figure 2.14).
Figure 2.14: Speed–time graph for Worked Example 2.3.

Step 1: Distance travelled is the same as the shaded area under the graph.
This rectangle is 20 s wide and 10 m/s high, so its area is 10 m/s ×
20 s = 200 m.
Step 2: Check using the equation:
distance travelled = speed × time
= 10/s × 20 = 200
Answer
You would travel 200 metres.

WORKED EXAMPLE 2.4

You set off down a steep ski slope. Your initial speed is 0 m/s. After 10 s you
are travelling at 30 m/s (see Figure 2.15). Calculate the distance you travel in
this time.
Figure 2.15: Speed–time graph for Worked Example 2.4.

Step 1: Distance travelled is the same as the shaded area under the graph.
The shape is a triangle with a height of 30 m/s and base of 10 s.
area of a triangle = 1 × base × height
2
1 × 10 s × 30m/s
2
= 150 m
Step 2: Check using the equation:
initial velocity + final velocity
average speed = 2
0 m/s + 30 m/s
= 2
= 15 m/s
distance travelled = average speed × time
= 15 m/s × 10 s
= 150 m
Answer
You travel 150 metres.

WORKED EXAMPLE 2.5

A train’s motion is represented by the graph in Figure 2.16. Calculate the
distance the train travels in 60 s.

Figure 2.16: Speed–time graph for Worked Example 2.5.

Step 1: Distance travelled is the same as the shaded areas under the graph.
This graph has two shaded areas: the pink rectangle and the orange
triangle.
Step 2: Find the area of the pink rectangle. It is 60 s wide and 6.0 m/s
high, so its area = 60 s × 6.0 m/s = 360 m
(Note: this tells us how far the train would have travelled if it had
maintained a constant speed of 6.0 m/s.)
Step 3: Find the area of the orange triangle. It has a base of 40 s and height
of 14.0 m/s − 6.0 m/s = 8.0 m/s
1
area of a triangle = × base × height
2
1
= × 40 s × 8.0 m/s
2
= 160 m
(Note: this tells us the extra distance travelled by the train because
it was accelerating.)
Step 4: Add these two areas to find the total area and, therefore, the total
distance travelled:
 total distance travelled = 360 m + 160 m
= 520 m
Step 5: Check using the equation distance travelled = average speed × time
The train travelled for 20 s at a steady speed of 6.0 m/s, and then
for 40 s at an average speed of 10.0 m/s. So:
distance travelled = (6.0 m/s × 20 s) + (10.0 m/s × 40 s)
= 120 m × 400 m
= 520 m
Answer
In 60 s, the train travelled 520 metres.

Question
15 a Draw a speed–time graph to show a car that accelerates uniformly
from 6 m/s for 5 s then travels at a steady speed of 12 m/s for 5 s.
b On your graph, shade the area that shows the distance travelled by the
car in 10 s.
c Calculate the distance travelled in this time.

ACTIVITY 2.2
The 4 × 100 metre relay
The purpose of this activity is to apply what you have learned about motion
(and particularly sketching speed–time graphs) to a real problem. If you get
the chance to take this activity out onto a running track, you will need to
take time and distance measurements (something you learned about in
Chapter 1).
Success in a 4 × 100 m relay race depends both on the speed of the runners
and effective baton exchange between the runners. The baton must pass
between runners within a 30 m changeover (or passing) zone, which
includes a 10 m acceleration (or fly) zone. Figure 2.17 shows the first of
these three passing zones.
Figure 2.17: The first bend of a 400m athletics track.

Each athlete actually sprints for more than 100 m, as shown in Table 2.5.
By planning for the baton to exchange between runners at the beginning or
end of the changeover box, you can adjust the distance each runner runs.
You might have a slightly shorter distance for a 60 m sprinter and a
lengthened distance for a 100 m runner who also runs 200 m, which also
makes them used to running bends. Usually, each runner keeps the baton in
the same hand and passes it to the opposite hand of the next runner to
exchange the baton. Usually, the first runner carries the baton in their right
hand.
1 In what hand will runners receive and carry the baton on subsequent
legs?
2 What are the advantages of passing the baton to the opposite hand?
Ideally, during the baton exchange the speeds of the runners should be
 the same. To achieve this the outgoing runner starts his run when the
incoming runner reaches a check mark.
3 How would you work out where to place the check mark? (Hint: it
might help if you sketch speed–time graphs on the same axes for both
runners, starting when the runner receiving the baton starts running.)
What other information would you need to make this accurate?
4 Even at Olympic finals teams can be disqualified (stopped from taking
part) if they drop the baton or pass it outside of the changeover zone.
Why does this happen so often?
5 Imagine you are the school’s athletics coach. Table 2.5 lists the times
for runners who often compete in the senior 4 × 100 m relay.
Use this information to select your team and decide which leg each
runner should run and enter their names on the team sheet. Do you
have a strategy for deciding which athlete runs which leg? What other
information might you want to gather before making a decision? For
example, Sajjan suggests that he is the best starter. Some athletes are
better at running bends. Some are better at passing or receiving the
baton.
Right-handed, left-
100 m 200 m handed, or
Athlete
personal personal ambidextrous Good bend runner
name
best / s best / s (happy using either
hand)
Sajjan Sidhu 12.1 25.8 right prefers bends
Gar Psi Ho 11.8 24.3 right, ambidextrous prefers bends
Andrew prefers straights
11.1 24.4 ambidextrous
Kerr-Chin but good at both
Tom
11.7 25.1 right, ambidextrous better at straights
Schofield
Oliver
12.6 26.3 ambidextrous happy to run bends
Hudson
Table 2.5

6 Collect data from your own group. Use this to select a 4 × 100 m team
 and decide who should run each leg. Copy and complete this team
sheet.

Team sheet
Typical distance actually 100 m personal
Leg Athlete name
run / m best
1 105
2 125
3 125
4 120

Table 2.6

SELF-ASSESSMENT
In science it is often helpful to visualise tasks. For question 3, did you have
a clear idea of how to work out where to place the check marks? Did the
idea of sketching the speed–time graphs for the runners help? (The
difference in the area under the two graphs up to the moment of baton
exchange should tell you how far in front of the acceleration zone to place
the check mark).
What other information did you need before deciding which runner should
run each leg?
2.4 Calculating speed and acceleration
From a distance–time graph, we can find how fast something is moving. Figure
2.18 shows information about a car journey between two cities. The car travelled
more slowly at some times than at others. It is easier to see this if we present the
information as a graph.
From the graph, you can see that the car travelled slowly at the start of its
journey, and also at the end, when it was travelling through the city. The graph is
steeper in the middle section, when it was travelling on the open road between
the cities.
The graph also shows how to use the gradient to calculate the car’s speed on the
open road:
speed = gradient of distance–time graph
More detail is given in Worked Example 2.6.

WORKED EXAMPLE 2.6

Use the gradient of the graph in Figure 2.18 to calculate the car’s speed on the
open road.

Figure 2.18: Distance–time graph for a car journey.

 Distance travelled / km Time taken / h
0 0.0
10 0.4
20 0.8
100 1.8
110 2.3
Table 2.7: Data for a car journey.

speed = gradient of distance–time graph

Step 1: Identify the relevant straight section of the graph. Here, we are
looking at the straight section in the middle of the graph, where the
car’s speed was constant.
Step 2: Draw horizontal and vertical lines to complete a right-angled
triangle.
Step 3: Calculate the lengths of the sides of the triangle.
Step 4: Divide the vertical height by the horizontal width of the triangle
(‘up divided by along’).
vertical height = 80 km
horizontal width = 1.0 h
80 km
gradient =
1.0 h
= 80 km/h
Answer
The car’s speed was 80 km/h for this section of its journey.
Note: It helps to include units in the calculation because then the answer will
automatically have the correct units, in this case, km/h.

Question
16 Table 2.8 shows information about a train journey.
Station Distance travelled/ km Time taken / minutes
Hornby 0 0
Kirby Lonsdale 10 30
Ingleton 20 45
Dolphinholme 46 60
Galgate 56 80
Table 2.8

Use the data in Table 2.8 to plot a distance–time graph for the train. Find
the train’s average speed between Kirby Lonsdale and Dolphinholme. Give
your answer in km/h.

Calculating acceleration
Picture an express train setting off from a station on a long, straight track. It may
take 300 s to reach a velocity of 300 km/h along the track. Its velocity has
increased by 1 km/h each second, and so we say that its acceleration is 1 km/h
per second.
These are not very convenient units, although they may help to make it clear
what is happening when we talk about acceleration. To calculate an object’s
acceleration, we need to know two things:
• its change in velocity (how much it speeds up)
• the time taken (how long it takes to speed up).
The acceleration of the object is defined as the change of an object’s velocity per
unit time.
change in velocity
acceleration = time taken
We can write the equation for acceleration in symbols with Δv for change in
velocity and Δt for time taken. So we can write the equation for acceleration like
this:
Δv
a= Δt

KEY EQUATION
change in velocity
 change in velocity
acceleration = time taken
Δv
a = Δt

Alternatively, because there are two velocities, we could use two symbols: u =
initial velocity and v = final velocity. Now we can write the equation for
acceleration like this:
v−u
a= Δt
The advantage of this equation is that if the final velocity is less than the initial
velocity, the answer is negative. This tells you that the acceleration is negative
(i.e. that the object is decelerating).
In the example of the express train, we have initial velocity u = 0 km/h, final
velocity v = 300 km/h and time taken t = 300 s.
300 km/h−0 km/h
So, acceleration a = = 1 km/h per
300 s
second. Worked Example 2.7 uses the more standard velocity units of m/s.

Units of acceleration
In Worked Example 2.7, the units of acceleration are given as m/s2 (metres per
second squared). These are the standard units of acceleration. The calculation
shows that the aircraft’s velocity increased by 2 m/s every second, or by 2
metres per second per second. It is simplest to write this as 2 m/s2, but you may
prefer to think of it as 2 m/s per second, as this emphasises the meaning of
acceleration.

WORKED EXAMPLE 2.7

An aircraft accelerates from 100 m/s to 300 m/s in 100 s. What is its
acceleration?
Step 1: Start by writing down what you know, and what you want to
know.
initial velocity u = 100 m/s
final velocity v = 300 m/s
 time t = 100 s
acceleration a = ?
Step 2: Now calculate the change in velocity.
change in velocity = 300 m/s − 100 m/s
= 200 m/s
Step 3: Substitute into the equation.
change in velocity
acceleration =
time taken
200 m/s
=
100 s
= 2.0 m/s2
Alternatively, you could substitute the values of u, v and t directly
into the equation.
v−u
a = Δt
300 −100
= 100
= 2m/s2
Answer
The aircraft’s acceleration is 2.0 m/s2

If you are working out the acceleration of an object that is slowing down, then
this alternative method shown in Worked Example 2.7 will give a negative
answer. If the aircraft was slowing down from 300 m/s to 100 m/s then its
acceleration would be:
v−u 100 m/s−300 m/s
a= t
= 100 s
= −2 m/s2
This is because acceleration is a vector quantity: it has a direction. It can be
forwards (positive) or backwards (negative). So it is important always to think
about velocity rather than speed when working out accelerations, because
velocity is also a vector quantity.

Questions
17 Which of the following could not be a unit of acceleration?
km/s2 mph/s km/s m/s2
18 A car sets off from traffic lights. It reaches a speed of 21 m/s in 10 s. What
is its acceleration?
19 A train, initially moving at 15 m/s, speeds up to 39 m/s in 120 s. What is its
acceleration?
20 The speed of a car increases from 12 m/s to 20 m/s in 4 seconds.
a Sketch the speed–time graph.
b Calculate the acceleration.
c Use the graph to work out the distance covered in those 4 seconds.
d Calculate the distance travelled.
e If your answers to parts c and d are not the same, then work out where
you have made a mistake.

Acceleration from speed–time graphs

A speed–time graph with a steep slope shows that the speed is changing
rapidly – the acceleration is greater. It follows that we can find the acceleration
of an object by calculating the gradient of its speed–time graph:
acceleration = gradient of speed–time graph
Three points should be noted:
• The object must be travelling in a straight line; its velocity is changing but
its direction is not.
• If the speed–time graph is curved (rather than a straight line), the
acceleration is changing.
• If the graph is sloping downwards, the object is decelerating. The gradient
of the graph is negative. So a deceleration is a negative acceleration.

WORKED EXAMPLE 2.8

A train travels slowly as it climbs up a long hill. Then it speeds up as it travels

down the other side. Table 2.9 shows how its speed changes. Draw a speed–
time graph to show this data. Use the graph to calculate the train’s
acceleration during the second half of its journey.
Time / s Speed / m/s
0 6.0
10 6.0
20 6.0
30 8.0
40 10.0
50 12.0
60 14.0
Table 2.9: Speed of a train.

Before starting to draw the graph, it is worth looking at the data in the table.
The values of speed are given at equal intervals of time (every 10 s). The
speed is constant at first (6.0 m/s). Then it increases in equal steps (8.0, 10.0,
and so on). In fact, we can see that the speed increases by 2.0 m/s every 10 s.
This is enough to tell us that the train’s acceleration is 0.2 m/s2. However, we
will follow through the detailed calculation to illustrate how to work out
acceleration from a graph.
Step 1: Draw the speed–time graph using the data in Table 2.9; this is
shown in Figure 2.19.
The initial horizontal section shows that the train’s speed was
constant (zero acceleration).
The sloping section shows that the train was then accelerating.
 Figure 2.19: Speed–time graph for Worked Example 2.8.

Step 2: Draw in a triangle to calculate the slope of the graph, as shown on

Figure 2.19. This gives us the acceleration.
v−u
a = Δt
14.0 m/s−6.0 m/s
= 60 s−20 s
8.0 m/s
= 40 s
= 0.20 m/s2
Answer
The train’s acceleration down the hill is 0.20 m/s2.

Although Worked Example 2.8 uses the equation for acceleration, you are
finding the gradient of the slope in Figure 2.19.
Figure 2.20 shows the speed–time graph for a skydiver from the moment she
leaves an aircraft. She jumps from 5000 m and opens her parachute when she
reaches 1500 m, 60 s after she jumps. You have already learned that you can
find the acceleration from the gradient of a speed–time graph. However, there
are places where the gradient of the graph is changing (when the graph is not a
straight line). To find the acceleration at any moment in time, a tangent to the
graph is drawn. This works for any graph: straight or curved.

Figure 2.20: The speed–time graph for a skydiver, showing the first 105 s of the
jump.

WORKED EXAMPLE 2.9

Look at Figure 2.20. What is the skydiver’s acceleration at:

a 0.
b 5.5 s?
Part a
Step 1: Draw a tangent to the graph at t = 0 s (shown below by the blue
line).
Step 2: Draw in a triangle (shown below by the dashed lines).
Step 3: Calculate the slope of the graph. This gives us the acceleration.
Part b
Step 1: Draw a tangent to the graph at t = 5.5 s (shown below by the blue
line).
Step 2: Draw in a triangle to calculate the slope of the graph (shown below
by the dashed lines).
 Step 3: Calculate the slope of the graph. This gives us the acceleration.
Answer
The parachutist has the acceleration of free-fall (9.8 m/s2) the moment she
jumps out of the aircraft (at t = 0 s) and her acceleration decreases with time
until she reaches a constant speed. After 5.5 s her acceleration is 3.8 m/s2.

Perhaps you can already explain why her acceleration changes as she falls but it
will be explained in Chapter 3. Can you see when she opens her parachute in
Figure 2.20? Recalling how to work out distance on a speed–time graph, can you
work out how far she has fallen when she opens her parachute? Can you work
out that she lands 160 s after she starts her jump?

Question
21 A car driver has to do an emergency stop. This is when the driver needs to
stop the car in the shortest possible stopping distance. There is a delay
between seeing a hazard and applying the brakes. This is due to the reaction
time of the driver, sometimes called the thinking time. The distance the car
moves in this time (when the car has not changed speed) is the thinking
distance. The distance the car moves once the brakes are applied and until
the car comes to a stop is the braking distance. The stopping distance =
thinking distance + braking distance.
A car is travelling at 20 m/s when the driver sees a hazard. She has a
reaction time of 0.7 s and brings her car to a stop 4.0 s after seeing the
danger.
a Draw a speed–time graph to represent the car’s motion during the 4.0 s
described. Assume that the deceleration (negative acceleration) is
constant.
b Use the graph to deduce (work out) the car’s deceleration as it slows
down.
c Use the graph to deduce how far the car travels during the 4.0 s
described.

ACTIVITY 2.3
Using ticker tape to find the acceleration of a trolley down a ramp
You are going to investigate the motion of a trolley down a ramp. Some
ticker tape is attached to the trolley – and a ticker timer marks the paper 50
times a second (Figure 2.21). As the trolley accelerates, the distance
between the dots increases.

Figure 2.21: Ticker tape.

1 The ticker timer marks the paper 50 times a second. What interval of
time does each gap represent?
To find the speed at a particular dot, you need to measure the distance
covered over a short interval of time centred on the dot. Measure the
distance between the preceding (previous) dot and succeeding dot (the
one that follows). For example, to find the speed at dot 15, we need to
find the distance covered between dot 14 and dot 16 (13 mm) and then
divide by the time taken to cover this distance (2 × 0.02 s = 0.04 s),
using the equation:
distance 13 mm
speed = time
= 0.04 s
= 0.325 m/s
2 Copy and complete Table 2.10, using the ticker tape to help you.
3 Plot a speed–time graph.
4 Use the gradient from the graph to calculate the acceleration.
Alternative approach
Every fifth dot has been numbered. This corresponds to the distance
travelled every 0.1 s.
1 Cut a copy of the the ticker tape into lengths corresponding to every
fifth dot (0.1 s time interval).
2 Stick the lengths side by side (like a histogram) onto graph paper, with
the bottom of each strip on the horizontal axis.
3 Draw a line through the dot at the top of each strip (or the middle of
 the top of each strip, if the dot is missing).
4 Work out the scale for each axis. The width of each strip is equal to a
time interval of 0.1 s.
5 Work out the gradient of the speed–time graph you have constructed.

Dot Time since tape started Distance covered /

Speed / m/s
number /s mm
0 0.0
5 0.1
10 0.2
15 13 0.325
20
25
30

Table 2.10

PROJECT

Your teacher will decide whether you will work on your own, in pairs or as
part of a small group. Your task is to plan a three-part revision lesson on
the material in this chapter for the rest of your class, particularly the link
between motion graphs and the equations of motion. Write down a plan to
show what you would do and what resources you would use. If you have
time, you can produce and teach the lesson to small groups of your
classmates or the whole of your class. The following points will help you as
you plan the revision lesson.
• You need to be able to answer questions on motion graphs and
equations of motion so that you can then use them as a basis to write
your own own questions.
• You need to produce model answers for your questions or come up
with a better way of getting the ideas across.
• Insist that your classmates show their working.
• You need to label what parts of your questions are supplementary.
Here are some suggested questions which you can use in your plan for the
lesson:
Part 1: How to interpret motion graphs
Question for your classmates to answer: ‘Copy and complete the table by
stating what feature of the motion graph can be used to obtain the variable
listed in the left-hand column. The first cell has been done for you.’
Distance–time graph Speed–time graph
distance read off the vertical axis
speed
acceleration
You might want to suggest that your classmates colour code the table in
some way.
Can you think of a better way of getting information from motion graphs?
Part 2: Linking motion graphs to equations of motion
Question for your classmates to answer: ‘A body moving at 2 m/s
accelerates for 2 seconds until it reaches a speed of 4 m/s. Show that the
body travels a distance of 6 m and accelerates at 1 m/s2.’
You need your classmates to get the same answer for the question you
produce using two different methods.
Method 1: Use the relevant equations (for acceleration and distance)
Some of your classmates will get the distance wrong because they do not
use the average speed in the equation for distance.
Method 2: Sketch the motion graph
Your classmates should use the gradient of the graph to find the
acceleration and the area under the curve to find the distance. However,
some of your classmates will sketch the motion from the origin (instead of
from 2 m/s) and will work out the area of a triangle (instead of a triangle
plus a square) so will get a distance travelled of 2 metres. Others will
measure the horizontal and vertical distances with a ruler to work out the
gradient instead of using the scale on the axes to work out the changes in
the speed and time to work out the gradient.
You need to come up with similar questions (different numbers) and their
model answers. Perhaps try your question on a few of your friends to check
that it is clear and to pick up common mistakes. You could provide your
question and a wrong solution and ask other members of your class to spot
and correct the mistakes.
Part 3: Putting learning into practice
Questions for your classmates to answer:
Bloodhound LSR is being developed to achieve a new land speed record of
1000 mph. The vehicle will be timed over a ‘measured mile’ half-way
down a 12 mile long salt pan in South Africa.
• If Bloodhound achieves 1000 mph, how long would it take to
complete the ‘measured mile’?

Figure 2.22: Bloodhound LSR during a practice run on the Hekskeenpan in

South Africa.

• Sketch a speed–time graph for its journey. Label it with significant

speeds and times. Assume that Bloodhound accelerates uniformly until
it reaches the ‘measured mile’ and then decelerates uniformly so that it
comes to rest 12 miles from the start (and before the end of the salt
pan).
• What is the total time for the 12 mile journey?
• What is the acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle and how does
this compare to the acceleration of freefall (9.81 m/s2)?’
First, you need to answer the question yourself.
When you set your question, decide whether to convert the data in the
question to SI units or get your classmates to do it themselves (1 mph =
0.447 m/s; 1 mile = 1610 m).
You could introduce the question with a short video clip about the vehicle.
Adapt the questions above and produce a model answer so that your peers
can check and correct their solutions. For example, you could flip the
question by telling your peers the maximum acceleration and deceleration
of the vehicle and get them to work out the minimum distance the ‘track’
needs to be, or you could change the data while keeping it realistic.
SUMMARY

Speed is distance divided by time.

Average speed is total distance divided by total time.
Light gates and interrupt cards can be used to measure speed in the
laboratory.
The equation that relates speed, distance and time can be re-arranged to
find any one of the variables, given the values of the other two.
The gradient (slope) of a distance–time graph represents speed.
Acceleration is a change in speed.
The greater the gradient (slope) of a speed–time graph, the bigger the
acceleration.
Distance travelled can be calculated (worked out) from the area under a
speed–time graph.
Speed can be calculated from the gradient of a distance–time graph and
acceleration can be calculated from the gradient of a speed–time graph.
Speed is a scalar and velocity is a vector.
Acceleration can be calculated from the change of speed divided by time
and a negative acceleration is the same as a deceleration.
EXAM-STYLE QUESTIONS
Use this graph for questions 1 and 2.

1 How is a constant velocity shown on the graph? [1]

A the sloping line at the start
B the horizontal part of the line
C the area under the line
D the sloping line at the end

2 How is the distance travelled shown on the graph?

[1]
A the sloping line at the start
B the horizontal part of the line
C the area under the line
D the sloping line at the end

3 A snail takes part in a snail race. The snail completes the 180
cm course in 7.0 minutes. What is the approximate average
speed of the snail?
[1]
A 0.43 m/s
 B 26 m/s
C 0.26 m/s
D 0.0043 m/s

4 The velocity–time graph shows the performance of a Formula

1® racing car as it accelerates from rest for 7.33 seconds and
then brakes, coming to a stop in 2.69 seconds. It covers a
distance of 520 metres.

What is the approximate maximum velocity of the car?

[1]
A 50 m/s
B 75 m/s
C 105 m/s
D 175 m/s
5 The table shows Usain Bolt’s split times from his world record 100 m
run in Berlin in 2009. Each split time is for a 10 m section of the 100
m distance. The time for the first 10 m includes his reaction time of
0.146 s before he left his blocks.

Section / 0- 10- 20- 30- 40- 50- 60- 70- 80- 90-
m 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Time / s 1.89 0.99 0.90 0.86 0.83 0.82 0.81 0.82 0.83 0.83
 a Calculate the time that Usain Bolt takes to run the first 10
metres from the moment he starts moving. [1]
b Calculate Usain Bolt’s average speed over the first 10
metres from the moment he starts moving. [2]
C Calculate Usain Bolt’s maximum speed over the first 10
metres. Ignore his reaction time and assume his
acceleration is constant. [2]
d Calculate Usain Bolt’s acceleration over the first 10
metres. Ignore his reaction time and assume his
acceleration is constant. [2]
e Calculate Usain Bolt’s top speed in the race. Show your
working. [2]
[Total: 8]
6 An aircraft happened to be flying near a volcano when it erupted. The
co-pilot took some video footage. He handed the footage over to
scientists for analysis. The scientists spotted a huge boulder that was
moving at a constant speed horizontally (sideways) in the first frame
and falling in subsequent frames of the video. They wanted to work
out how far the ash and rock would spread.

a Plot a graph of the position of the boulder at intervals of 5

seconds. Plot the vertical height of the boulder (vertical
axis) against the horizontal distance travelled (horizontal
axis). [3]

Horizontal distance
Time / s Vertical height / m
travelled / m
0 0 4420
5 525 4292
10 1050 3924
15 1580 3311
20 2100 2453
25 2630 1349
 30 3150 0

b Explain the shape of the graph. [1]

c The scientists thought the aircraft had been at an altitude
(height) of 4420 metres when the video was taken but it
was at 3600 metres. Use your graph to estimate the
(horizontal) distance the boulder will have travelled from
the point that it was recorded on video to where it hit the
ground. [2]
d Use your graph to estimate how long it took the boulder
to hit the ground from where it was filmed. [1]
e Calculate the horizontal speed of the boulder. [2]
f Suggest why there is ash and rocks over a wide area and
not just a circle of debris that your answer to c might
suggest. [1]
[Total: 10]
SELF-EVALUATION CHECKLIST
After studying this chapter, think about how confident you are with the
different topics. This will help you to see any gaps in your knowledge and
help you to learn more effectively.
Needs Confident
See Almost
I can more to move
Topic... there
work on
Work out speed from distance
2.1
travelled and time taken.
Work out average speed from total
2.1
distance travelled and total time taken.
Describe experiments to measure
2.1
speed in the laboratory.
Work out distance travelled from a
2.3
speed–time graph.
Find speed on a speed-time graph. 2.3
Calculate acceleration from the change
2.4
in velocity and time taken.
Work out acceleration from a speed–
2.4
time graph.
Explain the difference between speed
2.4
and velocity.
 Chapter 3
Forces and motion

IN THIS CHAPTER YOU WILL:

• discover the differences between mass and weight
• describe the ways in which a resultant force may change the motion of
a body
• find the resultant of two or more forces acting along the same line
• find out about the effect of friction (or air resistance or drag) on a
moving object

learn about circular motion

learn how force, mass and acceleration are related
define what a force is, understand the concepts of momentum and
impulse and apply the principle of the conservation of momentum
understand the difference between scalars and vectors and learn how
to determine the resultant of two vectors acting at right angles to each
 other.

GETTING STARTED

Look at the following questions. Your teacher will give you some time to
think about them on your own. You may also take some time to discuss
them with the person sitting next to you. Be prepared to share your answers
with the class.
1 While sitting on your seat, describe any forces acting on you.
2 Imagine a ball thrown in the air. Sketch the ball. Draw an arrow or
arrows to show any forces acting on the ball and, if possible, label the
arrows.
3 Describe daily life without friction. What do you think would change
the most?
4 Look at Figure 3.1 and decide which path the Earth would follow if
gravity stopped acting.

Figure 3.1: The Earth orbiting the Sun. Which of the paths would Earth
follow if the Sun suddenly stopped existing?

HYPERLOOP ONE: SUPERSONIC TRAVEL INSIDE

VACUUM TUBES
Transport systems would be much more efficient if less energy was wasted
working against friction or air resistance. Hyperloop One promises to get
rid of both. Elon Musk proposed it on 12 August 2013 as a faster
alternative to air travel. It combines two existing technologies – maglev
(magnetic levitation) and vactrain (vacuum tube train). Maglev trains use
magnetic repulsion (like poles repel) to make the train float, which
eliminates friction. A linear motor then accelerates the train: magnetic
attraction (unlike poles attract) pulls the train from the front while magnetic
repulsion pushes it from behind. The trains will travel through tubes with
most of the air removed using pumps. This will allow them to travel at
Mach 7 (that is, seven times the speed of sound at sea level). This is about
2000 m/s, much faster than supersonic aircraft. In 2016, Hyperloop One
launched its Hyperloop One Global Challenge and selected five countries
for the development of the hyperloop networks: US, UK, Canada, Mexico,
and India.

Figure 3.2a: The idea of passengers travelling through a tube is not new.
Passengers taking a ride in the first pneumatic passenger railway in the US,
erected at the Exhibition of the American Institute at the Amory, New York
City, in 1867. b: A Hyperloop tube on display during the first test of the
propulsion system at the Hyperloop One Test and Safety site on 11 May
2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Discussion questions
1 Describe the ways in which friction will be reduced in Hyperloop One.
2 Describe any potential dangers of travelling in Hyperloop One.
3.1 We have lift-off
It takes an enormous force to lift a giant space shuttle off its launch pad, and to
propel it into space (Figure 3.3). The booster rockets that supply the initial thrust
provide a force of several million newtons. As the spacecraft accelerates
upwards, the crew experience the sensation of being pressed firmly back into
their seats. That is how they know that their craft is accelerating.
Figure 3.3: A space shuttle accelerating away from its launch pad. The force
needed is provided by several rockets. Once each rocket has used all its fuel, it
will be jettisoned (dropped), to reduce the mass that is being carried up into
space.

Unbalanced forces change motion

One moment, the shuttle is sitting on the ground, stationary. The next moment, it
is accelerating upwards, pushed by the force provided by the rockets.
In this chapter, we will look at how forces – pushes and pulls – affect objects as
they move. You will be familiar with the idea that the unit used for measuring
forces is the newton (N). To give an idea of the sizes of various forces, here are
some examples:
• You lift an apple. The force needed to lift an apple is roughly one newton (1
N).
• You jump up in the air. Your leg muscles provide the force needed to do
this, about 1000 N.
• You reach the motorway in your high-performance car, and press the
accelerator pedal. The car accelerates forwards. The engine provides a force
of about 5000 N.
• You are crossing the Atlantic in a Boeing 747 jumbo jet. The four engines
together provide a thrust of about 500 000 N. In total, that is about half the
thrust provided by each of the space shuttle’s booster rockets.

Some important forces

Forces appear when two objects interact with each other. Figure 3.4 shows some
important forces. Each force is represented by an arrow to show its direction.
Usually, the longer the arrow, the bigger the force is. Notice the convention that
the arrow usually points away from the object of interest.

Figure 3.4: Some common forces.

The car shown in Figure 3.5 is moving rapidly. The engine is providing a force
to accelerate it forwards, but there is another force acting, which tends to slow
down the car. This is air resistance, a form of friction caused when an object
moves through the air. (Friction is also called drag, especially for motion
through liquids.) The air drags on the object, producing a force that acts in the
opposite direction to the object’s motion.

Figure 3.5: A car moves through the air. Air resistance acts in the opposite
direction to its motion.

A driver who needs to stop quickly will apply the brakes to take advantage of
solid friction, when two surfaces make contact (the brake pads and brake discs,
in this case). The kinetic energy of the car transfers into thermal energy, raising
the temperature of the brakes. You can demonstrate this for yourself by rubbing
your hands together. Energy transformations like these are discussed in more
detail in Chapter 6. Solid friction exists even when the surfaces are not moving
against each other, unless one or both surfaces are like ice and offer almost no
resistance to motion (then they are said to have a very low coefficient of
friction). Compare standing on concrete with standing on ice. There is much
more solid friction on concrete and you do not have to think about keeping your
balance. The solid friction between the sole of your shoes and concrete impedes
motion (so reduces the possibility of slipping) and, because there is no motion of
one surface against another, there is no increase in thermal energy. If you are
running quickly on concrete and fall over you may notice that the graze on your
knee feels hot. This is because your kinetic energy transfers into thermal energy
due to the solid friction between your skin and concrete. A ‘shooting star’ is a
meteor (lump of rock that burns up in our atmosphere). It shows that air
resistance and drag lead to the transfer of kinetic energy to thermal energy.

Unbalanced forces produce acceleration

The car driver in Figure 3.6a is waiting for the traffic lights to change. When
they go green, he moves forwards. The force provided by the engine causes the
car to accelerate. In a few seconds, the car is moving quickly along the road. The
arrow in the diagram shows the force pushing the car forwards. If the driver
wants to get away from the lights more quickly, he can press harder on the
accelerator. The forward force is then bigger, and the car’s acceleration will be
greater.
Figure 3.6: A force can be represented by an arrow. a: The forward force
provided by the engine causes the car to accelerate forwards. b: The backward
force provided by the brakes causes the car to decelerate. c: A sideways force
causes the car to change direction.
The driver reaches another junction, where he must stop. He applies the brakes.
This provides another force to slow down the car (see Figure 3.6b). The car is
moving forwards, but the force needed to make it decelerate is directed
backwards. If the driver wants to stop in a hurry, a bigger force is needed. He
must press hard on the brake pedal, and the car’s deceleration will be greater.
Finally, the driver wants to turn a corner. He turns the steering wheel. This
produces a sideways force on the car (Figure 3.6c), so that the car changes
direction.
To summarise, we have seen several things about forces:
• They can be represented by arrows. A force has a direction, shown by the
direction of the arrow.
• A force can make an object change speed. A forward force makes it speed
up (accelerate), while a backward force makes it slow down (decelerate).
• A force can change the direction in which an object is moving.
This can be summarised by saying that a body will remain at rest or will move at
a constant speed in a straight line unless acted upon by a resultant force. There
are alternative ways of saying the same thing. For example, a resultant force will
change the speed or direction of a body. However, the problem with this
statement is that some people forget to include starting and stopping as changes
in speed. Another alternative is to say that a resultant force will change the
velocity of a body, but as velocity is a vector, a resultant force can change the
direction as well as the speed of a body. A resultant force can change both speed
and direction at the same time.

Question
1 Figure 3.7 shows three objects that are moving. A force acts on each
object. For each, say how its movement will change.
Figure 3.7: Three moving objects.

Two or more forces along the same straight line

The two forces acting on the car in Figure 3.8a are:
• push of engine = 600 N to the right
• drag of air resistance = 400 N to the left.

Figure 3.8: A car moves through the air. Air resistance acts in the opposite
direction to its motion.
We can work out the combined effect of these two forces by subtracting one
from the other to give the resultant force acting on the car. The resultant force
is the single force that has the same effect as two or more forces. So, in Figure
3.8a:
resultant force = 600 N − 400 N
= 200 N to the right
This resultant force will make the car accelerate to the right, but not as much as
if there was no air resistance.
In Figure 3.8b, the car is moving even faster, and air resistance is greater. Now
the two forces cancel each other out. So, in Figure 3.8b:
resultant force = 600 N − 600 N = 0 N
We say that the forces on the car are balanced. There is no resultant force and so
the car no longer accelerates. It continues at a constant speed in a straight line.
• If no resultant force acts on an object, it will not accelerate; it will remain at
rest or it will continue to move at a constant speed in a straight line.
• If an object is at rest or is moving at a constant speed in a straight line, we
can say that there is no resultant force acting on it.

Question
2 The forces acting on three objects are shown in Figure 3.9.

Figure 3.9: Forces acting on three objects.

For each of a, b and c:

i state whether the forces are balanced or unbalanced
ii if the forces are unbalanced, calculate the resultant force on the object
and give its direction
iii state how the object’s motion will change.
3.2 Mass, weight and gravity
If you drop an object, it falls to the ground. It is difficult to see how a falling
object moves. However, a multi-flash photograph can show the pattern of
movement when an object falls.
Figure 3.10 shows a ball falling. There are seven images of the ball, taken at
equal intervals of time. The ball falls further in each successive time interval.
This shows that its speed is increasing – it is accelerating.

Figure 3.10: The increasing speed of a falling ball is captured in this multi-flash
image.

When an object accelerates, there must be a force that is causing it to do so. In

this case, the force of gravity is pulling the ball downwards. The name given to
the gravitational force acting on an object that has mass is its weight. Because
weight is a force, it is measured in newtons (N).
Every object on or near the Earth’s surface has weight. This is caused by the
attraction of the Earth’s gravity. The Earth pulls with a force of 10 N
(approximately) on each kilogram of matter, so an object of mass 1 kg has a
weight of about 10 N. Actually, the Earth pulls with a force of 9.8 N on each
kilogram so an object of mass 1 kg has a weight of 9.8 N.
Because the Earth pulls with the same force on every kilogram of matter, every
object falls with the same acceleration close to the Earth’s surface. If you drop a
5 kg ball and a 1 kg ball at the same time, they will reach the ground at the same
time.
The acceleration caused by the pull of the Earth’s gravity is called the
acceleration of free fall or the acceleration due to gravity. This quantity is
given the symbol g and its value is approximately constant close to the surface of
the Earth. It is approximately 9.8 m/s2.

Calculating weight and gravitational field strength

We have seen that an object of mass 1 kg has a weight of 9.8 N; an object of
mass 2 kg has a weight of 19.6 N; and so on. To calculate an object’s weight W
from its mass m, we multiply by 9.8, the value of the acceleration of free fall g.
We can write this as an equation in words and in symbols:
weight = mass × acceleration of free fall
W = mg
The gravitational field strength at a point is the gravitational force exerted per
unit mass placed at that point. From the equation, W = mg, the gravitational field
strength, g, is:

KEY EQUATION
weight
gravitational field strength = mass
W
g = m

On the Earth’s surface, the gravitational field strength is 9.8 N/kg. It has the
same value as the acceleration of free fall or acceleration due to gravity that we
met earlier and is often rounded up to 10 N/kg.

Distinguishing mass and weight

It is important to understand the difference between the two quantities, mass and
weight.
• The mass of an object, measured in kilograms, tells you how much matter
an object is composed of.
• The weight of an object, measured in newtons, is the gravitational force that
acts on the object.
If you take an object to the Moon, it will weigh less than it does on Earth,
because the Moon’s gravity is weaker than the Earth’s. However, its mass will
be unchanged, because the object is made of just as much matter as when it was
on Earth.
When we weigh an object using a balance, we are comparing its weight with that
of standard weights on the other side of the balance (Figure 3.11). We are
making use of the fact that, if two objects weigh the same, their masses will be
the same. We always talk about weighing an object. However, if the balance we
use has a scale in kilograms or grams, we will find its mass, not its weight.

Figure 3.11: When the balance is balanced, we know that the weights on
opposite sides are equal, and so the masses must also be equal.

Questions
3 List the differences between mass and weight.
4 A bag of sugar has a mass of 1 kg so its weight on Earth is 10 N. What can
you say about the bag’s mass and its weight if you take it:
a to the Moon, where gravity is weaker than on Earth?
b to Jupiter, where gravity is stronger?
5 a Look at Table 3.1. Calculate the missing values i–v. Show your
method.

Mass Acceleration
Object on of Weight of
planet or due to
Planet or asteroid
 asteroid object gravity / m/s2 object / N
/ kg
Earth astronaut 70 9.8 i
Moon astronaut ii 1.60 112.0
Jupiter tin of beans 0.44 23.0 iii
Geographus
bus iv 0.00153 7.650
(asteroid 1620)
Toro (asteroid 1685) astronaut 70 v 0.538

Table 3.1

b What do you notice about the mass of the astronaut?

c Explain why a tin of beans weighs more on Jupiter than a bus weighs
on the asteroid Geographus.
3.3 Falling and turning
Objects fall to the ground because they have weight. Their weight is caused by
the gravitational field of the Earth, pulling downwards on their mass. The
Moon’s gravitational field is much weaker, which is why objects weigh less
when they are on the Moon.
In this section, we will look at two situations in which we have to take careful
account of the directions of the forces acting on an object.

Falling through the air

The Earth’s gravity is equally strong at all points close to the Earth’s surface. If
you climb to the top of a tall building, your weight will stay the same. We say
that there is a uniform gravitational field close to the Earth’s surface. This means
that all objects fall with the same acceleration as the ball shown in Figure 3.10,
provided there is no other force acting to reduce their acceleration. For many
objects, the force of air resistance can affect their acceleration.
Parachutists make use of air resistance. A free-fall parachutist (Figure 3.12a)
jumps out of an aircraft and accelerates downwards. Figure 3.12b shows the
forces on a parachutist at different points in his fall. Notice that his weight does
not change (so the length of the downward-pointing arrow does not change). At
first, air resistance has little effect. However, air resistance increases with the
speed of motion. As the parachutist falls faster, eventually air resistance balances
his weight. Then the parachutist stops accelerating: he falls at a steady rate
known as the terminal velocity. The resultant force on the free-fall parachutist
is the result of two forces acting along the same line and acting in opposite
directions.
Opening the parachute greatly increases its area and hence the air resistance.
Now there is a much bigger force upwards. The forces on the parachutist are
again unbalanced, and he slows down. The idea is to reach a new, slower,
terminal velocity of about 10 m/s, at which speed he can safely land. At this
point, weight = drag, and so the forces on the parachutist are balanced.
Figure 3.12c shows how the parachutist’s speed changes during a fall.
When the graph is horizontal, speed is constant and forces are balanced. When
the graph is sloping, speed is changing. The parachutist is accelerating or
decelerating, and forces are unbalanced.
Figure 3.12a: Free-fall parachutists, before they open their parachutes. They can
reach a terminal velocity of more than 50 m/s. b: The forces on a falling
parachutist. Notice that his weight is constant. When air resistance equals
weight, the forces are balanced and the parachutist reaches a steady speed. The
parachutist is always falling (velocity downwards), although his acceleration is
upwards when he opens his parachute. c: A speed–time graph for a falling
parachutist.

Question
6 Look at the speed–time graph in Figure 3.12c. Find a point at which the
graph is sloping upwards.
a Is the parachutist accelerating or decelerating?
b Which of the two forces acting on the parachutist is greater when the
 graph is sloping upwards?
c Explain the shape of the graph after the parachute is opened.

Going round in circles

When a car turns a corner, it changes direction. Any object moving along a
circular path is changing direction as it goes. A force is needed to do this. Figure
3.13 shows three objects following curved paths, together with the forces that act
to keep them on track.
In Figure 3.13a, the boy is spinning an apple around on the end of a piece of
string. The tension in the string pulls on the apple, keeping it moving in a circle.
In Figure 3.13b, an aircraft ‘banks’ (tilts) to change direction. The lift force on
its wings provides the necessary force.
In Figure 3.13c, the Moon is held in its orbit around the Earth by the pull of the
Earth’s gravity.
Figure 3.13: Examples of motion along a curved path. In each case, there is a
sideways force holding the object in its circular path.

For an object following a circular path, the object is acted on by a force

perpendicular (at right angles) to its motion. The force that keeps an object
moving in a circle always acts towards the centre of the circle. If the force
disappears, the object will move off at a tangent to the circle; it will not fly
outwards, away from the centre.
By moving in a circle, an object will be changing direction continuously (all the
time). Therefore, even if the object is moving at a constant speed, its velocity is
changing. Remember that velocity is a vector and so has direction as well as
magnitude (size). If the velocity of an object is changing, it must be accelerating.
This means that an unbalanced force is acting on the object and this force acts
towards the centre of the circle. The resultant force that acts towards the centre
of a circle is the result of a force acting perpendicular to the motion of the object.
The size of the resultant force needed to make an object travel in a circle
depends on the object’s mass, its speed and the radius of the circle in which it is
moving. A bigger force is needed if:
• the object’s mass is bigger (and speed and radius stay the same)
• the object’s speed is bigger (and mass and radius stay the same)
• the radius of the circle is smaller (and mass and speed stay the same).
An object moving in a circle is changing direction. It requires less force to
change the direction of an object that has less mass. An insect is easier to deflect
than a rhinoceros, even if the rhino is moving slowly. When you are travelling in
a car, you will feel a bigger force when you travel faster round a bend in the road
or when the bend is sharper.
The ‘wall of death’ is a stunt where motorcycles or cars appear to defy gravity as
they are driven around the circular wall inside a giant cylinder (Figure 3.14a).
The vehicles do not slide down the wall because their weight is balanced by
friction. As they move faster, the force of friction increases because the force
pushing the vehicle towards the centre of the cylinder increases. If they were to
stop, the vehicles would slide down the wall.
A spin dryer works by spinning about its axis of symmetry. The walls push the
clothes towards the centre of the drum. Water droplets pass out through the holes
where they do not experience this force.
Some of you will have ridden a carousel or merry-go-round (Figure 3.14b).
Passengers sit on a circular platform that is made to spin. It feels like you are
being pushed outwards, away from the centre, but this is an illusion. If you were
lucky your merry-go-round had seats with a railing along the circumference
where you could sit facing the centre; it would feel like the railing was pushing
you towards the centre. Imagine the railings disappeared and there was nothing
to hold onto. Where would you go? You would move at a tangent to the circular
motion (along path A in Figure 3.1).
Figure 3.14a: The ‘wall of death’ in Rajkot, India. b: A mother and her sons
playing on a merry-go-round.

If you roll a ball along a flat surface it will move in a straight line until friction
brings it to a stop. If someone pushes it at right angles to its motion, it will
change direction. You may have seen a footballer gently tap a ball to divert it
into the goal.
You might want to try the following challenge with a smaller ball. Gather some
classmates around a square table. One of you rolls a marble or other small ball
close to and parallel to an edge of the table. As the ball passes each person, they
push it once with a flat edge like a ruler or book but only towards the centre of
the table. See if you can get the ball to travel in a circle before it is slowed down
by friction. As the ball slows down, you will notice that you need to apply a
smaller force to keep it moving in a circle. If someone misses their turn, notice
which way the ball moves. It should move in a straight line at a tangent to the
circle, so long as the table is perfectly horizontal and there is no spin on the ball.
If the Sun suddenly stopped existing the Earth would travel in a straight line in
the direction that it was moving the instant the Sun disappeared.

Questions
7 Draw a diagram (seen from above) to show the forces acting on a car as it
turns a corner.
8 What provides the force keeping the planets in orbit round the Earth?
9 Throwing the hammer is an Olympic sport (Figure 3.15), where the thrower
spins around inside a circle while swinging a ‘hammer’. Throwers spin as
fast as they can before releasing the hammer. Looking down from above,
sketch the path of the hammer moving in a circle followed by its path after
it is released.
Figure 3.15: Zheng Wang of China competes in the Women’s hammer throw in
the 2019 World Championships.

Describe how the force needed by the athlete would change if:
a the speed of the hammer increased
b the length of the hammer was reduced
c the mass of the hammer increased.
3.4 Force, mass and acceleration
A car driver uses the accelerator pedal to control the car’s acceleration. This
alters the force provided by the engine. The bigger the force acting on the car,
the bigger the acceleration it gives to the car. Doubling the force produces twice
the acceleration; three times the force produces three times the acceleration, and
so on.
There is another factor that affects the car’s acceleration. Suppose the driver fills
the boot with a lot of heavy boxes and then collects several children from
college. He will notice the difference when he moves away from the traffic
lights. The car will not accelerate so readily, because its mass has increased.
Similarly, when he applies the brakes, it will not decelerate as readily as before.
The mass of the car affects how easily it can accelerate or decelerate. Drivers
learn to take account of this.
The greater the mass of an object, the smaller the acceleration it is given by a
particular force.
So, big (more massive) objects are harder to accelerate than small (less massive)
ones. If we double the mass of the object, its acceleration for a given force will
be halved. We need to double the force to give it the same acceleration.
This tells us what we mean by mass. It is the property of an object that resists
changes in its motion.

Force calculations
These relationships between force, mass and acceleration can be combined into a
single, very useful, equation:

KEY EQUATION

force = mass × acceleration

F = ma

The force vector and the acceleration vector are in the same direction. This
seems obvious when we are talking about increasing the engine force to make a
car accelerate along a straight road, but recall from the previous section that the
Earth must be accelerating towards the Sun because of the pull of the Sun’s
gravity.
The quantities involved in this equation, and their units, are summarised in Table
3.2. The unit of force is the newton. Worked Examples 3.1 and 3.2 show how to
use the equation.
Quantity Symbol SI Unit
force F netwon, N
mass m kilogram, kg
acceleration a metres per second squared m/s2
Table 3.2: The three quantities related by the equation force = mass ×
acceleration.

WORKED EXAMPLE 3.1

When you strike a tennis ball that another player has hit towards you, you
provide a large force to reverse its direction of travel and send it back towards
your opponent. You give the ball a large acceleration. What force is needed to
give a ball of mass 0.10 kg an acceleration of 500 m/s2?
Step 1: Write down what you know and what you want to find out:
mass = 0.10 kg
acceleration = 500 m/s2
force = ?
Step 2: Substitute in the equation to find the force:
force = mass × acceleration
= 0.10 kg × 500 m/s2
= 50 N
Answer
You need to give the ball a force of 50 N.
Note that mass must be in kg (the base SI unit), not g, if the force is to
work out in N.
WORKED EXAMPLE 3.2

An Airbus A380 aircraft (Figure 3.16) has four jet engines, each capable of
providing 320 000 N of thrust. The mass of the aircraft is 560 000 kg when
loaded. What is the greatest acceleration that the aircraft can achieve?

Figure 3.16: An Airbus A380.

Step 1: Write down what you know and what you want to find out:
force = 4 × 320 000 N = 1 280 000 N
(the greatest force provided by all four
engines working together)
mass = 560 000 kg
acceleration = ?
Step 2: Substitute in the equation to find the acceleration:

acceleration = force
mass
= 1280 000N
560 000kg
= 2.29 N/kg
 Answer
2.29 N/kg is the greatest acceleration the aircraft can achieve.

Questions
10 Look at Table 3.3. Calculate the missing values a–d. Show your working.
Force Mass Acceleration / m/s2
a 50 kg 10
112 N 70 kg b
110 kN c 5
d 15 g 10
Table 3.3

11 a Calculate the weight of a brick that has a mass of 2.4 kg.

b The same brick falls with an acceleration of 9.8 m/s2. Calculate the
force on the brick.
c What can you say about your answers to parts a and b?
12 An accelerometer is a device that can detect and calculate acceleration.
Calculate the acceleration of a 0.15 kg mass that experiences a force of 10
N.

ACTIVITY 3.1

Can mosquitoes fly in the rain?

Work in pairs. Using your physics knowledge and the information and data
below, try to answer the question: can mosquitoes fly in the rain?
Once you have arrived at an answer, discuss it with another pair and be
prepared to share your reasoning with the class.
If you are not sure where to start, work through the following questions:
1 What is the acceleration of the mosquito when hit by a raindrop in
mid-air?
2 Calculate how many times bigger this is than the acceleration of free
fall.
3 Do you think a human could survive this acceleration?
4 State the equation that relates force, mass and acceleration.
5 Calculate the force that the mosquito experiences.
6 Will a mosquito survive a mid-air collision with a raindrop?
7 Will a mosquito survive if it is sitting on a hard surface when struck
with a raindrop? Calculate the force a raindrop would exert on a
mosquito if the insect was sitting on a hard surface (such as a tree
branch) and the raindrop came to a stop in 2 × 10−3 s.

In heavy rain, a mosquito might collide with a raindrop twice a

minute.
If a raindrop hits a mosquito in mid-air, the mosquito falls with the
raindrop for a few centimetres and the mosquito’s speed increases
from zero to 2.1 m/s in 1.5 × 10−3 s.
If a raindrop hits a mosquito when it is on a solid surface, such as a
tree branch, the raindrop stops moving in 2 × 10−3 s.
speed of raindrops = 10 m/s
mass of raindrops = up to 100 mg
mass of mosquito = 2 mg
force that mosquito exoskeleton can survive = 0.03 N

REFLECTION
Did you need to use the questions to help you during the activity? Using
these questions gives you some insight into how scientists might go about
answering a question: they break a question or problem down into smaller
steps or questions.
Were the questions helpful? If not, can you think of questions that would be
more helpful? Could you suggest other questions to your teacher or
classmates?
3.5 Momentum
A force will change an object’s motion. It will make the object accelerate; it may
make it change direction. The effect of a force F depends on two things:
• how big the force is
• the time interval Δt it acts for.
The bigger the force and the longer it acts for, the more the object’s motion will
change. The impulse equation sums this up:
FΔt = mv − mu
The quantity on the left, FΔt, is called the impulse of the force. On the right we
have mv (mass × final velocity) and mu (mass × initial velocity).
The quantity mass × velocity is known as the momentum (p) of the object (p =
mv), so the right-hand side of the equation mv − mu is the change in the object’s
momentum, which can be written as:
Δp = mv − mu = Δ(mv)
We can write the impulse equation like this:
impulse of force = change of momentum
Impulse and momentum are both defined by equations:
impulse = force × time for which it acts = FΔt
change in momentum = Δp = Δ(mv) so
impulse = FΔt = Δ(mv)

KEY EQUATION
momentum = mass × velocity
p = mv

impulse = force × time for which the force acts

impulse = FΔt = Δ(mv)
 WORKED EXAMPLE 3.3

A car of mass 600 kg is moving at 15 m/s.

a Calculate its momentum.
The driver accelerates gently so that a force of 30 N acts on the car for 10
seconds.
b Calculate the impulse of the force.
c Calculate the momentum of the car after the accelerating force has acted
on it.
Answer
a momentum = mass × velocity
= 600 kg × 15 m/s = 9000 kg m/s
b impulse = force × time = 30 N × 10 s = 300 N.
c The impulse of the force tells us how much the car’s momentum
changes. The car is speeding up, so its momentum increases by 300 N s.
final momentum = initial momentum + impulse of force
= 9000 + 300
= 9300 kg m/s
Note that the unit of momentum is kg m/s; this is the same as N s, the unit of
impulse.

Questions
13 Calculate the momentum of a bullet of mass 10.5 g moving at 553 m/s.
14 A force of 500 N acts on a rocket for 600 s, causing the rocket’s velocity to
increase.
a Calculate the impulse of the force.
b By how much does the rocket’s momentum increase?
Δv v−u
Remember that F = ma. We know that a = Δt
= Δt
so we can substitute for a to give:
−
F = m ∣∣ v−u
Δ ∣
∣
t
Expanding out the brackets gives:
mv−mu
F= Δt
Knowing that Δp = mv – mu, we can write the equation as:
Δp
F= Δt

KEY EQUATION
change in momentum
resultant force =
unit time
Δp
F =
Δt

So, the resultant force is the change in momentum per unit time.
This defines the force as the rate of change of momentum but it is really just a
different way of writing the more familiar equation F = ma in a way that makes
it easier to explain some physics. For example, it explains why cars are fitted
with seatbelts, airbags and crumple zones. It also explains why we automatically
bend our knees when we jump down from a tall object.
When a car crashes at a given speed say, (10 m/s), the passengers experience the
same impulse or change in momentum whether or not they are wearing seatbelts.
However, the time taken to come to a stop increases for those wearing seatbelts.
Δp
This makes the right-hand side of the equation ∣∣F = Δ ∣∣ experienced by the
t
passengers, which reduces the risk of injury. The same reasoning can be applied
to other safety measures, including the use of air bags in Worked Example 3.4.

WORKED EXAMPLE 3.4

Crash tests allow scientists to investigate the forces on passengers during

collisions. In the first test, a car travelling at 15 m/s crashes into a wall (Figure
3.17). The crash test dummy, which has a mass of 70 kg, comes to a stop in
0.03 s. In the second test, the car is fitted with an airbag so the dummy takes
five times longer to come to a stop. What forces are acting on the dummy in
both tests?
Figure 3.17: A crash test.

Step 1: Start by writing down what you know and what you want to know.
First test Second test
m = 70 kg m = 70 kg
v = 15 m/s v = 15 m/s
Δt = 0.03 s Δt = 0.15 s
F=? F=?
Step 2: Now write down the equation.
Δp
F= Δt
Step 3: Substitute the values of the quantities on the right-hand side and
calculate the answer.
First test Second test
70 kg × 15 m/s 70 kg × 15 m/s
F = 0.03 s
F = 0.15 s
= 3.5 × 104 N = 7.0 × 103 N
Answer
In the first test, the force on the crash test dummy was 3.5 × 104 N. In the
second test, the force was 7.0 × 103 N. The airbag increased the time that it
took for the dummy to come to a stop and reduced the force by a factor of
five. An airbag reduces the risk of injury.
Question
15 In a car crash the driver and his passenger both experience the same
impulse. However, the driver is wearing a seatbelt so it takes him longer to
stop moving. Explain why his injuries are less serious than those of his
passenger.
16 Superman is a fictional character who was made for life on the planet
Krypton but arrived on Earth as a child. While he could have grown up to
become average on Krypton, this question explores why he appears to have
superpowers on Earth.
a Write down an equation for force in terms of momentum and time.
b Assume that Superman has a mass of 100 kg and launches himself
upwards with a speed of 60 m/s. What force would he apply if he spent
0.25 s pushing off from the ground?
c What is Superman’s weight?
d How many times bigger is the force he exerted (your answer to part b)
compared to his weight (your answer to part c)?
e Calculate the gravitational field strength of Krypton. (Hint: You need
to know the value of the gravitational field strength for the Earth’s
surface and that, when most people jump, they apply a force
approximately equal to their weight.)

ACTIVITY 3.2
Public awareness campaign
Work in pairs to develop your ideas and then join with another pair to
complete the activity. Develop a public awareness campaign (posters, video
clips) to highlight road traffic accidents (RTAs). The aim of your campaign
is to reduce serious injury.
In your campaign make sure you include why the following are important
in reducing serious injury in RTAs:
• keeping to speed limits
• wearing seatbelts
 • installing airbags
• crumple zones on cars
• not driving after taking drugs
• not driving when tired.
Remember that the audience are not scientists, so you will need to explain,
by using physics, why these precautions reduce serious injury in RTAs.

Momentum in a collision
Figure 3.18 shows a game of swing ball, in which a ball hangs from a length of
string. The player hits the ball horizontally with a racket.

Figure 3.18: Hitting a ball with a tennis racket. a: Before the hit. b: after the hit.

How can we use the idea of momentum to describe what happens? We need to
think about momentum before the racket collides with the ball, and then after the
collision.
In Figure 3.18a, before the collision, the racket is moving to the right; it has
momentum. The ball is stationary, so it has no momentum.
In Figure 3.18b, after the collision, the racket is moving to the right, but more
slowly than before. It has lost momentum. The ball is moving rapidly to the
right. It has gained momentum.
So you can see that, when the racket exerts a force on the ball, momentum is
transferred from the racket to the ball. Whenever a force acts on an object, its
momentum changes. At the same time, the momentum of the object causing the
force also changes. If one object gains momentum, then the other loses an equal
amount of momentum. This is known as the principle of the conservation of
momentum.
We can state the principle in a different way. Whenever two objects interact, the
total amount of momentum before they interact is the same as the total amount
of momentum afterwards:
total momentum before = total momentum after
Worked Example 3.5 shows how we can use this to work out how fast the ball in
Figure 3.18 will be moving after it has been hit by the racket.

WORKED EXAMPLE 3.5

During a game of swing ball, a player hits the ball horizontally with a racket.
• mass of tennis racket = 3.0 kg
• velocity of tennis racket before it strikes the ball = 20 m/s
• velocity of tennis racket after it strikes the ball = 18 m/s
• mass of tennis ball = 0.25 kg
• velocity of tennis ball before the racket strikes it = 0 m/s
Find:
a the momentum of the racket
i before the collision
ii after the collision
b the momentum of the ball after the collision
c the velocity of the ball.
Answer
a momentum = mass × velocity
i Before the collision:
momentum = 3.0 kg × 20 m/s = 60 kg m/s
 ii After the collision:
momentum = 3.0 kg × 18 m/s = 54 kg m/s
Note: After the collision, the racket is moving more slowly and so its
momentum is less.
b The momentum gained by the ball is equal to the momentum lost by the
racket.
So, momentum of ball = 60 kg m/s– 54 kg m/s
= 6.0 kg m/s
c We can calculate the velocity of the ball by rearranging the equation for
momentum:
momentum
velocity = mass
6.0 kg m/s
= 0.25 kg
= 24 m/s
The ball will move off with a velocity of 24 m/s to the right.

ACTIVITY 3.3
Finding the velocity of a tennis ball using conservation of momentum
You want to carry out an investigation to find the speed of a tennis ball, but
most of the instructions are missing. You need to finish the plan.
This is the only guidance you have.
Figure 3.19

On your own, spend three minutes thinking carefully about the following
activity and answer the questions. Then spend three minutes sharing ideas
about the activity with the person sitting next to you. Be prepared to share
your answers with the class.
Follow these steps to finish the plan:
1 Explain how the speed of the ball can be calculated using the principle
of conservation of momentum. (Hint: this is a collision between the
ball and the box.)
2 Explain how the speed of the ball can be calculated using only the
equipment available. It might help to sketch a speed–time graph for
the box, as this will suggest what measurements you can take.
3 Write down the steps (method) required to complete the investigation,
including calculations needed and any safety precautions.
Optional
4 Compare your explanation and method with another group and
improve your own.
5 If you have access to the equipment, carry out the experiment.
6 Using an alternative technique (such as video analysis) check whether
you measured the correct speed and account for any difference.

PEER ASSESSMENT
Did the other group correctly and clearly:
This is the only guidance you have.
• describe and explain what measurements to take?
• describe and explain what calculations to do?
Would you have been able to follow their method to produce reliable
results?
Did the group include sensible safety precautions?
Provide constructive written and verbal feedback. As well as pointing out
improvements, praise good aspects of their work.
When you get your work returned to you, make improvements based on the
feedback.